Appeals Court Hears Truck Stop Tiger Case

An attorney for a truck stop owner told a Louisiana appeals court that an animal rights group and several individuals had no legal right to file suit in 2010 challenging a Grosse Tete truck stop's state permit to house a 550-pound tiger at the facility.

But a lawyer representing the Animal Legal Defense Fund and the other plaintiffs countered that Tony poses a threat to the "safety and welfare of the citizens" and that those very citizens, as taxpayers, had the right to contest the permit.

The Advocate reports a three-judge panel of the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal heard the arguments Tuesday. The panel took the arguments under advisement without indicating when a decision would be issued.

Tony has been at Tiger Truck Stop for more than a decade.