LSU Tiger Controversy

Cmire4 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons

On Saturday, November 9th, the LSU Tigers brought a live tiger named Omar Bradley onto the field before their game against the Alabama Crimson Tide in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Although the tiger was only on the field for a few minutes before its cage was driven off the field, controversy has sparked over the inhumanity of the act.

LSU has a long-standing tradition of bringing its mascot, a tiger, onto the field before games. However, this tradition seemingly stopped in 2015 after PETA and fans of the team criticized these actions. 

The LSU ethics committee decided to keep their current mascot, Mike VII, on the school campus in a carefully designed habitat following the death of the previous mascot, Mike the V. 

Fans and activists protested bringing Omar to the game because even though LSU’s actual mascot isn’t there, bringing large cats onto fields with loud noises and bright lights has been known to have adverse effects.

The tradition was brought back after the Louisiana Governor, Jeff Landry, pushed for it even though the LSU community petitioned against his decision and despite the university itself having ethical concerns. The petition gathered around 15,000 signatures, and animal rights activists protested outside the stadium during and after the game.

PETA also criticized the tiger’s owner, Mitchel Kalmanson, due to his multiple violations of the Animal Welfare Act as an exotic animal owner. 

“LSU rightly ended this idiotic, archaic practice nearly a decade ago after recognizing that it was cruel to subject a sensitive big cat to the noise, lights, and crowds in a football stadium,” said the PETA Foundation Associate Director, Klayton Rutherford when asked to comment on the situation in a CNN interview. 

The Louisiana Surgeon General, Ralph Abraham, has responded to people's comments and concerns: “We had numerous discussions and took every step to ensure this was safe for the tiger. I spent several hours with the tiger last night, and you could tell he was comfortable around people and enjoyed the attention.” In addition, Abraham said, “He’s in great health, well cared for by his owners, and socially acclimated. As both a veterinarian and medical doctor, I couldn’t think of a better day to literally and figuratively be a tiger.” This comment was made despite the many other times the tigers suffered negative effects after being under the lights and noise of the stadium. 

LSU is still under the spotlight about their decision to bring a cat onto the field after their hiatus from the tradition. Official statements from both Kalamanson and Governor Landry are pending. 

By Penelope Guest