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I’m writing regarding Tony, the tiger kept in a concrete cage at the Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete.

For years, whenever I have driven down that stretch of Interstate 10, I have averted my eyes from the signs advertising a live tiger at a truck stop.

I knew — just from the signs — of the cruelty I would witness if I ever took that exit. I didn’t think there was anything I could do to help the tiger, so I simply tried to shut his fate out of my mind.

I was overjoyed when I first saw the recent news coverage of Tony’s plight — there were other people who felt as I did, and there was something I could do to help him!

You may have seen photos of Mike the Tiger taken during Baton Rouge’s recent historic snowfall. These photos have no doubt been widely circulated throughout the state and beyond, and many of your readers may have seen them.

I would ask anyone with a heart to compare photos of Mike the Tiger and Tony the Tiger. Look at Mike romping in the snow!

We LSU fans love our Mike the Tiger! Isn’t it a disgrace that visitors traveling on I-10 East to Baton Rouge have to witness a beloved and proud symbol of our university, the tiger, treated with such cruelty? I can only conclude that visitors must think we are “backward” — a negative label our state has held for too long.

Let’s show visitors to our great state how much we LOVE OUR TIGERS! Let’s get poor Tony moved to a big-cat sanctuary, where he can live out the rest of his life with dignity and respect!

Claire Selleck
Administration
Baton Rouge