Louisiana State University (LSU) brought out a tiger during their game against the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday, November 9. This stunt divided fans who were both ecstatic and totally against it. Details surrounding the tiger itself and who it belongs to are murky at best. The LSU Tigers lost 13-42 against Alabama.
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This stunt which has been labeled as "cruel and dangerous" by PETA was pushed by Jeff Landry, Lousiana governor. The tiger came onto the field and revealed to the crowd after a video showed the history of the LSU mascot. The tiger, however, was not LSU's tiger that lives on campus.
Mike VII, the actual LSU tiger, did not make an appearance on Saturday. This is due to a decision made by LSU after their previous tiger, Mike VI, died of cancer in 2016. Instead, Governor Landry managed to secure a tiger coming from Florida. However, the tiger's owner, Mitchel Kalmanson, has been accused of animal abuse, leading to protests and a PETA statement shared with the Daily Mail.
Tiger Backlash
"Trucking a stressed tiger across state lines and cramming him into a clear box in a raucous football stadium is not only cruel and dangerous, it's also apparently illegal in Louisiana," reads the statement, issued by Klayton Rutherford, Associate Director of Captive Wildlife Research. "So it's no surprise that only a scofflaw showman like Mitchel Kalmanson would do it."
"PETA has filed an urgent complaint with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries asking it to pursue all available remedies against Kalmanson for this cheap stunt and urges LSU to ignore the bizarre—and unlawful—mandate from Louisiana's attention-seeking governor and reject the idea of bringing tormented wild animals to games."
Among the many allegations, Kalmanson's tigers have escaped, caught bone disease, have not been properly fed, and live in substandard conditions. The tiger in LSU's game on Saturday came from Florida in a 10-hour travel.
LSU, however, states in their Tiger Athletic Foundation website that they do care about the tigers they possess and bring to campus. "LSU has not purchased a tiger since Mike III in 1958, and LSU does not support the for-profit breeding of tigers," reads their website. "By providing a home for a tiger that needs one, LSU hopes to raise awareness about the problem of irresponsible breeding and the plight of tigers kept illegally and/or inappropriately in captivity in the U.S."
