After Tom Sandoval received major backlash for posing with a tiger in captivity, his Vanderpump Rules co-star Lala Kent weighed in on the controversy.
On Wednesday, Kent took to social media to address the “heartbreaking” act.
“I am appalled by the photo my cast member took with a tiger in captivity,” she wrote Wednesday on her Instagram Story. “This topic has been close to my heart for many years. What is disguised as ‘fun’ and ‘cool’ is, in fact, animal abuse. It’s heartbreaking. I’ve made noise about educating yourselves, & here I am to tell you again … Do not support places like this.”
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In a video reposted Wednesday by Vanderpump Rules fan page Pump Rules on Instagram, the Bravolebrity can be seen sitting in the middle of a tiger enclosure as one zoo worker feeds the animal a mystery substance from a bottle while the other works to help hoist the tiger into a position on top of the Everybody Loves Tom podcaster’s shoulders.
VPR fans were quick to denounce Sandoval’s actions, with one social media user writing, “Yeah dude. Add animal abuse to your list. You’re 40 years old. GROW UP,” while another said, “When all you have left is VPR & will do ANYTHING for publicity before the new season drops. As suuurely no one is this dumb now?!”
Reps for Sandoval declined to comment when reached by The Messenger.
Zoos that offer wildlife photo ops for tourists often treat their animals unethically, including keeping them in cages until they’re brought out for photographs, drugging them to keep them docile around humans, declawing them and more, according to National Geographic. It is unclear if Tiger World Thailand participates in those practices.