Tom Sandoval is yet again embracing his well-practiced villain persona. He’s facing a barrage of criticism from fans and fellow cast members. Why? Oh, just for casually hanging out with a confined tiger. PETA immediately entered the chat to educate the Vanderpump Rules star with a sternly-worded letter after a video surfaced of him cozying up to a tiger at Tiger World Thailand.
Tom’s Thailand tiger experience angers PETA
Tom took to his Instagram Stories on Tuesday to share pics and vids of his captive tiger experience. His content showed him feeding the undoubtedly miserable big cats some chicken. Their handlers then attempted to get them to cooperate for a photoshoot with poo-poo head Tom.
Even though Tom’s Story is now obsolete, the internet is forever, and the backlash was swift. PETA took notice quickly and fired off a letter to Tom, which TMZ got a hold of.
In their letter, PETA lectures Tom on the apparent ignorance behind his little photo session. “When popular folks like you pose with wild animals, people are moved to support pay-to-play animal experiences, for which big-cat cubs are torn away from their mothers prematurely and denied their freedom as well as anything remotely natural and important to them,” they scold.
PETA then took the opportunity to school Tom on tiger behavior, emphasizing that wild tigers steer clear of humans (I’d assume Sandy especially, since even many of us humans don’t want to be around him either) and prefer the solitary, reclusive life. They drive the point home, stating, “Any human interaction with big cats poses dangers for both humans and the felines, and captive big cats have attacked and killed their captors and visitors.”
PETA gave Tom some parting advice, saying he should consider consulting them before his next impromptu visit to the zoo.
Some of Tom’s VPR castmates also spoke out against his tiger stunt
While Tom managed to escape the tiger encounter physically unharmed, the online world is buzzing with criticism from fans and even his VPR colleagues, Lala Kent and James Kennedy.
Lala made a post in her Instagram Stories rebuking her unnamed “cast member” for patronizing a business that keeps animals in captivity.
And James, the Statler to Lala’s Waldorf, was disgusted by Tom’s decision as well, speaking out against animal cruelty and resurrecting his oft-quoted Tom-aimed insult of “worm with(out) a mustache.”
Though I’d love to see Tom thrown into the lion’s den and torn to shreds by his angry co-stars when VPR returns, that’s the only time he should be messing around with big cats!
Season 11 of Vanderpump Rules premieres on January 30 at 8/7c on Bravo.
TELL US – ARE YOU DISGUSTED BY TOM’S TIGER PHOTO OP? SHOULD HE APOLOGIZE? DID TOM KNOW HE’D RECEIVE NEGATIVE ATTENTION FROM PETA?
