We at the Animal Legal Defense Fund are committed to doing everything within our power to make sure that Tony
finds his way to a reputable, accredited sanctuary where he can live
out the rest of his life in an environment that caters to his needs
rather than one that exploits him as a profitable spectacle.
To
that end, our litigation team has been busy making sure that Louisiana’s
big cat ban is defended and enforced. We are currently involved in
three separate lawsuits concerning Tony, and with all the various
developments, we thought it was time for a big picture overview on where
things stand.
The first lawsuit is the one ALDF filed last April
to have Michael Sandlin’s tiger permit revoked. In November, Judge
Michael Caldwell ruled in our favor, holding that Mr. Sandlin was
ineligible for a permit under the state regulations. Judge Caldwell
ordered the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to revoke
Sandlin’s permit and not issue any new permits. Mr. Sandlin and the
Tiger Truck Stop have appealed that decision to the Louisiana Court of
Appeal. We are currently waiting for the court to set a briefing
schedule, which we expect in the coming months. It’s worth noting that
the Department has complied with the court’s order and not issued a new
permit to Mr. Sandlin, meaning that Mr. Sandlin and the Tiger Truck Stop
continue to possess and exhibit Tony without the required permit.
In an attempt to remedy the Tiger Truck Stop’s open violation of the law, ALDF filed a second lawsuit
to force the Department to enforce the state’s wildlife laws and turn
Mr. Sandlin and the Tiger Truck Stop over to the District Attorney for
prosecution. Unfortunately, earlier this month, Judge Caldwell held
that enforcement decisions by an agency are discretionary duties that
cannot be compelled by the judiciary, and that our plaintiffs lacked
legal standing to bring the case. (Standing
is a constant hurdle in animal law cases that limits who can bring a
lawsuit. More information on standing is available here and here.) We
are still considering our options on whether to appeal the decision.
Supporters should understand that the decision in this second case does
not undermine our victory in the first case. Judge Caldwell’s original
ruling that Mr. Sandlin cannot have a tiger permit still stands, and it
is still illegal for Mr. Sandlin to possess and exhibit Tony. This loss
means only that we cannot force the Department to enforce the law. The
Department has said publicly that it intends to enforce Louisiana law
once litigation has concluded. Although that is not the timeline we
hoped for (after all, Mr. Sandlin and the Tiger Truck Stop are violating
the law at this very moment and the Department could seize Tony at any
time), we expect the Department will eventually do the job entrusted to
it by Louisiana’s citizens: enforce the law and protect wildlife.
The
third lawsuit is one filed by Mr. Sandlin and the Tiger Truck Stop
against the State of Louisiana, the Department, and Iberville Parish,
seeking to invalidate the state ban on private possession of big cats.
If successful, the case would not only allow Mr. Sandlin to keep Tony,
it could also open the floodgates to captivity for countless other
captive wild animals. Mr. Sandlin and the Tiger Truck Stop did not name
ALDF as a party to the suit, but given the high stakes, we insisted on
being part of the case. We filed what is called a petition to intervene,
which asks the court to allow the intervener into the case with the
same rights and opportunity to be heard as the named parties. Although
Mr. Sandlin and the truck stop objected to our intervention, Judge
Janice Clark held that ALDF had a right to intervene in the case and
granted our petition. Interestingly, we are now on the same side as the
Department, our adversary in the other two lawsuits. Although we wish
they were more proactive in enforcing the ban, both ALDF and the
Department want the Louisiana big cat ban upheld. The next step is for
our litigation team to file exceptions to Mr. Sandlin’s case and an
opposition to his request for an injunction against the big cat ban.
We
are optimistic that we will prevail and the court will uphold
Louisiana’s right to protect public safety and animal welfare by
prohibiting private possession of majestic animals like Tony. Our hope
is that once Mr. Sandlin’s case is over, the Department will act quickly
to ensure Tony’s removal to a humane sanctuary.
If this sounds
complicated and frustratingly slow, that’s because it is. In order to
manage large case loads and protect the due process rights of litigants,
the legal system may take a while to resolve contentious issues. We too
are growing impatient with every extra day Tony spends in captivity at
the truck stop, and we are doing everything we can to accelerate his
release to a proper sanctuary.
Update
Tony Copyright Mary Haik
Harnfa Copyright Cee4life
There
have been so many back-and-forth motions in the battle over the fate of
the Siberian/Bengal tiger, Tony (pictured), at the Tiger Truck Stop in
Gross Tete, La., it would be next to impossible for me to summarize
them. At once, it’s been quite a while since I posted an update, so here
goes:
