Thousands of students are petitioning against the appearance of a live tiger being paraded in Death Valley during this Saturday’s football matchup against Alabama. Animal rights activists, including PETA, have spoke out against the decision, calling it “shameful” and “idiotic.”
At least six student-led petitions are circulating that condemn the slated appearance of a live tiger on the field. As of Friday afternoon, these petitions have collected over 15,000 signatures.
“It’s shameful and out of touch with today’s respect for wild species that LSU has bowed to Gov. Jeff Landry’s campaign to display a live tiger at its football games to amuse the fans,” a statement issued from PETA reads. “Whether the tiger is confined to campus or shipped in from elsewhere, no reputable facility would subject a tiger to such chaos and stress.”
Defending the decision as a nod to LSU tradition Landry said that bringing a live tiger to the game honors the legacy of Mike I through VI, and said, “our hope is that maybe we can get this tiger to roar a couple of times…”
According to a WBRZ report, the mystery tiger, named Omar Bradley is already on his 10.5-hour journey to Baton Rouge from Florida.
One of the student-led petitions, authored by a group of LSU wildlife ecology students on Change.org, says the university’s potential decision to bring a live tiger back into Tiger Stadium is “misguided and harmful.”
The petition, citing PETA, claims the tiger will come from a facility with multiple USDA citations for failing to meet federal standards under the Animal Welfare Act.
The authors urge Landry and LSU to “make the compassionate, responsible and informed decision to keep this tradition discontinued.”
Another petition, made by early childhood education sophomore, Nyashia Jarrel on Thursday afternoon, will be presented to LSU Athletics in hopes LSU will “make the smart and educated choice not to put an animal in harm’s way.”
“We have the top vet school in the state,” Jarrel said. “Doing something as harmful as taking a solitary animal in a small cage into one of the loudest and most stressful environments will not reflect well on our vet school.”
