Important!! Roar On For Tony

Photo Courtesy: ISF_Louisiana http://twitpic.com/4ya0tt

We are very appreciative of the recent decision on May 6, 2011 by Judge R. Michael Caldwell who granted a permanent injunction barring the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries from issuing any further permits to Tony’s owner Mr. Michael Sandlin. While the decision is a positive action for Tony, the court refused to order the LDWF to revoke the current permit, which expires on December 14, 2011. Tony remains at the truck stop until then.

“Even though the court refused to order the Department to revoke the current permit, the Department retains the authority to do so on its own if it chooses.” Source: http://aldf.org/article.php?id=1711

There is no reason why Tony must languish and suffer at the truck stop until mid December. It’s important to continue supporting Tony and advocating for his early release to an accredited, reputable and humane big cat sanctuary and to keep his story highly visible.

Two such sanctuaries, Big Cat Rescue of Tampa FL and The Wildcat Sanctuary of Sandstone MN both have publicly offered homes for Tony where he would be provided with a natural habitat, proper diet, medical care, and enrichment.

How You Can Help Tony:

You can support Tony by signing and sharing his two ALDF sponsored petitions: http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5154/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=6207 and http://www.change.org/petitions/speak-out-for-tony-the-truck-stop-tiger

It’s very important that all correspondence for Tony be done in a respectable focused manner. While we are all very passionate and concerned about Tony, his health and welfare, please remember polite and focused letters have a better chance of being addressed and our concerns taken seriously. When you advocate for Tony, you are representing him – he deserves the utmost respect as do the individual(s) we are writing to. You can use the text of the ALDF petitions listed above as references to construct your letter.

Voice your concerns for Tony, for the current permit to be revoked and for Tony to be relocated to a reputable, established, humane accredited big cat sanctuary that will meet all of his needs to:

Secretary Robert J. Barham
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
P.O. Box 98000
Baton Rouge, LA70898

Phone: (225) 765-2623
Fax: (225) 765-2607

You can also try these e-mail addresses for Mr. Barham; recent correspondence has not bounced back:

sfalcon@wlf.la.gov

rbarham@wlf.la.gov

Online e-mail contact form for the LDWF:

http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/contact

 Notes:

Please continue to share Tony’s story and the petition links with friends, family, on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, etc. Links to recent ALDF posts:

Answers to Your Questions About ALDF’s Win for Tony the Tiger: http://aldf.org/article.php?id=1711

Victory in Animal Legal Defense Fund’s Lawsuit to Free Tony the Truck Stop Tiger: http://www.aldf.org/article.php?id=1700

http://www.aldf.org/tony

Petitions:

http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5154/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=6207  

http://www.change.org/petitions/speak-out-for-tony-the-truck-stop-tiger

Sincere Thanks to The Animal Legal Defense Fund, the attorneys of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC, Mr. Warren Triche, Louisiana residents who spoke out for Tony, Big Cat Rescue of Tampa FL, The Wildcat Sanctuary of Sandstone MN, change.org, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kristin Bauer, Ian Somerhalder, and to ALL of Tony’s friends around the world for caring and never giving up on him. Roar On…