Lions, tigers and jaguars?
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says no, not if theyare live animal mascots.
PETA has asked four colleges and universities to retire theirlive feline mascots to a TAOS accredited sanctuary.
The University of Memphis and Louisiana State University are theonly two universities to have live Bengal tigers that serve asmascots.
The tigers are taken to both football and basketball games. TheUniversity of North Alabama has a lion mascot and SouthernUniversity and A&M College has a jaguar.
The schools have been targeted by PETA in years past but areagain on the group's Action Alert again following the attack on RoyHorn in Las Vegas October. Horn was on stage during a show when aperforming tiger bit him on the arm and the neck before dragginghim off stage. The attack brought the issue of live mascots to theforefront once again.
In the last year, there have been a dozen other big cat attacksin the United States alone.
In August, a cheetah at the St. Louis Zoo swam through a 12-footmoat and jumped over a 12-foot wall before walking among the zoo'svisitors and eventually being captured by zoo officials. Thecheetah's escape did not result in any injuries, but the St. LouisZoo was lucky.
In July, a circus trainer in La Crosse, Wis. was mauled by hisperforming tiger in front of 40 spectators, requiring him to getmore than 30 stitches in his right leg.
However, proponents of live animal mascots say their animals arenot used in the same way as performing tigers for circuses andVegas shows. The big cats at schools are valued by the fans andtreated like royalty.
"Mike V (the tiger) is the king of Baton Rouge, everybody loveshim," said Suzanne Reese, a graduate of LSU and avid fan. "It istradition to stop by his cage and visit him on any road trip toBaton Rouge."
She talked about his waterfalls and den on campus and how theschool has built him many new cages. She also talked about thepre-game activities when the caretakers parade Mike around thefield in a cage and everybody cheers.
"After that, they have to take him back to his den because DeathValley is too loud," Reese said.
But one of PETA's concerns is that the cats could escape andattack fans.
"I have never felt unsafe nor have I heard anyone else complainthat they feel it is unsafe to have Mike located right there oncampus or at the stadium during football games," Reese said.
Mike is the fifth tiger to be the mascot for LSU. He was donatedby Thomas and Caroline Atchison of the Animal House ZoologicalSanctuary in Moulton, Ala.
The Atchisons rescue animals of all species to ensure they liveout better lives, they began 17 years ago.
The first Mike was purchased from the Little Rock Zoo in 1936.He was named after then athletic trainer Mike Chambers. He wasoriginally housed in the Baton Rouge Zoo while his permanent homewas being built near the Tigers' football stadium, where it stillis today.
The original Mike served as the LSU mascot for 20 years beforedying of pneumonia. His death came in the middle of a six-gamelosing streak by the Tigers, so officials kept his death a secret,for fear their fans would lose hope if they knew their belovedmascot had died.
LSU is currently in a grassroots effort to raise money to buildMike a new living habitat. The campaign is called "I Like Mike" andhas began in 2001.
Mike's current habitat is 2,000 square feet with only a fewamenities. The new facility is planned to be 15,000 square feetwith an oak tree, as well as a waterfall and stream overflowingfrom a rocky backdrop with plants and trees.
"Mike's new habitat will be built on top of his current one oncampus. Our plan is to give him a more natural type environment,"said Bobbie Grand of LSU's Tiger Athletic Foundation.
"We can't borrow money for the new facility because it is anon-revenue fund, so we have to raise the money before we can beginbuilding the new habitat," Grand said. "Thanks to PETA, we haveseen an increase in donations. The campaign will become theschool's capital campaign in January, so we hope to have raisedenough money in the next six months to begin building."
The University of Memphis has also been targeted by PETA, butrepresentatives feel this is in error.
TOM II has been The U of M's mascot since September 1991following the death of the original TOM. The original TOM washoused at the Memphis Zoo, and his name stands for "Tigers ofMemphis". He was donated to the Highland Hundred by the samezoological sanctuary in Moulton, Ala. that gave LSU Mike. TheHighland Hundred is the Tigers' football booster club and theprimary care-taking and fund-raising organization for TOM.
"We raise money at meetings to pay for TOM's food and insurancefees so he can attend football games," said Bobby Wharton, formerpresident of Highland Hundred.
Every time the tiger is put in his cage to leave his compound,the Highland Hundred has to pay a $600 insurance fee, which hasnearly doubled since the PETA controversy has begun.
TOM II is a little different from the other live mascots. The Uof M doesn't pay for any of his expenses. The Highland Hundredbuilt him a habitat in Collierville, Tenn., about 30 minutes awayfrom the school in a rural outskirt of the city.
His habitat is 27 acres and includes a 3,500 square foot house,two swimming pools and waterfalls. He eats about 700 pounds of rawmeat each month.
"Class A exotic rules in Tennessee are very stringent, but wemeet every qualification. We are inspected regularly and pass withflying colors every time," Wharton said. "We have invited PETA tovisit the facility twice, but so far they have not accepted."
Many Memphis fans are outraged at the accusations made by PETAofficials.
"I can't believe they think our cat is mistreated. He is thecalmest looking big animal I have ever seen, and he always looks sowell fed," said David Toombs, a U of M graduate and lifetime Tigerfan. "I wish I lived like TOM does. He lives better than most ofour students. We can't get rid of him because he is such a big partof our athletic tradition."
Wharton said the Highland Hundred has received many phone callsand e-mails in support of TOM II.
In a recent e-mail from Amy Rhodes at PETA to Highland Hundredrepresentative Scott Forman, Rhodes said TAOS accreditedsanctuaries are measured in acres, not feet.
This is in response to Forman's e-mail to her citing the cat's3,500 square foot house. He forgot to tell her it is on 27 acres ofland.
Also in her e-mail to The U of M Rhodes said live cat mascotswill encourage others to try to keep tigers as house pets. Asmentioned earlier, the rules for keeping exotic animals asdomesticated animals are very stringent.
However, there are those who have kept big cats as pets. Oneweek after the cheetah escaped from the St. Louis Zoo, a cougarthat was being kept as a pet in Ohio got loose from his collar. The180-pound animal broke free and attacked a neighbors' dog, causingmore than 100 lacerations.
Rhodes contends that these animals are raised to perform and are"made quietly angry by being kept as a captive." Forman respondedthat TOM is a fifth generation Bengal tiger bred in captivity, soany wild urges the animal may feel are suppressed.
TOM is kept in a sound proof cage and usually sleeps duringgames.
Southern University and A&M College, another Baton RougeUniversity, is also being targeted by PETA for having a jaguar astheir live school mascot. Lacumba the jaguar has been the school'smascot since the 1970s and is housed in a cage on campus.
"He is well taken care of and is never released from his cage,"said Keisha Lacour, assistant to the chancellor for MediaRelations.
PETA is asking the schools to retire their cats and send them toTAOS sanctuaries. There are nine TAOS sanctuaries across the UnitedStates. There are five categories of these sanctuaries that providepermanent care for animals who were raised for food, or to work ona farm or similar setting, or for wildlife, like college cats, whohave been displaced from their natural setting.
In the sanctuaries, the animals are not allowed to breed and arenot allowed to participate in commercial activities of any kind.The sanctuaries accept a lifetime responsibility for animals intheir care.
