Tribute to Shere Khan the Tiger

Photo was circa 1995. We do not display photos of people touching cats since 2004.

DOB 12/20/94. Rescued 3/12/95. DOD 8/27/14

If you saw The Tiger Next Door on Animal Planet, then you saw the horrid conditions at the facility owned by Dennis Hill in Flatrock, Indiana. The Tiger Next Door didn't air until 3/25/2010 and it was about USDA taking away Hill's permit and the DNR (Dept. of Natural Resources) seizing all but three tigers in 2005. What the show doesn't bring out is that the conditions you saw in the movie were far better than when DNR first inspected, although there were a few glimpses of tigers in mud up to their bellies, and it doesn't show that the awful, pre 2005 conditions were the status quo as far back as 1995 when I was there.

The tigers in the documentary, The Tiger Next Door, that ended up at Joe Taft's place in Indiana, named Tony and Patty where Shere Khan's parents. When I visited Dennis Hill in 1995 he had rows upon rows of dog run styled cages, a foot or more deep in rotting feces and mud, filthy water pans, flimsy cages, some had only a rope or belt to hold a door shut, no roofs on many of the cages and then there was the barn.

You didn't see much of it in the film, but it was dark, filthy and crammed as full of leopards, tigers, cougars and other exotic cats as could be fitted in tiny, barren cages. The version on Animal Planet also didn't show much of Dennis Hill's house and the obvious signs of hoarding. It was so nasty I didn't want to touch anything in the house.

My skin crawled from fleas and mites. I couldn't wait to get out of the house and back to our plane, but that is when I saw Shere Khan in the corner. Shere Khan stole our hearts when we saw him on 3/12/95. Though he was bred to be a white tiger, he was born “the wrong color.” His birth was a result of the incessant demand for white tigers by a public that is fascinated by oddities.

Though many people believe that the white tiger is an “endangered” species that should be bred to be saved, this is a total lie. The white tiger results from a color mutation that happens infrequently in the wild and usually is not passed along. White animals in a forest environment would not live long due to their inability to hide and sneak up on prey. When you hear the phrase “survival of the fittest,” remember that nature does not allow the genetically mutated white tiger to survive in the wild nor should we in captivity.

Shere Khan did not have much of a chance for survival from the start. Dennis Hill had pre-sold him as a white cub, but the purchaser kept putting off his delivery date. He finally cancelled the sale when Shere Khan was already four months old. The breeders were left with a quickly growing cub on their hands and no other facilities for him other than a small carrier.

He was up to his belly in feces and decaying food in a pet taxi that seemed to just bust at the seams with tiger fur. He never got the vitamins and exercise he needed as a growing cub, so his back legs were badly underdeveloped. He was very sick for a long time and suffered major problems from calcium deficiency. X-rays showed that his baby canine teeth were rotting in their sockets from his malnourishment and they had to be excised because they had rotted through his face. His bones were mere paper shells and one wrong jump could easily break a leg.

We supplemented him three times a day with calcium to encourage healthy bones and teeth. Shere Khan is a perfect example of why people should not be allowed to have such animals as pets. Though he grew to be well over 700 pounds and was picture of health for most of his life, it has been a long, expensive road.

His 3-acre cat-a-tat provided him with plenty of room to run through the marsh and swim in the spring-fed lake. He was been neutered so that there is no "accidental" breeding with his constant companion and playmate China Doll.

Dennis Hill's facility was finally shut down by USDA and the Indiana DNR in 2005.

China Doll passed away in April of 2014 and Shere Khan has been suffering from debilitating arthritis and advanced kidney disease. On August 27, 2014 we made the decision to end his life humanely and hope that he and China Doll are once again together in the afterlife.

Dennis Hill threatened to have me killed by Mario Tabraue, of Zoological Wildlife Foundation, prior to being shut down. I was petitioning the state to not allow him to keep three cats, after dumping the rest on Joe Taft, in order to come into compliance. I knew if he kept tigers he’d breed tigers and we would be right back at square one in no time. I didn’t know how credible the threat was until I learned about Tabraue years later.

Hi, I’m Carole Baskin and I’ve been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views. If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story. The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/

I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story. My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.

You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile!

Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile

You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org

Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue

Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.