Siberian-Bengal Tiger (Tony) Still Living in Squalor in Cage at the Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete, Louisiana: How to Express Your Horror

Talk about a living hell. I think it’s obvious why this is absolutely ridiculous and horribly cruel, but in case you don’t get why:

“Tony has spent the past decade in a small enclosure that is devoid of any forms of enrichment, like trees, logs or other plants that would allow him to live like a tiger should. He has suffered through ten hot and humid Louisiana summers with no pool of water large enough to cool himself. Day and night, Tony's sensitive ears and nose are subjected to the loud drone of the nearby freeway and the noise and noxious fumes from the idling trucks.”

Follow this Link to Help Save Tony the Tiger From His Truck Stop Cage http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/702/334/602/?z00m=19971626

Due to Evidence of Abuse, Group Seeks to Revoke the Renewal of the Animal Exhibitor License To Feld Entertainment, Owner of Ringling Bros. Circus

As if the photo used in this story (see link to story below) isn’t enough to prove the unnatural nature and cruelty of the circus in relation to the use of live animals, then perhaps the evidence brought out in this incredible move will do so.

My hats off to making an attempt to make the end of Ringling Bros. circus legal. There is no doubt, given what has come forth, both from undercover videos and even prior Ringling Bros. employees, that the circus MUST use force and torture to make animals do very unnatural acts.

As stated below, “PETA says it has amassed 700 pages of documents, videos and photos alleging a history of abuse at the circus ranging from "breaking" baby elephants with electric prods and sharp metal hooks to whipping a tiger until it collapsed and lost control of its bowels….’The only way you can get a several-ton elephant to stand on his head is from fear of pain…’

“PETA also alleges a pattern of coverups, including lying to inspectors after animal injuries and hastily installing just the visible parts of a cage cooling system after a lion named Clyde died of heat stroke in a train crossing the sweltering Mojave desert in 2004.”

In terms of proof from inside Ringling Bros. as to the reality of its animal torture:

“Frank Hagan, a veteran Ringling Bros. lion handler who had asked the circus to stop the train and was later fired, told PETA he was threatened by circus lawyers to keep quiet about the big cat's death, PETA told The News.”

I’ve posted the story below. We can only hope for a successful result.

This video was part of the article I’ve posted below. Please take the time to view.

Article:

PETA to ask feds to shut Ringling Bros., claiming circus is guilty of elephant torture, coverups

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/04/12/2010-04-12_a_circus_of_horrors_animal_torture_coverups_all_part_of_ringling_bros_show_says_.html

BY HELEN KENNEDY

DAILY NEWS STAFFER WRITER

Sunday, April 11th 2010, 10:04 PM

Shutting down Ringling Bros.

PETA's war against Ringling Bros. escalates Monday when the animal rights group asks the feds to shut the popular circus, accusing it of elephant torture and brazen coverups.

"They've lied, they've tampered with evidence and they've thwarted the inspectors," said Jeff Kerr, general counsel for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

In a letter to be delivered Monday, PETA asks the Department of Agriculture to revoke or block the April 28 renewal of the animal exhibitor license issued to Feld Entertainment, which owns Ringling Bros.

"Abusive and violent treatment of animals ... is part and parcel of Ringling's traveling circus, which requires powerful animals, many of whom were once wild, to learn and perform tricks that are alien to their nature," writes PETA president Ingrid Newkirk.

Circus officials could not be reached for comment Sunday, but they have always insisted their animals are well cared for.

Past attempts to prosecute the circus for the same or similar claims have been unsuccessful.

A lawsuit brought against Ringling Bros. by a former trainer alleging rampant elephant abuse was dismissed in December by a judge who ruled the trainer had no standing to sue the circus.

PETA has filed a series of abuse complaints in the past to little effect, but the group hopes to get a more favorable hearing from the Obama administration than its predecessor.

"This is the first time we've taken all the evidence and put it together to show that this is not just one bad trainer, having one bad day, with one bad elephant," said Debbie Leahy, PETA's director of captive animal rescue. "This is chronic and systemic."

PETA says it has amassed 700 pages of documents, videos and photos alleging a history of abuse at the circus ranging from "breaking" baby elephants with electric prods and sharp metal hooks to whipping a tiger until it collapsed and lost control of its bowels.

"The only way you can get a several-ton elephant to stand on his head is from fear of pain," Kerr said. Last year, the Daily News was first to report on the group's undercover video showing elephants being beaten backstage at the Greatest Show on Earth.

PETA also alleges a pattern of coverups, including lying to inspectors after animal injuries and hastily installing just the visible parts of a cage cooling system after a lion named Clyde died of heat stroke in a train crossing the sweltering Mojave desert in 2004.

Frank Hagan, a veteran Ringling Bros. lion handler who had asked the circus to stop the train and was later fired, told PETA he was threatened by circus lawyers to keep quiet about the big cat's death, PETA told The News.

Last week, a circus elephant named Dumbo stomped its handler to death in Pennsylvania - a coincidence of timing that PETA says underscores their argument that animals shouldn't be forced to perform tricks.

Recent Event at San Francisco Zoo Regarding Siberian Tiger Attack Once Again Proves Unnatural State of Zoos and Animals in Captivity

As stated below, it is possible that the teens were taunting the captive tiger. Life in captivity and this taunting could easily cause an already-stressed tiger to act.

A tragedy for all sides.

Article:

Cops: Tiger attack victim helped friend By JORDAN ROBERTSON and MARCUS WOHLSEN, Associated Press Writers

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071228/
ap_on_re_us/tiger_escapes

SAN FRANCISCO - The last minutes of a 17-year-old boy's life were spent trying to save his friend from the tiger that was mauling him at the San Francisco Zoo, only to have the animal turn on him, police and family members said.

Carlos Sousa Jr. and his friend's brother desperately tried to distract the 350-pound Siberian tiger, but the big cat instead came after Sousa.

"He didn't run. He tried to help his friend, and it was him who ended up getting it the worst," the teen's father, Carlos Sousa Sr., said Thursday after meeting with police.

The heroic portrait of Sousa and a timeline of the dramatic Christmas Day attack emerged as officials revealed that the tiger's escape from its enclosure may have been aided by walls that were well below the height recommended by the accrediting agency for the nation's zoos.

San Francisco Zoo Director Manuel A. Mollinedo acknowledged that the wall around the animal's pen was just 12 1/2 feet high, after previously saying it was 18 feet. According to the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, the walls around a tiger exhibit should be at least 16.4 feet high.

Mollinedo said it was becoming increasingly clear the tiger leaped or climbed out, perhaps by grabbing onto a ledge. Investigators have ruled out the theory the tiger escaped through a door behind the exhibit at the zoo, which remained closed Friday.

"She had to have jumped," he said. "How she was able to jump that high is amazing to me."

Mollinedo said safety inspectors had examined the wall, built in 1940, and never raised any red flags about its size.

"When the AZA came out and inspected our zoo three years ago, they never noted that as a deficiency," he said. "Obviously now that something's happened, we're going to be revisiting the actual height."

The 4-year-old tiger, a female named Tatiana, went on a rampage near closing time Tuesday, killing Sousa and severely injuring the two others before police shot it to death.

Brothers Paul Dhaliwal, 19, and Kulbir Dhaliwal, 23, were at San Francisco General Hospital with severe bite and claw wounds. Their names were provided by hospital and law enforcement sources who spoke on condition of anonymity because the family had not yet given permission to release their names.

After interviewing the brothers, police said Kulbir Dhaliwal was the animal's first victim.

As the tiger clawed and bit him, Sousa and the younger brother yelled in hopes of scaring it off him, police said. The cat then went for Sousa, slashing his neck as the brothers ran to a zoo cafe for help.

After killing the teenager, the tiger followed a trail of blood left by Kulbir Dhaliwal about 300 yards to the cafe, where it mauled both men, police said.

Four officers who had already discovered Sousa's body then arrived and found the cat sitting next to one of the bloodied brothers, police Chief Heather Fong said. The victim yelled, "Help me! Help me!" and the animal resumed its attack, Fong said.

The officers used their patrol car lights to distract the tiger, and it turned and began approaching them, leading all four to open fire, she said.

Police are still investigating how Tatiana was able to leave the enclosure.

At least one expert said the wall was low enough for the tiger to leap to the top.

Zoo officials said a "moat" separating the habitat from the public viewing area that measured 33 feet across contained no water, and has never had any. They did not address whether that affected the tiger's ability to get out.

"I think it could be feasible for a cat that has been taunted or angered," Jack Hanna, former director of the Columbus Zoo, said Thursday. "I don't think it would ever just do it to do it."

Police have not addressed whether the victims had teased the tiger.

On Thursday, Fong denied earlier reports that police were looking into the possibility that the victims had dangled a leg or other body part over the edge of the moat, after a shoe and blood was found inside the enclosure. No shoe was found inside, but a shoeprint was found on the railing of the fence surrounding the enclosure, and police are checking it against the shoes of the three victims, she said.

AZA spokesman Steven Feldman said the minimum recommended height of 16.4 feet is just a guideline and that a zoo could still be deemed safe even if its wall were lower.

Accreditation standards require "that the barriers be adequate to keep the animals and people apart from each other," Feldman said. "Obviously something happened to cause that not to be the case in this incident."

Many other U.S. zoos have significantly higher walls around their tigers.

Mollinedo said surveillance cameras and new fencing will be installed around the exhibit.