Retire Tiger as Louisiana Football Mascot
- by: Nyack Clancy
- recipient: Louisiana State University President/ Chancellor William L. Jenkins
The Louisiana State University Tigers football team, also known as the Fighting Tigers or Bayou Bengals, have a live school mascot, Mike the Tiger. It has been the tradition of the University to have live tiger mascots since 1936. This is the 6th live tiger mascot of LSU, making him Mike VI.
The first live tiger mascot, Mike I, was kidnapped from the Baton Rouge campus, and abandoned in New Orleans- both the tiger and the cage were found spray painted Tulane green by a rival college football team.
Recently, it has encourged other schools to rent big cats, kept in small cages in conditions that are considered by some to be animal cruelty. Washington State University in Seattle kept a tiger in a small cage during football practice, and Loyola Marymount University of Los Angeles, California, hired a lion for the start of fall classes- to show their school spirit.
This "tradition" began before tigers became an endangered species. An institution of higher learning has the choice and the intellectual capacity to make the right decision when it comes to respecting wildlife- especially an endangered species such as the Bengal tiger. We ask Louisiana State University to retire Mike the Tiger as a school mascot and end this tradition.
Louisiana State University
President/ Chancellor William L. Jenkins
Office of the Chancellor
156 Thomas Boyd Hall
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
Telephone: 225-578-6977
Fax: 225-578-5982
E-mail: chancellor@lsu.edu
The Louisiana State University Tigers football team, also known as the Fighting Tigers or Bayou Bengals, have a live school mascot, Mike the Tiger. It has been the tradition of the University to have live tiger mascots since 1936. This is the 6th live tiger mascot of LSU, making him Mike VI.
The first live tiger mascot, Mike I, was kidnapped from the Baton Rouge campus, and abandoned in New Orleans- both the tiger and the cage were found spray painted Tulane green by a rival college football team.
Recently, it has encourged other schools to rent big cats, kept in small cages in conditions that are considered by some to be animal cruelty. Washington State University in Seattle kept a tiger in a small cage during football practice, and Loyola Marymount University of Los Angeles, California, hired a lion for the start of fall classes- to show their school spirit.
This "tradition" began before tigers became an endangered species. An institution of higher learning has the choice and the intellectual capacity to make the right decision when it comes to respecting wildlife- especially an endangered species such as the Bengal tiger. We ask Louisiana State University to retire Mike the Tiger as a school mascot and end this tradition.
Louisiana State University
President/ Chancellor William L. Jenkins
Office of the Chancellor
156 Thomas Boyd Hall
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
Telephone: 225-578-6977
Fax: 225-578-5982
E-mail: chancellor@lsu.edu
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