For Once, PETA Might Have A Legit Complaint Regarding LSU Bringing A Live Tiger To The Sidelines Saturday
PETA is complaining about the fact that there will be a live animal on the sidelines of a college football game this Saturday - but its complaint might be legitimate this time.
The Alabama Crimson Tide are traveling to Baton Rouge tomorrow night to play the LSU Tigers in an epic SEC clash. Since this is one of the biggest games of the year, LSU decided to get an actual Tiger to be on the sideline for the game, which is so based (the tiger’s name is "Omar Bradley"). Could you imagine the optics of having one of the most fearsome predators on the planet roaming your sideline? That’s so epic.
Gov. Jeff Landry’s camp seems to be fully onboard with the idea as well.
However, PETA is less than thrilled about this situation, and issued a loooong statement voicing their displeasure.
"It’s shameful and out of touch with today’s respect for wild species that LSU has bowed to Gov. Landry’s campaign to display a live tiger at its football games to amuse the fans," Klayton Rutherford, PETA Foundation associate director of captive wildlife research, said. "Whether the tiger is confined to campus or shipped in from elsewhere, no reputable facility would subject a tiger to such chaos and stress, and PETA and nearly 50,000 of its supporters have already called on Landry to let up and leave big cats alone — and are now urging LSU to grow a spine and just say no."
Now to be fair, Mitchel Kalmanson (the provider does have a history of citations against him, and tigers have escaped in his care before (that would NOT be cool to have a real tiger on the loose in Death Valley). It doesn’t mean that Omar Bradley will necessarily be treated poorly, but Kalmanson’s record does leave a lot to be desired.
In a separate statement, PETA said that this is an improper power dynamic being played out.
A Bengal tiger. (Photo by Lokman Ilhan/Anadolu via Getty Images)
"Tigers are naturally solitary and shun human contact, and to deny them their nature by treating them like a sideline spectacle is the epitome of speciesism—a human-supremacist worldview," PETA said in a statement.
Taking an animal out of its natural habitat for one in-person event isn’t a sign of egregious animal cruelty. PETA should at least give Kalmanson the chance to prove that he can take care of an animal before it claims that this is a death sentence for the Tiger.
But then again, PETA might be on to something. Everyone is allowed to be right occasionally.