The Indiana man who raised LSU’s live tiger mascot Mike VI as a cub is still planning to travel to Baton Rouge to say goodbye, even though he couldn’t make it before the tiger was euthanized on Tuesday to spare him further suffering from cancer.
The Town Talk reports that Steve Cotner will travel from Logansport, Indiana, to Baton Rouge to personally thank the staff at LSU’s School of Veterinary Medicine and bid farewell to Mike VI. Pineville native Jeri Guinn started a GoFundMe page before the tiger’s death to fund Cotner’s visit to the then-dying tiger one final time. She reached her $3,000 goal in two days, and the logistics of the trip were still being worked out when Mike VI was euthanized.
“I’m heartbroken,” Guinn tells The Town Talk. “So many people were invested in this. Everybody wanted a happy ending. It just hurts.”
Cotner was the primary handler for Mike VI when the tiger was a cub—then called Roscoe—living at the Great Cats of Indiana, a nonprofit sanctuary and rescue facility for big cats and other large carnivores. Until Mike got too large, Cotner would bring the tiger home at night, where he would cuddle in his handler’s lap while they watched TV together. He made sure to socialize Mike as much as possible.
Guinn is now working with interested parties to plan the trip to Baton Rouge for Cotner and his wife. In addition to cash donations, Guinn has received offers of help including donated airline miles, hotel points, even pilots willing to fly them on personal planes.
“I wish it could have worked out differently,” she says. “It’s just such a touching story. Mike was like family to him.”
