Carole Baskins Diary: Recent Episodes
Carole Baskin
This is the diary of Carole Baskin. You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile! Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile Find me everywhere at https://sociatap.com/CaroleBaskin/ This video is for entertainment purposes only.
My first fatherless Father’s Day. I miss you Dad.
“Life gets pretty precious when there’s no one between you and the grave.” My dad said that to me back when his mother died. He was NOT in the habit of being sentimental and never discussed his feelings with me, that I can recall, other than that one statement. That’s probably why I remember it.
I have to be upbeat and happy and do a Facebook LIVE session with our fans later, so I can’t cry right now. I’ve managed to distract myself up until now by using the holiday to give away a free cookbook that LaWanna and our fans co created, called Big Cat Style BBQ and Grilling. We’ve gotten about 600 downloads so far and built the email list by hundreds. We did this for Mother’s Day too, and it was a hit. Everyone knows I don’t cook, so I find it odd that anyone would download a cookbook from me, even if it is for free.
One of our fans made this sweet collage.
OK, now I’m crying, so I gotta quit.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Spoke with Jessica Speart today about writing a thriller on the big cat crisis. Kiz introduced us by email yesterday and we started the conversation by phone today. She’s coming to FL Aug 4-11 to see, first hand, some of the nasty road side zoos, to build out her story. I created a DropBox folder for her full of the stuff I know about the industry and the unsavory characters. Jessica writes about herself: I began as an investigative journalist with a focus on wildlife law enforcement, endangered species issues, and the environment. I created my sleuth, U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent Rachel Porter, after years of investigating wildlife and drug trafficking crimes for publications such as The New York Sunday Times Magazine, National Wildlife, Travel & Leisure, Mother Jones, Audubon, Wildlife Conservation, Animals, and E Magazine. Then something strange happened. I discovered that truth really IS stranger than fiction. I learned about a 3 year undercover operation that resulted in the arrest of the world's most notorious butterfly smuggler. The story was so dark and twisted that I was fascinated by it. But I didn't stop there. I decided I had to meet the smuggler, himself. That's when my book, WINGED OBSESSION, took on a totally unexpected element. Prior to writing, I worked as an actress on everything from off-Broadway to commercials, industrials, and soap operas. 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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
The maids are cleaning the house and I’m comforting Babylon and thinking about life.
Steve Jobs' last words.
STEVE JOBS (founder of Apple) Last Words before he died, that inspire me everyday, and oddly not really relayed by medias.
“I reached the pinnacle of success in the business world.
In others’ eyes, my life is an epitome of success.
However, aside from work, I have little joy. In the end, wealth is only a fact of life that I am accustomed to.
At this moment, lying on the sick bed and recalling my whole life, I realize that all the recognition and wealth that I took so much pride in, have paled and become meaningless in the face of impending death.
In the darkness, I look at the green lights from the life supporting machines and hear the humming mechanical sounds, I can feel the breath of God and of death drawing closer…
Now I know, when we have accumulated sufficient wealth to last our lifetime, we should pursue other matters that are unrelated to wealth…
Should be something that is more important:
Perhaps relationships, perhaps art, perhaps a dream from younger days …
Non-stop pursuing of wealth will only turn a person into a twisted being, just like me.
God gave us the senses to let us feel the love in everyone’s heart, not the illusions brought about by wealth.
The wealth I have won in my life I cannot bring with me.
What I can bring is only the memories precipitated by love.
That’s the true riches which will follow you, accompany you, giving you strength and light to go on.
Love can travel a thousand miles. Life has no limit. Go where you want to go. Reach the height you want to reach. It is all in your heart and in your hands.
What is the most expensive bed in the world? – “Sick bed” …
You can employ someone to drive the car for you, make money for you but you cannot have someone to bear the sickness for you.
Material things lost can be found. But there is one thing that can never be found when it is lost – “Life”.
When a person goes into the operating room, he will realize that there is one book that he has yet to finish reading – “Book of Healthy Life”.
Whichever stage in life we are at right now, with time, we will face the day when the curtain comes down.
Treasure Love for your family, love for your spouse, love for your friends…
Treat yourself well. Cherish others.”
Shared by Anantha Krishnan
I was always kind of amazed that such a brilliant man did so little for charity. I guess clarity came late for him.
I’ve been wrestling with what to do about Scott Haller. He’s my age and has been working with us for the past 5 years or more as our handyman. He was one of the few people my dad would work with, and I was grateful to have Scott watching over him as his health failed. The problem is that Scott’s health was failing fast too. For the past couple of years he’s been un able to do any sort of heavy lifting or work.
For the past year he’s been considering a lung transplant but the last time he was in the hospital for tests they collapsed a lung and he’s been in considerable pain since then. He’s not pulling his weight any more and I can’t justify keeping him on the payroll, but am having a hard time firing him too.
So many mornings we wake up this way.
This time my phone was laying where I could get a photo of Babylon without disturbing him. The slightest stirring in the morning is his signal to hop off the bed and seize the day.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Maya Cougar Arrived Today
This was the alert we sent out the day before:
A Forever Home for the Holidays
We are excited to share with you that a team of Big Cat Rescuers is right now driving from Ohio back to our sanctuary in Tampa with a female cougar named Mya!
She is 18 years old (which equates to about 100 in human years) and was voluntarily surrendered by her owner to the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
Not many elderly captive big cats ever have the opportunity for a second chance and a brand new life at an accredited sanctuary. Mya is scheduled to arrive at Big Cat Rescue this week, so she will be home for the holidays.
We plan to spoil her and give her the best veterinary care and nutrition possible. She’s going to live in a big enclosure next to Reise, another elderly female cougar. Big Cat Rescue volunteers are already preparing new toys and a platform in her enclosure.
Will you help us welcome Mya to her forever home and donate to her care?
Photo L-R Kathryn Stapleton, Lauren Buckingham and Jamie Veronica.
I can breathe again
After transferring my home Mac Air Laptop computer to an iMac, I had to reinstall all of my apps and this journal app alerted me that it would no longer sync to Dropbox after September 2017. That began the frantic scurrying to try and find all of the missing days between September and now. As I searched, the most recent I found was Dec. 2016.
Deep breath. Now I have them.
Now I have four copies of different versions I don’t need, but the good news is that it appears nothing is lost.
Jamie just left the Ohio Department of Ag with Maya the 18 year old cougar who was surrendered by her owner at 9AM. I am anxiously awaiting the first photo of her so I can send out an alert for fundraising.
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. These are my views and opinions. 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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I just spent $10,000 to make the house look bigger.
I just can’t stand the clutter in our home and have taken the opportunity, while Howie’s away for two weeks, to clean out the mess and devote at least two rooms of the house to my comfort. My office is one 10 x 10 room where I don’t have to look at piles of books, newspapers, legal briefs, tissue boxes, salt shakers, head phones, exercise equipment, cat toys, pill boxes or the thousands of little porcelain things his mother left to him.
Now, I have reclaimed the bedroom/ dining room/ living room. It’s 23 x 25 and all one open space. I tore all of that awful wallpaper that Alan Schreier chose back in the 90s and replaced it with mirrors. I even mirrored the glass panels on the china cabinet full of his mother’s “lovelies” as she called them (Howie said) so that I don’t have to look at piles upon piles of tiny tea cup sets.
I take a deep breath of gratitude even now, for the ability to afford ways to cohabitate with the man I love, without going crazy.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Email to LaWanna Mitchell: I may talk about this tonight on a LIVE FB feed. If I do, here is text you can include with it if you want.
I credit it for the recent sale of two vacant lots in Polk Co. After reading E squared and E cubed, I put out to the Universe that I wanted to see unexpected gifts; an amount so remarkable that I couldn't blow it off.
I've had the Northview lots for sale since 1993 and in all this time have had only one contract on them, which fell through in Feb of this year. In that contract I would have netted 10k. They were side by side lots, on a creek, (so there were set back issues) that were pie shaped and in a subdivision where there was not access to sewer, so the only option for building on them would be a very expensive septic and lift station. I've been up front about that to buyers, and that's what scared them off. This buyer didn't care.
I ordered the audio books, E squared and E cubed on Apr. 23, at the recommendation of Pat O'Shea who I introduced to The Secret in 2006. It took me a week or so to listen to the books and I put my expectation out to the Universe.
On May 4 I signed a contract on those two lots and closed yesterday, netting over $10,000.00 at closing. I didn't make any money on it, after hold them and paying taxes on them (for 24 YEARS!!!) but it was a huge gift of relief to me to get rid of them given the fact that I'd failed to unload them for so long. I pretty much broke even.
On May 13 I'd received so many little unexpected gifts, including the rather expensive Coach handbag that I did a thank you video to the people who had sent them. I know The Secret works and it's reminders like this that keep me strong in the belief of the power of our thoughts.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Rebuilding the Cat Walk in Tiger Lake
Every few years we have had to patch and re-patch the fencing at the water line of Tiger Lake. The Cat Walk had become so rickety that we quit taking large groups out on it for fear it would collapse into the tiger cages. We finally had the money to do it right: tear down and rebuild the cat walk and replace all of the wire with stainless steel that we would never have to replace. It came at a good time too because we’ve been in a drought and the lake was lower than I ever recall it being.
I decided to dike the big lake from the little lake and pump almost all of the water out of the little one into the big one. I couldn’t pump it all out because the spring is on this side and that would have created a huge fish kill, but we got it down low enough that we could stand on the bottom in waders and have our heads above water.
I wanted all hands on deck to get this done because once the rains start there would be no holding back all of the flooding from nearby development.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Sometimes I think my heart just can't take it. A couple days ago, as I was leaving for the day, I walked past Vacation Rotation where the three Texas Tigers were. The sun was setting, and I was enjoying the sunset and straining against the light to see if I could catch a glimpse of one of the tigers before I left. Way in the distance I could see the prone position, with head upraised, glorious golden fur ruffling in the wind, AND IT WAS OUTSIDE THE CAGE!!!
I stopped dead in my tracks, squinting to make it out better (like "is that Amanda, or one of the boys?") Either way, this is going to be bad.
I blinked a few more times against the sun, and moved to a better angle, to get a better look. I was guessing that at least one of the tigers was still in the Vacation Rotation enclosure, because otherwise this one would have left the area and not be laying just outside the barricade. My heart had stopped seconds ago and I was just running on adrenalin. What seemed a very long time passed, as I stared at the barely moving form, but it was probably only fractions of a second. And then my mind wrapped itself around what I was really seeing; an intern laying on her stomach in the grass, reading a book. Her hair was blowing in the wind. If she noticed me at that distance, she didn't let on. I'm sure she has no idea that she had just been mistaken for an escaped tiger.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
16 Hour Stressful Tiger Dental Day
Dr Wade Gingerich brought internist Dr. Ron Altman from their S. Florida practice at http://petdental.center/ to help Priya and Seth with their dental issues. Dr. Justin Boorstein helped monitor the cats and kept up a lively conversation about dental care for big cats. Operations started at 8:30 am and ended 8 pm as the cats were cleared as being safely awake. My day started more than 2 hours earlier as I had to prepare for feeding the vet team and the film crew from USA Today’s new 360 venture.
Seth had 11 bad teeth extracted and still needs more work but he was at the 3 hour limit for anesthesia. Priya had 3 root canals and still needs more work, but she was at her limit too. Sedation is always dangerous for big cats, but at the three hour mark it becomes much, much more dangerous, so we try not to ever exceed that time span. In between the LIVE Facebook feeds I was doing from my hand held stabilizer and from the over head explore.org cameras, I was running all over the sanctuary helping Jackie Hurwitz and her team scratch off the “shots” they wanted from their wish list. “Can you make the cat crunch something, so we can get that sound?” or “Could you get the cat to chase you so we can get her running?”
Priya woke up just fine and went back to her enclosure before dark. Seth took a lot longer to wake up because he panics when confined. Dr. Justin gave him drugs to cause him to wake up more slowly, with less thrashing about. Honey, Becky and I sat with Seth and were very pleased that he was sternal and looking around without roaring and throwing himself at the bars. The mosquitoes were eating Honey up (she must be sweeter than me) so Becky and I went off in search of bug spray. A few minutes later I could hear the transport banging and we hurried back to find Seth quite agitated in the small space.
Now the dilemma: He’s still really wobbly and it’s about 18 inches from the floor of the transport to the floor of his cage. He has a bad ankle and we don’t want him to fall or injure it with a mis step out of the transport. We also don’t want him to get brain damage from banging his head against the bars in his frightened and perhaps hallucinogenic state. Which is worse?
I decide to open the transport door and hope for a soft landing…but he doesn’t go. Seth just lays there, growling menacingly, looking out the door. The door is heavy and I call on Honey to help me pull the handle down to the bottom where there is a hook to hold it, but I’ve pulled it at an angle and the handle is wedged between the transport and the wall of Seth’s cage. The hook is flipped over the handle, but with 438 pounds of angry tiger rocking the transport, I’m afraid the hook will flip off the handle and cause the ridiculously heavy door to crash down on him.
Honey tries to pull some slack into the door rope but can’t get enough for me to pull the handle out flat against the wall. I decide the only way to insure the door won’t fall on Seth is to hold the handle with one hand and hold the safety latch with the other. My neck and shoulders feel like they are on fire, and I’ve been kneeling on rocks, so I ask Honey to fold up a blanket I was earlier wrapped in, to shove under my knees. All the while Seth is breathing death threats right in my ear. We are nose to nose there at the opening to the transport. Gale is watching the whole thing from the Nest cam and drives back over to the sanctuary to help.
Gale is able to pull enough slack on the door’s cable that we get it flat against the wall of the cage and then she suggests that we bungie wrap the latch so that Seth can’t rock it loose. Gale suggests everyone move away from Seth and shines her car lights on the opening, so he can see the ground ahead of him. He still won’t go. He’s mad, but not as crazy as before, so we replace Gale’s car lights with those of the dump truck golf cart so Gale can go home. She isn’t gone two minutes before Seth decides to go for the opening. He navigated the first door with the big step down just fine. Then he stood there for a few minutes to stop swaying, before trying to navigate the second door. That wasn’t as elegant, but he made it through.
By now it’s just Honey and I but we manage to get the doors shut, latched and locked. We set up the Nest cam on his cage, watched Seth for a while, and then headed home around 10 pm. Who knows how many of us checked the cameras throughout the night, but thankfully this morning there was good news reported by explore.org watchers that he was up and moving about. Another stressful day is behind us all.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Tony the Truckstop Tiger still being fought for.
Big Cat Rescue was the first organization ever to hire a lawyer to represent a tiger. We were not successful, but ALDF took up the fight and won’t give up.
A Truck Stop is No Place for a Tiger! Why We Won’t Stop Fighting for Tony
At this moment a 16-year-old Siberian-Bengal tiger named Tony is caged at a gas station truck stop in Grosse Tete, Louisiana, 20 miles outside of Baton Rouge. Confined to a cramped metal cage, Tony breathes in diesel fumes daily while passersby tease and harass him. Tony has lived this way for nearly his entire life, and his circumstances are often a shock to the average person, who feels innately that this is not the right place for a tiger, especially an aging one with neglected veterinary needs. People ask, “how can this be legal?” and the Animal Legal Defense Fund believes firmly that it’s not. In fact, we’ve been fighting for over six years to have Tony relocated to a sanctuary that can meet his complex needs and give him the veterinary care he is entitled to. Our campaign to save Tony is now even more dire after reports raising concerns about Tony’s health.
Let Tony Live the Rest of His Days in Comfort
All across the world, people follow Tony’s story. Recently, we’ve received many reports from worried citizens stating that Tony appears lethargic and is experiencing diarrhea and a decreased appetite. The Animal Legal Defense Fund obtained photo and video evidence and enlisted the help of a veterinarian with experience treating exotic animals to review it. In the vet’s expert opinion, Tony is likely suffering from kyphosis of the spine and an injury or other condition that is causing him to limp. This isn’t run-of-the-mill aging; Tony needs help. Living at a truck stop is, at the least, exacerbating Tony’s poor health. While no animal is suited to living at a truck stop, tigers are particularly ill-equipped because of their sharp sense of smell and sensitive hearing. Independent of all our pending legal work to free Tony, the Animal Legal Defense Fund just submitted a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which licenses the Truck Stop under the federal Animal Welfare Act, urging that Tony be inspected by a licensed specialist and given any necessary veterinary care.
The Legal Battle for Tony’s Safety
We believe that Tony, and all big cats held in captivity, deserve to live in environments that meet their psychological and physical needs. Our campaign to remove Tony from his particularly grim captivity at Tiger Truck Stop has been lengthy and determined. Michael Sandlin, the owner of the truck stop, however, has pulled out all the stops to keep Tony in captivity. He has spent over $750,000 fighting our efforts and has also manipulated the legislative system by successfully lobbying the Louisiana legislature to pass a special exemption designed solely to benefit Sandlin and allow him to keep Tony. It’s no surprise that Sandlin puts up such a fight; he’s been exploiting tigers like Tony for decades, using them as a gimmick to lure customers to his gas station. The USDA has cited Sandlin numerous times for violations ranging from failure to provide veterinary care to lack of clean drinking water. In 2003, Sandlin relinquished three tigers amid public outrage over his treatment of the big cats. Only Tony remains.
We’re Not Giving Up
The Animal Legal Defense Fund recently combined its challenges to both of Sandlin’s legal tactics into the same action, filing an amended petition in intervention in Sandlin’s lawsuit that challenged the constitutionality of the big cat ban. This will allow the Animal Legal Defense Fund — in one motion — to raise arguments both challenging the constitutionality of Act 697’s exemption for Tony and explain why Sandlin’s challenges to the big cat ban itself should fail. A ruling in favor of the Animal Legal Defense Fund on such a motion should finally put an end to Sandlin’s legal tactics and provide a final resolution allowing Tony to be relocated to sanctuary.
As the world watches the ups and downs of the fight to save Tony, the tiger’s life remains essentially the same. He doesn’t know his story inspired a former Representative to come out of retirement to fight for him, or that the big cat ban will help others of his kind. All he knows is life in a cramped cage off the highway. Tony deserves the veterinary care he needs and to live out the rest of his life in peace. He doesn’t just deserve it, we believe he’s guaranteed it under the law. We won’t stop until Tony is safe.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Alternet Reports: Thousands of Big Cats Are Suffering in Inhumane Roadside Zoos Across the U.S.
Congress can put an end to this cruelty by passing the newly reintroduced Big Cat Public Safety Act.
Thousands of lions, tigers, leopards and other big cat species are kept in grossly inhumane conditions by private individuals and unqualified exhibitors in the United States.
A man in a suburban Chicago neighborhood kept a tiger in a 5x5-foot cage in his garage.
New York authorities confiscated a 500-pound pet tiger from a Harlem apartment.
People in California, Texas and North Carolina have encountered confused and abandoned tiger cubs wandering the streets.
In two separate incidents in Kansas, county sheriffs seized tigers and other big cats who were found neglected and living in filth in flimsy cages.
There’s no question these animals endanger communities. Since 1990, there have been hundreds of dangerous incidents involving captive big cats in nearly every state. Four children have been killed and dozens of others lost limbs or suffered other traumatic injuries. Nineteen adults have been killed and scores have been mauled.
To remedy this problem, an alliance of leading animal welfare organizations—Big Cat Rescue, Born Free USA, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, The Humane Society Legislative Fund, and the Humane Society of the United States—support the recently reintroduced Big Cat Public Safety Act. The legislation prohibits the ownership of tigers, lions, leopards and other big cat species by unqualified individuals and poorly run animal exhibitions.
The problematic ownership of these animals is intertwined with an exploitative industry that breeds big cats for cub-petting opportunities. The use of infant big cats for public handling, such as photo ops and play sessions, is based on heartbreaking abuse. Breeders churn out babies who are pulled from their mothers shortly after birth. Removing newborns from their mothers is traumatic for the mother, who mourns the loss of her young cubs, as well as for the babies, who are deprived of proper nutrition and care.
These vulnerable baby animals with weak immune systems are forced to endure rough and excessive public handling during which they are deprived of much-needed sleep, physical abuse from handlers attempting to keep them under control, and stressful conditions associated with transport.
When the animals grow too large for public handling, they are typically discarded. It is impossible to know where all of these big cats end up, but many go to pseudo-sanctuaries—facilities run by operators who want the public to think that they run legitimate havens for animals in need, but who are really providing sub-standard animal care that also endangers caretakers and the public. Other big cats are warehoused at roadside zoos or sold into the pet trade.
It is not uncommon for these unhealthy animals to suffer from malnutrition, parasitic infestations and other ailments. Some die prematurely as a result of inadequate care.
Like the owner of this emaciated pet lion, private owners often fail to provide a proper diet. (image: Humane Society of the United States)
Careless handling practices and unsafe big cat cages are a disaster waiting to happen, and when it does, first responders and the community are put in danger. This was underscored a few years ago in Zanesville, Ohio, when a deranged man released 18 tigers, 17 African lions, three cougars and numerous other animals before committing suicide. Forty-eight animals were subsequently shot and killed by sheriff’s deputies in a terrifying ordeal that lasted through the night.
No one should have to risk encountering an escaped big cat in their neighborhood, and no wild animal should have to spend his life pacing in circles around a barren cage. Too many captive big cats are kept in inhumane conditions, posing a threat to the community and creating a burden for law enforcement agencies and sanctuaries.
The Big Cat Public Safety Act, H.R. 1818, is a common-sense solution to this dangerous and cruel problem, and it is time for Congress to act.
This article was written with the assistance of Born Free USA, Big Cat Rescue, Humane Society Legislative Fund, Humane Society of the United States and International Fund for Animal Welfare.
Kate Dylewsky is a Program Associate at Born Free USA, a national animal welfare and wildlife conservation organization based in Washington D.C.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
USA Today! Congress finds bipartisanship on animal protection issues
WASHINGTON — Congress has found something cute and cuddly to agree on.
Plagued by bitter division and fierce infighting, Republican and Democratic lawmakers have found rare consensus on legislation to protect dogs, cats, horses, tigers and bunnies from abuse.
In the first few months of the new 115th Congress, House members and senators have introduced more than a dozen bipartisan bills on animal welfare, including a measure to bar people from keeping tigers, lions, and other big cats as pets and legislation to outlaw the sale of shark fins in the U.S.
About half of those stand a strong chance of passage this session, said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States.
"I think we're positioned for success," Pacelle said. "You have such a diverse group of people — from conservative Freedom Caucus members to moderate Republicans to liberal Democrats — who have come together on an issue they know their constituents care about."
Americans' passion for animals is what's driving Congress to act, said Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., the new co-chairman of the bipartisan Congressional Animal Protection Caucus, which has more than 120 members.
"The biggest reason that this issue crosses party lines is that is has so much public support," said Buchanan, who was named the 2015 "legislator of the year" by the Humane Society. "About a third of my district is seniors, and most of them have pets that they love. I've had dogs and cats and horses myself, but I never realized how much passion there was for animals until I got this job 10 years ago. It comes up at almost every one of my town halls."
Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., co-chairman of the caucus, said Americans have become increasingly vocal about how much they care about their pets, wildlife and farm animals.
"Members of Congress are realizing that protecting animals is not just the right thing to do, it's also developing to become potent politically," he said.
Blumenauer said that point was underscored last fall in Oklahoma, where animal protection advocates defeated a "right to farm" ballot initiative that critics said would have allowed abusive "puppy mill" operators to shield themselves from laws against animal cruelty. Residents of the conservative state, which voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump in the same election, defeated the initiative by about 20 points.
Animal welfare advocates also helped pass a ballot measure in Massachusetts last year to ban extreme confinement of farm animals and an initiative in Oregon to ban the trade in ivory, rhino horns, and other body parts from wild animals.
Those votes have helped convince members of Congress from both parties to support animal protection laws at the federal level, Pacelle said.
"Supporting animal protection also allows them to soften their image with their constituents and show compassion," he said. "Animals help humanize them."
Among the bills that Congress is considering:
— Big Cat Public Safety Act: Reps. Jeff Denham, R-Calif., Walter Jones, R-N.C., and Niki Tsongas, D-Mass., teamed up to offer this bill to ban the possession and breeding of lions, tigers, leopards and other big cats by private individuals or unqualified exhibitors at roadside zoos. Thousands of big cats are being kept in people's backyards and basements or in poorly maintained roadside zoos, creating a serious safety hazard for the public while threatening the cats' health, the bill's supporters say.
More were listed but not included as they are not big cat focused.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I was wearing jeans and my iPhone 7 Plus is a huge phone that will fall out of my pants pocket in such situations, so I pulled it out and set it on the ledge of the toilet seat cover dispenser at about eye level.
Apparently, that’s where I left it. I made a point through dinner of NOT pulling it out to check it every few minutes, as is my habit. I was trying to stay present with my darling and just put the rest of the world out of my mind. At the end of dinner I said I needed to pick up kale at the grocery and asked Howie to give me a list. I reached for my phone to take down his selections and remembered I’d left it in the bathroom, right behind us. When I went to get it, someone had taken it.
I checked with all the wait staff and manager, but no one turned it in. Howie suggested I call it, but whoever took it knew to shut if off right away as Find My Phone can’t find the phone unless it was on. There was plenty of battery left, so I knew it had been deliberately stolen. That was about 7:15 PM and I was up until 1:30 AM today dealing with my stupid mistake.
First I had to remotely lock and erase the phone. You can’t get into it without my finger print, but my whole world is on that phone, including every password for every thing I have to do. Erasing it meant I wouldn’t be able to find it when the thief does turn it on, but Apple does have a pretty cool feature where you can have the lock screen say something, so I said, “I lost my phone. Please call 813 493 4564 to return it.” So, hopefully, when they try to activate the phone some dealer will know it’s stolen. I had to pay off the $745.00 contract on the phone to “upgrade” to a lesser quality phone because they didn’t have the same storage in stock and I couldn’t wait.
I’ve had two bobcat calls yesterday, and things come in threes. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if some bobcat was dying on the side of the road last night because I chose to wait until morning to get the phone I really needed. Thankfully, the bobcat calls I got were not requiring my immediate attention. One was a woman in TX who said she’d recently come into possession of an elderly house cat she thought was a bobcat. The photos she sent confirmed that, so I told her what I needed in order to import the cat to FL and she’s not returned that message yet.
The second was a woman and a vet in IL who had to amputate the leg from a hit by car bobcat. He can’t go back to the wild, so they wanted to be sure someone would take a really mean bobcat and give him a good home. I told them we would, but that it would require their Department of Natural Resources and mine approving it. They said they would do that, but again, no call back.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Wyeth Bobcat Goes Free and Big Cat Public Safety Act Re Introduced!
Animal welfare coalition applauds reintroduction of “Big Cat Public Safety Act” to prohibit private ownership of dangerous big cats.
Thousands of big cats are kept as pets or maintained in ill-equipped roadside zoos in the U.S.
Big Cat Rescue, Born Free USA, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, The Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society Legislative Fund applaud U.S. Representatives Jeff Denham (R-CA), Walter Jones (R-NC), and Niki Tsongas (D-MA) for introducing the Big Cat Public Safety Act (H.R. 1818). The bill would advance animal welfare and protect public safety by prohibiting possession and breeding of tigers, lions, leopards and other big cat species by private individuals and unqualified exhibitors.
This bill would strengthen the Captive Wildlife Safety Act, the existing federal law passed unanimously in 2003, by closing the loopholes that allow private possession of big cats by unqualified individuals. Existing owners that do not qualify for an exemption may keep the big cats they currently possess so long as they notify the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The bill provides for reasonable exemptions for wildlife sanctuaries and exhibitors licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture that meet basic standards intended to protect the public and the animals.
According to Kate Dylewsky, program associate at Born Free USA, “This common sense and narrowly-crafted bill is an urgently-needed solution to the problem of big cats kept in unsafe and abusive situations around the country. Thousands of big cats are currently owned as pets or maintained in ill-equipped roadside zoos. These poorly regulated facilities — with animals kept in basements, cement pits, or in backyards — pose a severe risk to the safety of people in surrounding communities, as well as the welfare of the cats themselves.”
Nicole Paquette, vice president of wildlife for The Humane Society of the United States, said, “Tigers, lions, and other big cats should not be kept in peoples’ homes or backyards. In order to protect the public, there needs to be strong oversight of these private owners who, in most cases, do not have the expertise needed to properly care for these animals in captivity. Some states have little to no laws regarding the keeping of big cats and it’s time for a uniform federal law that ends this dangerous industry once and for all.”
Carson Barylak, campaigns officer at the International Fund for Animal Welfare, noted that “there are now more tigers in private hands in the U.S. than remain in the wild, and nearly all of them are denied proper veterinary care, nutrition and enrichment.” Moreover, “law enforcement officers and other first responders — including those who have encountered these deadly animals in the course of their work — have joined animal rescue and conservation advocates in supporting the Big Cat Public Safety Act. Emergency officials and the communities that they protect, much like the big cats themselves, should not be placed in harm’s way by a private owner’s irresponsible decision to keep big cats.”
"Relying on accredited sanctuaries to take in unwanted and usually neglected big cats is not a viable solution," said Carole Baskin, founder and CEO of Big Cat Rescue. "When individuals foolishly acquire big cats as pets or exploit them in entertainment businesses, the cats often suffer in deplorable conditions with inadequate nutrition and veterinary care for many years. Then when owners realize they are not equipped to take care of a big cat or no longer want them, the burden to house and care for these big cats falls upon sanctuaries. This is not the solution; it does not address the inhumane treatment of the cats nor the public safety issues."
Facts:
There have been more than 700 dangerous incidents in the U.S. involving tigers, lions, and cougars, including hundreds of human injuries, maulings and deaths. In many cases, the animals were shot and killed, often by first responders who are not trained to deal with these situations. The most dramatic example was an October 2011 incident in Zanesville, Ohio, in which a private exotic animal owner released 38 big cats near a populated area, requiring law enforcement to kill the cats — and risk their own lives — for the sake of public safety.
Big cats are wild animals and suffer when kept as pets. They are often purchased as babies, and private owners typically are not able to manage them once they’re fully grown. Consequently, the animals are frequently left to languish in grossly substandard conditions and often deprived of sufficient space, adequate veterinary care, a nutritious diet and enrichment.
It is standard procedure for some roadside zoos to separate babies from their mothers so they can charge the public to pet and play with the cubs. This is an inhumane and unhealthy practice that can cause lifelong physical and psychological problems — or even death — for the cubs. Young cats, who very quickly outgrow their usefulness in the cub handling industry, end up warehoused at substandard “zoos,” sold into the exotic pet trade or possibly even killed and sold for parts — all while a vicious cycle of constant breeding churns out more babies to be exploited.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Washington Post:
Many countries ban circuses with wild animals. These lawmakers want the U.S. to follow suit.
Mexico, Peru and several other Latin American countries have banned or restricted the use of animals in traveling circuses in recent years. Performing animals are even rarer in Europe, where many nations prohibit them.
There is no such federal law in the United States. But dozens of local bans, as well as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s recent decision to fold its tent, have some lawmakers hoping the American political terrain might now be fertile enough to send all circus elephants, tigers and bears to retirement.
U.S. Reps. Ryan Costello (R-Penn.) and Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) appeared on Capitol Hill this week to introduce a bill that would prohibit wild or exotic animal performances in traveling circuses. Flanked by television actors Jorja Fox and Eric Szmanda, the representatives argued that the Traveling Exotic Animal and Public Safety Protection Act — known by the unwieldy acronym TEAPSPA — would end the suffering of creatures that profit-motivated humans force to perform unnatural behaviors and live in cramped conditions.
“I don’t think that those practices have any place in the fabric of our society,” said Costello, who added that his constituents are keenly interested in animal welfare issues.
[One problem with shutting down the circus: Where will the animals go?]
The question is whether they and lots of other Americans are interested enough to push for a nationwide ban on circus animals. The bill is only the latest iteration of a proposal that’s been introduced in Congress several times before but has never gotten far. Also at the Hill event was former U.S. representative Jim Moran of Virginia, who noted that he was “sorry” it had never passed before but said the idea “did make some inroads.”
There’s little question that public sentiment about performing and captive animals, particularly those considered highly intelligent, is changing. The Ringling Bros. announcement in January, which cited a decline in ticket sales, came after local laws and pressure from animal protection groups prompted the show to retire its elephants. Last year, SeaWorld decided to stop breeding orcas, and the National Aquarium in Baltimore is planning to move its dolphins to a sanctuary.
And animal welfare issues, as Costello suggested, have far more bipartisan support than many topics under consideration in Washington.
[Ringling’s elephants are retiring. Will their lives be better?]
What’s more, backers of the bill say, the Trump administration’s zeal for cost-cutting could work in their favor. Circuses with animals are subject to federal inspection under the Animal Welfare Act. Retiring the animals would therefore reduce spending on inspections, making it a “win-win” for the government and for the creatures, said Jan Creamer, president of Animal Defenders International, whose campaigns helped drive the Latin America bans.
“There’s an immediate budget cut,” Creamer said. She said a ban would affect 19 traveling circuses with about 300 animals.
A trainer moves a dromedary during a show at the Cedeno Hermanos Circus in Mexico City in 2015, before a ban in that nation took effect. (Henry Romero/Reuters)
But there’s also an anti-regulatory zeal these days in Washington, and many lawmakers are loathe to dole out sweeping new restrictions to industries — and that includes circuses. One opponent of TEAPSPA is the Cavalry Group, an advocacy group for “animal enterprise,” which last year said the idea “would deprive countless Americans the ability to experience endangered animals up close, such as elephants and tigers.”
The company that runs Ringling Bros., of course, has also lobbied against the bill in the past. Stephen Payne, a spokesman for Feld Entertainment, indicated it would no longer be a priority now that the circus is closing. But, he said, it remains a bad idea premised on inaccurate information about how circus animals are trained and cared for.
“This is clearly driven by animal rights groups, rather than being based in any factual information or talking to people who work with exotic animals,” Payne said. “There are exceptions for film, television, advertising and rodeos. This is clearly driven by these organizations who are targeting circuses.”
Moran and Creamer, for their part, seemed to acknowledge that the idea is not very likely to sail through Congress, though Moran said a lot of “grass-roots activity” would help. In other words: Public pressure — plus a plethora of competing entertainment options — helped bring an end to the 146-year-old Ringling circus, and it would probably take a whole lot of public pressure on lawmakers to lead to a national ban.
Creamer seemed unfazed. Bills her organization has pushed in other countries have gone through “three, four or more evolutions,” she said. The political landscape, she added, “does need to evolve.”
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Letter to ODA re Witness Protection cats and Kenny Hetrick Family
Yesterday
Today Corrina Hetrick tried to sneak onto our 3PM tour using Tammy Lopez as the ticket buyer and driver and using the fake name of Peggy Schroyer on the release form.
We refunded the tickets to Tammy Lopez driving Grey Kia Optima Lic# GVI G19
When they arrived, Tammy spoke to our Operations Manager at the gate. Gale noticed the passenger had her hair up under a baseball cap, dark sunglasses and was trying to hide her face.
Gale alerted the Gift Shop staff who noticed that every time one of them walked near she would duck her head away and move away from them. They called me to come see what was going on.
I walked up to her, introduced myself and just waited to see what she would say next. Most people just can't stand a long pause and the next words out of her mouth were: I'm Corrina.
She went on to say that she just wanted to visit me in person, as a courtesy, to let me know that everything I've heard about her was wrong.
I told her and her friend they had to leave.
She argued a bit, saying that she just came out of respect to introduce herself to me and show me what a good person she is.
I countered that lying about who she was on the release form, and hiding behind her hat and glasses, and ducking away from my staff told me all I needed to know about her.
Her friend asked why they couldn't go on the tour and I told her it was because I don't believe their heart to be in the right place, that I believe them to be litigious, and that it's my right to refuse service to anyone, so I was refusing it to them.
I walked them to their car and told them I'd refund their tickets online, which we did after they left.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Spring break: Why did it take so many years to build a bigger rehab area?
That may sound like a disjointed title, but the two are intimately connected. Each year we allocate the funds we have left at the end of the year in two directions. Roughly half goes into reserves that allow us to be sure we can meet our commitment to the cats even if there is another 9/11 and donations and tours stop. The other half goes into capital improvements for the cats. Those of you who have been here for many years have seen these improvements happen one after the other over the years. Bigger, open top enclosures, vacation rotation and fun-cation enclosures, a state of the art cat hospital after 20 years with an inadequate one, now the much bigger and better rehab area. Why didn’t we just do those all at once years ago?
I’m sure the answer is obvious – we did not have the money. We had to space these out over many years and build them as we generated revenue. The more we raise in tour revenue and donations, the faster and bigger and better we can make these kinds of improvements.
Our spring break peak season is a critical part of the funds we have left over at the end of the year to spend on improvements for the cats. Let’s do the numbers. If you take out a tour of 20 who paid $38 each, that is $760. Add what they spend in the gift shop, donations made or sponsor kits purchased that day, and a few who become regular donors afterwards because of the experience you give them, and that one tour generated well over $1000 for the cats.
When you take time out of your busy schedules to sign up for the additional tours we do during break, EACH TOUR YOU GIVE IS THE SAME AS YOU DONATING $1000 TO THE CATS! And because that revenue comes on top of our normal tours and donations, it goes right to the bottom line, i.e. to the reserves that protect the cats’ future and to the big capital projects that improve the cats’ current lives.
You may have seen Carole and me giving regular tours during the peak time in the last week of the year. We do that because this revenue is so important to the lives of the cats. The spring break is a longer and much bigger source of revenue, which means it requires more sacrifice of time.
If you possibly can, please help Honey, Gale and Chelsea fill in the added tour slots so we can offer these extra tours and generate that bottom line revenue for more improvements for the cats. Thanks very, very much! - Howard
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I Open a Drop Shipping Shopify Store Called CatRescue.biz I spent all day yesterday getting this site ready to launch. I’ve been listening to podcasts on how to do it and I’m hoping it can one day replace my real estate work as something I can do from anywhere as a digital nomad. Ashley Wanda Says Joe Offered Her a Couple Thousand to Kill Me Ashley Wanda called and left a voice mail on my phone. She said she’s disabled and lived at the GW Zoo. She said she heard Joe Schreibvogel saying he’d try to hire others to kill me and then he offered her the same deal; a couple thousand if she’d do it. She said her father was a police officer and that she felt both her life and my life were in danger. She said she was reporting that crime and all of the drug abuse to authorities. She said she witnessed a lot of abuse while there and was especially upset about beating the cubs. 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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Jamie recommended the movie called The Founder.
It was the story of how Ray Kroc build McDonalds into the fast food business that daily feeds 1% of the entire human population. This was my email to her the day after seeing it:
Last night I went to see The Founder. Great movie! Thanks!
As you know, it opens with this Calvin Coolidge quote and ends with it again.
I wrote that quote out, in pencil, and decorated with with little animals around the edges, and then framed it. The quote sat on my desk, at every desk job I ever had, from about the time I was 15 until I was in my thirties, maybe. I don't know where it got lost along the way, but I can nearly say it by heart from reading it so many times.
Whenever I feel like things just couldn't be more difficult, the first line always reassures me that I am going to make it work.
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” ~ Calvin Coolidge
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I didn’t know what day of the week this was
but I’m grateful for so many things. I got a text after midnight that my new Apple keyboard has shipped. I broke the K on this one, making it really hard to type. Who knew K was such an important letter.
I’m grateful that I was able to ride my bike yesterday and got in ahead of the thunder storm. I saw no evidence of weather moving in, other than a ridiculously harsh southern wind, but I awoke to thunder and lightning like I haven’t seen in a while.
I am really happy the new gift shop is dried in.
Yesterday was the first day in forever that I was able to sit still and learn from Simon Sinek on leadership (2 podcasts) and Rick Mulready on Facebook ads, and I even managed a training session with Donny at Facebook on Lead Generation. I created several ads that I hope will help us win the Valspar tournament contest and increase download sales for our printables at BigCatRescue.biz
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Love and Sex
The photo was last night when Howie was playing with Jamie’s dog Hurley and being watched by Babylon the cat.
This morning Howie pounced into the bed and said, “We have an emergency!” He ripped off his pajamas did need immediate attention. All I could say afterwards was, “Well, aren’t YOU full of surprises?”
I came in to my computer to start my day and am now in tears at the beautiful letter he wrote his cousin Alan last night:
February 6, 2017
Dear Al,
Over the years I think the only mail you have ever got from me was sent as humor like the recent defective golf shoes letter (for which I am still expecting payment.) Or like the enclosed “Anatomy of a Kvetch.”
This is not one of those letters.
I have been thinking of you multiple times each day since we last spoke. I did not want to call again because it so clearly exhausted you. So I decided to write.
I am so very sorry to hear you struggling so. The closest I can personally identify to what you are describing in terms of lack of energy is the recovery from my heart surgery two years ago. In addition to the normal strain of such surgery I lost a lot of blood and was very anemic. If I did as much as get up and use the bathroom, I was so exhausted I had to go back to sleep in the recliner.
I had the psychological benefit of knowing “this too shall pass.” It is unclear to me if you are still having the Cleveland Clinic there do tests? I so hope you can find a cause and a solution for this.
Speaking of Cleveland Clinic, you probably saved my life by insisting I go there. You may or may not recall, but the doctor there, who only does mitral valve work and has done more than any person in the world, said mine was one of the most difficult he had ever done. The doctor I had picked out here in Tampa was of course very good. But I have real doubts about whether he could have handled that level of difficulty and whether I would have had such a good outcome, or even lived.
I have always felt that you and I had a very unique bond. It started of course with your relationship with Mom. Even in the most difficult of times, if your name came up, it brought a smile to her face and triggered a glint in her eye. Rick still remembers as a youngster the time you showed up at the door unannounced. He had no idea who you are and I cannot right now recall the clowning you did with him, but he still tells the story.
In reflecting on that bond, it occurs to me that I think in part it was based on two things we have in common. One was simply operating with integrity, a relatively rare value these days. I remember your explaining to me why you quit litigating – because the judges were crooked and you were not going to play that game. Your integrity was a common thread thoughout all of our discussions on any topic over the years.
When Mom was close to the end she called me to her bedside one day. This brings tears to my eyes as I write and I have to pause. She said “I hope you are successful in your life however you decide to define it. It may be money or your job. I just want you to remember one thing. No matter how successful you are in your career or your finances, something or someone one can always take it away. There is only one thing that nobody but you can take away from you – and that is your honor.”
That is how I have tried to live my life and I honestly believe I have. It is how you lived yours I believe.
The second thing that strikes me we uniquely have in common is our bantering sense of humor. I cannot think of anyone who could give me back as well as I gave more than you. And because we had similar senses of humor, I think we both could appreciate the other’s humor. I am reminded of that glorious day on the golf course…”Hey Alan” “What?” “Ever hit it into that water?” I would not trade all the holes in one in the world for that 18th hole eagle!
And speaking of your humor brings to mind the time at my townhouse in Kendall when you went into my bedroom to use the bathroom, found a speedo style bathing suit I must have had hanging there, and came prancing out with it on. I remember Sadye screaming – I thought she was literally going to shit.
There is one other thing that we are truly blessed to have in common. I think you recall my friend Marshall Toplansky and may or may not remember his parents Irma and Eli. Irma was like a second mother to me. She passed just last year. Fortunately I got to go up to Poughkeepsie for her 90th birthday party, She was in a wheel chair with an oxygen tank, but as alert as ever and surrounded by many long time friends. And of course I prepared a humorous element where I took photos from over the years and captioned them. It is enclosed in case you want to peek. You did not know her to have the personal side of the humor. Not my best – the photos did not give me that much to work with. But it lightened up the event.
Why they come to mind is about 25 years ago I was visiting them in Poughkeepsie. Eli had been a competitive runner in his youth. He was about 70 at the time and could no longer jog but loved to walk, so we took a walk. That was back when I could take a long walk, speaking of the toll age takes. Now my back aches after 100 yards. Anyway, we were walking and I said to Eli “As you look back at life at 70 (which at that time I thought was very old – how our perspective changes with time!) … as you look back at life at 70, what strikes you as most important?” Without hesitation he said “the love of a good woman.”
You and I have been so blessed in that regard. We similarly finding it later on in life. I so wish Mom could have met Carole. Mom would be so pleased to know how happy she has made me. And one element of that is our ability to make each other laugh and banter without offense. As I observed your interaction with Phyll over the years I have often thought how similar your relationship seems to be. And, like integrity, a marriage like that is so very, very rare. Maybe 10% of marriages at most? We are so lucky.
I have a number of photo collages hanging on the wall of my office here. One is a photo of you, Phyll and me at my townhome when I was in law school. You still had red hair and mine was long enough to half cover my ears. And Phyll has such a glowing smile in that photo. You – eh, not so much. ☺ I see it often and think of you both.
There are many other memories, like the look on your face when I would put one by you on the tennis court. But I’ll stop.
Mostly Alan I just wanted to write and make sure you know how much you have meant to me in my life, and what a positive influence you have had on it. I’m choking up thinking about it. And perhaps because we are so similar is so many ways, over the years as I watched age take its toll on you, I often looked at you and felt like I was looking into a mirror but 20 years into the future.
At 46 approaching 50 I thought I was getting old. Hah! What a laugh that is now. Now 46 seems so young. So for you at what, 87 or 88 now, my whining about age at 66 probably seems like a joke. But, I have outlived both Mom and Dad by more than a decade and do wonder is it the 8th inning I am in or bottom of the 9th? We never know.
I hope you are not letting the exhaustion stop you from taking whatever measures you can to continue to try to find out what is causing this and get past it. As I have told you before, I am counting on you to eloquently say nice things at my funeral!
Thinking of you daily and please tell Phyll I am thinking of her as well.
Aka Eagle Man
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Gift Shop, Bobcat Rehab and Feeding Volunteer Expansion Projects On May 15, 2016 I purchased a 48 x 72 foot, 1996 MH from Marty at AAA that had previously been a TECO office, for 42,000.00 It’s purpose is to replace the 1200 SF Gift Shop so we can use the old Gift Shop for tour staging, inside in the A/C. Today it’s getting new A/C and Victor Alonzo has been working for a week to pull out all of the rotted, moldy, walls and ceilings so we can replace and repair. I estimate that we will have 100k in it when done, but to build it would have been three times that. On June 28, 2016 we began our Bobcat Rehab expansion. That’s turned out to be a $345,000.00 project that will give us 8 cages when done. We are about half way done with Cage #4 right now and will try these out for a while to be sure we like them. On Sept 28, 2016 I purchased a mobile home from Marty at AAA to put on the lot right outside our back gate where the little single wide called The Goose House sits. In Feb. 2017 I finally got AAA to move the Goose House to the side of Food Prep for Gale to use as a new Keeper Cafe, but the county is still jerking us around on permitting the new MH on the old site of the Goose House. I bought a lot of lots and trailers on Meadowview last year. Four at one time from one owner and a few others. Those projects are all going on now too, but the ones above have been my priority. That and webcams… Today one of our viewers snapped this of me, from the webcam I was trying to position out on Nabisco and Mrs Claws. Not enough signal though, so it’s on Moses Bobcat for now. 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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Jamie ordered a $7500 tiger transport. Should be done in 4 weeks.
In the nothing-is-ever-easy category:
A truck fell into an abandoned septic tank yesterday trying to move a portable building that will be used as our onsite Volunteer lounge. Gale will be running and stocking it. I suggested she name it Gale's Kitchen, but she wants to call it the Keeper Kafe.
We called on a friend with a crane to lift the truck out, but now have to pump the old tank and fill it so that we can move the portable.
The Keeper Kafe will be an area for volunteers to relax, have a cup of coffee, eat lunch and get out of the heat for a while before resuming duties. We currently have a building, called the Leopard Lounge for that purpose, but it's not in a strategic area for volunteers to access. We will convert it to storage.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Jamie’s Tribute to Charaka Tiger
There was an instant connection when we first met. As you took your first steps into your new home your eyes widened. You seemed to be torn between fear and wonder. You looked directly at me and I told you everything was ok now. You came right over and chuffed a hearty chuff in my face as if you were glad to see a familiar soul. Then you went on exploring your new home in amazement.
From that moment on we were each others person. I visited you every single day, many days more than once. No matter the hectic work load I always took the time. In return you cheerfully greeted me without fail. You rubbed your fluffy ruff against the enclosure wall and moaned on and on about your day.
You were so content to have someone just sit with you. Your heart was filled with love and you took joy in everything that surrounded you.
You delighted in shredding your palms one by one, you loved every kind of spice and perfume, you ripped up all of your enrichment into a thousand tiny pieces, and you transformed into a kitten when you were given your first toys.
You lived life as if you knew that this goodness would not last long. Your loss was a tragedy, one that I am still trying to recover from. Your lesson was to live life to the fullest, for we know not how long we have on this earth and no matter the losses one might have suffered, the holes in their hearts will eventually be filled again.
You had a big space to fill in my heart.
I look forward to meeting the soul that will fill the void you have left behind. I only knew you for a short time, but it was like we had known each other an eternity.
I will miss you forever Charaka sweet boy.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Scott's Go Fund Me page
I prepared this text for Scott’s family and friends to set up a Go Fund Me page because I didn’t want to be responsible for fundraising on his behalf. Here is what I would suggest for Scott's Go Fund Me page, for his lung transplant, subject to edits you guys might want to make:
Scott Haller has been an unsung hero, working behind the scenes at Big Cat Rescue, since 2012. You've probably never noticed him in our videos, or read about his feats in our newsletters, but you've seen him in everything that makes Big Cat Rescue a haven for exotic cats.
If you love the 2.5 acre Vacation Rotation enclosure, where the lions, tigers and leopards get two week vacations year round, then you've seen the results of Scott's hands. If you marvel at the roofed FunCation that provides a safe vacation for the leopards, cougars and smaller cats at Big Cat Rescue, then you've witnessed his work.
If you love the fact that the cats have spring filled ponds, pumped from our 18 acre lake, one of the people behind the electricity and plumbing to make that happen is Scott. When we jump in a truck to rescue a cat, it's Scott who has made sure the vehicle is road worthy.
If you've ever been to the sanctuary and had the benefit of working lights, TV screens that share our cats lives, or washed your hands in a sink, then you can thank Scott. If your ride down a quarter acre of dirt road to our gate didn't require you to call a tow truck, then Scott is someone you can thank for that.
Some of the funding for Big Cat Rescue comes from rental properties. Scott is our first line of defense against those properties falling into ruin, as he maintains them and overhauls them when necessary. He takes care of the electric, plumbing, roofing, reflooring, cabinetry...you name it. If it needs to be built or fixed, we call on Scott.
Scott and I are the same age; both born in 1961 and we both have a lot yet left to do to end the trade in big cats as pets, props and parts. According to Scott's doctors, he's healthy in every way, and would have many years of vitality left...if he could breathe.
For the past couple of years I've seen Scott show up for work every day and be brought to his knees over and over again to try and catch his breath. Imagine doing the hard labor he does, and having the heart of a lion to do more, but not being able to fill your lungs with air. You can help Scott get the lung transplant he needs.
It's a wonderful gift of life to a fellow human being and means a better life for all of us and the wild cats of Big Cat Rescue.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Is it Trump’s inaugural day or the beginning of the end?
It’s Mom’s 76th birthday so I sent her a silly JibJab card of her in a loincloth singing Hear Me Roar, by Katy Perry and I cried.
All day I’ve had this oppressive weight on my chest that feels like the days leading up to a hurricane, when I can’t take a deep breath without feeling the impending doom, or in the days following 9/11 when it just felt like every news story was going to announce the end of life as we know it.
All day the headlines have been talking about how within an hour of taking office Trump had deleted all official reference to climate change. Our Director of Outreach, Jen, had been trying to locate all the new Environmental Committee members who deal with protecting animals or the environment and was told, across the board, that the new appointees don’t intend to have a person in that role.
I just don’t know what kind of world this may become if our leaders are not inclined to protect the very infrastructure that supports all life on this planet.
Then there was just the insult to injury issues such as the attorney for Kenny Hetrick getting all nasty with me and demanding that I comply with her Ohio county order requiring that I let that man and his minions come onto our grounds.
Ms. x,
I am easily accessible via our website. Anyone can find my email or cell phone number there, for that matter. People so rarely spell my name right that I typically use Cat@BigCatRescue.org instead, so it's a little obnoxious that you are making so much of nothing.
As for the Hetricks visiting, I am not convinced that your local order has any authority over the way I do business. I've seen the conditions the Hetricks kept these cats in and my opinion of them is that they are publicity hounds with no interest in the wellbeing of the cats.
There is no release form that I feel would adequately protect me from a slip and fall type "accident" that the Hetrick's might file, just to keep their names in the press. Under my USDA license, no member of the public is allowed behind the barricade, so I couldn't let them close to the cats, even if I were inclined to do so.
For the cats,
Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
"Judge me by the enemies I have made." - Franklin D. Roosevelt
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Dear Thomas and Feld Family,
I am so thankful that you have decided to end the use of big cats in your acts. I was surprised, as I would have thought the show would go on, but more as entertainment by human entertainers. Regardless, it ends many years of strife between your company and those of us who believe that wild cats are not meant to be bred for life in cages.
Articles are saying you are considering "suitable homes" for the cats, but the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries has not been alerted to the need for these homes, and I can assure you that there are no suitable homes outside of GFAS oversight.
Back in 1999 when we contracted with you to take all of the big cats as they came off the road, our understanding was that you were getting out of the big cat business. We held up our end. As you know, the 18 cats you retired here lived much longer, richer lives than anywhere else.
We felt it was a breach of contract for Feld to then go and contract acts who owned their own cats, but your lawyers were better than I was at crafting language and we spent the next 16 years feeling like we had been used. While you did pay for the upkeep of your cats, the primary purpose of the agreement was to end the use of big cats in your acts, from our perspective.
We were grateful that you did retire the cats here, and we loved every one of them until the end. We'd really like to see a complete end of the use of wild cats in all circus acts and would like to talk to you about providing a retirement home for the cats you've used but this time with a contract that better seals our agreement; that you and those surrendering the cats, will never possess exotic cats again.
I remember sitting in the parking lot of our sanctuary with Kenneth Feld, all those years ago, and he said that he didn't like being in the animal business and that as soon as the public didn't want to see animals in circus acts, he wouldn't have animals in circus acts. I appreciate that he and his family have made this momentous decision to end the use of wild animals and we want to help assure that you are able to give the proper "cradle to grave" support that you have claimed as your mantra.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
World Wildlife Fund Quotes Howie and Lauds Big Cat Rescue
A few hours before sundown on October 18, 2011, law enforcement officials in Zanesville, Ohio, received a strange 911 call: The neighbor of a man named Terry Thompson had spotted a black bear running loose on Thompson’s property—then a large male lion. As police officials drove toward the scene, they began spotting other large carnivores. The area was residential, and there was a school soccer game happening nearby, so the officers were ordered to shoot the animals. By the following morning, they had killed six bears, 17 lions, and a slew of other wild creatures—including 18 tigers. Thompson had released all of them from the enclosures in his yard before committing suicide.
The Zanesville incident was so bizarre and horrific that it made international headlines. But it was also a rude awakening to the fact that many people in the US own exotic animals, including Panthera tigris. There are thousands of captive tigers throughout the country. You can find them in backyard enclosures, petting zoos, and even truck stops. They outnumber the tigers believed to remain in the wild today. And beyond the problems their captivity poses in the US, it’s putting their wild counterparts at risk.
Leigh Henry, WWF’s senior policy advisor for wildlife conservation, says she first became aware of the issue around 2006. “I was working on WWF’s TRAFFIC team at the time,” Henry says. “An organization called Save the Tiger Fund approached us and said, ‘We’re concerned about captive tigers in the US. Nobody knows much about them. If we get you some funding, could you do a study?’”
With the help of a consultant, Henry put together the first comprehensive report on tiger ownership in the US. The results of their research were jarring. Not only did there appear to be roughly 5,000 captive tigers across the country, but the vast majority of those cats—about 95%—were, like Thompson’s tigers, privately owned. That total is just an estimate, Henry adds. “No one can say for certain, because the US actually has no comprehensive system for monitoring captive tigers.”
Instead, Henry found regulations that were patchy and riddled with loopholes. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), for example, required permits for certain activities that would normally be prohibited under the Endangered Species Act (such as breeding tigers or transporting them across state lines). But at the time, the FWS exempted generic tigers—tigers with genes from multiple subspecies—from those rules. “Generic tigers are basically mutts, for lack of a better word,” Henry says. “Since they aren’t genetically pure, they don’t have conservation value to the FWS. But most of the tigers in the US are generic.” So the FWS wasn’t monitoring them.
The USDA, meanwhile, required exhibitor licenses for tigers that were being shown to the public—whether for free or for profit—but not for tigers that people simply wanted to keep privately as pets. Many states banned private possession of the cats, but still exempted anyone with a USDA license. A handful of others allowed possession with a state-issued permit, and several had no barriers whatsoever.
“Those laws have enormous loopholes. USDA licenses are easy to get, and many people who apply for them are just pet owners trying to evade the state bans,” says Howard Baskin. Baskin and his wife Carole run Big Cat Rescue, a 67-acre large cat sanctuary in Tampa, Florida, that’s been operating since 1992. They currently shelter about 70 cats—including 12 tigers. Some came to the sanctuary from people who tried their best to care for the animals but didn’t have the knowledge or resources to meet their needs.
“But then there are owners like Terry Thompson, or the woman in Ohio who had four tigers and two lions, and declawed and defanged many of them,” Baskin says. “She would chain them down and charge people thousands of dollars to receive big cat ‘training’ experience. People kept getting hurt so she lost her USDA license, but she kept doing it anyway. It was a horrible situation. We took in four of these cats at the request of the state after she abandoned them.”
Besides putting both cats and people in danger in the US, the regulations allowing such behavior also pose big problems internationally. “A huge issue here is cub petting operations— people who breed tiger cubs so they can charge customers to pet them and take pictures with them,” Baskin says. “They can only use the cubs for a few months before they grow too big to be safe, and lose their commercial value.” Once that happens, there’s no way to track where the cubs end up—and thus no way to make sure they aren’t being sold illegally.
“Our concern is that you have all of these adult tigers in the US that are unwanted,” says Henry. And not just because they’re dangerous: They’re also incredibly expensive pets. The TRAFFIC report estimated that it costs $5,000-$6,000 a year to feed a grown tiger. And while there are some good sanctuaries like Big Cat Rescue in operation, “most of them are full to overflowing,” Henry says.
On the other hand, the value of a tiger carcass in Asian black markets can climb as high as $60,000. For someone trying to get rid of a large tiger, Henry says, selling its parts on the black market could prove too tempting to resist. And the availability of those parts fuels demand for even more—which in turn drives continued poaching of the cats in the wild.
What’s more, America’s captive tigers have become a diplomatic stumbling block in efforts to end tiger farming in China and Southeast Asia. When the tiger farm issue is brought up in international meetings, fingers tend to get pointed at China—but China has repeatedly questioned why the US isn’t doing something about its own tiger problem. “We need to figure out a better way to regulate the tigers in our own backyard so that the US can continue to be a global leader in combatting wildlife crime, and help influence China, Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos to shut their tiger farms down,” Henry says.
Both WWF and Big Cat Rescue have been advocating for tighter laws that can better regulate captive tigers and halt the breeding of cubs for profit. In 2016, they saw two major victories. The first was an April decision by the FWS to scratch the generic tiger exemption from its laws—a change that more than 450,000 WWF supporters had called for. Around the same time, the USDA enacted a ban on public contact with tigers under four weeks old, in response to a petition from WWF, Big Cat Rescue, and a coalition of other animal rights organizations.
“That was a step in the right direction, but we asked for a ban on all public contact,” Henry says. However, the USDA is still considering further action in response to the petition. She’s hopeful about the outcome—and about the pressure these new policies could put on other countries with tiger issues. And Baskin says Big Cat Rescue is advocating for a bill completely banning private ownership and breeding of big cats; so far, it’s gained 82 cosponsors in the House of Representatives, and Baskin expects the number to keep growing.
“Unfortunately, it may take more tragedies like Zanesville to really change these laws,” Baskin says. “I’m hoping it doesn’t. There’s no reason for people to keep tigers and other dangerous carnivores in their backyards.”
https://www.worldwildlife.org/magazine/issues/winter-2016/articles/captive-tigers-in-the-us
Yesterday I got my Remote Pilot’s License to fly drones from the FAA:
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Yes, I am up early.
The only thing I can attribute that to is that last night we celebrated New Year’s eve, a day late, with a lot of champagne. What is most ironic is that my New Year’s Resolution is to be more kind to myself. In my world that means taking time to eat right, meditate, exercise and give myself time to rejuvenate.
But, I was working too hard over New Year’s Eve to even have a glass of bubbly. Sheesh!
Anyway, got the celebrating done last night and had a very good night’s sleep. I only recall waking for very brief hot flashes and then going right back to sleep. I woke up feeling ready to seize the day.
Another habit I wish to maintain (as I’ve faltered from it over past weeks) is to write down three things I’m thankful for.
Autocorrect is something I am hugely thankful for because this book wouldn’t be worth reading, if not for it.
I appreciate Devin Saari, our intern turned Green Level volunteer. He has stuck out to me because he’s a boy and we almost never have male volunteers. When JJ lead a faux fur photo shoot at my house and I let all the interns dress up in my prints for a promotion that Panthera? was doing, he and Martin were the only two boys I remember getting all dressed up in drag for the cause.
Yesterday he told me about Snapchat Spectacles and showed his pair to me. I know we need to embrace Snapchat, mostly because anything that feels so awkward and foreign to me, the tech maven, has to be cutting edge. I took him to lunch in exchange for a half hour tutorial in using the silly thing. Things are about to get pretty “Snappy”!
I spent the rest of yesterday working on the 2016 Annual Report and got about 90% of it done. That may be a record.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
My mother asked me why I don’t believe the Bible yesterday.
Then she followed with this passage from Job:
Job 38:1-41:34: "Why are you using your ignorance to deny my providence? Now get ready to fight, for I am going to demand some answers from you, and you must reply. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much. Do you know how its dimensions were determined, and who did the surveying? What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone, as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? Who decreed the boundaries of the seas when they gushed from the depths? Who clothed them with clouds and thick darkness, and barred them by limiting their shores, and said, 'Thus far and no farther shall you come, and here shall your proud waves stop!'? Have you ever once commanded the morning to appears, and caused the dawn to rise in the east? Have you ever told the daylight to spread to the ends of the earth, to end the night's wickedness? Have you ever robed the dawn in red, and disturbed the haunts of wicked men and stopped the arm raised to strike? Have you explored the springs from which the seas come, or walked in the sources of their depths? Has the location of the gates of Death been revealed to you? Do you realize the extent of the earth? Tell me about it if you know! Where does the light comes from, and how do you get there? Or tell me about the darkness. Where does it come from? Can you find its boundaries, or go to its source? But of course you know all this! For you were born before it was all created, and you are so very experienced! Have you visited the treasuries of the snow, or seen where hail is made and stored? For I have reserved it for the time when I will need it in war. Where is the path to the distribution point of light? Where is the home of the east wind? Who dug the valleys for the torrents of rain? Who laid out the path for the lightning, causing the rain to fall upon the barren deserts, so that the parched and barren ground is satisfied with water, and tender grass springs up? Has the rain a father? Where does dew come from? Who is the mother of the ice and frost? For the water changes and turns to ice, as hard as rock. Can you hold back the stars? Can you restrain Orion or Pleiades? Can you ensure the proper sequence of the seasons, or guide the constellation of the Bear with her satellites across the heavens?
Do you know the laws of the universe and how the heavens influence the earth? Can you shout to the clouds and make it rain? Can you make lightning appear and cause it to strike as you direct it? Who gives intuition and instinct? Who is wise enough to number all the clouds? Who can tilt the water jars of heaven, when everything is dust and clods? Can you stalk prey like a lioness, to satisfy the young lions' appetites as they lie in their dens, or lie in wait in the jungle? Who provides for the ravens when their young cry out to God as they try to struggle up from their nest in hunger? Do you know how mountain goats give birth? Have you ever seen them giving birth to their young? Do you know how many months of pregnancy they have before they bow themselves to give birth to their young, and carry their burden no longer? Their young grow up in the open field, then leave their parents and return to them no more. Who makes the wild donkeys wild? I have placed them in the wilderness and given them salt plains to live in. For they hate the noise of the city and want no drivers shouting at them!
The mountain ranges are their pastureland; there they search for every blade of grass. Will the wild ox be your happy servant? Will he stay beside your feeding crib? Can you use a wild ox to plow with? Will he pull the harrow for you? Because he is so strong, will you trust him? Will you let him decide where to work? Can you send him out to bring in the grain from the threshing floor? The ostrich flaps her wings grandly, but has no true motherly love. She lays her eggs on top of the earth, to warm them in the dust. She forgets that someone may steps on them and crush them, or the wild animals destroy them. She ignores her young as though they weren't her own, and is unconcerned though they die, for God has deprived her of wisdom. But whenever she jumps up to run, she passes the swiftest horse with its rider. Have you given the horse strength, or clothed his neck with a quivering mane? Have you made him able to leap forward like a locust?
His majestic snorting is something to hear! He paws the earth and rejoices in his strength, and when he goes to war, he is unafraid and does not run away though the arrows rattle against him, or the flashing spear and javelin. Fiercely he paws the ground and rushes forward into battle when the trumpet blows. At the sound of the bugle he shouts, 'Aha!' He smells the battle when far away. He rejoices at the shouts of battle and the roar of the captain's commands. Do you know how a hawk soars and spreads her wings to the south? Is it at your command that the eagle rises high upon the cliffs to make her nest? She lives upon the cliffs, making her home in her mountain fortress. From there she spies her prey, from a very great distance. Her nestlings gulp down blood, for she goes wherever the slain are.
Do you still want to argue with the Almighty? Or will you yield? Do you - God's critic - have the answers? Stand up like a man and brace yourself for battle. Let me ask you a question, and give me the answer. Are you going to discredit my justice and condemn me, so that you can say you are right? Are you as strong as God, and can you shout as loudly as He? All right then, put on your robes of state, your majesty and splendor. Give vent to your anger. Let it overflow against the proud. Humiliate the haughty with a glance; tread down the wicked where they stand. Knock them into the dust, stone-faced in death. If you can do that, then I'll agree with you that your own strength can save you. Take a look at the behemoth! I made him, too, just as I made you! He eats grass like an ox. See his powerful loins and the muscles of his belly. His tail is as straight as a cedar. The sinews of his thighs are tightly knit together. His vertebrae lie straight as a tube of brass. His ribs are like iron bars. How ferocious he is among all of God's creation, so let whoever hopes to master him bring a sharp sword! The mountain offer their best food to him - the other wild animals on which he preys. He lies down under the lotus plants, hidden by the reeds, covered by their shade among the willows there beside the stream. He is not disturbed by raging rivers, not even when the swelling Jordan rushes down upon him. No one can catch him off guard or put a ring in his nose and lead him away.
Can you catch leviathan with a hook and line? Or put a noose around his tongue? Can you tie him with a rope through the nose, or pierce his jaw with a spike? Will he beg you to desist or try to flatter you from your intentions? Will he agree to let you make him your slave for life? Can you make a pet of him like a bird, or give him to your little girls to play with? Do fishing partners sell him to the fish-mongers? Will his hide be hurt by darts, or his head with a harpoon? If you lay your hands upon him, you will long remember the battle that ensures, and you will never try it again! No, it's useless to try to capture him. It is frightening even to think about it! No one dares to stir him up, let along try to conquer him. And if no one can stand before him, who can stand before Me? I owe no one anything. Everything under the heaven is mine. I should mention, too, the tremendous strength in his limbs, and throughout his enormous frame. Who can penetrate his hide, or who dares come within reach of his jaws? For his teeth are terrible. His overlapping scales are his pride, making a tight seal, so no air can get between them and nothing can penetrate. When he sneezes, the sunlight sparkles like lightning across the vapor droplets. His eyes glow like sparks. Fire leaps from his mouth. Smoke flows from his nostrils, like steam from a boiling pot that is fired by dry rushes. Yes, his breath would kindle coals - flames leap from his mouth. The tremendous strength in his neck strikes terror wherever he goes. His flesh is hard and firm, not soft and fat. His heart is hard as rock, just like a millstone. When he stands up, the strongest are afraid. Terror grips them. No sword can stop him, nor spear nor dart nor pointed shaft. Iron is nothing but straw to him, and brass is rotten wood. Arrows cannot make him flee. Sling stones are as ineffective as straw. Clubs do no good, and he laughs at the javelins hurled at him. His belly is covered with scales as sharp as shards; he drags across the ground like a steamroller! He makes the water boil with his commotion. He churns the depths. He leaves a shining wake of froth behind him. One would think the sea was made of frost! There is nothing else so fearless anywhere on earth. Of all the bests, he is the proudest - monarch of all that he sees."
I answered her this morning with this:
I think much of this passage reflects the age old questions people have asked about the origins of life and the natural instincts of animals that we do not understand and cannot tame.
To believe that this was God asking Job to defend his position requires the belief that this was God speaking to Job.
You either believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, and thus everything in it must be true, or you don't.
My intention isn't to shake your faith by suggesting that you consider what Bible scholars have concluded about the many inconsistencies in the text, because believing it gives you comfort and I want you to be happy.
I believe that if the Bible was truly the inspired Word of God there wouldn't be any inaccuracies in it, but there are a lot, from places that were incorrectly located, to authors clearly not being the same person across different letters, to people describing past events from an era from their own time's perspective that was incorrect. If even one line of the Bible is not true, then I can't believe it was inspired.
It certainly does no harm to believe it, other than keeping you from considering that God is more than the way He is defined there. I gave the first 55 years to trying to believe it, but I just can't.
It had become the worst hour of my week, as I'd have to sit there quietly and listen to people try and tell me that the God I love is a jealous, petty, angry, war mongering, ego maniac, when I experience Him as pure love. Having to do that in a room full of screaming babies, or noisy children just made it worse. I've decided to spend that hour in prayer and meditation each week instead and find I am finally at peace.
It’ made me cry to send it because I know she’s so brainwashed by her belief that she fears I will spend eternity in Hell for my beliefs. I know that causes her pain, and maybe if I were a better daughter, I’d fake it until she dies. I continued going to church until my Dad died because I feared she would blame him if I didn’t go. I always thought he was a lot smarter about all of this and that he just went to keep the peace.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Greatest gift for Christmas is that My Life is what it is
Last night I dreamed that I ran into Jamie’s father, Mike Murdock. We spent some time catching up and both in the dream and when I awoke, I had the greatest sense of gratitude that I did not stay married to the abusive mechanic, despite the fact that my religion dictated that I do just that.
I thought about what my life might have turned out like if I had stayed married. We would be poor. Mike never did anything more than work as a mechanic and he drank himself to death in his early sixties. His abuse toward me would have only made me more bitter and angry and even less loving to the child that came of that awful era.
Jamie probably would have ended up doing drugs and drinking, because I would not have had the money to bribe her to not smoke, drink, do drugs nor get pregnant. I would not have been able to afford her implants and later her tubal ligation, so who knows how many snot nosed kids she might have had and how miserable her life would have been with the kind of low life that would be attracted to our dirt poor family. Jamie is so smart and creative, but without the money to make the best of those talents I fear she would have been mired in self pity for her lot in life.
For that matter, I wouldn’t have been able to afford my own tubal ligation, circa 1984, and who knows how many of my own kids I could have brought into existence to deal with this dying planet as their inheritance.
I might have been able to keep up the furniture sales from the back of a truck, as I was doing the day before delivering Jamie, but that was never going to make us rich. I can’t imagine that I could have carried on that back breaking work into my fifties now. I can barely lift 40 lbs, much less the book cases and desks that I had to carry up onto and off the truck every day as I set up on street corners to sell.
My parents would have lost all of my mother’s investments in the stock market crashes that depleted her pension from Gulf Controls. My Dad gave up his furniture store in 1996, and would have been un employable had he not come work for me. No one would have been able to deal with his orneriness. That means they wouldn’t have had insurance to give him the extra years he got from the triple bypass heart surgery.
My brother wouldn’t have his own home, because my parents would not have been able to afford it, nor would he nor his three kids have new houses, new cars, college educations, trips to vacation sites, or any of the many things they enjoy. There wouldn’t be big family dinners every couple of weeks because my parents would be barely scraping by on social security.
I would have missed out on meeting Howie and that would have been a horrible loss. To never know kindness at the hand of a man or to never have someone I could really admire and trust as a mate, would have been so sad.
There have been a lot of awful things in my life, but I am so glad that every single step happened just as it did so that we have this blessed life we have today.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Bobcat Rescue Call in Estero FL (yesterday)
When people call to report an injured bobcat I usually insist on a photo because most people can’t tell a house cat from a Florida Panther or a coyote from a bobcat. I also don’t want to waste a lot of precious time chasing my tail because some animal abuser thought it would be a good way to keep me busy or to lure me to my death. For some reason I believed this caller.
Julie said her boyfriend, Jeff, was working a construction site on Corkscrew Road near Alico Road in Estero and saw an injured bobcat. I asked her to have him text me a photo, but an hour later, and still no text so I called her back. She said he wasn’t allowed to answer his phone, except at lunch which is when they had talked about what he’d seen. I tried calling him twice and went to voice mail so I explained that it would be 2.5 hours before I could get there, which would be about 4:30 - 4:45 PM.
Half heartedly I loaded up the Dodge van, since the Tundra was being used to haul a trailer around the property on a mission Chuck, Gale and Josh had started; of clearing underbrush from the swamp. It’s our busy time of year so I didn’t want to take anyone from the sanctuary and Jamie was busy with Frosty Serval, who had to see the vet. I decided to drive down to Estero to see if I could find the cat. I took the van because I figured that if I were able to net the cat, all I’d be able to do, would be to carry the netted cat back to the van.
Jamie and I had done something similar with Tommie Girl. It’s a dangerous proposition, but locking yourself in a closed van, with an injured bobcat does insure that he isn’t going to get away. It does not insure that you are coming out unscathed, or that the cat’s going in the carrier, but all things considered, it’s the choice we make if a bobcat’s life is at stake.
You might think that if the bobcat is in good enough shape to escape the net and carrier, they are going to be fine, but when we rescued Bellona, she ran across a field, through a creek, ran across another field and wasn’t netted until she was half way across a pond. Her pelvis had been completely shattered during a car strike and she was running and swimming faster than I and a much younger, stronger, faster, male helper could go. She would have died from her injuries if not captured. She was pretty much running with her front legs and dragging the rest of herself.
So, for two and a half hours I’m playing out every possible scenario for how this could go down. I’m also fighting the miserable steering on this 1998 Ram van. It is just awful to drive, but there isn’t enough room for bobcat wrestling in the back of the topper for the 2011 Tundra pick up.
When I get to the location the work crew is gone, so I call Julie again who has Jeff call me. He says he can direct me straight to where the bobcat was seen and stays on the phone with me as I follow his route and report to him that:
I’ve found the second culvert,
I’ve found the white floaty thing,
I’ve walked up the drying creek bed about 75-80 feet,
I see the footprints of him and his co workers where they all stopped to stare at the cat,
I see the tree where the bobcat was supposedly hiding…
There is no bobcat here.
Julie convinces Jeff to drive back to the scene to show me where I’ve lost the trail.
Meanwhile I have an hour or two to look around and I find bobcat prints. I’m pretty elated as I find the drag marks in the slightly damp sand and follow them into an impossible tangle of underbrush. Getting down and crawling, I make it out into a clearing on the other side and the prints and drag mark continue, but now there is a second set of tracks that are as big across as my foot and they are feline.
Florida Panther!
At once I am both elated and nervous. Jeff kept saying the cat he saw was bigger than a bobcat. Could this be an injured Florida Panther? I still want to help, but the stakes just got higher. I can wrestle a 30 pound wildcat into a net and carry it the half mile to my van, but I can’t do that to a 60-90 pound Florida Panther. My net would only cover half of that sized cat. I’m also wondering if it is a Florida Panther, how long and how badly is he injured? Just enough that I’d make a good meal?
I’m really not liking this and it’s getting dark. The mosquitoes are about to carry me away. No one is going to find my body way back here because I’ve gone further into the woods than the road workers did. Still, I want to be sure, so I use the rest of the waning light to see if I can follow the tracks, but as the sand gives way to sticks and leaves, there are no more tracks to follow as I hit another wall of thick underbrush all around this open space. I crawl back out, the same way I came in, but this time with a sick feeling because I can’t see behind me.
Now I’m back in the area where the workers had been scared off by the cat and I peer into the deepening darkness with the flash light I’ve brought. I check behind every tree, bush or clump of brush as deep as I can push back into the weeds along both sides of the creek bed. I cringe at how thick the poison ivy is here and know I’ll be picking burrs out of my hair the whole ride home.
I figure that Jeff and Julie should be arriving soon, but it wouldn’t be safe for them to be out here with no protection at all, so I head back to the van to get the other two nets. Just as I’m coming up out of the ravine, they are pulling off onto the shoulder of the road. We shake hands, spray for bugs, I arm them with nets and we head back in.
I pull up a photo of a bobcat on my phone and ask Jeff if that’s what he saw and he thinks it is. He says the cat was a burnt orange, so it could be either, but he thinks it weighed more like 30 pounds than 60 pounds. “Good.” I think to myself. If we find the cat, we can probably save his life without anyone getting killed.
Jeff takes me right back to where I’ve just spent the last couple hours looking and the cat is still gone. At least I know that we were looking in the right spot. Most of the time the directions I get are so fuzzy that I’m not sure if I’m even within a mile of being in the right spot. Jeff and Julie give me a hug as we get back to our cars and I let them know they are a rare species. Most people don’t care enough to help, even if they cared enough to call.
Two and a half hour drive back to Tampa and I have a lot of time to wonder:
Was the cat injured at all or just hunkered down?
Was a bobcat injured and then carried off by a Florida Panther?
Was the cat injured enough to not run away while the men were there, but maybe still in good enough shape to hunt?
Would there be any point in returning to this spot in the morning?
I don’t know. It’s often the case that there are more questions than answers.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
From Chuck today about Christmas Family Dinner
As all of you know, our sweet precious Novak is finally home with his Mama, Tata and brother Dule. We have decided to have Christmas at our house instead of Katie's because we don't her doing ANYTHING but resting and taking care of Novak. Since Marinko is now off for Christmas, I was wondering if we could change our Christmas to Sunday evening , 12/25/ around 4:30. That way it wouldn't be so late to visit, and everyone is off on Sunday. Please let me know if that works for you. Also, I know we didn't really have a menu except we were doing breakfast for dinner so can you please let me know what you would like to bring so I can make sure we have a good variety. I will be making waffles, and bacon. Don't forget we are also wearing our pajamas, and yes, we will be taking pics again!!!
Sent from my iPad - Chuck
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I became Hercules the Snow Leopard
I’ve come to really look forward to Sundays now, as I take advantage of the time I used to spend at church in praying and meditation. Yesterday’s meditation took me to the peak of the Himalayan mountains where I became one with Hercules Snow Leopard.
At first I was cold, but then I became the blood that seeped through his veins. I could feel me, coursing through him, becoming “me” in the form of a snow leopard. As his blood, I could feel myself reaching every cell in him, first from the inside out and then in whole. Once we had completely merged, I could again feel the world around me.
I felt the snow crunch beneath my huge, fluffy, snowshoe-like paws. I could feel the wind on my nose and blinked against the sharp gusts. I felt warm all over though because my coat was perfectly designed for days like this, and it was a beautiful day too. I could see for miles and miles and miles. The bright blue sky had only wisps of clouds that looked like the feathers of a great swan.
I noticed Cloe and Zoe Snow Leopards walking with me. They were silently, breathtakingly, stunning. All I could do was stare. I could hear the hum of the Universe and it diverted my attention to gazing back out over the distant, snow covered mountains. I could see past them to the stars, the galaxies and the beautiful colors beyond.
From that space images of relatives past came to me.
First my father’s image (Vernon Stairs) appeared. Our ice blue eyes locked across the ether and I thought about how he had built Big Cat Rescue into a peaceful haven for these many displaced exotic cats. I thanked him for doing so with such precision, creativity and care, that millions of people around the world are daily awed by the beauty of the place and the wonderful homes we’ve been able to give the cats.
If not for his 20 years of toiling at his craft here, we would not be the example that others strive to achieve. We would not be able to first mesmerize and then educate those who see the cats in these natural looking enclosures. It is the perfect combination of the natural life they should have in the wild, and the sad fact that they are caged, that gets our message across so well.
I then saw Momma Jacquie (my mother’s mother Jacqueline Norris) and thought about how her shrewd, yet fair business practices were the example that made it possible for me to take on the challenge of caring for over 200 exotic cats over these past 24 years. If she had not been my example to mimic, of someone who was driven to create a financial empire, I would not have been able to carry the sanctuary for the first 11 years when it cost far more to run than was provided by donations.
I thanked her for showing me that hard work pays off. I thanked her for showing me that taking the high road always leads to better business. I promised her I was still working on being beautiful and elegant like she was. She wanted me to grow up to be a movie star, like the ones she grew up with; Carole Lombard, Lucile Ball, Mae West. I wonder if she’s happy with my silver screen being Facebook?
Then I saw my maternal grandfather, BigDaddy (Floyd Norris) and thanked him for showing me how to love even the most unlovable. I acknowledged his great patience and quiet demeanor that conveyed nothing but absolute love.
Next I saw, in great contrast, my paternal grandfather, (Harold Stairs) who always seemed to hate my mother and I because of her religion. He didn’t seem to bear the same ill temper toward my brother, but maybe he held out hopes that Chuck would grow up to be like him. Thankfully, that didn’t happen, but there were still lessons taught by my German grandfather that were equally important.
Sometimes people teach best by their bad example. His example of being intolerant of those he considered inferior taught me to be tolerant. His example of being a bully to his wife, taught me to be respectful to my spouse, in contrast. He had a great love for animals, in his own strange way that has also helped me in the work I do now. He was a farmer who raised bees, rabbits and cows. My favorite memories of him was to watch him milk the cows and shoot the milk across the barn to the waiting mouths of his dozens of barn cats. They would leap up and catch the stream, never missing a drop.
Despite being poor, I’d watch him cut open a twenty pound bag of Purina cat chow and pour it out into garbage can lids, turned upside down, to feed his many strays. I remember the last of those cats, an old deaf, white cat named Monk, who seemed to be his soulmate.
He raised rabbits for sale to the butcher and that’s where he and I had the most stress in our relationship, as I’d try to save them from being loaded into the van to go to market. He loved those rabbits. He devised clever penning and denning for them, to give them comfort, and would handle them all like they were his precious pets…and then send them to market. I didn’t understand how he could do that, and still don’t, but it helped me to understand that there are a lot of people like that.
They claim to love animals, but they eat them. They claim to love animals so much that they want to farm them; yet they are raising them to be killed. They claim to love their pets, but send them to the pound when they move, or get a job, or a mate or a baby.
It’s probably the genesis of my own peculiarity; which is a deep rooted feeling that there are cats and then there is cat food. None of that makes sense, but I thanked him for awakening in me the understanding that we are all flawed and that we are all here to help each other be better souls.
His wife, my paternal grandmother, (Sarah Stairs) was just plain crazy for most of my life, but she was French and had a great love of music. She was an opera singer who gave up her career to marry and become a mother of four. Perhaps she could hear that universal song that resonates throughout space and time. It was clear she could hear voices that no one else could. From the time I was about 11 - 15 we lived with her and then next door to her and my role was to keep her from wandering off.
My father put her to work in his furniture business so he could keep an eye on her. She gave away more money than he made, because she couldn’t make change and was easily fooled by unscrupulous customers, but it kept her busy, and happy and my father was okay with that. Despite the harsh treatment that she received from my grandfather’s words, and the way the public used her for their own gain, she was a happy soul and a great inspiration to be happy, no matter what your lot in life. I thanked her for that.
Of course, this whole time tears are streaming down my face, and I’m heaving great sobs of gratitude for those who were instrumental in shaping who I am, but more importantly for their part in creating what Big Cat Rescue is. It was healing to reconnect with them during this time of meditation. It gave me renewed strength to deal with the challenges ahead. It made me even more appreciative of the opportunity we have to make the world a more kind, loving and healthy place to live.
There are countless people still living who have been, and still are, critical to the success of Big Cat Rescue’s mission to end the trade in exotic cats as pets, props and parts. Maybe future meditations will allow us to meet on that windswept mountain top, and feel the connection over space and time, that reminds us we are all ONE.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
my favorite quote by Wayne Pacelle, which was said to me as he, Mike Markarian and I were walking into a restaurant for lunch; “You can accomplish anything, if you don’t care who gets the credit for it.”
I don’t care who gets the credit for ending the trade in exotic cats as pets, props and parts. I just want it done, NOW!
Cats are amazing! Their ability to heal themselves, and others, is beyond compare. Priya Tigress arrived with a 20 lb infection in her uterine horns and we removed it the next day, but her infection was resistant to the array of antibiotics we tried. Her body was so seeped in the bacteria that her stitches could not hold and she had to undergo surgery again to seal the wound. Meanwhile the bacteria was cultured and we found a better antibiotic for it and began treatment.
Priya did better, and we thought she was healing because she was no longer seeping from the incision and her appetite and temperament improved immensely. However, a week before she was to be released back to her earthen floored enclosure, keepers noted a pink slit in the stitches. Due to her baggy belly folding on either side of the gap, it was hard to get a photo of it to see the extent. Priya seemed be getting more and more uncomfortable and began to refuse food unless coaxed extensively.
I noticed a change in her sleeping habits. She began to sleep on her back, with legs splayed wide. It gave me a better opportunity to get a photo of the opening incision, which led our vet team to decide that surgery was again needed to close the wound. What I didn’t know at the time was Priya’s wisdom in dealing with her own injury.
We went into surgery thinking it would be a minor issue of putting in a couple of stitches to close the gap again, but what Dr. Justin Boorstein saw, made him say that her prognosis of survival was not good. He was clearly distressed when he saw that the tissues had separated to the point that air was seeping into the open layer between her skin and her muscle. When he invited me to touch her skin and feel the crackling of it, as the air was compressed beneath my touch, I was horrified. I’d never felt anything so foreign to the feel of a sleekly muscled and furred cat.
The air, and any impurity in it, was filling her body and making it even harder for the antibiotics to work; making it harder for Priya to call on her own immune system to heal. Then it dawned on me that she was laying on her back to try and force the air back out, through the hole in her belly where it had entered. There was no other way out. Standing, sitting or laying in a normal cat loaf style would not help her express the air that was building up under her skin and causing her so much discomfort. How amazing!
Surgery lasted about an hour and a half and by the end Dr Boorstein was somewhat more encouraged that she may survive. During the first repair, the week or so after her original surgery, he could reach his arms into the gap up to his elbows. Now he could only reach in to his wrists. She was healing, but ever so slowly. He also found the tissue to be healthier than he had expected, so there is good reason to think it can bond fully this time. Only time will tell, but thanks to our expert vets, on site hospital, excellent equipment and the loving care of the volunteers, Priya has a good chance of living a long healthy life at Big Cat Rescue.
When Gabrielle and Priya arrived from Big Cats of Serenity Springs in Nov. 2016, both were obese, but their bellies looked particularly distended. When we found that to be a 20 lb hydrometra in Priya, we feared we would find the same in Gabrielle when she was examined on Dec 12, 2016. Thankfully, after running blood work, urinalysis, X-rays and a sonogram that was guided by our remote assistants at Oncura Partners, we discovered that she was just fat and not suffering an infection that required the removal of her uterus. She’s going to be twenty next month, so that wasn’t a surgery we wanted to do if we could avoid it. Gabrielle was able to go back out to her enclosure, and only has to recover from the wooziness of sedation and a very un stylish shave of her belly fur.
Transport crates are always in short supply when there is a rescue to be done. We are often called upon by other sanctuaries, and the drivers of the big rigs who haul the cats to their permanent homes, to use our tiger transport wagons. We have three of them, but one belongs to ADI and has no wheels, so it requires a forklift at both ends of the transaction, which is almost never an option. We have one that has been broken and fixed so many times we don’t think it’s safe to use again. We have one that is probably 30 years old (or more) that weighs a thousand pounds and has also been repaired a number of times.
When Gabrielle and Priya both needed to see the vets on the same day the lack of transport wagons was a big factor. We couldn’t bring Priya into the hospital until Gabrielle was awake enough to exit the transport wagon into her enclosure. That meant that three of the four vets had to go back to their places of employment after Gabrielle was done, leaving Dr Boorstein alone to deal with Priya. His day started with Gabrielle at 10 am and went on until well after dark with Priya. If we had two transport wagons we could have eliminated several hours of waiting.
Our tiger transporters, Laura and JT of Loving Friends, have worked with Tammy at Wildcat Sanctuary to come up with plans for a transport wagon that they say will cost $5,500 with the caveat that these things never come in on budget. They’ve had crates built before, but being they were aluminum they were not tiger proof. These plans are for steel with no milling required, which adds a lot to the cost. I’m guessing we can get one for about $7,000 with whatever modifications end up raising the price. We really need six, as this is all that will fit on the hauling rig, but can get by with two.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Novak Charles Nikic, 5 lbs 12 oz, 18" long
“Yesterday I sent out an email telling how important December 7, D Day, is in our Country's history but had no idea of just how important it would be for our family history. Just 17 minutes after midnight on December 7, Katie gave natural birth just after four hours of getting to Tampa General. Mom and baby are doing fine. Since Novak is only 33 weeks, he will have to stay in NICU until they make sure he is eating and gaining.”
My mother woke me up with a picture of Katie and the baby at 7:08 am and the email above.
I just realized that the tax ID number for Big Cat Rescue is 59-3330495 The 59 is for the state of FL. The 0495 was the month and day of incorporation. The 333, which has always been a special number for me turned out to be Big Daddy’s infantry division.
Dec 7 1941
At 7:55 a.m. Hawaii time, a Japanese dive bomber bearing the red symbol of the Rising Sun of Japan on its wings appears out of the clouds above the island of Oahu. A swarm of 360 Japanese warplanes followed, descending on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in a ferocious assault. The surprise attack struck a critical blow against the U.S. Pacific fleet and drew the United States irrevocably into World War II.
With diplomatic negotiations with Japan breaking down, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his advisers knew that an imminent Japanese attack was probable, but nothing had been done to increase security at the important naval base at Pearl Harbor. It was Sunday morning, and many military personnel had been given passes to attend religious services off base. At 7:02 a.m., two radar operators spotted large groups of aircraft in flight toward the island from the north, but, with a flight of B-17s expected from the United States at the time, they were told to sound no alarm. Thus, the Japanese air assault came as a devastating surprise to the naval base.
Much of the Pacific fleet was rendered useless: Five of eight battleships, three destroyers, and seven other ships were sunk or severely damaged, and more than 200 aircraft were destroyed. A total of 2,400 Americans were killed and 1,200 were wounded, many while valiantly attempting to repulse the attack. Japan’s losses were some 30 planes, five midget submarines, and fewer than 100 men. Fortunately for the United States, all three Pacific fleet carriers were out at sea on training maneuvers. These giant aircraft carriers would have their revenge against Japan six months later at the Battle of Midway, reversing the tide against the previously invincible Japanese navy in a spectacular victory.
The day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, President Roosevelt appeared before a joint session of Congress and declared, “Yesterday, December 7, 1941–a date which will live in infamy–the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” After a brief and forceful speech, he asked Congress to approve a resolution recognizing the state of war between the United States and Japan. The Senate voted for war against Japan by 82 to 0, and the House of Representatives approved the resolution by a vote of 388 to 1. The sole dissenter was Representative Jeannette Rankin of Montana, a devout pacifist who had also cast a dissenting vote against the U.S. entrance into World War I. Three days later, Germany and Italy declared war against the United States, and the U.S. government responded in kind.
The American contribution to the successful Allied war effort spanned four long years and cost more than 400,000 American lives.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I woke up crying at 3 am but finally found the words for the sign to pay tribute to Dad. Vernon C. Stairs 1941-2016 By his hands every physical aspect of this sanctuary was created or maintained from 1996-2016. This FunCation, and training his son to take his place, were his final gifts to the cats. An email from my mother to me today December 7 is a very important day in USA history. Thinking about it reminded me of Big Daddy and his important role in WWII with the 333 Infantry which was part of the 84th Infantry, the Railsplitter Division. The attachment has several letters and other information about them. I will also text you some pictures and a copy of Big Daddy's Award of the Bronze Star Medal Citation from A. H. Bolling, Major General, US Army. It may be hard to read in the picture so I am writing it: "Private First Class FLOYD M NORRIS 35842147, 333d Infantry, United States Army. For heroic service in connection with military operations against the enemy in Germany, 8 April 1945. When enemy fire from a house at an important road junction temporarily delayed the attack by his unit upon a German town and wounded several men, Private First Class Norris, serving as an automatic rifleman and with complete disdain for the danger about him, advanced against hostile fire over exposed terrain and neutralized resistance within the house, thereby enabling his unit to continue its advance and successfully carry out its mission. The cool courage, initiative and superior performance of duty displayed by Private First Class Norris reflect high credit upon himself and the armed forces of the United States. Entered military service from Indiana." Later, Big Daddy was assigned to carry the flame thrower which required great strength and courage as the enemy fire was intent on destroying that source of destruction. He had medals for sharp shooter from the military and the Indiana Police Department. Love, Mom 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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Howie just sent a great letter, in response to Kedar Gore of the Corbett Foundation. I wanted to include it here as a summary of the the work we are involved in re: CITES
“The ITC existed under that name for a number of years with Judy Mills as the Moderator and had funding for her role. I don't recall the exact years but I recall 2009 so may a few years after as well. It does not formally exist now but some of the organizations continue to work together. Most if not all are members of the Species Survival Network which we joined only a few months ago. A significant part of our role back in the ITC was to create awareness among the international players of the detrimental role the US captive situation has on the conservation of the cats in the wild. That is now well recognized and we can talk about it if you like.
If you have not read Judy's book Blood of the Tiger I highly recommend it. Over her career Judy worked both on the ground exposing illegal trade and at the high level representing large NGOs and then ITC at CITES etc. She was privy to private conversations, particularly with representatives of Asian countries, that gives her an insight that third party reporters do not have access to.
This year was our first participation in CITES. We worked with EIA, Judy Mills individually who was one of the people representing us there, Born Free etc in a number of ways. We helped fund and organize a side event devoted to the tiger.
The event was hosted by South African author and journalist Julian Rademeyer, who is known for his work investigating rhino horn trade. Our featured speakers were 1) Bittu Sahgal, a renowned and charismatic Indian tiger/climate change activist and writer, who is the founding editor of Sanctuary Asia, India's premier wildlife and ecology magazine, known for its work enlisting children in wildlife conservation, and 2) Bui Thi Ha, Education for Nature-Vietnam’s ’s vice director and head of the policy and legislation team, who is a feisty young lawyer and goes after the bad guys with great courage, ensuring enforcement agencies prosecute wildlife crime offenders to the full extent of the law.
What I am leading up to with this perhaps too long explanation is that after CITES an informal group has formed to continue the work on CITES issues. It does not have a name like ITC but operates similarly. We just had our first conference call this past week. The focus was following up on the effort to create standards for rescue centers.
You probably know that the major victory at CITES was preserving the 2007 language about tiger farms that the Chinese were hoping to eliminate. One exciting development was, Laos announced their intention to eliminate their tiger farms. A great step, now they face the difficult task of figuring out how to do that, the big problem of course being what to do with perhaps 700 tigers. A portion of this group is working on that. In both cases, while there is no formal leader, EIA seem to be taking on the role of organizing the effort. We feel that that ending the tiger farms and efforts to legitimize sale of parts and derivatives is key to the survival of the tiger in the wild.
Carole had a long history with ITC but involvement in CITES and these efforts is new to us. I think I have characterized this accurately but have copied my two colleagues who have been more involved.
Sooo, given all that, if you would like to be part of these group efforts, I would be happy to make an introduction to Debbie Banks at EIA if you do not know her, which is probably the best way to get a better understanding of the efforts and see if you want to get involved?”
Howard Baskin
Advisory Board Chairman
Big Cat Rescue
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
PAWS Conference in California
Today we visit Ark 2000 which is the 2300 ac elephant sanctuary started by Pat Derby and Ed Stewart. The weather is spectacular and I’m with my beloved. It will be a good day.
The news is all focused on the protests that are going on for the fourth night in a row against the Trump presidency. Such a waste of time. It’s done. Now we need to figure out how to make it work.
We had dinner with the women from the International Fund for Animal Welfare last night. Carson Barylak is our lobbyist for the bill that they employ and the mission was to make sure her new boss, Beth, allocates enough of Carson’s time to the bill that it passes. She said that it’s the only IFAW bill that is likely to pass, as everything else they will be doing is to try and not lose ground under this upcoming anti environment government.
Meredith Whitley is their current person in charge of coordinating big cat rescues, but she dropped the bomb at the table last night that her husband was promoted in his coast guard position in Germany. She didn’t say it, but sounds like she’s not long for this job if she wants to maintain her marriage.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Angel’s Camp CA. Yesterday it was bears and today it’s all about elephants.
The captive wildlife conference, hosted by PAWS, has been interesting. Day one was all about big cat issues. Howie gave an excellent presentation and then both of us served on a panel with Carney Anne Nasser from the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Bill Nimmo from Tigers in America, and others.
I’m thankful that our part went first, so we can just relax and enjoy the rest of the conference. I appreciate that they have provided wonderful vegan fare, which is becoming more and more standard at animal protection events. I find the breaks and ice breakers to be the best networking and am grateful to be part of such a wonderful group of people who are working to end the abuse.
We were each asked, at the end of our panel to summarize what was important to us. I asked for a show of hands as to how many in the group of 200+ were involved in sanctuary work. About 70 percent raised their hands.
I told them how we educate people for an hour and a half about the plight of the cats and then hold their hand through the process of calling their member of Congress to ask that they champion the Big Cat Public Safety Act. I then said, if all the people who raised their hands would do the same thing, we could fix this problem.
I then suggested that if the people who didn’t raise their hands were donors, that they demand their charity do the real work of ending the trade at its root.
As I came off stage an elderly little wisp of a lady came up and took both of my hands in hers. With tears in her eyes she said that she’d traveled from Chicago to Tampa just to see Big Cat Rescue. She said her older brother drove her from his home in FL to see us and that their 2 hour tour had been life changing. She just kept saying, over and over how much she loved what we are doing and how much she appreciated our efforts. I was deeply touched.
The same day LaWanna had forwarded a Facebook message to us that said:
“I want to thank you for educating me about the real issue with the beautiful big cats. I have a sincere and deep love for them, tigers especially.
Being naive to the facts, I am guilty of contributing to the problem. I recently visited Browns Oakridge Zoo in Illinois. I believed that I was fulfilling my dream of holding a baby white tiger.
After my visit there, I saw your Facebook page. I have been following you every day and I am learning so much about the problems. I feel so bad for the cats at the Browns Oakridge Zoo. They are breeding these beautiful creatures, and stealing them away from their mothers so that naive people like myself will come to take pictures with them. I was horrified at the tiny cages (jail cells) that they are born to spend their lives in. As I stood outside of the cages and looked into the eyes of the cats, I could see and sense their utter sorrow. I pray that God and the cats will forgive me for my contribution to the problem.
Thank you for giving me a way to help these cats. I have followed your link to your petition and have asked my Senator and Representatives to champion your bill.
I live in Salt Lake City, UT. I hope to be able to make my way to Florida to visit your rescue some day and to personally thank you for all that you are doing for the beautiful big cats.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart. - Tina B
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I met the ghost of the Hotel Leger and Saloon.
Every place has its ghosts. In this respect, Mokelumne Hill has not resisted keeping up with the Joneses. And all of the ghosts, it seems, are located at the Hotel Leger.
“The ghost of Leger, who was assassinated in the Hotel in 1879, has been seen in the saloon and in many of the Hotel’s thirteen rooms, which are furnished in period antiques. Other ghosts in the Hotel include the Lady in White in Room 2 and a young boy in Room 3.”
An item in the Calaveras Chronicle casts doubt on the authenticity of Leger’s assassination. George Leger died March 13, 1879, but not from a bullet fired into him: “Mokelumne Hill mourns. The public has suffered an irreparable loss and the entire community joins in an universal lamentation. George W. Leger, one of our oldest and most esteemed fellow townsmen, one of the noblest men that ever breathed the air of heaven, is dead. He expired Thursday afternoon after a short illness of two days, regretted and mourned by all who will read this paper. We frankly admit that we are not adequate to the task of writing a fitting tribute to the memory of the deceased.”
George Leger’s grave is located in the Protestant cemetery.
More recent, and possibly more authentic, claims of ghostly sightings describe George Leger wandering. Room 7, a woman crying for her child.
In Room 2, and a child playing by the fireplace in Room 3. A former owner of the Hotel Leger describes seeing smoke and fire in the bar area multiple times when no fire was present upon closer inspection.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Helping Animal Rescue Workers Overcome Compassion Fatigue
I’m telling myself that everything happens for a reason, but have that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that we are heading into some very bad times for the planet and all of her inhabitants.
Donald Trump won the electoral college last night and is our future President, although Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by less than one million votes. The stock markets are tanking as I type in fear of what this means for the economy, which is ironic, as the many voters certainly thought that Trump, as a business man, outsider to politics, would be good for American business.
I’m predicting he’ll be impeached pretty early on and Mike Pence is a lot better choice as President, so maybe that’s how we will survive this idiocy.
The Republicans retained both the House and Senate, so that doesn’t bode well for our bill to ban the private possession of big cats, but the best bill to ever pass for wild cats did happen under similar circumstances, so maybe…
Meanwhile it makes me ever more determined to get it passed this year.
I’m thankful it’s over, regardless of the outcome. I think there are a lot of good things that can come from such a shakeup. I am a Republican, and I can appreciate closing our borders to illegal immigrants, ending the fair trade agreements that have sent jobs outside our borders, and taking a hard stand against terrorists.
Yesterday I spend almost my entire day putting together a comprehensive presentation, with audio, video and concrete steps people can take to cope with the loss of our cat friends and posted it as a page on BigCat.me. I plan to add it to ZooCollege.com today and sent it to IFAW and GFAS to share with other sanctuary and animal care workers.
An email from my mother this morning: Sorry that you are disappointed that Hillary didn't win but hope you know that Trump's win made me the happiest that I have been in months!!!! Love, Mom
On Facebook Patty Finch was posting an image from 1959 of her aunt who had been one of the suffragettes, 96 years ago, who fought for women to have the right to vote. This was what followed:
Patty Finch Dewey: It wasn't until 1993 that women could wear pants on the US Senate floor.
Carole Baskin: Seriously? In 1973 I was the leader of a campaign at my little private school to allow that girls wear pants to school. I didn't even own a pair of pants at the time. When we won I went out and bought a pair of green plain slacks that I carried with me for decades as a reminder that one person can change things.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
There is no way I can express the tension in the air today, Election Day.
I can say that I will be greatly relieved when it is over because I just can’t stand one more negative ad campaign, or one more snarky remark from the pundits, although the latter will surely continue to a lesser degree.
Regardless of which of these lesser two evils wins, I know it won’t be over, as they are both powerful enough and bull headed enough to drag it out for months, but I am sensing there will be some relief and I’m ready for it.
Last night Chelsea arranged for our lecture speaker to be Samantha Tubbs Crews, a therapist who talked on Compassion Fatigue. I didn’t think she was a very good speaker and she didn’t appear to me as being a good therapist, but by the second slide everyone in the room was crying. By about the time she was through defining what Compassion Fatigue was, the bawling was so obvious throughout the packed room that I went and got napkins and passing them down the rows like hand outs.
Jamie couldn’t even stay in the room. She listened from around the wall so no one could see her losing it. I don’t know how to help her through this. I’ve seen this topic presented three times and Jamie has always been stuck in the Angry phase and nothing I say, do nor suggest helps her. I just seem to make her angrier.
I need to help her and all of our volunteers find ways of coping with the losses of so many cats. We are losing about 24 a year…2 a month…so no one can finish the grieving process before they are hit with another huge loss. Dr. Crews reported that:
A recent study by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine reveals that animal rescue workers have a suicide rate of 5.3 in 1 million workers. This is the highest suicide rate among American workers; a rate shared only by firefighters and police officers. The national suicide average for American workers is 1.5 per 1 million. Read more at http://stories.barkpost.com/compassion-fatigue-animal-workers/
A small step I can take is to create a Compassion Fatigue section to our BigCat.me site and ZooCollege.com Just knowing the signs is a big step for most people. I’ll keep looking for ways to actually assist them in coping too.
Mediation was one such coping mechanism and I’m thankful to have found Lilian Eden’s guided meditations on YouTube. Her voice soothes me and helps me get to a place, outside my body, where there are infinite possibilities.
I’m thankful for all of the love our volunteers and supporters pour into helping the cats. They inspire me.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I am thankful for a service called Jib Jab that makes it easy for me to send funny cards to my family on holidays. It pastes their heads on dancing figures to pop tunes.
My pants are tight, from eating real food for the past several days. I am grateful for the chance to get back to starving myself and exercising so I don’t blow up. Was that a snide note of thanks? I guess so.
I am REALLY thankful to be home from the Big Cat Workshop in Denver, CO. It was a great experience, and I’m excited to create the website below to help the other members.
Dear Ysabel,
If everything is working, I'd like you to spin up a new WP site using either the Shopify hosting or Flywheel hosting, which ever you think best for BigCatTrust.com
I’m thinking about creating a new website that will be used by a coalition of big cat rescue organizations to consolidate our efforts. The reason I'm thinking you might want to spin it up via Shopacity, as there is a very real chance these partners will not use the site, so I hate to be paying for premium hosting at Flywheel, if that turns out to be the case.
There are a number of things it will need to do.
It will need to be able to have several Admins (and maybe different levels of Admin ((i.e. Super Admin who could delete the site, Secondary Admin that can edit pages but not do things like change the theme or add plugins, etc)))
It will have several key areas or categories.
Advocacy
Most important will be a way that all of these organizations can collaborate on the message we want users to distribute. It will be an Advocacy area where we all agree on a bill, like the BigCatAct.com bill. So we would need both a “back end” where we could all put in our edits and then a front facing part to the public. Maybe those would be the same page? Just not published till we all agreed.
The publicly facing page should have the call to action, where we tell people to cut and paste, the agreed upon message, into the email they send, based upon them finding their member of congress at Congress.org
There should be a forum like element in this category where members of the coalition can upload documents, and share ideas that are not visible to the public.
• Shared Info
• This should be visible to all participating sanctuaries, but not the public.
• This will have many subsets, but some would be:
• Veterinary - Where we could share case studies, videos of procedures, lab results. This area should be searchable by species of cats (lions, tigers, ligers, leopards, cougars, bobcats and servals only for now) and by issue, such as dental, blood born, parasites, bones, claws, ears, weird and eyes.
• Caging - supplies and where to find them, cage designs, videos, etc.
• Resources - for sanctuary goods like where to find the best tiger bowls, sharing plans for transport cages, where to buy supplements.
• Staffing
• This should be visible to all participating sanctuaries, but not the public.
• Subsets would be
• Job Openings (part secret but also a publicly visible areas)
• Volunteer and Interns Needed (part secret but also a publicly visible areas) What I mean by that is sanctuaries should be able to tell each other what they are looking for, but there should also be a visible job board to the public that can be found in search)
• Training manuals
• Work contracts
• Documents on worker’s comp, employment disputes, VISA issues
• Rescues
This is probably the most fluid area because there are roughly 20 organizations who all care for cats with the smallest being a place with maybe a dozen cats and several of us with 75-400 cats. What we are trying to figure out is a way that we can tell at a glance, who has room for what when a rescue happens.
Getting people to keep this updated almost needs something like a quarterly reminder to go in and double check each sanctuary’s list of available spaces.
The other thing we need to know is who can transfer cats (who has crates, vehicles, staffing to leave their own place) and that’s an ever changing thing, but some elements are constant and having the ability to upload images would be helpful here too, so we can see what kind of transport trailer, cat wagon, etc., each place has to offer. We tend to do this for each other for free or for a set price of 1.00 to 3.00 per mile, to cover the wear, tear and gas.
It would be helpful for sanctuaries to say what types of cats they can take, i.e.: lions, tigers, leopards, or only small cats. I’d love there to be a census area where sanctuaries update the number of each species they have, and ages, but I don’t know if they would.
Overall: Of course it needs to be mobile friendly and load fast.
Each sanctuary should have a page of their own that is visible to members but not the public where they list all of their contact details and a bit about themselves. Ideally, this should be visible on a map of the U.S. so if there is a cat in need in Georgia, it’s easy to see that Florida might be a lot less travel and stress than going to California.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Letter to Jamie from me in Denver, CO
I just wanted to thank you for making it possible for me to attend this Big Cat Workshop. My presentation on how these other sanctuary operators can use ZooCollege.com to train their staff and volunteers can help them get to the point that you've helped me get to:
Which is that I don't have to worry (much) about whether or not the cats are getting fed, cleaned and vet care.
That allows me to focus on how to end the captive trade in them. If all of the great minds in the room here could automate their training and management processes, they could be more helpful in ending the abuse.
I couldn't do it without you. You have always been my right hand and the grown up in the room. I just want to be sure you know how much you are loved and appreciated.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I am thankful to all the people who share their expertise on YouTube.
I feel confident I can pass the Unmanned Aircraft test today. Sheesh! I can’t believe I failed it the first time. It might be my second failure ever. Organic chickens for the cats being the first.
I’m grateful that Pharaoh the white serval didn’t die yesterday. Apparently Justin and Gale miscommunicated on the status of the oxygen machine and it wasn’t until Jamie burst into tears that Justin figured out he had to reverse the cat’s sedation and start pumping breaths into him to save him from dying right there on the Xray table.
I’m thankful for the cooler weather. We will start putting heating pads in the dens of the elderly cats. They already have hay. I prefer warm to cold, but the extremes always worry me for the cats and it appears the 90+ degree weather has subsided for a few months.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Today we all go to see Dad’s tombstone erected.
We are leaving Tampa at 6 am to drive to Bushnell for the placement of Dad’s grave marker but are going to have Family Breakfast at the Cracker Barrel at I-75 and 301. From there Mom and maybe Chuck’s whole family, are headed to the mountains in N.C. to watch the leaves turn. This was the family vacation they were all headed out to on August 6th when Dad had his final ambulance ride to the hospital.
I think he didn’t want to go. We both are workaholics and just go stir crazy. My mother is an extremely hard worker, but she can relax, and I’m glad she’s going to get some time to do that. I’m sorry he wasn’t there for her in that way. She loves to travel. He hated it.
We still have to decide on how to memorialize him at the sanctuary. I think everyone wants a plaque with his picture on it. I think I’ll die a little inside, every time I see it, but I don’t want to keep them from having what they want. We all feel and express love in different ways. I can’t stop crying. I feel him all around me. I see him in every cage, every spigot, every blade of grass, but it causes me to ache. I don’t know why.
I found and recorded the first 2 hours of the NYC vs Circus hearing.
It was worth the 2 hours out of my day to sit through the part I missed yesterday and to record it for future generations. I was so happy to see the chair of the committee saying things like, “If you have to use tranquilizers and guns to keep the animals from escaping the circus, then maybe that should be an indicator that they don’t belong there?”
The timing of this couldn’t be better. I have been pretty much gagged through our contract with Feld Enterprises, to not say what I know, while their cats were boarded with us. Now that the last of those cats have died, I was able to have this read into the record by Mark G? of HSUS:
Big Cat Rescue has been the final stop for 21 tigers & leopards who previously performed in the circus. We have observed these retired circus cats since the year 2000 and note that they always arrive fearful of people, especially those carrying anything that looks like a weapon.
We use long poles to pull waste to the side of the cages, and have to be very careful to never raise the poles near the cats as they flinch, wince, lay back their ears, run, roar or hide at the sight. We don't see that reaction in cats who were not forced to perform.
We use operant conditioning, also known as reward based training, to urge our cats to do the things we need for medical or management issues. We train consistently every day and never tell a cat "no" and never with hold food or punish a cat for failing to do the requested action. As a result, the cats do it when they are in the mood, but that won't make them perform on cue.
We know from 16 years of daily observations of ex circus cats that they could never have been made to perform reliably in the ring if they had not been beaten, shocked, whipped, intimidated or deprived of food.
You know it is the case when you see the cats in the ring with ears laid back in distress. Circuses know that people today do not want to see the abuse, so it can only happen behind closed gates and doors.
Please don't reward this abuse by continuing to allow circus acts to exploit wild animals within your city limits. For the cats,
Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
"Judge me by the enemies I have made." - Franklin D. Roosevelt
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
NYC held an epic hearing on banning circus acts that use wild animals.
Jen came into my office, about 2 hours into the testimony and said I needed to hear how they were tearing Ringling apart. By the time I got Wirecast set to LIVE stream it the grilling of Tom Albert, Lacey their tiger trainer, UniverSoul Ops Mgr and The Big Apple clown, were off the stage and it was another 3 hours of public testimony, mostly in support of the ban. I recorded it because I think the day will come when it will be one of those turning points.
I’m so happy and grateful that people are speaking out, from all walks of life, about the abuses inherent in making wild animals perform.
It makes me optimistic that we can drop our exemption for the circus from our bill.
I’ve been energized by the outpouring of support for Big Cat Rescue from the community, through the voting contests we’ve been winning, like Animalitarian of the Year, and the Valspar Golf contest that netted us about $55k combined.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Jumanji lost his battle with kidney disease and was euthanized today.
Oct 15, 2016 Jumanji was noted in the evening to have left his tuna ‘cicle uneaten. That was a pretty clear sign that something was wrong. I let Jamie and Dr. Justin know but since he was laying in the bushes, with his head up, I didn’t think it was an emergency. I was hungry and exhausted and running out of daylight to get home on my bicycle. Just as I turned onto the last leg of my ride home, Jamie texted and said they were worried about Jumanji and were going in to check on him. I told her I’d go with them, and did.
By the time we returned to the sanctuary we were just about out of light and everyone was leaving for the day. Gale was doing a family outing an hour away. Lauren was house sitting for a former employee. The interns were all locked outside the gates for the night. It would be just the three of us to try and figure out what to do.
The golf cart had no lights and the windscreen, which has been broken years ago, was zip tied to the frame. Holding a flashlight outside the cart, and pointed ahead, just barely made the tour path visible, because the windscreen was so marred from years of gravel induced scratches. It was overcast and raining a bit, so there was no star or moon light. Jamie tried and tried to call Jumanji to the side of the cage so we could check his dehydration level and possible give him fluids. We knew it was bad when he couldn’t stand, despite trying.
I left her to continue calling him and went after a bucket (so he might think there would be food involved), 3 nets, a Y pole (to hold his head away from biting the vet), gloves, a cordless shaver, so we could shave a spot and draw blood, and a pile of blankets, towels and a carry tarp. Meanwhile she and Dr. Justin determined that there was no way Jumanji was going to come to the side, so they sent me back for a carrier big enough for a leopard, that would fit through the door.
Jumanji was so “down” that we feared sedating him would kill him, so we decided to go in and see if we could hold him down with the nets and Y pole well enough for Dr. Justin to draw blood and give him fluids.
Jumanji said, “NO!” He wasn’t aggressive about it, but he made it clear that his good humor could turn ugly if we kept a net on his head.
We decided to try and corral him into the dog carrier but he couldn’t stand well enough to get him moving the foot or so into the pet taxi. We worked a carry tarp under him and he was sick enough and upset enough to vomit all over one end of it three times. We couldn’t go near his face, so Dr. Justin looped the Y pole through the two loops at his head, while Jamie and I lifted the back end, and tried to push him into the transport.
He decided the whole idea of being forced into the carrier was beneath him, no matter how bad he felt, he wasn’t going. He growled his displeasure and bit at the carry tarp, but the geometry of the situation wasn’t working. We just couldn’t get a good angle on lifting him, without having a person right in his face, and we couldn’t risk that. Dr. Justin left to load up a needle to sedate him. It was a last resort, because the sedation alone could kill Jumanji, but we had to treat him.
8:09 PM While he was drifting off to sleep (25 minutes) Dr. Justin went to get the X-ray machine running. We don’t have access to 3 Phase power here, so we have a generator. When he flipped the switch, nothing happened. None of us have ever had anything to do with the generator maintenance and didn’t have any idea what we were doing, but Dr. Justin noticed a panel that said we were low on fuel. This generator is about the size of a Volkswagon, so I have no idea how much fuel it takes to run the thing, or who is in charge of keeping it filled, but I called Scott Haller and asked if we have any Diesel on property. He directed me to our stash and after a few failed attempts with the container, Dr. Justin finally emptied it into the tank. When he hit the switch, nothing happened.
We were freaking out because we really needed to do blood work AND X-rays to make sure we were treating Jumanji properly for whatever is ailing him. Dr. Justin hit another switch and the generator roared to life! There would have been high fives exchanged, except that we had to find something better to carry Jumanji in, since cramming a sedated leopard into a dog carrier wasn’t going to be ideal. Due to Nala Serval taking up our two best transports, for her recovery from breaking her leg a few weeks ago, we didn’t have anything appropriate and Jamie was calling and texting us because she didn’t want Jumanji to wake up before we got back.
Turns out that wasn’t much of a concern, because Jumanji was really out of it. We loaded him into the pet taxi and I lit the way so that Jamie and Dr. Justin could see to carry him out through his cage which is thick with bushes and trees. This time we had the dump truck golf cart, and it has headlights, but only room for 2 passengers, so Jumanji and I rode in the back. We whisked him into the Windsong Memorial Hospital and began drawing blood, doing X-rays, checking his teeth and giving him sub-q fluids. The only thing we found was a lot of gas, from his abdominal breathing, and his kidneys were three times worse that just a month ago.
Jumanji’s blood work indicates he has suspected acute kidney disease/kidney infection. His blood pressure was high, which is the opposite of how kidney disease usually manifests. Acute kidney disease is different than what are cats typically suffer from which is chronic kidney disease. He was given fluids and medications that night and we wrapped up around midnight. His white blood cell count is high, so he’s fighting something off and we will help him. They are growing a urine culture, but that takes days.
Dr. Justin and Jamie have checked in on him a couple times today to administer more.
Oct. 17, 2016 his blood work was even worse. The medications were not helping and Jumanji was clearly ready to go. Jamie asked that the hospital cage be taken out by the lake where she and Dr. Justin could spend some last moments with him before helping him cross over to his next big adventure. Under the shade of the Grandfather oak on Tiger Lake they spent their last few precious moments together. Jumanji was euthanized and a warm, soothing breeze ruffled the air for a few minutes before he was gone. He may have left his cage on Easy Street yesterday, but he will always be with us.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Photos on Dad’s cell phone after he died.
I sent this email and the photos to Mom, Jamie and Chuck.
Jamie cracked her screen right before the trip to Africa, so she took Dad's old phone with her, just in case her's quit working. Yesterday she gave it back to me to turn off and erase, but said there were some photos on it that I might want to save. She said there was a cute one of Mom.
There is a really cute photo of Mom, (dated July 25, 2016) but I'm sending you the other photos too, as these were, to my knowledge, the only photos Dad ever took with a phone. I smile to think about him slowly adapting to the ever changing technology around him.
After making sure I'd safely moved the photos to my computer, I went to hit erase on his phone. I couldn't do it. I had several more failed attempts before I was finally able to cut this last tie. He doesn't need a piece of metal and silicon to speak to us any more, but it was one of those unexpected, painful moments, that caught me by surprise.
If anyone knows the story behind these photos, I'd be interested to hear it. I think that trailer was the one on Jean Carson's property. Maybe he was thinking about cleaning it up and going on vacation, even back then.
Chuck responded:
The travel trailer was Dad being funny. He and I were on our way down Easy St. on his golf cart to get fuel for the mowers. Jamie and Justin were looking at buying their first trailer when Dad said take a picture of that one and tell Jamie to stop looking we had found the perfect one for them.
The photos of the Funcation roof assembly was just so we would not forget HOW we were achieving the product.
I did not take that photo of Mom. She never smiled like that for anyone but Dad.
I’m thankful that Bill and Kiz gave the go ahead to announce the rescue.
This is what I shared on our website and social sites today: https://bigcatrescue.org/oct-15-2016/
Four Tigers Coming to Big Cat Rescue
Big Cat Rescue is participating in a significant cross-country rescue spearheaded by Tigers in America and Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge with the participation and support of the larger community of Tigers in America Sanctuaries.
We expect to give new lifetime homes to 4 new tigers. Because of the sensitive nature of this project, we have been asked to keep further details under wraps until the safety of all the cats at risk can be assured. There are many challenges because of the size and scope of this effort.
We are pleased to be a major part of such an important and ground-breaking mission! Help fund their rescue, the cage modifications we are doing to accommodate them and their ongoing care here: BigCatRescue.org/donate
I’m grateful that my mother responded kindly to my email yesterday. She merely said that she appreciated that I sent the link to her. I sort of expected to be dis-owned. I’ve always thought her belief in the Bible to be something so strong that she wouldn’t even be able to consider any outside evidence.
I am thankful that Jamie and Justin survived great white shark diving while in S. Africa. Just yesterday was a pretty scary image and story of a great while busting through one of those tourist cages. Jamie’s story of the man in the cage vomiting uncontrollably into the water around them made me wonder how that is any different than chumming with blood.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
BIG CAT PROTECTION IS A FAMILY TRADITION
I remember that it was at church, many years ago, when my mother handed me a copy of National Geographic. She said it was a cousin of mine and commented on the strange coincidence that he and I both loved exotic cats so much.
On the cover of the magazine was a young man, holding a tranquilized cougar in the snow. The story inside was about mountain lion researcher who had been tracking the elusive big cats in Yellowstone National Park when he was killed in an avalanche. A couple years later this article appeared in Yellowstone Science. Somewhere, I surely still have that Nat Geo Magazine, but I don’t know where. It had been filed away and I didn’t think much about this long lost cousin until today.
Gregory Felzien would have been fifty this year. As I began researching the web, looking for details of his story and his photo, I was stunned to be reminded that he had died in February of 1992. That was about three months before Windsong the bobcat was born, and 9 months before Windsong’s rescue from a taxidermist would launch the world renown organization that is saving exotic cats, that is now known as Big Cat Rescue. This was Greg’s story:
Gregory Felzien Dies in Yellowstone Avalanche
From: The Jackson Hole Guide
A 26-year old Ohio man was killed in an avalanche in Yellowstone National Park Saturday while tracking mountain lions in the Lamar Valley area. Gregory Felzien of Bellbrook, Ohio was conducting mountain lion research activities in Yellowstone for the Wildlife Research Institute, affiliated with the University of Idaho at Moscow, according to Park Superintendent Bob Barbee.
After Felzien was reported missing Saturday evening, an air and ground search began Sunday morning, Barbee said. Searchers found Felzien’s car parked along the road, south of Pebble Creek Camground and near Mt. Norris, according to park Spokeswoman Marsha Karle. They followed Felzien’s foot tracks through a minimal snow cover and located his body in the avalanche area Sunday at about 2:26 p.m., Karle said. The avalanche path was about 30 feet wide, 300 feet long and five feet deep, she said.
Felzien’s body was transported by helicopter to the Buffalo Ranch in the Lamar Valley and then by ground to the Franzen-Davis-Bebee Mortuary in Livingston, Mont., according to Barbee. Officials blamed the slide on early spring weather, which resulted in extremely hazardous backcountry snow conditions. http://www.jhavalanche.org/fatalArticles/article/Felzien
The Family of Cat Protectors
Thanks to Ancestry.com and the fact that Gregory’s aunt LaDonna is still alive and was probably the one to give the magazine to my mother back 20 plus years ago, I was able to trace the connection between us. My mother, Mary Barbara Jean Norris Stairs, was born to Jaqueline Thompson Norris, who was born to Goldie Higginbotham, who was the sister to Grace Higginbotham, who was married to Floyd Grant Felzien, who were the parents of Grant Felzien, who was the father to Gregory S. Felzien.
Grace and Floyd Felzien had 4 children. LaDonna, Grant, Terry (who tragically died at age 20 in a car accident), and another daughter named Lorna. LaDonna's oldest son, JimPat named his son Gregory, after Greg Felzien because they were first cousins and very close. Everyone who knew him loved him.
So, Gregory, I have no doubt that you are with us every step of the way now, and surely have been for all these decades. I have to believe that you live on in all of us who are working to save wild cats from extinction by ending the captive trade that provides the smokescreen for illegal poaching. My awe at your dedication and sacrifice to protect some of the world’s most exquisite creatures is renewed today, and gratitude fills my heart.
Email to my mother, I think?
I don't mean to shake your faith, and I don't think this will, because a person either believes the Bible, based on faith, or they don't.
I believe God is much greater, more powerful and more loving than the one described in the Bible. I have felt so connected to and protected by God for so long that I just can't believe the God I know would condone slavery, inequality, war or the sacrifice of any innocent creature, including His Son, for the purpose of creating a bridge to us.
This is just a web page on the topic of authenticity of the writers, but it may be something you would want to begin to research, as you are looking beyond what we have always been told.
http://listverse.com/2014/09/08/10-theories-about-who-really-wrote-the-bible/
There were a lot of links in the text and I didn't research them yet. There are people who spend their whole lives researching every word, so I'm probably not going to discover anything earth shattering in my research.
I just prefer the God I know and love Who is always listening, always responding and always showering me with love. For the cats, Carole
Jamie Reports Jumanji Choking
Jumanji choked on his food this morning. His tongue turned blue and he passed out. I just happened to be there and slapped him on the back a few times which rousted him and he gagged the food back up. Please make sure his diet is cut into small pieces. I think he choked as a combination of the bigger pieces he had today and the meds he has been on which have a sedative effect on him. We have stopped all of his meds so we can see what his normal gait and level of alertness is. Then we may gradually add meds back in.
Please observe him eating this Saturday and Sunday to see if he has any further issues eating. If you were the Coordinator this weekend please reply to this email so that I know he will be observed this weekend. - Jamie Veronica
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
PETA sues Dade City’s Wild Things I am very happy to get this email today: Subject: DCWT ESA suit is filed Attached please find the file stamped copy of the ESA lawsuit against DCWT (filed today). Thanks, everyone, for your efforts on this. PETA Foundation The basis of the complaint is that using tiger cubs for handling is a violation of the Animal Welfare Act and Endangered Species Act that prohibits “take” and “harassment”. If they win, this will be groundbreaking and will put an end to the use of the endangered species that are currently mis handled this way. If only we had been successful at CITES in getting the lions uplifted to protect them too.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
TripAdvisor & Viator End Cub Handling Ticket Sale Schemes
TripAdvisor and its Viator brand will discontinue selling tickets for specific tourism experiences where travelers come into physical contact with captive wild animals or endangered species, including but not limited to elephant rides, petting tigers, and swim with dolphin attractions.
Hundreds of Animal Attractions Where Tourists Come into Physical Contact with Captive Wild Animals or Endangered Species Will No Longer Be Bookable on TripAdvisor or Viator
With endorsements from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), TripAdvisor to create a wildlife tourism education portal for travelers in partnership with top accredited trade groups, conservation organizations, academic experts, tourism experts, and animal welfare groups, including the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, ABTA – The Travel Association, Global Wildlife Conservation, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), Sustainable Travel International, The TreadRight Foundation, Think Elephants International, Asian Elephant Support, Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and World Animal Protection. Read more:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/PressCenter-i7796-c1-Press_Releases.html
Big Cat Rescue Wins BOCC Decision 5-0
On Oct 7 we asked local residents to help us stop a dangerous change to our Tampabay Trail that could negatively impact our access. https://bigcatrescue.org/oct-7-2016/ Thanks to your calls, letters and those who attended the Board of County Commissioner’s meeting yesterday, we won 5-0.
Howie and I celebrated with champaign! I’m so happy that I just can’t contain myself.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
We agreed to take two pairs of tigers from their situation. One from Antle and one from ZAA leader, Tanganyika.
With Jamie’s approval, I told Bobbi Brink we would take the:
1 leopard
2 cougars
4 bobcats
1 Canada lynx
and amazingly the state of Florida issued an emergency permit, as Bobbi is loading them up as we speak in SD and it's snowing. I told her we would cover the transport cost of 3.00 a mile, plus her hotels, etc. so that's probably about $7,000
FL & USDA require the cats arrive w/ health certificates, but it only has to be a visual by a vet saying they were breathing. Bobbi is trying to get a vet out to Spirit of the Hills to issue one and I'm guessing will be on her way here first as we are probably most of her load. She's taking a Serval and Jungle Cat back to CA with her from SD.
Let me know what kind of time table you are wanting on the four tigers and who I should list on the import permit as the person transferring them, ie: Turpentine or Serenity? address, phone, and the carrier. FWC likes to have someone they can call to verify the origin. Will that be Loving Friends or Bobbi?
In either event, FWC requires that I meet them at the FL / GA border and escort them in under my FWC permit.
For the cats,
Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
My intention today is to find a way to accommodate 4 tigers from Serenity Springs.
I think we can modify some of the old bobcat and caracal cages to move the cougars Mac, Reise, Mickey and Aspen Echo. That would enable us to move 4 tigers into areas that already have tunnels to Vacation Rotation.
I am thankful for the opportunity to re connect with God in a more personal and spiritual way.
Yesterday I was listening to Gabrielle Bernstein’s book, The Universe Has Your Back, and she was saying you should ask for a sign to let you know you are on the right path. I was raised to believe that you should never ask God to show you a sign, so I never have. She just kept hammering away at how important the feedback loop between God and us is, and I was beginning to waiver in my conviction NOT to ask for a sign.
As I rolled my bike up to the Gift Shop to check my mail, I prayed, “Lord, you know I have trouble with my weight. I’m handing that over to you. Show me a sign that you can handle it.”
Walking into the mail room there is a huge platter of vanilla cupcakes with lemon looking frosting, and I comment to the women in the room that they look delicious. They affirm that they are, to which I respond, “Thank goodness they aren’t chocolate, because that is the only sweet that tempts me.” I turned, reached in my mail slot and pulled out the biggest magazine I’ve ever seen that was dedicated entirely to selling chocolates.
I looked skyward and said, “That is SO not funny!”
But it was. So who knows what that sign meant, because I’ve never gotten a chocolate catalogue, and I don’t know if it meant, “eat chocolate” or “told you not to ask for signs” or “quit stressing over it because that’s the problem.” I don’t know, but it seemed like a significant rip in the fabric of reality, so I spent a lot of the day yesterday seeking out ways to meditate.
I’m going to use the Sunday morning worship hour that I’ve set aside all my life, to spend in meditation and see how that goes.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I’m happy to have discovered Gabrielle Bernstein. I don’t think she’s said one new thing yet, and I’ve listened to hours of her talking, but she’s reminded me to lean on God for inspiration and to operate from a place of love. I’m thankful that x sent us a list of the tigers who need homes. It was so sad to read about them missing limbs, being blind, and having horrible birth defects, but that’s to be expected given the way they were treated. One bit of knowledge that I can’t seem to find anywhere is how to find the happiness in the heartbreaking work I’ve chosen. It’s easy to be happy for those who are rescued, but there are so many more in pain. I don’t know how to find peace in that; other than the work on the federal bill and CITES to end the abuse. I am grateful that Hurricane Matthew left the area without dropping much rain or debris on us. I look forward to biking to work today. I’ve missed it. 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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Hurricane Matthew
I am so thankful that Hurricane Matthew has stayed far enough off the east coast to spare us any damage at the sanctuary.
I appreciate all of the dedicated staff and volunteers who made sure our cats would be safe, even if it had been much worse.
I’m happy that Jamie is on the other side of the world, far away from all this stress.
I’ve been delighted to listen to Gabrielle Bernstein’s new book, The Universe Has Got Your Back and to be reminded of all of the power of The Secret.
Later I got this email :
Hi all, Watching Matthew on cat cams - looks like it may pass you by, for the most part? I am working on Colorado rescue moves. Do you guys want the tiger that mauled Joe Exotic? Female orange tiger, 8 years old, now named Chainsaw? Understand if no, just want to know if I should move her elsewhere. Thanks!
To which I responded:
I have forwarded to Jamie, as we usually take the eldest of cats. 8 is probably going to be OK w/ her, but she's still in S. Africa, so I'd like to hear from her before committing.
I still haven't seen a list from you guys of cats and ages yet.
We can probably make room for four big cats. We had tons of room for smaller cats (about 20 cages that were over 1200 sf each) but they aren't suitable for tigers because of the door, tunnel and feeding lockout heights.
The storm was a non event for us, THANKFULLY.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Email to Jamie
Oct. 1, 2016 SD: Michael Welchynski, founder of Spirit of the Hills, a pseudo sanctuary located at 500 Tinton Rd. Spearfish SD, was found by first responders to be covered in bites to his head, neck, shoulders and arms. He had been bitten by a tiger (presumably Louise or Raphael) who escaped through an open gate. At first no one knew where the tiger was lurking. Deputies approached the tiger’s enclosure to secure the still open gate. “It peeked its head out of the door a couple times, and the third time it crouched down and started coming out the door,” deputy Paul Hansen said. “There is really nothing fence-wise, they told us, that would keep something like (the tiger) in the perimeter, because they are not tall fences,” Hansen said. The tiger was shot and killed. Welchynski is in the hospital in fair condition. The remaining big cats were relocated to Wild Animal Sanctuary in CO. The USDA had been camped out at the facility since Sept. 28th for undisclosed reasons.
In other news, the court ordered Joe and Jeff Lowe to pay the receiver $50,000 immediately. Since it is an order and not a judgement, they have to pay or go to jail. Can't post online yet, but thought you would like to know.
Jumanji and Tonga both doing very well tonight.
I am thankful that Chuck took down so many of the dead and low branches yesterday as Hurricane Matthew will hit the east coast today with 145 MPH winds.
I appreciate that Steve Houck, our FWC officer, called to be sure we would be OK during the storm.
I love Howie for cleaning up all of the palm fronds and pods that are scattered over our 5 acres, so they don’t become missiles.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Today many of our motions will be heard in Oklahoma.
I’m glad that is finally happening. It’s been years of frustration and expense, but today the judge is supposed to hear a number of our motions which should result in a receiver taking over operations at GW Zoo, and Joe getting bitch slapped for contempt after flagrantly disregarding previous court orders to stop trying to hide assets.
I’m happy it’s nearing an end, regardless of the outcome. I’m thankful that we had the staying power to force this man and his band of minions into hiding.
I’ve been pleased that we haven’t lost any ground at CITES, but disappointed that greed is still pressing the big cats to the brink of extinction with very little being done to stop it.
I was happy that USDA send out their annual report with promises to do something about cub handling, although they were pretty vague about it.
I am loving Wirecast because it gives me the ability to have a purr-sonal dialogue with our Facebook fans from my desk, so I can stay on target better with the big cat news.
I’m so happy to have such a wonderful family. So many times during and after the Wildcat Walkabout people commented to me about how wonderful my family, staff and volunteers all are. I love that we have that sort of an atmosphere here.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Dear Mr. Van Norman,
Hoover, the tiger you helped guide us to import from Peru, is doing fabulously.
We have now been approached by the Ecoparque, formerly known at the Buenos Aires Zoo, about taking in a 12 year old cheetah. The government ended up taking over the zoo and deciding that rather than have animals in cages they would like to turn the zoo into a place to educate people about animals and conservation without having live animals. So, they are working to place the animals that were there.
Based on our experience with Hoover, we have looked for a suitable organization doing work in the wild on cheetah conservation to support financially with a $5000 donation to fulfill the requirement that the import should support conservation in the wild.
The organization we found that we felt is doing the best work in a way that is consistent with our values is the Mara Cheetah Project. Below is a brief description of the work and attached is their 2015 annual report. Before we make the donation I would very much appreciate your guidance as to whether you would find a donation to this organization suitable.
Further, this time we would be applying without the help of ADI's attorney, and I believe our counterparts in Argentina are not experienced in what they will have to do at their end. So I wonder if it might be possible to assign our application when we submit it to someone who would be likely to have the patience to help guide both us and our counterparts there? Thanks very much for any advice you can provide!
MARA CHEETAH PROJECT SUMMARY
At present, the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem is one of the two remaining strongholds for the global cheetah population. Whilst in the Serengeti there has been a long-term cheetah project running for over 25 years, surprisingly little is known about the cheetahs in the Greater Mara Ecosystem. As a result the Kenya Wildlife Trust set-up the Mara Cheetah Project in June 2013. Using a research-driven conservation approach the main objectives of the project are to:
Determine the current and long-term status of the cheetah population:
Collect baseline data on cheetah ecology and behaviour
Identify the threats that cheetahs are facing
Develop sustainable solutions to mitigate threats
This long-term project will have important implications for cheetah conservation both in Kenya and in the rest of Africa.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I’m proud of Jamie and Justin
for trying to derail the plan to delist the Florida Panther but it failed. At 5 am she texted me to say, “The downcast of the panthers was a collaboration between Canada and the U.S. When it came time to present their proposal the U.S. said that because of the feedback from constituents here they now reject the proposal but recused themselves from voting. Half of the neighboring countries voted against it. Mexico and some European and Asian countries voted for it. It ended up passing. The Florida Panther has now been down listed to Appendix II. We tried.”
Call me cynical, but here's my read on this:
The USFWS was no help at all to the Florida Panther when the Florida Wildlife Commission tried to change the rules in Florida so that the panthers could be killed if they were in the way of Florida Wildlife Commissioner Priddy's planned development in the heart of Florida Panther territory. The people of Florida were so outraged that I believe the USFWS went to Canada and said, "Hey, you guys like offering trophy hunts of endangered species, like wolves and polar bears, so how about we let you guys continue to export those into the U.S. and you help us pave Florida under by proposing to delist the Florida Panther?" Why not? Canada doesn't have any Florida Panthers. No state, other than Florida has any Florida Panthers. That's why they're called Florida Panthers.
But, the USFWS isn't expecting anyone from the U.S. to be there and see what's happening until they get called on the carpet by Big Cat Rescuers, Jamie and Justin Boorstein. To save face they rally plenty of other countries who want to consume every last wild animal on the planet, to assist their virility, because goodness knows there aren't enough of them, so that the U.S. can say, "oh, we didn't know Americans cared about the Florida Panther, but since they do, we will just sit this one out"...even though it was their plan from the beginning. And don't let them tell you they didn't know. As soon as the ill fated plan was made known we have been all over it, along with a number of other leading non profit organizations.
cites-letter-opposing-canada-proposal-downlist-florida-panther
South Florida developers must be licking their chops now as there is far less standing in their way of building more cities and killing more wildlife in Florida.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
CITES Update First thing this morning we met with a big cat working group including; IFAW, WCS, WAPS, EIA, WWF, Born Free, and others to discuss strategy for lobbying delegates before the big cat issues come up in Committee on Thursday. A few minutes into our meeting the Chinese attempted to spy on us by sitting at a table across the room with a camera with a telephoto lens sitting on their table pointing at us. We noticed right away and got up to leave. Two of our group walked over to confront them and they quickly hid the camera under the table. We adjourned our meeting in a more secluded spot. The same delegate from China made a scene at our side event on Sunday evening, saying they knew where their tigers were and that the US had a bigger problem because people have nearly the same number of tigers being kept as pets. He also said that we cannot prove that their is actual tiger bone in the product they make (which is true because the alcohol deteriorates the DNA), that they only have 2 tiger farms, the other 198 are "zoos" We sat in on some of the committee sessions. Attached is a photo of Justin and I. HSUS was speaking and they were sitting behind us. They make a lot of comments so we are on the big screens a lot. We met a couple that run http://www.wildheartwildlifefoundation.org/ they were really nice and have the same ideals we do. We talked to them at length about canned hunting. They told us about drive hunts, where hunters are lined up on observation towers on either side of a road or path inside a fenced enclosure, then staff beat the bushes in line form driving all of the game down through the middle of the path where they are picked off by the hunters. They also told us about big cat hunts, apparently the cats are housed in small enclosures and cared for daily by keepers. When they are chosen to be hunted they are put into the large wild enclosure and have to have a minimum of 3 days in the new space after which the hunter is driven up to the cat which is approximately 15 feet away. As soon as the cat sees people it approaches as it is used to being fed by people, then it is shot. The other thing that is starting to get huge here in Africa is the use of tigers. African law only governs native species, so there are no laws protecting big cats like tigers. Also met a group from ALDF which included someone with the last name Green? who has been working with Howard on the legitimacy of FWC claims that they are in charge of wildlife law etc. Good day overall, listening in on the committee talks can be very boring and very interesting at the same time. I think you are supposed to have a law degree in order to attend this conference. Jamie Veronica President of Big Cat Rescue - A permanent sanctuary for big cats & rehabilitation center for native FL bobcats 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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Our Dad Was Baptized Twice
Chuck said it was so that he could date our Mom. This was during the Sunday morning worship on Lake Maurine, and was news to me. I like that this group actually thinks about all of the rituals and dogma that we’ve been taught and then looks to the Bible for whether or not that was actually part of the “plan.” I appreciate that open mindedness, but have to keep my mouth shut about being even more open minded, as to consider whether or not any loving God would call for animal or human sacrifice.
Before the meeting Chuck was taking about his 48 mile hike through the Appalachian trail with Mark McCrae. They had come upon a bear in the woods and all of them ran off in different directions. I told Trundy that when I had run away at 15 and was living in the White Mountains, I’d sleep out on a ledge so I could see anyone coming toward me and was completely protected by the drop off on 3 sides. I woke up one morning and groggily looked over the edge to see bears. I’d never seen bears before and was aghast that I’d been sleeping amongst them. After that, I fully expected a bear behind every tree.
Trundy said I really need to write my life’s story in a book. I agreed that I should before I forget all of the adventures and misadventures.
Best CITES ever for Tigers
Dear Howard & Carole, We just had THE most amazing tiger event ever in the history of CITES. Jamie and Justin are taking to CITES like ducks to water. They may have just saved the Florida panther tonight after the side event by double teaming the head of the US delegation (Dan Ashe). I'm too tired to say more than thank you for money well spent already, and we are only at day two of the conference. All best, Judy Mills
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Jamie’s CITES Report Today Opening ceremony was led by a welcome speech by the president of South Africa (a last minute decision) so lots of security. Followed by speeches from the CITES Secretariat and others. At the end of the speeches was a wonderful musical play by locals with lion king styled props of animated birds, gazelle, and a rhino. They gave every attendee a bongo drum to play along. This is the biggest CITES in history with 3,000 attendees. We were about 10 rows from stage at a table with our own mic and name sign. Spent the rest of the day meeting people and manning the booth. The booth is labeled as Born Free so confusing to people that approach as we constantly have to explain that there are multiple organizations working out of the booth. The only mention of BCR at the booth is our logo on the flyer we are distributing. Not much organization amongst the group members. Everyone is always very distracted and it is hard to get straight answers out of people as to what meetings we should be at, what time, etc. Everyone is always late for everything. It was hard to man the booth as you get a wide range of questions. Some easy enough to answer and some that are completely out of our league and there is no training or info to read to get prepped. We answer the best we can and said, “I don't know,” a lot. We are going to run out of gifts for the attendees. With 3,000 guests and only about 700 brochures and lanyards and 500 or so tote bags they are going quickly. Judy has been good at introducing us to people. We have been introduced to a lot of people. However there are times I feel like we should have had more direction. For example there was a huge event tonight that no one told us about. We were done for the day and went to the mall to pick up a few things. From an upper level we saw some food trucks outside and decided to be brave in SA. We went down to where the food trucks were and it turned out to be a welcome party thrown by the government of SA for all CITES attendees. There were 35-40 food trucks, dancers, bars, and arts and crafts. All the food and drinks were free. It was a massive event and we accidentally found it. Shortly after arriving we saw x there who seemed to pretend she did not see us. We did not approach her, but rather mingled and talked to people we had met earlier in the day. Other things that happened; met the 1 person sent from USDA. He only deals with plants and didn't even know that the USDA governs collections of big cats in the US. Met Masha with IFAW who was in charge of the project of releasing the Tigers back into the wild. Someone who has had a huge involvement with the phasing out of bear farms. I was approached by a forestry minister from Cambodia that wanted to know about how to reintroduce wild tigers in his country. Most other NGOs who heard about this said it was a terrible idea as Cambodia has horrible poaching which has not been lessened in more than 5 years. I guess WWF has plans to reintroduce Tigers there but has little support from other organizations as it seems to be a ploy to raise interest in donating to the project but may not be sustainable unless major improvements are made legislatively as well as with on the ground enforcement. There are other countries that have much improved their infrastructure and more continuous land such as Malaysia but no one is interested in funding reintroduction there. We met the founder of Born Free and semi founder of SSN but he didn't seem very interested in us. Also met several other people that thought our knowledge base would be useful to Lao should they accept assistance with auditing their current tiger population and phasing out the farms. Justin and I have decided to basically take over our own schedules and double check the daily list of meetings to make sure we do not miss important meetings and gatherings. We have also started to just leave the rest of the group behind as it takes them forever to make a decision as to what they are doing. Jamie Veronica President of Big Cat Rescue - A permanent sanctuary for big cats & rehabilitation center for native FL bobcats 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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I’m thankful to writers like Lori Duska who has been writing funny commentary by the cats to management for our daily updates.
I’m thankful for all the work groups who come out and share their blood, sweat and tears to help us with the less glamorous parts of our work, like spreading dirt to raise the elevation of the cats’ cages above flood levels.
I paid $100 to RealityTVScouts.com and am thankful that they were so thorough in their pitch. I think I have a pretty good feel for how we can do our own reality series here and sent the following to Afton:
Out of curiosity, I paid 100.00 to see how Reality TV Scouts promotes ideas to the channels. Their pitch is pretty scammy sounding and I doubt that we will work with them, even though they said we would be a great show for them to pitch, because they said it would cost about $64,000 to film the sizzle reel and put together the "treatment". I'll send you the PDF they sent me about how shows are pitched and below is a link to how they do their sizzle reels:
http://www.realitytvscouts.com/project-library/?inf_contact_key=f1ffc8fd7b26b23d73ded049a2ee73940a20308226b93d1d28c52aed5514d46f
The reason I'm sending you this is that reality shows are still hugely popular and I think we can do our own YouTube version that will go viral if we do a little bit more to spice up some of our stuff.
I've been watching all kinds of reality shows lately to try and figure out what the format looks like and essentially it is creating a deadline, the drama to meet the deadline, the characters involved showing a bit of who they are, and the sense of voyeurism that makes you feel like you are in the room watching.
With the Artemis footage that is on the camera right now, I think you can film some shots to cut in that really make people pay attention (to yet another dental vid). I wish I'd thought to get a few shots of Dr. Miller, Dr. Justin and Jamie, and now that can't happen for 2 weeks, but Gale's good on camera so maybe she can carry it and sort of set up the scenes.
The idea would be something like filming Gale, in the Cat Hospital (as if it happened then, so no wide view of empty room) where she does the following bits that are then followed by what actually happened:
In her own words so it doesn't look like she's reading and only a sentence or two for each set up:
Gale Outside: Artemis Cougar is really shy. We're moving her family to a new area, but there's no way we're going to catch her. Since we have to sedate her, it's a good time to see why she's being so fussy about chewing bones.
Then you show some footage of Artemis being a spook.
Gale Outside: We have to hide in the bushes until Dr. Justin has the darts all loaded. Artemis likes me, and I trapped her, so I'll go help.
Show that.
Gale Outside: That first dose wasn't enough. She's really freaked out and sedation doesn't always work when there's a lot of adrenalin pumping though their veins. Once she's down the clock is ticking. Three hours and we have to wake her up, whether we are done or not, or she could die.
Show the follow up darting.
Gale Outside: Alright, she's down. Now we have to hurry up and get her out of the tunnel and into the transport, but she could wake up at any minute so we have to hurry.
Show that.
Gale Outside: Shew, she was heavier that we thought. Maybe that's why it took more drugs. Good news is that she's loaded and we're on our way to the Windsong Memorial Hospital to check her out.
Show that.
Gale Inside hospital: So she weighs X and was sedated at X o'clock. Sedation is very dangerous for wild cats, so we have to hurry, but it's the first time she's been sedated in 11 years, so we want to gather as much info as we can, like blood work, X-rays, a full body exam and then maybe take some dental X-rays.
Show everything but the dental X-rays.
Gale Inside hospital: Whenever we can we call Dr Tammy Miller, who is a board certified ophthalmologist. She takes a look at their eyes to build a database of normals, because no one has ever done that for wild cats before.
Show Dr Miller
Gale Inside hospital: The X-rays and bloodwork all look pretty good. She's a healthy cat from what we can see, but there's something wrong. She's just not eating like she should. Dr. Justin is going to do some X-rays of her teeth.
Show the dental X-rays
Gale Inside hospital: The only culprit we're finding for Artemis not eating bones is her four little incisors have exposed pulp. Those are the tiny teeth on the bottom jaw between the canines. Dr Justin's going to pull those and she should be good as new.
Show that.
I got busy with a live shot and didn't get much or anything w/ the big camera. I'll copy you w/ the live footage, but it's going to be square, so won't look good.
Gale Inside hospital: Dr Justin has reversed her sedation so she will be waking up soon. We got it done in well under 3 hours and she's a healthy girl, so she should wake up just fine.
Up to you if you want to continue past that point. I have live footage, but not big camera, of taking her out in the dark. Gale could talk about how we were afraid she might break off her good teeth if we left her in the squeeze cage. How she and Kathryn sat with her till 10pm and then let her out into her new home.
When Gale is talking and the first time or so that a vet is shown, there should be a lower third with at least a first name like Dr Justin, Dr Tammy, Gale, etc.
I've noticed that in reality shows that lower third usually is animated and comes in with a sound that is appropriate for the show, so like a show on motorcycles might have a motor rev. Maybe we could have some kind of cat call for the split second that a lower third shows a name?
It's a lot of extra work but I think it might be what it takes to get people to share it more.
For the cats,
Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I attended the little worship group that Chuck attends today, except Chuck was off camping and hiking with Mark McCray. I am glad there are people who are thinking about how ritualized the church has become and are moving back to the roots.
My mother wanted to go to church in S. Tampa with Katie. She didn’t seem to want me to come; but maybe it was because she thought it would be too far for me to drive. I guess she’s wanting to do the grandmother thing and I have no desire to spend any time next to a baby. Katie’s got another one on the way. I used to really love family dinner together, but now there are so many babies that I don’t want to be there.
I’m glad Jamie doesn’t worry about my feelings the same way I worry about Mom’s. I don’t believe the Bible. I think it portrays God as petty and jealous and that’s not the God I know and commune with all the time. My mother is so fearful I’ll die and go to Hell that I go to church so she can sleep at night.
Jamie decided about 20 years ago that she wasn’t going any more. It scares her grandmother, but I’m proud of her for following her own heart.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
This is the text from the presentation I created for an MBA class that I used as a guide, so in several cases, I just say, “Tell the story” as I have done so many times. I set it to a video and posted it today.
Left home at 15
Worked 3 jobs at a time, while living in my car, garages and barns, because I felt there was something important I was supposed to do.
Do any of you ever feel that nagging sense that there is something you’re supposed to be doing with your life?
Mine was more than just another annoying voice in my head. It was like being chased by the devil. It felt urgent, and I was sure it had to do with protecting cats, but I’d never even thought about wild cats.
Around the time I was 17 I began rehab and release of native bobcats who had been hit by cars, poisoned or shot by hunters.
When I was in my early 20s I began investing in real estate by buying a $20,000 house for $2,000 because it was in foreclosure. This talk isn’t about that part of my life, but by the time I was 30 I’d built it into a multimillion dollar business. I took out only enough money to scrape by each year and kept building the business because I felt like what ever it was that I was supposed to do with my life; it was going to be expensive.
My late husband was a hoarder. He collected guns, cars, boats, airplanes and then he discovered wild animals.
We were at an exotic animal auction on Nov 4, 1992 buying llamas when a man came in with a 6 month old bobcat kitten around his neck. Tell story.
She was a horrible pet. Tell story.
Don wanted a wild cat who liked him, so he called around and found a guy willing to sell him bobcat kittens, but only if we would drive to MN to get them, because he wouldn’t ship them.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I’m grateful for Salsa as it has proven time and again to be a great way to get our emails out to our fans and to keep track of donors and advocacy.
I’m thankful that our family meets so regularly for family dinner. Tonight we meet at 5PM. Jamie and Justin won’t be with us though, as they head off to NJ for a wedding of one of Justin’s friends.
I LOVE the new Wirecast software. It was $495.00 but worth every penny as I can stream the explore.org cams live to Facebook and answer questions in real time too.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I’m so glad that no one in my family, especially me, is running for office. Two nights ago we attended the fundraiser for Dana Young and last night the fundraiser for Pat Kemp. I can’t even imagine how awful it must be to beg for money and make so many promises to get it.
I’m glad that Afton Tasler and Jen Leon are so happy to be dealing with the film crew from the Netflix hit, Trailer Park Boys. I imagine that I’d have snatched them all bald by the end of the day. I just can’t deal with people behaving like morons.
I just offered to bring Tanja Pirttila here from Finland for the Wildcat Walkabout on Oct. 1. She volunteers her time to keep the trolls off our Facebook site while I’m sleeping and does a great job answering questions. I am thankful that we can afford to reward our people this way, as it will run about a grand to do it.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Dear Curt
Thanks again for taking the time to speak to me by phone a couple weeks ago. You gave me a lot of insight as to how the system works and that was very helpful. I am still perplexed about whether or not the state has constitutional authority over exotic animals vs. native wild animals but maybe we can talk that one through some time when you have a few minutes to chat.
When I told Roy Harrell that you suggested I meet with Commissioner Meehan, he set it up and we met last week. Remembering your advice about him being a hunter I tried to keep focused on the exotic pet problem and that was effective. He seems genuinely concerned and took the initiative to get Col. Julie Jones from FWC on a conference call to discuss my potential service on the Captive Wildlife Committee.
I had written Captain Linda Harrison and Ken Haddad and had been told that the people from 1994 had all agreed to reconvene the group and I would not be needed. After speaking with Commissioner Meehan, Col. Jones said she would be mailing me an invitation this upcoming week but that she was inviting a lot of people who would then be screened by a facilitator for final selection. I sent the attached letter at the suggestion of Commissioner Meehan that I fully detail why I should be selected. It is long and self serving, but given the credentials of the people on the committee in 1994 (9 out of 10 made their living off exotic animal use) I should have a chance at serving if it truly is the purpose of the committee to look at the rules objectively.
Thought you might want to know that David referred to you as “the voice of reason”. He asked Gloria Johnson to call me and we are playing phone tag, but I hope to speak with her soon. Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction.
For the cats,
Carole Baskin, Founder (813) 493-4564 best way to reach me
S. Curtis Kiser practices in the governmental, environmental and administrative law areas.
Formerly the Republican senator for District 19 in Florida, Mr. Kiser served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1972-82 and was the Republican minority leader from 1978-82. From 1984-94 he served as a member of the Florida Senate. In 1970, he served as assistant general counsel for Governor Claude Kirk. He was often voted “Most Effective Legislator” during his tenure in the House and Senate, and he received the top ranking in the Senate for 1994 by The Miami Herald.
In July 1994, Senator Kiser joined Tom Gallagher’s gubernatorial ticket as lieutenant governor. In October 1994, Mr. Kiser was named chairman of the Commission on Long-Term Care created by the 1994 Legislative Session for a two-year study examining Florida’s nursing homes, ACLFs and other services for the elderly. In September 1994, Mr. Kiser was named chairman of the 1995 Sesquicentennial Commission celebrating Florida’s 150 years of statehood. In 1995, he was named by Comptroller Robert Milligan as a commissioner of the Task Force on Banking Decoupling to study how to remove bank regulation from the state comptroller’s office. Mr. Kiser served for 17 years as a member of the Public Service Commission Nominating Council and has served as chairman on a number of occasions.
Mr. Kiser is a noted champion of environmental concerns. The development of the Preservation 2000 Program earned him the Florida Conservation Award on five occasions. In 1995, Mr. Kiser was awarded the Legislative Excellence Award by the Florida Audubon Society for his work on improving the Everglades legislation and his continued support of the Preservation 2000 Program. He was also awarded the 1993 Florida Wildlife Award. Mr. Kiser chaired the drive to create the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. In 1999, he was elected chairman of the board of directors for The Theodore Roosevelt Society in Florida, succeeding former Governor Bob Martinez. The TRS is a relatively new policy think tank focused exclusively on state environmental and growth management issues. He also was appointed in 1999 by Governor Jeb Bush to serve as chairman of the Governor's Commission on the Everglades. In 2000 Mr. Kiser was awarded the Bill Sadowski Award by 1000 Friends of Florida, recognizing his years of service for environmental issues.
Mr. Kiser was one of the authors of the Administrative Procedure Act and has lectured at numerous Bar seminars. Mr. Kiser is a member of The Florida Bar and the American Bar Association. He also is a member of the Florida Association of Professional Lobbyists and The Board of 1000 Friends of Florida, and chairman of the Leroy Collins Center. Mr. Kiser earned his B.A. in 1967 from the University of Iowa and his J.D. in 1970 from Florida State University, where he was a member of the Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I’m grateful that Jumanji Leopard survived his mass removal yesterday.
I’m thankful that we have such a loving and supporting fan base. Lori Duska has provided some great content around the latest odd couple here, Spirit Feather bobcat and the rat, Monty she won’t kill.
I am appreciative of the tech that makes is possible to stay connected with our audience. I’m currently using an iPhone 6 plus, on either the Osmo Mobile stable mount, or the Manfrotto tripod, and trying to do at least one Facebook LIVE cast that is then later added to YouTube. I wish it wasn’t a square format, so I could use it on other social channels.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I am thankful that Jamie has always been here for me and the cats.
Minor Childers said I was living the dream to be working with my child, and he was right. I’ve been preparing a 10 minute talk on Social Entrepreneurism for a class of MBAs and as I’ve put together the history of the success of Big Cat Rescue, Jamie is there at every turn.
I’m glad Justin is so skilled as a vet. The day after setting Nala Serval’s bones she’s walking on it like nothing ever happened.
Jacuzzi Time is when Howie and I catch up every evening. He said he played the best tennis of his life against Michael Schilling, who is probably 30 years younger. Howie has always been fantastic at tennis, so that’s really saying something. He’s not one to exaggerate either, so it tells me that he’s really been working at it to take on this kid. He can’t beat Michael yet, but says he runs him all over the court. Michael was a state champion as a kid and only got better since then.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I’m thankful that Nala Serval’s broken leg was successfully repaired
by Justin this morning and that she’s alert, eating and on the road to recovery.
I am grateful for all of the volunteers who will make sure her 8 weeks of recovery is as comfortable as possible.
I love the new bobcat rehab expansion project and am very happy that an outside company is building it so that Chuck can work on many of the other projects around here. Today he came in and fixed the well at the Lion’s Lair Party Pavilion that just stopped for no reason.
I’m taking the advice of Minor Childers and looking for influential YouTubers to get our message out there about why cub petting is killing tigers in the wild. It’s crazy how much influence some of these kids have. Looks like I’ll be watching a lot of YouTube to see why they have such a following.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I am thankful Mom is dealing with the loss of Dad so well. On our daily walk today she talked about having lunch with some women from church. Several are widows. Some have been for a very long time. She was telling me about her advice to them to stay busy and travel and interact with people in order to be happy. Good for her! A volunteer emailed the Coordinators saying she didn’t think she’d be safe to clean the cats because she just gets too lost in her own head, and starts crying uncontrollably. I gave her a copy of The Happiness Advantage today. She was happy about that. I hope it works for her. Being grateful for what you have is the key to being happy. I was very happy this morning that I didn’t have to be here at 7am to meet the team from Sumo Reality. They were great, but that’s way too early for me. Tom Pollack and Charlie Annenberg apparently went to school with these guys and wanted to throw some business their way in an attempt to create a virtual reality experience involving our cats. They had worked together on Star Wars and other shows, so they have the talent. Explore.org gave us $100,000 donation, but “wanted” $50k of it to go to this project, so we did. I think that is a LOT of money, but am excited about the prospects. They hired a local company called FilmMotionUS.com to fly drones and carry the Go Pro 7 camera mount. Two days of filming which ended up being about 18 hours of work probably only netted us 2 hours of film, but it will probably be very good film. It’s in 8K, which is twice what I even knew existed. 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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I’m thankful that it’s Monday and that people will be back at work so we can get some stuff done. We were supposed to break ground on the new bobcat rehab area last Monday, so I hope to light a fire under them today to get it started. I’m grateful that Dr Wynn came in yesterday and put Rusty Caracal out of his misery. Rusty Caracal was born in 1997. He was neutered in 1999 and hasn’t had to go to the vet for any health issue since. He gets the routine vaccines and dewormings, and had a stick removed from the roof of his mouth in 2001, but he’s never been sick. Keepers noted that he’s walking stiffly, may have some trouble urinating and while he’s eating every day, he’s not eaten a full meal for about 6 days. Rusty Caracal’s kidneys were so bad that the machine couldn’t even read it, and there is no way he can recover from this, so the only kind option is euthanasia. Rusty was much loved and will never be forgotten. 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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I’m glad our cats don’t have to suffer the way people do.
Kalahari Serval would have been 20 in a couple of weeks, but during Hurricane Hermine she was found to be down in her cage, with labored breathing, and refusing to eat or stand. Kalahari has been on heart medications all of her adult life and no one ever expected her to even live half as long as she has.
Dr Justin Boorstein came and did diagnostics and the X-ray showed a lot of fluid in her chest cavity around her heart and lungs, making it hard for her to breathe. He administered drugs to help dispel some of the fluids and we watched her through the night and most of the following day, but it was clear that she is not going to recover and we made the sad decision to euthanize her yesterday evening. Dr Justin found 200 cc of fluids around her heart so it was building up faster than the meds could dispel it.
Congestive Heart Failure is the same thing that killed my father, but he had to suffer till the very end, because we can’t provide humane relief to humans in this country.
I’m grateful that it’s not raining and think I’ll ride my bike to work. I’ve gotten so little exercise the past few weeks.
I am appreciative of all the people who sent loving thoughts and prayers during Hurricane Hermine. I’m especially thankful that we didn’t take a direct hit.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I am so thankful it’s not raining. Tropical Storm Hermine has rained down on us for days and the sanctuary is flooded. I fully expected to walk outside this morning and see Rocky Creek at my door step, but she’s in her banks. Thank Goodness! I appreciate my father looking after Jamie even after he died. Mom gave all of the grandchildren “a new car from Papa” and Jamie, who is already driving her dream car, bought a new RV last night. It was their dream RV, so I’m glad they will have that home on the road. I love all the volunteers who come out in the pouring rain to make sure the cats are fed and have high, dry spots to ride out the storms. Hurricane Hermine slammed into Florida this morning as a Cat 1 (74-95 MPH), but I’m thankful that we were not directly in her path. We are getting a lot of rain and wind, in the trailing bands, but I’m hoping the worst has passed as she’s losing speed now to a Tropical Storm. I’m grateful that we have power this morning. I was happy and surprised to see that Kalahari Serval survived the night. She was the 100th exotic cat that my son in law, Justin, has sedated. He’s turned out to be an amazing vet with Jamie by his side to keep him focused and moving forward when he’s in doubt.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
See the 2016 tribute to Vernon Charles Stairs at: https://youtu.be/E4dC5SiNmNc
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Purr-Sonality Serval was euthanized today by Dr. Justin.
She’d been suffering a while and we thought we could make her feel better by pulling some rotten teeth, but that wasn’t her only issue apparently. Blood work showed her kidneys to have failed, and an exploratory surgery revealed nothing we could fix.
She was born here and died here in a cage. I hate that. I’m going to put an end to wild cats being bred for life in prison.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
The Memorial service for Vernon Stairs will be
Tuesday, August 30, at 10:00 am for family only.
The location will be:
Florida National Cemetery
6502 SW 102nd Ave
Bushnell, FL 33513
http://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/florida.asp
Travel time from Tampa is approximately 60-90 minutes.
Upon arriving at the guard house and providing Vernon's name, each family member will be given the designated travel lane (there are six lanes). Promptly at 10 a.m., an escort will arrive and begin the procession leading the hearse, followed by family members. We will stay in our individual cars following the procession to the designated pavilion where we will park and participate in the service.
We are alotted 30 minutes for our service as they have many others and must stay with a strict schedule. Chuck will do the talk and prayer and the Honor Guard will do the presenting of the flag and the taps. We will not be able to go to the grave site at this time but can go later after 3 p.m. or thereafter any day and time. It will take about 90 days for the headstone and they will let us know when that has been placed. We are planning on the 30-minute service, lunch and then back home and returning later when the headstone is there. I feel it will be easier to ride with someone so we don't have so many cars.
Love,
Mom/Grandma/Nana/BarJean
Looking in the Mirror My Hands Don’t Seem Like My Own
They feel my face, my hair, and it’s as if they are discovering me for the first time. Yes, Dad, this is your face. (We look so much alike)
All day my hands seem to be moving at his will. It sounds creepy, but was comforting.
In his latter years his hands were always in motion. Not the shaking of Parkinson’s but constantly rubbing the steering wheel of his golf cart, of the fabric of his plain jacket, or his own hands. I have found myself doing the same thing over the last couple of years and wonder, when I catch myself, if it is neurological or learned. I try to minimize it, for fear of freaking Jamie out, but it starts out as an unconscious act.
Later Note: Mina Johnson mina.m.johnson@gmail.com Fri, Feb 26, 2021 at 9:58 AM
To: Carole Baskin carole.baskin@bigcatrescue.org
Wanted to also tell you that your father was a gold seal instructor. From an aviation perspective, you should be very proud of him!
GOLD SEAL FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR CERTIFICATES. The specific requirements for the gold seal flight instructor certificate are contained in FAA Orders 8700.1, General Aviation Operations Inspector’s Handbook, and 8710.3C, Pilot Examiner’s Handbook. Flight instructor certificates bearing distinctive gold seals are issued to flight instructors who have maintained a high level of flight training activity and who meet special criteria. Once issued, a gold seal flight instructor certificate will be reissued each time the instructor's certificate is renewed. Applicants for gold seal flight instructor certificates must meet the following requirements:
a. The flight instructor must hold a commercial pilot certificate with an instrument rating (glider flight instructors need not hold an instrument rating) or an ATP certificate;
b. The flight instructor must hold a ground instructor certificate with an advanced or instrument ground instructor rating; and
c. The flight instructor must have accomplished the following within the previous 24 months:
(1) Trained and recommended at least 10 applicants for a practical test, at least 8 of whom passed their tests on the first attempt;
(2) Conducted at least 20 practical tests as a designated pilot examiner, or graduation tests as chief instructor of a 14 CFR part 141 approved pilot school course; or
(3) A combination of the above requirements. (Two practical tests conducted equal the credit given for one applicant trained and recommended for a practical test.)
Back when my father learned I was taking flying lessons, he dropped over 100 pounds and passed his airman’s physical so that he could continue my training. He was particularly concerned that I learn how to land in the dark and zero visibility through instrument training.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
My father died this morning around 8:30 am on his 75th birthday
I am thankful that Chuck and Mom were with him and witnessed it to be a peaceful passing.
The cop in Chuck shined through in his calm manner, despite this earth shaking event for him. I was brushing my teeth when he called and said, “We aren’t telling anyone else yet, until it’s been confirmed, but report to Mom’s house.”
I had seen Dad the night before and it was heartbreaking to see him decline so quickly over the past 3 weeks. I knew what Chuck was saying, so I didn’t ask for clarification, I just ran out the door to meet them at the sanctuary.
The grandchildren were called in next and we all sat around and cried and told stories until Swilley’s Funeral Home carried Dad away. That was a gut wrenching moment for everyone, to see someone you loved so much be taken from you; knowing they are never going to come back.
I couldn’t handle it and walked out the back door. I kicked off my shoes and walked out onto the grass. I wanted to be connected to the earth and all life as I let go of Dad as I knew him. I thought about the piles of concrete U’s that had been stockpiled on this field for so long and marveled at how beautiful and manicured the lawn looked now.
I walked out to the lake bank; thinking about how Dad liked to jack the hospital bed all the way up so he could see the lake out the front window and could still monitor the back gate out the back sliding glass doors. What a lovely park he’s built here. I could feel him hovering over it. I found joy in knowing he could see every part of it from a different perspective today.
I wondered how, when and where I’d see him again. Would he come back, like the cats do as butterflies and dragonflies? Would he come back as a tiger? Or would I see him, in his previous form, like I do some people? Maybe I would never “see” him again, but I felt him in that moment.
My mother sent this out to family and friends today:
Some of you may already know, but we wanted to notify you that Vernon passed away peacefully at approximately 8:30 this morning, on his 75th birthday. He had visited with his children, and grandchildren. They have surrounded him all this week with laughter, stories, and readings. Chuck read the Bible to him for an hour yesterday, and that seemed to calm him. He slept comfortably through the night, and quietly passed from this life to his reward. In keeping with Vern's nature, we are going to have a family only memorial service for him at the cemetery in Bushnell. Details will be given to family members once we have decided the date and time. Thank you for your continued prayers and thoughts during this time. In Love, The Stairs Family
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Mom’s Update on Dad
Really bad night even with the strong pain killer. The nurse came today but after checking him only seemed concerned about getting a tech to turn off the defibrillator so it doesn't cause more pain should it try to do its job. The tech will be here tomorrow.
I’m glad I was able to deliver the Tribute to Dad video to her and hope she’s been able to share it with him. She had blankets hung in the hall and a towel over the tiny off light on the TV because Dad says the light is so hard on his eyes. He can’t open his eyes, so she doesn’t know how that can be, but she’s doing all she can to accommodate him.
I’m thankful that Corey Roscoe from HSUS will be here tonight to talk to our volunteers about communication skills. Corey emailed, “I plan on talking about personal skills, people skills and public speaking skills as ways to improve communications. I briefly touch on working with kids. I'll offer some additional resources for folks to continue their learning.”
In many ways I’m glad the sanctuary is so all consuming of my time. It helps keep my mind off losing Dad.
Today Gale has a huge work group in Bobcat Rehab. They are adding dirt and sod, so I’m glad she got some outside help for that back breaking work.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Mom’s update about Dad:
Vern had a very restless and painful night but the doctor has sent a strong pain medication and Vern is resting peacefully now. Not eating anything for two days even with encouragement from the kids.
Howie’s letter to Pat Craig of Wild Animal Sanctuary
On Sunday after the conference is over they have organized a meeting from noon to 5 to brainstorm about the big cat issue. I have no idea what will come of it. Could be waste of time, or prove productive. But at the very least it should be interesting I think because the people currently on the list (below) that I do know are some very sharp folks and a pretty unique opportunity to be in a room with people from so many organizations. The group is a rather unwieldy size so it will be interesting to see how they conduct it.
I have pasted the info below and the contact at PAWS is Catherine Doyle. We went to the conference last year for the first time only because we were asked to speak. Agree hard to get away. I think you could help us add a lot of on the ground experience to the group. Maybe you could arrange with Catherine just to come for Sunday?
Info on Sunday attached with Catherine contact info.
Regarding the breeding I think you make interesting points. Couple comments:
• The bill grandfathers in all current owners so they are not objecting based on their cats being taken away. Ohio had a couple issues that I think drove what is happening. One is they added caging requirements. People not meeting those is what appears to be driving the confiscations, along with some idiots just refusing to do the simple paperwork to register was also an issue. If they had just grandfathered in the existing owners like the federal bill does without adding requirements they would not have this issue. Second, they correctly did not exempt people with USDA licenses, which as you know is a huge loophole because anyone can get a license. So I think people with USDA licenses left the state for states where a USDA license exempts them from the state rules. The bigger mistake Ohio made in my opinion was exempting ZAA, which I believe was driven by Kasich listening to Jack Hanna.
• The meaningful opposition to the bill is not from owners. Other than Antle and Tabraue, they don't have much a following or resources to oppose. Mario Tabraue and/or Antle have engaged a lobbyist to oppose the bill, and Ringling's Feld has lobbyists opposing even though we put in language to exempt Feld. That is the main opposition. A bigger issue really is ZAA. While some states have refused to exempt them from state laws, once Ohio did, it set a precedent and some other states have followed, giving them undeserved credibility. And, I have to give them credit, they have been smart. They hired a very experienced lobbyist who is well known to state legislators around the country, Alan Smith, as E.D. The guy is smooth. I heard him speak to a committee hearing in TX and he makes this sow's ear sound like a silk purse. Plays on the "small business" sympathy and presents ZAA as the little guy's AZA. Meantime, some AZA zoos have joined ZAA as well. I think they do this to keep AZA off their backs - i.e. if AZA gives them a hard time, they just promote they are ZAA, and the generic public does not know any better. But meantime, these AZA zoos joining gives ZAA even more credibility. The issue with ZAA is not that they oppose the bill. It is that they want to be exempted like AZA, claiming it is unfair to exempt AZA and not them. To deal with this we have crafted different exemption language I can tell you more about.
• Just banning breeding is interesting and worth considering. One issue that comes to mind is enforcement - finding out who is breeding. If someone has a tiger born after the bill is passed (those born before are grandfathered) how do we prove who bred it? I suppose one could try to draft language to address that by requiring records if you have a tiger so it was a serious violation not to have records of where it came from. So I think a bill that just addresses breeding is worth thinking about. I don't think it will in any way reduce the opposition though. Someone who is only concerned about keeping the cats they have is addressed by grandfathering. Someone who, on the other hand, wants to protect their ability to acquire cats in the future, will oppose a ban on breeding.
• Regarding your concern that USFWS somehow use the law to shut down places like yours and ours, no matter what Van Norman or anyone else says, there is no way I see that happening. First, the bill exempts sanctuaries with a definition that does not require GFAS, just a simple test I assume you would easily pass. I.e. no breeding, buying, selling, taking offsite for exhibition. Regarding the FWS view that there should not be captive tigers, frankly I think that is a plus. I wish USDA felt that way, i.e. recognized they don't belong in cages. But, there is no way the bill is going to result in FWS coming in and euthanizing the animals at good sanctuaries. First the language protects sanctuaries, second it grandfathers, but most compelling is there would be a huge public outcry. No way I see that happening. But, I also have no illusions that any of these points is going to change what I suspect is a deep rooted fear you have that this actually could happen.
Well, enough for now. In hindsight would have been more efficient to talk versus type. If we discuss further maybe Skype or Facetime would be good. I'd enjoy continuing to brainstorm with you. Incidentally, although Dr. Gibbens could not meet me in person due to his travel, we did Facetime and had a great hour long chat. People I run into speak more highly of him than I have heard about any other USDA official and I enjoyed getting to know him in the chat.
All for now - maybe more than you wanted! :)
Howard Baskin
Advisory Board Chairman
Big Cat Rescue
"The purity of a person's heart can be quickly measured by how they regard animals."
I am thankful that Howie continues to try and bring on the voices of these recalcitrant sanctuarians. The truth is that they have no other job options and don’t want the problem to go away, but with increased transparency in this world (forced largely by us) they can’t keep making up excuses to themselves and their donors.
I appreciate all the explore.org is doing for us to achieve a virtual reality experience that would end the desire to keep wild animals in cages. I emailed again with Sumo Reality’s Sean and James yesterday. Explore.org gave us 50k to pay them to make an awesome experience.
I am using our cheap versions of their tools to try and make the most of our time filming with them, which has been set for Sept 6-8. I’m glad there ARE cheap versions of their tools.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Mom’s email to me about giving up on Dad
I appreciate your telling Jamie this. I agree with you 100%. I don't want anyone to think I am not trying to do everything for him that I can. He has to want to help.
For the last two days Chuck has picked Vern up from the bed and into his lounger and today he said he was much weaker than the day before in his ability to help Chuck move him. I have seen it every day since August 6. At first I could do everything because Vern was able to help but that time has passed. I am not sure if even Chuck can move him another day since that is a lot of weight to dead lift without any help from the individual.
I just pray that he will not be in pain. They sent a prescription yesterday and Katie picked it up and brought it to him but he said it didn't do any good. Today I asked for a liquid pain killer that was stronger and the nurse said she would see if the doctor would agree as it would be morphine.
As for the magnet, they says his brand of pacemaker has an ability to turn it off a special way but has to be approved by his primary heart doctor who is on vacation until Monday, August 29. There are five doctors in his group but apparently none want the responsibility of making that decision.
We tend to think this downturn was a recent event but looking back we can see signs of the decline. I know I have mentioned that to you from time to time. Chuck said he had even noticed in the last month that Vern was sitting on the golf cart more and more and breathing harder and harder. Ecclesiastes 7:11-14: "See the way God does things and fall into line. Don't fight the facts of nature." Love you!
I Finished a Video Tribute to Day
I’m thankful for the reminder from The Universe that I’m only dreaming this human experience.
I’ve let it be painful when it need not be. We are all just coming into and out of form in our eternal dance. Thank you Mike Dooley for these daily Notes From The Universe.
I finished the 30 minute tribute to Dad yesterday. I’d like him to see it, but not sure he can stay awake that long. I’m going to make a shorter version.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Jamie just can’t give up on her grandfather.
She called me, angry that I hadn’t insisted on more blood work and that I hadn’t read the label on his protein shakes to know that he isn’t getting enough carbs. Not like I’d have any idea what I was reading. I can’t stop crying because I don’t want to lose him either, but I couldn’t tell her on the phone what was in my heart, so I emailed her:
I know you are angry and don't want to give up on Grandpa. I appreciate that you love him and want to make him feel better.
I just don't think doing more tests, sending him to more doctors, making him take shots of insulin every day and pushing him to stay with us is what he wants.
He's terrified of that defibrillator going off and your grandmother said she called hospice to turn it off a couple days ago. I wasn't there when the nurse came because we were in the cat hospital, and your grandmother didn't call me, so I don't know if that got done yet; but he wants it done.
He absolutely refused to even acknowledge or do anything about his diabetes when he was fully capable of doing so. He's frustrated with his inability to get around and angry all the time because he feels so bad and helpless. Every day we've had with him since his heart surgery in 2010 has been a gift to us, but a sacrifice for him.
If this were me, and one day it will be, I wouldn't want you to be keeping me alive against my will. Love Mom
Three things I am grateful for today?
I am really thankful that JoJo the Caraval turned out to just be fat and not suffering from a tumor.
I am happy that Tiger Lilly, the 21 year old bobcat had three bad molars removed and may get a few more happy years. We were all stunned that it’s her first time to be ill since 1995.
Losing Windstar has been almost more than Jamie can bear, and I’ll share her tribute to him below, but his necropsy showed him to be full of necrotic tissue and a ruptured blood vessel in the midst of the mass, so I am very happy that he didn’t suffer. He seemed fine the day before and losing him was a shock. They are so stoic. He probably felt much worse than he let on, but I am grateful that Justin was able to get to him so soon.
Jamie posted to Facebook: My dear Bobcat, I cannot even imagine what it will be like to go on without you. To never again see your beautiful ruffed face, hear your deep and welcoming purr, or to stare in to your soulful eyes. You have been there for half my life and you are a part of my family. These past few days have been the hardest I have ever experienced. I feel like I will never stop crying. You have taken a piece of my heart away with you. Our time together was not enough. I will miss you every day, forever sweet Bobcat.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
My mother told Howie that Dad’s heart is only working at 20%
That seems to be right, judging by his condition, but what is weird is that this is the first time she’s said that and she said it to Howie and not to her kids. During the past couple weeks, she did tell me once that one of the doctors, who she said had a terrible bed side manner and told her that Dad was dying, so what did she expect him to do. She got all teary, so I had not pressed her, and at the time thought, “Well, we’ve known he was dying since 2011, when the valve repair attempt, wasn’t completely successful.”
When I called to check on her and Dad yesterday, before leaving the sanctuary, she said he was trying to eat more, even though everything tastes so bad to him and that he was sleeping. She said she was going to let Mrs Hammondtree take over teaching her children’s class at church because Dad didn’t want her to leave his side. I guess he knows the end is near.
I took NyQuil to go to sleep last night. I haven’t been sleeping well and feel dazed. Howie was sniffling after returning from his four day trip to CO and I don’t want to contract that and risk bringing it to my parents. Of course, I woke up thinking about the strange relationship I’ve had with Dad for as far back as I can remember.
I appreciate that my parents stayed together these 56 years, as marked on July 1 of this year. I love that they have managed to provide such a supportive role for my brother and me and our children and his grand children. I am grateful for the work ethic that both of them instilled in me.
I started crying again writing this and my vision has been a mess the last week or so with all of the crying in my contact lenses. So, I went into Facebook to smash trolls and respond to our supporters.
There I found a message from Courtney, my contact from explore.org who had reached out to Facebook for us to report that their company, Instagram, had unfairly shut down our account of 52,000 followers based on false claims by Black Jaguar White Tiger’s Eddie Serio that we are buying likes, which is a violation of their terms of service. Today our account was restored.
It reminded me of this quote: "If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you'd best teach it to dance." - George Bernard Shaw
What is the one thing that makes people nervous about associating with us? It’s the fact that all of the circus folk, back yard breeders, roadside zoos and pseudo sanctuaries will come out en masse posting lies and half truths about us. We’ve always been open and honest about our evolution and our mistakes and we quickly learned from them and changed. The bad guys want everyone to know that the things we did 20 years ago (’94-’97 mostly) were the same as what they are doing today.
Anyone who thinks about that for half a minute will see that it’s crazy to say, “Big Cat Rescue is bad because 20 years ago they bought, bred and touched exotic cats, just like we are still doing.” Sadly, people are lazy and it’s easier to just forward something that looks bad to all their contacts, rather than really think about it.
The first thing they should be considering is; why do the bad guys hate Big Cat Rescue so much?
We wear it as a badge of honor that exotic cat abusers hate us more than any other sanctuary. That tells you we are doing the most to end the abuse.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
“I want to go see him!” Jamie wailed through her gut wrenching sobs.
Gale had just texted the Winstar, the 18 year old bobcat that Jamie had nursed from a few day old, had died.
Windstar Bobcat was netted to see vet after being found "down" in his den. He seemed fine the day before, but when he didn't come out to eat, Jamie knew something was wrong. We netted him to take him in the hospital and called the vet. We found vomited mushrooms, but both varieties turned out to be non toxic.
A large mass was found on his kidney and biopsied. It was sent out, along with blood work for testing.
Watching over him through the night on a Nest cam, Jamie reported that he was awake and looking around at 5 am, so she felt he was out of the woods. About a half hour later though he passed peacefully in his sleep.
A necropsy will be done to determine the cause of death. He was 18 which was old for a bobcat and extremely old for a hybrid. His brother died almost immediately after birth so every year Windstar had was a gift to us all. http://bigcatrescue.org/Windstar
I am thankful that we have the tools and knowledge to assist our cats through their old age.
I am grateful that we are nearing the end of these horrible losses. The last of the cats I was most close to, because they required so much intensive care when they were young were Windsong, Catera, Raindance, Hercules, Shere Khan and Little Feather. They are all gone now. I love the others and have spent many nights on the bedside floor by Bailey and others, but I feel like the worst is over for me.
Jamie still has to look with dread toward the days of losing Jumanji, Pharaoh, Tonga, Will, Moses and Anasazi. They are all in their late teens now, so the heart breaks will end soon for her too.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Dad ate pizza and a protein shake for breakfast! Can’t say how thankful I am about that. Mom seemed in good spirits and Dad was awake when I came in. He was back on the couch, instead of the hospital bed we brought in, so he’s been up a bit, I guess. I’m happy that Howie’s coming home today. I’m glad he got a break but there is so much going on here that I really need his help. ...Now she’s sent over a demand for over $4,000 and a plethora of hoops to jump through next. I am not a detail person and have no patience for these little bureaucrats who use their position to impose hardship on those who don’t cow tow to them. I appreciate that Jamie has the stories done for the Fall Big Cat Times. Proofing it is how I’ll spend my morning. 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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Dad was admitted into Hospice care and has switched his primary doctor to the Hospice doctors so that he doesn’t have to wait days or weeks for the help he needs. His current physician Dr. Velez just can’t be bothered any more it seems. After four hours of meeting with first Ruthann L, RN for Continucare, then Jennifer H?, RN from St. Joseph’s North, and then Felix from Hospice, and recording all the sessions so none of us forgets what was said during this emotional time, this is my best recollection of events. 8/6/16 Dad’s defibrillator went off 7 times in quick succession, causing excruciating pain and causing him to have a hard time breathing in the aftermath. A defibrillator fires when it detects the heart is in “lethal rhythm”. Dad was getting ready to go on vacation and wasn’t working at the time. He was in enough pain and distress to ask Mom to take him to the hospital. She drove him to St. Joe’s N. where he stayed until the 9th. While there he was given lasix to help drain the excess water that was building up around his heart and lungs due to the decreased efficiency of his heart. With that and oxygen he was feeling good enough to go home. He was instructed upon release to set an appointment with his primary care physician. Mom had a wrong number for them and tried for days to reach them without success. Meanwhile Dad’s condition worsened, instead of getting better, as they had hoped, so that he could brace himself for another Dr. visit. While in the hospital, Dr. Wong, a kidney expert came in and took him off the lasix as his kidneys were in Stage 3. Mom said Dr. Wong said they had over medicated him and that his kidneys would outlast him. That doesn’t seem to be the case though, based on the next few days. 8/9/16 Dad returned home. He wouldn’t eat in the hospital, more than a bite or two, and complains that everything tastes like it was drenched in sugar and syrup. He didn’t eat any better at home, even when offered the same foods he always eats. He’s lost 20 lbs since admission to the hospital. 8/10/16 Nurse Jennifer H? came and did blood work. GFR 19 (low) Na (Sodium) 129 (low) Potassium 3.6 Chloride 88 (low) AGAP 22 (high) C02 19 (low) Glucose 249 (down from 287 in hospital) Creatine 3 (high) Calcium 8.5 (low) BUN 107 (high) 8/16/16 Dad tells Mom he can’t breathe and she calls 911 who send the paramedics. He feels like he can’t catch his breath and wants oxygen but can’t get it. They tell him they can’t give him oxygen unless he gets in the ambulance and goes to the hospital. He decides he’d rather not breathe than go through all that hassle again for nothing, so he declines. They tell him to sleep sitting up so the fluids don’t build back up around his heart and lungs. 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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Getting involved in my father’s health care
On Aug 6 my parents were supposed to go on vacation; something they haven’t done in many, many years. Instead Dad asked Mom to drive him to the hospital. I should have realized then that he was dying, because he’d never go to a doctor or hospital willingly. He went because he couldn’t breathe and I assumed Chuck and crew were with him while he was in the hospital and that Chuck would make sure that everything was happening as it should.
On Aug 11, I think, Dad returned home, so I thought he was better, but he wasn’t out and about with Chuck. That was fine with me, as I’d prefer he rest, but it wasn’t until Chuck came to me on Aug 18 and asked what I thought of Dad’s condition. Since he meets with him every morning to go over the work day schedule, I was taken by surprise, and told him I never see Dad except asleep on the couch.
Aug 16 was all consuming, as I had to send out an alert about Geoffrey Cat kittens being passed around like playthings at the Paramount Grill in Gainesville by Christine Janks of Carson Wildlife Center. Eddie Serio of Black Jaguar White Tiger had gotten his minions to file false complaints about us, alleging that we pay for likes, and without even contacting us, Instagram shut down our account and we lost hundreds of thousands of fans. Instagram is proving to be difficult to contact about the matter. LaWanna is losing her mind over it and emailing me every few minutes in her panic.
Dad can’t breathe, so Mom calls the paramedics. Jamie texts me and says, “why are there paramedics at Grandma’s house?” We rush over and the paramedics won’t give him oxygen unless Dad will get in the ambulance and go to the hospital. Mom & Dad both insist that nothing is ever done for him at the hospital and won’t go. They are right about no lasting good coming of these last two emergency trips to the hospital, but I haven’t been involved enough to know why.
We get him all hooked up and breathing better. The paramedics have told him to sit up as much as possible because the fluids building up around his lungs are drowning him. Later Jamie and Justin came by and spent about an hour talking to Mom, and somewhat to Dad, who’s mostly sleeping, and have Justin’s father, a doctor, on the phone.
Meanwhile, Peek came up with a new booking flow for ticket sales and wanted to implement it on our website. Usually I’d insists on doing it myself, because I don’t want them installing back doors and malware, but I was so otherwise consumed I gave them access. The end result was that they managed to slow BigCatRescue.org down from about 9 sec load time to over 30 sec and the booking doesn’t work on mobile, which is how we book half of our tours. I’d like to scream, but I can’t because I had to go listen to Jamie and Justin’s report about my father’s condition.
I’m grateful that my son in law is a vet.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I’m thankful for another perfect FWC inspection by Steve Hough.
I’m grateful that he understands Ms Claws is not a good release candidate and I think he will be an advocate for having her moved to our permanent population. I know the FWC can be retaliatory for us trying to end the private exotic cat trade in FL, and that they could kill her, or turn her out to be eaten by coyotes, or send her to some horrible back yard breeder. We are all on edge until it’s confirmed that she can stay with us. She’s just totally oblivious to her surroundings and wouldn’t last a day. https://bigcatrescue.org/mrs-claws/
As much as I hate it when Howie is away (Sunday - Thursday this week) it does give me the chance to appreciate what we have because I know our time together is limited, and I want to make the most of it.
Petition to Ban Public Contact
The Coalition petitions USDA with Additional Information In Support of Petition to Prohibit Public Contact with Dangerous Wild Animals (Docket No. APHIS-2012-0107)
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I am glad to have colleagues who help catch these criminals. Sent to PeTA and HSUS
I have asked my source for better intel, that can actually be acted on, such as the address of Trisha Meyer, and testimony from Paul ?, but figured I'd copy you in case this helps in any way.
Here is what I was told:
Last weekend, or maybe Monday, Trisha Meyer drove to Tim Stark's place, Wildlife in Need, in Indiana. A worker there loaded 3 tiger cubs who had just aged out of cub handling, into her car. She said they were going to live with her in Texas.
She said she got the cubs for free, but had to pay for other animals. She told the worker he could marry her to avoid deportation, so hopefully we can get an address. She's currently sexting him and seems eager to have him join her, her 4 kids and house full of monkeys, a bobcat, a fishing cat, a tiger she got earlier, and these three new cubs, including one named Portia.
He's on the lam because he's here illegally and needs to work places that will let him bring his geoffroy cat and cougar.
I realise this is all hearsay, and it's doubtful that I will get exact locations and testimony, but figured you may have other pieces of the puzzle.
Guessing you have these links already:
https://twitter.com/texasfine28
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/trisha-meyer-lies-about-dogs-sick-dogs-young-puppies-c606090.html
https://m.facebook.com/HoustonLostandFoundPets/photos/a.115777115194824.15314.115771598528709/698860773553119/?type=1&source=46
https://www.facebook.com/trisha.meyer.5
Today we are meeting w/ an attorney who may be able to help us with our case against the FWC claiming authority over all wildlife. I’m thankful that Howie has so many friends and has made this alliance possible.
Gotta say, I love Skype because that saves a lot of driving, although today we will be on the road for about 6 hours.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I’m glad to have such a great support group and especially thankful that my mother does right now.
I just texted Mom to see if she wanted to walk. She usually doesn’t on Wednesdays, but I thought she may want to today from being so keyed up. She replied that she’s had a house full today, including her sister and her husband, Ron, who my dad hates, Carolyn Linville, a friend of hers from WVA, Emily Stairs, a nurse friend of hers and a home health nurse for Dad. I’m sure Dad is hating every bit of that.
I appreciate that Gale is always happy to jump in and do what is necessary. We’ve had two keepers reach into one of the tiger cages to get at poo and their excuse was that it rolled away from the fence, so today Gale piled up dirt inside the cage wall to prevent that. I helped a little but she had already done most of the work before I found her at it.
I love that we are changing hearts and minds. Sometimes I worry, when I see one of our interns who has photos on their social sites from a couple years ago, of them petting cubs. It makes me wonder if they are spies here to harm the cats or if they are just stupid. I don’t know how anyone can know the horrors of cub handling and not want every trace of that removed from their lives.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Today we won 7-0 in front of the Board of County Commissioners
So, I’m thankful for that, but even more thankful I don’t have to drive in rush hour traffic to and from work every day.
I’m extremely grateful that my father is supposed to be discharged from St. Joseph’s Hospital North today. He’s been there since Saturday for dehydration. The kidney doctor says his kidneys are fine. No one seems to know why he keeps getting so dehydrated and short of breath. His lungs are in great shape, which is amazing since he smoked up until his heart attack in 2011 or so.
Back to our win. Florida Hospital wants to build an urgent care center at the corner of Gunn and Citrus Park Lane? in the D1 parking lot. We are fine with that, but they wanted an extra access road that would eat up the available traffic allowances for the area that were paid for by Chris Daye and were to include our traffic, once he builds his two hotels. We have been trying to work with Trey Traviosa and the hospital partners; even offering to pay part of the improvements, but I think they thought they could just bulldoze over us.
Howie did an awesome presentation to the BOCC and we won 7-0.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I can almost hear Chuck and Trundy Stairs's voice
(Chuck holding up a rattle snake our dad shot at our home on Castleberry Road in Odessa, FL)
telling the tale of the old Stairs Family Homestead, during this maiden voyage of the Big Cat Rescue drone. On 6/14/66 Harold and Sara Stairs bought 10 acres in Odessa, FL. I remember my father saying he had grown up in a house with no windows in the middle of a pasture that was once Lynn Anderson Dairy. He went to school in the little shack in Citrus Park that is now a historical monument.
On the new 10 acres, an old army barracks was converted to a modest little home that became the gathering place for the Stairs clan on holidays. The Stairs tried a number of business ventures there, including bee keeping, a rabbitry, a dairy and a nursery that specialised in Bonsai trees.
I have so many fond memories of this tract of land that seemed to be perched on the edge of the world. It was so far out in the middle of no where and the road ended about a quarter mile away. Then it was a little dirt path that ended at the house.
On 10/12/73 Harold Stairs died of an aneurysm. He had been born in 1912.
In 1975 we built our own house. We were the original DIY family. We set the timbers deep in the ground and built the house up on the stilts. I remember my father and I falling off the roof, two stories up, as we were trying to hammer in the shingles at the lower corner. Falling into the sand, only our pride was hurt.
Chuck learned to drive a motorcycle in our yard, and I whined about having to water the trees all the time, but look at them now! We had an above ground pool and so many pool parties and sleep overs.
Coming home with one of my first "dates" for a family dinner, I remember my mother, Mary Stairs, bolting past us at the door, with a shotgun under her arm. She said she was going to "get that armadillo!" and my date nearly ran the 15 miles back to town; thinking that was going to be our dinner. (My mother never killed an animal in her life, to my knowledge)
In the 70's my dog, Mitzka and I would hike through what was then orange groves and cypress stands to Lake Alice where I would swim and cave dive as deep as I could hold my breath. I remember there was such a celebration in 1981 when the mortgage was paid off and burned.
In 1983 Vernon and Mary Stairs built a house on the next plot to the east and gave it to me to get me and Jamie out of the ghetto. We lived there till 1984 or so and then I moved to a series of homes that I was buying and selling on Smitter Road, Lemon Street and Sheldon Road before ending up here at the "island."
On 4/18/2000 Sara Stairs died. She had been senile for a long time and kept us on our toes, as she would run off in the middle of the night. It seemed there would be no more family gatherings of the Stairs clan and the original, tiny little house has set barren to this day.
Chuck moved into my home in about 1988 and still lives there today. I'm sure he could tell so many more stories about the land and its occupants. In the mid 2000s Vernon and Mary Stairs moved to Big Cat Rescue and revived family dinners. We meet and eat frequently to enjoy the wonderful family love we share. I love them all so much!
My father had to be rushed to the hospital again today. He was supposed to leave for vacation today and it would have been their first vacation in many, many years. I told my mother, "He's allergic to relaxing." He's dehydrated and feeling awful. It's been very hard for him to deal with his ailing heart and failing health. Life is so brief, and beautiful. I plan to make the most of every minute.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I’m really thankful I didn’t lose my Dropbox folder for this diary
when I moved to a new 8 TB drive!
I love that Jamie is so capable and completely wrote the Bobcat Rehab Class and created the quiz for it.
I am thankful for Calvin Coolidge’s piece on persistence, as it served me today and just about every day. Today it was Salsa not working right and an alert that had to go out today. I just kept trying different things until I finally succeeded. I’m exhausted.
I’m thankful that Howie completed his law degree
even though he knew mid way that he didn’t want to be a lawyer. This was his response to a cease and desist letter we were sent for asking a restaurant not to allow Christine Janks of Carson Springs to bring Geoffrey Cat kittens to her fundraiser.
Ms. Henderson although I have a law degree I am not an attorney. As an executive here I handle legal matters for the sanctuary by engaging the attorneys who represent us. On average we have allocated about $250,000 per year for the last five years for litigation in support of our mission to end what we view as mistreatment of animals.
I have reviewed the correspondence, and please understand I don't mean this to be confrontational, but very frankly the only remarks that I can find in the correspondence that I view as untruthful and potentially slanderous (or perhaps more technically libelous since in writing?) are the statements in your email which make absurdly false statements about our intentions.
I don't plan to spend time corresponding with you further on this. If you decide you want to litigate the matter, please address the service to me.
Thank you.
Howard Baskin
Advisory Board Chairman
Big Cat Rescue
I’m am grateful that we do raise enough money to fight the lawsuits we have to fight and to provide our people with the tools they need to educate the public and care for our cats. Yesterday I bought 4 iPad Air 2’s and Otterbox cases for our tour guides.
I look forward to our trip to PAWS. They are holding a conference, where Howie will be speaking and then a Big Cat Summit to see how everyone can finally get behind the 3 pronged approach Big Cat Rescue has been working on as part of a Big Cat Coalition since 2011. It’s about time. I keep reminding myself something Wayne Pacelle told me years ago; “You can accomplish anything if you don’t care who gets the credit.”
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I am thankful that Howie drags me off to meet and greets.
I know it’s important but I would never speak to anyone if left to my own devices. I’d be quite happy on a deserted island. 18 months ago Howie dragged me along for a tour with a medical software rep named CJ and his wife. They brought Bawa Jain.
Dr. Bawa Jain serves as the Founding Secretary General of The World Council of Religious Leaders, which is the direct outcome of The Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders that brought over 2000 of the World’s pre-eminent Religious and Spiritual Leaders to The United Nations for the first time in 2000.
WCORL is actively pursuing Religious Diplomacy and seeks to serve as a strong Inter-Faith ally to the United Nations, Governments of the World and Inter Governmental bodies to reduce religiously motivated conflicts and to build, peace, harmony and respect.
He serves as Founder Chairman of The World Youth Peace Summit - an initiative that has brought together Young Leaders from over 100 Countries in an effort to harness and explore new and innovative Youth driven initiatives to address Global challenges.
He Co-Founded the Religious Initiative of The World Economic Forum, Founder of The Gandhi King Awards for Non-Violence; launched WCORL’s Religion One on One Initiative and is a strong proponent of Religious Diplomacy
Yesterday Bawa Jain called me and said he was being interviewed by a group who are trying to raise awareness and compassion for animals. Dr. Jain told them they should come to Big Cat Rescue, because we are leaders in that area for raising awareness and compassion for apex predators.
Today I’m happy that Howie is giving a tour to Kim and Jake from Rep. James Grant’s office. Jamie has been friendly to our cause and we are going to ask him to sponsor our state bill to put the management of captive wildlife back in the hands of the citizens, rather than the hands of the governor appointed commissioners who are all hunters.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Man, it’s hot!
9 degrees above normal, which is about 6 degrees higher than what it takes to kill the planet, so I’m thankful there are people working on the problem. I just hope the damage we’ve done to the earth can be changed in time. I fear people will just crank up the A/C and stay in side.
I was thankful to have customer support actually answer me yesterday on a 360Fly.com virtual reality camera I bought. Out of the box it was as buggy as its name, but with some support, I got it working. It’s really not a very good camera, but it was almost one tenth the cost of the one I need.
I get my second rabies shot today. I’m hoping that all the bad reactions I had to the last dose, which included aching, a fever blister on my lip and a general itching all over and malaise; won’t be repeated after this dose. I am grateful to scientists who created such a vaccine so that I can help the animals I love without dying.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Best International Tiger Day EVER!
I’m so happy that 45 NGO’s came together with a unified voice today for tigers and that the U.S. captive tiger situation was right up front and center in the reports by EIA and WWF. See below as they are epic.
I’m thankful that I have the tools to create a #InternationalTigerDay banner from one of Jamie’s amazing photos of TJ the tiger in our Vacation Rotation enclosure and share it with millions of people on Facebook and Instagram.
I’m grateful to NonStop Knight for hosting an in game voting contest for a charity to win $10,000 I am confident we can win it.
WWF Roars Out Against Tiger Farming
WWF: Tiger Farming in Asia Must End; US has Role to Play
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is using International Tiger Day today to call on governments across Asia to investigate all tiger breeding centers and close any operations involved in the illegal tiger trade. WWF is also calling on the US to do more to address its own large captive tiger population.
Closure of operations in Asia linked to illegal tiger trade, commonly referred to as ‘tiger farms’ to distinguish them from legitimate zoos or captive breeding facilities established for conservation purposes, would significantly boost efforts to save the world’s remaining wild tigers.
According to the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), there are more than 200 tiger breeding centers across Asia ranging in size from tiny to huge. These centers, spread across China, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand, jointly house between 7,000-8,000 captive tigers – far more than the estimated 3,900 tigers left in the wild.
Many of these tiger breeding centers – which often include entertainment attractions like Thailand’s notorious Tiger Temple – are likely to be involved in the illegal trade of tigers and tiger products, particularly given their incredibly high operating costs. They undermine efforts to protect wild tigers and to halt the illegal trade by complicating enforcement activities, and by normalizing and legitimizing the sale of tiger parts and products, which in turn drives up demand.
“Many tiger range states have devoted considerable resources to conserving their wild tigers – efforts that are being undermined by the existence of these farms,” said Michael Baltzer, Leader of WWF’s Tigers Alive Initiative. “Closing tiger farms will help countries to achieve the ambitious goal of doubling wild tiger numbers by 2022.”
However, tiger farms cannot be closed overnight since the fate of the tigers would still need to be resolved, especially as none of them could be released into the wild. International support would be needed to help countries deal with this challenge, including ensuring rigorous oversight of the operations while they were being phased out.
The US in particular, with the largest captive population outside of China, has a significant role to play in ensuring captive-bred tigers don’t feed the global black market for tiger parts. A patchwork of regulations governing the estimated 5,000 captive tigers in the US makes many of these animals susceptible to exploitation by wildlife traffickers.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service took significant steps in April by tightening loopholes that allowed unregulated interstate trade in captive tigers. But much more can be done, including banning public contact with tigers for photo ops and other profit-seeking ventures that encourage private tiger breeding.
“Our concern is that when these cats get too large, costly and dangerous to be profitable they can be funneled into the illegal trade in tigers and tiger parts,” said Leigh Henry, Wildlife Policy expert at WWF in the US. “Disincentivizing private tiger breeding will gradually decrease the number of tigers in the US to a more manageable number and make them less vulnerable to illegal trade. Continued strong US action in our own backyard in support of tiger conservation sends a positive signal to Asian governments considering action around their tiger farms.”
WWF is part of a big cat coalition that is currently petitioning the US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to pass regulations prohibiting public contact with captive tigers. You can comment on that through Aug 31, 2016: https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=APHIS-2012-0107-15341
Please tell USDA that cub handling should not be allowed by the public with any species or age of wild cat.
Tiger farms will also be discussed at the upcoming conference of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in South Africa, including the need to prevent tigers and tiger products entering illegal trade from and through such farms. WWF supports a number of the proposals, which – if adopted – will ensure much greater regulation and oversight of these operations. Big Cat Rescue will be attending these meetings and will be co hosting a tiger awareness event along with Judy Mills, author of Blood of the Tiger, EIA, Born Free and others.
It is now estimated that close to 3,900 tigers remain in the wild, up from the previous estimate of as few as 3,200 in 2010 – the year in which all the tiger range states, partner countries, and organizations committed to work towards the TX2 goal of doubling the number of wild tigers by 2022.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
My Puppy Was Almost Leopard Food
Hi Carole,
I found this today while moving some pictures around and trying to organize them better. That's me on the right with my friend Loren in 1998ish. This is the trip my wire fox terrier puppy almost became leopard food. Yeah, that was scary and stupid on my part! My mom, Loren, Coy the puppy, and myself were in Tampa for a horse show. I was trying to track down one of my horses to see how he was doing. We couldn't find him, but happened to pass Easy St. I had met you, Jamie, Aurora, and Jumanji earlier that year at an Earth Day celebration in Merritt Island and knew you guys as Wildlife on Easy St. I was bummed about not finding my horse and was 2 hours from home. Saw Easy St. and we ended up there at your place! I let my puppy out to potty before we left and didn't realize the fence with the overgrown brush was an enclosure. I thought it was a perimeter fence. My puppy was sniffing around and the next thing I know there's a leopard inches away checking her out! It scared me half to death! I snatched her up so fast she yelped! LOL
Anyway, Loren and I had the best time going through the sanctuary. My mom stayed back with the puppy for most of the tour. Your volunteers were so awesome they let us take turns, so my mom could enjoy the visit too! I remember at the end of the tour going into a house/gift shop where a rather hefty bobcat was lying atop a large night crate. I wish I could remember the name of that one. I have pictures somewhere. If I come across anymore pictures I'll send them.
BTW, when I sent my mom the link to the page you created she called me back in tears. She was so moved by it all. Thank you again for doing that for her.
Thanks,
Ryane Postell
I wrote her back saying, “Thank you for this throwback Thursday. My guess is that you guys were petting Esmerelda Serval. A hefty bobcat in the house, would most likely have been Raindance. Leopards in the parking lot? Most likely Jade and Armani. Only the last two cats are still alive.
We have evolved a lot since then and realize that when people show pictures of themselves petting wild animals it just makes others go out and pay to do it too. That's what drives almost all of the captive breeding and suffering, so we won't be posting this photo of you guys, but I appreciate that you took the time to send it and to remind me of your visit.”
Things I’m Thankful For
I am thankful that WWF finally spoke out in the press against tiger farming and suggested that all 8000 tigers be relocated from the farms to sanctuaries today. They have not been very helpful in all the years of working with the International Tiger Coalition because they don’t want to be run out of China for their other projects.
I appreciate that Howie took the time to give a DC intern a tour today. As he said, she has no influence and can’t help us, but she was so enthusiastic when she heard we had visited her boss in DC that she asked him to find us before we left the building so she could come see us in person.
I really had a nice surprise yesterday when so many of my team wrote articles and sent photos for the July AdvoCat newsletter. I usually have to write the whole thing myself, but am grateful they all took ownership of their departments and wrote great stories to share with our 70,000 email list.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I’m lucky to sleep as well as I do. Howie was up early and explained it wasn’t by choice but was because every hour or so he would awake from some frustrating dream. By daylight he had just given up on being able to sleep and was up and about. That means he will sleep on and off all day, and it’s become so common place that I don’t even bother opening the window shutters any more. The house is always dark now and the beautiful views of the creek shut off because Howie struggles so to sleep. Hot flashes wake me a lot during the night, but once I’ve kicked away the covers, and cooled off, I go right back to sleep. I almost never even remember a dream. I believe dreams are how we work out things we can’t work out in waking thought. Maybe I have less to figure out. I’m thankful for reminder apps. First thing I did, when I woke up, was checked my iPhone 6 + for the time, weather and tasks that are due today. Yesterday Jamie and I bought $10,000 of clothing racks and display racks at Sports Authority, which went out of business and sold everything down to the bare walls. We only paid $1,000 for them and this should pretty much outfit our new gift shop space. Pushing for the permits for the new 48 x 72 modular store and the septic tank to go with it have been my frustration. Nothing to figure out in a dream though. 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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Facebook started a new thing for brands to create frames for fans.
I am so relieved that the Wildlife Waystation was spared last night!
Posted to Facebook and boosted w/ $500 in ads:
Wildlife Waystation was nearly surrounded by the #SandFire last night that came within 1/2 mile of their 400 lions, tigers, chimps, bears and other wild animals. Huge shout out to Bobbi Brink for heading out to help them, along with everyone else in the community who offered space, trailers and muscle. During the night the winds shifted moving the fires away from the Waystation and at last report the sanctuary is safe. This was a gut wrenching couple of days for those who have rescued wild animals from being used as pets and pay to play props.
There shouldn't be a need for places like Big Cat Rescue or the Wildlife Waystation, where huge populations of captive bred wild animals can be in peril from natural disasters. We can keep tragedies like these from happening by stopping the problem at its root: End private possession of big cats. Please take action now at BigCatAct.com by sending the easy email to your lawmaker AND calling them. You'll get their number when you enter your zip code.
And you can ask USDA to stop cub handling with all species and ages of wild cats at TigerRescue.com
This fire could have burned hundreds of caged animals alive last night. They were spared, but it is a scenario that is likely to repeat, if we don't stop the breeding and discarding of wild cats as photo and pay to play props.
I am grateful that we can afford the tools we need. Yesterday the iMac in the Kitten Cabana seemed to have bit the dust, so I ordered a new iMac for Afton to use on building videos. She has the oldest machine, being a 2012, so the boost in power will really boost her productivity.
I am listening to a podcast about building totally sustainable housing from natural materials that includes ways to harness solar power, and turn dung into fuel, and has built in hydroponic gardens that are fertilized from the tilapia fish pools. Each unit will be 700sf and about $35,000 I am thankful that I have access to such great thinkers and the ability to make the most of them.
I’d really love to buy Fox Valley pet formulas, but that’s not my wheel house, so I sent this to Steve Watters, who created the LittleCatsHelpingBigCats.com initiative selling cat treats with our branding.
If I were in your line of work, I'd try to buy out http://www.foxvalleynutrition.com/product-lines/milkreplacers/
They make the best milk replacers we've ever found, but no one has ever heard of them and they are killing themselves by not offering any sort of online purchase by credit card.
Their website says they will take a credit card, but they don't, from what Jamie tells me. They take the orders by email or phone.
Then you don't hear from them forever. You call or email them and they tell you they forgot to send out your order...It will arrive eventually, if you keep hounding them.
Then they send it with a bill that they are hoping the customer will pay but many of their clients are poor rehabbers who might forget to send the money, by justifying that Fox Valley "forgot" to send their order in time to save a life.
It's just run so poorly and yet is such an outstanding product that foster parents of kittens, and rehabbers rave over. If it were done right, I think it would be an amazing source of income. If they don't want to sell, then maybe you could figure out the magic in their formula and offer an alternative that people could actually purchase in a timely manner.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I am thankful for Pokemon.
Never thought you would hear me say that about a game. I hate games. This one could bring some awareness though. I added our two “gyms” and Poke Stops to our Safari Day offering on Oct 1 and am dragging the team, kicking and screaming, into offering some special week day tours for the game while it’s hot.
I love Shipt as it allows me to go online, place my grocery order and have it delivered to the house. I really hate shopping, so this is a great way to not starve.
I love Alibaba because I can order just about anything you can imaging and have it customized and shipped to the sanctuary in 2 weeks or less. I created a little pin for the CITES CoP17 with a tiger head and those words. I think people will proudly wear it as a souvenir at the conference and help us cover the convention in tiger thoughts.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Very happy to have rescued a baby bobcat last night in Clermont.
Even happier that we may be able to rescue a tiny mate for him from a wildlife center in Venice that isn’t equipped for bobcat rehab.
Especially happy that USFWS is looking into Joe “Exotic” right after the state just hit him with subpoenas for tax evasion. See Howard’s response to their questions about Joe:
It is easier to lay out the history and include answers in it.
• In 2010 Joe renamed his traveling cub petting show Big Cat Rescue Entertainment and was using our photos and videos.
• January 2011 BCR filed suit against Joe personally and GW Exotic for trademark and copyright infringment
• Joe countersued alleging slander and libel. BCR filed for summary judgment to have those claims thrown out.
• January 2013 the judge ruled in favor of BCR on summary judgment to throw out counterclaims
• 1/11/13 Joe agreed to a consent judgment rather than go to trial. Judgment is for a little over $1mm both personal against Joe and against GW Exotic, the original zoo..
• 2/19/13 Joe had three staff form a new entity, The Garold Wayne Interactive Zoological Foundation. - Directors were John Finlay, Gary Douglas and Tracie Myron-Schultz
• 3/29/13 Joe filed personal bankruptcy and GW Zoo filed for bankruptcy.
• 8/5/13 the US Trustee made Joe sign an agreement that his debts were not discharged by his personal bankruptcy, presumable because he lied in the filing.
• 12/11/13 the judge granted BCR motion to dismiss the GW Zoo bankruptcy filed 11/21/13
• Joe had transferred the zoo land from his name to his mother days after we filed our suit. The Bankruptcy Trustee in his personal bankruptcy sued his mother who confessed to it being a fraudulent transfer and had to buy it back at the appraised value.
• 4/15/14 BCR sued Garold Wayne zoo arguing on various legal bases that it was formed to evade the judgment and basically was the same as the old zoo. The answer to the question why was the zoo name changed, directors changed, and Joe's role change on paper to be a consultant, was to avoid the BCR judgment.
• 9/3/15 Joe marries Travis Maldonado and took his name. He had previously in 2014 held a ceremony where he married both Travis and John Finlay but it was not legally sanctioned. He then had a falling out with Finlay and accused Finlay of assault. When gay marriage became legal he formally married Travis. Best guess on why he took Maldonado name is that the Schreibvogel name was so tarnished he thought he could escape some of the reputation.
• 2/1/16, again right before trial, Joe entered into a consent agreement admitting the fraudulent transfer of assets from GW Exotic to Garold Wayne and the agreement included an injunction against transferring asset.
• Then Joe basically did an instant replay of what he did after the prior judgment.
• 2/5/16 Garold Wayne zoo board supposedly voted to dissolve the corporation. Jeff Lowe set up a number of new entities. The one that purports to run the zoo now is Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, LLC formed 2/8/16. Joe continues to operate as an alleged consultant but appears to have continued to run the zoo throughout the name changes, entity changes, and director changes. According to a suit filed against all the zoo entities and a number of individuals Monday Jeff Lowe is President. Have no info on the directors.
• There are also Greater Wynnewood Development Group, LLC. Ten acres next to the zoo was purchased in the name of former director Tracie Miron-Schultz and this Development entity purports to be developing an outdoor movie theater and big cat display on that property. There is also a for profit entity Big Cat Institute formed 2/13/16 whose purpose is unknown.
Immediately after the 2013 consent judgment Joe announced on line that BCR could use the judgment as toilet paper and BCR would never collect.
Bottom line, in the opinion of BCR, and confirmed by the court in the case of Garold Wayne and currently in litigation regarding Greater Wynnewood, all of these entity related changes have been a shell game to avoid the BCR judgment.
Let me know if I can be of any further assistance.
Howard Baskin
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I’m thankful to live in paradise. Each morning I awake to the sight of Rocky Creek gently winding its way, past my house and out to the sea. It reminds me of the cycle of life and the rhythm of nature. I am grateful that today the sky is blue and I can ride my bike to work as that is my time to listen to podcasts and learn about things I need to know without detracting from the things I need to do, since I need the exercise. I appreciate people who share their expertise online so that no matter what the issue; like yesterday not being able to access voice mail on a new iPhone, someone has put detailed instructions on how to do it. Did I mention how thankful I am for such a bright and capable husband? Professor Jones, I was a law review graduate from U of M law school in 1980 back in the Soia Mentshikoff days. I went on to Harvard Business School and never practiced law, although the law school education has been extremely useful in my career. For the last 13 years I have co-managed with my wife, the Founder, a nonprofit in Tampa devoted to rescuing and providing a home for abandoned and abused big cats (tigers, lions, bobcats etc.) and working to end their abuse by changing the laws and regulations. Florida has a very unique situation in terms of laws in this area because the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission was established by amendments to the Florida Constitution and separately has a statute granting certain powers. Without all the detail, the Commission takes the position that certain of their powers come from the Constitution, not from the Statute. I read through the cases they rely on and felt their self serving position was incorrect, i.e. that the cases cited did not support their argument and in fact the opposite was true. I took my analysis to a very good law firm here. They agreed with my analysis. My next step is to run this by one or more experts in Constitutional Law. I realize that Constitutional Law most commonly probably refers to the US Constitution, but I am thinking that the same principles would apply. If I were to come down to Miami at your convenience, would you be willing to do me the kindness of an hour of your time to lay out this situation, which if nothing else I think you will find intellectually interesting, and discuss whether you would have an interest in assisting me in this matter? The outcome could potentially stop the mistreatment of thousands of big cats in captivity in Florida. Thanks for any consideration you are able to give to this request. Howard Baskin Advisory Board Chairman Big Cat Rescue 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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I’m glad we have burglary alarms at the sanctuary but I wish xxx could figure out how to turn them off when she enters a building. I always know when it’s her day to coordinate. I’m just going to be happy that she’s there getting the sanctuary off to a start today, rather than me. Michael Heap, a former intern from the U.K. asked for a job in IT at the sanctuary and that’s one job I’d love to hand off. We aren’t ready for a full time person, but it did get me to thinking about ways to hand more stuff off to Randall. I’m grateful for all of the loving support from our fans on social sites. They just gush with appreciation for bringing live feeds to them and show their support by sending more people to us who are buying more things and donating more. I’ve been learning about Facebook ads for the past two days via podcasts, videos and tutorials. I set up four campaigns (re set them actually, as I had them set all wrong) so I’ll be curious to see if that drives substantial changes in new sign ups to our mail list and more store sales. 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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
A while back you listed for me a half dozen documentaries we should watch. We have been working our way through them and have decided to create a documentary. It will feature me playing donkey kong while walking on a wire held at each end by a mountain gorilla. Howard Baskin Advisory Board Chairman Big Cat Rescue "The purity of a person's heart can be quickly measured by how they regard animals." Anonymous Inside every older person there is a younger person wondering what the hell happened. The documentaries we had watched were, King of Kong (2006), Man on Wire (2008) and Virunga (2014) We had also watched the Imposter (2012) I really appreciate a night that has only one or two episodes of hot sweats. I slept 10.5 hours last night, which is rare and only remember waking up covered in sweat twice.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Today is Jamie’s 36th birthday
and I am so grateful that we have come together in this space and time to make a difference.
Jamie will be representing the cats at CITES this year and I couldn’t be more proud! It wouldn’t be happening, if not for all the work Howie has put into it. Judy Mills is the author of Blood of the Tiger and considered by many as the consummate expert on wild tigers. Big Cat Rescue is paying her way and funding 1/3 to 1/2 of the side event in Johannesburg in October. Howie has been the one to encourage her, Debbie Banks from the Environmental Investigation Agency, and Born Free to work together to raise the tiger and other big cat issue up before this international group.
I love that these and other former International Tiger Coalition partners are all coming together for CITES CoP17 and on International Tiger Day July 29 for all of the captive issues we are fighting.
Last night Howie and I watched Suffragette, a Meryl Streep film about British women fighting for the right to vote in 1912. It gave me strength to push harder for the rights of animals to be treated with respect.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Life sure has a way of getting away from me.
I vowed to write down three things I’m thankful for every day and, as you can see, it’s been 4 days of running like crazy and not taking time for the important stuff.
This photo was taken by me, of Jamie, on July 5th, as I was mocking the array of projects on her desk. At that time we didn’t know that Little Feather was about to take a hard turn for the worse and that we would be left heart broken by the end of the day. It took me ten days to put together her video tribute, and I still cried through the whole thing. I found some footage of Little Feather from 1993, 1994 and 1995. I was thankful that we had video cameras back then and that some of her playfulness was captured for all time.
Tomorrow is Jamie’s 36th birthday. She said she needed new sneakers, so I ordered those for her, but today I went to Macy’s and bought her a pair of emerald and Swarovski crystal earrings and a pair of blue topaz earrings. Her taste is so much less flashy than mine, so I always have to look at something for her and say, “Would I wear it?” If the answer is “no” then she will probably like it. I was borderline on the blue topaz though. I’m glad that I can afford to give her things that she wouldn’t buy for herself.
Right now I am uploading videos to the Amazon AWS cloud to preserve them. Trundy, Katie and Candy are here decorating the Lion’s Lair Party Pavilion for a baby shower for Brielle tonight. I am extremely thankful that Jamie has chosen to have her tubes tied (decades ago) and won’t be bringing children into this dangerous and climate challenged world. I try not to think about the world that Dule, Caden and whatever Katie’s calling her new baby, are about to inherit.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I’m thankful that government agencies do anything, although it isn’t much.
I sent the following to USDA and the FWC on 6/25/16 along with screen shots of the conversation Gloria had on her Facebook wall to back it up:
According to Gloria Johnson's Facebook page, she appears to have imported a 5 week old bobcat kitten from Lynn Culver across state lines. https://www.facebook.com/gloria.johnson.167527?fref=nf
Does she have a license and proper facilities to house a bobcat?
Did she obtain a proper import permit?
How can a bobcat kitten, who is too young for their shots, be transported into Florida?
It was my understanding that she lost her tigers due to being unable to provide proper care and housing. A bobcat is smaller, but needs far more than the confines of her home.
They never seem to take any action on complaints, so I didn’t expect a call back, but I got one from xxx last week. He said Gloria did not have a license to possess bobcats, that she did not obtain a legal import permit to bring the bobcat into the state and that the fact that the kitten has not gotten his shots yet wasn’t their problem but that USDA was looking into that.
“So, what are you going to do?” I asked.
“Gloria has the proper facilities, so she can apply for a Class II license to keep the bobcat.”
“Where will the bobcat go until that is done?” I pressed.
“It’s staying with her,” he said sheepishly and then tried to say it was the inspector’s discretion to do so. I don’t want the bobcat, as that is another 20 year commitment for us, but I’m sure the kitten won’t live long with someone I believe to be a drug addict.
The USDA hasn’t, and won’t respond to me about the bobcat, but at least they are finally taking some action on a 70 page briefing we gave them in 2012 on why it is already a violation of the Animal Welfare Act to pull cubs and use them as pay to play props. Slow progress, but progress nonetheless.
I’m thankful that my parents are as sharp as they are and that they take so much of the day to day burdens off me so I can focus on ending the trade in exotic cats. Sometimes, my mother’s flakiness worries me, but for the most part she’s sharp and both are extremely hard working. I keep thinking that my father’s immobility will make it impossible for him to work, which would kill him, but every day I see him filling in different rolls that I would not expect. He’s adaptive, like a cat.
I’m glad my brother was so well loved as a police officer. In that role he met a highway planner named Gareth Klotz, who was tasked with lighting an intersection in Florida Panther territory at SR 29 @ I-75. The Feds mandated that all intersections be lit, but the “state” was pushing back and saying that you can’t light the roads in FL panther habitat or it will kill the cats. Klotz asked Chuck for a meeting with me, but this is really Jamie’s domain so I brought her.
Jamie was prepared for the meeting and brought a list of Florida panther deaths in 2016, along with where they happened. As we were looking at the maps Jamie said, “It would be interesting to know if the locations where Florida panthers were killed by cars were lit or not.” She and Garrett mused over whether or not the information, from the accident reports, and the access to google earth, would yield that information. Garrett needed our final report by tomorrow, but Jamie got right on it last week and on Thursday we sent him our letter.
He tweaked it and submitted it as follows:
Cumber and Fair has added “Big Cat Rescue” CEO Carole Baskin and President Jamie Murdock to provide specific evaluation on the proposed lighting effects on the panthers and preserve area. Carole and Jamie bring to our team 38 years and 24 years’ experience, respectively, with the behavioral nature of exotic cat species, as well as the rehabilitation and release of native Florida bobcats as licensed wildlife rehabbers.
Jamie and Carole own and operate the Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, in which they rehab and maintain 80+ lions, tigers, bobcats, cougars and other species and are the main call center for wild cat rescue and rehab within the Florida Region. Jamie has spent the last 11 years studying wild bobcat populations and species habits via non-invasive camera traps.
In review the project limits, as they are familiar with this preserve area, both Carole and Jamie support the installation of lighting at the referenced intersection and believe that the lights will do no harm to the neighboring Florida panther population; but rather will help protect this imperiled species.
Jamie has conducted preliminary in depth research which identified a staggering number of Florida panther deaths have occurred not only on roadways, but more specifically, “primarily on unlit roadways”. 48 Florida panthers, of the estimated population of 100-180, have perished between 7/5/15-7/7/16 .
Of these 48 deaths, 38 were as a result of collision with a vehicle. 32 of these vehicular deaths occurred on roadways that had no lighting at all. 6 of these vehicular deaths occurred on roadways with various lighting, however, 2 of these 6 reports did not list an exact location; only a general area, so both could have quite possibly occurred on parts of the roadways that did not have lighting.
As mentioned above, Carole and Jamie agree that the proposed lighting should have no negative impacts on the Florida panther, but rather might very well protect the species from future loss of life in this prime panther territory surrounding the SR 29 @ Alligator Alley Interchange. One reason is that drivers will have better visibility and may avoid collisions. The other is that the Florida panthers will have a better opportunity to see approaching vehicles, rather than just headlights that may not signify the size of the threat.
Regards,
Gareth M. Klotz
Vice President / Project Manager
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I’m thankful that Howie is a “people person”
For the past several weeks he’s been trying to figure out a way to get the county to let us use the paved road Chris Daye is building for our front gate. We spend thousands of dollars every year maintaining the quarter mile long, dirt road entrance, called Easy Street. Because of the materials available to us are so full of junk, we end up with a lot of punctured tires, no matter how diligent we are at pulling out what we see.
Howie has arranged breakfasts, lunches and formal meetings with Chris, Adam Gormly, the attorney for the county, and the primary decision makers at the county. Yesterday at 9 am he met with County Commissioner, Ken Hagen, who has always been supportive, and explained the situation to him. It was good timing too, as Trey Traviosi submitted his traffic plan and modification request an hour later. After that submission we would not have been allowed to have the ear of a commissioner.
The issues is that Trey just got approved to build a medical facility at the corner of Gunn and Citrus Park Drive. Chris had already been required to improve that intersection to handle the three buildings he was putting on Easy St. An office building that is done, a Marriott hotel that is under construction now, and another hotel in the future. Chris says he would let our traffic come down his paved road, whether the county would approve it or not, but now he’s saying the county won’t let him bring the pavement to us, and won’t allow us to use the road. That doesn’t make sense, because we are beloved in the county, so Howie is interceding.
Today he’s giving a private tour to Trey, so I am glad that Trey is willing to come see us and hope he will feel something for the cats.
To that end, I’m really thankful that it isn’t raining and that they chose early morning because it’s been 90-94 degrees every day by noon.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Snow Leopard Letter to the Editor
kvalnews, Cat
In this story: bandon-animal-park-welcomes-endangered-snow-leopard-as-its-newest-addition
your reporter Jessica Waite, did a fluff piece that promotes cub petting which is currently under USDA review for a rule change due to the fact that the only way these backyard breeders and roadside zoos can use cubs is to pull them from their mothers when they are only hours or days old. More about all of the abuse that entails at bigcatrescue.org/cubs
But the bigger story might be how West Coast Game Park Safari got their hands on a $10,000 snow leopard cub? If you contact Oregon's Dept. of Natural Resources, or Fish and Game Dept. to ask to see the USDA import permit for such a rare and thus expensive cat, I'm pretty sure you will see the cat originated in California, Florida or Nevada as there are no known snow leopard breeders in Oregon.
It's my understanding that an endangered species, like a snow leopard must have approval by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to be transported across state lines. The requirement for issuance of a Captive Bred Wildlife Permit and transfer is supposed to be predicated on that activity enhancing the species in the wild. Using a cub for pay to play sessions is NOT conservation.
Given the young age of the cub, it is apparent that the breeder had to have broken this new USDA mandate of leaving the cub with their mother for at least the first four weeks. Any cub left with their mother that long would not allow humans to chain them and pass them around as if they were toys.
4/3/2016 USDA cracks down on abuse of cubs under the age of four weeks. In response to a 2012 legal petition filed by The Humane Society of the United States, World Wildlife Fund, Detroit Zoological Society, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Born Free USA, Big Cat Rescue, Fund for Animals and Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued guidance making clear that exhibitors violate the Animal Welfare Act by allowing members of the public to handle or feed infant exotic cats like tigers, lions, cheetahs, jaguars or leopards. Read more http://bigcatrescue.org/usda-announces-partial-cub-petting-ban/
Every year they have plenty of cubs to pimp out, but then they disappear. Cubs are only valuable until they are about 12 weeks old and too old, by USDA guidelines, for public petting. Where do all of those cubs go? Legitimate sanctuaries don't take cubs off the hands of abusers, just to allow them to continue the abuse.
Please follow up this fluff piece with a real story about how this sort of thing is happening, despite laws and rules to the contrary. My guess is that you will see Donation checked on the USDA form and no one gives away snow leopards.
For the cats, Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
"Judge me by the enemies I have made." - Franklin D. Roosevelt
Author of Big Cat Care - How to Start a Sanctuary
12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL 33625
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Jamie’s Tribute to Little Feather
I believe in butterflies.
I knew this day was coming, I dreaded it every second I spent with you these past few months. Knowing that soon we would stare into each other's eyes for the last time left a pit in my stomach and an ache in my heart. We had something few can even begin to understand. I will miss our silent conversations. You're warm inviting gaze and deep rumbling purr made even the worst days bearable. Twenty three years, we have grown up and older together. You are my sister. Your passing has left a hole so big in my heart and weighs on me so heavily I feel like I can't breath. I spent all of last night holding on so tightly to that final moment we shared. Staring into each other's eyes for one last time. I can't even begin to accept that I will never see your face again.
A long long time ago after the loss of one of my first sisters I was visited by a beautiful butterfly. She flew close to me and circled all around as if showing me how beautiful and free she was. I felt my sister's spirit and knew that she was happy and ready to move on to her next life.
Since then I can't help but notice I am always visited by a butterfly shortly after losing another of my kin.
This morning I was on the look out for you. I could not wait to see your fancy wings and acrobatic prowess. In my yard by the creek, on my drive to work. But you were not there. I was afraid I missed you.
Tears streamed down my cheeks as the sadness washed over me. But then suddenly, off in the distance, you exploded out grass. The lake behind you shone brightly in the morning sun. You were not alone. You danced wildly about with another. The two of you flew high and low across the green field. Your tiny brown and orange wings speckled with flecks of black. You flittered here and there, making your way to me, free of the debilitating limitations of your previous vessel. Then just as quickly as you had appeared you were gone.
I felt as though I would make it through this day. However moments later that loss crept back into my heart. At that very instant you appeared again and continued to follow me throughout the morning until you were satisfied that I would be ok. Finally we said goodbye in our silent way and you were gone once again.
Goodbye my sweet. Live wild and free.
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.
Your Wings Were Ready But My Heart Was Not
Susann Mesna, one of our explore.org webcam viewers captured this poignant moment as Jamie tried to hold on to Little Feather Bobcat as she slipped away from us.
Last night, I walked out of the hospital, and around behind the generator, so no one could hear me wail in grief.
A lot of cats have brought me to my knees with that sort of crying that just can’t be controlled. I usually have to be so far from everyone that they don’t hear me, and felt fortunate that the generator was still bellowing away after losing Little Feather. It was getting late and Jamie, who I suspect did her own version of screaming pain inside the hospital, as everyone had clearly been sent out, offered to let me drive her Camaro, Battle Cat, home. She could ride with Justin. I declined, knowing I’d cry all the way home, and thought I’d be less of a threat on my bike.
I managed a stiff upper lip with Howie, saying Little Feather had to be euthanized and then launching into the day’s conversations over the new ticketing software. I cried myself to sleep once the lights were off. If he didn’t know, he suspected my sadness and slept near me all night. I’m thankful for a husband who knows how to show love without smothering me.
I was very thankful last night for the Ultrasound machine. Dr. Justin kept poking Little Feather with needles trying to draw off the fluids that were drowning her, but couldn’t. The Ultrasound helped him guide the needle into the pockets of fluid more effectively. Jamie told me later, by text message, that she had 600 ML of bloody fluid in her chest, that her liver looked abnormal, as did her pancreas, and she had a mammary mass and one in her lung. While it pains me to hear all of the issues our precious little bobcat was dealing with, it did help me to know that we did the right thing in ending her life. I never want these cats to suffer any more than they already do by being held against their will.
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.
Love letter to Jamie
I've never had a clue how to express it to you, but I love you beyond what words can say. I just wrote the following on Little Feather's tribute page:
Regrets. I knew I would have them. I've known for 23 years, but now that is mostly what I feel. When Little Feather first arrived and was so sick, I had to carry her in a pouch in my shirt because I still had to work.
I had to run a real estate business, care for a husband suffering from Alzheimers, and care for more than 60 other exotic cats who had been rescued from fur farms and taxidermists. Jamie was only 13 and was the most help I had. It would be three more years before my family would join us in this endeavor.
I adored Little Feather and wanted so much just to enjoy her kittenhood, to spend time with her, and others, like Windsong, Raindance, Hercules and Catera, but was always being pulled in so many directions that I never had that luxury. I always knew I would regret it. I knew I'd wake up one day and that opportunity would be lost forever.
I tried to spend time with each of them, and all of the others that I loved in each and individual ways, but it was never enough. The phone would ring, a text would arrive, some other cat would need assistance and the time was always cut short.
Today as I saw Jamie struggling to deal with the loss of a sister, a child to her, a constant in her life for all of her teens and adulthood, I took it to heart that I need to make more time for those I love because I don't want to regret a minute of my life that wasn't spent showing that I love them.
Today I wrote up my speech for tomorrow’s USDA call
What animals should APHIS consider including under the definition of dangerous animals?
I believe it is easier to exclude animals from the definition of dangerous animals, when it comes to felids. Because there is no known vaccine against rabies in exotic cats, ALL cat species, other than Felis catus or Felis silvestris catus, should be classified as dangerous animals. Failure to classify them as dangerous, implies that they are not dangerous.
The very meaning of the word “dangerous” is: Being able or likely to do harm.
Virtually every state requires that exotic cats, of all species, other than domestic cats, be kept caged. That is because they are dangerous, both to humans they may bite, scratch or kill and to the environment.
Many states require that domestic cats be vaccinated against rabies and even more require that domestic cats coming into their state be vaccinated first, but there is no known, effective vaccine against rabies in non domestic cats.
Rabies is a viral disease that causes acute inflammation of the brain. Symptoms include: violent movements, uncontrolled excitement, fear of water, an inability to move parts of the body, confusion, and loss of consciousness. Once symptoms appear, the result is nearly always death.
That’s a pretty awful death and is easily preventable by classifying all non domestic cats as dangerous, and thus not suitable as pets or pay to play props.
As for environmental issues, there isn’t a week that goes by, that we don’t get a call from someone reporting a cougar in their yard. Usually it is a bobcat, or a HUGE domestic cat that is likely the cast off from the hybrid cat trade. 1st generation hybrids, between domestic cats and wild cats, are often bigger than either parent and never work out as pets.
These cats often escape or are released into the environment and then breed with feral cats, causing danger to the public and to the local eco systems who are not designed for these super predators.
Back in the 60s and 70s, when the Animal Welfare Act was passed, no one would have dreamed that people would try to make pets out of wild cats, so the antiquated rules have not kept up with protecting wild animals from the abuses they suffer today. I am glad that you are considering rule changes and hope that you will drastically improve the protections afforded wild cats in captivity. The changes you make now will probably have to survive another half century of human evolution, so they should be far more restrictive than you may think necessary for now.
Other News Around the Sanctuary Today
Last night I got a call from a woman in OR who’s been working for Bonnie Ringo for 4 years off and on, and full time since April 1. She relayed a long tale of law breaking and abuse toward her and her family, but I don’t have time to write that up now. Suffice it to say that I’m glad the bad guys use my name all the time because when they alienated their staff, they always know to come to me.
I’m thankful that my mother is lucid enough to still handle as much as she does. Today she and I set aside time to call my credit card company to find out why my card is frozen. I’d asked my mother to send a $5000 payment, when I learned a month ago that we had not gotten the April bill in the mail. When my card froze again, I thought maybe she hadn’t paid a bill, or had lost a bill, but today the credit card company said that I was over paid, but that they had blocked my card because the post office told them they couldn’t forward my mail any longer.
I’ve been at this address for more than 20 years. There is no mail forwarding going on. Our postal service has just become completely unreliable.
Today we celebrate Independence and this time next year the big cats will celebrate it too.
So many good things are happening in the world as information is available to the masses. Every week comes with new announcements such as another state enacting a bullhook ban, to keep circus acts from bringing elephants to town, or another county announces that they will protest the bear hunt in FL. Our 3 prong approach to ending big cat abuse barrels forward and the end is in sight.
Facebook has proven to be a major ally with their recent launch of Facebook LIVE. I’ve been trying to do at least one a day for Big Cat Rescue and every other day or so for explore.org. The 15-20 minute ones are getting about 35,000 views and claim a reach of 750,000 to 900,000. Compared to my DailyBigCat YouTube account getting 800-1200 views for video I have to edit, FB is allowing me to reach a lot more people. Since they can respond in real time, it’s like a conversation where they type and I answer by voice while the camera is showing one of the cats.
The one downfall was the sound, so I bought a $500 mic and it is awesome! The audience has responded enthusiastically. I am very happy to have these tools. I weave in the story of the cat being shown, and tell about some issue that is relative to them, and then give a call to action. Yesterday it was some nitwit running a fair who was allowing Dade City’s Wild Things to bring baby wild animals to the fair to pimp out for photos. A lot of the viewers said they send her an email. I’ll be curious to know if it did any good.
I had a long talk w/ Max Valverde of FareHarbor yesterday. Even though I chose his competitor, Peek, he was still trying to help us get our phone line diverted back to us from Zerve. He had given Zerve over $100,000 to keep the lights on from July 5-8 so that customers could make the moves they needed after the holidays. He seems to have high integrity; something I don’t feel like I experience at Peek. I chose Peek because I felt they were more stable, had more staffing, and have better reporting.
Zerve had a 34 million dollar infusion of capitol, according to Max, and burned through it trying to become the next TripAdvisor w/ booking capacity. FareHarbor was bootstrapped by him and his partner and had refused 20 million in VC $ because what the VC wanted them to do was cannibalize the competition by undercutting prices and then, once they were the only game in town, have them jack the rates up. They didn’t want to treat their customers that way and refused the money.
I can’t wait for this holiday to be over so I can get some work done in switching our 888 number from Zerve back to us and so that I can switch Zerve.com/bigcatrescue back to BigCatRescue.org/tickets I’ve had trouble with my credit card bills not getting to me too, so my card is overdue again, but I can’t get the bank on the phone till Monday to see about setting up autopay from my bank.
Meanwhile all of this stress to retain our $900,000 annual tour revenue is a nice problem to have. Not having the revenue at all would have been much more stressful.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Zerve to PeekPro Transition
A few years ago when one of our staff quit to go help her family business, I was able to reassign all of her duties, except for handling our reservations. No one wanted to handle the phone and deal with the public. Miraculously, Zerve contacted me and told me about their tour booking software. I told them they were hired if they would let us redirect our phone to them, so that we didn’t have to deal with the calls at all. It wasn’t part of their service, but they loved what we do and we would be a lot of money for them, so they obliged.
On the Thursday before this July 4th long holiday weekend, Zerve emailed me and said their last day of business would be on July 5. I went into a two day frenzy, that just ended an hour ago, where I had to sort out all of the competition, compare plans and benefits, hired PeekPro.com and overhauled our website to create pages for all of our tours and embed all of the new activities and rules I created in PeekPro.
So, I am thankful to Zerve for the years of great service they gave us. Our tour revenue blossomed during that time because they would upsell guests to our more expensive tours. I am thankful to PeekPro for providing a service that we easy to learn and implement with only an hour of training. I’m even thankful for Fare Harbor, who I did not select, but who gave me answers to a lot of questions I didn’t even know I had. One of their sales reps told me that cub petting schemes at T.I.G.E.R.S. and at the Zoological Wildlife Foundation were raking in over a million dollars a year. I tried to get both Peek Pro and Fair Harbor to take the position that they would not enable cub handling operations due to the cruelty I felt it involved, but neither wanted to let go of the money to be made off the backs of the cubs.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I am thankful to Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook and Great Non Profits
for giving me a way to empower our 2.2 million FB fans. People ask us all the time if they can do some sort of fundraiser for us, but there are few options that insure the money actually gets to us and the cats. FB is launching a Fundraiser feature today whereby anyone can set up and promote a fundraiser, and the charity is picked from a list of approved ones, so that the money goes directly where it is intended.
I appreciate that Facebook also recently approved us for a Donate feature. We used to have a Donate Now button that went to our own Salsa donate page, which is new, as of this year too, but the problem is that people don’t want to leave FB for even a second. This new Donate feature will cost us 5% (3 for cc processing and 2 to FB) but I think it will mean more donations. We get about 100 clicks a week on the button, but I have no way to know how many drop out. The new Donate feature can also be put on posts, so that every post can be an ask, if we want, instead of just a button at the top of our page.
I am grateful to our USDA inspectors for speaking out against cub swimming in the Dade City’s Wild Things trial. It’s a 4 day trial of Kathy Sterns and her son Randy for their abuse of tiger cubs. Two of the people who had been there and hated what they saw had contacted us years ago and we showed them how to file a complaint. It’s finally going to trial and both of them came to testify, as did Dr. Luis Navarro, Dr. Laurie Gage, Dr. Doyle, and Dr. Gaj. In her favor Vernon Yates and their shared vet, Dr. Don Woodman came to mostly complain about me, according to Jenni James. She said the judge said that I am not the one on trial and to knock it off.
I’m also thankful that after 140 years of animal abuse, the Buenos Aires Zoo has seen the light and closed. Their stated reason is that people are changing the way they view animals and it is time to evolve. Another big thing to be thankful of is that Master Card, after only one day of deliberation, decided to stop promoting swim with dolphins as a reward for using their card based on public outcry caused by PeTA.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I am grateful to still have my father.
Today, as I rode in on my bike, I saw him out on his cart and stopped to talk with him. I don’t do that nearly enough. He’s been sick and can barely speak. He looks tired and it breaks my heart. He worries about all of the work that is always stacked up, so I took the Kitten Cabana roof repair off his list. I’ve never seen it leak and told him the next time someone says it’s leaking then he should have them prove it to him before he puts it back on the list.
I am grateful for flea prevention. I remember the early days and fleas were enemy #1. We used flea collars, that Little Feather would go around removing for all of the bobcats, servals, lynx, domestic cats and cougars who lived with her. I never saw how she managed it, as the group would all disperse when I’d approach, but from a distance I’d see them line up to have the collars removed by the expert queen of the cat yard.
We used to dust the ground with Sven Dust, and some flea larvae eating microbes and Boric acid in the buildings and still we would have to flea comb the cats, wash them and never really got a handle on it. When Advantage first came out, I thought it was magic, but I also feared that putting such strong chemicals on the cats would surely kill them. Turns out that the chemicals (including Revolution, Program and others) weren’t as bad for them as the fleas were and they have lived exceptionally long lives. 27 of our cats are currently over the age of 20.
I am thankful for USA Fence. I’ve been trying for months to get a chain link fence company to just give me a quote on the new bobcat rehab area and finally they have called back and said they would spec it out. The chainlink has to be 1 inch or smaller mesh so the rats can’t escape when we feed the bobcats live prey. It will be one of our most costly endeavors, but as the big cat rescue industry declines (thankfully, due to better laws) we will be shifting focus to more bobcat rescue, rehab and release.
I contacted the primary list of rehabbers yesterday via email. They haven’t updated their site since 2012 and we’ve been asking to be included for decades. I have offered to partner with them, or buy the site, and if I don’t hear from them, I’ll start one from scratch. It’s very hard to find a local rehabber and information about what do do if you see a bobcat or cougar. I will probably revamp the BobcatRehab.com site to make it more search friendly.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I am grateful for the opportunity to live in paradise
I walked through what used to be a wall, into our living room this morning and looked out over Rocky Creek. I had a moment of Deja Vu where it was the first time I walked through that opening, when I remodeled this house back in the 90s. The house has changed, but the view is still spectacularly unspoiled.
I am grateful for Salsa’s content management system. Yesterday I needed to write 70 letters, all different, to our 6407 of our supporters to ask them individually to contact their member of congress. Our lobbyist, Jason Osborne, had met with their member and now we were asking them to go in and show their support for our bill to ban the private possession of big cats. That would take me weeks, but I did it in hours. I thought of a way to make it better this morning and can still edit the letters before they go out in the morning.
I am thankful for the volunteers who are caring for the cats this morning so that I can go sit beside my mother, on the back row at church and then take her to lunch. My Dad is suffering from a cold and won’t be there today. These Sundays with her are precious and I couldn’t do it if not for the huge support base that makes it possible.
My 2016 written comment on the Federal Register
sci·en·tif·ic meth·od
noun
- a method of procedure that has characterized natural science since the 17th century, consisting in systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses.
My experience with hand raised felids vs mother raised felids spans back to 1978, and includes hundreds of domestic, purebred, and 20 exotic species. This scientific method of observation, measurement and experimentation has led to the testing and formulation of best practices for the raising of captive felids. My hypotheses; that kittens who are raised by their mothers, until they are weaned, are healthier and live longer, than those raised by human hands has been proven.
(Jamie circa 1985 or so holding Lamborghini the tortoiseshell Himalayan)
1978-1984 MiCarCo Cattery. Before I knew how deleterious it is to breed to a human contrived standard, I bred and showed Persians and Himalayans in the Cat Fancier's Association. I had an entire wall of my home covered in ribbons that were won by my cats and produced many grand champions. I have since learned that there is no reason to be breeding cats, while so many die in shelters, but the experience gained during that time proved, scientifically, that:
- Purebred kittens who were raised by their dams were healthier and had a better survival rate than those who were bottle raised. The only time a breeder would bottle raise a purebred cat was if the dam rejected the kitten, or if the dam could not provide sufficient milk.
Show cats have to be the most docile of their kind in order to tolerate the noise and chaos of a show hall. They have to be tolerant of being handled by judges without striking out. Mother raised kittens did fine in those situations and consistently scored higher as they were in better overall condition than bottle raised kittens.
1978-2016 Wild Bobcat Rehab and Release. Due to the amount of time spent at vet's offices, for the issues that go along with breeding to an extreme standard for flat faced cats, I was often asked to take home a bobcat who had been hit by a car or otherwise injured or orphaned. The vet can fix them up in a matter of hours, but then it would be months of rehab before they could be released.
I've documented 48 wild bobcat situations and 29 of those were yearling, or orphaned juvenile or infant kittens at various stages of weaning. When rehabbing wildcats for the purpose of releasing them back into the wild, the primary objective is to make sure they are as healthy and wild as possible. Yearling and juvenile bobcats, who were weaned by their wild mothers, have always been the healthiest and easiest to get back on their way to a natural life. Their vigor has been proven by the fact that most of them had been hit by cars and lived to hunt another day.
The younger a bobcat kitten has been at the time of rescue, the more difficult to raise them up into healthy adults. Three bobcat kittens, who arrived with umbilical cords still attached, died very young because they were unable, despite vaccinations, to mount an appropriate immunity to typical domestic pet disease. After more than 30 years of testing the best alternative milks and the best disease prevention protocols, we still can't begin to replace their mothers.
Others survived, and eventually, after up to 18 months of work to get them fit for life in the wild, were set free. Camera traps show that these cats have survived more than a year after release, so we quit documenting the area, but there is no doubt that they would live longer, healthier lives, had they been mother raised.
1992-2016 Big Cat Rescue. Over the past 24 years I've cared for more than 200 exotic cats of 20 species, including the big cats involved in this bill: lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, cougars, snow leopards, clouded leopards, and hybrids such as ligers. The sanctuary started with the rescue of over 100 bobcats, Canada lynx and Siberian lynx from fur farms from 1993-1997.
The vast majority of these were kittens, at varying stages of being weaned, but who were separated from their mothers during the rescue to prevent maternal infanticide. We didn't know any better then and took advice from the very people who are opposing measures to end their abuse of wild cats. The kittens who spent the most time with their mothers were the healthiest. The kittens who were separated from their mothers earlier were the most difficult to keep alive, and suffered the most health issues later in life, such as nutritional cataracts, frail bones, rotten teeth and less resistance to parasites and other stressors.
The emotional issues we see in bottle raised exotic cats include sucking on paws and tails until they bleed, because they didn't get sufficient suckling over months, or years, with their real mothers. They often do not know how to deal with others of their own kind and are fearful and aggressive toward them. They will often over groom, which starts as a self soothing process, like the paw and tail sucking, but results in open wounds and massive hair balls. Exotic cats who have been handled by people are more dangerous because they have no natural aversion and will reach out and try to pull people into the cage. Even in play, they are far too powerful and often maim and kill, without even trying.
A recent example was a bobcat, The Great Pretender, who died this week at the age of 24. He had been mother raised and weaned. His previous owner had tried declawing him, to make him more tractable but when that didn't work they dumped him at an exotic animal auction in 1992 where taxidermists were bidding on him. He was rescued and sired a kitten before being neutered in the 1990s. She only lived to be 14. We stopped breeding in 1997 once the Internet arrived and we discovered that none of the exotic cats in captivity would ever serve any conservation purpose.
2013-2016 Foster Kittens. In 2013 Big Cat Rescue partnered with the Humane Society of Tampa Bay to foster orphaned and abandoned kittens. We have taken in more than 375 kittens, and mothers with kittens during this time. This has given us the most hands on experience and proof that mother cats are uniquely equipped to raise their own kittens far more successfully than our best efforts.
Sometimes mother cats are dumped at county shelters along with their kittens. When we can assist a mother by giving her a quiet and sanitary environment she will raise kittens that are far healthier and better adjusted than those who arrive as orphans that are bottle raised. The mother raised kittens are fatter, have glossier coats, stronger teeth and bones, and learn how to deal with others of their own kind in an appropriate way.
The bottle raised kittens are far less thrifty and succumb to illness much more often. Once they are old enough for vaccinations that start at 6 weeks and end at 16 weeks for rabies, they are better protected, but often lack social skills with their own kind and are fearful, aggressive and more likely to bite humans. Kittens who bite their mothers get bitten back and quickly learn that you don't make friends by biting them.
Breeders and dealers in cubs emulate that by kicking and punching cubs in the face, but it's not the same, and thus the lessons learned by the cubs are not the same.
To conclude, I'd like to point out that you are asking for scientific evidence that cubs should not be hand reared and used as pay to play props, but where was the science that would have supported such an unnatural and unkind activity in the first place?
The people who breed cubs for use as photo props or to get people to donate or volunteer in their backyard menageries say they have to hand raise the cubs because the mothers will kill them, or so they will be comfortable in captivity, or so that people will see them and protect habitat for them in the wild. These are all lies and have NO science to back them up.
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Mother cats will kill cubs if they feel that the situation is so dire that their expenditure of time and effort on raising a litter would be better at a later time. If mothers are killing or rejecting cubs in captivity, it isn't that there is a problem with the mother. It is the environment that is not conducive to breeding and survival.
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Hand reared cats, whether domestic or exotic, lack the social skills to know how to deal with people. They are more likely to harm someone when they are big enough to do so because they lack the natural aversion to humans that would keep them from reaching out for a keeper.
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All of the science on the subject shows that when people see endangered species in close proximity to humans they believe that the animals must not be endangered, or that close proximity would not be allowed. The very notion that we should captive breed endangered animals for future generations essentially states that we don't have to protect the wild, because we have them in cages. That is the antitheiss of conservation.
The only people who would oppose a complete ban on public contact with cubs of all ages and all species of exotic cat, are those who profit from prolific breeding in order to pull the cubs as quickly as possible to use for the longest period of time in their money making schemes. There is no amount of money and resources USDA can spend to make these kinds of people adhere to any rules about what age, size, etc.
The only way to end the abuse (and the violations of the Animal Welfare Act that this sort of abuse already violates) is to ban ALL public contact with all exotic cat species.
For the cats, Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I’m so thankful for family members who keep me out of the weeds.
Literally, Jamie went out into the woods at a release site, hours away from here to pick up a trail cam from where she set Rain and Dancer free. She prepared the Volunteer Newsletter, which is a LOT of details like how many hours each of our 100 volunteers/ interns worked, updates on all of our rules, having all of the readers re certify on the feeding and cleaning procedures, etc. All I have to contribute each month is my cat story and a form to collect their answers.
My mother spent 3 hours on the phone with Frontier trying for the second time now to get them to change two of our residential accounts to commercial accounts so we can have a static IP address. Since Frontier took over they just randomly reset all of our IP addresses breaking the connectivity to the explore.org cameras. I would lose my mind if I had to deal with that.
Howie manages the weekly calls with our lobbyist and the IFAW lobbyists. He deals with the attorneys on our cases against Joe and others. He slogs through the verbiage of contracts, pours over spread sheets, and sets up my coffee every morning; all so that I can focus on the bigger picture.
I love them one and all.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I am grateful for my son in law, Dr. Justin Boorstein
He works all day at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay, where they are low cost, high volume. His pay is minimal for a vet, because if he can survive on reduced pay, for 10 years, working for a non profit then his student loans, which are in the hundreds of thousands, are reduced. He comes to the sanctuary after work and on his days off to care for our cats. Two days ago he saw The Great Pretender. The bobcat was 24 years old and had stopped eating. We figured it was just the end for him, but Justin found 9 bad teeth.
It was a long shot but he had to try removing that source of bacteria and discomfort to see if there was any more life left to go. He came back out to check on him last night, as he wasn’t recovering from anesthesia, and it was clear that Justin was upset; thinking that maybe he could have worked faster…There really was nothing he could have done, but it plagues him any way.
This morning Gale woke, Jamie, Justin and me to let us know that Pretender had died in his sleep.
Precious and The Great Pretender were the next cats to arrive, after our founder, Windsong the Bobcat. For a time they lived in a cage in our home, and Pretender would jump and spit at me every time I walked by to get to my desk. When we did the huge fur farm rescue in 1993, and had bobcats and lynx kittens running wild through the house, we had to cage my desk, so I could work without them peeing all over everything. Precious and Pretender first moved to a porch and then to a concrete slab with a 12 x 24 foot dog kennel on it and then finally to Easy Street where my Dad built them their own spacious 1200 sf enclosures. I always loved and admired The Great Pretender for never even trying to pretend that he was OK with the idea of being caged. I vow to him, and every other wild cat who was bred for life in a cage that I won't stop until that barbaric practice ends.
I am grateful for Gale and the fact that she shows up, almost every morning, at 7:00 am to get ready for the onslaught of volunteers who will begin filing in at 7:30.
I am grateful for “Bernadette Juarez, the Deputy Administrator, Animal Care (AC) Program at USDA/APHIS. She seeks to improve regulatory practices and develop training and educational resources. Prior to being named Deputy Administrator in February 2016, Ms. Juarez served with APHIS’ Investigative and Enforcement Services (IES), first as Deputy Director for nearly 5 years and then as Director beginning in 2013. As Director, Ms. Juarez was responsible for leading investigations of alleged AWA and HPA violations, as well as all other APHIS-administered statutes and regulations, and pursuing enforcement actions where warranted. Ms. Juarez’s experience enforcing the AWA and HPA began prior to her joining APHIS as a trial attorney in USDA’s Office of the General Counsel from 2002 to 2009. In over 6 years, she represented APHIS in numerous AWA and HPA administrative enforcement proceedings.”
This is why and what I posted yesterday on our front page:
USDA Reopening Comment Period on Legal Petition Submitted by Big Cat Rescue and Coalition to Prohibit the Public Contact with Big Cats and Cubs
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced it is reopening the comment period on a legal petition submitted by Big Cat Rescue, the Humane Society of the United States and a coalition of organizations (HSUS, World Wildlife Fund, Detroit Zoological Society, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Born Free USA, Fund for Animals and Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries) to completely prohibit exhibition facilities from allowing members of the public to come into direct contact with dangerous wild animals.
https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDAAPHIS/bulletins/1512904
https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2016-14976.pdf
Big Cat Rescue and the coalition applaud USDA for taking this action to solicit information that would support a regulation prohibiting these inhumane and unsafe interactive experiences with big cats, bears and nonhuman primates. “We are very pleased that USDA is requesting further input from the public and see it as a positive sign that USDA is considering taking the action requested in our petition”, said Carole Baskin, founder and CEO of Big Cat Rescue.
The action follows a determination by USDA in April 2016 that public contact with infant exotic cats violates the Animal Welfare Act, making clear that it is illegal for cubs to be immediately pulled from their mothers after birth to be hand-reared and bottle-fed by members of the public before their immune systems have even developed.
[http://www.humanesociety.org/news/press_releases/2016/04/usda-tiger-cub-abuse-roadside-zoos-040416.html?credit=web_id93480558]](http://www.humanesociety.org/news/press_releases/2016/04/usda-tiger-cub-abuse-roadside-zoos-040416.html?credit=web_id93480558%5D)
Comprehensive action to eliminate this dangerous practice is essential – for example, Dade City’s Wild Things in Dade City, Florida is currently under USDA investigation for numerous violations of the Animal Welfare Act, including stress on infant and young tiger cubs handled and forced to swim with the public.
In addition, PETA yesterday filed an intent to sue Dade City’s Wild Things under the Endangered Species Act. PETA contends that prematurely separating infant tigers from their mothers, forcing them to interact with members of the public, and confining them to nearly barren concrete pens all constitute unlawful “takes,” defined by the Endangered Species Act as harming, harassing, and/or wounding an animal. http://www.peta.org/blog/nightmarish-tiger-sweatshop-gets-notice-petas-intent-sue/
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I finished a book on tape called the Happiness Advantage
I was so enthralled with it that I bought a dozen copies for our staff, and need to buy more, as it turned out not to be enough for all who were interested in it.
Part of the exercise is to write down three things that I’m grateful for each day. I do it mentally, because I’m so busy, but I’m going to try and make a habit of daily posts here for things that I am grateful for.
I am grateful to Nest.com for creating Internet based camera feeds. We have used them for a couple of years, back when they were called DropCam.com for keeping an eye on our cats in the recovery hospital, etc. Last night I put one on The Great Pretender, a 24 year old bobcat who had to have 8 rotten molars removed. I was able to go home, eat dinner and watch him on my iPhone 6 + which has a huge screen. Pulling up the camera on my computer will be the very next thing I do.
The company is donating a bunch of cameras. They think we are interesting and want to use us as an example of ways to use their products.
I am grateful for mapping technology. I’m trying to install a 3000 square foot 48 x 72 modular building adjacent to our current gift shop to expand the shopping space. I will be able to save tens of thousands of dollars, thanks to google maps, Kinko’s Printers and my ability to draw and measure a straight line. Before, I’d have to hire a surveyor to meet the county’s demands.
I am grateful for being surrounded by the best and brightest. I’ve said this before, in my head and in Facebook posts, but it’s such an over arching part of what makes me happy. Of our 14 staff, 80 volunteers and 26 interns, only two of them give me any real pause, and yesterday both of them brought something good into my life by sharing their experiences about health and the benefits of a healthy vegan diet. One is a new vegan and the healthiest she’s ever been and the other is about the most unhealthy meat eater, who thinks she’s dying.
Here is the good news, I guess, from today. We petitioned USDA in 2012 to stop cub petting schemes. They got about 15,000 letters in support of our position, but seemed to think that AZA zoos didn’t have enough time to object, so they opened the comment period back up again in 2013. Now, 4 years later, they still haven’t taken action, but rather seem to want to get more of the bad guys to object, so they are opening up the comment period again through August of this year.
We will continue to rally animal lovers to let USDA know that cub handling is cruel, dangerous and downright evil.
Here is USDA’s letter:
This document is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on 06/24/2016 and available online at http://federalregister.gov/a/2016-14976, and on FDsys.gov
BILLING CODE: 3410-34-P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
9 CFR Parts 2 and 3
[Docket No. APHIS-2012-0107]
Petition to Amend Animal Welfare Act Regulations to Prohibit Public Contact with Big Cats, Bears, and Nonhuman Primates
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice; reopening of comment period.
SUMMARY: We are reopening the comment period for a petition requesting amendments to the Animal Welfare Act regulations and standards pertaining to physical contact with dangerous animals. We are especially interested in receiving public comments on the additional questions included in this notice. We are providing information about upcoming virtual stakeholder listening sessions and other efforts intended to gather additional public comment. This action will allow interested persons additional time to prepare and submit comments and further inform our thinking on the handling of dangerous animals.
DATES: The comment period for the notice published on August 5, 2013 (78 FR 47215) and reopened on October 24, 2013 (78 FR 63408) is reopened. We will consider all comments that we receive on or before August 31, 2016. The virtual listening sessions described in this notice will be held on Wednesday, June 29, 2016, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. eastern time (ET); Wednesday, July 6, 2016, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET; and Thursday, August 4, 2016, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET. 2 Registration is required to participate in the listening sessions. Links for registering to participate in the virtual listening sessions are included in the Web site in footnote below.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2012-0107.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to Docket No. APHIS-2012-
0107, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238.
Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this docket may be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2012-0107 or in our reading room, which is located in room 1141 of the USDA South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC. Normal reading room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays. To be sure someone is there to help you, please call (202) 799-7039 before coming.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Barbara Kohn, Senior Staff Veterinarian, Animal Care, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 84, Riverdale, MD 20737-1234; (301) 851-3751.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
On August 5, 2013, we published in the Federal Register (78 FR 47215-47217, Docket No. APHIS-2012-0107) a notice making available for comment a petition requesting amendments to the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) regulations and standards, including amendments to prohibit licensees from allowing individuals, with certain exceptions, from coming into direct or physical contact with big cats, bears, or nonhuman primates of any age, to define the term “sufficient distance,” and to prohibit the public handling of young or immature big cats, bears, and nonhuman primates.
Comments were required to be received on or before October 4, 2013. In a subsequent notice published October 24, 2013 (78 FR 63408), we reopened the comment period for an additional 45 days to November 18, 2013. We received 15,379 comments.
We are again reopening the comment period and will accept all comments we receive on or before August 31, 2016. We are especially interested in receiving public comments on the questions presented below. Responses to these questions will help further inform our thinking on the handling of dangerous animals:
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What factors and characteristics should determine if a type of animal is suitable for public contact? When the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) describes an animal as dangerous, there are certain characteristics we use to classify the animals, such as the size, strength, and instinctual behavior of an animal, risk of disease transmission between animals and humans (i.e., zoonoses such as Herpes B), and ability to safely and humanely handle (or control) the animal in all situations.
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What animals should APHIS consider including under the definition of dangerous animals? For example, are all nonhuman primates dangerous? We currently identify some animals as dangerous, including, but not limited to, nondomestic felids (such as lions, tigers, jaguars, mountain lions, cheetahs, and any hybrids thereof), wolves, bears, certain nonhuman primates (such as gorillas, chimps, and macaques), elephants, hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses, moose, bison, camels, and common animals known to carry rabies.
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What animals may pose a public health risk and why? What risks does public contact with dangerous animals present to the individual animal and the species and why?
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What are the best methods of permanent, usable animal identification for dangerous animals?
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What are the most humane training techniques to use with dangerous animals?
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What scientific information (peer-reviewed journals preferred) is available that identifies the appropriate weaning ages for nondomestic felids, bears, elephants, wolves, nonhuman primates, and other dangerous animals?
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What industry, organizational, or governmental standards have been published for the handling and care of dangerous animals?
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What constitutes sufficient barriers for enclosures around dangerous animals to keep members of the public away from the animals? What methods (structures, distance, attendants, etc.) are needed to prevent entry of the public into an enclosure and keep the animal safe while still allowing for meaningful viewing? In addition to inviting the public to comment on these questions, we are making available for the public a Web site containing background information on the topics explained in this notice. We also plan to convene three virtual listening sessions during the summer, allowing stakeholders to participate regardless of their location before the close of the public comment period. The dates of each virtual listening session are as follows:
June 29, 2016, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. eastern time (ET);
July 6, 2016, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET; and
August 4, 2016, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET.
Persons wishing to participate in the virtual listening sessions are required to register prior to the session. Links for registering to participate in each listening session are included in the Web site in footnote 2. Upon registration, participants will be provided with a call-in number and access code. The virtual listening sessions will provide the public with opportunities to share their views on the handling of dangerous animals and provide us with additional material to inform our thinking on this topic.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 2131-2159; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.7.
Done in Washington, DC, this 21st day of June 2016.
William H. Clay, Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-14976 Filed: 6/23/2016 8:45 am; Publication Date: 6/24/2016]
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
‘Nightmarish Tiger Sweatshop’ Gets Notice of PETA’s Intent to Sue
I love you PETA and especially Brittany Peet who has been working with us to file this lawsuit against one of the local tiger pimps.
‘Nightmarish Tiger Sweatshop’ Gets Notice of PETA’s Intent to Sue
Written by Michelle Kretzer | June 22, 2016
This morning, the owners and operators of Dade City’s Wild Things woke up to find PETA’s legally required notice of its intent to sue under the Endangered Species Act in their inbox. The notorious Florida roadside zoo subjects young tigers to swimming events and other forced encounters with the paying public.
PETA contends that prematurely separating infant tigers from their mothers, forcing them to interact with members of the public, and confining them to nearly barren concrete pens all constitute unlawful “takes,” defined by the Endangered Species Act as harming, harassing, and/or wounding an animal.
If successful, the lawsuit could have a major impact on the captive tiger overpopulation crisis in the U.S., which is fueled by the huge demand for tiger cubs for use in photo ops and public encounters. While wild populations dwindle, there are untold thousands of captive tigers being held in shoddy roadside zoos and in the backyards and basements of private owners in the U.S., many of which are completely unregulated.
None of these tigers will ever be able to be released into the wild.
“Dade City’s Wild Things is like a nightmarish tiger sweatshop, where terrified cubs are torn away from their mothers, bullied into performing, and then, when they’re no longer deemed profitable, relegated to tiny, virtually barren cages,” says PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet. “PETA urges families to shun this hellhole and any other business that imprisons and exploits wild animals.”
PETA’s allegations are supported by a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture against Dade City’s Wild Things for its numerous violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act, including improper handling of tiger cubs.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Great Day Lobbying in D.C.
Here was the agenda:
The following are the only 3 cases where we have a cat from the state (FL-1, RI-2) of course we have a lot more from FL but TJ's story is good enough to make the case. For the other states, I listed all the incidents that weren't AZA zoos. I put the dates, in case they ask, but wouldn't mention them. Note: rs zoo = road side zoo
DeGette (D-CO-01) -- 10:00
6/3/03 2 tigers mauled a keeper at Serenity Springs. The tigers were beaten w/ shovels and later killed.
Delaney (D-MD-6) -- 10:30
1/18/09 woman mauled by jaguar at rs zoo
6/2/04 tiger escaped the circus, attacked elephant all in the big top with an elementary school visiting
Lawrence (D-MI-14) -- 11:00 was very favorable to the bill.
8/17/15 Animals of MT brought wolves, bobcats and a tiger to an abandoned factory for a photo shoot. The tiger began to attack and was chased with a weed whacker and a tarp.
7/27/14 woman lost finger to caged lion at rs zoo
10/25/95 pet lion killed his owner in front of her child
Brown (D-FL-5) -- 11:30 seemed to favor the bill and has an intern in his office who visited many times, starting w/ school group, who begged him to chase us down so she could meet us. Howie told her it would be her job to stay on the boss until they co sponsored.
TJ the tiger was rescued from a decrepit back yard breeder after a person had been killed there, another nearly lost their leg and a teenager had been mauled by an escaped cougar.
10/6/14 a construction worker lost his thumb at ZWF, an infamous cub handling operation run by Mario Tabraue. ZWF funds ZAA lobbyist Frank Vitello.
1/3/14 a lion escaped from rs zoo
Clyburn (D-SC-6) -- 12:00
6/14/16 TIGERS under USDA investigation for recurring ringworm in cubs used for handling and for transport issues between rs zoos in FL and OK.
8/10/14 report of mountain lion escaping a pet store, but report was later denied. Who knows?
1/8/03 a pet cougar escaped and was on the run for 3 days
4/28/02 pet tiger mauled an 8 year old child
6/18/94 a tiger at a breeding farm mauled a 17 year old worker
1/1/91 pet lion escaped and mauled a 5 year old and her grandmother
Bera (D-CA-07) -- 1:00
9/4/15 a 3 month old tiger was found wandering in a neighborhood. That's the age when they can't be used for photo props any more because they are too big.
3/16/13 woman was mauled to death by a lion at rs zoo
7/31/98 a tiger bit through the head of a woman who was posing with it for a photo at Marine World where Laurie Gage, the big cat expert hired by USDA worked.
10/22/97 a jaguar attacked two trainers in a single week
1972 Jodie Foster was nearly mauled to death on the set by a lion
Capuano (D-MA-07) -- 1:30
5/17/00 14 year old girl was attacked by a tiger at a rs zoo
8/17/97 13 year old girl was mauled by a tiger at a photo booth
Cicilline (D-RI-01) -- 3:00.
We rescued Max the Bobcat who was an illegal pet. Owner took him to be declawed, an illegal procedure, and the vet turned him in to DNR. Months of litigation before the state could send him to us. He had been a mail order pet from out of state.
Narla Cougar was sold from CO to RI as a pet. When the owner died, his wife wanted to make a rug out of her, but we convinced her to let us take her to FL.
We also introduced ourselves to who is the newest aide to Rep Kathy Castor. She gets 100% on animal bills so it was just to meet the new girl.
We dropped in on Rep Patrick Murphy and met w/ Candace Walls, who are both big animal advocates. He already co sponsored, so we were just saying thank you.
Also met with who works for Rep Carlos Curbelo, who signed on at the request of Rep Murphy.
The last meeting was w/ He replaced James and seems to really want to move our bill forward. He says Senators are far less likely to stick their necks out before a committee hearing, and cited the Crush Video law that already passed, but needed some tweaks to make it enforceable. He said that even on such egregious abuse, there was very little motivation to stand up for the bill until it comes to a full floor vote.
Despite that I am leaving DC with renewed optimism that our bill will pass and the suffering of big cats will end.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
What a busy day!
I woke up at 6am, which never happens, even though I go to bed at 10pm. I figured I’d better get up though since the monthly AdvoCat had to be sent out today at 10am and I had not written a single word of it yet.
Got it done and launched, then Judy Mills and Debbie Banks of EIA, met w/ Howie and I over Skype for an hour and a half, to discuss doing a side event at the CITES CoP17 in Johannesburg, SA, to raise awareness about tigers.
Ran from that straight to a closing on the sale of 310 Thomasdale Av in Haines City. Jamie called me from there, in a hurry for me to return to the sanctuary because Gale has already left for the Taking Action for Animals Conference in D.C. and Jamie wanted to take some of the interns bobcat tracking where Thor was released last month. She will switch out the cards in the camera traps while there.
I have a week and a half of contacts left, so I had to call my eye doctor and order more. I’d much rather do it myself at Contacts.com but he needs the money, so I order through him. He can’t take credit cards, so that means mailing a check. All a huge hassle, but I figure he doesn’t have that many more good years left to work.
Judy has been saying she can’t go to CITES because she’s a consultant who doesn’t get paid when she doesn’t work and she’d be gone 2 weeks. No one could train Jamie better to take over all this tiger protection in the wild stuff, so I offered to do her job for her (reporting for MacArthur Foundation on Climate Change) and let her keep the money.
We were discussing what sort of giveaways or enticements to get people to come to the tiger event, which would include a 10 minute tiger movie and a 10 minute tiger talk. I suggested we white label 100 bottles of wine with NOT Tiger Bone Wine and an educational piece about how farming tigers is driving the extinction of tigers. We offer them to the first 100 people who come to and stay through the entire event. Then contacted the hotel to see if they can provide wine.
Yesterday I wore myself out, dragging Nest cameras and an extension cord all over the place to see if I can pick up a good enough signal to broadcast for Nest. It would be a great way to reach a new audience. I have a lot more dragging around to do today, but it’s 90 degrees and I’m not sure how much more I can stand.
Then I got this nice note:
Hi Carole and Jamie, I hope all is well. Just wanted to let you know we have submitted everything to Animal Planet today and are just waiting for feedback from their internal development team. Once they have looked over it, it will be passed on to the commissioner.
This can take a few weeks (given the number of pitches they receive) but we have a good relationship with them so I am hopeful that we can chase this soon if we don’t hear anything in the next few weeks. I will keep you posted, the team have done all we can here so we have everything crossed.
Feel free to get in touch at any time but I will update you soon.
Have a great day! Kind Regards, Naomi Channell. Casting Producer 344 - 354 Grays Inn Road. London
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Today I turned 55
My first thought was that I thought I’d have accomplished more by now. I was kind of surprised by that thought since I’ve grown our real estate holdings (personal and for the sanctuary) to over 6.6 million dollars and because I’ve come to see the day when sanctuaries are competing to rescue big cats because so few end up in need of rescue; thanks to laws that ban private possession.
I guess everyone feels this way when they see the last of the grains of sand sinking through the hour glass funnel.
We are under threat of a tropical storm right now and Jamie and Justin are planning to fly in from NJ today, so I hope the winds are not as bad as predicted. Howie and I would like to go to lunch and a movie to celebrate my birthday, but it will be hard to relax knowing that the weather is threatening ALL of my kids today.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Bengali was First to Arrive and the Last to Leave
It was either late 1997 or maybe 1998 when a friend of mine walked into my office and said, “You have to see this!”
That led to a road trip to nefariously meet with an elephant keeper who said that he just hated tigers and would do anything to get rid of them. He was angry because his well hidden plot of dirt, where used elephants go to disappear, had been taken over by a long row of circus wagons full of tigers. I could not believe my eyes when I saw circus wagon after wagon, each with a lone tiger and a water bowl and nothing else. No shade, no toys, no place to lay except on the hot, hard floors of the iron barred cages. The keeper said the cats had been there for a couple of years because they wouldn’t perform any more and that USDA was all over them about the conditions, but nobody wanted to spend money on building a retirement center for them because, unlike the elephants, breeding them wasn’t as lucrative. There were plenty of back yard breeders who were using cubs for photo ops and then selling them to the circuses to be used.
That began 2 or 3 years of negotiations between me and the circus to get these cats out of the beast wagons and into our sanctuary. I’d just lost my husband and the courts had seized our assets because we didn’t know where he’d gone, or if he’d be back. His kids by a former wife didn’t want any more of “their money” being wasted on feeding and caring for lions, tigers and the other hundred or so exotic cats at the sanctuary. I had to learn how to ask for money and help because I could only access a limited allowance, which was a third of what it cost to actually run the rescue. There was no way I could afford to take the 20 tigers from the circus when I knew that each cat would cost me 7500.00 in just food and vet care (back then).
The negotiations ended with the agreement that the circus would build the cages and supply the food and vet care costs and I would take the cats who were currently sitting in Williston, FL and the rest of the tigers as they got ill or stopped performing until all 19 tigers and 1 leopard were here. The caveat was that I could not tell anyone the name of the circus or they could take the cats back. I held good to that promise because I shudder at the thought of where these cats could end up.
Just before Christmas in the year 2000 the first six tigers arrived: “the bengal” (because he never had a name and was just referred to by his breed), his brother, S.A.R.M.O.T.I., Nini, Axel, Buffy and Conan. We added the i to Bengal to give him a proper name of Bengali. Bengali and S.A.R.M.O.T.I. had been reported to have been born at the infamous Siegfried and Roy nightclub in Las Vegas, but because they were the “wrong” color (golden instead of white) they were handed off to the circus. They rode in a chariot behind horses, which had to be a torment to the horses, as well as the tigers, who were restrained (use your imagination for how, but I guarantee it wasn’t “positive reinforcement”) from doing what they would naturally do to horses.
Getting records from circuses and private owners always proves challenging. The paperwork they arrived with said Bengali had been born in 1995, but later, one of the circus vets said they had records on him going back to 1993. We discovered that back in 2013 when his brother S.A.R.M.O.T.I. died. Whether he was 5 or 7 when he arrived; he was still a youngster. Tigers usually don’t begin killing their owners and trainers until they are somewhere between 5 and 7, even though they can look full grown at a year or two. When Bengali arrived his trainers said he was treacherous and would surely kill someone, but as soon as he had 2,000 square feet of space to himself, with a pond, cave, trees, bushes and grass, he became one of the happiest and most beloved of tigers who ever stepped foot on Tampa soil.
It was clear, as I tried to walk off the morning’s events, and saw ALL of our volunteers and interns crying, from one end of this 67 acre refuge to the other, that Bengali was leaving a hole in our hearts that nothing would ever fill. Bengali’s health has been a bit of a roller coaster ride for the past several years. He’s been treated for a recurring ear infection, and each time has bounced back, but a week or so ago he had a seizure and bit his tongue. After that he didn’t want to eat and we couldn’t get him to take his meds. Without his pain management meds, for all of his old cat issues, he felt worse. The worse he felt, the less inclined he was to eat or take his pills. When he had a second seizure and bit the other side of his tongue we knew that it was time to let him go.
We don’t know if he’s 21 or 23, but in either event, it’s twice as long as tigers usually live. Bengali got to spend most of that surrounded by people who love him. As we kneeled beside him for his last breaths I noticed again the scars on his elbows from the years of pacing around in the tiny circus wagon. I couldn’t hold back the tears. None of us could. If you knew Bengali, then I know you are crying too.
Please don’t let his life in the circus, and that of all the cats who have lived and died in miserable little cages for the amusement of ignorant people, be in vain. Please take the pledge to never go to a circus that uses wild animals and help end the suffering. http://nocircustigers.com
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Teisha Tiger Euthanized
Even with the steroid therapy, recommended after seeing the results of her MRI, Teisha Tiger continued to worsen. On May 24 she nearly choked to death because she wasn’t mobile enough to cough up small chunk of meat.
We began cutting her food into even smaller pieces, and feeding her on a stick to make it easier on her, but on Friday, the 27th she took her last walk. She walked out to her pool, where she could lay in the misting breeze of her fan, and look out over the lake. She continued to eat and took her meds but her body was failing and she could no longer walk.
When I saw that she was unable to get our of her own waste, I asked Dr. Wynn to come ease her to the other side. Her transition was peaceful and her suffering has ended, but I will miss her gentle spirit.
Final Report on Teisha Tiger
My hands were shaking, all the way up my arms and vibrating my torso. It was the emotional tension of what was going to happen next and the physical tension of holding the Y pole in such a way to ensure that the vet wouldn't take a bite to her face and making sure that the touch against Teisha's neck was only feather light.
She had been sedated twenty minutes earlier and appeared to be completely unconscious but you just never know when a big cat will wake with no warning or if some muscle spasm might cause them to chomp at the air. Usually this was Jamie's roll, but she was inbound on a flight from St. Kitts, where she and Dr. Justin Boorstein, her husband and our other volunteer vet, had been lecturing to the 200 vet students there. Gale is much more experienced as a vet tech, and was assisting by holding off a vein to cause it to bulge enough so that Dr. Wynn could inject the pink liquid that would ease Teisha to whatever comes next.
The needle was thin, so I could see Dr. Wynn successfully struggling against the thick fluid. She was trying desperately to make this last moment that Teisha had on this planet one that was filled with peace and a feeling of being surrounded by souls who loved her. As usual, when cats are sedated, I was breathing in rhythm with her and watching every heart beat, in its tiniest movement of her thick fur and whiskers. If you have ever had to euthanize a beloved pet, or sat by the bedside of a loved one who was dying, you know that mere seconds feel like an eternity. A wash of memories flooded over me.
Years ago when Ohio finally outlawed the private possession of lions, tigers and other big cats, in the wake of the Zanesville massacre, there were a couple of loud mouths who vowed they would never comply with the law. The reasons they gave, in the ensuing legal battles, was that there was no where for their cats to go. I always assume these big cat breeders and exploiters are lying, but give them the benefit of the doubt and contact them to let them know that there are accredited sanctuaries who will make sure the cats will find permanent homes. I contacted Stapleton but he didn't return my emails or posts to his social pages.
When the Ohio Department of Agriculture enforced the law in 2015 I let them know that we and other sanctuaries, who are accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, were standing by and willing to help. Having dealt with us before, ODA knew that we were the best equipped to deal with the health issues they were seeing in one of Stapleton's five tigers. At the time of confiscation they noticed that she did not stand, even when darted. When they asked if she was suffering some sort of disability, it's reported that her owner casually said that she couldn't walk because her cage mates beat her up all the time.
Once back at the state holding facility they treated her for deep punctures to her neck and back that appeared to have been from the other tigers biting her. They noticed that she couldn't walk and would lay in her own waste. Because their temporary enclosures were cement floored, ODA asked if we would take her. They knew that we have soft earthen floors, an amazing vet team, an abundance of professional animal care givers and the funding provided by our donors that would give Teisha every chance at recovery. On October 21, 2015 our rescue team set out on the 15 hour drive to bring Teisha Tiger to Florida.
It's been seven months, but it feels like it was yesterday that our team rolled Teisha out of the transport trailer and up to the side of the area that would be her new home. It took Teisha 3 hours to stand up and make it down the ramp we built from her rolling cage, which was only about 20 inches off the ground, to the deep soft sand of her 1200 square foot home. She was exhausted from the ride and 60 pounds overweight, from getting a lousy diet and no exercise, for who knows how long. Our first goal was to bring her weight down and see if that would enable her to walk.
As the pounds came off Teisha was able to go from dragging her back legs to actually standing on them and taking a few steps. As she got stronger she was able to pull herself into and out of her pool and delighted everyone with her antics. She would hold her breath and try to catch the little fish and would blow bubbles out her nose. I remember Teisha getting her first Halloween pumpkin. I loved seeing her enjoy a life, free from the abuse that had surely been inflicted on her by people and cage mates in that tiny, barren cage she lived in her 13 years prior. All was seeming to progress well, albeit slowly for her, but then she began to relapse. She walked less and less and by the end of April had begun to drag her back legs.
We had done X-rays that showed a narrowing of the spine, but couldn't find a veterinarian who could do such delicate work without the benefit of an MRI. On May 2, 2016 we found a vet who said she could do the surgery, and wanted the MRI to be done at her local facility in Gainesville. We had reached the end of our ability to help Teisha. As much as we hated the idea of loading her up for the 2.5 hour trip to the University of Florida's Large Animal Hospital, we knew it was her only chance. I never expected her to return from that trip as the stress of the MRI and surgery, either one, could be the end of her.
What the MRI showed was that there were 15 places along her back that had bulging discs and defects pinching her spinal cord. The vet said they were so bad and had been going on for so long that there was nothing she could do surgically. We thought that would be the end of it, but she encouraged us by suggesting that treating her with steroids could reduce the inflammation enough to give her relief and make it possible for her to walk again.
Teisha seemed game to try so we gave it our best. She was a champ; always taking her meds (no easy feat as cats are notoriously hard to pill) and eating well. Her keepers tried to use feeding time as physical therapy time to get her on her feet and maybe take a step or two so that her muscles wouldn't atrophy. Like before, she had a modest gain, but then relapsed again.
On May 24, 2016 she nearly choked to death because she couldn't keep herself upright while eating. Once she fell on her side, she could barely breathe well enough to cough the little square of meat back up. We had to cut her food into tiny, tiny pieces to keep that from happening again.
On Friday she made her last tumbling, dragging walk from the side of her enclosure where she and the cat next door would chat, to the pool area lakeside. Teisha laid there in the misting breeze of her fan, and looked out over the lake. She continued to eat and took her meds but her body was failing and she could no longer walk.
When we saw that she was unable to get our of her own waste, we called the vet to come assess her condition. Dr. Wynn was torn between knowing that euthanasia was the humane thing to do and the concern that Dr. Boorstein, who had been tending to Teisha during most of this, might feel that he should be here; but he was on a plane somewhere east of Cuba. Teisha couldn't bathe herself and flies were gathering. I didn't want even one more fly to land on this precious tiger. I told her Dr. Justin would be fine with our decision to end the suffering.
So here we were. It's one of those awful decisions that has to be made because an animal just can't go another hour or another day, but it fell on Memorial Day. Like Simba Tiger, all those years ago on Thanksgiving, a holiday just makes the situation worse because you are sure to re live it every year on that day. As hard as it was for everyone involved here, we all loved Teisha too much to make her wait.
Her breathing stopped, and I found myself holding my breath, until I realized that it was her last. Dr. Wynn checked her heart with the stethoscope, but I could see there was no more gentle thumping beneath the fur. Teisha was gone and the only thing that kept me from breaking down and sobbing over her lifeless body was the anger I felt at a society that allowed her abuse. Teisha's passing furthers my resolve to end the private possession of big cats. No tiger should ever be bred to be used as an ego prop and then relegated to a nasty backyard cage to be denied everything that makes tigers the regal, untouchable creatures they were designed to be.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Teisha Tiger Nearly Chokes to Death
Video of the after thoughts https://youtu.be/8lHQGp_8FtM
I didn't go into detail in the video, but when I came up on the scene and saw that Teisha was flat on her side and didn't look like she was breathing, I decided to go in and see if I could use tongs to reach down her throat.
Gale drove up behind me, ran to the cage and offered to assist, so we went in and Afton manned the doors behind us.
I ran in to the cage, picking my way over her prone body, seeing that she was not breathing; or if she was, it was like through a cocktail straw, as her sides weren’t visibly moving. I straddled her from behind and paused, for what seemed a long time, but probably was imperceptible to those watching.
I know from past experience that a cat can be totally out of it, but when you touch them they spring to life in that last ditch effort to fight you off. My hands were poised to scruff her, with all my might, and yet, I hesitated in fear. I leaned out over her face and saw her eyes, staring back at me and the tears that had run down her cheeks, from the pressure of not being able to breathe.
No matter what came next, I wasn’t going to just stand there and watch the light seep from her eyes.
I scruffed Teisha from behind and instructed Gale to use the tongs to pull out the meat, but it was too far down. Teisha was choking too badly to fight us.
Using every bit of strength the adrenaline rush was giving me, and that of angels, and Gale, we pulled her into a sternal position and then I began stroking her throat to try and move the lump either up, which didn't work, then down. Gale patted her hard on either side of her chest to try and loosen it up.
My legs shook from the tension of holding her upright, as I held up her sagging head with my right hand and stroked her windpipe, like forcing toothpaste through a tube with my left.
Once Teisha was held in a better position for swallowing, she used the shallow breaths she was able to get in, to cough hard enough to dislodge the meat. As soon as we saw that she could keep herself upright Gale and I ran out of the cage.
We watched for a minute to see that she was breathing OK, and then filmed the video above.
This wasn't something we did lightly. If we had not gone in, Teisha would have died. She was almost dead by the time we got in to her. We knew we could outrun her, if we could get her breathing; and that's the only reason this was possible.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Dying can be a terrible thing.
At this writing my dad isn’t dead, but I fully expect to get the sad news soon. I keep trying to picture him happy (well, happy in whatever form he knows it) and healthy.
I rode my bike in to work with the intent of talking with Dad about the feasibility of bringing in a 42 x 72 foot commercial modular building to increase our gift shop space. I’ve pretty much made up my mind that I’m going to do it, but wanted him to feel like he was making the decision. His health has been declining steadily since his triple heart bypass surgery in August of 2010, so I use every opportunity to make him feel valued and appreciated by consulting with him on projects that he just can’t physically do any more.
I found him in the shed, looking for tar and measuring a roll of flashing. He was breathing hard, but I didn’t know how much walking around he had just done looking for the supplies and it was 87 degrees outside with humidity so thick, it felt like I was breathing under water. I didn’t think too much of his breathing difficulty and asked if he would meet me over by the gift shop to look at the space and give me his thoughts.
He rode up and got off his cart to stand at the fence. Gale had joined us and we talked for about 10 minutes. They were listing off all of the reasons why this was going to be a monumental task, which is just what they do. I guess they have to say it all out loud, just to know it’s been said, and maybe as a way to think their way through it. My reaction to them is always to let them negate whatever it is until they haven’t got any more to say and then tell them that I know they will figure out a way.
They were still going on about how hard it was going to be to put a roof over the MH when Dad sort of rocked back a little and his eyes seem to lose focus. I realized that I should have told him to stay on the cart to begin with, rather than standing and talking, as that just wears him out.
He sat in the driver’s seat and said my mother knew a roof over guy, so maybe she could call him. He seemed to be having a hard time staying focused, visually, and mentally. Gale gave me that, “he’s not doing good” look and we tried to get him to let me take him home.
NO WAY!
He had stuff on his cart and Chuck, Scott and Josh were up on the roof of the Modglin waiting for him. Now I was certain that he wasn’t feeling right because he wouldn’t have just abandoned his mission to talk to me about the trailer. I’d told him when I rode up that I had a call in 30 minutes I had to take and we could do this an hour from now. He didn’t mention anyone waiting for him.
He wouldn’t let me drive him on his cart, and wouldn’t let Gale take his cart, shifting him to her cart, when he insisted they needed his cart at the Modglin too. So, I got on as the passenger on his cart and let him drive us to the Modglin. As we passed the Kitten Cabana he started shaking so hard that he tucked his left hand up under his right arm. By the time we reached the Office, I asked if he was holding his heart (on the other side, so obviously he wasn’t) and he said that he’d tucked his hand up like that because he couldn’t control the shaking.
I asked if I should call 911 and he said he wasn’t having a heart attack. He said he was just agitated by Gale telling him what to do on the gift shop trailer, after having the crew tell him what to do on the Modglin repair. I’m sure no one was telling him what to do; we all know better…but his brain was not firing on all cylinders. When we got to the Modglin, Gale was trying to take his pulse and he was fending her off, agitatedly, so I told her we were fine and sent her away. I went up to the roof and told Chuck what was going on.
I figured if I got Gale away from him he’d calm down. Chuck said he’d keep an eye on him.
It was 10 am and I took my call. My mother texted me 10 minutes later to let me know that Chuck had managed to get Dad to go home and they were trying to get him to yield and go to the hospital. He was fighting it and my mother had a tenant coming to sign a note and mortgage on Passaic. She wanted me to deal with the tenant if he came in the middle of all of the mayhem, so I took the golf cart back to their house.
When I arrived Chuck was on the phone with 911 and inside my father was on the floor, covered in a pile of blankets, with a pot in front of him, for vomiting. He was shaking and screaming that he was too cold. In between yelling at my mother, begging her not to walk out of his sight, he was crying out in pain. You’d have to know my dad to know, he doesn’t cry out in pain.
I’ve seen him take a shard of metal, straight into his eyeball that had to be surgically removed without a whimper. I’ve seen him cut himself, all the way to the bone with power tools and never flinch. I figured, like his sense of smell, he just doesn’t experience pain the way most people do. For him a major injury is just an impediment to getting something done and not hardly worth the time to stop the bleeding.
Now he was clearly in such pain that he couldn’t keep it to himself. Seeing that the situation was a lot worse than expected, I ran back to the Office and picked up the AED machine and the first aid kit and hurried back. While my mother gave him water and salty potato chips, I read the instruction manual for the heart machine. He was still breathing. I didn’t have to look because he was yelling out from the laundry room floor. I wanted to be ready to use the machine if his heart stopped. I dreaded that; both the heart stopping part, and being in charge of trying to restart it. I felt totally inept.
EMS sent two firetrucks. It took everyone, from both trucks, to get Dad out of the house and into the ambulance. He kept saying he would be fine, but at least he didn’t strike out at any of us. One blow and we would need another gurney available. When they loaded him onto the stretcher they asked if he was six foot four because his feet were several inches too long for the bed. He’s only six feet tall, so it must all be in his legs.
He wanted to lay his head back, but they didn’t have a long enough bed. He rolled his eyes at me, as if to say, “You send clowns to rescue me and they bring this toy bed!” I held his head up as they bounced him over the gravel drive out to the ambulance in the road.
Meanwhile the tenant, Ben, calls and my mother hands me her phone. I tell him to call back tomorrow as we are all dealing with an emergency. My mother looks out the window and sees him leaving and insists that Chuck flag him down to sign the note and mortgage. That meant I had to call Gale out to witness it; all as the ambulance is sitting in the driveway trying to decide if they should take Dad to the Pepin Heart Hospital or to Town N Country to stabilize him first. Ben commends my mother on her amazing work ethic and says he wishes that his 34 year old girlfriend worked as hard.
It’s been a couple of hours now. I’ve told Jamie and Howie what is going on. I haven’t heard from Chuck or Mom. The last thing she said before leaving the house was that she wasn’t going to tell someone who was on vacation. I didn’t catch who she was talking about, but she’s probably right. There isn’t anything any of us can do right now.
Just as I finished writing this my mother emailed and said, “His color is back and he is complaining about everything so back to normal, so he’s wanting to go home.”
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Gravity Dream
I have reoccurring dreams where I am going up a hill that is becoming increasingly steep. It becomes a tunnel where the ceiling and the floor increasingly close in on me. The higher I climb, the less gravity holds me to the floor and usually, in the dream, I end up clawing my way upward until I wake up.
This time I ended up clawing my way up the ceiling because there wasn’t enough gravity to hold me to the floor. Just when I thought I couldn’t scratch my way up another step, the suffocatingly narrow space became an open corridor.
I jumped down and walked out to a beach, at the bottom of a dune, and I ran, half flying down to the shore. I felt free and alive and all was good in my world.
From dream interpretation sites:
Gravity - To dream of there being little or no gravity is a very positive symbol of success. Your dream foretells that you will get everything you desire.
Climbing – Dreams about climbing a hill or a mountain can reflect specific obstacles that you are trying to overcome in your life. If you are able to reach the top of the mountain then it can indicate success in your future.
If you are climbing with much difficulty and struggling to move up in your dream, it can indicate a number of meanings. Slow progress in a dream can indicate that you are taking on too much work in your waking life and not giving yourself enough time to get things down. Sometimes the challenge of going uphill can represent a difficult challenge that you didn’t expect to be so difficult.
Appearance of beach in your dreams signifies collaboration of two aspects or emotions in your mind. This is due to the presence of two diverse dream symbols in your dreams that is water and sand over the beach. It also indicates toward positive changes going to happen in your life.
Beach is the symbol of emotions or conflicts going on within the mind. The nature of water, surroundings and quantity of people present influence the actual dream interpretation. The actual meaning can be derived by focusing on your emotions after visiting the beach. If you are feeling relaxed and calm after watching the ocean will signify your need to take a break from your routine day. More: http://www.gotohoroscope.com/txt/dream-meaning-beach.html
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Report of Illegal Tiger Transfers to FWC, ODA, USDA and USFWS
You never know if there is any truth to what the crazies report, but I got a call from a man, who says that Sue Pearce
SUE PEARCE (ANIMAL ADVENTURES)
Customer No: 322131
Certificate No: 58-C-1011
Certificate Status: ACTIVE
Status Date: Apr 14, 2011
5001 S W RUCKS DAIRY ROAD
OKEECHOBEE ,FL 34974
COUNTY: OKEECHOBEE
is giving Joe Schreibvogel / Maldonado 23 lions and tigers and other wild cats today.
You may not care if all these cats are leaving your jurisdiction, but the caller said that the trailer they are using has a broken A/C unit on it, that the people driving are carrying and using meth, and carrying firearms for which they are probably not licensed in Florida.
The caller said the crew left Wynnewood, OK yesterday and will arrive today, driving either a burgundy or white, new, Ford dully, towing a white trailer that has a washed out insignia on the side that said Gator Boy. He says their crates for the big cats are not secure, and that the GW Zoo has no cage space for the cats when they return.
He says the primary driver, John Finley, is sure to be on drugs and carrying drugs and that he is also sure to be carrying a gun. He says that the zoo's head of security (Marc, I think) will also be carrying a gun. He says they always carry sedation equipment, although none of them are veterinarians and none have a DEA license.
It's hard to imagine that Sue Pearce will have health certificates for these cats, who are supposedly headed across state lines.
If all of this is a hoax, I apologize, but I've gotten reliable reports from this person before, and telling you when something is going to happen is about the only way to catch the bad guys in the act. He claims it will be today.
Follow up included:
The plates on the burgundy Ford and the white Ford are Oklahoma 416 LVP and 417 LVP in case you guys use plate recognition software.
XXX called me later in the day to verify that the trucks were really Fords, because when he ran them they were Dodges that were registered to a different Schreibvogel (probably Shirley, Joe’s mother) Steve said he really wanted to catch Sue Pearce because believed she had illegally transferred tigers to Colorado but he had not been able to get the state to prosecute.
We talked about this being a violation of the Lacey Act, especially easy to prove now that the USFWS had rescinded the generic tiger loophole. XXX said that didn’t go into effect until the 26th of this month, but I found the document online and emailed the following to him:
DATES: This rule becomes effective on May 6, 2016: http://www.fws.gov/policy/library/2016/2016-07762.pdf
Joe's been hiding assets in his parents' names, so you may find that the tags / vehicles are not in his name, or that of his new partner Jeff Lowe.
XXX said they are really short handed, but that he very much wants to catch them in the act. He said it would be perfect if he could get someone in GA to care enough to pick them up, after they cross the state line, because of the need for the two part violation to enforce the Lacey Act. The law requires that you break a state law in the process of breaking the federal law, and that would happen as soon as they cross state lines with the tigers.
It is so frustrating to know these animal abusers are breaking the law, to have good intel on when and how to catch them, and they still get away. This is my opinion.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Email from me to Howie about Rep. Ralph Poppell
I just got off the phone with former FL Rep Ralph Poppell, who had called to congratulate me on the Florida Trend article (by Mike Vogel on 3/28/16 http://www.floridatrend.com/print/article/19728). He was the guy who took on the snake trade in FL and assisted us in getting the 10k bond tacked onto it circa 2006-2009.
He reminisced about being the first legislator to address the snake owning community and how he had used the threat of budget cuts to get buy in from the FWC, since the legislature clearly does regulate that. He was saying that in order to get anything done in FL you have to find a legislator who isn't afraid to buck the system and push the rules to the limit in order to get the right thing done.
I asked if he still knows anyone like that because I'd like to put an end to the private possession of big cats in FL and need someone who isn't going to back down the minute the FWC says they have constitutional authority. He immediately suggested Alan Hays https://www.flsenate.gov/senators/s11 and said he'd try to think of someone in the House.
I told him that we had done a ton of research and felt like we could make a good case for why the FWC only has constitutional authority over native wildlife and not captive born wildlife and that I'd like to share that with him and anyone he thought might be the person to take up our quest of ending big cat ownership in FL. He said he'd be happy to look at it and pass it on, if we wanted. His email address is xxx
Later he was talking about all of the environmental bills he passed so I told him that I felt the AG was animal friendly and might consider our research for the issuance of an opinion, but that it was my understanding that only a government agency could ask for such a thing. (I didn't go into detail about why I thought the AG might care nor the Pepin involvement) I asked him to think about whether he still knows anyone at DNR who might be willing to make such a request, based upon the fact that escaped, non native wildlife cause harm to the environment, when they displace native wildlife.
He said he'd think about who he knows, but said that as long as we get the chair of either the House or Senate Appropriation Committees to make the ask, he thinks the legislature can finagle such an opinion. He said the basis would be on having the AG determine how much money is being wasted on inspecting backyard breeders to put pressure on defunding that, via banning it, in order to better fund native wildlife protection.
From the FL Trend article he noted that I was married and congratulated me. I told him I was married during the time that we were working on the python bill, but that you had spent your early years getting the sanctuary onto sound financial footing so that we could do more of the advocacy work. I told him that you became far more involved after 2011, so if you want to call him or email him about the constitutional issue, I think he'd be happy to hear from you.
His phone number is xxx
For the cats,
Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
"Judge me by the enemies I have made." - Franklin D. Roosevelt
Author of Big Cat Care - How to Start a Sanctuary
Carole.Baskin@BigCatRescue.org
12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL 33625
Caring for cats ♥ Ending the trade
YouTube: Watch us on BigCatTV.com More than 134 million views
Facebook: Join more than 2 Million Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/BigCatRescue
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
PROPOSED FLORIDA EXOTIC ANIMAL MODELLED AFTER FEDERAL BILL
KEY PROVISIONS AND REASONS FOR THEM
CURRENT FL LAW
After the FL Supreme Court ruled years ago that the Constitutional Amendment did not give the predecessor to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) power to regulate captive exotic animals, the Legislature passed what is now renumbered as FS 379 granting FWC that power. 379.3762 reads:
379.3762 Personal possession of wildlife.
—
(1) It is unlawful for any person or persons to possess any wildlife as defined in this act, whether native to Florida or not, until she or he has obtained a permit as provided by this section from the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
(2) The classifications of types of wildlife and fees to be paid for permits for the personal possession of wildlife shall be as follows:
(a) Class I—Wildlife which, because of its nature, habits, or status, shall not be possessed as a personal pet.
(b) Class II—Wildlife considered to present a real or potential threat to human safety, the sum of $140 per annum.
(c) Class III—All other wildlife not included in Class I or Class II, for which a no-cost permit must be obtained from the commission.
(3) Any person, firm, corporation, or association exhibiting or selling wildlife and being duly permitted as provided by s. 379.304 shall be exempt from the fee requirement to receive a permit under this section.
(4) This section shall not apply to the possession, control, care, and maintenance of ostriches, emus, rheas, and bison domesticated and confined for commercial farming purposes, except those kept and maintained on hunting preserves or game farms or primarily for exhibition purposes in zoos, carnivals, circuses, and other such establishments where such species are kept primarily for display to the public.
(5) A person who violates this section is punishable as provided in s. 379.4015.
History.
So, in Florida, theoretically you cannot own a big cat as a pet. You supposedly must “exhibit” in order to have a license from FWC to own the cat. But there are no regulations defining criteria for what constitutes exhibiting, like rules about a minimum number of visitors or minimum amount of revenue to be an exhibitor.
Under federal law you are supposed to have a license from USDA to exhibit. One might presume then that if you do not have a USDA license, or lose your USDA license, you would become a pet owner under FL law. There was one case we know of where a person lost their USDA license and we complained to FWC that since the person could not legally exhibit, they were a pet owner in violation of FL law. FWC said they do not enforce federal law, so whether the person was in violation of federal law was not relevant, and if they said they were an exhibitor, they qualify as an exhibitor.
So, in practice the supposed ban on having a big cat as a pet is meaningless because there is no definition of “exhibit” and apparently all an owner has to do is say they exhibit.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
There are 2 Reasons Why Zoo Keepers Are Killed by Tigers
1 There has been a failure in the safety measures to keep tigers and zoo keepers apart, or
2 The zoo keeper doesn’t understand their relationship with tigers or any other big cat.
There is a lot that can go wrong, from failing latches, to not having a clear line of sight between the cat and keeper to the mishaps that are caused by a keeper purposely entering the cats’ space. Even if the cats are not killed, for doing what comes naturally, they are doomed to life in prison.
Night Houses seem to often be part of the human / big cat mauling or killing scenario and maybe it is because it is such a cruel practice. Cats are most active at night, but for liability reasons are shut in prison-like, windowless, cells by zoos when they are closed. The cats hate it, so they have to withhold food to force them in at night.
Big Cat Rescue does not lock cats up at night and thanks to our mild climate in Florida, does not utilize any sort of indoor housing for the big cats. Because there are no solid walls or doors, the keepers at Big Cat Rescue can always see where the cat is before approaching the enclosure. Caregivers at the sanctuary do not enter the enclosures of any big cat, unless that cat is safely locked into another portion of the cage by the CEO or President and the Operations Manager.
Exotic cats are spectacularly intelligent creatures and have years to plot their escape or revenge.
The second reason keepers are killed by big cats is that they think they are “tiger whisperers” or they think they have some super natural bond with apex predators that makes them special. Anyone who espouses such nonsense shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a captive big cat, because they clearly do not understand exotic cats. It is just a matter of time before it ends in tragedy.
Cats in cages may be solicitous of their owners or keepers, but that’s because they have to beg for everything. It’s sad to see it, when you think about how majestic these animals are meant to be. Humans mistake their temporary power, ensured by the strength of the cage, for having a bond or relationship with the big cat. Tigers have their own agenda and it doesn’t include pleasing people. Some may not be overtly nasty about it, but given a choice will escape and never look back.
At Big Cat Rescue our caregivers are trained to feed and clean small cats, like bobcats, servals, caracals and lynx for 6 months before they can graduate to cougars. We are a NO TOUCH facility; no, not even their fingertips, may touch the cats! If they prove themselves trustworthy around the smaller cats, they can graduate to cougar keeping. They are with us about two years before they are even allowed to be in the sections where lions, tigers and leopards are housed. That two year process allows us ample time to weed out the delusional people who think they could get away with touching a big cat and live to tell about it.
More Resources on the Captive Big Cat Issues
Just like the better zoos are accredited by AZA, the better sanctuaries are accredited by GFAS. http://SanctuaryFederation.org
These are the big cat standards for GFAS: http://www.sanctuaryfederation.org/gfas/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/FelidStandardsJuly2013HA.pdf
The state of Florida does not allow contact with big cats over 40 lbs., but may have some exemption for employees. http://myfwc.com/license/captive-wildlife/
Never Pay To Pet Cubs
USDA has enforced actions against facilities that allowed public contact with big cat cubs over the age of 12 weeks, as they can take off a finger at that age and just recently announced they will cite facilities for pimping out cubs under the age of 4 weeks. AZA zoos don’t do that, but there are plenty of backyard breeders that do. https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_welfare/downloads/big_cat/big_cat_q&a.pdf
April 3, 2016 USDA cracks down on abuse of cubs under the age of four weeks. In response to a 2012 legal petition filed by The Humane Society of the United States, World Wildlife Fund, Detroit Zoological Society, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Born Free USA, Big Cat Rescue, Fund for Animals and Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, theU.S. Department of Agriculture issued guidance making clear that exhibitors violate the Animal Welfare Act by allowing members of the public to handle or feed infant exotic cats like tigers, lions, cheetahs, jaguars or leopards.
April 5, 2016 USFWS announced that they are rescinding the generic tiger loophole. Big Cat Rescue has been pressuring the USFWS since at least 2007 to rescind this loophole and on 8/22/11 after a meeting with the USFWS the Generic Tiger issue was published to the Federal Register for public comment and got over 15,000 comments in support of our request to ban the breeding of non purebred tigers.
According to their Q&A it sounds like the USFWS may still rubber stamp activities that really don’t help tiger conservation, but it’s a step. USDA only banned the contact with cubs under four weeks, but that is a step too.
So What Can You Do to Stop the Abuse and the Killings and Maulings?
As long as big cats are privately owned and used as photo and ego props, the fantasy that they can be handled safely will prevail and accidents will continue to happen.
Regulations can’t work, because USDA and USFWS don’t have the resources nor apparently the will to enforce the weak rules they have, so that is why we need an all out ban on the private possession of big cats. You can help get that done at http://BigCatAct.com
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Strengthens Protections for Captive Tigers under the Endangered Species Act
In an effort to strengthen protections for certain captive tigers under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has finalized a rule declaring that captive “generic” tigers — tigers of unknown genetic background or crosses between two different subspecies of tigers — are no longer exempt from certain permitting requirements.
Anyone selling tigers across state lines must now first obtain an interstate commerce permit or register under the Captive-bred Wildlife Registration program regardless of whether it is a generic tiger or a pure subspecies.
“Removing the loophole that enabled some tigers to be sold for purposes that do not benefit tigers in the wild will strengthen protections for these magnificent creatures and help reduce the trade in tigers that is so detrimental to wild populations,” said Service Director Dan Ashe. “This will be a positive driver for tiger conservation.”
The wild tiger is under severe threat from habitat loss and the demand for tiger parts in traditional Asian medicine. Once abundant throughout Asia, today the species numbers only 3,000-5,000 animals in small fragmented groups. As a result, tigers are protected as endangered under the ESA and under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) – the highest levels of international protection. Tigers readily breed in captivity, however, and the number of captive tigers in the United States alone likely exceeds the numbers found in the wild, although the exact number is currently unknown.
The Service has worked with international partners to implement measures that ensure wild tigers survive in their native habitats and that captive tigers do not contribute to the illegal trade in tiger parts. While this new rule does not prevent individuals from owning generic tigers, extending the permitting or registration requirement to all tigers strengthens the Service’s efforts in addressing the illegal wildlife trade, both domestically and internationally. This rule results in a uniform policy that applies to all tigers and will help Service law enforcement agents enforce the ESA.
The final rule will publish in the Federal Register on April 6, 2016, and will go into effect 30 days after publication on May 6, 2016.
For a copy of the final rule, please go to http://www.fws.gov/policy/frsystem/default.cfm and click on 2016 Final Rules for Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants.
Note: Big Cat Rescue has been pressuring the USFWS since at least 2007 to rescind this loophole and on 8/22/11 after a meeting with the USFWS the Generic Tiger issue was published to the Federal Register for public comment and got over 15,000 comments in support of our request to ban the breeding of non purebred tigers. Carole Baskin emailed those in charge, at least every six months, during this 9 year process, always asking when they would finally take action. According to their Q&A it sounds like the USFWS may still rubber stamp activities that really don’t help tiger conservation, but it’s a step. Regulations can’t work, because USDA and USFWS don’t have the resources nor apparently the will to enforce the weak rules they have, so that is why we need an all out ban on the private possession of big cats. You can help get that done at http://BigCatAct.com
Questions and Answers
U.S. Captive-bred Inter-subspecific Crossed or Generic Tigers
Final Rule
What action is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service taking?
The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service has finalized a rule that strengthens protections for certain captive tigers under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The final rule declares that captive “generic tigers” (Panthera tigris) (i.e., specimens not identified or identifiable as members of Bengal, Sumatran, Siberian or Indochinese subspecies (P. t. tigris, P. t. sumatrae, P. t. altaica and P. t. corbetti, respectively)) are no longer exempt from certain permitting requirements.
Anyone selling tigers across state lines must now first obtain an interstate commerce permit or register under the Captive-bred Wildlife Registration (CBW) program, regardless of whether it is a generic tiger or a pure subspecies.
What is a generic tiger?
Inter-subspecific crossed or “generic” tigers are of unknown genetic origin and are typically not maintained in a manner to ensure that inbreeding or other inappropriate matings of animals do not occur.
What is the CBW program?
In 1979, the Service established Captive-bred Wildlife (CBW) regulations to reduce federal permitting requirements and facilitate the breeding of endangered and threatened species for conservation purposes. Under the CBW program, otherwise prohibited activities, such as interstate commerce, are authorized, but only when the activities can be shown to enhance the propagation or survival of the species. Registrants of the CBW program must provide a written annual report with information on activities including births, deaths and transfers of specimens.
Why were generic tigers exempted from the CBW?
In 1998, the Service amended the CBW regulations to delete the requirement to register under the program for holders of inter-subspecific crossed or generic tigers. This exemption was based on the alleged lack of conservation value of these specimens due to their mixed or unknown genetic composition, and the belief there was conservation value in exhibition designed to educate the public about the ecological role and conservation needs of the species. The intention behind the exemption was for the Service to focus its oversight on populations of “purebred” animals of the various tiger subspecies to further their conservation in the wild. Despite this exemption, inter-subspecific crossed or generic tigers are still protected under the ESA. Tigers have been listed under the ESA as endangered since 1970.
Why should generic tigers now be included under CBW registration?
By exempting holders of inter-subspecific crossed or generic tigers from the CBW registration process in 1998, the Service may have inadvertently suggested that the breeding of inter-subspecific crossed or generic tigers qualifies as conservation. By removing the CBW exemption, the Service can reinforce the value of conservation breeding of individual tiger subspecies and discourage the breeding of inter-subspecific crossed or generic tigers. The Service has finalized this change to the regulations to ensure the agency can maintain strict oversight of captive tigers in the United States.
Withdrawing the CBW exemption for generic tigers would also close a loophole in current federal and state regulations that could allow for the use of captive U.S. tigers in trade in a manner inconsistent with conservation of the species. It places the United States in a stronger position in international negotiations regarding commercial tiger breeding farms in Asia and trade in tiger parts.
How will removal of the generic tiger exemption from the CBW regulations impact current owners of generic tigers?
Removing the CBW exemption for generic tigers will not result in control of private ownership, and will not impact sale of generic tigers within their state of residence (intrastate commerce) or non-commercial movement across state lines. However, other activities, such as the sale of animals across state lines (interstate commerce), would require authorization from the Service before such actions could be taken.
While this new rule does not prevent individuals from owning generic tigers, the permitting or registration requirement for all tigers strengthens the Service’s efforts in addressing the illegal wildlife trade, both domestically and internationally. Tigers are listed under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which includes species threatened with extinction. Trade in specimens of these species is permitted only in exceptional circumstances.
This final rule results in a uniform policy that applies to all tigers and will help Service law enforcement agents enforce the ESA.
Would all private owners have to apply for a permit before breeding their tigers?
Private owners would still be able to breed generic tigers without a permit for sale or commercial purposes within their state or for non-commercial movement across state lines, provided that you meet the criteria of the Captive Wildlife Safety Act.
I own a male and female tiger and would like to breed them so that I can give a cub to my daughter. Would I need to apply for a permit under this new regulation?
If you plan to give the cub away as opposed to selling it, you would not need to apply for a permit, regardless of the recipient’s state, provided that you meet the criteria of the Captive Wildlife Safety Act if the cub is going across state lines. If you have additional cubs in the litter, you could sell them within your state to someone else who resides in the same state or donate them to sanctuaries or others, either inside or outside of your state. Again, you would need to meet the criteria of the Captive Wildlife Safety Act if moving tigers across state lines.
I’m a private owner of tigers and I often display them at fairs and festivals in other states. Would the new regulation prohibit me from doing this?
The new regulation would still allow generic tigers to cross state lines for exhibition purposes, as long as the tigers are not to be sold or offered for sale.
How can I meet the standard to get a permit or register under the CBW regulations to sell a generic tiger across state lines if the Service is saying that generic tigers have no any conservation value?
The CBW registration was set up to allow institutions that were breeding listed species for conservation purposes to sell animals across state lines to other registered facilities. While it is true that breeding these animals would not provide a direct conservation benefit to the species in the wild and therefore the Service probably would not register a facility with generic tigers, it is still possible to obtain an individual permit authorizing interstate commerce with a generic tiger if the applicant meets the issuance criteria established in our regulations, i.e., if the parties involved in the sale are carrying out activities that enhance the propagation or survival of the species. While it is unlikely that such a commercial transaction would provide a direct benefit to the species, such as reintroduction, there may be indirect benefits that could be obtained from the transaction. It should also be noted that the requirement to show this benefit could be met through an individual or institution, or a group of individuals or institutions together, working to provide a benefit to the species in the wild.
For example, if one or more zoological institutions were purchasing inter-subspecific crossed or generic tigers for educational and display purposes, they could provide support (e.g., via the solicitation of donations from visitors) to carry out on-the-ground conservation efforts in the tiger’s native range. The Service prefers a clear on-going commitment of several years on the part of the applicant for such conservation or research support. This on-going commitment could be fulfilled by a group of institutions working together to maximize their resources for the benefit of tigers in the wild.
What will the economic impact be on the public and small businesses?
The Service does not have data on how many businesses are involved in the interstate commerce of generic tigers, the number of businesses for which an interstate commerce permit or registration in the CBW program will be a viable option, and the economic impacts if prospective applicants are unable to either secure an interstate commerce permit or registration in the CBW program. Nonetheless, the Service believes that the regulatory change is not major in scope and would create only a modest financial or paperwork burden on the affected members of the general public.
This rule would not have a significant economic effect. If individuals or breeding operations wish to carry out an otherwise prohibited activity, such as interstate commerce, it would require that a permit application be submitted to the Service at a cost of $100-$200 per application. Submission of an application, however, would not be a guarantee that authorization will be granted.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
United States Department of Agriculture Cracks Down on Abuse of Tiger Cubs by Roadside Menageries
In response to a 2012 legal petition filed by The Humane Society of the United States, World Wildlife Fund, Detroit Zoological Society, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Born Free USA, Big Cat Rescue, Fund for Animals and Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued guidance making clear that exhibitors violate the Animal Welfare Act by allowing members of the public to handle or feed infant exotic cats like tigers, lions, cheetahs, jaguars or leopards.
“We applaud USDA for taking this first step to put roadside zoos and the public on notice that federal law prohibits using infant cubs for photographic opportunities and interactive experiences,” said Anna Frostic, senior attorney for wildlife & animal research at The Humane Society of the United States, “but it is imperative that the agency take additional action to prohibit public contact with big cats, bears and nonhuman primates of any age.”
As documented in the petition, dozens of facilities across the country routinely breed and acquire exotic feline species – all of which are listed under the Endangered Species Act – to produce an ample supply of cubs for profit. “Both animals and people are put in harm’s way when big cats are used for public contact exhibition – young cubs are particularly susceptible to disease, especially when deprived of necessary maternal care, and cubs quickly grow into dangerous predators that can cause serious injury to adults and children,” said Jeff Flocken, North America regional director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
In contrast to zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, “there are thousands of big cats in private menageries in the U.S., and these facilities do not have the resources or expertise to safely and responsibly care for dangerous wild animals,” said Ron Kagan, executive director and CEO of the Detroit Zoological Society. Conservation professionals agree that endangered and threatened species like tigers, lions, and apes should not be bred for commercial purposes.
“The insatiable demand for cubs and baby primates used at interactive exhibits fuels a vicious cycle of breeding and exploitation. It is standard in this horrific industry to separate babies from their mothers, and then discard them when they grow too big for handling,” explained Adam Roberts, CEO of Born Free USA.
The mass propagation of tigers in the U.S. has resulted in a captive population that is nearly twice the number of tigers that exist in the wild. “Cubs used for petting, if they survive, typically spend many years living in substandard facilities and the few who are lucky enough to eventually end up at good sanctuaries typically arrive with medical issues caused by deficient care,” said Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue.
In addition to these animal welfare, public safety and conservation concerns, “the surplus of exotic animals in roadside zoos and other substandard facilities puts an enormous financial burden on the accredited sanctuaries that provide lifetime care for abandoned and seized animals,” according to Michael Markarian, president of The Fund for Animals.
Investigations have revealed that using tiger cubs for photo ops and play sessions can yield over $20,000 per month for a roadside zoo, fueling demand for more and more cubs – but once the cats mature, their future is uncertain. “There is just not enough space or resources at accredited sanctuaries to support the demand created by this irresponsible breeding,” said Kellie Heckman, executive director of Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries.
Further, “the fate of captive tigers in the U.S. has serious implications for the conservation of tigers in the wild,” said Leigh Henry, senior policy advisor for Wildlife Conservation at World Wildlife Fund, “strengthened regulation of U.S. captive tigers will help ensure that captive-bred tiger parts don’t enter the black market and stimulate the demand that drives the poaching of wild tigers.”
While there is still much more work to be done to fully address the coalition’s petition to completely prohibit public contact with big cats, bears and nonhuman primates of any age, this is a significant step forward for the U.S. to improve its oversight of captive tigers and lead by example to encourage other countries, like China, to reduce the demand for tigers and tiger products.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Sparta Bobcat Rescue
“I’ll pay you $500.00 if you will turn around and go back to help DNR rescue that bobcat!” I was desperate, because I know how most of the staff, at Department of Natural Resources agencies across America, feel about bobcats. They are just competitors to the hunters who want to shoot the “game” animals themselves. They say things like, “The only good bobcat is a dead bobcat.”
Mike assured me that he didn’t care about the money and that he would go help, if the fish and game officer would allow him, but he really didn’t think that would happen. I’ve kind of gotten ahead of myself though, as I am still pretty upset over the whole ordeal.
3:58 PM I got a call from a surveyor who was working the area of Fulsome Creek Road and Poole Road in Sparta, Georgia. He said he’d come across a bobcat in a leg hold trap who was panting and panicked. He couldn’t get close enough to the cat to free him (you know how bobcats are) but he didn’t want the bobcat to starve to death like the raccoon in the next trap over.
It’s illegal to trap animals, without a license, unless they are considered a nuisance. Even under those circumstances, the law states that you have to check the traps every 24 hours. The raccoon near the bobcat was badly decomposed, so we knew this was either an illegal trap or the trapper wasn’t abiding by the law.
The caller said his name was Mike and that he’d called the Georgia Department of Natural Resources an hour earlier, but no one had called him back. He just couldn’t get the haunting look of the bobcat, left trapped to suffer and die a cruel death, out of his mind.
He called Big Cat Rescue.
I suggested that he try a local vet, who might know a rescue group in the area, but he said Sparta was a “po-dunk town” that didn’t have any vet clinics. I took his name, number, the street intersection (two dirt roads in the middle of nowhere) and said I’d try to track down a rehabber.
I went to the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division to see if I could find any local rehabbers in Hancock County. Rehabbers are a wonderful kind of people, who will risk it all to save wild animals, and nurse them back to health, but I can count on one hand the ones that have any sort of marketing sense. There are rehabber lists, but they are always outdated and just about useless.
There weren’t any wildlife rehabilitaters in Hancock County, so I pulled up a map of surrounding counties. Greene, Taliaferro, Warren, Glascock, Washington, Jefferson, Baldwin and Putnam Counties, and only one rehab facility amongst them.
That one place, the Mockingbird Hill Wildlife Rehab Center, was in the next county over; Washington County.
I called both numbers, left the info at both answering machines, and then turned my attention to local veterinarians.
I called Tim Gress, the person who had run a sanctuary in Georgia, where we had gotten Kali Tiger. He said he was over an hour away and couldn’t leave work. He said he didn’t have the tools to deal with a bobcat anyway. I told him he could come visit Kali and he said he was saving up vacation time to do that.
The closest veterinarian I could find, was also in Washington County, so it would be a long shot, but I called them.
It would be an hour drive for them but it would be 6 and a half hours for me and I can’t take controlled drugs across state lines and couldn’t take the bobcat in any case as I am not licensed in Georgia. By the time I could get there, it would be the middle of the night and no chance that I’d find the bobcat on my own.
I got a kindly woman, with a very southern accent named Amy, and she said she knew the Game Warden, Bryant Adams, in Glascock County. She said that he was the one who covered Hancock County, since they don’t have their own Animal Control Services. She said she would call him. I asked her to call me back if she was not successful. I wasn’t going to let this bobcat chew off his own foot even though I hadn’t figured out what Plan B was going to be.
I’d been calling and texting, back and forth with Jamie Veronica, and she had checked with Dr. Justin Boorstein about any drugs that could be used to sedate a bobcat that might be legal to transport across state lines and he said there were none. Even if we were able to transport the drugs across state lines, we aren’t licensed to use them and he can’t just up and leave work for a two day mission to save the bobcat. AND even if he could, he’s not licensed to practice medicine in Georgia.
4:44 PM I call the surveyor to let him know that I’ve called the vet, who is calling the Glascock Game Warden, and Mike tells me that meanwhile the DNR has called him back. He told the officer where the cat could be found and the officer complained that all he had was a choke stick and he was by himself, so he had no idea how he was going to get the bobcat out of a foothold trap alive. Mike said from the way the guy laughed while saying it, that he feared for the bobcat’s life.
That’s when I said, “I’ll pay you $500.00 if you will turn around and go back to help DNR rescue that bobcat!”
Mike agrees that if the DNR officer will allow it, he’ll drop off his workmate, turn around and make the 45 minute drive back to the scene to help. He gives me the phone number for the officer and I called, but got voicemail, so as I am leaving him a message, with Mike’s offer, when a call comes in.
I switch over and it’s a deer rehabber named John Burke who I mistake, initially, for the fish and game officer. Once we clear that up, he tells me that he has no experience with bobcats, but he’s willing to try. He asks what I would do if I didn’t have any way to sedate the cat.
I tell him that we do two nets down over the cat, then a big blanket on top and would try to fish the trapped leg out with gloved hands, to pry off the trap. I give him both the fish and game officer’s number and Mike’s number and suggest that he call DNR first to offer assistance. He says he will.
Meanwhile, our Operations Manager, Gale Ingham, has overheard all of this and gets on the phone with our Gift Shop Manager, Honey Wayton because she thinks Honey has relatives in Georgia. They are all willing to go help someone as well. I get another text from Mike who tells me that a second agent from DNR has contacted him and is going out to help the first one.
Amazing how many people show up to help after all!
Now I know what you all want. You want to know that this all turned out great for the bobcat and that’s what we want too.
If you live in the area, you might check with local news stations or DNR to see if they can give you an update. It’s my experience that DNR doesn’t like being urged into action by outsiders or “do gooders” like me.
It’s unlikely that we will know what happened, but if we can get a follow up report, you will be the first to know.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I responded with:
I'm sorry you are having to deal with this. Things will probably get worse before they get better; but I'm counting on them all being just a bunch of loud mouth bullies who won't really take action.
Yesterday the judge in OK granted a receivership on Joe's place. As usual, we aren't discussing this outside our ranks, but what it means is that the court has appointed someone to actually go into Joe's place, take over all of the bank accounts and they can (and hopefully will) put a person in his facility to man the cash register. They can choose to keep this person or persons in there until our million dollar judgment is repaid, and Joe has to pay them all to be there.
The receiver makes all of the decisions about the money coming in and going out so Joe won't be able to steal cash, hide money, pay illegal aliens in cash, etc. If Joe gives him any lip, he will have the authority to put Joe out, as Joe claims he's just a consultant and has no ownership.
When Joe finds out, which could be any time now, he's going to go stark, raving mad and really turn up the heat with the haters.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
I bought my dad a pen made from a bullet shell.
“Vern likes his pen. It is surprisingly comfortable to hold while you write. The name is etched in military style which is unusual. It brought back memories of shells he used to collect on the military firing site of Henderson Air Base where USF is located today. Love, Mom”
There isn’t much I can give my father. He lives simply, but he does draw out diagrams a lot, for the cages that he builds, so it seemed like a good gift.
Today is day three of being on high alert for the crazies in town. I’ve been shutting our blinds at night. I’ve only done that on very rare occasions in the decades I lived here because you can’t see any neighbors from here.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Had to hire an off duty officer today
because the crazy animal abusers have come to town for a conference called Take the Conversation Back. It’s being run by the Calvary Group, who are considerably better organized and educated than our typical opponent.
Meanwhile, some good news. Tim Van Norman, from the USFWS, set up a call with us and Christina Scaringe of Animal Defenders International to discuss the import of Hoover the tiger from Peru. He wanted to grant it but didn’t want to base it on our meeting the requirements of the law, because he says it’s too easy for the bad guys to make the same claims. He asked us to SAY that we would donate to tiger conservation in the future like we have done in the past.
We did him one better and donated $5000 when he said 1k would be fine. Our import permit should be coming in the next 2 weeks if I got his drift.
Also USDA has a new lead person in APHIS who sent us all (the Big Cat Coalition) a letter saying they would educate the bad guys about why cub handling is bad, but were so vague that it seemed they were just trying to blow us off while being able to answer to Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Blumenthal. Anna Frostic, atty for HSUS and Leigh Henry of WWF both seem to be more optimistic from their respective meetings, than what I feel from this letter. We will see.
Last night we went to a fundraiser, at the Sena’s home on Davis Island, for Patrick Murphy, who is running for Congress. On the way home we stopped at Sandy’s restaurant, Tampa Joe’s, to pick up my credit card that I left behind last Sunday when my mother and I went their for lunch. Howie called my mother, putting her on speaker, to let her know that she could stop looking for it, and to tease me about being so forgetful. Mom said I’ve always been this way.
I know I have been since the amnesia, but don’t know if I was always this way.
Later in the day:
Half way through Denny Mitchell’s tour a backup intern called for coordinator check. Gale and I both went. I stayed with the tour until they left the property.
Gale said they were asking the intern specifics about whether or not Teisha really belonged to us and about the other OH cats and taking photos of things that regular guests never do.
A small, thin, blonde, 20ish woman was the one asking all the questions and her friend, a larger woman, with a long blonde braid, was filming her asking and then filming the answers, but they seemed to be trying to act like they didn't know each other. I glued myself to the thin blonde and she never asked another question, nor did she pull her camera back out, which I had been told she was using for video, but trying to make it look like she wasn't. She was carrying it, awkwardly, and pointing at me initially, from what I saw, and then quit when I was right next to her for the rest of the tour.
She wasn't wearing the vox, but rather had it and the earbud, coiled up in her hand. Everyone else at least had it around their necks, although a number of people weren't wearing the earbud. Denny was talking loud enough that I could hear him in the back and he doesn't play the iPad stories.
I noticed there was one male, tall, bald, middle eastern looking who was engrossed in his cell phone, not wearing the vox, and who kept lingering behind. He wasn't looking at cats when he lingered. Just his phone. A few times I had to leave the blonde just to let him know I was watching him too. He was clearly with a young, dark haired woman of mid 20s and an elderly woman, who appeared to be her mother, who was riding the golf cart. I was able to figure out that Cynthia F paid for the trio and the cart. She also bought stuff at the end and was very polite and interested, according to Denny. The decoy ;-)
At the Kitten Cabana the dark haired woman seemed put off by what we do with the kittens, which you don't see very often, and seemed to exchange glances with the thin blonde, who appeared to agree. She had wanted nothing to do with looking at kittens.
As Denny did his wrap up, shortly after that, the middle eastern guy and the dark haired woman went to the far side of the golf cart, away from Denny and the back up, and the middle eastern guy was clearly agitated and showing the woman his phone. I walked around and got right behind both of them and he stopped talking.
The heavy set friend of the thin blonde took photos of the solar relay up on the post that we just installed, all of the cage signs, all of the donor signs, me and the thin blonde and had a goofy grin on her face like she was at Disney land on her 6th birthday.
I followed them all into the gift shop, where the they had all five huddled together around the photos we sell. They were talking like they all knew each other. When I walked up to join them they acted like they were thinking to buy photos but no one did. Then the three younger women all proceeded to take one of every piece of literature they could find. The man was still mesmerized by his phone. The woman who rode on the cart, and who probably was Cynthia F, bought two magnets, long after all of the rest of them had gone to their cars.
I noticed that once she was in the dark BMW or Mercedes SUV with the middle eastern guy and the dark haired woman, that the red Dodge mini van where the two blondes had gone, closed their doors and led the way out of the parking lot. I took a photo of their tag. The middle eastern guy could clearly see me doing it, as he was one car behind her.
As he pulled out I took a photo of his plate. He saw me in the rear view mirror, because clearly he was watching for me to do it, and backed up, demanding that I delete the photo. I told him I'd delete the photo if he showed me his driver's license. He refused, but said he'd show it to the deputy. The deputy told us that I didn't have to delete the photo, and tried to talk the guy down, but he was having kittens over it.
I told the officer that I'd be happy to delete it, if the man would show the officer his driver's license. The officer said he didn't care to see it and began saying again that I didn't have to delete the plate. The guy then showed his driver’s license to me, and asked if I would delete the photo. I had a hard time reading it, because I was nervous, I have a hard time reading with contacts, and he was all shaky, but it looked like H.
I deleted the image and then he asked me to delete it from trash. I'd never done that before, so he walked me through it, and I deleted it there too. Then he was as happy and nice as anyone you could ever meet. Maybe just a culture thing. AND, it could have just been that he saw me photograph the other car and that made him suspicious. It's possible the two groups weren't connected.
In the time we spent arguing over the photo of his plate, he asked why he would pay money to come here and I would invade his privacy. I told him there are animal abusers in town, pointed to the officer and said that's why he's here, and that by watching him I could tell that he had no interest at all in the tour or the cats. He said he was mad because he had asked the intern where a cat came from and she told him he would have to ask the tour guide.
He claims that is what set him off (and it didn't take much). He couldn't believe we were so rude. I pointed out that the rules video they were shown before the tour specifically told guests that they can't ask our back ups questions and that our back ups aren't allowed to be having their own conversations. He told me he has a thousand dogs back home, and that he's an animal lover and would never harm an animal. He asked why I had singled him out and I told him that he wasn't the only one acting suspicious and that I had taken photos of them and their plates too.
I wanted to be sure the blondes got that message, if he really is with them.
Summary is: I don't know if the two groups were together and no way to know, from the Zerve list, who the blonde ladies were. If it is any indicator Elizabeth D bought her two tickets the same day and both Elizabeth and Cynthia had stated they had been here before. Elizabeth D filled out the release form on 3/2/16 according to Salsa, which would have been at the time of her ticket purchase.
Other than asking about the OH cats and taking odd photos, they weren't much bother, and probably not worth the time I spent documenting this, but I figured better safe than sorry.
Howie pointed out, after watching checkin, that he was surprised how hard it is to tell our guests from the bad guys. I didn't find any of these names in our blocked list from FB, nor in Joe's friends list.
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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Shirley Schreibvogel is served! After getting wary of strangers coming to her door and getting served subpoenas in the bankruptcy lawsuits around her son, Joe “Exotic” Schreibvogel, I suggested that the process server approach her door carrying a pet taxi. She would surely think it was something to do with her animal exploiting kid, and would open the door. Today Joe posted this to Facebook: “My mother is 83 and now in a wheel chair. Carole Baskin filed another law suit against her yesterday. Be proud of sponsoring such an evil bitch to all of you who giver her money for animal care. She bullies old people with it instead. Come after me bitch. My mom never did anything to you. But don’t think your the queen just yet. I will ruin you in public that I promise you. People share this and show the world what carole is all about.” When Joe filed bankruptcy personally and for the zoo, to wipe out the 1.2 million dollar judgment to Big Cat Rescue, he transferred assets and subsequent income from the zoo to his mother. Our lawsuit is to get them back. Meanwhile, I slept in until almost 8:00am today after days of being up all night. First it was catching Poseidon and then trying to keep him alive. He died yesterday morning, between midnight and 4:00am, in his sleep and while I was sleeping. Yesterday he seemed to be turning the corner and ate about 3 oz of food, then in the early evening he crashed. We tried fluids, and different medications, but nothing helped. He became unresponsive and could not regulate his body temperature and so he was put on a heating pad. At least he passed away in a safe place comfortable and in his sleep. We will be sending him out to a specialist for a necropsy. We suspect several things including neurological disease, sepsis from his skin infection, and poisoning. Thank you to everyone who helped bring him in and provide him with such special care during his final days. 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. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk
Poseidon Bobcat Rescue
I would have thought that time had stood still because Jamie was poised, net in the air, leaning impossibly into the space between us on one foot, and she had stopped moving. Interns, Martin and Devin had also stopped mid step with her. You could hear a pin drop into the high grass that was up past our knees, and the freezing cold water that was up over our ankles. It was like how a live feed just freezes, but you aren’t sure if the connection has died, or if all has just gone very, very still.
My racing heart told me that time hadn’t stopped, but everything around the center attraction had.
At the center of this bizarre scene was a bobcat who had been seen vomiting on the side of the road.
A cat vomiting is hardly an emergency situation and certainly not one you would drive two hours to witness, but this one seemed to have extenuating circumstances. Around 6PM a call came in from a Port Charlotte woman named Sandy, who said she had been on her way to the ER regarding her mother, and had seen a bobcat vomiting on the side of the road. When asked to identify what the cat looked like, as most people don’t have any idea what a bobcat looks like, she said, “Well…it looks like a bobcat.”
Jamie asked what a bobcat looked like to Sandy and she said it had a six inch long tail and was half the size of a German Shepherd dog. Before driving 4 hours, round trip, Jamie asked for a cell phone photo, but the woman was too busy with her mother and the hospital. She said her husband had taken some video, but Jamie wasn’t sure they would be willing to pay the data transfer rate to send it. I queried our database and found 103 people in Port Charlotte. I emailed and asked if any of them would drive to the approximated address of Ogden Street, and tell me if there was really a bobcat there.
Over the next few hours, 11 people responded, and several drove to the scene. All but two said there was no bobcat to be seen. Meanwhile the caller did get a photo and did send the video, but we were already on our way. Two of the people we emailed said they saw the bobcat and that they were certain they could wrestle him into a carrier, but Jamie convinced them not to try as the bobcat could hurt them or run off and be impossible for us to find and help.
Two hours seemed like two days, but Jamie used the time to prepare our interns for what was to come. I’m always surprised that after dealing with bobcats, and knowing how mean they can be, that when we say we need volunteers to help rescue one in the wild, they are so eager and fearless to help. Even when answering the question, “what’s the worst you’ve ever been hurt rescuing a bobcat” by saying, “I haven’t had to peel one off my face yet,” they are still keen to give it a shot.
As we pulled up on the scene, Sandy’s husband was dutifully keeping an eye on the bobcat. He brought us up to speed with important facts like how long the cat had been sitting there (5 hours by this time) how close he had been able to get without the cat running (about 10 feet) and he gave us the low down on bobcats in the area, and how they get along with the domestic cats. He and I both held flashlights on the bobcat’s face, so that Jamie, Martin and Devin could circle around behind him and on the side that was open to the road.
The last thing you ever want to do in a bobcat rescue is chase the wounded cat into the path of another car.
The bobcat was on a dry patch of ground, surrounded by the cold water and knee high saw grass. Jamie asked me to make little sounds with my feet, each time he tensed as if he was going to bolt, to divert his attention away from the approaching captors.
He looked pretty washed up; like he had given up and was just waiting to die. He smelled like he had been dead for three days. It was gaggingly wretched to breathe the air surrounding him. Despite that though, you could tell that if he could make a break for it, he was going to give it a try. That’s when Jamie, Devin and Martin had frozen in mid step.
In a motion too quick for me to see, and just a fraction of a second too quick for the bobcat to respond, Jamie’s net was down over him. He leapt against it and thrashed wildly, but Devin and Martin came down with their nets with amazing accuracy and speed.
Netted. Check!
In the carrier. Not yet.
But Jamie had described how it would need to go, and ran the interns through it one more time to make sure they knew where their nets had to be, and what to do if he managed to slip free during the transfer from the net to the carrier. Given the fact that he looked to be covered in mange, and thoroughly chewed up by some animal, she warned them again not to touch him; no matter what.
You would think the team had done this together for years; it went so smoothly! The husband and wife who had originally called in the incident were now both standing there and nearly broke into applause over the successful capture. Now for the two hour drive back to Big Cat Rescue where Dr. Justin would be done with Mrs. Claws and waiting for the bobcat who was soon to be named Poseidon.
Dr. Justin Boorstein Examines Poseidon Bobcat
X-rays didn’t show any broken bones. As suspected, the bobcat was covered in mange and had been beaten up by another animal. His face is oozing from the mange infestation. He has a BB under the skin, indicating someone shot at him. He has a belly full of bones, and he may have trouble passing them, as he is so dehydrated.
His face and elbow have been bitten pretty badly. We have to treat the handling of him, as if he has rabies, since we don’t know what bit him.
He’s getting 400 ML of sub q fluids, treatment for the parasites, a long acting antibiotic and pain meds. 6 injections. No broken bones. Poseidon is recovering in our office because the hospital is full.
BigCatRescue.org/Poseidon
What do the spaceships and alligators have in common?
The dream was set farther into the future than I expect humanity to survive, and yet Jamie was a child of grade school age.
We were lost, trying to find our way to something similar to today’s Disney world, when I noticed an American Airlines “jet” take a hard turn toward the airport. (Funny that I was lost, but knew which direction to the airport) At first it was trailing smoke and looked like a balloon version of a jet. It has all of the right features, but was just pillowy in shape, and many times larger than today’s ships. In the dream I recognized it as a high volume transport of that time, in both this and its later form.
It morphed into a much more ark shaped transport as it spun and wobbled slowly. At first we were just stunned, watching it go down, and then fearing the crash might throw debris as far as where we stood, I grabbed Jamie up and began trying to cross the road to an open field on the other side. There was some drama with cars nearly hitting us, because everyone’s eyes were on the dirigible looking, steel space craft that clearly was going to crash.
As we got to the field and were running; running like I’ve never run in a dream; running until my lungs were burning, I didn’t want to break momentum by looking back, until I heard my brother say that our dad was not able to run. Dad has been barely able to walk since 2011 when he had his triple bypass heart surgery. They had used veins from his legs in the procedure and he’s been slowed to a shuffle since then.
Now I didn’t know what to do. The dirigible had used whatever magnetic power that sustained them, as the jets were now gone and it seemed to just hover without any visible propulsion, to direct the ship to the vacant field. Presumably the pilot was doing everything possible to preserve as much life as they could, and we were just four people in a field compared to the busy shopping area on the other side of the highway.
It was in the moment of not knowing if I should continue to carry Jamie to safety, or if I could trust her little legs and will to live enough, that I could put her down and go back for my father; that I woke up.
You would think that waking from such a dream would immediately bring to my conscious mind the question of the meaning between saving my daughter or saving my father, but instead I was first struck by the notion of the flying ark, and how it worked. Later, I thought about the obvious. So, I did what everyone does these days, and googled it.
“To see a spaceship in your dream symbolizes your creative mind. It denotes a spiritual journey into the unknown and signals self-development and self-awareness. Alternatively, the dream suggests that you need to take on a different perspective, no matter how bizarre or unusual it may be.
Dreaming that spaceships are falling out of the sky and crashing into earth implies that your ideas may be too outlandish and far-fetched. Perhaps you have set unrealistic goals for yourself and you are just setting yourself up for failure.”
Finding that to be particularly true of the goals I set, i.e. a world where all wild cats live free, I queried the same website, dreammoods.com about the other recurring element in my dreams; being surrounded by alligators.
“To see an alligator in your dream symbolizes treachery, deceit, and hidden instincts. It may be a signal for you to take on a new perspective on a situation. It may also represent your ability to move between the physical, material world of waking life and the emotional, repressed world of the subconscious. Alternatively, the alligator represents healing powers and qualities. An alligator also suggests that you are thick-skinned or insensitive.”
As to being nearly hit by cars dreammoods states; To dream that you are almost hit or were ran over by a car suggests that your lifestyle, beliefs or goals may be in conflict with another's. (No Kidding!) As for an ark in a dream, “To see an ark in your dream represents rebirth, preservation and protection of something valuable. It is symbolic of wholeness.”
What do the spaceships and alligators have in common? “the dream suggests that you need to take on a different perspective”
OK, Universe. Hit me with your best shot. I’m listening.
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.
HSUS Language suggested for the state level: A properly-maintained zoological park or circus that obtained a Class C exhibitor license prior to July 1, 2016 and that holds a Class C exhibitor license in good standing, provided that such entity: 1. Shall not have been, or employ any person who has been, convicted of or fined for an offense involving the abuse or neglect of any animal pursuant to any state, local, or federal law; 2. Shall not have had a license or permit regarding the care, possession, exhibition, propagation, or sale of animals revoked or suspended by any state, local, or federal agency, and shall not have received any official notices of warnings, or entered into any stipulations, consent decrees, or settlements with the U.S. Department of Agriculture within the last 3 years and must disclose any known pending investigations that are being conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture; 3. Shall not have been cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the Animal Welfare Act for any noncompliant item within the past 3 years in which a dangerous wild animal’s health and well-being was jeopardized by: (i) inappropriate veterinary care; (ii) inappropriate handling of dangerous wild animals causing stress or trauma to the animal or a threat to public safety; (iii) inappropriate provisions of food, water, shelter, or space; or (iv) any infraction cited as a direct noncompliant item; 4. Shall not allow direct contact between the public and dangerous wild animals; 5. Shall maintain liability insurance in an amount of not less than two hundred fifty thousand dollars, with a deductible of not more than two hundred fifty dollars, for each occurrence of property damage, bodily injury, or death caused by any dangerous wild animal possessed by the person; 6. Shall have a written plan, filed with the local animal control authority for the quick and safe recapture or destruction of dangerous wild animals in the event a dangerous wild animal escapes, including, but not limited to, written protocols for training staff on methods of safe recapture of the escaped dangerous wild animal; and 7. Shall file with the local animal control authority an annual report of all dangerous wild animals acquired and disposed of during the calendar year. 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.
Brandon Bobcat Call
This morning, at 1:15 AM Jamie and Carole responded to a call in Brandon about a bobcat being hit by a car. Dr Justin Boorstein came in and they did Xrays to see what could be done.
Jamie recalls the event:
I got a call at 1:15 AM and it’s a man saying that his wife has found an injured bobcat in the middle of the highway in Brandon. Most people have no idea what a bobcat looks like, so I ask him to have his wife text me a photo. Dang! It’s a bobcat! Now I’m awake.
I call my mom to ask if she has a net and carrier at her house next door, so that I can save time getting to the scene, but she doesn’t. She gets out of bed and says she’ll go with me. As I hop into her truck she says, “Do you have a coat?” It’s in the 50’s, which is freezing to us Floridians, and I say, “I’m in my pajamas! No, I didn’t bring a coat!” Turns out she’s barely dressed and forgot hers too. Thankfully there are blankets in the truck.
The good news about early morning bobcat calls is that there is no one on the streets so we get to the sanctuary (4 miles away) in record time and exchange her pickup truck for the Tundra with a topper that we won in a Facebook contest a few years ago. (Thank you everyone who voted for us!) We had just released Rain and Dancer the 9 month old rehab bobcats the day before, so there are still nets and gloves in the back. We grab a big carrier out of the Emergency Response Center and are on our way.
Meanwhile the Good Samaritan who had called in the accident is frantic because the police have shown up on the scene and told her she can’t stay in the middle of the highway. She puts the officer in charge, in touch with me by phone and he’s saying he doesn’t think the bobcat is going to make it and maybe should be put out of his misery. I tell him that a bobcat in shock can look quite dead, but can regain consciousness very quickly and that they have an amazing ability to heal. I don’t want him to shoot the cat in the head, so I tell him that my husband is a veterinarian and standing by to humanely euthanize him, if that is what has to be done. He asks how long before we will be there, and by now we are about 20 minutes away.
More calls and texts back and forth and the woman who originally called us seems sure the police sent her away so they could dispose of the cat. We are driving as fast as we can, but it’s a long way from Citrus Park to the Brandon mall and we aren’t allowed to use flashing lights and sirens in order to save wildlife. Maybe we need a law that would allow rehabbers the same use as ambulance drivers.
The policeman contact me again and he sounds like he’s ready to call it quits because the bobcat looks so bad. He says that he doesn’t think the cat is going to make it, and that he’s bleeding from the nose and his eyes look bad, and even thinks he can be picked up by hand. By now we are 5 minutes out and ask him to wait. He agrees.
Carole recalls what happened next:
As WAZE is telling us that we are arriving at the location, I see the flashing lights of a patrol car and start to pull up behind it, but then notice there are patrol cars, lights flashing, at every corner of the huge intersection. My first concern is which one should I pull up next to, in order to have our tools closest to the cat, but then my heart leaps with joy to realize that the agency has cordoned off the entire road to insure that no one runs over the bobcat who is crouched in the middle of the road. I’ve never seen the police be so concerned about an injured animal before and it makes me grateful beyond belief.
In the center of all the chaos, I can see him and he looks HUGE. He’s in pain, so he’s all puffed up, but the lights from angle, highlight a halo in his fur tips that make him seem enormous. I wonder to myself if I brought a big enough carrier. Jamie and the officer she had been speaking with grab the nets and I grab the carrier out of the back of the Tundra and head toward the bobcat. As we approach Jamie asks how close the officer has been to the cat so she can assess his fight or flight distance. The officer says he’s been right up on him, but that the cat seems to be recovering. He suggests that perhaps, “His bell has been un-rung” meaning that he thinks the bobcat might be coming to his senses, and may be more likely to bolt.
Artfully Jamie breaks away from the cat’s view of me with a carrier and the police man with a net coming at his face, and sneaks around behind the bobcat. Sure enough, when we are about 10 feet out the bobcat decides that he isn’t going to be taken alive and he uses the last of what he has in him to leap to our left. Jamie comes in like a Ninja with one downward sweep of the net over him as he leaps!
It is a righteous netting (as we call it around Big Cat Rescue) because not only is the net over the cat, but the forward movement of his leap against the netting has landed him over the outside ring of the net’s neck. It is that configuration that allows us to lift a bobcat securely, because they can just hop right out of a net if it doesn’t fold over the edge. My heart swelled with pride that Jamie had shown such proficiency under such pressure. The officer showed some pretty amazing skill as he leapt right into the fray and put his net down over the top of Jamie’s. That little bit of extra security can make the difference between keeping a bobcat in a net and having them break free.
I put the carrier in front of Jamie’s net and ask the officer to trade spots with me. Jamie and I have moved countless cats from nets into carriers over the years and it isn’t easy. One wrong move and the cat is free. In cases like this, where the cats legs were not injured, he could definitely outrun us and get lost in the underbrush before we would be able to catch up. His facial injuries would then cause him to die a long and painful death. We couldn’t risk it.
The officer (rather expertly, I might add) put one foot behind the carrier to brace it. Sometimes an animal goes in so fast that they are able to push the carrier away from the nets and then can turn on a dime to escape through the crack. Jamie lined her net up to the open door and I used mine to push his tail end through the opening. The officer or Jamie, slammed the door shut, while retrieving the netting, but it happened so fast, I’m not sure whose hands were where, but the bobcat was safely secured.
We shouted our thanks out to the officers who were guarding the intersection and gave the officer in charge our brochure to share in case they get more bobcat injury calls. Jamie called her husband, Dr. Justin Boorstein and told him we were successful and on our way to the Windsong Memorial Hospital. He met us there around 2:45 am.
Posted to https://bigcatrescue.org/thor
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.
I Think Jeff Lowe Threatens BJWT Will Kill Me
Jeff Lowe had sent Howie a friend request on Facebook. When Jeff refers to the Mexican drug cartel, I believe he’s referencing Eddie Serio of Black Jaguar White Tiger.
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.
FWC Witch Hunt
Public Records Request :: W031112-092915. Lt Loren Lowers called me just now and said the reason the cost is so high ($10,153.35) is that there are 1,142 emails and over 12,000 trackers with my search terms in it during that year and a half span.
Trackers are what they call each interaction on a subject.
He said they have to redact everything that is sensitive information, so that's why the fee is so high. He says they can only charge based upon the hourly rate of the lowest paid person in the agency, which is 10.00 an hour.
I'm inclined to make them do it, just so they think twice before discussing us again.
Clearly, they don't want us to have the information.
I asked him how the bad guys managed to get their hands on the "wrong" version of their witch hunt (I didn't call it that) and he said that it was on their sharepoint as both the original and the corrected version so when someone asked for that report specifically, they got both. He further explained that because they got it by email, there are now 4 copies of it that would come up in a search. 2 copies of the original and 2 copies of the corrected one.
Future Note: 12/16/2021
It occurs to me as I’m reading this that I never wrote about what it was the bad guys got their hands on from 11/7/2014. This was our rebuttal to the FWC and they corrected their report to accurately report that we were NOT in violation despite them having characterized us as being so in their first report. I would also like to point out that the FWC has figured out who the bad guys really are and has stopped harassing us on their behalf.
“The exotic animal exploiters who attack Big Cat Rescue online due to our efforts to end the mistreatment of exotic animals in private hands have posted an inspection by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) conducted on November 7, 2014. This was a very unusual inspection in which three officials went in different directions and spent 6 hours each examining the sanctuary in extraordinary detail.
The version of the report the attackers have reported was the initial report which erroneously characterized their observations as violations. The final report, which the attackers also have but of course chose not to publish, clearly stated that none of the findings were violations. They were recommendations for maintenance which, if they were not attended to, at some point could become violations. See the final language below:
The recommendations were primarily items that are dealt with in our normal ongoing maintenance of the sanctuary. All were addressed in a timely fashion. A USDA inspection, as usual, no violations, and the next FWC inspection, as usual, found no violations. Big Cat Rescue has a near perfect inspection record over the years and never had any comment by any official that related to care of the animals.
The report noted some areas that showed signs of rust. We live in humid Florida, and some rust is a fact of life. We deter rust using brown Rustoleum paint and we repaint cages on an ongoing regular maintenance program.
The attackers, who have no regard at all for the truth, falsely post repeatedly that the brown color of the Rustoleum on the cage wire is all rust. One refers to BCR as a “jungle of rust.” If all the cages were totally rust like the lies of the attackers claim, don’t you think FWC would have noted that?
Rust is, in fact, not a violation of any rule. The relevant rule is that the cages must meet certain strength requirements. This makes perfect sense – the cages have to be strong enough to contain powerful animals. The concern with rust is that if you use the minimum gauge wire and it rusts, the strength could diminish below the minimum requirement. That is why Big Cat Rescue uses cage wire that is FAR in excess of the minimum. Even with minimal amount of rust that may appear before the next painting cycle, our cages far exceed the required strength.
One of the inspectors commented that he was not an engineer and had no way to know if some rust brought the wire down below the strength standard. So we assisted FWC to remove any uncertainty by having an engineer test one of our older cages that is right by the lake so is most exposed to moisture and had been through repeated cycles of having any rust scraped off and being repainted. The engineer pulled on the cage with a bobcat machine with a tension gauge connected to the chain that the bobcat pulled. As you can see in the video below, the cage far exceeded the required strength.
The individual who posted the erroneous initial report had in his possession the final report stating there were no violations. But, of course, he knowingly posted the incorrect initial report and falsely claimed there were dozens of violations. Then others in the small band of animal exploiters who constantly attack Big Cat Rescue picked up the same false information.
Big Cat Rescue is the leader in working to end the private ownership of big cats by individuals and road side zoos. The animal abusers and exploiters have no arguments to justify their selfish mistreatment of animals. So their only recourse is to try to discredit Big Cat Rescue, and the only way they can do that with lies. Posting the incorrect version of the FWC report and falsely claiming it contained violations is just one more of their lies.”
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.
Bobcat Hit By Car on Sheldon Road in Citrus Park
It’s not even 2 days into the new year and I got another bobcat call. I was on my way in to work when I got a call from our Gift Shop that a man had walked in and asked if we were missing a bobcat. I’m always surprised at how many Floridians don’t know that bobcats are native to our state. What had started out as a beautiful morning, quickly turned dark and dreadful.
As I approached the location it was clear, from the beautiful spotted underbelly facing the sky, that the animal who was being hit time and time again by motorists, was indeed a bobcat. I waited for a break in traffic to run out and retrieve her broken body. Usually bobcats seem to make it out of the roadway, or at least to the shoulder of the road, but she had been crushed so many times, that it felt like my heart would break into as many shards, when I felt her in my trembling hands. I thought about the male bobcat who had lost his life at this same crossing just a little over a month ago. On both sides of Sheldon Road there is massive development underway to add more stores, homes and a recent emergency clinic. Ironic…
I vowed to create a document to track all of these calls. We have done a good job of documenting the bobcats we have rescued, but what about all of the times when we didn’t get there in time? We have gotten 12 bobcat calls in the last year; four of them were dead on arrival and we never did find the fifth bobcat, although we did find blood on the pavement. Right now we have 6 bobcat kittens in rehab and hope to release all of them this year. While it brings great joy to return them to their rightful place, it is just barely enough to make up for the pain of finding the broken bodies of those we can’t help.
So many campaigns suggest that you should give wildlife a “brake” and it’s a lovely sentiment, but it you have ever seen a bobcat run, then you know there is no way a person could avoid hitting one if the cat darted out in front of them. The only real solution is to build under and over passes that connect major green ways for the animals and high fences with a cantilever at the top to keep wildlife from scaling them. The straight, 8 foot fences that are used currently are totally inadequate. These are pricey projects, but without them we will lose our wildlife and all that is beautiful and pure in this world.
We are working hard to end the private possession of exotic cats and doing so would put us out of business. We really look forward to that day, but I know that won’t be an end to the long days and sleepless nights. We will always provide rehab and release for native bobcats and that need seems to be increasing. It’s hard to know if the number of bobcat calls are escalating, or if it is just that people know to call us now, because we are so well known for our premiere rehab facilities. 12 calls were an all time high in 2015 and were three times higher than any year, dating back to 1994. Even other rehabbers will often call us for the time consuming and costly process of getting a bobcat ready for release back to the wild.
Thanks to explore.org we have a webcam on one of our Rehab Bobcat enclosures where viewers can watch the current residents as they recover from injuries, or learn how to be bobcats when they grow up. http://explore.org/live-cams/player/big-cat-rescue-bobcat-rehab-and-release
We have a major project underway at the sanctuary for a Small Cat Fun area, similar to our Vacation Rotation, but as soon as it is done we need to begin fundraising for a complete overhaul of our Bobcat Rehab enclosures. We have had to temporarily outfit cages for bobcat rehab that were not designed for that purpose and while it works, and is better than any other options out there for rehab, it isn’t optimal. We want to start from scratch to build rehab enclosures that are bigger, allow for more muscle toning, and that are further away from human encroachment. With more than 30 years of bobcat rehab under out belts, we know what we need and think our donors will help us make it a reality.
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.
2015 Annual Report
This is a playlist of our most recent videos and an easy way to see what we have been doing at Big Cat Rescue. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QKQ3naQyag&list=PLsmHBgbkKIERsX0faHHQWq9UdQskxJnVJ
With your help we are winning in the battle for compassion! Up until 2003 the number of requests for rescues we had to turn down due to lack of space or funds had roughly doubled each year, to 312 that year. We feared it would double again to over 500 in 2004. Instead, it has steadily declined since then thanks to the passage of a federal bill and several state bills that restrict the ownership of exotic cats. This year there were “only” 19 big cats who came to our attention as being abandoned. We were able to take in 4 tigers, 1 leopard and 7 rehab bobcats.
We offered to take 3 more of the cats if their owners would contract to never own another exotic cat. The cats we did not take were those whose owners refused or another sanctuary offered space first. There is no point to our taking in cats just so an owner can go buy another cute cub to use and discard.
Another great result of more bans on private ownership is that the number of killings, maulings and escapes are on the decline in the U.S. as well. In 2015 there was one mauling in NE, 6 escapes (CA, IN, MI, NC, OK & WA) and 13 confiscations (OH). These events involved 14 tigers, 1 lion, 1 liger, 1 leopard, 1 cougar, 1 cheetah, & 1 serval.
Animal Care
Abandoned Big Cats 2015
2015 was the second best year for big cats. “Only” 19 calls for rescues came to our attention and the only year with fewer was 2011. As more states pass bans and partial bans, fewer and fewer big cats end up in peril.
Rescues
Rescued 12 exotic cats, including Tigers: Emily, Jessica, Lily and Teisha, a Leopard named Shadow and Rehab Bobcats: Journey, Phoenix, Captiva, Rain, Dancer, and Mr and Mrs. Claws. Emily, Jessica, Lily and Shadow (NKA Sapphire, Duchess, Jasmine and Jinx)are still part of a lawsuit, so they are just boarded here until it is resolved. We were called out on a total of 12 bobcat calls this year, which is three times higher than any previous year.
Newborn kittens who are brought to Animal Control are routinely killed because with their immature immune systems they do not survive in the shelter environment. So we began a foster kitten program with our interns as the fosters in 2013 We have saved 275 kittens from being killed. We raise them until they are 2 pounds and healthy, then bring them to the Humane Society of Tampa Bay to be fixed and adopted out. You can watch our foster kittens in their play room live every day at http://explore.org/live-cams/player/big-cat-rescue-kitten-cabana
By the end of this year, we have 88 exotic cats and 66 of them are over the age of 12. 56 of those are over the age of 15; and 20 of those are over the age of 20. This is well beyond how long they are designed to live in the wild and much older than most zoo cats. This is a testament to the excellent animal care we provide, but we are dealing with many more age related illnesses and are losing more of our big cat friends every year.
Windsong Memorial Hospital
Thanks to the generous donation of an X-ray machine, followed by many donors chipping in to fund a proper building for it, the Windsong Memorial Hospital broke ground in 2014 and had its first big patient by January 2015. We have had over 90 veterinary procedures since then, further validating the need for this wonderful hospital. Thank you to everyone who helped build and outfit it so that our cats don’t have the stress and danger of travel to an off site clinic. We still need a sonogram machine to be fully self contained, but that requires specialists to operate them, so it was last on our list.
Award Winning Sanctuary
Top Rated Non Profit at Great Non Profits
We have received this award every year since they started awarding it in 2010 due to the many great reviews we get from visitors and donors each year.
2015 Give Day Tampa Bay as the winner of the most prize money and winner of the most donors on that day.
We again received Charity Navigator’s highest four star rating and are the highest rated wild animal sanctuary in their numeric scoring system.
Outreach: Education & Advocacy
In 2015 we hired Jennifer Leon as the Director of Outreach. Jennifer manages our education programs, advocacy campaigns, and community outreach activities.
Education
We gave 70 educational tours to school and community groups last year and did dozens of on-site presentations at schools throughout Tampa Bay, including 27 presentations provided by senior BCR volunteers through Hillsborough County Public Schools’ SERVE Volunteers in Education program. We once again participated in the Great American Teach-In. Big Cat Rescuers spoke to over twelve hundred students between kindergarten and eighth grade at schools in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Polk, Pasco, and Manatee counties.
We also engaged with students from across the country and globe assisting and collaborating on school projects and university research papers, as well as facilitated school and scout fundraising projects to help the cats and educate students.
In an effort to educate broader audiences about the plight of captive big cats and reach those who can vote for and promote legislation to protect big cats, Big Cat Rescue was represented at conferences across the United States. We were very successful at actively engaging new supporters and getting wide spread support for our federal bill.
Advocacy
Prior to bringing back the Call of the Wild in Fall of 2015, visitors to the sanctuary had two opportunities to advocate for big cats. At the start of the year our guests submitted hundreds of comments to the FWC in support of stricter regulations for captive big cats in Florida. Throughout the Spring and Summer, 2,670 guests took the Pledge to be Circus Free upon returning from their tour. These actions are in addition to the thousands that signed the pledge online and hundreds of AdvoCats who submitted comments electronically to the FWC.
We have also expanded engagement with our AdvoCats. There is now an active AdvoCats Facebook group where AdvoCats can be part of the big cat community, posts action alerts, discuss the issues, and take action on alerts and activities led by Big Cat Rescue. It has also become a forum for us to highlight the many successes of our AdvoCats – from hosting protest rallies and tabling events to publishing books and blogs promoting the welfare of big cats.
Community Outreach
Big Cat Rescue continues to be a valued member of the Tampa Bay community. We participated in a variety of free family events such as EcoFest, VegFest, and St. Francis Day blessings. We’ve had the honor of speaking at various philanthropic clubs and collaborated with groups throughout the state for the benefit of big cats and community.
BigCatRescue.org gets about 2.5 million unique visitors per year. Our website is primarily an educational tool and according to Alexa we are ranked 113,078 worldwide and 34,572 most visited website in the U.S. in 2015 which was more than doubling of our site’s popularity over 2013. We have 998 other sites linking to us.
Our web site addresses local and global concerns about environment and has over 10,359 pages of information, movie clips, sounds, safe interactive online games with a conservation theme and photos. In any given week the visitors will be from more than 200 countries outside of the U.S.
The information provided has helped wildlife rehabilitators identify animals and obtain proper care instruction and helped officials in smuggling cases to identify rare species of exotic cats being illegally traded. Those are just a few of the ways that we know the site has had an impact this year.
Legislation
The steady increase in legislation banning private ownership represents recognition by our society that private ownership leads to widespread abuse. Social values evolve. It took decades to ban slavery in England and for women to win the right to vote in America. Those ideas started out as “radical” and were held by a small minority. Gradually more and more people understood and agreed until they became a part of our value system that we take for granted today.
The same trend is happening with private ownership of exotics. Gradually more and more people are realizing that this simply leads to widespread abuse of these animals. The best evidence of this is the accelerating trend in state laws. Just since 2005 nine more states have passed some level of ban. Internationally 40 countries have banned or restricted the utilization of big cats in circuses. It is time for the U.S. & South Africa to do the same!
We invited our on site guests to call their Senators and Representatives asking them to support the Big Cats and Public Safety Act this year, resulting in 1,100 calls made from guests at Big Cat Rescue and many more that they made from home afterward.
One of the most painful things we did this year was to change service providers for our advocacy and customer management. We really liked Voter Voice and Blackbaud, but the two platforms just didn’t play well together and after much agonizing we decided to move our entire database of visitors and donors and all of our advocacy work into Salsa. That happened in May, so the figures below are only from about June through the end of 2015.
While we wish that more than 14% of animal lovers on our mailing list would take the time to speak up for the animals, the ones who did were awesome.
Some of the wins from these campaigns were:
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46 Representatives joined the 2 bill sponsors by co sponsoring the Big Cat Public Safety Act (HR3546)
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Delta agreed to stop shipping in big cat trophies.
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A lion cub who was being beaten up by his father at a backyard zoo was transferred to another facility.
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More than 2,000 people spoke up for the Florida Panther when the Florida Wildlife Commission tried to abandon their recovery.
Imagine what we could have accomplished if just 25% of our mailing list were to take action for the animals? This is an easy, no cost way for us to have a huge impact collectively. If you have not yet been active in taking action when we send alerts asking you to email a legislator, regulator or venue hosting an abusive animal exhibit, please make 2016 the year you join in. You CAN make a difference – the many supporters who do send these emails have proven it!
The most vivid example is our having gotten owners of over 200 malls to agree not to allow cub petting exhibits, saving all those cubs from a miserable life on the road and being sleep deprived as they are handled or restrained for photo opportunities hour after hour. You can make ending big cat abuse part of the legacy of your life with just a few emails each year.
Big Cat iBooks and eBooks
LaWanna Mitchell is an amazing woman. She started out as a volunteer and became a remote contractor for us years ago. She lives in Missouri, out in the country with her horses, and I get emails from her telling me that she just spent the last two hours, up on a step ladder with a blow dryer trying to melt the ice off her antenna because she doesn’t want to lose another day of working online. On those days when she is just completely snowed in, she just can’t stop working and has taught herself how to build books in iBooks for iTunes and for Amazon.
The iBooks currently in iTunes are:
• Common Myths That Fuel the Cruel Big Cat Selfie Trade
• The Dunking, Two Tigers & A Lesson in Friendship
• The Elusive Sand Cat
• The Black-footed Cat
• Shaquille Shattered Dreams
• Who Is Big Cat Rescue?
• Tigrina or Oncilla
• Black Panthers Fact or Myth
• China Doll Loves Her Pumpkin
• What Do You See?
• Meet JoJo a Wildcat Hybrid
• Lions of Big Cat Rescue
• Bobcats of Big Cat Rescue
• Big Cat Attacks
• Big Cat Care: How To Start A Sanctuary
• The African Wild Dog
•
• The Kindle Books currently in Amazon are:
• Bobcats of Big Cat Rescue
• The Dunking
• The Elusive Sand Cat
• The Black-footed Cat
• Big Cat Attacks
• Lions of Big Cat Rescue
• What Do You See?
• The African Wild Dog
Wins for the Big Cats in 2015
11/3/15 WA voters on November 3, 2015 overwhelmingly approved Initiative Measure 1401, introducing state-level felony penalties for the purchase, sale, and/or distribution of products made from elephants, rhinos, lions, tigers, leopards, cheetahs, sea turtles, pangolins, sharks and rays.
10/22/15 Elkhart, TX passes a ban on dangerous wild animals, including nonhuman primates, skunks, jaguars, leopards, lynxes, tigers, lions, panthers, bears, coyotes or any other carnivorous wild animal or reptile within the city limits or one mile of the city limits. This ordinance is retroactive with no grandfather clauses and the fees are also retroactive as well.
9/25/15 Netherlands became the tenth country to officially ban the use of wild animals in the circus! The ban, which was drafted back in 2014, went into effect this week and includes big cats, elephants, giraffes, zebras, sea lions and primates.
9/22/15 Shriner and head of “Fun Time Shows” Bill Cunningham joined forces with PETA to stop using wild animals at the Shrine Circus. http://cw33.com/2015/09/01/shriners-peta-heated-battle-over-animals-in-shrine-circus/ Cunningham said the trailers that had been used to haul wild animals to shows will now emptied and covered in banners to advocate against the use of wild animals in performances.
9/15/2015 Missoula, MT is the first city in Montana to ban the use wild and exotic animals in shows and non-educational displays. The City Council approved the measure on an 8-3 vote, saying it was time to apply what “we know versus what we do” regarding the treatment of animals.
8/3/2015 “Effective immediately, Delta Airlines will officially ban shipment of all lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros and buffalo trophies worldwide as freight.” VICTORY!! Big Cat Rescue asked you to let Delta Airlines know that animal lovers do not want international airlines to continue to transport exotic animal trophies such as Cecil. More than 5,000 of you took action for the big cats!!! And today Delta has finally agreed. This is fantastic news for all endangered and threatened big cats and other animals being hunted across the globe. Its announcement came as a group of airlines including Air France, KLM, Iberia, IAG Cargo, Singapore Airlines and Qantas signaled last week they would ban the transport of trophy-hunting kills.
8/1/2015 Zimbabwean wildlife authorities say they have suspended the hunting of lions, leopards and elephants in an area favored by hunters following the killing of Cecil the lion.
6/27/2015 Costa Rica just became the first country in Latin America to ban hunting for sport. Costa Rica’s Congress voted unanimously to approve the ban, which will protect the country’s wildlife – including several species of native big cats. Any hunters caught breaking the new law will face jail time or hefty fines.
3/14/2015 South Dakota became the final state (50th) to enact a felony provision for animal cruelty. These laws typically do not protect wild animals or farmed animals, but it’s a start.
3/5/15 Ringling announces that they will phase elephants out of their acts and we are all hoping tigers are phased out as well.
2/4/15 Hollywood Animals announces they are getting out of the big cat rental business because CGI has replaced their industry.
2/5/15 Asheville, North Carolina for banning circuses with wild animals! Read an article about it: http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2015/02/04/asheville-animal-cruelty-circus-ban-us-cellular-center-elephant/22889259/
2/5/15 Graystone Ranch in GA surrenders their USDA license and gives their wild cats and other animals to sanctuaries citing that they are tired of the business.
Fundraising and Marketing
We continue to be very happy with Zerve as our ticket retailer. In 2014 Zerve sold 18,553 tickets that netted the sanctuary $712,093.00. In 2015 Zerve sold 22,494 tickets that netted the sanctuary $871,626.90. The increase was due, in part, to selling more of the higher priced tours.
Big Cat Rescue was reported favorably in the news 280 times in 2015. Some of our national press has included shows on CNN, MSNBC, National Geographic, Animal Planet, Discovery and the History Channel in addition to such publications as USA Today, National Geographic and the New York Post and major media coverage in several other countries as well. Big Cat Rescue has been in the press in 42+ states including AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, GA, FL, HI, IA, ID, IO, IN, IL, KY, LA, MA, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, NC, OH, OK, PA, SC, SD, TN, VA, VT, WA, WI & WV and dozens of programs of national or international coverage or in countries other than the U.S.
YouTube and Discovery’s Revision 3 continue to send us a lot of traffic. Thanks to this partnership and cross promotions with Animal Planet, we are experiencing more than 3 million views of our YouTube videos per MONTH! By 2015 year end we had 602 videos with 262,474 subscribers and 124,022,664 views.
YouTube Mini Clip Site: DailyBigCat was launched Nov. 20, 2010 to provide a channel for the mini clips we upload directly from our iPhones. By year end this site had 685 videos, 11,946 subscribers and 2,320,523 views.
Facebook: We surpassed 1,836,499 fans on Face Book
Google +: This is a new social site for us in 2013 and we have already reached 473,854 fans on this venue.
Our Education Director took on Twitter to ramp it up and ended the year with 17,100 followers.
A huge shout out to everyone who has donated items from our Amazon wishlist and who has chosen Big Cat Rescue as their charity of choice in https://smile.amazon.com/
Got Roku? If you do, then you have more than 600 episodes of Big Cat TV waiting for you for FREE in the Channel Store! Series include our best videos from each year going back to 2007. Big Cat Vets, Cat Chat Show, and Big Cat Rescuers, our weekly big cat reality show.
Big Cat Rescue has an Endowment Fund to provide a secure future for the cats. The Fund resides at the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay. Periodically the Community Foundation offers a matching program where the nonprofit sets a fundraising goal and when 75% of the goal is reached, the Community Foundation provides the remaining 25%, which effectively is a 33% match of the funds provided by donors.
Saving Wild Places for Wild Cats
In 2015 Big Cat Rescue donated $23,100.00 to conservation programs.
$3,000 to Build a Boma via Nat Geo initiative in S. Africa (from our Wildcat Walkabout event)
$3,000 to Lion Guardians in Africa (from our Wildcat Walkabout event)
$9,100 to the Small Wild Cat Conservation Foundation
$8,000 to Felidae Conservation Fund
Plus we are the largest retailer of Erbis Enterprizes products which are made in snow leopard regions, by local craftsmen. The funds they get from our gift shop sales of their handicrafts enables them to sustain periodic loss of livestock. Villages must ensure that no snow leopards are poached in their areas in order to benefit from the program, so it makes everyone a park ranger.
Helping Other Animal Groups
Saving Lions. Our Wildcat Walkabout may have just seemed like one heck of a party, but thanks to everyone who came and fundraised for the event, we were able to net $6,066.63 and we wanted to spend it on ways to help lions outside our gates. $3,000 was donated to Nat Geo’s Build a Boma Project and $3,066.63 was donated to Lion Guardians to protect lions in the wild.
One of our Senior Keepers went to help a troubled sanctuary in the U.S. twice as they had no staff and helped implement training programs, such as those taught at ZooCollege.com to insure their ability to train future staff. She also helped run a sanctuary for big cats in Ethiopia for Born Free, while they were seeking a qualified CEO.
Created 23 Intranet sites, which are sort of a sanctuary-in-a-box site, for other sanctuaries to use. These came complete with every training video, training manual, chart and idea that we use to run Big Cat Rescue. We do this for free for sanctuaries that do not breed, buy, sell, trade nor allow contact w/ wild animals.
We donated countless tickets to other animal rescue groups to use in their fundraisers. We often will host volunteer appreciation parties for them at no cost as well.
We are so pleased to provide assistance to organizations that are saving big cats (and little cats) across the globe!
Then and Now
Visit http://bigcatrescue.org/about/finances/ to get copies of our 990’s and Audited Statements. We pride ourselves in keeping our fundraising and administrative total expenses below 20%. Because our tour revenue exceeds our fundraising and administrative costs, 100% of donations go to Program Expense.
The majority of the increase in Program Expense in 2012-2013 was the cost of lawsuits we filed in furtherance of our mission against what we believe to be one of the most notorious exploiters of tiger cubs. We won a million dollar judgment against this breeder/exhibitor for violations of our copyright and trademark in 2013. He filed bankruptcy personally and on behalf of his zoo. However, by consent agreement his personal debt to us is not to be dismissed in bankruptcy, and the zoo bankruptcy has been dismissed. So currently we are working through the process of seeking to recover our judgment against whatever assets we can. Without the generous support of our donors we could not have sustained this successful effort. Thank you!
The Board met 4 times in 2015.
All of our animal care is done by volunteers or by staff who also volunteer time before & after work.
Volunteers:
Big Cat Rescue had 80+ volunteers at the end of 2015 who clocked in 33,262 man-power hours, in addition to 49 intern sessions who clocked 29,400 man-power hours. In total this amounted to 62,662 man-power hours provided roughly the equivalent workforce of 30 more full time staff. This figure did not include volunteer hours of the President and CEO which is about 5,000 hours more. Between paid staff, part time staff, contractors and volunteers we averaged the equivalent of 50 full time staff.
We have 92 volunteers; 79 women and 13 men. The youngest 18 years old, the oldest 87 years old.
Between January 1, 2013 and September 1, 2015 Big Cat Rescue provided $783,783.00 in scholarships to provide housing, transportation, utilities, food, training and entertainment to 117 interns arriving in Tampa, FL from 15 countries and 27 states.
Staff and Volunteer Training
Several of our staff attended the Safe Capture Course, as we do any time they are in Florida.
Continued turning our volunteer training classes into video classes.
Irma Toplansky, Howie’s Other Mother, Dies On Tue, Dec 22, 2015 at 8:46 AM, Marshall T wrote: Hi guys, Irma went peacefully in her sleep this morning. I am in NY and am headed to Poughkeepsie with Lynnie. Marshall Howie copied me and responded: Tearing, but glad her suffering is over. Let me know the plans when you can. - Howard Baskin I responded to Howie: Yesterday evening, I felt her brush by while I was at my desk. Apparently she was testing her wings in the final hours. She felt like full-on-Irma. It was a great feeling of satisfaction and love. I almost mentioned it last night, but figured I'd wait and see. Guess it wasn't just my imagination. 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
Today we met w/ State Attorney RE: FWC Constitutionality We have been working on this since March 2005 when we first learned that the FWC’s authority over captive, non native wildlife, did not come from the FL constitution (as they claim) but rather came from the statutes. The reason that is important is that the FWC has managed to avoid a ban on the private possession (and pimping) of tiger and lion cubs by saying the citizens of the state have no right to petition the legislature for a ban. On March 18, 2005 I spoke with Curt Kiser (former State Senator) by phone and these were the pertinent details from that conversation: 1. Curt was the first person to draft legislation for ANY regulation of exotic animals in the state of Florida and was involved in the process that elevated FWC from being a state agency called the Game and Freshwater Fish Commission to having constitutional authority under their new name of the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). 2. He says that they have had Constitutional authority over the native animals since long before that, but that even today their power over non native species (the ones I am concerned about) is not constitutionally given, but is rather legislatively given. 372.921 and 372.922 seem to bear that out in that the Florida Statutes state that for a person to own or exhibit and exotic animal they must meet the standards set by FWC. That gives FWC the authority to determine who may or may not own or display them and how that should be done and seems to leave in their hands the ability to define which animals fall into which classes (I, II or III). 3. Because the FWC has the power to do what I want (re class all exotic cats to Class I and require commercial zoning for acceptance of applications to exhibit) he suggested that I meet with David Meehan, one of the FWC Commissioners who lives nearby. The meeting should be at Big Cat Rescue so he can see the enormity of the problem first hand and so that he can see that I am not just some rabid, crazy cat lady. 4. Curt suggested that I use his name to effect this meeting and that I could do the same with the FWC’s general council for the past 20 years, Jim Artista. He suggested that I let them know that I am trying to work within their framework first because they are protective of their constitutional power, and even more so of the perception of that being all-encompassing, and may be willing to work out something that suits my requests so that they are not in the position of having that ability to be in charge taken away from them by the legislators. Curt said he would call Jim and let him know that I would be calling soon. 5. He warned me that David Meehan is an avid hunter (as are all of the FWC Commissioners) and they don’t want to assist any proposal that could be a foot in the door for us bunny hugging types to stop them from hunting. To tell them that the reason this legislation is important is because canned hunts are the only place that unwanted lions, cougars and tigers can go is likely to fall on deaf ears even if they wouldn’t personally participate in shooting an animal in a transport cage. He said another reason that it would be hard to over turn any of FWC’s constitutional authority would be because of the powerful groups, such as NRA, who want the rules of hunting to be controlled by those of like mind and not the majority of the population who could influence changes with their voting power. 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.
Sent a letter to President Obama re: Generic Tigers
The Humane Society of the United States asked me to collaborate on a letter to the POTUS.
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Obama:
On behalf of Big Cat Rescue, one of the largest accredited sanctuaries in the world dedicated entirely to abused and abandoned tigers and other exotic cats, I write in strong support of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposal to remove mixed lineage, or “generic”, tigers from the list of animals that are exempt from registration under the Endangered Species Act Captive-Bred Wildlife (“CBW”) regulations. 76 Fed. Reg. 52297 (Aug. 22, 2011); 50 C.F.R. § 17.21(g). The generic tiger exemption has led to a proliferation of tigers in unqualified facilities, undermining animal welfare, public safety and conservation efforts. Additionally, the sanctuary community has been left to take in and care for numerous abandoned tigers that are often cast aside once they grow too large to be used for direct contact with the public and are therefore no longer considered profitable. As this rule would provide the requisite federal oversight needed for thousands of generic tigers who are bred and housed in substandard conditions, Big Cat Rescue urges the Administration to take swift action to finalize the rule.
Big Cat Rescue is a non-profit educational sanctuary devoted to rescuing and providing a permanent home for exotic cats who have been abused, abandoned, bred to be pets, retired from performing acts, or saved from being slaughtered for fur coats. As part of its mission, Big Cat Rescue works to educate the public about these animals and the issues facing them in captivity. Big Cat Rescue is home to the most diverse population of exotic cats in the world, with 10 of the 35 species of wild cats represented. Currently, Big Cat Rescue is housing 90 residents. These include tigers, lions, leopards, cougars, bobcats, lynx, ocelots, servals, caracals and others, many of whom are threatened, or endangered.
By best estimates there are more tigers living in the U.S. today than exist in the wild, though the total number of captive tigers is unknown (in part because of the CBW exemption for generic tigers, which has facilitated rampant breeding by unqualified entities and eliminated necessary oversight). Nearly all of these generic tigers are held at unaccredited breeding facilities, roadside zoos, traveling zoos, pseudo-sanctuaries, circuses and private menageries. Many roadside zoos and traveling menageries in the U.S. profit from a constant supply of infant tiger cubs used for public contact exhibition (petting, play sessions, bottle feeding, photo ops, and swim with tiger cub programs). At just a few months of age, the tigers can no longer be used for these types of ventures, whereupon they are often discarded and sanctuaries, like Big Cat Rescue, are called upon to provide care for these generic tigers.
The breeders and dealers do not contact Big Cat Rescue for placement directly, because they know it is our policy to require that anyone giving up a big cat never own one again, so it is the hapless private owner who ends up calling us. After cubs are no longer profitable they are often given away to people as pets. By the time the cats are a year old and twice the size of their owners, is when we get the call to rescue them.
Big Cat Rescue is currently home to 13 tigers and has been the final home for 17 more tigers over the years. Proper care for one big cat at Big Cat Rescue requires a financial commitment of approximately $10,000 per year, with tigers in captivity living for approximately 20 years. This places a large financial burden on sanctuaries that care for these animals. Just these 30 tigers have meant a commitment of resources exceeding five million dollars. We have been asked to rescue an additional 42 tigers during the same time frame (1999-2015) but could not afford the lifetime care and were unable to help them.
Tigers Rescued From Texas
In 2011 we rescued three tigers from a sanctuary in Texas that went bankrupt under the crushing weight of some huge rescue missions it had attempted. Those three tigers had been bred to be used as cub handling props, but when an adult tiger escaped the breeding facility in New Jersey, the Texas sanctuary came to the rescue and took in 23 tigers at once. That was in 2003. I remember thinking that no sanctuary was prepared for such a massive undertaking, and in time they folded. When they did, it left 400 lions, tigers, bears and chimps without food or a place to call home. It took the concerted efforts of several large animal protection groups and two full years to place all of the animals in other sanctuaries.
Two of the tigers we rescued had broken off their canine teeth during the 2003 transfer from NJ to TX. Due to the fact that most sanctuaries have no money in the bank, the tigers never had medical or dental care. Imagine exposed nerves in your mouth as you chewed through bones for eight years. We made sure they received root canals and extractions of the broken teeth and are doing well, but that’s not what it’s like for most big cats in captivity.
Tigers Rescued From New York
Kimba, Keisha and Zeus were rescued last year from New York. They too had been bred to be used as pay to play props. Because white tigers are a bigger draw for the tiger pimps, they bred Zeus back to his mother, Kimba, over and over, in an effort to force the mutation of the white coat that comes with inbreeding. Keisha was one of those cubs, but was born golden. There were 11 tigers at the facility and all of them were the product of inbreeding Zeus to his mother. Five of the tigers suffered from luxated lens, which is when the lens in the eye breaks loose and begins to scratch against the wall of the eyeball. This would be akin to having glass in your eye all the time.
It took four sanctuaries to remove all of the big cats out of the New York facility, which was in such dire straights that the only food provided was road killed dogs, cats and other wildlife. Kimba only survived a few days with us, as she had been so starved, for so long, that her body was shutting down. Zeus looked like a tiger skeleton, draped in a dull and matted coat. Keisha had lost her tail and part of her ear to cage mates and was starving too. Now Zeus has had his eye attended to by an expert vet and both cats are filled out and have shiny coats. I doubt seriously that the other tigers with eye problems have gotten any relief, because sanctuaries just aren’t financially sound enough to do so, in most cases.
Photo: Kimba on the day of the rescue at the facility in New York.
Tigers Rescued from Ohio
In just the past few weeks we have taken in four more tigers from the Ohio Department of Agriculture (“ODA”). Three are part of a lawsuit resulting from the backyard breeder refusing to comply with state law. The fourth was a similar case, where the owner had five tigers in a small pen in his backyard. When the ODA arrived and darted the tiger named Teisha, she didn’t stand up, so they asked him if she had a problem. They reported that his answer was that the other tigers beat her up all the time, so she can’t walk.
During her two weeks at the Ohio facility for confiscations they said the tiger would lay in her own waste and didn’t stand until they began giving her pain medication. She could get to her feet and move a few feet out of her own feces and urine, but the state of Ohio knew that we would be able to give better medical care and accommodations, so they asked if we would take her right away. Ohio found other sanctuaries for the remaining four tigers. When Teisha arrived here, it took her three hours to be able to stand and step out of the transport trailer into her new enclosure. She’s doing a little better every day.
Burden Placed on Sanctuaries
There is a huge problem looming ahead and it’s only a matter of weeks or months before there is another disaster that will cause the need for relocation of dozens, if not hundreds, of tigers. It all starts the same way: Cubs are bred, pulled immediately to be used as pay to play props and then discarded into pet homes or overcrowded and underfunded “sanctuaries” or warehoused for the purpose of breeding more profitable cubs.
Photo: Zeus upon arrival to Big Cat Rescue
The “sanctuaries” are depending on the money they can raise from a “rescue” but it’s only enough to cover the costs for the first year, so they keep “rescuing” more and more cubs until they implode. The “zoos” are breeding more and more cubs to pay for the overhead of the animals they have, but as those hungry mouths increase, they can’t breed enough cubs to keep the reverse Ponzi scheme going. I know of at least three facilities with an excess of 500 tigers that are on the brink of collapse. None of these tigers serves any conservation value, and in fact the breeding and use of them as pay to play props hurts conservation.
The pitch made by those who charge for cub handling is that paying to pose with a cub helps conservation. The public is being duped and their funds diverted from real conservation, which can only happen in the wild. Breeding tigers in captivity, and labeling it as conservation, only fools the public into thinking they don’t have to do the hard work of saving habitat, because there are so many places that have them in cages. This harms real conservation efforts.
Photo: Keisha looks better now, but lost her tail and part of an ear to improper housing of tigers
The Service’s proposal to eliminate the CBW exemption for generic tigers would ensure all tigers in this country are subject to the same safeguards and protections. It is a necessary step to guarantee the preservation and humane care of these iconic creatures and to ensure the safety of our communities. Big Cat Rescue urges the Administration to swiftly finalize the Service’s rule regarding generic tigers.
Sincerely, Carole Baskin
Also copied:
Christy Goldfuss, White House Council on Environmental Quality, christina_w_goldfuss@ceq.eop.gov
Eisenhower Executive Office Building
1650 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20501
Administrator Shelanski, Office of Management and Budget, howard_a_shelanski@omb.eop.gov
Eisenhower Executive Office Building
1650 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Rm. 262
Washington, DC 20503
Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet, Small Business Administration
409 Third St., SW, Suite 7000
Washington, DC 20416
Secretary Jewell, Department of Interior
1849 C St., NW Rm. 6612
Washington, DC 20240
Director Ashe, Fish and Wildlife Service
1849 C St., NW, Rm. 3359
Washington, DC 20240
5 Generations
L-R Goldie, Momma Jacquie, Mom, Me & Jamie in my Grandmother’s condo on Golf Lane which is a golfing community in the Carrollwood area. Jamie has big and pretty enough eyes for both of us, since mine are closed in this shot. Oh, the days before digital film!
Same order down the stairs of the 4911 W. Liberty Street, Tampa house when Jamie was a toddler. My parents and Chuck lived there from 7/24/78 - 4/25/85. They sold it a couple of times. The last time to my cousin, Scott Smith and they held the financing.
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.
Today I presented the Big Cat Public Safety Act at a Congressional Briefing
My name is Carole Baskin, and I am the founder and CEO of Big Cat Rescue. I've been working with wild cats since 1978 (more than 35 years). There is estimated to be between 10 and 20,000 big cats in back yards and basement across America, but no one knows for sure because no government agency keeps track.
Since 1990, there have been over 740 dangerous incidents involving big cats – tigers, lions, cougars, and other species. Five children and 16 adults have been killed, and another 50 children, and scores of adults have been mauled. Big cats pose a serious threat to public safety as well as to law enforcement officers and other first responders, who must risk their lives, when these animals escape or attack. You will find these stats on the handout, but I'd like to share a story that explains why this is happening.
On March 4, 1996 two of the worst cases of physical abuse, I have ever seen, came from a breeder in Pahrump, Nevada named Karl Mitchell. We rescued a black leopard, named Shaquille and a cougar named Darla from him. When they arrived their faces were bloodied beyond recognition.
When my late husband called Karl to ask what had happened to them, I overheard him responding in horror, when Karl told him that he had to take a baseball bat to the cats and that's why he didn't want them any more.
Darla, the cougar, had a fungal infection in her brain, because it had been exposed from the crashing blows to her head, and she wasn’t long for this world after that. Shaq’s face was the consistency of ground hamburger and his eye sockets had been crushed so that, even years later, when he had fully recovered, his eyes teared constantly. His involuntary trail of tears were a solemn reminder of the abuse he had endured.
When Karl Mitchell went to jail for a non animal related crime, his animals were dispersed and I hoped it was the end of the abuse, but I was wrong.
Five years later, in 2001, USDA permanently revoked his license, and to date there are unpaid fines of more than $100,000.00 for violations of the Animal Welfare Act, and exhibiting without a license, and yet, as of today, he is still advertising pay to play schemes with big cats under the name Big Cat Encounters.
According to investigative reporter George Knapp, “He’s been arrested at least a dozen times in Nevada and California, including a bust in California for trying to flatten two Fish and Game officers who suspected he was dealing in black-market exotic animals.”
California officials described Mitchell as a “threat to both animals and humans.” Karl Mitchell has been charged with burglary, carrying loaded guns in public, assault, felony stalking, auto theft, witness tampering and evading arrest.
“In 2002, Mitchell shot and killed one of his tigers because it got out. In 2004, his then girlfriend had one of her fingers bitten off by one of Mitchell’s cats. Although he has no permits of any kind for exhibiting his animals, Mitchell has continued to charge $500 an hour for close contact with his cats.”
Mitchell was convicted in the theft of a truck and for allegedly stealing $40,000 while operating the county animal control program. He served over two years in prison from 2004 to 2006. As soon as he was out of jail he was right back in the tiger pimping business.
A year ago he was ordered by a local court to remove the 10 tigers from the property for violations of the federal law and local zoning. This summer, District Court Judge Kim Wanker, ordered that the tigers be removed by September 1, or face contempt of court charges, punishable by up to 25 days in jail and a fine.
That didn’t happen either, due to further stalling by Karl and his wife Kayla Mitchell by appealing to the zoning department.
Opponents of our bill will say that states should regulate this sort of thing, but this case is a perfect example of how ineffective it is, to try and regulate an inherently abusive and dangerous practice, that shouldn’t be allowed at all. Meanwhile the business of charging people to pet big cats at the Nevada facility has continued, in violation of the law, for another 14 years. If you go to the Big Cat Encounter site you will see images of tigers, off leash and outside of any fenced perimeter.
This puts the public and law enforcement at risk and this isn’t an isolated incident. This is just one of the more flagrant law breakers. Most are smart enough to hide their misdeeds until there is a tragedy.
I come from a long line of law enforcement officers and can tell you that they are not equipped to deal with lions, tigers and other big cats.
Today’s speakers will tell you first hand how they have been called on when big cats have been released. You will also hear from experts in the zoo industry, who understand the danger and expense of keeping big cats in captivity.
With that I’d like to introduce one of my personal heroes in
that world, Ron Kagen, director of the Detroit Zoo.
Later:
Our next speaker needs no introduction as he is well known for his starring role in documentary called The Elephant in the Living Room. As a retired law enforcement officer and paramedic he’s seen it all when it comes to big cats wreaking havoc when they escape. I hope you never need his services, but given the enormity of the problem, it isn’t a matter of IF another Zanesville tragedy will occur, but WHEN.
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.
Gina the Bobcat Rehabber
This is me at about 19 years of age totally terrified to hold these parrots at Busch Gardens.
Carole, I want to thank you for the time you took to give us a tour of your rescue. I was amazed, you have quite the system going there and should be really proud of it. I feel relieved, knowing that if I die before my bobcats, that you will care for them.
Brian, my guy that was with me, is not an animal person. His folks never let them have pets, so he never developed a bond with an animal. He's been with me for over 7 years and is just starting to get a little bit attached to some of my animals, but he just doesn't have that strong emotional connection. I honestly think he's got a wall put up, he doesn't want to care, because it hurts when you lose an animal. I've tried to talk to him about it, but he just clams up and says it isn't worth the heartache.
Carole, when we left, he had tears in his eyes. Something about seeing all of those beautiful animals, and knowing the story behind them, did something to him. I am glad that it did. He even asked me to get your email for him because he wants to write and thank you himself for the time you spent with us at the rescue. I am amazed at his reaction, he was really touched by the cats, and by the obviously fantastic care that they are getting. You have a new fan in him. I am really, really stumped by his reaction, but it's a good thing.
Anyway, I'm rambling and you are one busy lady, so I'll make it short and say again how thankful I am that you let us see your facility, the time you spent with us and allowing us to see those beautiful creatures. God bless you for what you have accomplished for the animals. Also, I'm glad you enlightened me about the "Tiger Ridge" situation. The newspapers here just print his side of the story and make it look like the government is riding roughshod over him, I never see anything that explains what is really going on, and unfortunately, from what I hear, public opinion is on his side, they don't know the whole story, and why the Ohio DNR or Dept. of Ag. doesn't say more in their defense puzzles me. I don't know the man, never met him, but I did talk to him on the phone over a year ago.
Mr. Grumbles had stopped eating, my vet checked him every way possible but couldn't find anything wrong with him. Another rehabber gave me the phone number to Tiger Ridge and suggested that I talk with him (I don't even know his name) about it because he was a big cat expert. He just told me what I already planned on doing.....I gave grumbles a live rooster that my neighbors needed to be rid of because he was so mean that he was dangerous around their young kids. It worked, but it took Grumbles several hours to get around to pouncing and making a kill, he just sat on one of his high perches and watched it, which was odd, usually, anything live is dead within seconds of being in his pen. He did start eating after that though.
Anyway, it seems the prevailing public opinion is this guy is a saint and the government is picking on him. I'm glad that you informed me otherwise. Carole, I think you are one in a million, I just can't get over what you've done, building up your rescue facility. I want to win the lottery just so I can give you all the money you could possibly need for whatever you might need it for for the cats.
Thank you for what you have done and are doing, the world needs more people like you, and we all (animal rehabbers and other animal workers) need to try and stamp out the selling of wild animals, whether it's a big cat or a parrot.....I will try to do my part. Indiana is the next closest state to me that still allows it, I'd like to shut them down. If ever I can be of help in any way let me know. Thank you so very, very much.............................Gina
Carole Baskin savethebigcats@gmail.com 7:53 AM (6 hours ago) wrote to Gina:
It was my great pleasure to meet a kindred spirit in you. Thank you for all you do and the kind words.
Feel free to give Brian my email address. I am not surprised by his reaction. It happens so often here that I've just concluded this place is magical and sacred. People come here, from all over, even those who don't like cats. They often tell me that they were aching over the loss of someone in their lives and felt compelled to this spot. They say it heals them.
Many have said they came here, not knowing why, but when they looked into the eyes of some cat here (and it's always a different cat) they saw God.
I can't take credit for any of that. I'm just fortunate to be in the company of so many old souls. I completed a video yesterday of cats living and long gone and called it Cats We Have Loved, but knew it was really a compilation of old souls.https://youtu.be/87aJgGqYsSk
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.
Tribute to Alex Tiger
What was I going to do now? The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources had told me they were going to seize Tony the tiger from the Tiger Truck Stop because the cat was held there illegally. I had flown out to Baton Rouge, and driven up to Grosse Tete to assess what our rescue team would need in the way of vehicle, transport and capture tools. It was 2009 and it had been illegal to keep a tiger in Iberville Parish since 1993, but the state had just passed a ban in 2008 and was now beginning to enforce it against those who had not willingly complied. Michael Sandlin, who had family ties in government, was quickly able to thwart the rescue attempt by obtaining an injunction. I didn’t know at the time that it would mean years of litigation against the owner of the truck stop, or that we would hire the first attorney to ever represent a tiger in court, but I did know that it meant I was done in Louisiana for the moment.
I had intended to ride back to Tampa with our rescue team, who was on standby, just waiting for my call. Now I was in this backwater town without a ticket home. As I was deciding what to do next, I got an email from Doll Stanley from In Defense of Animals. She was begging for help for the last three surviving big cats at Cougar Ridge, in Mississippi. Turns out the owner had left town with the last of the sanctuary’s funds to open a topless bar. The power had been turned off and the cats only got water or food when she could make the long trip. Of the 12 cats left behind to die, only three remained alive, Freckles the liger and 2 tigers named Cookie and Alex.
I know how slowly our courts work, so I figured it would be a while before Louisiana would be able to overturn the injunction on Tony the tiger, so I told Doll I’d drive over that day. By the time I got there, it was getting dark. I thought I must have the wrong address, because I was driving along a dirt ridge, that was in a densely populated neighborhood. When I came to the address, it was obvious that the house had been left unattended for a long time. There was a six foot, wooden fence around the property, which looked to be about a half acre.
I opened the gate, and thought instantly that maybe I shouldn’t have. I had no idea what lay on the other side of the fence. I only had the expectation that there would be some very hungry 500 pound carnivores somewhere inside. At that instant there was a loud bang to my left. I jumped out of my skin, and strained against the darkening sky to see what it was. Cookie Tiger had leapt against the chain link wall of her cage and had her paws over the top of her fence. It was clear that with just the slightest effort she could scale the fence, so I backed out quickly and latched the gate. I called the rescue team at Big Cat Rescue and told them we needed to find a larger transport trailer than what we owned, three rolling wagons, and sedation equipment because this was going to be a difficult mission.
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.
Jeff Lowe Kills Mediation Deal We Had With Joe Schreibvogel
Howie wrote this in a future email explaining the sequence of events to Louis Thereoux on 4/21/2021. The mediation had been on 11/2/2015.
The mediation lasted 12 hours. I asked for modest payments of $5000. If you do the math, that would never come to $1mm. But we just wanted there to be some financial penalty. Joe pointed out that his revenue was seasonal, more in good weather, less in winter when there were fewer visitors. So I was willing to accommodate him and adjust it to something like $7k in summer, $3k in winter. I'd have to look up the numbers, but you get the idea.
While we don't believe the other species like primates and bears should be used for petting for all the same reasons, I was willing to let him continue to do that if he stopped breeding big cats. A very big concession for us and very meaningful to him. I'd have to go back to the agreement to see what else he asked for that I agreed to. Contrary to Joe's claim on the phone recording, we did not ask for his mother's house as collateral. What we did ask for as collateral was her life estate in some Kansas farmland which we, along with the siblings, eventually inherited when she died.
At the end of the long day we had an agreement. The attorneys had written down the bullet points and all had signed off on those, and Joe and I shook hands. There was one minor legal point the attorneys were not agreeing on because Joe's counsel was insisting on a nonstandard way that should be done, but had push come to shove we could have lived with it. The next step was for our attorney to draft the full agreement based on the term sheet, and she and Joe's attorney to go back and forth as needed over the language. We drafted it, sent it, and heard nothing back from Joe's attorney day after day. So the Mediator, who was very good, organized the phone call 10 days later to find out the status and resolve any issues. The mediator expected we were on track, which was reasonable.
Then the phone call (11/12/2015). Joe's main motivation for being willing to mediate and reach an agreement was he was having trouble paying attorneys to continue the litigation. Clearly, Lowe told him not to honor the agreement, that Lowe would pay the legal fees. I think on the tape Joe says "I'm sitting next to a wallet" or something like that. Joe basically reneged on the agreement. The mediator was furious and later told Lowe's attorneys they were never to bring a matter before him for mediation again.
The statements on the recording about not being able to survive financially without cub petting are nonsense. If 98% of zoos can do fine without cub petting, Joe could have. Or the zoo could have, if run by someone competent instead of Joe. As for not affording the $5000/month, he could afford that if he were not paying thousands to have Danny and Vince do his stupid songs, and paying Hollywood magazine to put him on the cover, and buying cars and toys for Travis, etc.
There were Facebook posts about Joe meeting Lowe before this. But I think it is correct to say Lowe's first appearance relative to us and the lawsuits was at this conference call that was follow up to the mediation. The concessions were made at the mediation 10 days earlier. Probably every sentence Joe said during the recorded call was false. So, perhaps something like:
Lowe first appeared during a conference held ten days after a 12 hour mediation during which Howard made numerous concessions, including agreeing to modest monthly payments, in order to successfully reach an agreement on terms with Joe that was initialed by the parties and their counsel.
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.
How Babylon Got His Name
Photo of Jamie holding a Himalayan kitten when we lived at 11306 Castleberry Road, Odessa, FL
Today I responded to someone who was thanking me for advising them against buying hybrid cats.
Hi Christopher, Thank you for doing the research before falling victim to someone who would take your money and ruin your life and that of yet one more hapless hybrid. Getting to know the rescue groups for particular breeds is a great way to get the purr-sonality you are seeking without supporting those who breed to sell.
I've never found a hybrid rescue that I could recommend. I'm guessing it is because so few would be adoptable. That has been our experience with the few hybrids we have rescued over the years.
The bigger cats seem to always come with long coats and surprisingly, the cats best known for fetching, swimming and outrageously wonderful personalities are Himalayans. It is probably the Siamese in their backgrounds that make them so. Shelters end up with a lot of part Siamese, or part Himalayan, that would have shorter coats. I've had both over the years and have to admit that the added fun of a rambunctious cat, usually comes with a healthy heaping of shredding the environment. If you consider the trade off of a couch for a park bench, you may want to contact Himalayan or Siamese rescue groups.
We frequently have people contact us to unload their hybrid cats, but despite their claims that their cats are angels, you know they are dealing with habits they can't stand if they have resorted to a big cat sanctuary to offload them. We wouldn't want to be the middle man in such transactions, because it is so rare for the hybrid cats to not spray.
If I might be allowed to offer a little woo woo advice, that has always worked for me: Every morning, first thing when you wake up, picture yourself and that perfect cat companion. See yourselves doing the fun things together that you imagine. That cat will wander into your life when you least expect it. You will know each other at first glance. I have such a soulmate.
Babylon was dumped at our front gate, in a pet carrier, at the edge of death from a blockage. I suspect his owner couldn't afford the vet costs, nor the expensive diet he requires. He's a black and white tuxedo cat, but clearly has Siamese genes due to his loud and continuous vocalizations. He got his name because the first time I saw him I exclaimed, out loud, "I haven't seen you since Babylon!"
Good luck to you and the cat who is looking for you now.
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.
UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School’s online MBA program
Hi Carole,
In November MBA@UNC, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School’s online MBA program, is launching a new article series called “7 Business Women Who are Leading the Nonprofit World” and we would love for you to take part.
We know that women who run nonprofits are doing tremendous amounts of good and are not traditionally recognized for the incredibly hard work they do every day. We want to highlight your nonprofit’s efforts and provide a call to action for others to get involved in the important work you are doing. All we would need from you is time to answer a couple of questions via email, if that’s the most convenient mode of communication for you. Once the story is published we will share it with top media outlets, various websites, and through our own social media.
Are you interested in participating in this project? We would love to be able to feature Big Cat Rescue. I look forward to working with you soon and appreciate your help.
Molly Greenberg
Community Relations Manager ▪ MBA@UNC ▪ UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School
What is your role? CEO
What is your company’s mission?
Caring for big cats and ending the trade in them as pets, props and for their parts.
What inspired you to start your business?
A bobcat named Windsong was being sold at auction and the bidder was a taxidermist. I didn't know what I'd do with her, but she wasn't going to become a den decoration.
What drives you to do what you do every day?
Big cats belong in the wild and are vital to our planet's health. The only way to save cats in the wild is to first end the exploitation of them in captivity. If the only place you could ever see a tiger is in the wild, then you will be more inclined to save wild places for wild creatures to thrive.
Who are your role models?
Alan Rabinowitz, Wayne Pacelle, Mike Markarian, and many others who are dedicating their lives to ending animal abuse.
Are donations more plentiful leading up to Thanksgiving?
Could you provide any stats? We have never ranked donations by seasons, but we do see a marked increase in visitors during the winter, as it is cooler here in Florida.
What CTA would you like us to share with our audience?
Please call your member of congress and ask them to champion the Big Cat Public Safety Act (HR 3546) This bill bans the private possession of big cats.
Education
How did your education play a role in transforming your business idea into a reality?
I only have a 10th grade education and there was nothing in my schooling that prepared me to save big cats nor raise the millions of dollars each year that are necessary to care for them and pursue the mission of ending the trade.
Do you think entrepreneurship can be taught or is it an innate skill set?
I come from a long line of entrepreneurs, on both sides of the family, so I really don't know. I believe that you can learn anything you set your mind to, and it isn't rocket science. The blueprint for success, is to give enough people what they want, in order to get what you want. I want people to end the trade in exotic cats. I tell them the stories of abuse, I share photos & videos of these magnificent animals, I show people the light at the end of the tunnel, and appeal to their inner desire to make a difference.
As one of MBA@UNC’s core values is leadership, what are you looking for in the next generation of female leaders?
98% of our workforce at Big Cat Rescue are female (or are clearly in touch with their feminine side). I believe more than 70% of our supporters to be female, but that is harder to quantify. I think the next generation of leaders will be female because of changing attitudes toward women and their roles.
Challenges and Rewards
What is the most difficult part and most rewarding part of leading a nonprofit?
The most difficult part of leading a non profit is getting people to take action. It's easy to get them to like or share a post, but getting them to get off the couch and make an appointment to talk to their member of congress, or even to make a 2 minute call, takes far more coercing than it should.
The most rewarding part of leading a non profit is knowing that I made the world a little kinder place toward wild cats by encouraging others to band together as a single voice for the voiceless.
What challenges do nonprofits encounter that other businesses do not?
Non profits sell satisfaction. For profits have a wider array of things to sell. If the only thing I can give someone is the satisfaction of knowing they did something good, then I have to get them to do something good (for the cats) first.
In your opinion, is launching a business more difficult for women?
I started investing in real estate when I was 19. That was in 1980. Back then I printed up business cards that said I worked for C. Stairs (my maiden name was Carole Stairs) and I was only able to transact business with bankers, loan officers, government officials, etc. because I held myself out as the secretary for C. Stairs. That fictional character became so well known in the five county area where I invested, that when I married everyone assumed that my new husband was Mr. Stairs.
Today I don't think the playing field is so lopsided as it was back then, but I do think it can be somewhat more challenging for a woman to start a business. There is still that expectation that she will want to make a baby and will lose sight of her business goals.
Advice
What advice do you have for women interested in launching their own business?
Stick to the knitting. Figure out what you can do better than anyone else and then do it better than anyone else.
What entrepreneurial skills (soft and hard) do women need to be successful in business?
The Entrepreneurial Cat is a great little book by Mary Hessler Key and is quite literally all you need to know about being a successful entrepreneur. It's the application of entrepreneurial skills that separate those who know from those who do. Every day you should be taking steps toward your goal.
What is one thing you wish you knew before starting your own company?
Managing people is the hardest part of running a for profit or a non profit. If I had known how important it is to have "people skills" I might have spent more time with people and less time with cats.
Women in Leadership
In your opinion, do you think there is a lack of female representation in nonprofit leadership roles?
In the animal sanctuary world there are more women in leadership roles than men but I think that is because women see animal issues as more worthy of their time and efforts. As for animal welfare organizations, it is surprising to me that so many are led by men.
What are you doing to encourage more women to go after leadership roles?
Big Cat Rescue offers a constant stream of training to our volunteers, interns and staff which prepares them for sanctuary work any where in the world. Our intern program attracts as many as 22 interns for each 3 month session. They come from all over the world and take our training and philosophy toward animals to every corner of the globe. Our people train the newcomers, lead projects, and guide tours with the public. They work with visitors to get them to call their members of congress, or other decision makers, in order to make the world a better place. Those skills prepare them for a wide array of leadership roles.
The Future
Where do you see your industry in five years?
Our bill to end the private possession of big cats in America has tremendous momentum and I expect it will pass this session. People who have big cats can keep them, but after the bill becomes law they can't buy, breed nor acquire more.
The cats in backyards and basements will die out of old age over the next 10 years or so. That cycle of cruelty will finally have ended. It is the rampant breeding, using cubs as pay to play props, and then discarding or warehousing them, that creates a legal smokescreen for illegal activities such as poaching and trading in tiger bones, teeth, claws, etc.
Meanwhile, once the domestic trade is banned, we can take serious strides toward protecting big cats in the wild.
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.
Blood Lions
Blood Lions ran on MSNBC last night in our area at 10pm, which is after my bedtime, so I taped and watched it this morning. I cried throughout, for the suffering of these lions, but by the end I was weeping. I couldn’t even speak without crying uncontrollably. Howie had taken Jamie and Justin to the airport at 5:30 am for their trip to be honored at the Snow Leopard Trust’s celebration event, so he came in to the last 10 minutes of the film. He held me, not knowing what to say, and I was crying so hard that I had a hard time letting him know why I was so emotional.
Of course I was crying over the brutal way big cats are bred constantly, only to have their cubs ripped away at a few days of age, to be passed around as playthings to ignorant patrons, and then warehoused in abysmal conditions until it is their turn to be trotted out in front of an evil excuse for a human, to be used as a living target. That would make anyone with a soul cry.
The weeping however was the kind of emotional release that you see in a nation that comes to the end of a long and bloody war. It is the combination of grieving for those who’s lives were lost, for those who’s lives will be forever impaired and the relief that the suffering is winding down.
When Howie first came to help the sanctuary in 2003 he began working on ways for Big Cat Rescue to become financially self sustaining so that I, and later he, could work on the issues that will end the abuse. This was the first year the sanctuary broke even, which meant I could divert some of the time I spent growing our real estate business to support the cats, into ending the abuse at its root.
In 2003 the root cause of so much abuse appeared to be breeding cubs to be used in canned hunts. I’d seen such a situation in Texas 6 or 7 years prior, where a legal hunting ranch for discarded zoo hoof stock, also had rows of cages of big cats. The cages were tiny jail cells where the cats paced and frothed at the mouth. I asked the owner why he had them and he gave me a sinister smile and said, “They are my pets.” Back in the 90’s I’d never heard the term “canned hunt” and was only just learning that people all over the country kept big cats in back yard cages. I didn’t like what was being done to the zoo hoof stock, but had my own worries in making sure we had eliminated the use of wild cats on fur farms in the United States.
Feeling pretty sure that no bobcats or lynx were being bred on U.S. fur farms any more by 2003, I directed my attention to ending the use of exotic cats in the canned hunting industry. Over the years I’d had people tell me similar stories to mine; where they or their husbands had been to a legal game farm, but had seen big cats in tiny cages too. Some even were reported to have tags in their ears for easy identification by the proprietors and the “hunters” who would pick the cat they wanted to shoot in a fenced area or a cage. Not knowing quite where to start, business people tend to do what they know. In our case, Howie and I turned to the Chamber of Commerce.
They directed us to the National Chamber, who directed us to state agencies and state legislators, who directed us to congressional leaders. Not only did NO ONE want to talk about this, but worse they insisted it wasn’t their problem, but rather was that of the people higher up the food chain. We’ve spent 12 years going up and down that chain, and bringing in everyone we could think of who might have influence. It’s been a grueling and frustrating experience and has been made nearly unbearable due to the apathy of most people who could do something about it, if they cared. They have time to fret and fuss over each other’s party issues, but can’t spend 10 minutes to hear about something they could fix that would end so much misery and help protect our natural resources.
A turning point came when Cecil the lion was killed by a dentist from the U.S. on a hunting safari in South Africa. When people learned that this easy going lion, who everyone knew by name, had been baited out of a protected area to be shot on private land, THEY CARED.
Within weeks, a documentary called Blood Lions, aired. (It had been in the works since 1998) When I saw it today I was sure that anyone, with any sense of justice, who sees it will care. I can see the light at the end of the dark and dreary tunnel. I believe people will be outraged that our political representatives have allowed this to continue to this day, not only in foreign countries, but on our own soil. The most pertinent question the film makers kept asking is, “Where are all of these cubs going?”
Here in the U.S., most notably in Florida and Texas, canned hunting ranches abound. There is no excuse for that sort of cruelty, but the mere presence of big cats on those properties should be clear evidence that illegal hunting is happening there too. The more easily exposed abuse is that of cubs being bred for pay to play schemes. There is no legitimate place for those cubs to go as soon as they are 12 weeks old, and have teeth and jaw strength capable of biting to the bone. The people who use them for photo ops, swimming with the tigers and pay to play booths, always insist that the older cubs go to wonderful sanctuaries in the end, but there are only a handful of wonderful sanctuaries, and they don’t accept cast offs where the owners continue to breed and discard, so WHERE ARE ALL THOSE CUBS GOING?
In Blood Lions they discovered that all of the places in Africa, that say they send their cubs back to the wild, or to sanctuaries or non kill parks, were lying. Is it any stretch of the imagination to think that people who are heartless enough to breed lions, tigers and ligers, only to pimp them out, would discard them to any place that would take them; regardless of how horrific that end use might be? The breeders and dealers are the only ones proclaiming, even more loudly than our government, that where these big cats end up, isn’t their problem. I think our politicians and our federal and state agencies are about to find out that people DO care and they will be expected to turn their backs on the donations and kickbacks offered by hunters and exploiters.
Perhaps, one of the biggest forms of relief came from the exposure of the fact that NONE of the places that allow a person to have contact with an exotic cat, or their cubs, are part of the solution and rather that they are ALL part of the problem. So many young men and women have been duped into supporting these canned hunts, by bottle feeding baby lions, tigers and ligers or by keeping them accustomed to people, so that they are later easy targets. No one who really loves animals would ever be a part of these schemes. I believe Blood Lions will drastically reduce the income generated by the public paying to have such experiences and will eliminate the free labor. Would I be asking too much to hope that all of those people, who are now educated by Blood Lions, will become outspoken advocates to end the entire canned hunting industry?
We can end it in our country. We can’t be taken seriously by other countries until we clean up our own mess. We can start by ending the private possession of wild cats. There is a bill before Congress right now that will do that. Ask your member of Congress to champion the Big Cat Public Safety Act We make it easy at BigCatAct.com
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.
Robert Moor, a writer for GQ, interviewed Howie and I today for a story he’s doing on Joe Schreibvogel. I have low expectations that he will expose Joe for the liar he is, but I answered his questions; even though it was weird to talk about Don and my past in front of Howie. I hadn’t thought about a lot of the things he asked, which are all the animal abusers can ever talk about. What about the septic tank, what about the meat grinder, what about the restraining order… He apologized for the nature of the questions, insisting that he’s just trying to refute the trash that Joe and his kind vomit in front of anyone who will listen. He kept trying to get me to say that I was hurt by the accusations, but I told him I’m not. I know their motivations and I know the truth. I told him that it is just an annoyance to have to keep going back to that sad part of my life with every new reporter the bad guys latch onto. Reading Future Crimes 187.8 Today. Began 7/14/15 at 197 lbs after being a vegetarian for 17 years. Measurements 45-37.5-45 Body fat 40.4 BMI 29.5 Reading Future Crimes by Marc Goodman and it is keeping me up at night. The future is a very scary place but there is so much we can do if we can control the criminal element. 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.
Murder Suicide Threat
So it’s the day after Joe Schriebvogel’s count down on Facebook for the last week to his “murder - suicide” starring me, I’m still alive and fear he probably is too.
Big Cat Public Safety Act is re-introduced in the House as HR 3546
I feel like I’ve been holding my breath for 8 months and 17 days and 16 hours. The bill has FINALLY been reintroduced, so we can begin ramping up efforts to end the trade in big cats in the U.S.
I’ve been sending a post card to every member of the House for the past 7 weeks and plan to send a postcard every week until the bill passes. I’ve had a lot of material to use as it seems like every week there is a new killing, mauling or escape.
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.
My presentation to the FWC drew deafening applause from the crowd. This was the testimony I offered to the Florida Wildlife Commission in an unsuccessful effort to protect the Florida Panther. My name is Carole Baskin and I am the founder and CEO of Big Cat Rescue. I urge you to discard your plan to undermine the Florida Panther recovery program and instead to fully support your partners who are working to protect our state's most treasured icon. I've been coming to these meetings for 20 years urging you to ban the private possession of wild animals. I participate, at considerable peril to my family and self by those who seek to use wild animals, because I love this state. Florida is the top travel destination in the world, generating in excess of 67 billion dollars annually. Tourists come here to enjoy our sunshine, beaches and natural resources so it is in the best interest of the state to protect our wildlife. It is as simple as supply and demand. For the Florida Panther to thrive they have to eat. The amount of land necessary to support a viable population is dependant directly upon the availability of food. No person in Florida HAS to hunt to survive, but the Florida Panther does. The very first thing the Florida Wildlife Commission should do is prohibit hunting in existing and potential panther habitat. The very next thing that needs to be done is to ban the private possession of wild animals in Florida. Failure to do so has wreaked havoc on our state. Escaped and released pythons have sucked virtually every other living species out of the Everglades. Opening a hunt on them, while exotic animals are still openly traded in Florida is ridiculous, at best. If you just took those two steps, the Florida Panther would begin to recover, as would all other wildlife that would benefit from the protection given the panther. If hikers didn't have to worry about being shot by hunters you could charge for access to natural areas that would far exceed what you can make by selling permits to maim and kill our state's wildlife. Only 3% of our population are hunters, and yet they seem to be the only stakeholders that matter to this commission. In all the meetings I've attended, it has been loathsome to have to listen to this commission, spend the vast majority of their time, trying to devise more ways, to sell more permits, to maim and kill more animals. If you went home today to find that your child tortured and killed the family pet, you would probably worry that they are on their way to becoming a criminal. And yet, when adults do it under the banner of "hunting" or worse "sportsmanship" it has some perverse sanctity...at least in the minds of other hunters. Cecil the lion's death raised awareness about the entire hunting industry and the public outcry makes it clear that it is time to set aside the brutality and work together to protect our wildlife. 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.
Fate of the Florida Panther and Murder Suicide Threat Howie, Jen Leon and I are driving to Ft. Lauderdale today for the FWC meeting tomorrow about the fate of the Florida Panther. I wrote Barry an old school chum from the days of Florida College Academy: “I’m presenting in Ft Lauderdale to the FWC on the Florida Panther but will compare calendars when I get back Thursday. Had to hire off duty cops as body guards both here and in Tampa as one of the crazies has threatened a murder suicide, starring me, tomorrow. I just don't know if he's planning to try and catch me at the FWC meeting or if he's planning to cause trouble at the sanctuary, knowing Howie and/or I'll be here. I just heard that Scott Smith’s in BAD health, so make that call sooner than 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.
Law Enforcement
Today I wrote this to our volunteers and added it to the Vox automated tour:
Big Cat Rescue gets no funding from the government, but often steps in to help government agencies.
When states pass laws to ban the private possession of big cats, they always include a grandfather clause that allows the people who have big cats to keep them, but doesn't allow them to buy or breed more. There is usually a requirement that people register their big cats with the state, when such a law is passed, so that the state knows if the person is compliant.
When people refuse to comply with new laws the state will sometimes seize the animals, if they think the public is at risk. That often results in years of legal battles between the state and the lawbreakers who use wild animals in their money making schemes.
State law enforcement agencies are not equipped to provide years of care to animals that can cost thousands of dollars per year in food and vet care alone. That's when they call on Big Cat Rescue.
We will provide the best care and environment the cats have ever known, during the long court cases, and we do it for free. Once the state wins, the cats are relinquished to our permanent care by the state that seized them.
Sometimes we cannot tell you the name or the horrific stories of abuse that these animals have suffered until after the last appeals court has ruled in favor of the state.
For the protection of the cats, from the criminals who would often, rather see them dead than living the good life at Big Cat Rescue, we must ask that you not take photos, videos or talk about some specific animals if your guide indicates that they are in the Big Cat Witness Protection Program.
Weight: 194 lbs. Measurements 45.5 38.5 45.5 Body fat 40.8 BMI 30.4 (first reading)
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.
I have that sick, acid feeling in the pit of my stomach
A rescue is underway and the anticipation and concern for the safe travels of the animals kept me from sleeping last night and from concentrating today. On July 31, 2015 Bobbi Brink wrote:
Hi Carole, Just wondering if you have any space for Tigers out of Ohio I can transport to you? - Bobbi Brink. Founder Director. Lions Tigers & Bears. "Where Every Life Counts"
www.lionstigersandbears.org 619-659-8078
I responded by saying: We do have space and can provide transport via Loving Friends as long as the cats are confiscations, or the owner will contract with us to never possess wild cats again.
A year earlier, on Oct. 24, 2014 Bobbie had asked if we would join her in writing the Gov. of OH about Tiger Ridge/ Kenny Hetrick because Kenny Hetrick, owner of Tiger Ridge Exotics, a backyard menagerie in Ohio said, "The only thing I know to do is have my veterinarian come out here and put everybody to sleep end it right here." We went a step further and set up an alert driving thousands of people to write the state of OH.
Dear Friends, Kenny Hetrick is the owner of six tigers, two lions, a liger, black leopard, Kodiak bear and a hybrid wolf in Ohio. He was served a ten day notice to relinquish his animals or have them seized by the state and face criminal charges. Hetrick has deliberately refused to comply with new laws enacted through Ohio SB 310, the Ohio Dangerous Wild Animals Act, which require private owners to register their animals, obtain permits and insurance and meet certain caging standards. He has had two years, but he waits until now when he is on the verge of losing his animals to begin to take action -we're saying "enough is enough"! It is time to do the best thing for his animals and get them to a reputable sanctuary where they can receive the care they need. Lions, Tigers & Bears is even willing to help! We have offered to provide medical care and a one-way ticket in the LTB Rescue Hauler to reputable sanctuaries. We have even found sanctuaries who have agreed to take his animals. It is now up to him to agree to accept this help.
Today I am writing you to ask a favor. Will you please write a letter to the Governor of Ohio, John Kasich, and the Director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture, David T. Daniels, asking that they enforce Ohio SB 310 by securing Hetrick's animals immediately and ensure no harm comes to them before they can be rehomed to reputable sanctuaries? A sample letter template is below. All letters need to be submitted by 5:00 pm CST on Tuesday, October 28th, 2014.
Media reports are referring to Tiger Ridge Exotics as a sanctuary. Hetrick's facility is not a sanctuary. A true sanctuary does not buy, sell, breed or exploit their animals. A sanctuary is "a place of safety, a safe haven." Hetrick has had dozens of USDA violations cited against his facility. Hetrick has deliberately defied the law for the past two years and has threatened to kill his animals rather than see them taken off the property.
We need to tell Governor Kasich and Director Daniels that Hetrick's time is up and it is now time to do what is best for these animals and ensure the public's safety. Enforce the law, secure this facility and get these animals to a lifetime home at a proper sanctuary immediately.
A letter is always more powerful and effective if it is written in your own words. If you have the time, please feel free to use the sample letter as a guideline for your own letter. Whether you submit your own letter or use the sample letter template, we want Governor Kasich and Director Daniels to know where we stand. Thank you for your support and concern for the welfare of these innocent animals. - Bobbi Brink, Founder/Director Lions, Tigers & Bears
So 3 weeks go by and I don’t hear anything from Bobbi, and then she texts me on Aug 21, 2015 and says the three tigers from OH that she was taking to Shambala, near her in CA, has reneged on the agreement to take them.
I told Bobbi that I had been keeping in contact with the state of OH and let them know we could take all the smaller cats they seize and some larger, but had not heard anything. Apparently Bobbi had stayed focused on getting the cats, bears and wolves out and now she had 3 tigers and a leopard with no place to go. I talked with Jamie and Howie and told her we would take all four. Our last rescue was August a year ago, other than the bobcat rehab work.
That was on a Friday, after close of business, and then Bobbi tells me she has to leave OH with the trailer load of animals by Thursday. That set into motion a whirlwind of activity on this end because I have to get an import permit from the FWC and the person who does that is named Angela Wylie. It’s no coincidence that the director of the FWC is Nick Wylie, who now seems to have it in for me. I’ve been coming after him on the bear hunting issue and am ALL OVER HIM about his desire to open season on Florida Panthers as well. I’m just lucky that he isn’t having his inspectors harass us on a daily basis; and now I need him to issue an import permit for 3 tigers and a leopard.
The good news is that my former inspector, who has just had it with the state hiding the cruel activities of some of the states’ most outrageous animal dealers, has been promoted to a position whereby he manages to get my permit application issued by someone other than the Wylies. No one could do that until Monday, so the weekend had been lost in a haze of me worrying about it.
Because the state of OH is deep in litigation with the exploiter who owned these animals, they say we cannot talk about the rescue, cannot take photos and cannot video them, as it makes all of that information “discoverable” in a trial. Frankly, I’d just love to be called as a witness in this case, but I agree to their terms. It destroys our fund raising capacity as people don’t care about supporting big cats; they just want to rescue them and then flit off to the next rescue.
The FWC holds us to rules and standards that they do not hold others to, but that is the price of being the leader against the abuses they condone. One of the things they made me do was to agree, on the import permit, to escort Bobbi and the cats to Big Cat Rescue from the FL/ GA border and back again. So now I’m sitting by my phone waiting for Bobbi to tell me that she is underway so that I can decide if I want to drive up to the border and spend the night, or if I want to drive up in the wee hours of the morning. I’m packed, either way. Just waiting, waiting, waiting…
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.
18 years since Don walked out the door
Today came and went without much more impact than me being a little more irritable than usual. Speaking of which, I just figured out a way to make my keyboard less noisy by putting a folded pillow case between it and the typing tray. Why didn’t I think of that 20 years ago?
It’s been 18 years since Don walked out the door that fateful morning on Aug 18, 1997 and until now there has been this looming sense of dread in the days leading up to that anniversary. I can’t quite pin point why, either. I think about it often…too often, maybe, so it isn’t like the anniversary comes with some hugely increased pondering of the events. At any rate, I am glad that this year was finally one that nearly passed without even noting the day. Maybe that is a good sign of things to come. If I haven’t been able to figure out what happened by now, the chances are I never will.
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.
I’m Way Too Fat
47-39-46 and 193 pounds. I ordered a book called No Fail Fat Burning For Women by Skye. She said that I should be looking at my body size and fat ratios, more than weight and that makes sense, as muscle weighs more than fat. I feel so much better on the Bulletproof diet, so I’d like to stick with it, if I can see some benefits in the way I am shaped. I already have amazing hair, skin and nails, from the Oligo vitamin packs I take twice a day, but I look like a whale. I like whales, but don’t like being one.
I’ve tried everything and have been a vegetarian now for 17 years. Eating animal proteins really go against my sense of fairness, and the notion that all of them that I eat were grass fed, cage free, etc., does little to overcome my great sense of cruelty in being responsible for their deaths. I may not get the full benefit of the Bulletproof diet, which I started on July 14, because I try to limit the amount of meat and substitute a LOT of broccoli, but it helps with preserving my conscience.
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.
Email to Chris Wilson, developer of the TigerSelfieApp
Since the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was in the news yesterday, I didn't want to wait for our creatives to come up with messaging, so I took your ideas and turned them into this page: http://bigcatrescue.org/selfie Our creatives can tweak the message to help it gain steam. Happy for your input as well. I then added the graphic to the side bar of our website to start pulling in traffic for the app. Our website had 2.8 million unique visitors in the past year, so hopefully a number of them will click on the link.
I also added the call to action on the main page of our site and on two of the popular pages about Cecil the lion at: http://bigcatrescue.org/cecil-lion/ and http://bigcatrescue.org/cecil-the-lion-an-agent-of-change/ Today I will be sending out postcards to members of Congress, asking them to support our bill, but will use the Tiger Selfie Challenge as the image, so that when they start seeing it, they will notice it.
I will be posting Cecil stories on Examiner and Medium next, but because of the tie in, of 99% of lions shot as trophies starting out as cubs born in cages for photo ops, I can work in that call to make the Tiger Selfie Challenge in those articles, and then still come back a week later with the article just about the app. I also picked up the URL Tiger Selfie Challenge since I think people might search that phrase. I pointed it to BigCatRescue.org/selfie where all of the links then go to your app in iTunes.
I created a Facebook ad to run for $1000 targeting English speakers who list cats (and wild cats species, nature, wildlife, etc) in their interests lists. FB says that based on this criteria, only about $350 will be spent in the next month, but I want to get the big cat enthusiasts onboard first and then could open up the demographics to a larger audience. I'll give One Green Planet the go ahead to re purpose my article to their 5 million readers. I think they will run w/ it. I'll keep you posted. For the cats, Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
I also sent it to reporters for Huffington Post, the Dodo, Tigers4Tigers and Jane Velez-Mitchell.
I sent this FB message to the 52 most influential people I know there: Would you help protect lions like Cecil by taking the Tiger Selfie Challenge? It’s a fast, fun, easy app that enables you to post your selfies that turn into a message about why posing with lion, tiger or liger cubs is always Cruel NOT cool. http://bigcatrescue.org/selfie/
I also sent it to our lobbyist, Carson Barylak at IFAW, GFAS, Bruce Perlowin, Keepers of the Wild, the conference members from the Big Cat Workshop. Mike Markarian said he would check it out. I asked him to promote to HSUS. Searched the term #TigerSelfie on Twitter all the way back to Nov 2014 and DM’d each with: Take the Tiger Selfie Challenge to protect lions like Cecil and tigers. http://bigcatrescue.org/selfie/ #TigerSelfie
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.
BIG CAT PUBLIC SAFETY ACT RE-INTRODUCED – NEED YOUR HELP!
Congress operates in two year sessions. At the end of each session, any bills that did not get signed into law “die” and have to be re-introduced in the next session. Once a bill is introduced, legislators can “co-sponsor” the bill by calling the legislator who introduced it. The co-sponsor names are published online. Being a co-sponsor shows support and basically means you are going to vote for the bill if it comes to the floor of the House or Senate for a vote.
We are part of a coalition of animal welfare groups that in February 2012 introduced a federal bill to ban private breeding and ownership of big cats with limited exemptions. The bill would put an end to the rampant breeding of cubs for petting and tens of thousands of big cats living in miserable conditions in back yards and roadside zoos like those pictured here. INSERT A FEW PHOTOS FROM THE HOW BIG CATS LIVE DOCUMENT
In the ten months we had left in the 2011-12 session we got up to 60 cosponsors in the House, which was great. We re-introduced the bill in 2013 and by the end of the 2013-14 session we were up to 119 cosponsors out of the 435 members of the House, more than 25%!
At the end of 2014 our primary Republican sponsor retired. So in 2015 we have been working on finding a suitable new main Republican sponsor to join our Democratic main sponsor Loretta Sanchez of California. At this writing we have a great new Republican main sponsor in the House who has not yet been announced and we are working on lining up what are called “initial cosponsors” whose names are submitted at the same time the bill is “dropped” or “introduced.” In the Senate, our past champion Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut will be re-introducing the bill.
By the time you read this, or shortly after, we expect the bill to have been introduced and have bill numbers in both the House and Senate. Then, what we need is your help in urging your Representatives in the House and your Senators to co-sponsor the bill.
When you get this, please check the status of the bill at www.StopBigCatAbuse.com. If it has been introduced, right there you can send an email to your legislators urging them to co-sponsor. You CAN play a meaningful role in stopping the abuse by helping pass this bill – but it is critical that your legislators know you care!
In addition to sending the email, even more effective is to also make a phone call to the legislator’s office staff person who handles animal welfare issues. For a sheet of simple tips for making a very brief, simple call, email Howard Baskin. Thanks! Written by Howard Baskin for the Fall Big Cat Times.
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.
Email to Mike Di Paola re an article he is writing for HSUS Magazine.
I just added this to the top of our page on our evolution to try and sum it up:
Animal abusers hate us because we are the leading sanctuary dedicated to ending the abuse at its root by banning the private possession of exotic cats. These big cat abusers make up lies or twist the truth to make people think that we breed, buy, sell and allow public contact (just like they still do).
We never bred lions or tigers. Our first kitten was born in 1994 and we stopped breeding in 1997. There were a couple of accidents, from old cats and hybrids we didn’t think were fertile, but the very last cat born here was a leopard cat in 2001. His parents were both in their late teens and thought to be too old to breed. As of 2015 we have rescued more than 200 exotic cats. We have 13 who were born here.
We stopped allowing public contact in 2003. We had only allowed public contact to show people, who thought they wanted a wild cat as a pet, that all the cat wants to do is pee on you. The sharing of those photos online didn’t get across that same message, so we stopped it. We stopped allowing our staff to touch the cats in 2004 because it is dangerous and sends a bad message. Sadly, many sanctuaries that are otherwise pretty good, still like to show off that way and we think it hurts our efforts to stop public contact.
They also would like to know more details about your transformation from exotic pet breeder to big-cat rescuer. I've read this, but I confess I'm a little unclear as to how it played out. Was it a single event or a gradual awakening? (give details if you can)
There were two major turning points.
Circa 1995 my late husband, Don and I were at a wild animal auction and I recognized one of the lynx being sold as being one that we had previously owned. He had been one of the rescued fur farm kittens that we had placed in a pet home. I had told everyone that if their kitten didn't work out to bring them back. Most did, but this cat somehow ended up at an auction where taxidermists were likely to end up with him. We brought him home that day, but it was one of those moments where the light came on in my head and said, "others are not committed to lifetime care of these cats, so you can't trust people who say they will always love the animal or bring them back."
When my husband would go out of town, I would neuter as many of our male cats as I could get done quietly. Spays would be obvious, but he didn't notice the males being fixed. The good that came of it was that he was frustrated that the cats weren't breeding, so I was able to convince him that they needed better food, more space and more privacy.
The second turning point was after Don left in Aug 1997 when I could openly spay, neuter and separate the cats to stop the breeding.
There was a third turning point was circa 2000 when walking alone through the sanctuary, I passed by Nini an ex circus tiger and, as clear as day, heard her say, "We don't belong in cages."
I'd been working on the Captive Wildlife Safety Act since 1999 and before that on pig gestation crates in FL, but Nini's voice was so powerful and just stopped me dead in my tracks.
Trying to end the abuse wasn't enough. I HAD TO END THE ABUSE because magnificent creatures like her were suffering in prison cells and it wasn't going to end until the laws were changed.
The sanctuary had never even broken even, and had to be funded by my real estate business up until 2003, but as early as 2000 or so I knew that we had to turn around our finances so that I could focus on the legislative issues that would end the abuse once and for all. Thankfully, I met my current husband, a Harvard MBA in late 2002 and he was able to lead us into an era of financial stability, so that we could pursue the most important part of our mission, which is to End The Trade.
I'm sorry if there are typos. I am running out the door.
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.
Dealing with Mobile Home Permits
Photo: Underpass at Linebaugh was flooded, so I had to go the long way to work on my bike.
Yesterday, while walking around the sanctuary with my mother she told me that the little old bitty who lives near my lot on Valimar had thrown a fit that we were putting a used DCA mobile home on the lot rather than building a new house that would increase her property value. She threatened to burn it down if we proceeded and later in the day somehow managed to get code enforcement to come out for the second time, and halt our progress with no reason given.
The permit expert, Laura, had been told by the county that they didn’t have to answer any of her questions about why our permit had been revoked. My mother asked if I wanted to give in and build a new house there or fight it…Not too hard to guess which way that conversation went.
So today I wrote Marty Williams, of AAA Manufactured Housing:
Dear Marty, I'd like to go with Laura to let Jim know that I own properties in Pasco County and as a developer of vacant lots I add hundreds of thousands of dollars of value to their tax rolls?
And as founder of Big Cat Rescue we have 78,000 supporters in Florida who aren't going to be happy if we are being treated unfairly?
And as a litigant have recently been awarded a 1.2 million dollar judgement against a defendant who thought he would try to play unfairly with me?
What is the exact time, address and suite number for Jim?
9 minutes later Marty wrote:
Carole as of 8:15 this morning, Laura with GTS installers & permitting told me county has released the permit for Valimar so we start again I think county had their meeting and knew they had no right to stop work on this permit just because someone did not like that you were putting a pre-owned home there, I will email you the permit
Big Cat Rescue Entrepreneurial Audit
Jaclyn Gutierrez & Josh Cooper ENT6930
Introduction
One of the main staples of Corporate Entrepreneurship at the University of Florida involves performing an entrepreneurial audit. This audit is to be performed by a team of graduate students (Jaclyn Gutierrez and Josh Cooper) by the permission of the executive team of Big Cat Rescue. The purpose of the entrepreneurial audit is to measure the frequency and intensity of entrepreneurship being performed at the company. In addition, it highlights ways the company can incite increased innovation and entrepreneurial action through their employees. Howard and Carole Baskin gave a wonderful tour of the Big Cat Rescue campus and allowed themselves as well as others a part of their team to be interviewed.
To begin it is very important to understand the concept of entrepreneurship and corporate entrepreneurship in the context it is being discussed in the class. Entrepreneurship has many different definitions, but the majority of them include the same elements. They way we define entrepreneurship in the course is “the process of creating value by bringing together a unique combination of resources to exploit an opportunity” (Morris). On the other hand, corporate entrepreneurship holds many names including, “organizational entrepreneur,” “intrapreneurship,” and “corporate venturing.”(Morris) By examining the definition of entrepreneurship above it becomes clear that entrepreneurship is not specified by organizational context. As a result, “Corporate entrepreneurship is a term used to describe entrepreneurial behavior inside established mid-sized and large organizations” (Morris). Thus corporate entrepreneurship relies on management and employees to innovate in every facet of the business. Such entrepreneurship is paramount to helping companies that hope to establish a sustainable competitive advantage in the market.
The entrepreneurial audit aims to engage Big Cat Rescue in reflection of the entrepreneurial mindset present at the company. The audit hopes to measure this presence in Big Cat Rescue as well as in the employees. In the interest of the audit’s purpose, entrepreneurship must be quantified in a manner that enables Big Cat Rescue to decipher the amount of entrepreneurship present in their company as well as compared to other nonprofits similar to them.
This entrepreneurial audit of Big Cat Rescue will target aspects inside of the company that foster entrepreneurship. The aspects inside of Big Cat Rescue that will be evaluated are strategy, and culture.
Background
Big Cat Rescue is an animal sanctuary located in Tampa, Florida committed to the rescue and rehabilitation of big cats. The sanctuary is the largest in the United States serving specifically to big cats and is staunch on ending the private trade and ownership of big cats. The nonprofit has evolved overtime and started when the founder Carole Baskin rescued numerous bobcat kittens from a fur farm. Originally, the company bred and sold some big cats early on, but shifted focus once Carole Baskin came to the realization that big cats should not be pets nor bred in captivity. As a result, Big Cat Rescue became determined to outlaw the private trade and ownership of Big Cats in the United States through legislation. Pushing legislation has become a main focus for Big Cat Rescue and they engage their visitors to become active in joining their efforts.
Strategy
Entrepreneurship in strategy is key for companies that hope to stay ahead of their competition. An entrepreneurial strategy is defined in the course as “a vision-directed, organization-wide reliance on entrepreneurial behavior that purposefully and continuously rejuvenates the organization and shapes the scope of its operations through the recognition and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunity’ (Morris). When this strategy is applied to organizations it enables the company to prosper in even the most competitive markets. Most organizations, however, find difficulty in balancing their efforts of seeking the full potential of their current markets and products versus innovating to find new markets and products. Finding the correct balance can be a difficult process, but well worth the reward. Applying this to Big Cat Rescue, we will focus on the company’s market strategy and the company’s strategy for developing innovation internally in order to attain organizational goals.
In order to address the entrepreneurial presence in strategy at Big Cat Rescue, we will highlight several key factors and discuss the entrepreneurial activities that exist in each. The key factors we will examine are the development of an entrepreneurial vision, increasing opportunity recognition, promoting the need to be innovative, placing value on employee’s ideas, and acknowledging the importance of failure. The first area we will highlight is the development of an entrepreneurial vision. All great organizations have clear concise visions that drive the company to a larger overarching goal. In the case of Big Cat Rescue, their vision has evolved overtime, but one key element has stayed consistent. That element is that the care and rehabilitation of big cats has been paramount to their beginning goals and transformed into the vision they have today, which is to end the private trade and ownership of Big Cats.
Throughout the tour and multiple interviews it was clear from the employees and upper level management where they hope to go and how they hope to get there. Big Cat Rescue prides itself on pursuing legislations as a means of protecting Big Cats. Their actions match their vision and this is shown in multiple ways. The first is on their website, where the first page shows visitors the most important thing they can do to help protect Big cats. This involves messaging various political figures in order to push bills through Congress. In addition, Big Cat Rescue prompts visitors to their sanctuary to call their government representatives as well.
Another area of emphasis is increasing opportunity recognition. This is an area Big Cat Rescue excelled in and it was evident throughout our tour. The founder, Carole Baskin, was extremely keen on being at the forefront of any possible opportunities that gave the sanctuary new and different ways of donating. An example she mentioned during the interview involved a new feature of Facebook that allowed users to donate easily to certain charities. The company utilizes various social media accounts to seek more awareness and increase donations. The ability to recognize new opportunities also relies on upper management’s ability to let employees be innovative. It was obvious throughout that employees could share new opportunities that they found and would have them welcomed by management. This is crucial for a company that hopes to continuously be on the lookout for new opportunities.
This transitions to the next key area, which is placing value on employees’ ideas. Carole Baskin mentioned in the interview that when employees come up to her with problems most of the time she responds with some variation of, “You’re smart you can figure it out.” Carole says this to make a point that she values her employees and their judgment. This is very beneficial for a company that hopes to have an entrepreneurial strategy. Big Cat Rescue does not hire externally and promotes from within their pool of volunteers. This combined with the attitude that the employees are able to solve their own problems without running to management to solve it emphasizes that they place value on their employees’ ideas.
The final key area in an entrepreneurial strategy is recognizing the importance of failure. The ability for employees to be comfortable with failure must come from the top down. Carole Baskin made it very clear to us that she embodies this and stated in the interview, “Fail fast, and move on.” An example that she provided involved raising chickens in the sanctuary. This move was made in order to keep from feeding the cats’ commercial chicken, which has pesticides and antibiotics in their meat. Unfortunately, this new opportunity failed because they could not grow chickens fast enough and they did not provide enough meat for the cats once fully grown. As a result, Big Cat Rescue had to pivot and begin feeding them other sources of meat, but the lesson of the importance of failure became evident.
Culture
Culture represents the collective values and behaviors that develop the specific environment that the company operates in. At the epicenter of Big Cat Rescue’s culture is the desire to help protect all big cats. While this may seem obvious it was clear to us the importance of big cats’ well being through management and employees dedication and fervor to their individual jobs. The company does an excellent job of recognizing their employees and this is shown through multiple pictures of employees on various organizational charts displayed throughout the sanctuary.
Big Cat Rescue uses a color coordinated shirt system to display the experience levels of their volunteers. The volunteers move to different color shirts, the more years they gain volunteering at the sanctuary. This is a clear and easy way of illustrating the company’s organizational hierarchy through experience. It also allows volunteers to easily be able to seek out more knowledgeable volunteers if they have a question or if there is a problem. The shirts serve as a visual representation of the volunteers dedication to the animals and are worn with pride as a volunteer progress to higher shirts.
Big Cat Rescue has a Code of Honor for the sanctuary that was developed by volunteers. This is code of honor was developed by the volunteers and serves as a platform for how volunteers should act while on the job. The company’s’ ability to put the code of honor in the volunteers hands is very empowering for the volunteers and shows the commitment of the company to valuing their employees. The company furthers this by establishing a committee comprised of Carole Baskin and her daughter and two volunteers that meet weekly. This committee discusses any problems or issues that may have come up and seeks ways to resolve them in a way that’s beneficial to all parties. Big Cat Rescue defines their volunteers as rescuers. This was an important point to realize because it denotes a greater sense of importance for the volunteers.
In addition, the executive team at Big Cat Rescue exhibits a high sense of urgency. This urgency is rooted in the belief that legislation will soon be passed to ban the ownership and trade of big cats.
Customer service is very important to Big Cat Rescue and each member of the executive team that we interviewed echoed this. Jeff Kremer, The Director of Donor Appreciation, was most vocal on the subject and explained his attention to detail in regard to customer service. He mentioned how important it was to give personal attention to donors and notes that donors have become friends. He seeks to create personal relationships with supporters and donors and this mentality keeps donations flowing back to Big Cat Rescue. One of his biggest points was to present as many options as possible to donors as well as finding prospective donors that take as little of Big Cat Rescue’s resources as possible. This helps illustrates the entrepreneurial mindset that is so prevalent throughout the company.
Core Competencies
Big Cat Rescue and it’s leadership demonstrate numerous entrepreneurial competencies that have been vital to the company's success The entrepreneurial competencies include: opportunity recognition, opportunity assessment, risk management, conveying a compelling vision, tenacity, creative problem-solving, resource leveraging, guerilla skills, value creation, maintain focus yet adapt, resilience, self efficacy, and building and using networks. Throughout Big Cat Rescue’s existence they have displayed all of these competencies in some form, however certain competencies stick out. The most important competency they show is their ability to convey a compelling mission. Their vision has evolved overtime, but has been crucial to their success as it is manifested in every employee's’ tireless efforts. Another competency embodied at Big Cat Rescue is a high level of self-efficacy. This entrepreneurial competency begins at the top of the organization and trickles down to the volunteers.
Carole Baskin instills a high level of efficacy in her employees through the expectation that each individual was hired for a reason and thusly has the ability to solve the majority of the issues that may arise. Since Big Cat Rescue is a non-profit and seeks donations it is very important they maintain an expansive network. This is another entrepreneurial competency that the company epitomizes and maintains to be successful.
Structure and Human Resources
The structure for Big Cat Rescue is set up in a manner that promotes the entrepreneurial mindset. The structure is extremely flat for a non-profit of that size and allows for easy communication between the management team, employees, and volunteers. The structure is set up so any issues that arise can be communicated and addressed in a timely manner. This structure also benefits the entrepreneurial presence in the company because it easily allows volunteers and employees the opportunity to express any new and innovative ideas to top management. From our surveys, we gathered that most of the employees and volunteers feel they have the right amount of direction as well as ability to speak up if needed. The human resources side of Big Cat Rescue is simple. They hire from within their volunteer pool, and this helps keep turnover low while also creating a dedicated group of employees.
Methodology
In order to gain a proper understanding of the entrepreneurial intensity and the inner workings of Big Cat Rescue, we analyzed their website, interviewed 4 members of upper management and sent out a survey to the employees of the company. We were very fortunate to have every employee respond and participate in our survey.
Interviews
We spent an hour each with Howard Baskin, Jeff Kremer, Carole Baskin, and Gale Ingham. We asked them questions about their backgrounds and the day to day of the organization. Some of our questions asked about how communication worked in the company, how were decisions made, and how much ownership of tasks do employees have. We crafted these questions to understand how often the company pivots, what their culture is like, and how entrepreneurial they are.
Howard Baskin joined the organization in 2003 and helped turn the company around. He is the treasurer and CFO, having a background in finance and working with small for profit companies. Howard Baskin was able to transform Big Cat Rescue from a non-profit that was barely breaking even to one with $3.7 million in their bank.
Jeff Kremer is Big Cat Rescue’s Director of Donor Appreciation. His job is to coordinate fundraising and to maintain relationships with donors. A lot of his job is taking pictures and videos of the cats and sending them out to donors. He explained to us that a good way to maintain relationships with their donors is to find out which cats are their favorites and to keep these donors updated on these cats. He has increased donations by having communication with donors that doesn’t involve asking for donations, which improves the organization's relationships with the donors and makes them want to give even more.
Carole Baskin is the CEO and Founder of Big Cat Rescue. She began the sanctuary in 1992 with her now late husband, after rescuing bobcat kittens from a fur farm. Carole Baskin had gotten involved in rescuing the kittens after already owning one bobcat and her husband wanting another. They stumbled in a fur farm and bought all the kittens in order to save them from their death. Carole Baskin attempted to rehome the kittens but eventually realized that most people are incapable of giving these animals good homes and that this trade needs to stop. She now views herself as the cheerleader of the organization. Carole spends her time supporting her employees and volunteers while brainstorming new ideas to further the organization.
Gale Ingham is the Operations Manager of the organization. We met her after she had spent a significant amount of time trying to wrangle a pair of bobcat kittens, which gave us a special insight about her day to day. Gale’s began her involvement with Big Cat Rescue as a visitor. She was new to the area and took a tour and decided to stay for a volunteer orientation and has been volunteering ever since. Gale was an accountant before she became a full time employee at Big Cat Rescue.
Survey
As we mentioned earlier, we were lucky enough to have every single employee answer our survey about the entrepreneurial climate of the organization. Getting a 100% response rate says a lot about the company without even looking at the results. This is clearly a motivated and close-knit group. Most of the surveys weren’t procrastinated on and were completed the day after they were distributed.
We distributed our survey on Qualtrics, which enabled us to see how quickly our surveys were completed and how long each person took on the survey. On average our survey took about 5 minutes to complete. We had one outlier who left the survey open for 5 days, which we excluded from this calculation. Our survey taking 5 minutes shows that they did take time to read and carefully answering our questions. We used questions that could be answered with long written responses and on a scale from 1-5. As expected, we received only a few answers for the open-ended questions, but the answers we did receive were helpful.
For the most part, employees gave rather similar answers to each of our questions. For questions about employees being free to make decisions and about the company having open communication, most respondents said they agreed or strongly agreed. Employees agreed that rule breaking/bending is not encouraged, which is to be expected when you think about the nature of Big Cat Rescue’s rules. Most of their rules revolve around animal handling and care. Employees don’t have strict guidelines to follow though when it comes to their daily activities.
In many questions of the survey, there was one respondent who seemed to be in disagreement with what everyone else was saying. This individual seems to view Big Cat Rescue as having a rigid chain of command and they do not feel that they have a lot of freedom in their job. We are unsure about the position of this individual so we don’t know if they feel so micromanaged because they are working directly with the cats, which is a position that has a lot of controls, or because of another factor.
Despite this one responder, most employees seemed to agree that they had a lot of freedom in their role and that their input was taken seriously.
Entrepreneurial Audit
We’ve found that Big Cat Rescue is an incredibly entrepreneurial company. They haven’t been afraid to make major pivots when they’ve been needed and are always on the cutting edge. From supporting new legislation to traveling around the world to support other rescues, they frequently find new ways to support their cause of protecting big cats.
Below we will discuss why Big Cat Rescue falls here on the entrepreneurial grid.
Degree
Big Cat Rescue is a fairly innovative organization. They’ve found ways to always be ahead of the trends in nonprofits and how to innovate within their organization to ensure success.
One of the most innovative practices Big Cat Rescue participates in is their hiring practice. They very rarely hire from the outside. For instance, when the organization realized that they needed someone to head up donations and maintain relationships with donors, they looked internally rather than find someone who has worked in the field before. They selected a dedicated volunteer, Jeff Kremer, to fill the position. They had learned from past mistakes that it is much more efficient to find someone who is already passionate about their cause and train them for a position, than to find someone who is trained and experienced.
Big Cat Rescue also places an incredible amount of importance on educating their volunteers, which is not something that always happens in a non-profit environment. Big Cat Rescue had classes offered that teach their volunteers important skills like first aid for humans and animals and how to become properly involved in legislation.
Big Cat Rescue is also innovative in the variety of ways they finance their organization. They solicit donations and they also offer tours of their facility at varying costs. They offer 11 different types of visits to their facility, including multiple tours, weddings, parties, and field trips. Big Cat Rescue’s website also features a donation page that is filled with different ways to support the organization, including donating Bitcoins, sponsorship options, and an Amazon wish list.
Frequency
Big Cat Rescue is rather frequent in the number of entrepreneurial events. The day we visited they had just launched a new class for their volunteers and a new donation tool. Since they are a rather small organization it is easy for them to move things around to better serve their purpose. There isn’t much red tape when it comes to the business and fundraising end of the organization since there is frequent communication between the employees and upper management. We heard in our interviews and from our employee surveys that open communication is encouraged and that most employees didn’t feel like they were micromanaged and that they had a lot of freedom in how they could accomplish their tasks. Something we heard often during our visit was “You’re smart, figure it out”. This seems to be the unofficial mantra of Big Cat Rescue; no one needs to be told how to do things, you’re smart enough to figure it out so go and do it.
Big Cat Rescue has created a culture in which frequent entrepreneurial events are encouraged. If someone has an idea, it’s easy to talk it out with management and they are listened to. This makes it easy for the organization to embrace good ideas and implement them quickly. That being said, in other aspects of the organization Big Cat Rescue doesn’t really change. They’ve had three major pivots in vision in their history. The first came when they decided to stop breeding some of the smaller breeds of cats such a bobcats, the second when they stopped allowing humans to interact with the cats, and the third when they became heavily active in legislation. They were able to make this first pivot in 1997 and the last two in 2003.
The first pivot was originally fought by Carole Baskin’s then husband. He really enjoyed having the bobcat kittens around and he believed that by breeding them they were helping to preserve the species and grow its gene pool. After his disappearance, there was no more disagreement on breeding and Big Cat Rescue was able to easily transition into being only a sanctuary.
When Carole proposed ending interaction with the animals, she faced a lot of fight from within her organization. Most of her employees and volunteers were stunned by the idea. Many guests came to Big Cat Rescue because they wanted to interact and take pictures with the cats and the employees and volunteers felt that no one would come if Big Cat Rescue stopped offering this. They knew that there are many other sanctuaries that visitors could choose to support and still get to interact with the animals. The fear of losing guests was based on the misunderstanding of why people came to the rescue. The employees and volunteers thought people cared most about interacting with the animals, when in reality they were satisfied with observing and learning about the cats. Visitors understood that it was in the best interest for the animals if they did not interact directly with humans and they respected this.
Eventually, Carole’s staff accepted the idea. They realized that it is better for the animals and that by allowing guests to interact with the cats they sent a mixed message. The sanctuary was founded to show that these animals do not make good pets, but interactions conflicted with this vision. Carole believes that by ending contact with the cats, Big Cat Rescue has stopped sending out a muddled message and has actually increased visitors because of this clear mission.
The third pivot came with the realization that Big Cat Rescue was not doing anything to solve the problem of big cats being kept as pets. They were giving the cats they rescued great life time homes, but there were still countless cats being sold off as pets to homes that really could not support them. The pivot to add legislation to their mission was regarded as a great step forward to their organization. It wasn’t fought like the first two pivots, but was embraced since everyone could see its importance.
The employees and volunteers were happy to work towards supporting legislation that aligned with the organization’s goals and the sanctuary shifted some aspects of its day to day to enable working towards legislation. Big Cat Rescue has put quite a bit resources towards finding good representatives to support their bills and have allocated a space on their property to encourage people to sign petitions to end the selling of big cats as pets. They also utilize their social media accounts to help get the word out there of legislation they support and to encourage people to contact their representatives about the bills.
Big Cat Rescue innovates often on a small scale. Their day to day gets shaken up all the time, which is a big part of the nature of running a non-profit organization, especially one with animals. They are always ready to try something new and open communication is a core value that is vital to the survival of Big Cat Rescue. That being said, Big Cat Rescue has only had 3 major innovative shifts in vision, which is rather infrequent.
SWOT
Strength
The strongest strengths of Big Cat Rescue are its leadership, staff, and vision. The employees and volunteers clearly believe in their leaders and it motivates them to come and work hard. Their staff is another strength because they are so incredibly dedicated and hardworking. They really believe in the cause and don’t mind making sacrifices to help out the animals.
Big Cat Rescue’s strong vision is the foundation of all of the organization. It helps keep everyone motivated and working towards their goal of ending big cats in private homes. They are aware that this vision would essentially put them out of business and they embrace that. The finances are a clear strength of Big Cat Rescue since they have become so financially sound since the addition of Howard Baskin to the group. He has helped to ensure that they can take care of their cats until their deaths.
Donor relations are another area they excel in. They have figured out how to engage their donors without soliciting them for money. By keeping up with their donors, they create a friendly relationship and it helps keep the donors coming back.
Weakness
A weakness for Big Cat Rescue is that a large part of their revenue comes from donations and visits. If something happens to donors they rely on, Big Cat Rescue may not be able to function. They do generate their own revenue through tours and special events; donations are still key to their financial stability.
Government regulation is considered to be a weakness since the rules of regulating the care of these animals change often which requires Big Cat Rescue to stay on top of regulation and be ready to adjust to new rules at all times. This utilizes a lot of time and energy that could be spent in other ways.
Opportunity
Legislation is a massive opportunity for Big Cat Rescue to reach their goal of ending private ownership of big cats. Without legislation they wouldn’t really have a way to end the trade and ownership of these animals.
Threats
While Big Cat Rescue does not view other sanctuaries as threats or competitions, they still do compete for donations and support. If annual donations that Big Cat Rescue has come to expect go to another organization, it could mean disaster for Big Cat Rescue. This will more than likely not ever actually happen since Big Cat Rescue works hard to maintain relationships with donors and they have saved up a lot of money so that they do not have to worry as much about getting enough donations to feed the animals every year.
Big Cat Rescue actively pursues passing legislation that makes it impossible to own big cats as pets and while legislation is almost always their ally in this mission, it is always possible that legislation could be passed that will make it more difficult to run this sanctuary. We don’t foresee this occurring, but felt it was still worth mentioning.
Recommendations
As we’ve discussed, Big Cat Rescue is an incredibly entrepreneurial company. They understand the importance of open communication and being open to new ideas. No day is routine for them. Big Cat Rescue also realizes the importance of flat structure when it comes to their hierarchy (we are not discussing volunteer hierarchy since those controls steam from safety protocols).
One of the biggest weaknesses we found while we were completing our audit is that it seems that Big Cat Rescue employees parrot back what their leadership says. We worry that Big Cat Rescue has fallen victim to groupthink and that employees are just agreeing with what is said to them. We are open to this assumption being wrong. This weaknesses was discovered through our survey. We felt that the answers given by employees were almost too similar. If the surveys had not been anonymous, we would recommend speaking with the one employee who felt differently than the others since they seem to have a very different view of the organization. Since that is not an option, we recommend discussing with employees the importance of not falling into groupthink and that it is ok and welcome to challenge ideas.
Another recommendation we have that came from our survey is for Big Cat Rescue to be more transparent about their decisions to employees and volunteers. In our survey results, it was brought up that often management does not inform employees about decisions that have been made or changes to procedures. Employees feel confused and an inconsistency with their work when this happens. Big Cat Rescue should make a point to quickly send out memos when important decisions are made and they should make sure that people know as quickly as possible when decisions that affect their day to day are made.
Our last recommendation is that Big Cat Rescue should improve their presence on Instagram. Currently, their Instagram posts inconsistently and does not seem to interact with visitors who have posted their pictures from Big Cat Rescue. We think they are missing out on a great opportunity to engage their visitors by liking and commenting on their posts. This could get visitors to follow Big Cat Rescue’s social media accounts which would keep the organization in their mind and possibly increase donations. Big Cat Rescue’s presence on Instagram would also help to combat the trend on Instagram of accounts that show big cats as pets. They could use this as an opportunity to directly fight this mindset and show that these animals should not be kept in private hands.
Erin Carden, Vanessa Ply and me at the Animal Rights Conference 2015
The day before the conference the news broke about Cecil the lion and today I finally could put to paper (our website) what I’ve been mulling over.
Cecil Lion Changed the World
I have a theory. I can’t prove it, but it feels right to me. Tell me in the comments if it makes sense to you, or what you believe.
I believe that we all are part of one universal consciousness that is becoming enlightened through this dance of perceived time, space and sense of individuality. I think we sign up for our lot in life before we ever arrive on this stage, with the intent of playing our role toward the end goal of nirvana. Maybe it is just a coping mechanism, meant to protect me from utter despair, which fosters hope that Cecil signed up for his heroic role too.
Centuries of humans destroying the planet and everything that is beautiful and magnificent, to pursue personal wealth and status, has brought on the sixth mass extinction, with lives being extinguished at rates that are 10,000 times the norm. The mounting evidence, of the destruction being caused, hasn’t been enough to make the masses stop and take notice, but Cecil did.
When Cecil the lion was lured from a protected area, onto private land to be brutally shot with a bow and arrow, caused to suffer for 40 hours as he ran for his life, only to be gunned down by a rich American, so that his head and skin could be stolen as a trophy; it was an act so egregious that just about everyone was outraged.
For days his plight made every media outlet even though animal abuse is rarely discussed in mainstream media, for fear of offending industries who profit from animal suffering by being massive advertisers.
Social media first broke the news of Cecil’s torture and slaying, and the public outcry was so enormous that mainstream media couldn’t ignore it. Jane Velez-Mitchell from CNN passionately spoke about how we have finally reached a tipping point in our attitudes toward animal protection at the Animal Rights Conference 2015 in Washington, DC on August 1.
“The evolution revolution is a process; not an event and we are headlong into that process.” said Jane Velez-Mitchell
I’ve been busy providing interviews to CNN, ABC and Fox, as well as a number of newspaper reporters and documentarians, but in between educating them about the nature of lions and their plight, I’ve been trying to look at this from the 30,000 foot level. What is it about Cecil’s story that so moved everyone? What made this lion different from the hundreds of thousands of lions who have been massacred since the 1940’s when there were estimated to be 450,000 of them in the wild?
The drop in wild lion populations to 30,000 by 2011 was enough to prompt many large wild animal protection groups to petition the US Fish and Wildlife Service to list lions as endangered. Since then lion numbers have dropped as low as 20,000, and yet even knowing these facts the USFWS has ignored the petition for four years and the public has allowed them to do so…until Cecil.
I can’t help but think about how many of us first learned to read by following the heroes in comic books like Batman. We grew up loving the storyline of a hero bringing the evil villain to justice, for his crime against a sympathetic victim. All we had to do was shine that bat symbol on the night time sky (expose the issue) and we knew that justice would soon be served. From what I’ve seen, most people want their part in Cecil’s justice to be that they easily sign their name to a petition and lions will be protected. That’s a start…but it’s only a start.
Thanks to Cecil we are all shining the light on the issue. But here’s the mind bending part. We are all Batman. We are all the victim. We might all be the villain as well. That’s the part I can’t quite wrap my head around. Do some of us sign up before we enter this life to be evil incarnate, just to cause the massive mind shift that is necessary to become our better selves? Or are we all on a path, to realizing that we are really all ONE, and those that we perceive as evil aren’t really a part of the collective soul, but rather are a projection we make to fool ourselves into action? Sort of like the endangered species that were projected onto the Empire State Building on August first 2015. The images were to make us think about what we are doing.
Some things we don’t know and can’t know; but there are some things that we do know.
• We do know that most people (96% of Americans) care about protecting animals from cruelty and that every year that number grows as the older generations, and their outdated beliefs die out.
• We do know that now vegetarians outnumber hunters. A 2011 poll showed that 13 million Americans are hunters and that has been a dying sport. Hunt clubs have been desperately trying enlist children under the age of 16 and battered women, in an effort to bolster their numbers. A 2014 poll revealed that there are 15 million Americans who proclaim to be vegetarians 100% of the time and 50 million who say they are vegetarians 50% of the time. 400-500 million fewer animals were eaten in the past few years as a result, despite climbing human populations.
• We do know that cubs bred in foreign countries for pay to play as cubs are often used in canned hunts when they grow up.
• We do know that approximately 200 lion and tiger cubs are being bred by a handful of bad actors in America each year for the pay to play schemes where people pay to see or pose with a cute cub.
• We do know that the vast majority of those cubs just disappear off the radar once they are too big to use as photo props.
• We do know that some end up in tacos or in slaughterhouses.
• We do know that the only way cubs can be used as photo and pay to play props is by taking them from their mothers at only days or hours old; never to return to her comfort again.
• We do know that when celebrities ignorantly choose to pose with these wild animal cubs that they will be bashed by the mainstream media and social media for doing so.
But why isn’t the outrage as strong yet, against those who perpetuate the exploitation of cubs, as it was against the dentist who poached Cecil the lion this summer? Cecil had the benefit of being raised by his own mother and living free for 13 years. Lion, tiger, liger and leopard cubs who are bred and pimped out by outfits like the GW Zoo, Kevin Antle’s TIGERS, Dade City’s Wild Things and others never had the benefit of being raised by their mothers or living wild and free.
Maybe the difference is that their ultimate plight is hidden from view? Being shot with an arrow and then with a gun are a pretty gruesome way to die, but the public isn’t privy to the suffering, neglect and disposal of captive cubs when they grow up. They quietly disappear behind closed gates and doors.
Maybe it is because we didn’t know their name? T.S. Elliott famously opined that regardless of the names we may give a cat…
“But above and beyond there’s still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover –
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.”
I don’t know why we have been so slow as a people, to protect lion and tiger cubs, but I think, if we did, we could end the practice of keeping wild cats in cages. I may not know if Cecil signed up for this awakening, but I do know that he made a difference, and YOU can too. Contact your member of congress and ask them to champion the Big Cats & Public Safety Act.
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.
International Tiger Day and I was quoted by CNN
Ban America's pet tigers, activists say, as wild tiger numbers drop to record low
By Monica Sarkar, CNN July 29, 2015
International Tiger Day falls on July 29, aiming to raise awareness of the endangered animal. Around 3,000 wild tigers exist today, yet an estimated 5,000 are kept in U.S. backyards Wildlife organizations are urging the U.S. government to pass the The Big Cats and Public Safety Act
(CNN)More tigers are kept as pets in the U.S. than roam free in the wild, campaigners say, as they call for tough new laws to ban the practice on International Tiger Day. While just 3,000 tigers inhabit forests across Asia and Russia, it's estimated that as many as 5,000 are kept captive in small cages in U.S. backyards.
"The main reason for all of these cats in backyards and basements and garages across America is that it's legal for people to have their picture taken with a cute little tiger cub or lion cub," Carole Baskin, founder and CEO of Big Cat Rescue, explains to CNN.
"And those cubs are only cute and manageable until they're about 12 weeks old. By the time they're 13 weeks old, the people who are using them for these photo booths find that it costs $10,000 a year to take care of them, so they give them away. They sell them," says Baskin. And that cost is just for food and veterinary costs -- not the maintenance of highly secure cages and facilities.
The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), in conjunction with other animal protection organizations such as Big Cat Rescue, are calling on Congress to pass The Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act, to end private possession and breeding of various big cats.
Leigh Henry, Senior Policy Advisor at World Wildlife Fund (WWF), tells CNN: "The Act has failed to gain sufficient support to be moved through the legislative process in the past," although she hopes that will change. "It is critical that the U.S. get a better handle on this population, and that we demonstrate conservation leadership to influence China, with an even larger captive tiger population, to take similar actions," she adds.
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.
Bern’s for Mom & Dad’s 55th Anniversary
Not to be outdone by Colly Caldwell who took his family to Bern's Steak House for their 50th wedding anniversary, Vern and I will be taking all of you to Bern's Steak House for our late 55th wedding anniversary, July 1, and Marinko and Katie's early 2nd wedding anniversary, August 16.
Bern's also has seafood so everyone should be able to get what they want. As soon as I have a complete tally, I will call for reservations. Love, Mom/Grandma/Nana
Photo Dad took of Mom in the early 60s.
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.
Photo is me this morning at 197 unhappy pounds
I’m exactly 30 pounds fatter than I vowed I would ever be when I married my sweet Howard 12 years ago. I’ve struggled my entire life with my weight and menopause, which set in around 2010, hasn’t helped.
Howie has been such a Godsend and does so much for me and the mission to end the trade in exotic cats that I’ve wanted to show love to him in ways that I know he would like. I despise everything that has to do with home making, especially cooking. I signed up for a service, called Blue Apron, where they send you three meals a week and instructions on how to create them from scratch.
My days start at 7:30 when I eat eggs and blueberries at my desk while getting a head start on the hundreds of emails that have poured in over night. I do my morning routine that consists of drinking a full glass of water, splashing cold water on my face, doing the brutal 7 Minute Workout and then ride my bike 5 miles to the sanctuary.
At the sanctuary I am running non stop between desk work and dealing with cat issues outside. I pack a salad to eat each day and an apple. I try to make sure my mother and I go for a walk around the 67 acres for her health since she stopped roller blading and playing tennis with me years ago. I took a very bad fall on the blades a year ago that knocked the breath out of me and haven’t done much of that since.
I work at the sanctuary until 6 or 7 pm each night, ride my bike home and now am spending an hour or more cooking. We eat, then I have to clean up the epic mess that seems to involve every pot, pan and bowl in the house. By 9pm I collapse on the couch for an hour of mindless T.V. before going to sleep.
The down side of Blue Apron is that they send breads and pastas, which we both know aren’t good for us, so after dinner Howie said we need to find a diet plan and stick to it. He would never say anything about my weight, but I know he doesn’t like the way I look. He’s drawn to thin red heads. I’m fat and have mouse brown hair. Despite me not being his desire, he’s true blue and I want to please him.
I have been carrying around a book called The Bulletproof Diet, but just haven’t had time to read it. I listen to Bulletproof Radio and learn a lot, but I don’t have the basics down on the diet. Howie suggested I read for 30 minutes each morning before turning on my computer. That’s the only way I am ever going to have time to read it.
Jamie wants a Keurig coffee maker for her birthday, so I was trying to find one locally and did. Since it was only 199.00 I wanted to do something more for her and went to Macy’s. I’ve never bought her expensive jewelry but I’ve got some money in the bank right now, so I wandered over to the diamond counter to see if her birthstone, the ruby, was available in something she might like. Our tastes are exactly the opposite. I like bold and bawdy. She likes delicate and refined.
I found a set of garnet ovals with a tiny diamond cluster at the top for $300 and bought them for her. Everything was 60% off, if I’d set up a Macy’s card, so I did. Since the savings would only apply for two days I splurged on a set of ear rings and a ring in a bright blue Topaz for myself. Every time I look at these I will be reminded of my True Blue Husband and how much I want to please him. Maybe that will help me finally lose the weight and keep it off.
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.
We had been great friends in 6th - 9th grade at Florida College Academy and he and his family had recently moved back to the Tampa area and came by the Citrus Park Church of Christ. I didn’t recognize him, but it had been close to 40 years. We had said “Hello,” and promised to get together some time to discuss the old days, but it hadn’t happened until a couple days ago, that Barry contacted me and said he had to be at the mall nearby today and wondered if he could drop by.
I drove him around on the golf cart and re-introduced him to my parents. I explained about the amnesia and that much of my childhood was lost to me. He ran through the names of the kids in our class and told me the latest news he had on all of them.
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.
I posted this to our volunteers: It is with a heavy heart that I must report that Raindance Bobcat has left us to join her mate who died in 1994. Thank you ALL for giving her the best 22 years any captive bobcat could have.
When she stopped eating last week we did diagnostics and found some bad teeth and very bad kidneys. We hoped that by removing the bad teeth, as we did for Little Feather Bobcat who had the same issues, that we might be able to turn it around for Raindance. We had to use appetite stimulants to get her to eat after the dental, but yesterday she couldn't keep the food down and today she refused any food or even the 'cicles she loves so much. Cats are so stoic, it's always hard to tell, but she appeared to be in pain and feeling nauseous from her failing kidneys. You could see it in her eyes and her countenance that she was done with this life.
I went to her web page to gather information for her tribute which will be posted July 12 (please don't post on social sites until then) and noticed that neither there, nor on this site, was any mention of how she got her name. I thought you might like to know.
Here is my diary entry from Feb. 14, 1994:
*Valentine’s Day and I’m being loved to death by a Bobcat. Raindance has a coat like water spotted silk and a personality to match. Only her mate, Bob Martin, was sweeter. He died a few weeks ago from Lippadosis and Raindance still holds on by a hope and a prayer. I loved Bob Martin and mourn his passing.
Bob Martin came by his name as an inside joke. We bought him from a furrier when he was only a few days old. He was being raised by a house cat and was unrelated to all the other kittens we bought from Tom Kavan. Danny Lewis wanted a pair of kittens to raise, so I selected him and a female (Raindance) from a litter of five, hoping she would be predisposed to large litters. Neither were exceptional looking kittens, but Bob was fat as a butterball.
Five months later Danny was separated from his wife Janice and brought the cats back to us. We couldn’t believe these were the same two cats. They were maturing into so much better cats then we could ever imagine. They didn’t have names so we named the female Raindance and the male Bob Martin.*
The problem was that they were SO obese that when they started getting a decent diet here, they lost weight too quickly. The fat clogged their arteries so badly that Bob Martin died and Raindance just barely survived.
Raindance got her name because she loved to splash around in the rain. She would run and pounce into any muddy puddle she could. By the time she was done, you couldn't even tell who she was, other than her bright, happy eyes gleaming behind a mud soaked coat. The other cats would run from her when she was in muddy-up-and-pounce mode. She quickly became a huge favorite at the sanctuary and it may have been largely due to the fact that she had to be groomed so much, given her proclivity for dancing in the rain. We stopped handling cats circa 2003 because we felt it sent a very bad message and would make people want them as pets. They are only lovable like this for the first year or two, and then they become who they were meant to be; top level predators.
Despite being hands off with her for the past dozen years, Raindance was still probably our biggest volunteer recruiter. I can't tell you how many times someone told me the reason they were volunteering here is that they came on a tour and Raindance spoke to them. She's never been a talker, like Reise Cougar, but she spoke with her heart. Yesterday I was in awe of a black and gold butterfly, that was bigger than my hand, and seemed to be everywhere on property. Perhaps her kin, calling her home. We will all miss this exceptional bobcat, but her spirit will forever be in our hearts and in the ether of our mission.
Later Note 11/13/2021: Bob Martin was an inside joke because when I met Don he said his name was Bob Martin and that he and his wife were separated and he just worked for the tyrant, Don Lewis. It was a long time before I discovered the truth, but by then I loved him too much to leave him.
Raindance Bobcat in 1998
Her end is approaching and I am so sad I feel like I could totally break with reality.
When I woke up today, I laid there in bed in something of a panic because I couldn’t remember Jamie’s birthday. I knew it was in July and I had just missed my parents’ 55th anniversary for the first time ever, because I had forgotten when it was. I’m still fuzzy on it. I sent them a card on July 2, but I think that the anniversary in July 1. I can’t find anywhere that I have written it down, because I always just knew it and now I don’t.
I jumped out of bed and went to look up Jamie’s birthday and found it on her Facebook page. July 16. Good. I still have a few days to get her something. Most importantly; I didn’t miss it. I’m taking care of Raindance today and needed to be up early so I could try to feed her in the cool of the morning.
She’s been sick and Jamie finally got her eating, but Jamie takes off on the weekends and said she feared that all the work she did to get Raindance eating would be lost if she left it to our weekend crew of volunteers. I told her I’d take care of it although I don’t remember the last time I fed or pilled a cat. I have to get three pills in her. How hard could that be?
I later found out how hard. Raindance wanted nothing to do with eating so I had to hold her down and force the pills, in slippery bits of liver, down her throat. She’s been amazingly tolerant of all we have had to do, with giving her sub q fluids, doing her grooming for her, etc., but by the time I got the last pill down her throat she was snarling at me. I felt like I had totally undone all the good work Jamie had done and made Rainy very mad at me as well.
I was heartened that she came out, after she thought I was gone, and polished off her breakfast. She took her pills for Becky Gagliardo at noon, as I feared she wouldn’t come anywhere near me for a while. Again she ate pretty well. At dinner time she took her pills from me, in little balls of ground beef, but then walked away and didn’t eat any more. Later I learned that she had vomited everything from today and was again refusing to eat.
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.
Maya and Cherokee Die the Same Day
I don’t know if we have ever had two cats die the same day. Today we lost Maya, a Bengal Cat and Cherokee a Bobcat, and had the trauma of sedating Cameron the lion for a mass removal. It’s 3:36 now and I can finally exhale, knowing that we aren’t having to say good bye to three old friends to today.
Maya was the accidental kitten of Draikko the Leopard Cat and Sheeba, a domestic stray. She and her brother and sister, Kiki and Tiki, were born on 7/16/1996 after a case of mistaken identity caused their mother to be put in the “Bengal Barn.”
When my Dad came to work at the sanctuary in 1996, his first project was to build some fountains and a play yard for the Bengal Barn cats. Draikko, Shalimar and Zazu were the Leopard Cats who lived there and Atlas, Rafiki, Arianna, Kinza, Kaleena, and Zulu were the Bengal Cats who lived there and then there was a domestic tabby cat or two as well.
The Bengal Barn was a 70 foot long, single wide mobile home that we had gutted and turned into indoor cages for the cats, with a little window run on the outside of the trailer, so the cats could come and go from the air conditioning to the fresh air outside. The window runs were only about three feet deep and three feet tall and stretched down the exterior of the mobile home in compartments for each cat or group of compatible cats.
One day in 1996 a volunteer came up to me and said that somehow Sheeba must have escaped the Bengal Barn, but that she had put her back with Draikko. Sheeba had been spayed and kept Draikko from being an absolute spaz, so it had been a good arrangement. Except for doing the wormings, vaccines and medical care, I didn’t go in the Bengal Barn very often, as I have horrible allergies to cats that require daily doses of Claritin.
When Sheeba had kittens, it came to my attention that the tabby cat who had been found wandering and thought to be Sheeba, was a different cat. No one had seemed to pick up on the fact that there were two tabbies, living in the Bengal Barn that were both being called Sheeba, because they were thought to be one and the same. I’m sure the people who fed and cleaned in there must have thought it odd that we would have two cats with the same name and never thought to point out to me that odd fact.
At any rate, being F1 Bengal Cats, the kittens were wild as the wind, but beautiful. Kiki and Tiki found homes with volunteers. Maya found a home with a volunteer, or a visitor; I don’t remember exactly. When Maya became an adult the person brought her back to me. She said her father loved the cat, but she sprayed, and pooped all over the house, so he had to keep her on the lanai. Now her father was sick and could no longer care for the cat, and she remembered that I had told her to bring the cat back if things didn’t work out.
Maya, being a Bengal Cat, wouldn’t adjust to new cage mates and we had no space at the sanctuary for her. I took her home to the island and figured on almost 5 acres of river front property she could be free and live in the yard. That didn’t last long.
Because I am licensed as a wildlife rehabber, I get the weird calls. This one was from a man, just hysterical that a Florida Panther was stalking his wife in broad daylight. When I asked where he lived, I learned that he was my neighbor. I asked him to call me the next time the “Florida Panther” showed up and sure enough, it was Maya. I promptly netted her and decided she would have to live on my porch if she wouldn’t stop stalking old people.
For the next 14 years Maya lived on the porch. I never was able to pick her up or pet her, but I respected that. She never did learn to use a litter box, although in her last few years of life she would relieve herself on newspaper…most of the time. The porch reeked, despite frequent blasts from the pressure washer and digging out all of the dirt in the flower beds and replacing it year after year.
When Howie moved in, in 2003, he made it his mission to make friends with Maya. She would hiss and swat and gave him NO encouragement for the first few years. He still fed her every day and gave her treats. He earned her trust and she would allow him to pick her up for a few seconds and he could pet her briefly.
Babylon’s arrival in 2010 meant everyone in the house, which included Maya and Sidney, began eating his very expensive brand of cat food that was designed to keep him from having a reoccurrence of crystals. After Sidney died last year, Howie decided that after nearly losing Maya a few times, she should be allowed to eat what ever she wanted and what she really wanted was Little Friskies.
Maya’s last days were her best. She had always had a heart murmur but on Saturday she acted pukey and I thought it was just the result of her catching another lizard. When she was worse on Sunday we called Jamie and Dr. Justin to look at her. They took her in to the Humane Society to run tests and sent her home on fluids, potassium paste and Amlodipine. When I got home at 8:30 pm, after filming Katie Nikic’s baby shower and editing the video, Howie said Maya was worse.
We brought her into my office for the night, gave her 150 cc of fluids and got the potassium in her. She wouldn’t eat and I wasn’t sure if she had already gotten a dose of the Amlodipine earlier in the day at the vet’s, so we opted to let her sleep and try again in the morning. I checked on her a couple times and she was sleeping peacefully, but at 4:30 am I found her dead.
I had a hard time getting back to sleep because I knew we had to sedate Cameron the lion to remove an oozing growth from his back at 9 am. I rushed in to work to take photos of the procedure, both for our archives and to help thank those involved. It is always scary to sedate a cat, but even more so when I am so raw with the emotions of losing Maya, and knowing that something has to be done today about Cherokee’s failing health. Add to that the fact that Cameron the lion is one of the most iconic cats at the sanctuary because of his love affair with Zabu the white tiger.
Thankfully, Cameron’s operation went smoothly. Jamie and I had five minutes to get from surgery to our quarterly board meeting. After that I had to eat, before I collapsed and then had to make the sad decision to euthanize Cherokee.
She’s been in renal failure for a while, but for the last three days she’s stopped eating more than a couple ounces per day and is becoming dehydrated. She’s nearly 21 years old and this is never going to get better, so Jamie and I decided it is time to let her go.
I know it’s harder for Jamie. Tears are streaming down her face as she holds Cherokee for her last breath in this soft, pudgy, bobcat form. I know she feels like she’s failed the cat. When Cherokee arrived, from the Woods & Waters Auction in Delphos, OH at the age of 2 months on 9/13/94 she was already full on BOBCAT! Don offered to pay Jamie to tame her down and Jamie used every trick at her disposal, but Cherokee must have been raised by her own mother before being auctioned off and was taught to never trust a human.
Despite trying for years, Cherokee never trusted anyone. Now in her last days, she could have had a few more weeks or months, if we could entice her to allow us to give fluids, or feed her from a stick, but she would have none of that. I think that’s why Jamie was crying. Other than the guilt we often feel, for believing we just didn’t do enough, we are both pretty secure in our belief that we are all eternal and this form is just one of many that we signed up for during our last rendezvous with the Universe.
A Walk on the Beach Renews Me
Eating dinner at one of my favorite dives, then a walk on the beach and thus will have been an excellent day!
Just gave a presentation on Social Marketing to the Marketing Class at Eckerd College and someone left me a sweet note saying how much they appreciate me.
Wildlife Trafficking is a complex problem. Most of Its solutions require complex coordination of nations and agencies and are generally difficult to achieve although possible.
But there is one very, very simple, very very doable action we can take domestically that could have a significant impact that has not achieved broad awareness. I think the Senator could do a great service to the animals and everyone in attendance by devoting at least part of his keynote talk to the way in which the rampant breeding of tigers in the United States enormously hampers our ability to influence other nations, particularly China, to adopt policies and take actions to stop the trade in tiger parts, rhino horns and ivory.
There is a fantastic new resource on the subject of trafficking in the products from these species called "Blood of the Tiger" by Judy Mills. The book discusses rhino horn and ivory in addition to the tiger parts. Judy has spent decades operating both at the highest advocacy levels as a representative to CITES and on the ground doing undercover work. She is privy to conversations that are not found anywhere else.
China is "farming" tigers and apparently has plans to do the same with other species. The Chinese argue, wrongly, that by supplying the "market demand" from the farms they will lower poaching in the wild. The opposite is true. They will expand the market demand, and increase poaching for two reasons. First, the animals from the wild will always be viewed as the "premium" product. Second, it is simply cheaper to poach than to farm. BUT, when representatives of the US government and NGO's make this case, China points to the thousands of tigers in back yards and roadside zoos in the US and the uncontrolled and untracked breeding and argues rightly that we have no way to know how many of the US tigers are finding their way into the domestic and international trafficking trade, so who are we to demand that China stop breeding? They make the valid point that at least they know where their tigers are.
Senator Lesniak previously took action to try to address the lack of tracking with his NJ bill that passed but was not signed by the Governor. The total solution is a federal bill that would end private possession and breeding of tigers with limited exemptions (like AZA zoos). That bill (HR 1998/ S 1381) ended the 2014 session with 119 cosponsors in the House and a very positive Senate hearing where the US Fish & Wildlife Service supported the bill and later provided suggestions to the drafters for tightening it further. It is expected to be reintroduced with some modifications soon.
For the upcoming meeting, I think what some participants may not have heard much or anything about is the powerful negative impact that domestic breeding of tigers is having on the credibility of the US as it tries to attack trafficking by leading other nations in the opposition to the Chinese plan to farm these species. I think explaining this in his talk could do a great service to efforts to preserve these animals in the wild.
If this is of interest, I would strongly urge the Senator to invite Judy MIlls to meet with him (she is in DC). Bill, thanks for asking for my input. - Howard Baskin
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.
If you want to see them squirm, here are the questions to ask. And what I know about the real answer.
Michael Sandlin
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Is it true there had been a ban on keeping tigers in Iberville Parish since 1993? Yes
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Why was a special exception made for you? I heard it was because of family relationships.
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What accredited sanctuaries (GFAS or ASA, not Joe's USZA) have offered to take Tony at no charge and even to do so quietly to help you save face? Big Cat Rescue, Wild Animal Sanctuary and possibly others. I know that most GFAS cat sanctuaries would do it just to stop our phones from ringing with all of the complaints by those who see the tiger living in a truck stop.
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Why choose Joe, who is still under investigation by USDA for the deaths of 23 tiger cubs, or Serenity Springs, which is currently in litigation with USDA for substandard care, over places with such great reputations and resources if you love Tony?
I know you only have 10 minutes so I will try to keep it to the most pertinent. Questions for Joe Schreibvogel, but you should ask for proof because I think he is an experienced con man:
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How many big cats live at GW Zoo? The reason to ask that is he claims to only own 47 of them and says the rest are owned by others, so see if you can pin down who they are and how many cats each of them owns. Beth Corley hasn't been there in years, but someone, presumably Joe, keeps renewing her license to keep as many at 200 animals on one inspection report. John Reinke or Joe always signs the USDA reports for all of these other "owners" that include a circus owned by Doug Terranova and I suspect one run by Gary Douglas, but not sure of the latter.
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What are the ages of your cats? On his census he listed 2 born in 1999 and 3 born in 2000 and all of the rest were younger. Compare to real sanctuaries and you will find our average ages are 15-20, because we aren't breeding cats. He has to keep a census, in case USDA wants to see it, so ask to see it.
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How many big cats were born on his grounds in the past 20 years? The spreadsheet I'll send you will show 131 cats born there between 2001 and 2011. (We bred cats here, back in the 1990s, before we knew that they can't help conservation in any way, and still have 12 alive from back then. The rest of our 97 cats have been rescued.)
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How many cats have you sold or given away? Given the fact that Joe keeps offloading cats to places we consider pretty awful, and so many cats seem to just disappear, why is this the best place for Tony?
Please don't copy Joe with the following as we are building a case against him, but feel free to question him about the specifics.
Some Places Joe Sent Cats
- 10/24/10 Joe sent a Tiger to Wildwoods in PA
In 2012 USDA cited Wildwoods for keeping a tiger in a cage only 72 in high and not big enough to move around freely. Photos show tiny, barren, concrete and steel cells for tigers
Exhibits: USDA inspections, three photos of tiny, barren cages
- 6/21/11 Joe sent a leopard to Jeremy Hinkle (Joe’s spelling “Jeromy”)
As of 2011 Jeremy Hinkle had racked up13 bad USDA inspections in 5 yrs
Exhibits: USDA inspections, news from 2011
USDA inspections included:
• Failure to provide veterinary care to animals who had broken legs
• Dangerous disrepair in big cat cages
• Failure to provide shade to the tigers
• Filthy conditions and rat infestation of feeding areas
• Failure to provide clean drinking water
• Improper handling of drugs and medications
• Storing a dead lion in the freezer with the animal food
- 6/25/11 Joe sent three tigers to Noah’s Ark. He sent a 4th tiger, but no date
Park manager says that these tigers were misrepresented to her as cats Joe rescued and did not have room for, but all of them had been born at GW Park and used as photo props. Lost over $100k 2009 and 2010, raising issue of whether they were being sent to a place that could assure good care long term.
Exhibits: USDA inspections 2008 and 2010, 990 2009-10
USDA inspections 2008 and 2010 included:
Failure to obtain health certificates for wild animals crossing state lines
Improper storage and handling of food items to protect from contamination
- 7/1/11 Joe sent a leopard to Tiger World and on 8/11/11 sent them a tiger
In 2011 Tiger World was fined by USDA for a long history of violations and their 990 shows them in the red.
Exhibits: USDA inspections 2007-2011, 990s 2009-10, news article trying to send cats to Iraq, photo of tiny barren cage, Born Free press release re USDA revoking owner license and being sold to someone he trained.
USDA inspections included:
Fine $2,571 in 2011 for the improper handling of a tiger, its escape and lack of barricades to protect the public, gave lions and tigers inappropriate toys they had chewed, including plastic barrels with chunks of sharp pieces missing and possibly ingested.
- 8/4/11 Joe sent a tiger to the Hillcrest Clovis NM Zoo
Exhibits: USDA inspections 2009-2011
USDA inspections included:
Dilapidated cages, insecure doors, missing fences, poor housekeeping and flies and rats in the washroom, news article of zoo guests tormenting animals, facebook pictures of Sooner the tiger, who appears to have come from Joe and is chewing plastic
- 8/20/11 sent 2 tigers to Robert Engessor of The Zoo
Engessor reportedly has sold lion cubs via the Animal Finder’s Guide
Exhibits: USDA inspections 2007-2011, visitor comments “sad exhibit of miserable animals” and another who said the facility was just as bad
USDA Inspections include:
• In 2011 USDA cited The Zoo numerous times for:
• Using a 16 week old cub that was unmanageable for interaction and photos
• Using a 6 week old lion cub who had not been vaccinated yet for photo ops
• Failing to provide proper food and water sources
• Failure to provide adequate veterinary care
• Failing to provide environmental enrichment to primates
• Failing to maintain enclosures and transport trailers
• Poor housekeeping
• Leopard attacking a 5-year-old girl, causing injuries
• In 2007 he was cited for Using an unvaccinated 6 week old cub for interaction and photos
• Failure to keep proper transfer records
- 10/25/11 Joe sent a tiger to Forever Wild Exotics
On Forever Wild’s website they state that the person they got the cub from (Joe not mentioned by name) lied to them saying the 12 wk cub was DNA surplus for Indo Chinese breeding program. Had ringworm and was actually 20 weeks old.
Exhibits: 2007 news article that they were in over their heads financially and that if their house went into foreclosure they would euthanize all of their animals, news article bragging that they wrestle with bears, 3 news articles about a leopard being so fat that her belly dragged the ground to the point of gaping holes that had to be sewn shut.
- 12/18/11 Joe sent *3 tigers, 2 leopards, 1 liger and a serval to Serenity Springs
The very next month the USDA sued them for violations dating back to 2007 for:
• No vet from 2007-2010
• The deaths of 31 young animals
• Failure to vaccinate against distemper and failure to safeguard cats from carriers
• Failure to treat ringworm on tiger cubs
• Lacking perimeter fence
• Unsafe conditions
• Performing euthanasia without a vet by cutting the tiger’s throat
• Owner bilked a volunteer out of $40,000 after volunteer was bitten by a tiger (owner was convicted of fraud).
Exhibits: USDA inspections 2007-2011, USDA lawsuit 2012, news article 2006 about dishonest dealing, OSHA report, 990s 2007-2010, Joe’s missing health certificate 1714878 for import 12/11 of *4 tigers, 3 leopards, 2 ligers, 1 serval and a paca, news article bilking volunteer for 40,000 after injury by tiger
- 02/2012 Joe sent 2 yearling tigers to Doug Terranova in Kaufman, TX
This was just a few months after Terranova was fined 25,000 by USDA for:
• Failure to properly handle tigers, elephants and others
• The death of two cubs that were born on the road while the circus was traveling
• (offspring of a brother and sister mating)
• The third cub was in such poor condition that it was seized by USDA
• Failure to maintain proper records
• Failure to allow USDA inspections
• Exhibiting animals without proper licenses
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•
Joe says he NEVER sends big cats to private owners; only USDA facilities, but these people are not USDA licensed
- 11/13/09 Joe sent a Leopard and a Liger to Springhill Wildlife Center
They do not have a USDA license
2008 caught trying to sell tiger cubs in WalMart parking lot to Mexicans
Joe issued press release describing the horrid conditions of the cats at Springhill
Exhibits: Joe issued press release 4/27/08 saying that he was rescuing “two more tigers in jeopardy at the Springhill Wildlife Park in Calvert, TX.” He went on to say that he had rescued 18 tigers from there the year before who were “requiring surgeries and veterinary rehabilitation,” and that many were missing toes and feet from botched declaw jobs, and that one had been hit so hard in the eye that part of her skull had to be removed. 4 news articles about Springhill being busted selling tigers to Mexican nationals in the parking lot of at TX WalMart and 4 photos of same
- 8/3/10 Joe sent a tiger to Pam Pape in PA
No USDA and no record of her anywhere. (HB: Facility could have license under a different name, but this is name Joe listed in census.)
Exhibits: Screenshot of USDA search showing no one by that name and a screen shot of Joe’s facebook page showing that she is not a friend of his there
- 8/26/11 Joe claims to have sent a tiger to Tammy Thompson in TX
Tammy Thompson had been dead for more than a year, if it was the same Tammy Thompson who had been a big cat collector since the 1990s.
(Now might be a good time to remind the Judge that Joe uses Brian Rhyne to set up companies and accounts because Brian Rhyne has been dead for years too.)
Exhibits: There is a Tammy Tomson in USDA records. I have a 2010 notation in AbandonedAnimals.xls where her husband called me saying she had died and needed to place her leopard but the phone number is no longer any good
Joe didn’t list these on his census but others reported buying from him
- 2005 Joe sold three lion cubs to the Amarillo Zoo, TX for $1500 ea
Exhibits: 2008 USDA Consent Order which terminated Mr Azzopardi’s license at the Amarillo Zoo after he was found guilty in 2006 of a federal crime involving the interstate trading in endangered clouded leopards and a white tiger, PeTA factsheet, 4 pages of bad reviews from TripAdvisor
USDA inspections revealed:
• Animals standing in mud and waste
• Insecure exotic cat caging
- Capitol of Texas Zoo, Cedar Creek, TX
Cited by USDA for :
• Keeping animals in dark or dimly lit quarters
• Filthy conditions, incl cages full of matted fur and feces
• Lack of barricades
• Lack of perimeter fence
• Unsafe cages
• Improper diets
• Escaped animals
Exhibits: USDA inspections 2007-2011, PeTA factsheet
- Dade City’s Wild Things
Joe sold cub born around July 7, 2010 for $5000.
(We submitted FOIA request to get import permits from FWC but not arrived)
Exhibits: TBO article 9/14/10 indicating 9 week old white cub came from GW Park and Joe says he sold it to her for $5000. USDA inspections 2007-2012, 20 photos of wretched conditions, a visitor’s report of deplorable conditions for the cats, LookOut Mtn lawsuit and Dept Ag complaint that includes is, foreclosure and bankruptcy documents, mug shots from bad check charge and a Yelp 2 star rating.
USDA inspections included:
• Failure to provide vet care to injured animals
• Lack of shelter for tigers
• Dilapidated big cat cages
• Unsafe handling of dangerous animals with the public
• Rusty serval cage
• Nails protruding in tiger cages
• Poor drainage causing the cats to wade in deep water and mud after rain
• Inadequate perimeter fence
• Lack of barricades
• Refusal to allow inspections
Recently lost lawsuit and ordered to return two gibbons to rightful owners.
Reportedly under investigation by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs. Arrested for bad check charges, has multiple entities and multiple bankruptcies.
- 7/22/2008 Joe sent two tiger cubs to Nay Aug Zoo, PA aka Genesis
Sent two cubs here in the same year that Time Magazine ranked this the fourth worst zoo in the country. The zoo closed in 2009, one year after the cubs arrived. The Nay Aug director noted that one cub came with a case of ringworm that she had been fighting for months and that the cub appears to have a compromised immune system. Director said she had to “donate” to GW to reserve the cubs.
Exhibits: News articles about the cubs coming to Nay Aug and the zoo closing, photos of the decrepit cages.
- 1/30/11 Joe transferred a white tiger cub to Bill Rutherford of Wild Bill’s, OK
Exhibits: Facebook post by Wild Bill about it, screenshot shows no USDA license
- 10/15/11 Stapps Circle S Ranch
Exhibits: USDA inspection June 2011, news article about the 2010 cats, news article about 8 week old cub Aug 2011.
USDA inspection contained:
The three tigers were being fed improperly and that the adult tigers had suffered metabolic bone disease as a result
Foreign Zoos where Joe sent cougars
- Joe shipped 2 cougars to Zoological Park Organization, Thailand
Exhibits: PeTA factsheet, document stating that the name above is not the name of a zoo, but is an organization of zoos, so we don’t know exactly where the cat ended up, two photos of people posing with adult tigers and photo of rampant tiger poaching in Thailand, 3 pages of bad TripAdvisor reviews for Thailand’s Phuket Zoo
- 2000 Joe shipped a cougar to Seoul Grand Park Zoo, Korea
Exhibits: PeTA factsheet, 4 photos of stark conditions at the zoo, a journalist’s review of the zoo, along with photos showing it to be a miserable place for animals
- Joe shipped a cougar to Sophia Municipal Zoo, Bulgaria
Exhibits: PeTA factsheet and three articles showing barren cages and discussing the lack of funding for heating and animal care due to Bulgaria’s political unrest
- Joe sent 2 eleven month old tigers to Ryan Easley on 1/28/12
Exhibits: USDA reports from 2011 and 2012 citing that animals were living in transport cages and some cages were unsafe. Also that the animals had cuts on them.
- Joe claimed Exchange/Transfer to Jamie Palazzo on 9/25/09
Exhibits: USDA order fining Palazzo $10,000 and suspending license for three years on 5/10/10 in a lawsuit that had been pending since 2007. Many 2009-2010 USDA inspections showing a lack of proper vet care, no shot records and many repeated violations.
- Joe claimed to donate 2 Siberian Tigers to Teresa Shaffer on 9/26/09
Exhibits: USDA inspections from 2010 and 2011 showing that animals were being kept in incompatible groups and not providing proper dens and shelter.
- Joe claimed to donate two 7 mo old bears to Dodge City Zoo on 10/08/11
Exhibits: TripAdvisor visitor reviews only give this “zoo” 3 out of 5 stars and 3 USDA inspections from 2010 and 2011 stating that cages were in poor repair, insufficient shelter or dens and dangerous gaps in rusty cages.
- Joe claimed to donate 6 adult lions and 2 adult bears to Gregg Woody 11/11/08
Exhibits: 8 bad USDA inspections from 2010-2012 including a bear biting a keeper, lack of proper barriers, cats kept in transport wagons, cages too small and dilapidated, no shelter for big cats, sharp edges in cages, lack of vet care and refusing to allow access for inspections. Joe’s census says that he loaned Gregg Woody a white tiger cub DOB 4/17/11 (Galiath x Norma Gene) who died while in his care. Joe provided no transfer USDA form, nor health certificate on this cub, but it is likely that he sent the cub to be a photo prop, which means the cub had probably already died before Joe sent Woody 6 more lions and 2 bears.
- Joe transferred 2 6mo old tigers to Sue Pearce in FL on 11/5/11
Exhibits: 6 bad USDA inspections in just 2011 and 2012 including repeated violations on 12 issues, dead lemurs found, spoiled meat, platforms are chewed and clawed and splintered, and failure to provide proper vet care and follow up care.
- Charlotte Turton claims to have paid Joe for 4 day old cub 5/6/2009
Exhibits: Charlotte does not have a USDA license under her name. Charlotte’s facebook photos and text saying: Charlotte Turton aah i thought you knew... I adopted this baby when she was only 4 days old from a cat sanctuary in Oklahoma. I got to play with her for about a month and a half then she went out on the road with the traveling magic show.. then without letting me know they gave her to a facility in Illinois. if you look through my albums you can see her pics from day 4 forward
Joe says he sends all of his dead tigers to the "Bone Museum" but they said, in deposition, they only ever got one tiger from Joe. I have a copy of citations by the county against Joe for burning and burying carcasses, so where do all of the tigers (and other dead bodies) go?
The reason this is an important question is because all of these charlatans who are breeding and pimping out cubs say they are doing it for conservation. The fact is that it hurts conservation because China is banking on the extinction of the tiger in order for their farmed tiger bones, teeth, claws and pelts to become more valuable.
Judy Mills, copied here, just wrote a thrilling narrative on the subject called Blood of the Tiger. In the book she makes it clear that we have to stop breeding tigers in the U.S. if we are going to save them in the wild because China points a finger at us, when we try to curb their tiger farming, and says, "You don't even know where your tigers are!"
You could do an entire segment with Judy on how tigers will completely disappear from the wild if we don't stop the captive trade in them. For the cats, Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
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.
Dinner with my darling at Whisky Joes on the Causeway See our sign at top left? They are a supporter of the sanctuary. Vets and Reporters I am up early today because Dr. Tammy Miller Michau and Dr. Liz Wynn Swearingen want to sedate Simba Leopard to look at his eye. He has a hole in the cornea that I wanted to treat w/ eye drops, rather than sedate him for extensive surgery. He’s so old and I expect to lose him every day, so it seems unfair to put him through this, but now they are saying it could be a fungal infection and that could hurt him a lot more, so we are going to sedate at 9 am this morning. 10 am: Dr. Miller thinks his eye is healing better than expected and opted to not do surgery today. Whew! Another bullet dodged. Before leaving I had to respond to a time sensitive report in the UAE: Hi Carole, I feel as if you are more qualified to answer this journalist's query. Do you have time today? Best, Judy From: Megha Subject: Urgent journalist request: Comment about condition of circus animals in the UAE: Hi Judy, Julian Rademeyer suggested I contact you. I'm a journalist at 7DAYS - the only independent daily newspaper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. I'm working on a story you might be interested in and wanted to share, as well as ask if you might be able to comment. It's about a lion and two tigers that have been living in deplorable conditions for months at a circus site in Dubai. Attached is a picture of the lion and below are links to the videos of the tigers (being made to practice tricks with the trainer using a rake and a shovel to direct them). The circus shut three months ago but the animals have been living in these stuffy conditions (pictured) all this while. The current temperature is 32 degrees celsius and we've had several severe dust storms over the past few months. Since the media attention about their living conditions, the tigers have disappeared and a witness claims to have seen people making offers to buy them in public about an hour away from the circus site. I was hoping you would be able to share your thoughts with me, from a global perspective, on the impact of these conditions on the animals, and what it means for the species. Any UAE-specific data you may have would be useful too. My deadline is end of play today - Monday, March 23. However, if you are able to assure me of a comment after the deadline I will hold the story another day. Please note, the links to the videos are currently unlisted and confidential. Thanks very much for listening. Look forward to hearing from you. Best wishes, Megha P.S. Sorry I haven't read your book, but I hope to get my hands on a copy over the summer now that I've learned about it from Julian. Dear Megha, Judy Mills asked if I would share my perspective on how lions and tigers, being treated this way, affects global populations. The conditions you show are truly deplorable and my heart aches for cats being so deprived of everything they need to be the magnificent animals they are. Seeing the training that goes on behind the scenes is something most people are never going to see. If people knew the animals are beaten, starved and sometimes even killed in the process, they would not go to circuses or wild animal performances. The evil people who use wild animals for such ventures are smart enough to hide what they do and to lie about it. They will always tell their audience that they only use positive reinforcement and praise. The fact of the matter is that they must carry something with them into the ring, when in front of a crowd, to make the cats think they have the weapons that were used during training. The whips look like long sticks to the cats and are the reminder to do the trick or be hit. 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.
Howie responded so eloquently I wanted to preserve it here: Think about other "mood shifts", or perhaps more accurately "evolution in societal values". Civil rights, gay rights, marijuana use, dog fighting. If you were to graph the number of people who adopted the changed belief, I think in most cases you would see a long line that grew painfully slowly over decades and then see a tipping point where it starts to accelerate, perhaps not technically exponentially, but at an accelerating rate.
Carole and I were struck by something three years ago. We have attended every TAFA conference. The first was 2005 and we laugh at how naive we were as we struggled to learn about legislation from zero knowledge. Year after year the senior folks at HSUS would give a talk that was like trying to pump up the troops at the Alamo. Tough year, lot of disappointment, but some victories we need to celebrate and press on because we will prevail. Then, in 2012, the big plenary speech had a totally different tone - it was like "holy shit, do you believe how many laws we got passed this year??!!!". It was something like 200 laws as I recall when they added up state, local & federal.
We really feel we are in the beginning of the accelerating years and it will not be that many more years until people will look back at tigers in the circus and tigers owned by private individuals and think about that the way we think about women's suffrage or slavery. We get visitors from England and other countries who already think that way - they are stunned at the private ownership. And the list of countries banning big cats in the circus is steadily growing. One of the best examples is what Feld pointed to - the increasing number of local ordinances banning the circus or bullhooks. See attached list.
Laurie Gage has repeatedly said to me that what we need to stop the cub petting is a tiger version of Blackfish. Love the name Blackfeld! I don't know if have the capacity to do something like that, but if you get any opportunity to follow up with Manny I would urge you to encourage it.
We have built our cash back up after our purchases of real estate and barring some unforeseen event or turn in the economy I expect 2015 to be another good year in part due to a bequest that has $300k scheduled for 2015. This year we have less planned in the way of capital expenditures unless the last parcel of contiguous land became available, so I expect to add more to reserves. I am not sure how much funding it takes to create a Blackfeld, but we would consider investing, preferable anonymously since we still have one tiger. I would love to have Manny come visit and talk to us. - Howard Baskin
Local Jurisdictions Banning Circuses in the U.S.
California
• Corona - Bans wild or exotic animal displays.
• Encinitas - Bans wild or exotic animal displays.
• Huntington Beach - Bans display of exotic animals.
• Marin County - Regulates animal acts.
• Newport Beach - Proclamation from Mayor that city will not display wild or exotic animals for entertainment.
• Pasadena - Bans display of wild or exotic animals and rodeos on city property; restricts displays of domestic animals.
• Rohnert Park - Bans wild or exotic animal displays.
• Santa Ana - Bans wild or exotic animal displays.
Colorado
• Boulder - Bans display of exotic animals.
Connecticut
• Stamford - Bans carnivals, circuses, and wild west shows.
Florida
• Hollywood - Bans animal displays.
• Lauderdale Lakes - Bans exhibition of wild and exotic animals.
• Pompano Beach - Bans animal displays on City property except for educational purposes; regulates display of animals on private property.
Idaho
• Ketchum City Council - Bans the use of traveling non-domestic and exotic animals from performing.
Indiana
• St. John - Bans performing animal exhibitions.
Maryland
• Takoma Park - Bans animal displays.
Massachusetts
• Braintree - Town meeting members voted not to allow displays of non-domesticated animals for entertainment.
• Provincetown - Bans the display of wild animals for entertainment.
• Quincy - Bans the use of wild animals in circuses, carnivals, and competitive events.
• Revere - Bans the display of wild animals for entertainment.
• Somerville - Bans the display of exotic animals in circuses, carnivals or any other public spectacle.
• Weymouth - Bans circuses with animal acts.
Missouri
• Richmond - Bans wild or exotic animal displays.
New York
• Greenburgh - Bans wild or exotic animals from circuses; prohibits all rodeos on town property; bans exotic and wild animal species from "parades, carnivals, races, rides, public shows, trade shows, photo opportunities, or similar undertakings in which animals perform tricks, fight or participate in performances for amusement."
• Southampton - Bans wild or exotic animal displays.
North Carolina
• Chapel Hill - Prohibits the display of wild and exotic animals.
• Orange County - Bans the display of wild or exotic animals.
Vermont
• Burlington - Bans the display of wild or exotic animals.
Washington
• Redmond - Bans wild or exotic animal displays.
• Port Townsend – Bans the display of wild or exotic animals.
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.
We had to euthanize Cybil Serval today Jamie and Justin made the call to do it and it was the best thing. I’ve always felt awful about Cybil. She was born here, back before we knew any better, on 5/22/96 to Lucky Serval and a male named Nairobi. We had a pretty, young woman, named Katie, who would come in for the midnight, 2am and 4am feedings from 1994-1996. One morning when Cybil was 8 weeks old I took her out of her crate to feed her and her back leg was crushed beyond all recognition. The vet, Dr. Stacie Wadsworth, DVM, said there was nothing salvageable in the leg to pin or cast and that it would probably atrophy and have to be removed. I always hoped that technology would someday allow her artificial bones to enable the use of the leg, but that never happened and neither did the atrophy. Instead, she just held the leg in a very strange position and hopped about on the other three legs just fine. But she’s been failing in health for a while and her most recent lab work shows chronic kidney disease. She’s never going to get better and she is absolutely miserable and refusing to eat. It was time to set her free from her crippled and aging body. She was 19. I looked back in my diaries to the date of her injury to see what was going on in my life that day: Don came back from a week in Costa Rica. He created a SA Corporation, but of course does not have any of the documents, proving ownership of the shares, or the terms, or the by laws. He said he did not include any provision for me in the event of his death. The name of the Corporation is Witco. He closed on the farm for $82,000.00 in Bagaces. He complained about the cable I had installed for $9.99 per month and said the perfect picture “is lousy”. He complained that he can’t memorize the three new numbers of his favorite stations and that he cannot learn how to use the remote. I am so sick, I can hardly stand up. I rushed Cybil Serval in to Dr. Stacie Wadsworth, DVM today because her back leg was crushed over night while Katie was on duty. Katie claims nothing happened. I had Jumanji and Black Majik neutered. Majik has Beri Beri, or sometimes called Stargazer’s and Jumanji, as his sibling carries this fatal birth defect. There is no place for leopard cubs as pets and I do not want them in zoos, so I thought it would be the best for them. Don got so mad that he said he wanted a divorce and $1,000,000.00 to move to Costa Rica. He said he also wants 47 of the cats, and I’d be willing to bet that it is not the wild ones. Same day, different subject: Hi Carole, Tony D from NBC called. His phone # is. He is interested in a background conversation with you regarding new laws being passed in states limiting exotic pet ownership and their impact on sanctuaries such as ours. Diana — Sent from my iPhone Hi Tony! One of my volunteers said you called and I tried to call you back at but your mail box is full. Happy to talk to you about the changing laws that ban the private possession and handling of big cats and how it affects sanctuaries. My cell is . Meanwhile, I will send a couple of documents to back up this statement. Feel free to quote from this email, our website, or use the graphics. "In 2003 Big Cat Rescue had to turn away 312 big cats, but in December of that same year, the Captive Wildlife Safety Act became law. (After 6 years of trying) Every other year, the number of big cats that we had to turn away was doubling, but the very next year after the Captive Wildlife Safety Act passed, the number of big cats we had to turn away dropped, for the first time ever, and it dropped to 110. The new law made it illegal to sell big cats, across state lines, as pets, so there were a lot of parameters there, but the effect was that the breeders and dealers saw what was coming and scaled back the breeding." 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.
Family dinner at Chuck and Trundy's house
They grilled steaks, chicken and fish and we brought deserts. I weigh 194 lbs.
Today we had the best conference call to date on the Big Cat and Public Safety Act. Our allies at HSUS and IFAW gathered in D.C., as did our lobbyist, Jason Osborne. Howie and I joined via phone. Our alliance with these, and other groups, including Born Free, WWF, and others, started in July 2011 when we met in D.C. to discuss the tiger crises and how to save the tiger.
The net result was that cub handling is at the root of 99% of the abuse and we decided to take a 3 prong approach that I’ve talked about elsewhere. Today’s call was in anticipation of introducing our bill back into the 114th session of Congress (2015-2017). We had 60 co sponsors in the 112th, and 120 in the 113th and good movement in the Senate as well last year. We want to modify the bill a bit before reintroduction to make sure it has the fewest hurdles, with the biggest benefits to the animals.
We have been belaboring what exemptions have to be made for the circus, the AZA zoos and the Motion Picture Assn. Every exemption, is an open door for the bad guys to exploit. Today I suggested that instead of making an exemption for these industries suppliers (which has been the sticking spot) that we do so on the caveat that the suppliers cannot be involved in cub handling. Everyone liked the idea and that should be an easy sell on the hill. No one needs to abuse cubs to make a living.
I became interested in ancestry after seeing the commercials for Ancestry.com and remembering that my grandmother, Sara Maude Fisher Stairs had always said her son would be the King of England if not for one tragedy in the bloodline that had removed the family from their rightful place. She was about as crazy as they come, but she was so adamant about it that I subscribed to the service to find out. Turns out we do have royal blood, but I never had history in high school and am not sure what tragedy she’s referring to.
Since there is nothing I could ever buy my dad, because he just didn’t want gifts, I would search out some member of his ancestry and print up a binder of genealogy and then stories from people in the chain for him. He always seemed to enjoy learning about his ancestors.
Jamie at Treasure Island on her 37th Birthday in 2017
King Clodius II is my 70th great grandfather
Marcomir III the Franks son of King Clodius II
CLODOMIR III The Franks ( - 63) son of Marcomir III the Franks
Antenor IV King of the Franks son of CLODOMIR III The Franks
Ratherius King of the Franks (52 - 90) son of Antenor IV King of the Franks
Richemer I Franks (50 - 114) son of Ratherius King of the Franks
Odomir Franks son of Richemer I Franks
Marcomir Of Franks son of Odomir Franks
Clodomir Franks son of Marcomir Of Franks
Farabert Franks son of Clodomir Franks
Sunno (Huano), King Franks (137 - 213) son of Farabert Franks
Hilderic Franks (158 - 253) son of Sunno (Huano), King Franks
The West Franks son of Hilderic Franks
Clodius Franks son of The West Franks
Walter Franks son of Clodius Franks
Dagobert I The Franks son of Walter Franks
Genebald Franks son of Dagobert I The Franks
Dagobert Franks son of Genebald Franks
Clodius Franks ( - 389) son of Dagobert Franks
Marcomir Franks (347 - 404) son of Clodius Franks
Pharamond Of Franks (370 - 427) son of Marcomir Franks
Clodion LeChevelu (395 - 447) son of Pharamond Of Franks
Sigimberus I Bishop son of Clodion LeChevelu
Ansbertus Ferreolus VonMarkgraf Schelde (465 - ) son of Sigimberus I Bishop
Ausbert The Senator (536 - 570) son of Ansbertus Ferreolus VonMarkgraf Schelde
Arnoldus Saxony (562 - 601) son of Ausbert The Senator
Arnoul Bishop son of Arnoldus Saxony
Duke Ansgise son of Arnoul Bishop
Pepin D Heristal son of Duke Ansgise
Charles Martel (676 - 741) son of Pepin D Heristal
Pepin the Short AKA Pippin Franks (714 - 768) son of Charles Martel
Charlemagne Charles the Great Holy Roman Emperor (742 - 814) son of Pepin the Short AKA Pippin Franks
Louis I Empir son of Charlemagne Charles the Great Holy Roman Emperor
Louis The German son of Louis I Empir
Carloman Of Bavaria son of Louis The German
Arnulf Of Carinthia son of Carloman Of Bavaria
Hedwig Of Germany daughter of Arnulf Of Carinthia
Henry I "The Fowler" Duke of Saxony (876 - 936) son of Hedwig Of Germany
Hedwige Princess Germany (910 - 965) daughter of Henry I "The Fowler" Duke of Saxony
Hugh Capet (939 - 996) son of Hedwige Princess Germany
Robert Capet ( - 1031) son of Hugh Capet
Adela Capet (1003 - 1079) daughter of Robert Capet
Robert I De Flanders (1035 - 1093) son of Adela Capet
Robert Fleming (1065 - 1111) son of Robert I De Flanders
Freskin LeFleming (1107 - 1172) son of Robert Fleming
William Freskin DeMoray (1139 - 1204) son of Freskin LeFleming
William DeMoravia (1164 - 1195) son of William Freskin DeMoray
William Murray (1195 - ) son of William DeMoravia
Margaret Murray (1220 - 1250) daughter of William Murray
John DeMontgomerie (1244 - 1357) son of Margaret Murray
Alexander Montgomery (1305 - 1380) son of John DeMontgomerie
Montgomery (1334 - ) daughter of Alexander Montgomery
John Sempill (1360 - 1397) son of Montgomery
Robert Sempill (1421 - 1478) son of John Sempill
William Sempill (1420 - 1480) son of Robert Sempill
Thomas Semphill (1420 - 1488) son of William Sempill
Marion Semple (1460 - ) daughter of Thomas Semphill
Margaret Stewart (1490 - ) daughter of Marion Semple
Patrick Hannay (1530 - 1581) son of Margaret Stewart
Donald Hannah (1560 - 1620) son of Patrick Hannay
Alexander Hannah (1560 - 1612) son of Donald Hannah
Alexander Hanna (1600 - 1640) son of Alexander Hannah
Robert Hanna (1680 - 1749) son of Alexander Hanna
Robert Hanna (1695 - 1758) son of Robert Hanna
Thomas Hanna (1720 - 1764) son of Robert Hanna
John Hanna (1752 - 1832) son of Thomas Hanna
Thomas Hanna (1790 - 1855) son of John Hanna
Elizabeth Hanna (1821 - 1912) daughter of Thomas Hanna
Mary Elizabeth Steel (1852 - 1932) daughter of Elizabeth Hanna
Samuel Steel Fisher (1875 - 1950) son of Mary Elizabeth Steel
Sara Maude Fisher (1913 - 2000) daughter of Samuel Steel Fisher
Vernon Charles Stairs (1941 - ) son of Sara Maude Fisher
Carole Ann Stairs Baskin You are the daughter of Vernon Charles Stairs
King Clodius AKA Clodio II Birthplace: Ville De Paris, France Death: 20 (10-18)
20 A.D. Immediate Family: Son of Clodius I King Of The West Franks, King of the West Franks. It is commonly said that the Franks came originally from Pannonia and first colonized the banks of the Rhine. Then they crossed the river, marched through Thuringia, and set up in each country district and each city long-haired kings chosen from the foremost and most noble family of their race. [...] They also say that Clodio, a man of high birth and marked ability among his people, was King of the Franks and that he lived in the castle of Duisberg in Thuringian territory. In those parts, that is towards the south, the Romans occupied the territory as far as the River Loire. Clodio sent spies to the town of Cambrai. When they discovered all that they needed to know, he himself followed and crushed the Romans and captured the town. He lived there only a short time and then occupied the country up to the Somme. Some say that Merovech, the father of Childeric, was descended from Clodio.
Joe Schreibvogel Lawsuit Update
Howard wrote this for our supporters, but it’s a great summary of work that has taken a lot of our time:
LAWSUIT UPDATE By Howard Baskin 3/17/15
It has been a busy six months since our last update. So it is time to let our supporters know what is happening in our efforts to collect our judgment against Joe Schreibvogel and his zoo. We view Joe as one of the most notorious exploiters of tiger cubs in the world.
By way of review, after we won the $1mm+ judgment in early 2013, Joe had three individuals associated with him and/or the GW Park incorporate a new GW Zoo. Joe’s “husband” John Finlay became President. This is the same John Finlay who in depositions in our lawsuit said he did no work at the Park, he slept until noon and then went fishing or played video games.
Joe filed personal bankruptcy. Then he had the old GW Park file bankruptcy and filed to dissolve the GW Park corporation. Meantime, he claimed that almost all of the assets of the old Park were now owned by the new Zoo.
There are certain conditions under which your debts are not discharged in bankruptcy. The one we are aware of is if you lie sufficiently in your bankruptcy filing. Joe ended up signing a consent agreement that says his personal debts are NOT discharged by this bankruptcy. This means we can continue to go after his income and assets indefinitely in our efforts to collect our judgment against him personally. So one outcome of his having used our name for his traveling show and losing the lawsuit is that he has to avoid ever owning anything in his name because we can go after it.
The Park bankruptcy was simply thrown out by the court. So currently we are suing the new Zoo to obtain the Park assets that the Zoo claims to own. There have been two very interesting and positive developments in our collection efforts.
JOE INHERITANCE OF KANSAS LAND
When you file bankruptcy you are obligated by law to list all your assets. In his personal bankruptcy Joe conveniently failed to list his residual interest in a large tract of farm land with mineral rights in Kansas. The land was owned by Joe’s maternal grandfather. Joe’s mother has a life estate interest, and when she dies the land goes to Joe and his siblings. To make a long story short, we discovered the residual interest Joe had failed to disclose and advised the Bankruptcy Trustee. The Bankruptcy Trustee then took this residual interest from Joe and sold it to us. So we now own Joe’s inheritance.
One humorous part is that Joe thinks that if he dies before his mother we will not get his interest in the land. He rants about this repeatedly. Most recently he talked about having his mother on life support for as long as it took for him to die if she ever needed it. However, he is wrong. As a result of legal actions we have taken, we do get his interest even if he dies before his mother. So, we chuckle every time he rants about how proud he is that he will die first and keep us from getting his inheritance.
ZOO LAND
The other positive development relates to the land the Zoo sits on. The day we sued him in 2011 Joe personally owned the land. Apparently anticipating that he might end up losing the lawsuit and filing personal bankruptcy, in the days just after we sued him he transferred the land to his mother. He later claimed under oath that when he did that he did not know he had been sued because he had not been served. However, BEFORE he transferred the land to his mother, he wrote a Facebook post entitled “Shit has hit the fan” announcing we had sued him. One more lie under oath.
The Bankruptcy Trustee sued his mother Shirley to bring the land back into the bankruptcy estate. Sadly, Shirley seems to believe Joe’s lies, and has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars funding his zoos and his lawsuits. We have evidence that indicates that she, like Joe, has blatantly lied under oath – this apple does not seem to fall far from the tree.
Presumably realizing the Trustee would win the lawsuit to take the land from her, Shirley has agreed to pay the Trustee the appraised value of the land, $63,000. Since we are the largest creditor, a significant portion of that payment to the bankruptcy estate will come to us.
Joe has claimed online that we will never see a penny of recovery. We now own his inheritance in the Kansas land, likely worth over $100,000 at some point, and we will receive a portion of the $63,000 that his mother is paying into the personal bankruptcy estate. Is that more than a penny, Joey?
HEARING ON ASSETS (HOA)
The most recent event is what is called a Hearing on Assets in his personal bankruptcy. While Joe seems to refuse to believe it, I handle the decisions related to the lawsuits and always have, not Carole. So historically I have gone out to Oklahoma to attend proceedings like this.
But in early January I had open heart surgery to replace a mitral valve that has been a problem for many years. While I am now almost fully recovered, I was not up for the trip, so Carole attended the hearing. Joe’s apparent obsessive hatred for Carole seems to have affected his demeanor. When I was there, he never got so emotionally worked up that his attorney had to take him out of the room and calm him down. But it only took seven minutes for this to happen the first time at this hearing. And that was not the only time. Temper, temper Joe.
There were a number of humorous moments as Joe told his lies with his face twitching (his version of Pinocchio’s nose). But the funniest was when he was asked if it was him singing the music videos he has been producing, claiming he is a country western singer. He got all worked up and refused to answer. Now, if he were the singer, why in the world would he refuse to answer? So refusing to answer was about the same as admitting he does not sing the songs.
Any idiot who hears Joe talk and hears the songs would know it is not Joe singing. Except, of course, the dozen or so idiots who listen to his weeknight “internet tv show” that apparently believe he sings the songs. And, of course, we know from his accounting records that he (or the Zoo) pays singer Vince Johnson thousands of dollars to sing each song that Joe then lip syncs. Compare the voice on Joe’s songs to the ones on Vince’s website: http://ourstage.com/profile/theclintonjohnsonband/songs
It was also comical watching him repeatedly claim he works for free out of dedication to the animals, even mustering big crocodile tears at times, poor thing. Meantime, the Park records show that for years he has used the Park as his own personal piggy bank paying his personal expenses, including jewelry and plastic surgery. At the HOA Joe said he is the “pretty face” of the Zoo.
Perhaps it is to his credit that he did not claim it was his real face. One past employee reported that Joe regularly took cash out of the register to take his lovers gambling and partying.
Back in October 2014 Joe broadcast that he was not going to post anything negative any more. That sure did not last long. The night after the HOA he was his usual self, making childish and sexually crude comments about Carole. One wonders if someday he will decide to operate at a maturity level above a six year old – assuming he can.
THE FUTURE
After we won the judgment, we offered Joe generous terms to put an end to the expensive legal proceedings. We offered to let him pay his debt to us over 30 years, like a mortgage, to create reasonable, manageable monthly payments. The conditions were that he had to stop breeding, taking animals offsite for display, and public contact with the animals.
He claimed that he could not afford the payments. But for many months since then he has been paying legal fees that very likely exceed the amount of the monthly payments we suggested. And, as noted above, in addition to the legal fees he pays thousands to Vince Johnson to sing his songs so Joe can lip sync and lie as he claims to be a country western singer.
Joe claims his Zoo is dedicated to the memory of his deceased brother and that Joe dedicates his life to the animals. When you look at his behavior, the only thing Joe and his Zoo appear to be dedicated to are Joe’s ego and his apparently desperate need for attention. Joe appears to be so obsessed with his hatred of Carole and so determined not to pay his debt that he is willing to pay attorneys instead of the debt and risk the future of his Zoo.
And how much does he care about the Zoo, his supposed memorial to his brother, and the animals? Last October he said that if the outcome of the lawsuit was the Zoo being dismantled, Joe would simply move down the road and breed more tigers. Does that show love and concern for the future of the animals currently at the zoo, or concern for the memorial to his brother that the zoo is supposed to represent? Sure does not sound like it. He would rather see the Zoo collapse than accept a reasonable proposal to pay his debt. We can only guess that this disregard for the future of the zoo is because agreeing to pay his debt might bruise his delicate little ego.
If the Zoo had a real, independent Board of Directors, they would likely stop Joe from spending money on himself and his silly self serving lip synced music videos. Instead they would think about how to handle the judgment in a way that would provide the most certain future for the animals. But with the Board being composed of John Finlay and Joe’s cronies Gary Douglas and Tracy Shultz, the animals appear to have no advocate to protect them from Joe making all the decisions based solely on his own ego and hate for Carole. So, the lawsuit will continue with the Zoo paying thousands and thousands of dollars in legal fees on top of Joe’s personal expenses.
The one person who could single-handedly make a difference of course is John Finlay, the President. Finlay walked out on Joe back in August after many years as Joe’s “husband.” Then, according to reports, he came back to the Zoo for a meeting carrying a firearm and was charged with physically assaulting Joe and another worker. Despite the brief show of independence, Finlay seems to be back again as Joe’s pawn. Fear of big, bad, firearm brandishing Joe? Who knows? But we think his continued apparent allegiance to Joe and Joe’s lies is a decision John will come to personally regret as the lawsuit progresses.
There is no way to predict how things will evolve. But, if the ultimate outcome is Joe abandoning the animals and moving down the road, perhaps that would be the best solution for the animals. BCR does not have the capacity to take over the GW Zoo, but maybe one of the large animal welfare organizations would. Their tours could tell the story of how for so many years tiger cubs and other animals were mistreated, but were now in good hands.
Maybe that will be Joe’s “legacy” – thousands of future visitors being told how for years Joe shamed his brother with how he treated animals, but thankfully the animals are now in the hands of a large animal welfare organization and well treated. And there will be plenty of stories to tell. As more and more people have come to work at the Zoo and are either mistreated by Joe or see how the animals are mistreated, we get more and more stories from them. One current worker has been particularly informative.
We are told by past employees that one current employee in particular would take much better care of the animals if Joe were gone, but remains Joe’s lackey as long as Joe is there brandishing his handgun and threatening people. If Joe left and the people there who care about animals brought in someone who knew how to use the money Joe spends on attorneys and lip synced videos to market the Zoo as the real sanctuary it could be, the world could be a different place for these animals. That could be another possible outcome.
The court process moves slowly, but from time to time I will post updates like this here. In the meantime, thanks as always to the many of you who have generously supported our efforts to stop exploitation of tiger cubs!
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.
King Egbert (775 - 838) was my 37th great grandfather
Howie and I are watching the second season of Vikings and it is so cool to see my ancestors portrayed in this show.
King Egbert AKA Ecgberht, King of Wessex (775 - 838) was my 37th great grandfather
• Redburh Wessex (788 - 839) wife of King Egbert
• Ethelwulf Wessex son of Redburh Wessex
• Alfred LeGrand Roi D Angleterre son of Ethelwulf Wessex
• Edward I England (871 - 924) son of Alfred LeGrand Roi D Angleterre
• Eadgifu Edgifu Daughter of Edward the Elder daughter of Edward I England
• Guillaume Aquitaine son of Eadgifu Edgifu Daughter of Edward the Elder
• Adelaide Of Aquitaine ( - 1004) daughter of Guillaume Aquitaine
• Robert Capet ( - 1031) son of Adelaide Of Aquitaine
• Adela Capet (1003 - 1079) daughter of Robert Capet
• Robert I De Flanders (1035 - 1093) son of Adela Capet
• Robert Fleming (1065 - 1111) son of Robert I De Flanders
• Freskin LeFleming (1107 - 1172) son of Robert Fleming
• William Freskin DeMoray (1139 - 1204) son of Freskin LeFleming
• William DeMoravia (1164 - 1195) son of William Freskin DeMoray
• William Murray (1195 - ) son of William DeMoravia
• Margaret Murray (1220 - 1250) daughter of William Murray
• John DeMontgomerie (1244 - 1357) son of Margaret Murray
• Alexander Montgomery (1305 - 1380) son of John DeMontgomerie
• Montgomery (1334 - ) daughter of Alexander Montgomery
• John Sempill (1360 - 1397) son of Montgomery
• Robert Sempill (1421 - 1478) son of John Sempill
• William Sempill (1420 - 1480) son of Robert Sempill
• Thomas Semphill (1420 - 1488) son of William Sempill
• Marion Semple (1460 - ) daughter of Thomas Semphill
• Margaret Stewart (1490 - ) daughter of Marion Semple
• Patrick Hannay (1530 - 1581) son of Margaret Stewart
• Donald Hannah (1560 - 1620) son of Patrick Hannay
• Alexander Hannah (1560 - 1612) son of Donald Hannah
• Alexander Hanna (1600 - 1640) son of Alexander Hannah
• Robert Hanna (1680 - 1749) son of Alexander Hanna
• Robert Hanna (1695 - 1758) son of Robert Hanna
• Thomas Hanna (1720 - 1764) son of Robert Hanna
• John Hanna (1752 - 1832) son of Thomas Hanna
• Thomas Hanna (1790 - 1855) son of John Hanna
• Elizabeth Hanna (1821 - 1912) daughter of Thomas Hanna
• Mary Elizabeth Steel (1852 - 1932) daughter of Elizabeth Hanna
• Samuel Steel Fisher (1875 - 1950) son of Mary Elizabeth Steel
• Sara Maude Fisher (1913 - 2000) daughter of Samuel Steel Fisher
• Vernon Charles Stairs (1941 - ) son of Sara Maude Fisher
• Carole Ann Stairs Baskin You are the daughter of Vernon Charles Stairs
Ecgberht (771/775 – 839), also spelled Egbert, Ecgbert, or Ecgbriht, was King of Wessex from 802 until his death in 839. His father was Ealhmund of Kent. In the 780s Ecgberht was forced into exile by Offa of Mercia and Beorhtric of Wessex, but on Beorhtric's death in 802 Ecgberht returned and took the throne.
Little is known of the first 20 years of Ecgberht's reign, but it is thought that he was able to maintain the independence of Wessex against the kingdom of Mercia, which at that time dominated the other southern English kingdoms. In 825 Ecgberht defeated Beornwulf of Mercia, ended Mercia's supremacy at the Battle of Ellandun, and proceeded to take control of the Mercian dependencies in southeastern England. In 829 he defeated Wiglaf of Mercia and drove him out of his kingdom, temporarily ruling Mercia directly. Later that year Ecgberht received the submission of the Northumbrian king at Dore. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle subsequently described Ecgberht as a bretwalda or 'wide-ruler' of Anglo-Saxon lands.
Ecgberht was unable to maintain this dominant position, and within a year Wiglaf regained the throne of Mercia. However, Wessex did retain control of Kent, Sussex, and Surrey; these territories were given to Ecgberht's son Æthelwulf to rule as a subking under Ecgberht. When Ecgberht died in 839, Æthelwulf succeeded him; the southeastern kingdoms were finally absorbed into the kingdom of Wessex after Æthelwulf's death in 858.
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.
The Church of the Cat and Alexandra Montiel
When I met the Reverend Alexandra Montiel in 1994, she was 55 and I was 33. At the time I thought how hard this wealthy woman was working to preserve her youth and wondered if I would fight the signs of aging so fiercely. She had just undergone a chemical peel on her face to remove any traces of wrinkles and the skin looked so fragile that I feared the sun would just cause it to melt from her bones. I was soon to learn that “fragile” was not a term consistent with any part of this handsome woman’s makeup.
I wish I had written about her life’s story at the time, because that was more than 20 years ago, and the finer details escape me now. What I do recall is that she said she was born in a foreign country to the royal family that was in power just a few years before that empire was overthrown. In the mayhem that ensued, her entire family; mother, father and siblings were all executed in their home. Her nurse, although born into the opposing clan, could not bear to see the baby princess killed and spirited her away. If Alexandra were left alive, she would have rights to the throne, and be perceived a threat, so she was exiled and raised by strangers.
Fast forward to the 1980’s and Alexandra Montiel had several patents to her name, a cosmetic business, and a real estate investment firm in Brooklyn. Through utter force of will she had clawed and scraped her way back from the brink of anonymity to power in her own right. She had branched out to invest in Florida’s real estate market at a time when banks were failing, and real estate was selling for pennies on the dollar. She was fantastically wealthy, had a young stud at her side and a cougar as a pet. Yes, that is how we met; as part of the exotic pet trade.
I wish I remembered more about her, because she was a fascinating individual, but there was a lot going on in my life then, and writing wasn’t a luxury I could afford. We had just rescued 56 bobcats and lynx from a fur farm the year before, and were in the process of rescuing another 28 at the time that Alexandra visited Easy Street. At that time we had not incorporated yet, and were just exploring how we should manage our taxes. There was no money coming in, and a LOT going out, so we were thinking that it would be prudent to incorporate as a non profit organization. The Reverend Montiel suggested that we start the Church of Big Cats.
While the Church of Fat Cats is the pun that first played in my head; where all of the wickedly wealthy would come to absolve themselves of their guilt, I tried to bring myself back to the current situation. We did need to do something, because the IRS was saying this wasn’t a viable business enterprise, and we knew nothing of non profits. I never fully understood why Alexandra thought that a church was a better way to handle a sanctuary. I did learn later that she had founded the Sons of La Caridad Del Cobre in 1986.
In 1994 the Internet wasn’t available to us yet. We were finding it hard to learn the truth about the relevancy of keeping wild animals in cages and conservation. (turns out there was none) We had been told that hybrids were sterile so we were surprised when a Bobcat/ Lynx hybrid named Czar produced a kitten with his Bobcat mate, Nakita.
Alexandra had given me a beautiful gift; a heavy gold bracelet, with 9 coins from Spain, France and England. It was so heavy, and jingled so much, that I rarely wear it, but it was a treasure to me. When this fluffy little treasure was brought into being by Czar and Nakita, I named him Alexander in her honor.
Up until as recently as 2004, Alexandra has continued to donate to the sanctuary, despite the fact that our attitudes toward owning exotic cats as pets has departed from what originally drew us together. I would think about her from time to time, but never tried to make contact again. It would just be awkward, I thought, since she may still harbor the notion that exotic cats should be kept as pets. It wasn’t until Alexander the bobcat’s death, at nearly 21 years of age, that I thought deeply about the source of his name and wondered if Alexandra was still alive.
Our sweet Alexander had begun breathing heavily on the morning of March 11, 2015 and was rushed to the vet by his “sister” Jamie Veronica. Jamie was 14 when Alex was born and grew up with him. Dr. Wynn discovered he had a mass in his throat that was closing off his airways. It had grown so quickly, and his age was so advanced, that we felt euthanasia was the only kind thing to do. Now he could rejoin Windsong, the founding cat of Big Cat Rescue, who had been his cage mate for most of his life.
Tragically my Internet research into the Rev. Alexandra Montiel was just about as heart breaking. In October of 2014 she had accidentally backed over a 79 year old woman in a parking lot in Ft. Myers and killed her. Alexandra’s work truck, a 2008 Ford F-350, had a big box on the back, like you would see on a utility truck.
Apparently the visibility was bad and she did not see Wilma Thomas leaving the World Market with her groceries. My heart goes out to both Alexandra and the family of the woman killed.
The undeniable message here is that everything can change in the blink of an eye. Thinking about every sad moment; from Alexandra losing her family and losing her country, to us losing Alexander the bobcat, and the losses suffered from everyone involved in the traffic accident; they all happened in a flicker of time, but leave deep and lasting scars.
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!
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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.
Howie’s Letter to Kansas Legislators re: cub handling
TO: Kansas House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee
RE: Cub petting misery and contribution to extinction in the wild
Dear Committee Member:
I am writing on behalf of big cat cubs to ask you not to support SB 97 for two reasons. The first is the misery this causes to the cubs during the time they are exploited in this way to make money and in the way they are treated once they are too big to use in this way. The second is less obvious and well known, but very real - that rampant breeding of tiger cubs in the US impairs the credibility of our State Department in its efforts to urge banning the international trade in tiger parts that is driving the poaching that has decimated the tiger population.
How cubs used for petting are treated. The people who exhibit the cubs have little choice but to physically punish the cubs. Watch any domestic kitten or tiger cub that is four to sixteen weeks old. When they are awake, what is their natural behavior? Is it to sit quietly in someone’s lap for a photo? Or is it run, jump, and learn to use their claws and teeth, the things nature hard wires into them so they can develop the muscles and skills to survive?
We have numerous videos of cubs used for petting and for photo ops. The cubs are constantly trying to get away, squirming and screaming. Others are so exhausted from not being allowed the significant amount of sleep they need that they do not even move when handled. In one video we were sent cubs had raging diarrhea but were kept on display. In another a cub leaped on a young child knocking him to the ground. In another the trainer is hitting the cub from behind with a stick with small whip at the end to show how to make a cub walk. It is impossible to “regulate” how the cubs are treated because you cannot afford to have inspectors there full time.
Being torn from their mothers at birth is a torment to both mother and cub. Being used for petting and photo ops and physically disciplined to make them more “manageable” and deprived of sleep is just a miserable life for the cub. But the mistreatment does not end there. The exhibitors need to constantly breed more cubs. When the cubs are too old to pet, they usually end up living in tiny spaces with no mental stimulation, resulting in ever increasing numbers of big cats living in inhumane conditions. If you or your staff would like more detail on the misery caused by cub petting please visit http://bigcatrescue.org/pet-cubs/.
Effect on impending extinction of the tiger. A recently published book Blood of the Tiger by Judy Mills provides a Woodward/Bernstein kind of expose’ of what is really happening in the international efforts to save the tiger from impending extinction. The US, India and many other nations that are members of the CITES international treaty are trying to stop the trade in tiger parts and products made from tiger parts (“derivatives”). China is trying to sabotage those efforts.
China has “tiger farms” owned by politically connected individuals that contain 6000 tigers they want to slaughter to sell for parts and derivatives. This trade drives the poaching that is decimating the estimated small population of about 3000 tigers left in the wild.
But when the US State Department urges Asian nations to stop the tiger farm breeding and the trade in tiger products, the Chinese point to the rampant breeding and lack of tracking of tigers in the US and ask why should they stop breeding in captivity when people in the US do so freely?
The trend in public opinion and state law is to not just ban contact, but ban private ownership altogether. Kansas showed wonderful leadership in caring both for people and for animals with the law passed after the tragic death of Haley Hilderbrand. To step backwards now and allow public contact that creates so much misery for the animals and impairs our ability to preserve the tiger in the wild would be another terrible tragedy. Sincerely, Howard Baskin Advisory Board Chairman
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.
Flew home from OKC after a long day of listening the Joe Schreibvogel lie, and lie, and lie. This is my opinion.
Oklahoma City:
8:30 a.m. I step out into the bone chilling air to walk a few short blocks to our attorney’s office. Since arriving the day before, I’ve stayed out of sight, having all of my meals sent to the room, so that I don’t accidentally tip off Joe Schreibvogel that I’m in town. He’s threatened me for years and is absolutely obsessed with his hatred for me. Howard is still recovering from open-heart surgery and can’t make this trip, so he’s worried sick, but knows one of us should be here for the Hearing on Assets.
Our attorneys are excellent and specialize in this sort of bankruptcy work, but Joe Schreibvogel is a compulsive liar, from what I’ve seen, and no one knows his back story better than Howie and I do. Plus we know the industry, so we can catch him in a lie faster than anyone else. Part of the strategy is just to throw him off center. The mere fact that we exist seems to be enough to keep him raving like a loon all day, according to his staff who left from the abuse, but having to sit across the table from either of us just sends him into nose twitching, nail biting, knuckle chewing fits. He reminds me of a trapped animal, who will chew off their own limbs to escape, as he feverishly gnaws at his own hands.
Knowing the hundreds of cubs he’s pimped out and all they have suffered at his hands, it gives me some pleasure to see him so frantic. I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.
But for now, I focused on getting from the hotel to the attorney’s office, without Joe Schreibvogel or one of his animal abusing minions interceding. I must look paranoid as I slow or stop frequently to canvas parked cars, windows, check allies and the open bays of multi level parking garages for the glint of a gun, the red dot of a laser or a person acting suspiciously. A black sedan has been in the parking lot and is now slowly pulling onto the sidewalk, blocking my path.
Fight or flight?
Yesterday it was 17 degrees and the most snow to ever fall in Oklahoma City in March. The sidewalks are a treacherous mix of snow, slush and ice. It’s not far, back to the hotel, but part of me is so mad that I’m frozen to the spot while debating, in milliseconds, if there’s anything in my bag that would suffice as a weapon to protect myself.
Mental checklist: There’s an iPhone 6+. It’s big, but the rubber case makes it an unlikely choice. There is my Mac Air laptop, which has a thin, steel edge and just enough weight to be easy to swing and yet could have a pretty good impact. There is the HDMI cable that I use to connect hotel T.V.s for more screen space, but it’s a flat edge and would fail as a garrote. I peer hard through the dark, tinted windows, to see how many opponents I’m facing… Joe always has his entourage because he can’t seem to function if he isn’t the center of attention…
Turns out to be a young woman, so caught up in texting that she seems to be oblivious to the fact that she’s almost coasted out into traffic while looking at her phone.
One more block to go.
I said I was mad, and the more I learn about this clown, the madder I get. He flew under my radar until about 2009 (although he will tell you that I was giving him a hard time since 2007) when I discovered that dozens of animal acts, that were traveling the U.S. pimping out cubs, were actually the work of one person. While that would seem like a bad branding strategy, it was a great way to hide misdeeds. For now, regardless of how angry it makes me to think of the abuse, I had to attend this hearing, to make sure we made the most of the opportunity to put a stop to it.
At Howie’s insistence, Heather has found an off duty officer to be my bodyguard for the rest of the day. Tall, dark and fiercely protective, he looks like he could take on any trouble the skinny, loud mouthed, self proclaimed “Tiger King” and his band of hooligans could throw our way. Wearing a crisp shirt and tie under his snug fitting Northface jacket, you can’t see the gun he’s hiding. Crew cut hair and dark ski glasses give the mixed message of businessman / secret agent. Kyle’s quiet, and I like that. He’s all business and that means he’s not easily distracted. Before we set out, I have to pry to find that he’s got 14 years on the job and likes the challenges of dealing with OKC’s underbelly. This backyard breeder is no big deal to him.
It’s only a few blocks to the Federal Courthouse. A deposition could be taken anywhere, but we have planned it to be in a Judge’s courtroom so that all weapons and recording equipment will be left at the check-in area. The Federal Courthouse is even more strict than regular courthouses and doesn’t allow phones, Google Glass, or any sort of gadget that could record or transmit. Attorneys can get a pass for having their phones, but that’s it. Knowing this, I’d left all of my gear back at the attorney’s office, and anyone who knows me, knows how naked I feel without my phone.
We figured that on the first break Joe Schreibvogel would be running outside to call more minions, to try and intimidate me upon leaving the courthouse. We had planned ahead that at one of the latter breaks, I’d leave with the undercover cop and head home. It would give me some time before Joe could rally anyone, who sees my work to protect animals, as a direct infringement on their “right” to profit off them.
Today Joe’s entourage consisted of one greying, nicotine addicted man, wearing a Tiger King hoodie, and three attorneys. I wonder who was footing that bill? Surely they have read through the discovery thus far and have seen Joe Schreibvogel ’s propensity for running up bills and then running out on paying them. Maybe his mother is still providing the gravy train, or maybe it came from the zoo’s till, but all day long we will hear Joe cry “poor me, I have no money and must eat what ever friends give me, or the horses and cows I kill and butcher; I can’t afford my medicine so I have to depend on others who have my same disease to share theirs with me.”
On and on he whined about how he’s never been paid a dime by the park or zoo and how he does it all because he just loves to help people so much. He tried hard to find someone in the room who would believe his nonsense, and even managed to produce some tears about how his entire involvement in the zoo is to try and educate the current employees on how to care for animals before he dies. Our attorney, Mel, offers to give Joe some time to compose himself, but Joe is performing and insists that he finish his act before the tears dry up.
No one likes to see a grown man cry, but I know they are just crocodile tears. No doubt he’s used them on his mom from an early age and that’s why she’s spoiled him and continues to bail him out of one bad business decision after another. My heart is hardened to the ploy, as I think about the lioness he sewed up, like she was just a rag doll. She had huge, gaping wounds and Joe played the part of country vet, while his cameras rolled, despite having no medical training to back it up. In later episodes he talked about having to do it over because his stitches didn’t hold. I see it as his utter neglect of the big cat’s needs that caused her so much suffering. I think it was his desire to be seen as a vet, without having gone through the training to earn him that title, which led him to continue putting her through such misery. No, I wasn’t impressed with his tears.
The purpose of the hearing was to catch Joe Schreibvogel in as many lies as possible so that it would be easy to prove our case to the judge at a later date. That was like asking the sky to be blue, or the sea to be wet. It was a very productive day.
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.
Raising Cubs documentary by Stephanie Holt
wrote saying: Hello, My name is Stephanie Holt and I work for Offspring Films. We are a wildlife TV production company and we are currently finishing a landmark series about the evolution of the cat family, featuring well-known big cats, such as lions, tigers and cheetahs as well as the more uncommonly known cats such as pallas, clouded leopards and margay.
We are currently developing an exciting new series, in which we hope to follow young cubs from new-born or newly orphaned to one year old. Over the course of the year, with a maximum of four visits, we want to show viewers the main trials and challenges faced by those rearing young cubs, helping fight against the extinction of some of our most stunning felines.
Through this series we will answer questions such as, what are the pivotal moments for their early development? When are the riskiest periods during which a cub’s health can turn for the worst? When do they become more dangerous or feisty? And other techniques for rearing a big cat for its potential release back into the wild.
I would love to hear if this may be something you would be interested in being involved in, and if you have or know of any cubs coming in to any rescue centers or due to be born in the next six months. I would be happy to phone and chat further about any ideas you may have on this and options for our possible star cubs/kittens? All the best, Stephanie Holt OFFSPRING FILMS LTD
Susan Bass responded to Stephanie saying:
Stephanie, your current project sounds interesting. Your developing project sounds horrendous if you are indeed talking about showing your viewers how captive cubs -- bred by breeders and exhibitors in order to make money off of them, with cub handling schemes when they are very young, and then sentenced to a lifetime in a cage when they become too large for direct contact with the paying public -- are exploited and abused by their owners/breeders/exhibitors. There is absolutely nothing educational or species-saving about watching these cubs and there is currently no way to release captive-raised cubs into the wild. Please take a few minutes to educate yourself on the issue of cub abuse: http://bigcatrescue.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/FactsheetBigCatsHandling_rev.1.pdf - Susan
Hi Susan, I'm afraid perhaps I haven't made myself clear enough, we are mostly looking for rescued wild cubs and how they can be reared and returned to the wild. And indeed the hardships people face in the decisions they must make when rearing these helpless cubs. We are already in contact with rescue and rehabilitation centres in Asia and Africa and I was more aiming towards any rescued cubs in America that you may know of, or indeed good people to contact. Our passion is towards conservation and certainly not towards breeding for the exotic pet trade. All the best, Steph
Susan to Steph: America has no wild tigers or lions, so there would never be wild cubs needing rescue. And even in Asia and Africa there are extremely few wild cubs that are rescued. I have read one or two articles about orphaned cubs found In the tiger reserves in Asia who were temporarily taken to zoos and then released. In Africa you need to be very careful about the lions bred for canned hunts. The owners of these breeding places will happily lie and tell you the cubs in their care were orphaned or abandoned, when in fact they were purposely bred and then socialized with humans before being sold off to canned hunt facilities.
I wrote them both and said: Usually once a year we will have orphaned bobcats who are raised for release back to the wild, but we are hands off, so most of their care is monitored via CCTV as we have to stay completely away from them to keep them wild enough for release. We have no bobcat kittens in rehab right now. Spring / Summer is usually when that happens. For the cats,
Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
"Judge me by the enemies I have made." - Franklin D. Roosevelt
Author of Big Cat Care - How to Start a Sanctuary
Carole.Baskin@BigCatRescue.org
12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL 33625
Office 813.920.4130 Cell 813.493.4564 Fax 885.4457
Celebrating 23 Years (1992-2015) of Caring for cats ♥ Ending the trade
YouTube: Watch us on BigCatTV.com More than 95 million views
Facebook: Join more than 1,000,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/BigCatRescue
Hi Carole, Oh that sounds fantastic and we would certainly love to show the hands-off approach to rearing wild cats through to release. Where are you based? At what age do you usually release the cats? And would you be willing to share some CCTV footage with us seeings as we wouldn’t be able to film them. All the best, Steph
Carole wrote: We are always happy to share footage and may even have some stuff already that you could use. Bobcat kittens seem to be anywhere from a few weeks to a couple months old when they arrive and we release the following spring, if possible, because that is when there are baby prey animals available. This is a play list of our more polished bobcat rehab footage:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsmHBgbkKIERnTfb6_SdLzR6krmHcfeCu
This is a search for our more long form footage of our rehab work: https://www.youtube.com/user/DailyBigCat/search?query=rehab
You can use a downloader to grab these in high res, or we can try to find the original files in our on site archives, if you see something you want. Our only caveat is that we ask:
Big Cat Rescue is the largest accredited sanctuary in the world dedicated to rescuing and caring for abused and abandoned exotic cats. Located in Tampa, Florida, we are home to about 100 big cats, including tigers, lions, panthers, leopards, and bobcats.
It is Big Cat Rescue’s dual mission to provide (1) the best possible care we can for the cats at our sanctuary and (2) to educate the public about the plight of big cats both in captivity and in the wild. It is our goal to end abuse of big cats and to avoid extinction of exotic cats in the wild.
Big Cat Rescue agrees to the terms of this release provided that the media production in no way condones, promotes or otherwise glamorizes private ownership, use as entertainment or sport, or breeding of captive exotic cats. Further, we allow the use of photos, audio, video and interview quotes you acquire at Big Cat Rescue, subject to these terms.
Date:______________________________
Organization:____________________________
Authorized Representative:______________________________
Signature:__________________________________
March 1, 2015. Hi Carole,
How are you? I hope you had a lovely weekend! I was just wandering if I could borrow a bit more of your big cat rescue expertise? Could you possibly point me in the direction of some good cat rescue sanctuaries in the US as I am trying to find some other great places for our documentary as we would love to feature some other big cat rescue sanctuaries alongside conservation projects. I'm a bit worried that some places I search which call themselves "sanctuaries" may not always be what they say they are! All the best, Steph
Carole wrote: The only legitimate sanctuaries are accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries. http://www.sanctuaryfederation.org/gfas/about-gfas/gfas-sanctuaries/
There is an a group that says they are accredited by the American Sanctuary Federation, but they do not do not have sanctuary standards, site inspections or renewals and their board hasn't met in a decade. Any place that tells you they don't want to be accredited by GFAS has something to hide. People will often say:
- It's too expensive.
That is a lie. It is free and GFAS will often even award grants to the applicant to help them bring their facilities up to standard.
- It's a club.
That is a lie. The organizations who run GFAS are some of the largest and most respected in the world and spent years developing standards for animal care that take into consideration the fact that some facilities have access to better funding than others. It is global and thus has to consider all manner of differences in access to resources, while still insuring appropriate animal care.
- I don't want anyone telling me how to run my business.
So that makes me wonder what it is that they want to hide or what they are doing that they think GFAS would revoke their accreditation for doing.
Hi Carole, Fantastic thank you so much for that, that helps a lot! All the best, Steph
Later Note: 10/26/2021 I looked online and it seems they did do this film for Discovery, France 5 and SkyOne but I can’t find clips. https://www.offspringfilms.co.uk/life-first-steps It was also promoted as Wild Animal Babies.
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.
Reno the Leopard Dies
We probably can’t use a lot of this, until after Bengali dies, so that the circus doesn’t take him out of spite, but here is the background on Reno, so you know it for his tribute. Maybe you can find a nicer way to say some of this.
I was lying to him and he knew it. I was saying, “It’s going to be alright, but my voice faltered.” He couldn’t see me, so his other senses were heightened. This was going to be a long trip and if he didn’t stop pacing around in circles, he was going to be bruised and bloodied from hitting the sides of the cage. I asked him to think of a time when he was happiest.
He instantly thought back to that day in March of 1995 when all was good in his world. He was suckling at his mother’s breast; kneading the warm milk from her with his tiny, freckled paws. His mother lovingly groomed his golden fur and tiny black spots with a big, raspy tongue. She was assuring him then, as I was telling him now, that we would protect him, but we both failed. We had both been conned.
Within just a few short days of giving birth, his mother had to step outside the den to drink and eat so that she could sustain her little cub. As soon as she did, the door slammed shut, locking her out and sealing her cub’s fate. He would be bottle raised, by some well meaning, but ignorant young girl, who would be told that he had to be taken from his mother, because she had abandoned him. Instead of the leopard milk nature had intended him to thrive upon, he’d be fed goat’s milk, reconstituted from powder, because it’s cheaper, and he’d be deprived, even this poor substitute, so that he could be used as a photo prop.
As a growing cub, his ancient instincts were telling him he should bite and use his claws. He should practice his stalking, pouncing and play killing because very soon he would be relying on those skills. Instead, he was smacked, kicked and his lips pinched hard against his sharp little milk teeth, to try any break him. His bottle would be with held until there was a paying customer, and they would use it to keep him quiet long enough to get their photo, and be on their way. Now they had a trophy to show others what a great bond they have with wildlife.
When he outgrew this lucrative stage in his life, where people would pay by the minute to fondle him, he was sold to the circus. His betrayal meant that for the next 7 years he would perform on command…or else.
I met Reno on New Year’s Day in 2002. The circus trainer who “worked” the leopard was tearfully saying good-bye to him, after Reno had bounded from his barren beast wagon, into the lushly landscaped, lakeside enclosure at our sanctuary. I was told that Reno had been trained to ride in a chariot, pulled by horses, and that his act had been canceled, so he was no longer needed. I heard someone say how sad it was that this trainer loved Reno so much, and now had to give him up. I snorted silently to myself thinking, “Those crocodile tears had nothing to do with love for this leopard. Those were tears of guilt.”
“Guilt for the years of cracking a whip down across Reno’s beautiful face for even thinking about pouncing on those prancing tails of the horses in front of him. Guilt for keeping this magnificent, intelligent animal in a barred circus wagon for the past 7 years. Guilt for taking the crowd’s applause and taking pleasure in being thought to be a big cat whisperer, when he knew that the positive reinforcement, that he claimed to be the key to his success, was just the smoke and mirrors used to hide the fact that beatings and deprivation were what really kept Reno under control. And the worst guilt of all, was in knowing that the cats grow up, and when they do, they won’t tolerate circus life any more, so you have to dump them somewhere and start the abuse all over again on some innocent little cub.”
In the year 2000 I’d been working on a contract with the circus for over two years, to try and get the last 19 tigers and this one leopard, off the road and into permanent sanctuary. Back then a tiger costed us $7,500 a year, just in direct costs, (now it’s 10k a year) and we had never had a year where we had been able to break even, so there was no way we could take on the burden of $150,000 a year. The deal we struck was that the circus would pay for a cage and food for their cats to come here, and if their cats needed a vet, they would send the circus vet. In return, I would not use their name when I rail against circus acts that use big cats. They said they were getting out of the tiger business, and I was happy to provide a loving home for their last remaining cats.
I had no money for a lawyer, and the circus had teams of them. The contract was not the iron clad agreement I thought it was, when it came to their vow to “get out of the tiger business.” In fact, that line somehow never even made it into the final draft. While they did stop breeding and buying tigers, they skirted the intent of our agreement by hiring acts that owned their own big cats. To their credit, they did try a year with no tigers, but the public, ignorant, or uncaring of the inherent abuse in circus life, insisted that wild animals perform for their amusement. This was frustrating, but not nearly as gut wrenching as having to deal with the circus vets.
Circus vet don’t last long. In the past 15 years, I’ve lost count of how many we have had to deal with. My feeling is that these are vets who couldn’t run their own practice, who have sold out to the blood money of the circus. They provide a sense of legitimacy to the circus that would be totally lacking otherwise. But, it turns out, I had too. While I was restrained from using the circus’ name, for fear of them coming to take their cats back, they used the sanctuary’s good name in their spin literature. The circus used us to assure the public that they could be guilt free in bringing their kids to see wild animals being forced to perform, because in the end there would be our wonderful sanctuary awaiting the retirees. Any vet, with just a smattering of self respect, can’t abide by being used this way for long.
It didn’t take long for me to figure out that their vets knew a whole lot less than ours did about cats, and I would much rather have been able to rely upon our own vets, but my contract required that the circus cats had to see the circus vets. I don’t know exactly what the connection is, but the circus vets all seem to work out of the University of Florida in Gainesville. Despite the fact that everything necessary to diagnose and treat a big cat is right here, they would always insist that any of the ailing circus cats at Big Cat Rescue be loaded up into trucks and shipped, in the middle of the night, by circus carnies to the University. The circus vet would then make a big parade of having a cool animal to work on. Students would oooh and aaah over the rare cat and the seemingly, all knowing circus vet who would hold court.
After the first lion I had ever taken to this facility, back in the 90’s had been kept sedated for over 5 hours, and used as a teaching tool, I had loathed the prospect of ever having to come there again. His name was Mufasa, and he had died from the ordeal. Now, every time a circus cat had to be taken in for diagnostics, I groaned inside, knowing the fate that awaited them. What made it so much worse now though, was that we have all of the tools necessary right here on the sanctuary grounds, but the circus vets can’t pretend to know it all here, and would never be allowed to keep a cat sedated for so long, while they lectured and pontificated over the ailing cat. I understand the necessity of hands on learning, and our vets are good about teaching our volunteers during procedures here, but none of us would risk a cat’s life by adding on time under sedation to do that.
For the past 15 years our keepers and our vets have made sure Reno had the very best of care, but now he was acting as if he couldn’t see. Just last week he was bounding around his grassy enclosure and got all excited at the sight of a blood ‘cicle coming his way, so this blindness was sudden. He began sleeping a lot more than usual, and vomited what little food he was eating. We would happily have diagnosed and treated him here, but were not allowed because the contract required he be seen by a circus vet instead. How I wanted to ignore the contract, but doing so might result in the last two cats, still living from the original 20, being sent back to living in circus wagons. That’s how I had found them living back in the 90’s; tiny circus wagons, pulled into a circle, with no shade and nothing for the cats to do but lay on a hard, wooden floor all day and peer out from behind the bars of their beast wagons.
Within five minutes of meeting the man in charge of the elephants and tigers who were all tucked out of sight, in the small town of Williston, FL, he proclaimed how much he hated tigers. It was clear, from the way they were being kept that he was telling the truth. USDA had cited the circus for years, and these cats who wouldn’t perform any longer were just a liability. Years later this circus we be hit with the largest fine ever leveled by USDA against a wild animal exhibitor, and that was just for the abuses that were so obvious they couldn’t be overlooked.
When Reno arrived in Tampa, his tail looked like 40 miles of bad road and was raw and oozing at the tip. The handler told me that tigers had bitten his tail too many times and the vets had sewed it back on, but each time it created a kink to one side or the other where tissue had been missing. Circus acts are on the road for most of the year and the wagons are chained, side by side, in dark, smelly trailers and train cars. If a cat isn’t always on guard, his neighbor can reach out a paw and pull the long tail into his mouth in an instant. All of the cats in the circus were tigers, except Reno and he took the brunt of the abuse from his fellow performers who were 3 times his size.
Reno’s years at Big Cat Rescue have been full of trees to climb, hills to survey his territory from, keepers who adored him, enrichment to shred and operant conditioning to keep his mind stimulated. Unlike punishment training, operant conditioning here consists of rewards for doing the things we need, like leaning up against the fence for annual vaccinations. Because it is only reward based, the cats know they can choose to participate, or walk away. Given that choice, they often make us plan vaccines for another day, when they are in the mood. That kind of training won’t work if, “the show must go on.”
Apparently, the circus couldn’t find anyone to drive Reno to Gainesville, so I agreed to do it myself. As much as I hated what surely awaited him there, he definitely needed diagnostics done if we were going to save his life. As expected, they kept him sedated for more than 7 hours, from what I could tell of cryptic messages relayed from the University vet to our vet, to me. What was even more maddening was that the circus vet wasn’t there, and apparently had no intention of being there, despite insisting that we come to her. She just instructed the young vet, who spoke French, but little English, by phone. She could have done that with our vets and saved Reno this long trip.
They wouldn’t allow me to stay with Reno. They never allow me to see what they do to the circus cats. It wouldn’t be good for the outside world to know what really goes on behind closed doors. I waited in the van all day, until they finally notified me that it wasn’t cancer, but they wanted to keep him (on display, no doubt) at the clinic, for his follow up treatment. The vet said his liver was riddled with ulcers and that the MRI, CT Scan, X-rays and Sonogram did not give them any reason for his sudden blindness; but he was completely blind.
We can accommodate blind cats. 29 of our cats are over the age of 20 and blindness just comes with old age, but i asked if they could reverse the damage to his liver. The vet said it might be treatable, but not reversible. She said they would culture the liver biopsy and treat him, as if it were hepatitis, until they got the culture back. That could be several days, especially since this was a week end. I would much rather have taken him back to the sanctuary, where he would be surrounded by those who know and love him for this supportive care, but was reminded that he isn’t my cat and the circus is in control of what happens to him.
In all the years of caring for Reno, I never once saw him do it, but his tail bore the evidence, that in his solitary moments, Reno dreamed of his mother. He remembered how it felt to be safely snuggled up against her. He suckles on his own tail, sometimes until it bleeds, in order to hold firm that memory of what it was like to feel safe and loved. No matter how much we tried to provide distraction to Reno from the fact that he was born in a cage, would always live in a cage and would die in a cage, he always knew that he was born a leopard and that his life should have been his own. Two days later, Monday Feb 23 at 11:36 am, Dr. G (the circus vet) told Dr. Wynn that Reno wasn’t doing any better and felt he should be euthanized.
Meanwhile I had emailed Tom on Feb 22 asking, “Dear Thomas, Who do I need to talk to at x about having Reno Leopard (age 20) and Bengali Tiger (age 20+) donated to us and x released from their ongoing care? These cats are way too old to keep hauling them back and forth on a 5 hour, round trip, to Gainesville for diagnostics, when we have two big cats vets and all of that equipment here on site, or very close by. For the cats, Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue “
He responded on the 23rd: “Carole: We are not interested in donating these animals and prefer to keep the boarding agreement in place. However, we would have no objections to you providing such vet care on site or nearby if and when your veterinarians believe that is appropriate. We would request that your veterinarians keep us apprised of any activities in that regard. Please have Dr. Wynn contact Dr. G to discuss the details. Tom x”
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.
Tribute to Natasha the Siberian Lynx
Natasha Siberian Lynx http://bigcatrescue.org/natasha/
Natasha was rescued when she was only 4 months old from a fur farm in 1993. She would have been killed and made into a coat in 1994 but instead lived out the next 21 years at Big Cat Rescue. Here she was raised with Alexander the hybrid Lynx and Willow, another Siberian Lynx, who was also rescued from being slaughtered for her fur. They quickly outgrew Alex, but Natasha and Willow were lifelong pals until Willow died in 2013.
Losing her companion was hard for Natasha, but Keepers did all they could to fill the void. She was visited often and given special attention via operant and enrichment sessions with her. As she aged she spent most of her time napping in the sun.
In 2014, when she began gagging on her food, we examined her and saw there was a tumor growing in her throat. It was cancerous so we called on an expert, Dr. Kane who made house calls to inject the tumor with chemo. By coming to Natasha he spared her the stress of riding to a clinic and reduced the handling time considerably for her.
Natasha had two injections over the past couple of months, but was declining in health. All of her meals were being cut into bites the size of chickpeas, and fed to her on a stick, two or three times a day, but it was getting harder and harder for her to swallow. We called Dr. Kane again and told him we were going to X-ray Natasha and take another look down her throat. He would be there to give the injection again, if there were any chance of improvement, but we all gathered solemnly because we were pretty sure that this was going to be the end for our dear Natasha.
When Dr. Kane shined the light down her throat he could see that the treatments were not working and that her laryngeal folds were decaying from the aggressive tumor. These folds are what keep you from choking when you swallow and hers were paralyzed and rotting. There was no way to fix this so we said our goodbyes to Natasha and Dr. Justin and Dr. Wynn eased her over to the other side.
Now she and Willow are together again and I can just picture them gently comforting each other. If you could hear them, I believe they would be comforting you as well. They would be thanking you, not only for their rescue from the cruel fur industry, and not only for what you did to make their lives in captivity bearable but also for all that you are doing to end the trade in wild cats.
The fur farm rescue of 1993 was more than 21 years ago and of the 56 Bobcats and Lynx who were rescued that year, only Raindance and Little Dove survive. Their lives, and the millions of animals you never met, will not have been in vain if we can end the fur trade. You can help by never passing up an opportunity to express your disgust to retailers who sell fur coats. Just ask to see the manager and tell them you are offended by such products. If enough of us reach beyond our comfort zone and politely speak up, we have the power to end the trade.
Photo circa 1990’s. We do not display photos of people touching cats after 2004.
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.
It Doesn’t Get Any Greener Than This
I moved all of my properties and the sanctuary completely off the grid!
Big Cat Rescue is committed to protecting exotic cats from captivity and in the wild and some may think that we put cats ahead of people, but that’s not true. Protecting habitat where cats live free is crucial to saving the planet for all of us because our forests are our planet’s lungs. We have tried to reduce our impact on the globe by installing two huge solar arrays, thanks to the help of some wonderful donors.
These solar panels helped us reduce our dependency on dirty fuels and are a focal point on tours to get people thinking about what they can do to walk more softly on the earth.
This week Arcadia Power made it possible for Big Cat Rescue to completely switch to clean energy! It took about 5 minutes, and will only cost us about $20.00 a month over our typical electric bill for the entire sanctuary. (For a regular house, it’s more like $7.50 a month over your regular bill) There was nothing to install, no hassle, no red tape; just a quick call and a simple contract that can be freely terminated at any time (if we want to go back to using the dirty stuff).
Arcadia Power is the first nationwide Clean Energy utility option. By partnering with wind and solar projects, Arcadia Power provides homes and businesses with 100% pollution-free energy via local utilities. Members support their values through their monthly electricity bills, decreasing demand for fossil fuels and helping to grow American jobs. Arcadia Power partners with sustainability-minded companies and organizations to combat climate change and secure a better future for our planet. To see if it is available to you visit www.arcadiapower.com/bigcatrescue and just type in your zip code to check.
How Big Cat Rescue Went Completely Green. It works like this:
Once power reaches the grid, the electricity is indistinguishable – just a bunch of charged particles zipping around – and no one can specifically direct an electron from a wind turbine to your home. What matters is how those electrons are produced, and that’s something you can influence.
When you sign up for clean energy with Arcadia Power, you’ll ensure that for every kWh of electricity you use, a kWh is produced and put on the grid by a pollution-free renewable source. You get the same reliability from your local utility, and one consolidated monthly statement. It’s that simple.
We are proud to announce that Big Cat Rescue is now running on 100% clean energy! We wanted to share with you our support of an environmentally friendly lifestyle, and encourage you to do the same. We are offering a $36.00 Free Pass to anyone that signs up for clean energy at your home or business via our partner Arcadia Power! It won’t change your current utility company and is easier and more affordable than you think. Click here to read more and sign up.
Every year on average, your home will use electricity generated by burning 4,000 pounds of coal. This releases nearly 10,000 pounds of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere and furthers the devastating effects of climate change. This equates to the same as driving an extra 11,000 miles a year, or cutting down 190 trees. Arcadia power provides an option for purchasing clean and renewable energy sources that will bring your CO2 emissions down to zero.
We are in the business of protecting wild cats and their habitats, so it is important to us that we have partnerships with businesses that feel the same way. Big Cat Rescue is proud to be a Clean Energy Partner! Running our business on clean energy seems like a small price to pay for doing the right thing today and investing in the environment of tomorrow.
The sign up takes just 5 minutes, and when you do, you’ll get a Big Cat Rescue Free Pass right in your welcome packet. We are running on 100% Clean Energy – join us! It’s a win-win for everyone! ArcadiaPower.com/bigcatrescue
Learn More About Going Green
Big Cat Rescue is now running on 100% Clean Energy and is supporting the production and demand of renewable energy sources. We are partnering with Arcadia Power and so should you! Sign up to run your home on clean energy and get a $36.00 Free Pass to Big Cat Rescue.
How it works: Arcadia Power purchases clean energy equal to your usage, but your local utility continues to deliver it to your home. You still receive just one power bill every month, and the same reliability that you’re used to, but your footprint is reduced to zero.
In just one year, the average American home’s electricity use generates over 10,000 pounds of carbon pollution per year. With Arcadia Power, you can reduce your home’s carbon footprint to 0, and go green in under 5 minutes.
It’s little-known to most people that not only does fossil-fuel electricity generation add greenhouse gases to our atmosphere, but also uses 0.49 gallons of water for every kilowatt hour produced, which for the average household is around 5000 gallons of water wasted per year. Choosing clean energy is a natural option for socially responsible people, just like buying local, organic or fair trade.
The average household uses just over 10,000 kWh of electricity per year, reducing your home’s impact to zero through clean energy with Arcadia Power would be equivalent of:
Biking over 11,000 miles instead of driving, or for the average American, 580 days of not driving to work. Planting 190 trees. 34 years of not turning on your coffee maker. 55 years of not using your hair dryer.
Arcadia Power is a first-of-its-kind company giving homeowners access to the same energy markets where Apple, Whole Foods, and Google buy their clean energy.
Through Arcadia Power, you support renewable energy facilities across the country – from commercial wind farms to school solar projects – and ensure they’re putting clean energy on the grid. You support job creation and the clean economy. Clean energy for the average Arcadia Power customer costs about 25 cents per day for the average customer. No contract or commitment, and no need to install anything. You don’t need to own your home: Arcadia Power works with rentals, apartments, condos & small businesses too. If you pay an electricity bill, you can use it for good. We are running on 100% Clean Energy – join us! It’s a win-win for everyone! ArcadiaPower.com/bigcatrescue
For those who will inevitably scream, "What about the birds?!?" please consider the fact that failing to embrace clean energy sources means we destroy the entire planet for us AND the birds. Here are some numbers based on studies (coal is much harder on birds than wind):
http://climatecrocks.com/2013/05/20/why-coal-and-nuclear-plants-kill-far-more-birds-than-wind-power/
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/08/25/3475348/bird-death-comparison-chart/
http://www.eesi.org/articles/view/how-harmful-is-renewable-energy-to-birds
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.
Niagara School of Film arranges to film at the sanctuary Carole Baskin, My name is Lauren Groleau and I attend Niagara College in Welland, Ontario (Canada) for Film Production. Five other passionate students and I are currently in the pre-production stages of producing a documentary to be filmed in March entitled Taming the King. The documentary is based on a current and rapidly changing topic – exotic cats in captivity. As you are aware, the subject of animal rights and protection has been sweeping media outlets. We want to shed some light on both ends of the story. Taming the King will take the viewer through an exploration of wild animals in captivity throughout North America and the trials they face. Big cats are fast approaching extinction in their natural habitats, yet thousands of lions, tigers and other species are held in captivity around the world for our personal enjoyment. Those in the wild now only survive on the grounds of National Parks and various conservations in Africa. Taming the King explores exotic cats in captivity firsthand, through interviews with those who know these creatures best; their owners, keepers and the skilled people out to protect them. That’s where Big Cat Rescue comes in. As the largest accredited big cat sanctuary in the world, we would love to have the facility, cats, keepers, and volunteers be part of the documentary. The Taming The King film crew plans to travel to Tampa, Florida to visit your sanctuary between March 17th-28th in order to explore the volunteer and rescue opportunities as alternatives to partaking in zoos and circuses. The six of us are also more than willing to volunteer in any way while visiting the rescue center. In order to produce this film, we spent the past couple of months fundraising. We’re happy to share that we’ve raised over $7,000 toward the documentary and spreading the world about big cat rescues. With hundreds of supporters and donors, we are well on our way to creating a powerful and educational film. The link to our Kickstarter campaign is below, it includes a more detailed explanation about the documentary itself. www.kickstarter.com/projects/199842799/taming-the-king-big-cats-in-captivity For more information, please don’t hesitate to contact us through email or phone. Thank you very much for your time and consideration, hope to hear from you soon! Sincerely, Lauren Groleau Producer – Taming The King Dear Lauren, Your mother was right when she taught you that animals are as emotionally complex as humans; maybe even more so. A mother cat will kill her young rather than let them suffer, if they are born into a situation that is too unfavorable to their happy existence. Yet we use the term "tiger mom" to convey the fact that a tiger will fight to the death and sacrifice herself to protect her young, as will any other cat. Humans don't usually cover that range of emotion. I don't know of human mothers who chose to kill their babies rather than have them be enslaved, but big cats do it all the time. It is the excuse that big cat breeders use for taking the cubs as soon as they are born. They say the mother wouldn't take care of the cubs, or might kill them. That is your first clue that captivity is unbearable to the cat and that they believe you are better off dead than in a cage. I almost didn't even respond to your inquiry about filming at Big Cat Rescue because I hate the name of the project. In our industry we always say "you can train a big cat but you can never tame them," because it is true. People do punish cubs, with hold food and water, and beat, kick and shock juvenile and adult exotic cats to make them appear tame, but no one ever tamed a wild cat and no one ever will. The kind of people who breed these magnificent animals, for lives of captivity and deprivation; who steal the cubs from their mothers as soon as they are born; who force the cubs to eat food that is not sufficient for growing lion or tigers (you can't buy tiger milk in the store and goat or cow milk is not a good substitute no matter how much other crap they add to the mix); who leave the cubs in tiny crates, only to pull them out for those who will pay to pose with them (usually holding a bottle to keep them quiet); who beat the cubs until they fear to ever bite or swipe at their trainer; these kind of people are not above lying to you. In fact, they have to lie to you and to the world, because no one would pay to see their shows, or think they were cool, if they showed you what they really do to the animal to make them comply. They are usually illiterate, and you may think you can fool them into showing you what the animal's life is really like, but they are smart about not letting outsiders see the truth and are great con artists. They will charm you and thrill you with the notion that if you train under them you too could be "special" and have a special relationship with the wild. It's a lie, meant to separate you from your money, even if only $20 to get your photo taken with a cub. If they weren't very good liars, they couldn't keep fooling media outlets to promote their cruelty under the guise of "clean family fun," or a "loving exotic pet owner." Big Cat Rescue gets pitched by production companies about once a week. Some have had great successes, with long running series and documentaries, others are new with no track record and school projects make up about half of the requests we get for filming opportunities. What they all want to film is a rescue and they almost all have their own talent, they want to be the focus of their piece, who will come in and spend a few days being a keeper to show the world what it's like. Probably a quarter of the pitches we get are like yours, that say they want to "show both sides" of keeping wild animals in cages. There are two sides, but not like most people think: 1. On the one side are people like us who understand that wild animals have their own needs, their own agenda and their own right, to make their own decisions. We are working to end captivity for them. 2. The other side makes money from them or gets their sense of self worth from making other people think they are special. They say they love their animals, but what they love is the attention. They don't want anyone to threaten their ability to keep fooling the public (they have to keep buying or breeding new cubs because once the cat is 5 years old they are an adult and won't put up with most of the imposed nonsense, like walking on a leash, unless they are brain damaged from the inbreeding or early beatings.) What the bad guys will show you is Operant Conditioning, or Positive Reinforcement, because they have to have some way of getting the cats to perform. What you can't see and wouldn't know is that those training methods only work if the cat is hungry or in the mood. If "the show must go on" then the real training that ensures performance is the cruelty you won't see. The person will often carry a stick in their hand or back pocket and tell you that it is just for the cat to bite on, if they get too excited. The truth is that they use electric cattle sticks during the real training sessions and then carry a look alike stick into the cage while you are looking so the cat thinks they still have the electric prod. The thing is that you aren't going to see what happens behind the scenes where animal abuse happens. Neither do the regulating bodies, like USDA or the state department of game, because they don't do under cover work. Organizations that do undercover work have people who are willing to put in months, sometimes years, gaining the trust of these evil people, in order to capture footage that proves the bad treatment the cats go through. This one just came out in January of this year: http://www.humanesociety.org/news/press_releases/2015/01/ok-va-exotics-investigation-012215.html AFTER the HSUS aired their findings, then USDA went in and had to do their job of writing it up, but clearly USDA wasn't able to figure it out without someone going inside, under cover, so the idea that any film crew is just going to waltz in and get the bad guys to show themselves isn't going to happen. Whenever a film crew wants to film here we require they sign a contract with us that none of the footage they film here, or the many hundreds of hours we are often willing to share with them, will be used to promote the cruel notion that it is OK to keep wild animals in cages. That sends most of them packing, because they really want to perpetuate the myth that we can have tigers walk on leashes at our side and everything is great. The main reason film crews contact us is that they want to film a rescue or film abuse. That is pretty hard to do because most people have figured out that the general public thinks it is cruel to keep big cats in basements, garages and back yard jail cells. Most won't let you in. Most of the film we get is done surreptitiously. Some sanctuaries will let you in, but most of the overcrowded, underfunded places aren't going to let you in for the same reasons. You could come here, but our cages are 10 times or more larger than most and our cats have a great life, so it really doesn't show how horrific the problem is. Other questions we are often asked: 1. Are there lots of people still trying to buy tigers as pets? The problem isn't that there are a lot of people out looking to buy a tiger. The problem is that there are a lot of people who will pay to pet a tiger cub, or to swim with a tiger cub, or to have their photo with a tiger cub, or to see cute cubs on display. They don't stay small and cute very long, so the abusers are constantly breeding or buying more, but taking care of an adult tiger costs $10,000 a year, so the abusers will often give away their juvenile cubs, who have outgrown their cute stage, to unwitting people who think that just because they can walk that cub on a leash today, they will still be able to do it a year from now. When the cat is about a year old and over 200 lbs is when those owners often start looking for a sanctuary. Sadly there are pseudo sanctuaries, like one we know of that has 300 tigers, who let the same bad actors breed cubs each year and then dump straight onto them. When we take a big cat we make the owners sign a contract that they will never possess another wild cat, but most sanctuaries don't take that precaution and are just enabling bad behavior. 2. Where do they buy them? We think two of the biggest suppliers of cubs are GW Zoo in Wynnewood, OK and T.I.G.E.R.S. in Myrtle Beach, SC, but it is nearly impossible to prove. USDA asks for a census, but it is up to the owner to say how many cats they have, because no one really counts them. 3. How often people are calling you because the want to get rid of a big cat? 2003 was the worst year. We had to turn away 312 big cats, but that same year a federal law passed that made it illegal to sell a big cat, over state lines, as a pet. Since then nearly a dozen states have passed bans on possession of big cats so the number we have to turn away is decreasing. Now the largest problem are all of these pseudo sanctuaries that fail after taking in more big wild animals than they can afford. 4. How do I know the good guys from the bad guys? If they are breeding big cats for life in cages or posing with big cats, or letting you pose with big cat cubs, they they are part of the problem. You can search their names at www.911AnimalAbuse.com but a lot of them change their names and work under as many as 18 different business names so their bad actions are harder to trace back to them. 5. Can I volunteer while there? We are serious about safety. We are a strictly NO TOUCH facility. No one touches the cats other than for medical treatment. Our volunteers spend 6 months getting trained before they can take care of our smallest cats. It is two years of classes and training with small cats before our volunteers ever get to clean and feed the lions, tigers and leopards. We wouldn't dream of letting you breeze in and start working with wild cats with any less training. 6. Shouldn't we be saving endangered species from extinction through captive breeding? Allowing the private possession of lions, tigers, leopards and other wild cats is causing their extinction in the wild; not a hedge against it as the breeders would have you believe. If you haven't read, or listened to Blood of the Tiger, by J.A. Mills, I think you should as it does a great job of tying in the U.S. trade in tigers and their imminent extinction in the wild. http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Tiger-Conspiracy-Magnificent-Species/dp/0807074969 So, as you can tell from this very long letter, I would like to help and am happy to answer any questions you have or dispel any of the nonsense the breeders, dealers and exotic pet owners would have you believe. We do allow most people who want to film at our sanctuary the ability to do so. If they are a well known and respected production company, we do it for free. If they are trying to make a name for themselves, or are a school group, we usually suggest they book a private tour. Unlike other facilities, with something to hide, all of our sanctuary is available for filming, including our hospitals, our food prep areas, our offices, and of course the cats. The only cats we can't take anyone near are the one or two that come in from the wild each year, that we are rehabbing for release back to the wild. Any animal going back to the wild has to stay away from people, so we can show you, via close circuit televisions, what is going on out there, but can't expose them to visitors. Private tours are expensive because we are a sanctuary, first and foremost, and we spend less than 20% of our revenue on staff and fundraising, so for someone to take the time to walk around with a private tour group answering questions, we have to make it worthwhile to the sanctuary. https://www.zerve.com/BigCatRescue/Private We have our own media producer and more than 95,000,000 views of our footage on YouTube.com/bigcatrescue and are happy to share footage, at no charge, with those who are doing stories that will help us achieve our mission of ending the trade in big cats as pets, props and for their parts. You can contact our media person and others you may want to interview here: http://bigcatrescue.org/about/our-staff/ Most are happy to talk with you on camera. This is a playlist of our rescue videos: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL00B86505EBD6BE5F I created a page, from this letter to you, so I can just direct people to it later, rather than keep re typing all of this. It has links, photos and videos, if it is easier for you to share there. http://bigcatrescue.org/film-rescue/ For the cats, Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue Lauren wrote: I'd like to confirm our film crew's visit to Big Cat Rescue for Tuesday, March 17th at 8:00 a.m. Thank you very much - We are looking forward to it! Dear Lauren, Between our videographer Afton, our volunteers and I, we are ready for your visit. Looks like they aired it on YouTube https://youtu.be/sCYNO0zdxJ0 in 2015 and 6 years later it only has gotten 220 views. 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.
2013 the City Commission of Hallandale Beach, Florida voted to ban bullhooks, bucking straps and other cruel devices used to train and dominate animals to perform tricks for entertainment.
The city of Miramar and Leon County, so that they could effectively keep out exotic animals by making requirements in fencing that wouldn't allow the FWC rules to be followed.
August 22, 2006 Tampa, FL Lowry Park Zoo: An open cage at Lowry Park Zoo led to Sumatran tiger named Enshalla being shot to death by the zoo’s chief executive officer Lex Salisbury. The CEO had recently fired a long term keeper who was considered too concerned about the animals’ welfare in favor of hiring staff who would not speak up for the animals. A keeper with only two weeks of training with tigers was left by himself in charge. AZA, USDA and the FWCC all acknowledged that there is no standardized training required.
February 17, 2004 Dade City , FL: “Pet” cougar is found lounging near neighbor’s pool 3/10ths of mile away from his home. Animal’s possessor retrieves animal without incident, but she will have to appear in court for allowing cougar to escape. ( Tampa Tribune )
May 12, 2002 Tampa, FL: A 350-pound African lion at Busch Gardens ripped off the arm of a zookeeper standing next to the lion’s cage while she was giving a private tour to her family. The attack occurred shortly after the zookeeper had fed the lion pieces of meat during training exercises. (Tampa Tribune )
What is a day like at Big Cat Rescue?
Some things happen EVERY day, some things happen a few times a week, some things happen once a month and some things happen once a year. The problem with all of this structured order is that EVERY day there is some chaos introduced, so it is always a balancing act to take care of both the critically important, and the things that have to get done every day.
To Set the Stage
There are 100 exotic cats on 67 acres and about 80-100 volunteers and staff to care for them. Some cats have more than one cage, or Cat-a-Tat, as we call them, so there are 110 cages and most are the size of a person’s home, up to half acre – 2.5 acres in size.
Our cats eat every day. Most zoos fast several days a week, but our cats are old and no one likes to go hungry, so 7 days a week the cats are fed by a cadre of volunteers. The food is taken from the freezers to the cooler a day or two in advance to thaw, and then each day special diets have to be made up for a huge number of our cats, because of medical issues they have, and all of the cats are fed. We feed whole prey rats and rabbits two days a week and the rest of the week it is a combination of a ground beef diet, that has their vitamins and minerals pre mixed in, and chicken and beef chunks.
This is the happiest time of the day for the cats. A couple hours before feeding they all start pacing around and calling out to the Keepers when they hear the wagons hauling the buckets full of food coming down the path. Keepers shut the most dangerous cats out of the feeding lockouts before feeding time, so they can safely drop the food in on the platters. Then the cats are let in.
Another thing that gets done every single day is the Cat-a-Tats all get cleaned. That’s like cleaning 110 homes a day where the inhabitants poop all over the place and try to hide it.
Each Cat-a-Tat has one to three bowls for water and a platter for food. Every single day the water is dumped out, the bowls are scrubbed and refilled and the platters are washed down. If the cats dragged their food into the cage, the Keepers have to spot it and pull it out using long, L shaped scraper rakes to get the stuff to the side and tongs to pull it out through the side of the cage.
A lot of things are going on while the cats are being fed and cleaned as well. All Keepers are looking for changes in the cats’ condition, behavior, food left behind and what the cats’ poop looks like. They are looking for cage and grounds maintenance issues as well. As soon as they finish feeding and cleaning they log into the computers and log their observations. Those observations immediately generate emails to the vet group for animal health issues, and to the maintenance people for the cage and grounds work. The Operations Manger, the CEO and the President are copied on all of these observations in real time so we all know what is happening. Any of our volunteers or staff can subscribe to these alerts if they want to be informed and they all have access to our BigCat.me Intranet site where these issues are reported. The Operations Manager then has to check off the Observation, once she has taken a look at the issue, so that everyone knows that someone in charge has double checked the situation. All of the health related issues become a permanent part of each cat’s record.
Public Tours
We are closed to the public on Thursdays, but every other day of the week we have guided tours. All tours are guided, with a back up to keep everyone together. They are done in groups of 22 or less, so everyone can hear as the guide shares the stories of the cats and what people can do to protect them in the wild and from captivity.
Weekdays
We have a tour every week day at 3 PM (except Thursdays) We also often will have busloads of children from schools, scouts, summer camps, etc. and busloads of cruise ship guests. We offer private tours throughout the day, as we have volunteers available to give them, so there are often small groups of people learning about the cats and their issues.
Weekends
We have the large guided tours three times each day, as we have many more of our volunteers available on week ends than on week days.
Specialty Tours
We also have Feeding Tours, where guests watch the Keepers feed and learn about what cats eat in the wild and at Big Cat Rescue. We have Keeper Tours where guests learn how to make enrichment for the cats and then go with the Keepers to see it handed out. Sometimes we have really special, special tours; like this week a Keeper from Spain, where we are helping a sanctuary build a facility for rescued circus cats, is coming for a week, so she will be shadowing our people in every aspect of what we do.
Training
All of our animal care is done by volunteers. We can do that because of the intense training our volunteers get. Every day volunteers are taking classes, from other volunteers, and are getting their certifications. A certification is a sign off they get from a coordinator (the person in charge that day) saying they are proficient at the task. There are always at least 3 sign offs needed for each certification to be complete. So the way training works is:
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The volunteer takes the class by watching a video or being read to by another volunteer.
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They take and pass a test.
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They go out and watch someone do it right 3 times.
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They go out and do it while being watched by a coordinator 3 times to be sure they got it right.
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They are certified as competent for the task.
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Later in their career they can apply to be a teacher or coordinator to help train and lead others.
There are 30 or more of these classes they have to progress through, in a particular order for them to be able to proceed up the ranks of Red, to Yellow, to Green to Navy Blue. We use shirt colors to show a person’s level of expertise and time spent with us. Red is first 6 months and requires 4 hours a week, Yellow is next year and a half and requires 6 hours a week, Green is after 2 years and requires 8 hours a week. Keepers have to be Green to feed or clean the lions, tigers, or leopards. Navy is after 4 years and requires 16 hours a week of volunteerism.
Our interns work 6 days a week, daylight to dark, so they fast track through these levels. They live onsite and come from all around the world because this kind of training isn’t available any where else.
The Gift Shop is open every day but Thursday, so there is always a lot going on in there. Our online and gift shop sales generate a lot of money for the cats so Partners (our non Keeper volunteers) are always busy fulfilling orders and shipping them, answering phone calls that range from: “Where are you located?” To “I have a lion I want to get rid of.” Got two of those calls last week.
Partners are trained to be nice to guests, to be able to answer questions or find someone who can, to keep the Gift Shop looking spiffy, to manage the huge groups of people (sometimes a few hundred at a time) who are all piling into our store before their tour. Our store is about 1000 square feet, so it’s crowded in there. We play our videos, via our Roku channel on a T.V. in the store and one in the back yard waiting area, so guests can get a preview of what we do while they are waiting. We are very strict about how people are to behave around the cats so we have a video they watch on our rules right before the tours.
Our tours have 3 different ways of being done. Very small tours will be a guide just talking with the guests as they walk around the property spotting cats. Large tours usually have the guide wearing a transmitter and the guests each wearing a receiver with a headset, so they can hear. What they hear will either be the guide talking or we have an iPhone / Android app called Big Cat Rescue, where guides can play the stories of the cats. I prefer this method as it insures the guest gets an accurate message. Memorizing 100 cat stories has proven difficult for the best of tour guides.
At the end of the tour, people are asked to contact their lawmakers to ask for laws that ban the private possession of big cats and to end the cub handling that causes all of the surplus big cats to be bred, used and discarded. They are greeted by one of our Legislative Interns who helps them place the call or write the letter on the spot.
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.
Howie’s Heart Surgery
I kept the following log so I could keep Howie’s extensive friend list up to date on his progress.
1/4/15
The whole day of preparing for, flying to and arriving at the Cleveland Clinic for Howies open heart surgery had me so freaked out, I couldn't speak. I just tried to smile and act confident but kept tearing up. I knew I was in the edge when I read a Facebook post by Dr Wynn recounting her trying day, that included a cat spraying her hair right before going out to see the Phantom of the Opera, and I burst out crying.
Howie has a bad mitral valve, which means that when his heart pumps the valve doesn’t shut all the way and some of the blood leaks backward, rather than pushing through his system. He’s had a murmur his whole life, but the last 4 years the situation has worsened, and in the last few months he’s become short of breath just from walking out to the car.
1/5/15
Howie spent the entire day being poked, poked again to confirm, prodded, x-rayed, and sonogrammed. I think this is the worst part for him. He just hates needles. The day started at 7 am and ran until almost 5 pm.
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.
Speed Trap Heart Attack I don’t even remember the last time I got a speeding ticket. Chalk that up to old age; either I am driving like a little old granny these days, or I just can’t remember… I didn’t get a ticket today, as I drove past a speed trap, but nearly had a heart attack. The opponents to protecting wild animals are an evil lot, who don’t respect life in any form, and over the years I’ve been physically attacked, threatened, and intimidated by a number of back yard breeders and exploiters. As a result, I am always a little on edge, but didn’t realize how much I constantly scan the scene for danger until today. My parents gave me two costly gifts in the past few months; a pretty little cherry red golf cart to use at the sanctuary and a 2012 Toyota Tacoma Pre-Runner. My mother and I spent an hour and 15 minutes at the DMV doing the title transfer this morning and on the way to the sanctuary is when I nearly flipped the new truck over to escape being shot! Or that is what I thought was happening… As I scanned to the right, I saw an unmarked police car, in the driveway to a store that shut down last year. The driveway is often used by the convenience store patrons and the church on the other side, so it was a place you would expect to see someone sitting, as they were just waiting for a break in traffic, and not a place one would expect a sheriff’s deputy to have set up a speed trap. As I glanced at the car, I notice what appears to be a man pointing a gun at my face and adrenaline flushed through my veins like a tidal wave. There was that instance of fight or flight where I was struggling to remember if my gun (I have a concealed weapons permit and am a very good shot) was in this car or not. I was considering evasive action, but was hemmed in by traffic. I considered just broadsiding my assailant but (thankfully) thought better of that. And then the pieces began to fit as I cruised on past... He didn’t shoot... My windshield was intact... Typical shape of an unmarked police car... That gun was too broad at the nose... My thumping heart began to calm, but I just couldn’t help but think how badly all of that could have gone if just one of those reactions, to the constant harassment I face, had caused me to take some action other than just passing by. Constantly challenging the way we treat animals and encouraging people to rethink their involvement, such as paying to pet lion and tiger cubs, or going to the circus, or buying designer hybrid cats is not for the faint of heart. Big Cat Rescue is pressing for laws that will protect wild animals from these abuses, but Joe Biden famously said, “No fundamental social change occurs merely because government acts. It’s because civil society, the conscience of a country, begins to rise up and demand – demand – demand change.” The animals, and I, need you to “demand – demand – demand change.” Dad, Mom and Jamie on her golf cart. Jamie added the spots to both our carts. Nat Geo Wants to Film From: Devon Massyn Subject: [Big Cat Rescue] Filming at Big Cat Rescue: Hi there, I 'm a producer for Big Cat Week on Nat Geo Wild and would love to talk to a representative about filming at your facility. Thanks, Devon Massyn Susan Bass followed up with him. I don’t know if he ever actually came to film. Maybe with her. We get pitched all the time and they frequently film but then sometimes it’s years before we see any evidence of their work and sometimes never.
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.
2014 Annual Report
With your help we are winning in the battle for compassion! Up until 2003 the number of requests for rescues we had to turn down due to lack of space or funds had roughly doubled each year, to 312 that year. We feared it would double again to over 500 in 2004. Instead, it has steadily declined since then thanks to the passage of a federal bill and several state bills that restrict the ownership of exotic cats. This year there were 62 big cats who came to our attention as being abandoned. We were able to take in 7 wildcats plus 2 rehab bobcats. We offered to take 16 of the cats if their owners would contract to never own another exotic cat. The cats we did not take were those whose owners refused.
There is no point to our taking in cats just so an owner can go buy another cute cub to use and discard.
Animal Care. Rescues
Rescued 9 exotic cats, including Kimba, Zeus, Keisha & Kali the tigers, Mickey the cougar, Sheena the serval, and Ariel the bobcat. We rescued Ivan the native bobcat, who had lost both front legs in an illegal trap, but he was too badly injured to survive. We also rescued Cypress the bobcat but she too was too badly crushed from her tangle with a car to survive. Newborn kittens who are brought to Animal Control are routinely killed because with their immature immune systems they do not survive in the shelter environment. So we began a foster kitten program with our interns as the fosters. We have saved more than 170 kittens from being killed. We raise them until they are 2 pounds and healthy, then bring them to the Humane Society of Tampa Bay to be fixed and adopted out. See some very cute kitten video here:http://youtu.be/4yMMudueBow
and see cute cats meeting the vet here:http://youtu.be/lfXyynkYmfc
By the end of this year, we have 97 exotic cats and 83 of them are over the age of 12; 74 of those are over the age of 15; and 32 of those are over the age of 20. This is well beyond how long they are designed to live in the wild and much older than most zoo cats. This is a testament to the excellent animal care we provide, but we are dealing with many more age related illnesses and are losing more of our big cat friends every year. Sadly we had to say “goodbye” to these great friends: Flavio Tiger 25 (a soulmate of mine), Sasha Lion 20, Precious Bobcat 21, Banjo Bearcat 23, Cleo Serval 17, Nyla Leopard 19, Mr E Leopard Cat 14, China Doll Tiger 19, Amazing Grace Ocelot 22, Kimba Tiger 20, Thing Bearcat 14, TrickE Leopard Cat 13, Shere Khan Tiger 19, Cody Cougar 18, Rambo Jungle Cat 15 and Canyon Sandcat 14.
We never gave up on Little Feather the Bobcat after her stroke: http://bigcatrescue.org/little-feather/
Windsong Memorial Hospital - Thanks to the generous donation of an X-ray machine, followed by many donors chipping in to fund a proper building for it, the Windsong Memorial Hospital broke ground in 2014 and should be ready for its first big patient by the mid January 2015.
Award Winning Sanctuary
• Top Rated Non Profit at Great Non Profits We have received this award every year since they started awarding it in 2010 due to the many great reviews we get from visitors and donors each year.
• We again received Charity Navigator’s highest four star rating.
• 2014 WEDU Be More Relevant Award winner for best nonprofit video
• 2014 Viator Top Rated Partner Award for consistently rating four stars or higher
• 2014 Origin Magazine listed Big Cat Rescue in their Top 25 Animal Non Profits
• 2014 Give Day Tampa Bay winner of $22,500 in prize money and winner of the most donors on that day.
• 2014 Recognized at Charity Navigator’s top rated charity of any kind for Tampabay area and #5 in animal charities in the nation.
• 2014 Named a Catster Hero
Education - Our Education Director announced that she would be going to Peru to help ADI with the circus issue there, so we hired a new Education Director, Jennifer Leon, and will be focusing more on educating adults who can take action to save big cats before it is too late.
BigCatRescue.org gets about 2.6 million unique visitors per year with 2,653,703 in 2014. Our website is primarily an educational tool and according to Alexa we are ranked 152,097 worldwide and 36,741 most visited website in the U.S. in 2014 which was a doubling of our site’s popularity over 2013. We have 877 other sites linking to us.
Some of the pages that were the most popular were:
2 Why it’s wrong to buy big cats had 386,628 visitors
4 Why it’s wrong to breed Savannah Cat hybrids had 183,095 visitors
5 Why it’s wrong to breed white tigers had 169,104 visitors
8 Why it’s wrong to breed ligers had 130,927 visitors
Our web site addresses local and global concerns about environment and has over 10,069 pages of information, movie clips, sounds, safe interactive online games with a conservation theme and photos. In any given week the visitors will be from more than 200 countries outside of the U.S.
The information provided has helped wildlife rehabilitators identify animals and obtain proper care instruction and helped officials in smuggling cases to identify rare species of exotic cats being illegally traded. Those are just a few of the ways that we know the site has had an impact this year.
We gave 180 outreach and field trip tours this year.
Legislation/Education - The steady increase in legislation banning private ownership represents recognition by our society that private ownership leads to widespread abuse. Social values evolve. It took decades to ban slavery in England and for women to win the right to vote in America. Those ideas started out as “radical” and were held by a small minority. Gradually more and more people understood and agreed until they became a part of our value system that we take for granted today.
The same trend is happening with private ownership of exotics. Gradually more and more people are realizing that this simply leads to widespread abuse of these animals. The best evidence of this is the accelerating trend in state laws. Just since 2005 nine more states have passed some level of ban. Internationally 40 countries have banned or restricted the utilization of big cats in circuses. It is time for the U.S. & South Africa to do the same!
We invited our on site guests to call their Senators and Representatives asking them to support the Big Cats and Public Safety Act this year.
Through our CatLaws.com site, powered by Voter Voice, 10,940 of our 77,077 supporters sent 69,615 messages to 886 recipients. While we wish that more than 14% of animal lovers on our mailing list would take the time to speak up for the animals, the ones who did were awesome. The 3 most popular letters sent were these:
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Letters in favor of the Big Cats and Public Safety Act, which would ban the private possession of big cats and ban cub handling.
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Letters opposing the exhibition of exotic cats and their cubs at fairs.
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Letters opposing the use of tiger cubs as swimming and pay to play props.
Some of the wins from these campaigns were:
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123 Senators and Representatives joined the 3 bill sponsors by co sponsoring the Big Cats and Public Safety Act (HR1998 & S1381)
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New York banned photos with big cats and their cubs. Imagine what we could have accomplished if just 25% of our mailing list were to take action for the animals? This is an easy, no cost way for us to have a huge impact collectively. If you have not yet been active in taking action when we send alerts asking you to email a legislator, regulator or venue hosting an abusive animal exhibit, please make 2015 the year you join in. You CAN make a difference – the many supporters who do send these emails have proven it!
The most vivid example is our having gotten owners of over 200 malls to agree not to allow cub petting exhibits, saving all those cubs from a miserable life on the road and being sleep deprived as they are handled or restrained for photo opportunities hour after hour. You can make ending big cat abuse part of the legacy of your life with just a few emails each year.
Big Cat iBooks and eBooks - LaWanna Mitchell is an amazing woman. She started out as a volunteer and became a remote contractor for us years ago. She lives in Missouri, out in the country with her horses, and I get emails from her telling me that she just spent the last two hours, up on a step ladder with a blow dryer trying to melt the ice off her antenna because she doesn’t want to lose another day of working online. On those days when she is just completely snowed in, she just can’t stop working and has taught herself how to build books in iBooks for iTunes and for Amazon.
She has a number of books published there now, including titles such as China Doll Loves Pumpkins, The Elusive Sand Cat, Meet JoJo, The Black Footed Cat, Shaquille’s Shattered Dreams, What Do You See?, The Tigrina or Oncila, and the first of a two part series called Big Cat Care – How to Start a Sanctuary.
This book is for those running a sanctuary who want to learn from our experience, or for those who have already made the mistake of supporting the pet trade so that the animal in your care does not suffer even more after being ripped from his mother. With more than 30 years experience, with every sort of exotic cat, I can assure you that there is nothing you can do to raise up an exotic cat to be a house pet. It just isn’t possible. No matter how young you neuter or spay the cats, both male and female, ALWAYS spray when they become adults.
Look for all of the titles above as when you check out, Big Cat Care – How to Start a Sanctuary by me, Carole Baskin, in iTunes
Wins for the Big Cats in 2014
New York Assembly bans public contact with big cats AND their cubs. “The purpose of this bill is to protect animal caretakers, those interacting with wild animals, bystanders, and the animals themselves by preventing direct contact between wild animals and members of the public,” the legislation reads. What is even more encouraging to animal lovers is the justification for the law:
“In New York and throughout the United States, several roadside zoo exhibitors and traveling menageries allow members of the public to hold, take photos with, and otherwise interact with wild animals in roadside zoos, fairgrounds, malls and other public areas. This activity severely harms the welfare of the animals, endangers the public, and is a heavy burden on law enforcement.
This activity also requires an ongoing supply of young animals. Infant animals are prematurely separated from their mothers to be groomed for human handling, often die due to constant handling and travel, and are even subjected to abusive training and painful declawing or defanging procedures in a futile attempt to make them safe for public contact once they mature. After the animals grow too big for handling, they are held on leashes with no protective barriers. Often they are dumped and sent to substandard facilities.
There is no safe or humane result when direct contact with wild animals is allowed. Other states, including Kansas; Mississippi, and Arizona, have strengthened existing laws to address public contact issues.”
NJ: Stafford Township is making it pretty clear it doesn’t want to deal with another “Rocky the Bobcat” situation in the future. The township council adopted an ordinance that would ban new exotic animals within the boundaries of the municipality. Residents who can prove they already owned exotics before the effective date of the ordinance are grandfathered.
Mexico bans wild animals in circus acts.
Citi joined Porsche and PetsMart in the growing list of influential corporations that have banned the use of wild animals at their events and in their advertising. Big Cat Rescue had contacted these organization and explained to them why it is so bad to use big cats cubs for photos and ego props and they took immediate action after hearing from our supporters.
WVA: Gov. Tomblin has signed a bill into law to prohibit the private possession of dangerous wild animals. Introduced by Del. Randy Swartzmiller (D-1), HB 4393 passed the House by a vote of 72 to 23, and the Senate by a 22 to 11 vote. There remain only five states with little to no restrictions on the private possession of dangerous wild animals—Alabama, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina and Wisconsin.
CA: Los Angeles bans bullhooks, which may only apply to elephants, but the circus can’t make elephants perform without the threat of injury, so hopefully this means that the circus won’t be coming to LA any more with their abusive lion and tiger acts either.
UK: Announced its soon-to-be official ban on ALL wild animals in circuses, joining other European nations like Austria, Greece, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The ban is intended to be fully instituted starting in December 2015. Prior to the all-country ban announcement, over 200 UK local authorities had placed bans on animal circuses with over two-thirds banning all performing animals, according to Animal Defenders International. An official date for the legislation still needs to be passed but the government is confident that it will. When it does, anyone who breaks the law after December 2015 will receive a heavy $8,000 fine, according to the BBC.
No Animals Harmed in Noah. Darren Aronofsky says no live animals were used and that he opted to use all computer-generated imagery to create the animals on Noah’s Ark, instead of using captive exotics.
Tiger Exploiter Denied Permit. In our August 2013 Advocat e-newsletter, we asked you to let government officials in Ventura County, California know they should not approve a permit request by tiger merchant Irena Hauser, who owns 5 white tigers, to house them in a residential area of Malibu. Hauser exploits the tigers in the movie industry and transports them for filming purposes. In 2014 the Ventura County Planning Commissioners rejected Hauser’s request for a permit.
Fundraising and Marketing - We continue to be very happy with Zerve as our ticket retailer. In 2013 they sold 12,752 tickets that netted the sanctuary $435,323.00. In 2014 Zerve sold 18,553 tickets that netted the sanctuary $712,093.00. The increase was due to selling more of the higher priced tours, ticket price increases and Zerve reducing their fees.
Big Cat Rescue was reported favorably in the news 257 times in 2014. Some of our national press has included shows on CNN, MSNBC, National Geographic, Animal Planet, Discovery and the History Channel in addition to such publications as USA Today, National Geographic and the New York Post and major media coverage in several other countries as well. Big Cat Rescue has been in the press in 42+ states including AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, GA, FL, HI, IA, ID, IO, IN, IL, KY, LA, MA, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, NC, OH, OK, PA, SC, SD, TN, VA, VT, WA, WI & WV and dozens of programs of national or international coverage or in countries other than the U.S.
YouTube and Discovery’s Revision 3 continue to send us a lot of traffic. Thanks to this partnership and cross promotions with Animal Planet, we are experiencing more than 1.6 million views of our YouTube videos per MONTH! By 2014 year end we had 499 videos with 189,285 subscribers and 92,730,916 views.
YouTube Mini Clip Site: DailyBigCat was launched Nov. 20, 2010 to provide a channel for the mini clips we upload directly from our iPhones. By year end this site had 520 videos, 7,707 subscribers and 1,319,063 views.
Facebook: We surpassed 899,704 fans on Face Book
Google +: This is a new social site for us in 2013 and we have already reached 282,286 fans on this new venue.
A huge shout out to everyone who has donated items from our Amazon wishlist and who has chosen Big Cat Rescue as their charity of choice in https://smile.amazon.com/
Got Roku? If you do, then you have more than 600 episodes of Big Cat TV waiting for you for FREE in the Channel Store! Series include our best videos from each year going back to 2007. Big Cat Vets, Cat Chat Show, and Big Cat Rescuers, our weekly big cat reality show.
Big Cat Rescue has an Endowment Fund to provide a secure future for the cats. The Fund resides at the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay. Periodically the Community Foundation offers a matching program where the nonprofit sets a fundraising goal and when 75% of the goal is reached, the Community Foundation provides the remaining 25%, which effectively is a 33% match of the funds provided by donors. We set our most ambitious goal ever, $400,000, which is the maximum allowed. We had three years to reach the $300,000 that represents our 75% target, but thanks to our generous donors reached the goal in 9 months and received the $100,000 grant from the Community Foundation in 2013.
We continued to build our affinity credit card program with Capitol One under which you can choose one of our beautiful cats for your credit card image and 1% of all of your purchases is donated to Big Cat Rescue at no cost to you.
To build awareness of our federal bill we were the top level Diamond Sponsor for the Taking Action for Animals Conference in Washington, DC in June, 2014 where more than 2,000 animal activists converged to learn more about legislation to protect animals.
Saving Wild Places for Wild Cats
In 2014 Big Cat Rescue donated $15,000.00 to conservation programs.
$900 to Walk for Lions in Kenya (from our March for Lions event)
$7,000 to Campaign Against Canned Hunting in S. Africa (from our March for Lions event)
$1,000 to Build a Boma via Nat Geo initiative in S. Africa (from our March for Lions event)
$1,100 to Animal Defenders International
$5,000 Small Wild Cat Conservation Foundation
Helping Other Animal Groups
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Saving Lions. March 15th’s March for Lions may have just seemed like one heck of a party, but thanks to everyone who came and fundraised for the event, we were able to net $10,000 and we wanted to spend it on ways to help lions outside our gates. The movers and shakers behind the Global March for Lions were Chris and Bev Mercer of CannedLion.org. Any time we need the truth on what is happening in Africa regarding lions, we always turn to Chris and Bev. They have been the leading force against lion hunting and pay to play schemes that pimp out lion cubs, only to sell them into canned hunts as easy targets. They would never ask for help, but this event made it possible for us to contribute $7,000. to their continued efforts to ban lion hunting. Chris said this is the equivalent of a small fortune in his world and that he will put it to good use in protecting lions.
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We were impressed with Nat Geo’s Cause an Uproar campaign and donated $1,000. to their BuildABoma.org project. This will build two bomas to help protect lions from being killed for harming livestock.
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We have long been impressed by Animal Defenders International because they are a small organization that has been winning huge victories for animals. What really brought them up on our radar was the amazing work they have done in the past few years to ban circus acts that use wild animals in 40 + countries. If you saw Blackfish and thought, “big cats need a movie like that,” then you have to see Lion Ark. We saw it and were so enamored that we sent $1,100. to help with their efforts to free all big cats from circuses.
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Before the March for Lions even began we sent the early money we raised, in the amount of $900. to Walking for Lions to be a major sponsor for the cycling event from Kenya to Botswana to raise awareness of the plight of lions. So, thanks to your generosity we are raising awareness, supporting boots on the ground, giving locals a way to live with lions, rescuing lions from circuses and letting everyone know that when you pay to play with a cub, the cub is always the one who pays with his loss of life and liberty.
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Big Cat Rescue was recruited to offer our expertise, guidance and funding in the expansion of facilities to house jaguars who are rescued from being killed and sent to the Belize Zoo. The zoo does not breed their cats, but cannot release the jaguars either because there are too many in the area and they get in trouble with people.
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Created 22 Intranet sites, which are sort of a sanctuary-in-a-box site, for other sanctuaries to use. These came complete with every training video, training manual, chart and idea that we use to run Big Cat Rescue. We do this for free for sanctuaries that do not breed, buy, sell, trade nor allow contact w/ wild animals.
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We were a sponsor for Animal Coalition of Tampa’s Stride for Strays, as we are every year and donated countless tickets to other animal rescue groups to use in their fundraisers. We are so pleased to provide assistance to organizations that are saving big cats (and little cats) across the globe!
Then and Now - Below are the 2014 audited financial statements of Revenue and Expense for the past five years. We pride ourselves in keeping our fundraising and administrative total expenses below 20%. Because our tour revenue exceeds our fundraising and administrative costs, 100% of donations go to Program Expense.
The majority of the increase in Program Expense in 2012-2013 was the cost of lawsuits we filed in furtherance of our mission against what we believe to be one of the most notorious exploiters of tiger cubs. We won a million dollar judgment against this breeder/exhibitor for violations of our copyright and trademark in 2013. He filed bankruptcy personally and on behalf of his zoo. However, by consent agreement his personal debt to us is not to be dismissed in bankruptcy, and the zoo bankruptcy has been dismissed. So currently we are working through the process of seeking to recover our judgment against whatever assets we can. Without the generous support of our donors we could not have sustained this successful effort. Thank you!
Who We Are - Officers and Members of the Board of Directors
• CEO and Founder Carole Baskin (not compensated by BCR for her role as Director)
• President and Chairman of the Board Jamie Veronica (not compensated by BCR for her role as a Director)
• Secretary & Treasurer Howard Baskin (not compensated by BCR for his role as a Director)
• Director Mary Lou Geis (not compensated by BCR)
• Pamela Rodriguez (not compensated by BCR)
• Darren Kipnis (not compensated by BCR)
• Keith Lawless (not compensated by BCR)
• Kim Mahoney (not compensated by BCR)
• Vince Pavese (not compensated by BCR)
These members met for regular board meetings at the sanctuary. The board met 4 times in 2014.
Staff:
• CEO and Staff Manager: Carole Baskin
• President, Editor & Creative Director: Jamie Veronica
• Operations Manager & Volunteer Coordinator: Gale Ingham
• Videographer and Social Networking: Afton Tasler
• Director of Donor Appreciation: Jeff Kremer
• Gift Shop Manager: Honey Wayton
• Project Manager: Chelsea Feeny
• Education Director: Jennifer Leon
• Cage Builder and Maintenance: Vernon Stairs
• Cage Building Apprentice and Maintenance: Scott Haller
• Cage Building Apprentice and Maintenance Part Time: Chuck Stairs
• Grounds Keeper, part time: Jarred Smalley
• Bookkeeper: Barbara Stairs
• Assistant Bookkeeper: Katie Nikic
• CFO: Howard Baskin
• Public Relations: Susan Bass
• Web and Social Media: LaWanna Mitchell
All of our animal care is done by volunteers or by staff who also volunteer time before & after work.
Big Cat Rescue had 89 volunteers at the end of 2014 who clocked in 40,547 man-power hours, in addition to 54 interns who clocked 32,400 man-power hours, plus 4,793 Volunteer Committee member hours. In total this amounted to 77,740 man-power hours provided roughly the equivalent workforce of 37 more full time staff. Between paid staff, part time staff, contractors and volunteers we averaged the equivalent of 52 full time staff.
Interesting breakdown of volunteers: We have 89 volunteers; 69 women and 20 men. The youngest 18 years old, the oldest 76 years old.
Between January 1, 2012 and September 1, 2014 Big Cat Rescue provided $428,774. in scholarships to provide housing, transportation, utilities, food, training and entertainment to 102 interns arriving in Tampa, FL from 12 countries and 23 states. We added six more acres to the sanctuary by buying property on the south side for more intern housing. This brought our staff and intern housing units to 8 and we bought a new, 7 bedroom home, bringing that total number to nine. One of these units cannot be used yet, due to a life estate by the seller.
Staff and Volunteer Training
Several of our staff attended the Safe Capture Course, as we do any time they are in Florida.
Continued turning our volunteer training classes into video classes.
Get our Financial Reports: See our IRS 990 and audited financial statement for Big Cat Rescue at http://bigcatrescue.org/finances/
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.
Backstory on Big Cat Blackfish to Lou Ferrante This is inspiration for why we need a Big Cat version of Blackfish: Blackfish has huge impact on animal abuse: http://www.animals24-7.org/2014/12/13/sinking-seaworld-shoves-311-staff-overboard/ When most people who are pitching such a show call me, these are the questions and answers we typically give. Are there lots of people still trying to buy tigers as pets? The problem isn't that there are a lot of people out looking to buy a tiger. The problem is that there are a lot of people who will pay to pet a tiger cub, or to swim with a tiger cub, or to have their photo with a tiger cub, or to see cute cubs on display. They don't stay small and cute very long, so the abusers are constantly breeding or buying more, but taking care of an adult tiger costs $10,000 a year, so the abusers will often give away their juvenile cubs, who have outgrown their cute stage, to unwitting people who think that just because they can walk that cub on a leash today, they will still be able to do it a year from now. When the cat is about a year old and over 200 lbs is when those owners often start looking for a sanctuary. Sadly there are pseudo sanctuaries, like Tiger Haven, in my opinion, that has 300 tigers, who let the same bad actors breed cubs each year and then dump them straight onto them. When we take a big cat we make the owners sign a contract that they will never possess another wild cat, but most sanctuaries don't take that precaution and are just enabling bad behavior. Where do they buy them? We think two of the biggest suppliers of cubs are GW Zoo in Wynnewood, OK and T.I.G.E.R.S. in Myrtle Beach, SC, but it is nearly impossible to prove. USDA asks for a census, but it is up to the owner to say how many cats they have, because no one really counts them. How often people are calling you because they want to get rid of a big cat? 2003 was the worst year. We had to turn away 312 big cats, but that same year a federal law passed that made it illegal to sell a big cat, over state lines, as a pet. Since then nearly a dozen states have passed bans or possession of big cats so the number we have to turn away is decreasing. Now the largest problem are all of these pseudo sanctuaries that fail after taking in more big wild animals than they can afford. In this documentary we'd also like to show how big cats are Abused by owners in order to force them to perform. You are never going to see this because training is done behind closed doors and the abusers know that the public would put an end to their trade if they ever saw what they really do to train big cats. You can see the tricks they use to make the cats think that they have the electric prods in the circus ring though. These prods are usually a couple feet long and they wrap them with ribbons, so the cat knows that if they don't do the trick, they will zap the cat and sometimes even shove the hot-shot down the cat's throat. In the circus ring they carry a stick, wrapped with the same kinds of ribbons, usually in a back pocket, and whips in their hands, to make the cat think they still have the cruel instrument of torture on them. Attached is a list of the tigers we know of, but it doesn't include pet tigers, because no one counts them. Tim Gress, the man we got Kali Tiger from in GA said he will talk to someone on camera for a documentary about the wildlife trade. He knows a lot of the bad guys very well. Another very important topic to cover are the lies the animal abusers tell that really confuse and mislead the public. The worst seems to be that they say they are breeding, allowing contact and exhibiting big cats in order to "save the species." This page addresses the lies they tell: http://bigcatrescue.org/abuse-issues/issues/pet-cubs/ How lions end up in tacos in America: http://bigcatrescue.org/lions-on-the-menu-send-a-letter-now/ I have an AdvoCat who is updating the cubs who have been born and exploited since 2011. The big list I sent you of the USDA facilities had a tab at the bottom of Cubs. This list was what we could find online, leading up to 2011 that showed a conservative estimate of 200 big cat cubs born each year for the pay to play schemes in the U.S. If you look at the census' filed by these organizations each year, you won't see their population going up by the same number of cubs they breed and there is no legitimate place for 200 cubs a year to go, so that's why we believe they must be ending up in the black market. Because, really, anyone cruel enough to rip a cub from his mother and pimp him out for the first 12 weeks of his life, wouldn't think twice about selling him to a butcher at the end of his money making days. - Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue 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.
Louis Ferrante, former mob wise guy, called about a documentary
My email to Louis: Nice speaking with you today. Here are few items that may be of interest in fleshing out your show ideas. It is a show that needs to be done, but hasn't because the bad guys are a pretty close knit group and it's hard to infiltrate their facilities. Even volunteers and interns who manage to get in are usually kept in the dark about what really happens to the animals, where they come from and where they go.
I keep a website of the people who have come up on my radar for breeding, buying, selling and exploiting big cats. It is a who's who list of places that would be great to try and get inside so that you could expose them. The list is at http://www.911AnimalAbuse.com
Mario Tabraue is one of the ones that I think is most likely to be back at his old tricks of smuggling wildlife and drugs, but I have no way to prove it. He is fighting our federal bill to ban his activities. The bad guys always try to scare me off by saying they know him and that they can have him make me disappear. This is one of the best articles about him and is recent: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/05/mario-tabraue-cocaine-kingpin-lobbying-congress-big-cats
It sounds like your show is more broad than my scope of information, since all I track or deal with are exotic cats. I don't know if there is a key element to other issues, but there is with the big cats. It is all about cub handling.
People like Mario Tabraue of ZWF, or Kathy Stearns of Dade City's Wild Things, or Bhagavan Antle of T.I.G.E.R.S., or Joe Exotic Schreibvogel of GW Zoo, or a dozen others like them, claim they can make $25,000 a weekend charging people to pet lion, tiger and liger cubs. The booking agent for Mario told me they book a million dollars a year in such tours for him. The thing is that cubs are only allowed to be used, by USDA guidelines, between the ages of 8 and 12 weeks, so every month they need to breed more litters.
There are only 300 or so tigers in legitimate, AZA accredited zoos in the U.S. The other 5,000 - 10,000 are in private hands, roadside zoos, and non accredited USDA licensed facilities. It only costs $40 and a one page application for a USDA license, so it doesn't mean anything.
Where are the hundreds of cubs going each year? The black market is the only potential market for them; yet it has been very hard to prove. More about the whole cub petting industry here: http://bigcatrescue.org/abuse-issues/issues/pet-cubs/
Here is a map of big cat owners: http://bigcatrescue.org/map-of-big-cat-owners/
Lots to talk about.
12/8/14 to me: This info is incredibly helpful (though heart wrenching). I will explore these links. And these are the sort of tips I would pass on to my fixers, very good leads. Just finished watching you on Temple Tigers segment with Jane Valez-Mitchell. Another tragedy. Feel free to pass along whatever else can help and I look forward to seeing you Friday
12/11/14 I wrote Lou: Dear Lou, See you tomorrow morning at 10 at Big Cat Rescue 12802 Easy St Tampa, FL 33625. Good news today that Mexico banned the use of wild animals in circuses and banned exhibits of dolphins and whales. Hard to imagine why the U.S. is so far behind when it comes to protecting wild animals. To date 36 countries, 46 U.S. cities, and 28 jurisdictions in Canada have banned the use of big cats in circus acts. -Carole
Lou wrote Carole: Hey Carole. Yes, we're on. And I know, we're so outta date. The EU would never even execute someone and we do it everyday, how can they care about animals. But I plan to make a hit show and open up the discussion more. Keep sending info like this. See you tomorrow. Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
Kelly Hurd has been pitching us to producers for Discovery so I sent him footage and story lines.
Some things that are always true of our surgery and vet visits:
Unless you have been involved in these very tense situations, it is hard to explain how stressed out everyone is and our coping mechanism is to joke around and talk about things that have nothing to do with the work at hand as a way of being able to deal with these life and death situations.
In most cases we go to the vet not knowing if we will have to make the awful decision to euthanize one of our family members, because loading a cat up and taking them offsite to a vet clinic is the last ditch option to save their lives. After 22 years of doing this, we know that there will almost never be a clear choice to make and we will almost always be burdened with making a decision that could result in lingering misery for the cat and then still having to put them out of their misery days, weeks or months later after trying every thing we can to give them a good quality of life.
A lot of the editing will require you to use common sense about what is appropriate or not. Often in these videos you will hear people talking about other vet situations or clients, and unless it is about one of our other cats, that audio can’t be included. The ultimate goal of these vet videos is to show the details of the surgery for vet students and make our vets look great; because they are.
Some clowning around is OK to show, but it should be narrated as to why we act this way in the face of such serious business. Sometimes, while a cat is waking up, we let volunteers touch the cats, as they are never allowed to touch cats otherwise. I would not include this in your finished products though, because we do not want to encourage people to pay to touch big cats.
You will see us often taking a lot of photos and videos because these kinds of surgeries are rare and documentation even more so. That is why these surgery videos could be so helpful to other cats if done well.
In the videos I have sent you, this is the sequence of events, so you know what is going on. If you watch them in this same order, I won’t have to duplicate such detail on latter videos, because you will know what is happening.
Task List
1 Four minute or less video of the surgery or vet visit with no graphic imagery.
1 Twenty minute video with the graphic imagery; suitable for both a vet student and the public, who is fully prepared for what they will see.
WARNING SLIDES: Be sure to warn viewers before showing something like surgery both in a warning slide and in the early part of the accompanying text.
Vet Joseph Lion. http://bigcatrescue.org/joseph/
Joseph stopped eating and stopped taking his pain meds, so we sedated him for diagnostics. Due to his age (16) we didn’t want to risk a long trip to the University of Florida, if we could assess him here, so we invited Dr. Fay Hererro, DVM, from the Odessa Equine Clinic, to bring a portable X-ray machine. Dr. Justin Boorstein invited Dr. Tim Jones to help w/ anesthesia. They drew blood, gave fluids, administered antibiotics and did the X-rays they could, but the portable X-ray machine was just not good enough for abdominal X-rays.
Joseph did not respond to the antibiotics and fluids and continued to refuse food and water, so we asked the Humane Society of Tampa Bay if we could use their X-ray and Sonogram machines, after hours, and took him in for more X-rays, blood work, fluids, a longer lasting antibiotic and a sonogram.
Nothing of note was found in all of these diagnostics, except a possibility of neoplasia, which are masses in the abdomen. We had hoped that the antibiotics, fluids and appetite stimulants would help get him up and eating again, but they didn’t.
We discussed euthanasia, with both vets, and Dr. Wynn suggested a last ditch effort of injecting him with a steroid. It had been 8 days since he had eaten anything and 3 days since he drank water on his own, so we gave that a shot. He drank for the first time, a few hours later, but still wouldn’t eat. 10/31/14
On 11/1/14 Sue got him to eat just a few bites of food with his meds in them, so we held off on euthanasia, to see if he is rounding the bend.
Vet Little Feather. This is the most recent vet issue. Little Feather is 21 years old. http://bigcatrescue.org/little-feather/ as was on the observation chart on Oct 10th for having a puffy chin, but we didn’t see an obvious swelling and she has a rather pronounced chin anyway.
Oct. 15th we could see there was an abscess and made an appointment for her to go in to the vet the next day. Her dental X-rays showed that almost all of her teeth were rotten and the jaw bones were decaying as well. Dr. Justin had to pull the teeth very gently, so as not to break her jaw. He pulled 8 teeth; her last remaining canine tooth and 7 others and was about done. There was one more tooth, that didn’t look bad on the surface, or in the X-ray, but he debated as to if he should leave it or take it, given the decay in the jaw.
He decided to pull it and found that it had been the cause of the abscess and was in very bad shape. Had he not pulled it, we would have had to bring her right back in a few days or weeks. Good instincts!
Little Feather was put on pain meds and kept in the Cat Hospital at BCR for a few days until she was eating well and ready to go back to her cage. When we opened the door of the transport cage she had been sleeping in, to let her out into her outdoor enclosure, she dragged her back foot.
It looked like some neurological issue, so we crated her back up and took her in to the Ehrlich Animal Hospital where Dr. Farid Saleh, who is not our regular vet, gave her an exam and said that he believed she had thrown a blood clot that was causing neurological damage to her foot. She had no feeling in her foot. He treated her with laser therapy and sent her home with instructions for daily massages and controlled walking to help her work out the clot and regain use of the foot.
10/31/14 Little Feather is continuing to get physical therapy, such as laser therapy, and massage therapy and harness walking to keep her foot alive and hopefully dissolve the clot that is keeping her from having the ability to use her foot properly. We do not condone people having wild cats as pets and are hesitant to even show a cat in a harness, or being touched by people, but she is declawed and now has no teeth due to her old age, so we are able to give her the help she needs without risk.
Vet Natasha Siberian Lynx. http://bigcatrescue.org/natasha/
Natasha is 21 years old. She has been healthy for most of her life, except a bout of seizures and dizziness in her early years that turned out to be one of the first confirmed cases of heart worms in cats. As a result we began using ivermectin monthly in all of our cats as a preventative, back in the 90’s.
Her recent observations by keepers were that she was breathing heavily and not hungry, so we took her in to see Dr. Wynn on Oct 30, 2014. For a 21 year old cat, her kidneys look surprisingly good, but her lungs are congested and we can see, by looking down her throat (great video of this) that half of her throat is paralyzed, so all of her breathing and eating is happening on the side that is still functioning.
We did a biopsy, to see if there is a tumor that is causing the one side to be forced shut (from the pressure), but we can’t see a tumor. There isn’t any surgery to fix this.
She is getting antibiotics to clear up the infection in her throat and lungs and that should help a lot. Getting those meds into her will be the challenge. If she will eat, that is easy to do, but if she won’t then she will have to stay in the Cat Hospital for injections. She is taking her meds and eating well, so we moved her back outside 11/1/2014
Vet Simba Leopard. http://bigcatrescue.org/simba-2/
On this page is another video. In that video is a clip of Simba going to the vet.:http://bigcatrescue.org/now-big-cat-rescue-jan-11-2014/ Appx date: Jan 11, 2014
Cast, you don’t have to name them. Just named here in case you want to or have title slides. Vet’s should always be named or have title slides:
Trapping Simba:
Willow Hecht, Green Shirt Keeper, Red Hair
Reddish shirt, Carole Baskin, CEO
Navy shirt, Master Keeper, Jamie Veronica, President
Navy shirt, Master Keeper, Gale Ingham (thin) Operation Mgr
Green Shirt Keeper, Chris Poole
Lifting Simba add:
Green Shirt Keeper, blonde, Chelsea Feeney
The long golf cart we use is named Gertie
On site hospital is the: West Boensch (bench) Cat Hospital for weight so vet can sedate.
Van is a 1998 Dodge Ram van that leaks, rattles and really needs to be replaced. Lifted into van to drive to vet who works in a practice about a mile away called the Ehrlich (ur-lick) Animal Hospital.
Vet techs help offload Simba. Vet is Dr. Liz Wynn, who has been our vet for over a decade. She comes twice a week at no charge to do house calls. We do have to pay for X-rays, blood work, drugs, etc. Simba is sedated and then gently touched around his eyes to see if he has a blink reflex. Cats can fool you by being very still and then attacking, but they can’t control an involuntary blink reflex, so we always check to be sure they are really asleep before reaching in for them.
We double check his weight and wrap him in a blanket (burrito style) because it is safer, if he wakes suddenly and carrying a sleeping big cat is like trying to carry 100 plus pounds of liver. We draw blood every time a cat is sedated. It gives us a benchmark to use in their record and we check for infections diseases, kidney function (failure) because our cats are all so old and in varying stages of renal failure.
Vet manipulates joints and listens and feels for “crunching” that indicate calcium build up of arthritis. All of our old, gimpy cats are on supplements for their joints and some are on stronger meds. Palpitates for masses as cancer is the second most common cat killer (after old age destroys their kidneys). Even though Simba is sedated, Jamie, Gale or Carole usually hangs onto the scruff during most of the procedures, just in case he wakes up suddenly.
Leopards are the biggest cats that a typical dog / cat clinic can Xray. The most dangerous moments at the vet are during the Xray because none of the BCR staff can be in the room.
At appx 34 min. Dr Wynn expresses frustration that the X-rays aren’t showing us why Simba is so wobbly. He had been falling over and acting disoriented. She’s worried that he will hurt himself if he falls off or tries to jump down and suggests longer ramps.
Part of his problem is that he has gained 50 lbs since being prescribed medication, so they aren’t as effective. It’s really hard to tell the weight of a cat, because they are so muscular and have such loose skin.
You can see and hear dogs and I hate this part of going to the vet. Cats should never have to tolerate that and even asleep, I think they can hear us, and the dogs, and that is stressful. It is one more reason we need a full service vet clinic on site; so we never have to expose our cats to dogs barking.
Dr Wynn is getting better about speaking up for the camera, but on these old ones you will probably really have to bump up the volume, while killing background noises, to hear her.
We drive Simba back to our on site hospital to let him recover and as soon as he can safely be returned to his Cat-a-Tat he is delivered by Green Shirt Matt, Green Shirt Nanci, Gale and Jamie. How long in the Cat Hospital is usually dependent on making sure they are eating well, taking their meds and are stable.
Vet Nik Tiger Eye Surgery. http://bigcatrescue.org/nikita-tiger/
Sedated, but vomited. We try to fast them before sedation, but sometimes they still have food from the night before in their stomachs, or from morning meds. Sedation makes them nauseous and they almost always will have dry heaves or vomit and doing so in their sleep can choke them to death. The options aren’t good if a 700 lb cat is choking because there isn’t much we can do about it without someone getting killed if he isn’t asleep fully.
Tests blink reflex w/ stick.
Load onto Gertie
Cast:
Dr. Justin Boorstein (boor-steen)
Dr. Liz Wynn
Master Keeper, Jamie Veronica, President
Master Keeper, Gale Ingham (thin) Operation Mgr
Green Shirt Keeper, Chris Poole
Yellow Shirt Keeper Sharon
Yellow Shirt (maybe red) Keeper Darren
Yellow Shirt (maybe red) Keeper Jen
Navy Shirt, Master Keeper Regina
Yellow Shirt (maybe green) Keeper Lynda
9-10 people to carry Nik on a specially made stretcher
Our scales only go to 500 so we have to distribute Nik over two of them as he is 700 lbs.
Dr. Tammy Miller is the eye specialist and she brought her own vet techs to the sanctuary to do this procedure in the West Boensch (bench) Cat Hospital.
Because this was such delicate surgery, Nik was restrained with ropes. Sometimes cats can have seizures under anesthesia, so we didn’t want him to kick the vet’s hand while she is cutting on his eye.
Nik’s eye trouble started the same way most big cats’ eye troubles start. They are pulled from their mothers when just days or hours old; put on an insufficient diet of puppy or kitten milk replacer and then have flashes go off in their sensitive eyes for the first 4 months of their lives, until they are too big to use. Then they are discarded or warehoused and usually fed a deficient diet and denied vet care until they die.
Nutritional cataracts are very common in cubs who were used as pay to play props. Sometimes the lens breaks loose and can be very painful, so surgery is needed to repair the eye.
Make sure there are warning slides before graphic images.
We give fluids to help the cats eliminate the drugs we used to sedate them. These are given SubQ (under the skin) rather than IV (intravenously) Sometimes you will see us squeezing the bag to give the fluids as quickly as we can, other times, like this one, there is a compression cuff (white) that squeezes the bag as we use the hand pump. The reason we are in such a hurry is because anything can go wrong at any time and we may have to wake the cat up suddenly if they start to arrest, so we want to get the fluids on board fast.
We draw blood every time a cat is sedated. It gives us a benchmark to use in their record and we check for infections diseases, kidney function (failure) because our cats are all so old and in varying stages of renal failure.
Vet manipulates joints and listens and feels for “crunching” that indicate calcium build up of arthritis. All of our old, gimpy cats are on supplements for their joints and some are on stronger meds.
Palpitates for masses as cancer is the second most common cat killer (after old age destroys their kidneys). Even though Simba is sedated, Jamie, Gale or Carole usually hangs onto the scruff during most of the procedures, just in case he wakes up suddenly.
Dr Wynn mentions “reversing” Nik. This is an injection to reverse the drugs we gave him to sedate him and it is good to do that as soon as he is safely on gas (either a mask or tube down his throat) because having all those drugs at work and the anesthesia gas can kill them.
Nik will need drops in his eyes and Gale has become expert at tricking the cats into looking up at a treat and dropping the medication into their eyes. It stings and they don’t like it, so it is amazing that she can get them to do it over and over and over; usually 2-3 times a day for 10 days.
Nik had been declawed and defanged by his former owner who used him as a petting prop, even as a full grown adult. She had tight collars on him and the other 5 cats rescued from there, and would chain them to the ground with chains so short they couldn’t turn their heads to bite the people who would sit on their backs for photo ops. That was illegal, and she lost her USDA license, but continued to do it for years because no one took any action against her.
Nik will wake up in the transport wagon. We can’t leave any bedding in there, or he will eat it. Whenever our cats are asleep we micro chip them, if they haven’t had one before. While the cat is sleeping, Big Cat Rescuers take the opportunity to mow, landscape and do other cage enhancements to the cat’s enclosure.
There is a separate video called Vet Nik Tiger Wheezing. You may want to add this to the end of the video and say that his eye has healed well and Nik has been doing fine, except that he has begun wheezing when he gets excited. He needs to be X-rayed, but the only machine big enough is two hours away and he is too old and had too much trouble breathing to make the trip. Thanks to some wonderful donors we have a new X-ray machine but need a building big enough to put it in.
There is another video file called Vet Dr Liz Wynn. You may want to include this from it:
Dr. Wynn is a volunteer vet and has been with us for over a decade.
She shows how we put drops in Nik Tiger’s eye and she describes the coloration and procedure a bit.
Vet Arthur Tiger Dental. http://bigcatrescue.org/arthur/ Date of dental: 12/9/12
Arthur was rescued in 2011 but was in no shape for the prolonged surgery necessary for a root canal. By Dec. 2012 we asked Dr. Peak to come to Big Cat Rescue to help Arthur and his brother Andre, who had suffered broken teeth since 2003.
Cast:
Dr. Michael Peak http://www.thepetdentist.com/meet-the-doctors.php
Dr. Justin Boorstein (boor-steen)
Dr. Liz Wynn
Master Keeper, Jamie Veronica, President
Master Keeper, Gale Ingham (thin) Operation Mgr
Green Shirt Keeper, Chris Poole
Green Shirt Keeper, Angie
Green Shirt Partner Jeff (who usually stands by with a gun and dart gun in case of emergency)
You may find some video of trying to get Arthur into his feeding lock out later, out of sequence. It was a little confusing, but they finally gave up on him going in the transport and managed to get him into his feeding area where Jamie sedated him. Jamie is our best person on the “jab stick” which is needle on the end of a pole that injects the drugs on impact. It makes a loud noise and the cats usually spin and lash out at the person doing it, but Jamie has nerves of steel and manages to retract the pole without the cat biting it.
It’s better than a dart, because darts have to stick in the cat and stay there until the drugs dispense. If the cat eats the dart, that is very bad. Board is held across cat because they can raise up very unexpectedly and bite. Protecting the vet is our main objective.
Backstory: Arthur and Andre broke their canine teeth off during transport in 2003 from NJ to TX the first time they were rescued. The sanctuary that took them in didn’t give them dental care for 10 years and went bankrupt in 2011. That is when we rescued Arthur, Andre and their sister Amanda, but they were in bad shape and not capable of undergoing extensive surgery.
Not in this video, but for reference; as soon as they were strong enough after their arrival, Andre (not Arthur) was sedated due to the fact that his untreated, broken teeth (since 2003) were obviously causing pain and he couldn’t eat. He died on the table during the dental surgery, but there were 5 vets there and they said, “No one is going to the light with five vets in the room!” They brought him around, but decided to wait on doing the other two canines until he was stronger. I don’t know if there ever was any video of that. I can’t find it.
Arthur had a seizure after being sedated. This happens maybe 5 percent of the time and can be life threatening. We use a cocktail of drugs to be as easy on the cat as possible, but every cat is different and reacts differently. Arthur reacted very badly and scared us even further because he would hold his breath for such long periods of time that we often feared he was dead.
Graphic warnings through out are needed.
Back to Arthur. Dr. Peak performed a root canal. They drew blood to check for feline viruses, infections and kidney levels. This lets us know if there are underlying issues to deal with and gives us comparisons for latter life levels. We draw blood every time a cat is sedated. It gives us a benchmark to use in their record and we check for infections diseases, kidney function (failure) because our cats are all so old and in varying stages of renal failure.
During the root canal Dr Peak finds a shard of plastic lodged inside the tooth against the nerve. You can just imagine how painful that must have been. It was probably from a toy or water bucket that was not tiger proof. While this was pretty rare, to see a shard of plastic embedded inside the tooth, it is very common for people to give big cats toys and water buckets that are too flimsy. The cats bite off portions, which end up lodging in their stomachs and intestines, causing internal hemorrhaging and a painful death. The reason people do that is that it is cheaper than buying items that are safe for the cats.
The gun they point at the tiger’s face is an X-ray gun. Dr Peak takes X-rays in the field and even brings along a developing tank to monitor his progress as he goes. Arthur gets IV fluids to give him an added boost and to flush the sedation drugs out of his system when he awakes.
At about minute 35 Dr Liz Wynn gives a good overview of what we are doing and why. These are usually at the end of the videos that I give you, because we don’t know what is going to happen in the beginning, but you can use parts of it earlier in the story to illustrate.
Dr. Peak packs Arthurs root canals with antibiotics to help kill any infection.
We move Arthur into the transport wagon to wake up. As soon as surgeries are over the cats are “reversed” ( they are reversed as soon as they go on gas, if they are masked or intubated ) Cats can wake up very quickly as soon as they are reversed, and / or taken off gas. They can easily take off a limb with a groggy bite so we are very quick to get them into a controlled area so they can wake up fully. The next really dangerous part of any sedation, is the waking up.
Even though they can wake up quickly, they also can go back to sleep and never wake up. We do everything we can to get them sternal (laying on their stomachs with their heads up) as soon as possible after sedation. We call their names, tickle their ears and toes (they hate that) rock the cage, bang on the bars and totally obnoxious. It is so tempting to just let them enjoy a good long sleep after their ordeal, but that could be the death of them, so we have to be the bad guys and wake them up. Another thing that kills many exotic cats is hyperthermia from anesthesia. This causes their bodies to overheat and can just cook them to death inside of a few minutes. The whole time we are waking them up we are looking for signs of hyperthermia (opposite of hypothermia where you get too cold and die) If they spike a temperature we are suddenly in a life or death position of deciding if the cat is groggy enough to pull them out and put them in a tub of ice water, or, in the case of a tiger, if it will be safe to open the door and start packing them in ice. There is always this dilemma going on of doing what will save the cat without undue risk to the people trying to save the cat, because if the cat wakes up, someone is going to get hurt or die.
Cats don’t understand; as much as we would like to believe they do, when you are trying to save their lives. There have certainly been what appears to be exceptions, like removing a piece of food from a choking cat’s mouth and having them not turn right around and bite me for reaching down their throat, but I think by and large I’ve just been lucky.
Back to Arthur. Several hours lapse between the time of his waking and release back into his Cat-a-Tat, and I think there may even be some film out of sequence, at this point, although I am not sure how that could have happened.
Dr. Peak did the root canals on both Arthur and Andre on this day, so we would have been sedating Arthur, doing his surgery, putting him back in the transport to wake up and then sedating Andre, doing his surgery, and then putting him back in his enclosure. The easiest way to tell these brothers apart is that Andre has a notch in his ear, courtesy of his brother.
Waking up from anesthesia can be ugly. Arthur thrashed around a bit waking up. What most people don’t know, when they take their pets to the vet, is that they are kept away as the animals are going down and coming up from anesthesia, or they would completely freak out. The cats bang their heads on the bars and thrash around like wild. Unless they are very, very sick, they don’t usually go under easily.
Vet Andre Tiger Dental. http://bigcatrescue.org/andre/. Date of dental: 12/9/12
Gale distracts Andre so Jamie can sedate him using the pole syringe. We often put a blanket over the head of the sedated animal so that if they wake suddenly, they feel secure in the dark and cannot land a bite as easily. You will often see Jeff Kremer, our Director of Donor Appreciation (tall, slim, bald, usually wearing khakis) in our surgery videos because he is our marksman and in charge of darting or killing the tiger depending on what life threatening event happens.
As noted in Arthur’s dental info, this is Andre’s second dental. He died and was revived during our first attempt several months ago, so now we are trying to finish the repair to his four broken canine teeth. We were told that in 2003, when Wild Animal Orphanage rescued him from Tigers Only in NJ, he broke off all four canines on the bars of the transport cage. Wild Animal Orphanage took in 23 tigers during that rescue operation and was unable to fund all of the medical needs. Andre suffered with exposed nerves in his teeth for the next 8 years. When WAO went bankrupt we helped orchestrate the rescue of the final 7 tigers there, thanks to financial help from an amazing couple. Four went to Carolina Tiger Rescue and Andre, Arthur and Amanda came to us.
Andre has a growth on one of his back legs, so we used the opportunity to do a biopsy. Andre’s blood pressure began dropping dramatically 107/72 so he was reversed, since he was on gas. His temperature dropped significantly as well, so we covered him in an electric heating blanket. He was fighting sedation so hard that we had to give him more drugs. It is always such a fine line to balance between making sure they feel no pain and don’t hurt anyone and yet not killing them with kindness.
This video shows the X-ray developing tank. Red glass tank. At the end the vets gave Andre straight oxygen through the mask to help him flush the anesthetic gas from his lungs. This will help him wake more quickly. Again we stimulate him in every way we can to get him up and sternal as quickly as possible.
King Tut and Zulu Hybrid Cats. 10/16/2012
http://bigcatrescue.org/king-tut/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka3Xu1cEEq4
You can scrape video from here to use in this video if you want
http://bigcatrescue.org/hybrid-facts/
We almost never take in hybrid cats because they do not require permits to possess, so any cat lover can take them in and we need to save our cage space for cats who require permits that most domestic cat rescue groups don’t have. The hardest part of turning them away is that breeders will try to get their hands on any hybrids they can because people buy them over the Internet or at cat shows and don’t know, until after they have paid thousands of dollars for them, that they spray and defecate all over everything to mark it as theirs.
King Tut and Zulu had been terrorizing a neighborhood after either escaping or being turned loose by their owner, and Animal Control trapped them. A man from the Sierra Club heard about it and went to see the cats that had been brought in. He wasn’t sure what they were (I think he called them Jag Cats) and called us. He brought them to us to see if we would take them.
Both were thin, but King Tut was emaciated. His paw had been injured, so he probably couldn’t hunt or travel as well as Zulu, plus he felt awful trying to fight off infection, so he was just wasting away.
Zulu turned out to be a handful and have awful house manners, but one of our long time volunteers, Sharon Dower, asked to adopt her anyway, and we were happy that she would get a home. She was spayed first and for a while could be watched on our live web cams via UStream.tv/channel/bigcathospital
King Tut responded well to antibiotics and a good diet, but he’s just too dangerous for a pet home, so he will live with us forever. There is some later video of him (I don’t know if I bound it into one file) where King Tut is released out into his Cat-a-Tat. All he needs now is food and love.
Vet Dr Wynn. http://www.ehrlichanimalhospital.com/about-us/veterinarians/
This video can be put into other videos as needed. I don’t think there is enough here for a full 20 min segment. Maybe a segment under 4 minutes as a stand alone piece.
Dr. Wynn is a volunteer vet and has been with us for over a decade. She shows how we put drops in Nik Tiger’s eye and she describes the coloration and procedure a bit. http://bigcatrescue.org/nikita-tiger/
We don’t give Vet Tours but our vets both come out twice a week or more and will answer questions if a tour group happens by.
Tonga the white serval had a nosectomy, to remove his nose, to get rid of all the cancer. That’s been more than two years ago and has allowed Tonga to live as long as most of our servals usually do (17 is the average for our servals. most other places only 10-12) and he is still doing well. This shows how quickly and how far a wild cat can reach out through the bars of the cage and why we have to be so careful around them. http://bigcatrescue.org/tonga/
Jumanji the black leopard is being treated for his skin allergies. Not in this video, but we are now using a new blend of fatty acids in all of the cats’ diet to help them with skin and coat condition. http://bigcatrescue.org/jumanji/
There is some previous footage on Tonga’s nose.
Vet Skipper Lynx May 2014. http://bigcatrescue.org/skipper/
Skipper is taken to the vet because Keepers notice that he isn’t passing feces.
Every day, as Keepers clean the cages, they note food left over, the feces condition (runny, grassy, missing), vet issues like scratching, coughing up hairballs, and cage maintenance issues. All of these notes are entered into a data base at the end of cleaning. This sends an immediate email out to the Operations Manager, CEO, President, Vets and Maintenance staff and becomes a permanent part of each cat’s medical record. Not passing feces for a couple of days means trouble, so Skipper was taken to the vet for diagnostics.
That’s never an easy thing to do. Catching the cat is always stressful to the cat and dangerous for the people involved. If there is any way to check a cat and treat them in their cage we do, but this sort of problem would require sedation and X-rays. There is footage of us catching Skipper in this video that you can scrape for use in this video if you want.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRC_pCZqza4
Dr. Wynn tries a warm water enema first, but Skipper’s intestines are really blocked.
Note that Jamie Veronica is able to pull up Skipper’s complete medical history on her phone for the vet, because of the google Education Apps site that we use to keep all of these records. We have set up more than a dozen sites like ours for other sanctuaries to use in the care of their animals.
Let me know if you want screen shots of these kinds of files for the video.
When we have time to take a volunteer or intern along, we often pick someone who has been especially helpful and who happens to be in the right place as we are heading out. This time it was Green Shirt Afton Tasler. Afton got the job of clipping Skipper’s nails while he slept. In this raw footage are vets talking about other client’s pets, so be sure none of that makes it into the final cut.
The vet does X-rays and a sonogram to make sure she has gotten to the root of the problem. It would be foolish to assume we got it all and then be back in here two days later because the main blockage was still there. This is a good time to talk about how dangerous it is to sedate a cat and why we don’t do it any more than absolutely necessary and to talk about why we need our own, on site X-ray and sonogram. Both have now been donated, but we are still fundraising for the building to house them, as our current, West Boensch Cat Hospital is too small.
Skipper is given fluids to help flush out the drugs used to sedate him and to help hydrate his entire system to make it easier to pass feces. Dr. Wynn talks about how cats get so stressed going to the vet (domestics too) that their blood sugar levels spike, which can sometimes be mistaken for diabetes.
Vet Cheetaro Leopard. 2013 vet visit. http://bigcatrescue.org/cheetaro/
Even though our cages are full of trees and wooden structures for the cats to sharpen their claws, they often do not do it consistently enough to keep their nails from growing too long. Because of the way the claws are curved, they can grow all the way around and pierce the paw pads. Their feet are so furry and the ground in their cages so soft, that we often cannot see that there is a problem until the cat begins limping.
Given the ages of our cats who are mostly geriatric, it can be hard to tell if it is an ingrown nail or the inevitable arthritis of old age. Some cats, like Cheetaro, we know to have chronic nail issues, so in his case we knew we would have to sedate him and clip his nails back.
You might wonder why we don’t declaw cats who have these issues, but declawing takes off the entire last digit of the toe, can cause extreme pain to walk and the nails still grow back in many cases; just worse, like out of the tops or sides of their paws.
Due to Cheetaro’s advanced age we only want to lightly sedate him, but he’s one of our most dangerous leopards too, so we need to be sure the vet is safe while working. You can see in this video how hard it can be to draw blood from a cat. They have evolved to have tiny veins that roll away from the point of puncture. This is great for avoiding a bite from another cat, but makes it hard on our vets to get a vein. Dr. Wynn and Jamie Veronica discuss some ways to encourage Cheetaro to use his scratching items more.
Vet Jade Leopard. http://bigcatrescue.org/jade/
Jade had been vomiting. There probably isn’t enough here to do anything with. There must have been other video taken at this time that may have already been used on BigCatTV.com or YouTube.com/DailyBigCat Jade illustrates how hard it is to catch a leopard. I think leopards are the smartest of the cats.
We feed them every night and their water bowls are in their Lock Outs, so they know it is a safe place. Part of our Operant Conditioning with them is to give them treats in Lock Out and open and shut the door, so that when we do need to trap them, that isn’t scary. CEO, Jamie Veronica and her husband, Dr. Justin Boorstein talk about how they will hook up the transport inside the cage.
We lock the cat into one of the furthermost sections of their cages, which are all in 2 to 4 sections, separated by guillotine doors. Then we can open the outside door to bring in the transport. Once in the transport we have to slide in long metal poles so that the volunteers carrying the cats can keep their hands and arms away from the cat. We have to go slowly so the cat doesn’t strike out at the poles and risk breaking a tooth.
We weigh Jade at the West Boensch Cat Hospital before taking her in to see Dr. Wynn, so she has a recent weight on which to base her sedation drug dose. Unfortunately there is no vet video attached, so I don’t know if any of this makes sense to use. This video was on our secondary site, and thus never got much exposure. Jade's sister, Armani had a polyp in the back of her throat that was causing her to choke and had to be removed.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjxJL-_uO4s
Vet Canyon Sandcat Claws 12/10/13 http://bigcatrescue.org/canyon/
I didn’t get a chance to take notes on this one, but it’s pretty clear what is happening. According to books I’ve read, Sandcats don’t live past 13.9 years and ours are both over 14 now. Given the ages of our cats who are mostly geriatric, it can be hard to tell if it is an ingrown nail or the inevitable arthritis of old age. Some cats, like Canyon, we know to have chronic nail issues, so in his case we knew we would have to sedate him and clip his nails back.
You might wonder why we don’t declaw cats who have these issues, but declawing takes off the entire last digit of the toe, can cause extreme pain to walk and the nails still grow back in many cases; just worse, like out of the tops or sides of their paws. Due to Canyon’s advanced age we only want to lightly sedate him, but the littler the cat, the more fierce they are, so we need to be sure the vet is safe while working.
Enrichment http://bigcatrescue.org/enrichment/
I didn’t get to take notes while encoding the enrichment footage from tape to digital but here is what I did note:
Pinatas
Cupcakes - Jade and Armani Leopards http://bigcatrescue.org/jade/ and http://bigcatrescue.org/armani/
Dinosaur - TJ Tiger http://bigcatrescue.org/tj/
Donkey - Cameron Lion and Zabu Tiger http://bigcatrescue.org/cameron-lion/ and http://bigcatrescue.org/zabu/
Flower - Nikita Lioness http://bigcatrescue.org/2011/nikita-3/
Present - Jumanji Leopard http://bigcatrescue.org/jumanji/
Toys
Barbara Frank and Chris Poole load toys.
Yellow Donut - Cameron Lion’s favorite toy http://bigcatrescue.org/cameron-lion/ and http://bigcatrescue.org/zabu/
Red & Blue Donuts - Arthur, Andre and Amanda Tigers http://bigcatrescue.org/arthur/ and http://bigcatrescue.org/andre/ and http://bigcatrescue.org/amanda/
Meat Cakes for Birthdays
Apollo and Zeus the Siberian Lynx http://bigcatrescue.org/apollo/ and http://bigcatrescue.org/zeus/
Bengali Tiger moaning and rubbing http://bigcatrescue.org/bengali/
Other
Castle - Little Feather Bobcat http://bigcatrescue.org/little-feather/
Rock den - Apache Bobcat who got a card board cake http://bigcatrescue.org/apache/
Jamie at the beach with her friend Gail.
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.
100 Things Howie Brought Into My World or The First 12 Years
Howie Anniversary 100 things I didn't have before you.
The day I met you:
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Some of our cats still lived in small runs in the parking lot and on concrete.
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We had 10,000 visitors and were down 12% from the year before due to 9/11. 2002
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We had never created an annual report. 2002
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Our name was Wildlife on Easy Street and didn't say what we did. 2003
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There was no prohibition on selling and transporting big cats across state lines. 2003
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We had no audited statements and could not qualify for larger grants. Our largest outside gift had been $10,000. 2003
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Our gift shop was a single room in a 1970's trailer and our register was a tool box in a metal cage. 2003
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Our front gate was a chain link panel that kept falling off the tracks. 2003
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We had never had radio ads. 2003
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No retailer had ever proudly announced they would cease to carry fur. 2004
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People still defanged and declawed big cats to make them more pliable for cub handling. 2004
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We didn't have proper zoning and were in danger of developers running us off. 2004
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We didn't have an Admin branch of the Volunteer Program. 2004
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We didn't have an Intern Program. 2004
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We didn't have an Operant Conditioning Program. 2004
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We didn't have an Education Director. 2004
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We didn't have a Point of Sale program. 2004
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We didn't have a way to connect our supporters to their lawmakers. 2004
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Food prep was a truck body with one row of sinks, one row of tables, and 6 people slinging machetes. We could only store a couple days' food. 2004
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We didn't have a dumpster, so we had to carry hundreds of pounds of trash each day to the end of the street and clean up the mess made by people and animals. 2004
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We had not yet been reviewed by Charity Navigator, but achieved their highest rating right out of the gate. 2004
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There was no national conference for animal advocacy. 2005
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We had never had a golf tournament. 2005
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We needed to increase our budget for whole prey so we could rehab our first baby bobcat, named Faith. 2005
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We didn't have a recycling program. 2005
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We had never had a $10,000 in tours. 2005
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We had no rear entrance and were trapped if a tree fell across Easy Street. 2005
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We had never created and sold a Big Cat Calendar. 2005
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We had never had a corporate giving campaign. 2005
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We had never been able to qualify for the Federal Combined Federal Campaign. 2006
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Ringling had never attempted a season without tiger acts. 2006
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We had never been listed in Charity Guide's List of Volunteer Opportunities. 2006
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YouTube didn't exist. We had no regular video presence online. 2006
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People were petting, hand feeding, swimming with and having their photos made with adult lions and tigers. 2007
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It was still legal to walk lions, tigers, leopards and cougars on leashes in public. 2007
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Federal rules were finally written to enforce the 2003 Captive Wildlife Safety Act. 2007
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There had never been an online resource that showed where big cats were kept. 2007
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The USDI had never defined a sanctuary as a place that did not buy, breed, sell, trade nor allow public contact. 2007
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Florida did not require any sort of liability insurance or bond for Class I owners. 2007
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We had never been able to rally advocates enough to halt a big cat exhibit at a fair. 2007
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We had never been in U.S. News and World Report. 2007
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We could not afford a proper cemetery nor memorial plaques for our cats. 2007
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We had not been able to provide meaningful conservation funding for snow leopards, African wildlife nor South American ecosystems. 2007
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We had never had our PSA's run on T.V. 2007
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We didn’t have a rehab cage that was state of the art. 2007
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We didn't have worker's comp, so we only had 3 employees. 2008
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No country had yet banned the use of big cats in circus acts. 2008
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We had never been a finalist for CFO of the year. 2008
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Our perimeter wall had been a hodgepodge of chain link until our first solid wall began to go up after 4 years of fundraising. 2008
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We had never been featured in Encyclopedia Britannica before. 2008
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There had never been a comprehensive study on captive tigers until TRAFFIC quoted us extensively in Paper Tigers. 2008
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Our website had never been available in any language other than English. 2008
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There was no law against killing wild animals by remote control over the Internet. 2008
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Tony the truck stop tiger had never had a lawyer before. Nor had any other exotic cat. 2008
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We didn't have a Legacy Society and had not been effectively soliciting bequests. 2008
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There was no Twitter. 2008
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White tigers were all the rage because Siegfried & Roy were deceiving the public into thinking they were Royal White Bengal tigers and zoos were breeding them because the public would pay to see them. 2009
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There were no written standards for sanctuary accreditation. 2009
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We didn't have a consolidated Intranet site for storing documents, training staff & volunteers and recording animal records and observations. 2009
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CITES had never clearly stated "operations breeding tigers on a commercial scale shall implement measures to restrict the captive population to a level supportive only to conserving wild tigers; tigers should not be bred for trade in their parts and derivatives. 14.69" after we funded the Tiger Coalition's presence. 2009
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In Florida people could still have Cougars as pets. 2009
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We didn't have FIOS high speed Internet. 2009
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We didn't have security cameras. 2009
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We didn't have a fenced parking lot to keep people from getting out of their cars and getting in trouble. 2009
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We had never had a member voted Citizen of the Year by the chamber of commerce. 2009
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We had never been able to afford a development person. 2009
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We had never had a credit card program where our cats were featured and user's were able to donate with every purchase. 2009
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Facebook didn't exist. 2009
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The Florida Legislature had never had to force the Florida Wildlife Commission to enforce their own rule, re: the 10k bond for Class I animals. 2010
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PetSmart had never taken a position and banned exotic cats from their stores in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. 2010
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We had never won national awards for Best Non Profit. 2010
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In Florida Bobcats could be legally used as bait in fenced areas where hunting dogs were trained to chase them down and rip them to shreds; all in the name of good, clean, family fun. 2010
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There was no major animal welfare organization that understood the big cat crises was caused by cub handling. 2011
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There was no one drawing the obvious line between cubs handled by tourists and lions killed in canned hunts. Hardly anyone even knew what a canned hunt was, and even those who did, didn't know that exotic cats were killed that way. 2011
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There had never been a coalition of major animal protection groups working together to save the tiger. 2011
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We had never had a volunteer hour tracking system, like Volgistics, to accurately account for volunteer hours. 2011
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We had a static website but needed a content management system. 2011
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We had never won a new truck before. 2011
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We had never hosted a sanctuary workshop before. 2011
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We didn't have outside professionals on our board of directors. 2011
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We didn't have a generator to protect our food supply. 2011
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There was no Google Plus. 2011
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Malls throughout the midwest had cub handling displays every week of the year. 2012
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We didn't have an endowment fund. 2012
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We didn't have a Public Relations Director. 2012
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Oprah had never taken a stand on fur. 2012
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No city had ever banned the sale of fur. 2012
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There had never been a federal bill introduced that would ban the private possession and public handling of big cats and their cubs. 2012
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We had never been the main sponsor of Taking Action for Animals. 2012
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We had never been able to use solar power. 2012
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We had never been able to pursue my first passion of saving domestic cats and kittens from euthanasia. 2013
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We could never have even considered building a 2.5 acre play yard for the cats. 2013
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We had no way to insure our tour guides were giving accurate and relevant tours until implementing the automated tour and Vox system. 2013
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We had never orchestrated an advocacy Fly In to D.C. 2013
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We had never gotten a million dollar judgment against one of the bad guys. 2013
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I had to supplement Big Cat Rescue's payroll. 2013
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No one had ever done a study on the state of captive big cats around the world. 2013
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I had never been able to go to the Animal Care Expo. 2014
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We had never had our own lobbyist. 2014
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We had never been able to understand each other on our radios. 2014
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We had never had our own X-ray and Sonogram equipment. 2014
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We never had a sufficient barrier between us and urban sprawl. 2014
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And there was no way I could do much about it because as of the day I met you the sanctuary had been running in the red every year and it was all I could do to keep the cats fed.
The day I met you:
• I suffered from chronic back pain, a psychosomatic symptom of feeling unsupported. I can't remember any lasting back issues since I met you.
• I'd never met a man who loved and supported me.
• I'd never known what it was like to not feel frustrated and angry all the time. I used to journal all the time to try and work out the anger, but have had no reason to write, since meeting you.
• No one ever took me to the beach for my birthday.
• I'd never had anyone make me coffee.
• No one ever spoke from their heart about our love in front of an audience and got choked up when saying, “To love someone is to see the face of God."
I turned this into a printed book for Howie called The First Twelve Years.
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.
French Big Cat Documentary
Letter from Susan.Bass to me and Mathieu: Hi, Mathieu. Thank you for reaching out to us for your documentary. I've copied Big Cat Rescue's founder Carole Baskin as she will know how often we are called to rescue cats and has more knowledge than almost anyone in the U.S. about big cats.
The issue of private owners having big cats as pets is still a big one in the U.S. We continue to work on Federal legislation that would phase out the private ownership of big cats with just a few exceptions such as GFAS-accredited sanctuaries like Big Cat Rescue and AZA-accredited zoos. If you're not familiar with our pending bill before Congress -- the Big Cats & Public Safety Protection Act -- I can give you more info. One website with good info is www.StopBigCatAbuse.com.
When we are called upon to rescue cats, we usually take video footage at the rescue site of the deplorable conditions the cats were living in, and then more footage of them arriving and adjusting to their new lives at our sanctuary. Perhaps you could use some of our video. There are no statistics on how many people are trying to buy tigers. Our government doesn't even track how many are currently owned by private owners. We can only estimate between 5,000 and 10,000 big cats are currently in the hands of private owners. We do know that hundreds of tiger cubs are bred each year in this country; but again it's impossible to really track what happens to them.
On Thu, Oct 16, 2014 at 10:25 AM, Mathieu BENOIST wrote:
Hello, I'm a french journalist working for the main chanel in France TF1. I'm working on a documentary about big cats in the US the idea is to show the problems caused by owners who wrongly thought that big cats would make good pets.
I'd like to know :
• is it still a big issue ? How could we show it?
• Is there lots of people still trying to buy tigers as pets ?
• Where do they buy them ?
• How often people are calling you because the want to get rid of a big cat ?
In this documentary we'd also like to show how big cats are Abused by owners in order to force them to perform. Thank you for your help. Best regards, Mathieu BENOIST Journaliste
My letter to Mathieu: Hello Matthieu, is it still a big issue? Yes.
How could we show it? That is pretty hard to do because most people have figured out that the general public thinks it is cruel to keep big cats in basements, garages and back yard jail cells. Most won't let you in. Some sanctuaries will let you in, but most of the overcrowded, underfunded places aren't going to let you in for the same reasons. You could come here, but our cages are 10 times or more larger than most and our cats have a great life, so it really doesn't show how horrific the problem is.
Is there lots of people still trying to buy tigers as pets? The problem isn't that there are a lot of people out looking to buy a tiger. The problem is that there are a lot of people who will pay to pet a tiger cub, or to swim with a tiger cub, or to have their photo with a tiger cub, or to see cute cubs on display.
They don't stay small and cute very long, so the abusers are constantly breeding or buying more, but taking care of an adult tiger costs $10,000 a year, so the abusers will often give away their juvenile cubs, who have outgrown their cute stage, to unwitting people who think that just because they can walk that cub on a leash today, they will still be able to do it a year from now. When the cat is about a year old and over 200 lbs is when those owners often start looking for a sanctuary.
Sadly there are pseudo sanctuaries, like Tiger Haven, in my opinion, that has 300 tigers, who let the same bad actors breed cubs each year and then dump them straight onto them. When we take a big cat we make the owners sign a contract that they will never possess another wild cat, but most sanctuaries don't take that precaution and are just enabling bad behavior.
Where do they buy them? We think two of the biggest suppliers of cubs are GW Zoo in Wynnewood, OK and T.I.G.E.R.S. in Myrtle Beach, SC, but it is nearly impossible to prove. USDA asks for a census, but it is up to the owner to say how many cats they have, because no one really counts them.
How often people are calling you because the want to get rid of a big cat? 2003 was the worst year. We had to turn away 312 big cats, but that same year a federal law passed that made it illegal to sell a big cat, over state lines, as a pet. Since then nearly a dozen states have passed bans on possession of big cats so the number we have to turn away is decreasing. Now the largest problem are all of these pseudo sanctuaries that fail after taking in more big wild animals than they can afford.
In this documentary we'd also like to show how big cats are Abused by owners in order to force them to perform. You are never going to see this because training is done behind closed doors and the abusers know that the public would put an end to their trade if they ever saw what they really do to train big cats. You can see the tricks they use to make the cats think that they have the electric prods in the circus ring though. These prods are usually a couple feet long and they wrap them with ribbons, so the cat knows that if they don't do the trick, they will zap the cat and sometimes even shove the hot-shot down the cat's throat. In the circus ring they carry a stick, wrapped with the same kinds of ribbons, usually in a back pocket, and whips in their hands, to make the cat think they still have the cruel instrument of torture on them.
Attached is a list of the tigers we know of, but it doesn't include pet tigers, because no one counts them.
Remember: “The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.” Albert Einstein
Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
Author of Big Cat Care - How to Start a Sanctuary
Celebrating 21 Years (1992-2014) of Caring for cats ♥ Ending the trade
YouTube: Watch us on BigCatTV.com More than 85 million views
Facebook: Join more than 600,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/BigCatRescue
Rescue of Kali the Tiger
Tim Gress and wife are divorcing and he wants to place his last cat, Kali, a 13 year old tiger.
Met Bhagavan Antle 20 years ago. He said he thinks he takes good care of his animals, but that he’s breeding 15-30 cubs a year and dumping them everywhere he can. Said he just tried to unload 8 tigers on someone named Terry.
TIM GRESS,MELANIE GRESS. Customer No: 10449. Certificate No: 57-C-0178. Certificate Status: CANCELLED. Status Date: Feb 5, 2014.
All inspection reports are good, but Kelly said she thinks USDA is breathing down his neck to place the cats because the license was cancelled.
7/17/14 Thanks – I just sent him an email asking if he’d sign the contract. If he says he will – I’ll put the two of you in contact if that’s ok. I just got back from vacation – so getting through my emails as fast as I can. I wanted to touch base with you about the Alabama cats – has anything changed? If not, I’m happy to try to help if that’s ok with you.
As for the tiger in GA, her name is Kali. She is completely intact. Her owner had her, a male tiger, and a cougar in a “conservation awareness” education program. He’s in the middle of a divorce and the animals have been what’s keeping him there. He said if you can come pick her up – he’ll sign anything. I think USDA is starting to breathe down his neck to get rid of her. I was able to get the other two placed a while back and they’ve been transferred already.
While I don’t agree with the free-contact program he was running, he seems to have taken decent care of the cats and has been very friendly to work with. I haven’t been that directly involved other than finding placement and hooking him up with sanctuaries, but I think he does want what’s best for the cats. If you’d like, I can put the two of you in contact and back out of it. Thanks, Kelly
Augusta Conservation Education, a nonprofit rescue organization. Tegrid and the other animals in the compound live next to founder Tim Gress' house in Appling, along with his wife, Melanie, and sons, Dalton, 17, and Cole, 15....http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2007/11/02/pet_150122.shtml
Tim Gress exchanges throaty chuffs with Kali before he and the massive Bengal tiger rub their heads together in a friendly greeting. Mr. Gress and his wife, Melanie, run an exotic animal rescue - Augusta Conservation Education - from their 11 rural acres near Appling.
Recent news events have focused attention on the issue of wild animals in domestic settings. A few weeks ago, authorities pulled a 400-pound tiger from a public housing apartment in the New York borough of Harlem. The animal was living with an alligator.
Ming, the seized tiger, was sent to an animal sanctuary in Ohio.
The Gresses' sanctuary has served as a transitional home for exotic animals found outside their habitat. The couple have placed nearly 50 animals in safe homes after rescuing them from unhealthy environments. Many of the animals were purchased by their owners as pets.
The Gresses go beyond the 12-foot fences and locking gate required by the USDA. At a cost of $15,000, they recently completed two pens inside an extra 8-foot, fenced daytime area. The pens each have 12-foot fencing pulled tight between concrete-grounded posts. Both pens, which temporarily house Kali, a 15-month-old Bengal tiger, and Merlin, a 1-year-old 200-pound liger - a lion and tiger hybrid - are fortified further with horizontal poles that are strapped to the fence with stainless steel cable. All animals are secured with at least two locks and extra chains, Mr. Gress said. Mr. Gress, who works full-time as a maintenance electrician at International Paper Co., works on the site himself to save money. http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2003/10/26/met_398498.shtml
Also located in Appling is Augusta Conservation Education, a non-profit rescue organization founded by fellow animal expert Tim Gress. Trained under animal trainer Bhagavan Antle, Gress said he started the organization after witnessing the poor conditions that Lucy Lynx – mascot for the Augusta Lynx hockey team – lived under. Gress soon discovered this destitute living standard was not exclusive to Lucy; it was a widespread problem.
“We visited a lot of backyard breeders during our time caring for Lucy,” Gress recalled. “And the condition that these breeders’ animals were living in was deplorable. So, my wife and I decided to start Augusta Conservatory Education here on our property to raise awareness for people who have little knowledge about the way animals are being mistreated around the world.”
According to John C. Wright, a professor of psychology at Mercer University, the tendency of backyard breeders collecting dangerous animals comes from an appetite for thrill-seeking. “You know, there are personality traits that deal with risk-taking,” Wright explained. “And it just may be that those who score high on risk-taking as a personality trait use [wild] pet ownership as an opportunity to implement that risk.”
However, Gress insists that the word “pet” does not apply to the animals in his compound. They include Bengal tigers Kali and Suvarna, mountain lion Coco and Tegrid, an American black bear who’s become a staple of the refuge. Gress said his interest in maintaining the health and wellness of his pack coupled with his actual job as electrical and instrument supervisor at International Paper can often take an incredible toil. “I sleep about four hours a night,” Gress said. “I average 3,600 hours plus a year at International Paper and I average probably another 40 hours plus a week with my animals.”
In addition to managing this grueling schedule, Gress has also shelled out a considerable amount of money to support his animal family; $13,000 per year to be exact. Gress perceives what he does as, not a hobby, but a lifestyle. As such he has found that a certain amount of care and responsibility is necessary to cultivate it. Gleitsmann shares this principle and said that what separates passionate animal enthusiasts like her and Gress from those who are fixated with simply hoarding and breeding wild animals is a sense of invested care. http://grubellringer.com/2012/04/15/animal-fanatics-defend-their-passion-for-animal-protection/
Kali arrived at Gress’ facility in a way that is nightmarish to me. Someone dumped a load of unwanted lions, tigers and ligers at his gate. One of them gave birth during the melee and that was Kali.
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.
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.
Update from Howie on the Joe Schreibvogel saga:
Joe has been all over Facebook saying that John Finlay, one of his “husbands,” is just taking some family time off. But I think the story in the local papers suggests this is just one more of Joe’s never ending string of lies. It appears that Schreibvogel filed a police report and told reporters that Finlay attacked him and was fired. Past employees have told us that when they tried to leave the zoo after becoming tired of being mistreated by Joe that he filed false police reports against them and even accused them of stealing their own belongings. Click the link to see the news report. http://bigcatrescue.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/GWZooFinleyFiring.pdf
After we won our $1mm+ judgment against the GW Park and Joe personally, Joe had three individuals incorporate a new GW Zoo. John Finlay was named President of that new Zoo. Of course, this is the same John Finlay who was asked in depositions under oath what his role was at the zoo. His answer was that he slept until mid day, then went fishing and played video games. Great credentials for someone who now supposedly is responsible for the care of hundreds of animals and the safety of thousands of visitors.
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.
Conversations with Rick Kirkham from 2014-2020. 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.
Attempted rescue of a leopard and successful rescue of Mickey Cougar and other lions, tigers and wild animals from Animal House in Moulton, AL.
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.
First Meeting With Rebecca Chaiklin and Eric Goode
Hi Carole, It was great meeting you. Thanks for taking so much time with us today. We look forward to seeing you again soon. Good luck with the rescue and please let us know how it goes. Best wishes,
Rebecca Chaiklin. Article 19 Films
They first seemed to have reached out to us on July 16, 2014 and then we apparently filmed with them on 8/15/2014 and sent the following in response to their questions:
Great meeting you guys. What I know about:
• Tabraue http://911animalabuse.com/mario-tabruae-zoological-wildlife-foundation-fka-zoological-imports/
• Antle http://911animalabuse.com/antle-bhagavan-doc/
• Schreibvogel http://911animalabuse.com/gw-exotics-animal-foundation/
Attached is my recent senate testimony and that of AZA.
A list of ZAA members here: http://bigcatrescue.org/zaa-facilities-exempt-big-cat-ban/
Comparing AZA to ZAA http://bigcatrescue.org/aza-vs-zaa/ and here
You asked about our finances. That is here: http://bigcatrescue.org/finances/
If there were other details you needed from me, just let me know.
Remember: “The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.” Albert Einstein
Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
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.
Ariel the Bobcat
Some of you may have heard that the animal abusers are running smear campaigns against us with lies about Ariel the bobcat. They have been inciting people who don't know any better to contact the FWC, telling them to revoke our rehab permit and confiscate Ariel because we are forcing her to kill rabbits and that we plan to send a totally unprepared pet out into the wild to die.
FWC's Captain Hooker called me and asked what was going on and who it was at the FWC who had approved of such a plan. I reminded her that it was she who told us we had to go through the process of rehab, just to be sure that Ariel wasn't a good candidate for release. When I reminded her of the circumstances, she remembered and said, "Well, that doesn't sound anything like what these people are accusing you of." Welcome to our world.
Just so you have the back story, in July a woman called and said her son had a bobcat his dog had dragged in, as a kitten, four years ago. She had been living in the house as a pet. Now he was expecting a baby and was afraid the bobcat would harm the child, so he wanted to find a home for Ariel, but he wasn't licensed to have her.
In the state of FL it is illegal for anyone to take a wild animal from an unlicensed person, so I contacted the FWC, explained the situation, and since Ariel was a native bobcat, Captain Hooker told me we could bring her in under our rehab permit and try to rehab her. At the end of the rehab time limit, which would be up the end of this month, we would see if she was ready for release, or if she could be released to our captive population, under our captive wildlife permit.
We gave rehab our best shot and Ariel can kill in a confined space, but she will boldly walk right up to anyone she thinks has food, and that is never going to work in the wild. It will get her killed, and could very well get someone hurt. While I had Captain Hooker on the phone I asked if we can now move Ariel into our captive population. She asked for a letter from our vet, which I have sent her, so we should know shortly if the FWC will allow Ariel to stay with us. We are always in a tenuous situation with the FWC because they can take any of our animals and send them to their "go-to" guy, Vernon Yates or any other backyard breeder of their choosing. In Ariel's case, they could take her from us and turn her loose in an area for hunters to shoot her.
We are doing all we can to do the right thing for Ariel and hope that the FWC will see our adversaries for what they are; a bunch of liars who don't care about animals. The FWC sent an inspector out yesterday and he agrees that Ariel is not a candidate for release and said she can stay with us for the rest of her life.
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.
Rebecca Chaiklin contacts us about doing a big cat version of Blackfish
Hi Carole, A phone call from a lady named Rebecca Chaiklin, a feature film producer. She's doing a feature documentary on the wild life trade and is interested in coming out to BCR to film and interview you. Her contact info is RebeccaChaiklin@gmail.com 917-439-6639. Call came in on 7/16 at 11:30 am. Diana Rao - Sent from my iPhone.
Fisher Stevens, The Cove Movie, RealTVfilms coverage of the Kat Kramer's screening of "Films That Change The World" at Bronson Studios Hollywood. Distributed by Tubemogul. URL: http://www.celebritynetworth.com/watch/jzHVGUC9w-s/fisher-stevens-cove-movie-realtvfilms/
Academy award producer (The Cove) and actor Fisher Stevens and producer/director Rebecca Chaiklin are in Berlin film Festival after Sundance to present their new documentary ANOTHER WORLD. Rebecca was both Director and Producer on The Party's Over (Last Party 2000), a feature documentary on the 2000 presidential election starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival in Europe and SWSX in the US - and was released theatrically in over 30 cities around the US, as well as both theatrical and television broadcast throughout Europe.
Rebecca is the Producer on Poster Boy, an independent feature which premiered at the 2004 Tribeca and Locarno Film Festivals. Rebecca was the Producer on Men Make Woman Crazy Theory, a Zoe Cassavettes directorial debut, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and broadcast on Shotime.
Rebecca was the Producer on Hardball, a feature documentary on the first series of baseball games between the Cuban National Team and MLB, The Baltimore Orioles, Produced by Barry Levinson and Tom Fontana. Chaiklin was the Producer on Midnight in Cuba, a feature documentary chronicling the hopes and dreams of Cuba's younger generation, which premiered at The Berlin International Film Festival.
Currently Chaiklin is finishing The King of Soho, as both Director and Producer, a documentary film featuring Michael Pompa, an older Italian-American man who lives in New York City and has not travelled outside of 8 square blocks in over 54 years. Chaiklin is also directing a film on the war on drugs and hip-hop impresario Russel Simmon's campaign to reform the Rockefeller Drug Laws. Rebecca asked for photos of me which ultimately led to a scrapbook about my mom in Dec 2018.
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.
While in D.C. I was arranging for the rescue of Sheena Serval Carole’s cryptic notes: Diana in the Department of Ag in OH. Candace Miller. Female serval, spayed, 12 years old, declawed, plays at night. Simmerman, Melissa. Hi Carole, Thank you for taking time to speak with me today & thank you for your interest in our serval. The serval is currently in the custody of the Ohio Department of Agriculture and we have ownership of her. You can just use the contact information listed below. I will also be the vet signing the health certificate. I will work on the travel arrangements and call you as soon as I make some progress. Thanks again, Melissa Simmerman, DVM. Assistant State Veterinarian. Ohio Department of Agriculture. Division of Animal Health Dear Dr. Simmerman, I copied you, just now, on the application to the state of Florida for an import permit. I expect to have it by next Wednesday, and maybe even before. According to Dianna the serval is a 12 year old, declawed, spayed, female serval who weighs 31 lbs. She is described as being a fussy eater and loves to play after dark. The one thing I didn't hear was her name. Here are our other servals so you can see how they live:http://youtu.be/w-c-TsGxPSs Your serval will have her own 1,200 sf enclosure to herself, full of trees, bushes, grass and dens. Melissa Simmerman wrote: Carole, I was able to get a flight booked for next Thursday, June 26th. She will not arrive to you until 10:10pm that evening. I hope this is not too late. If you are okay with this I will send you flight details. Thanks for your help, Melissa Great! Here are the details: • Flight 2643 leaves Columbus @ 4:41pm, arrives in Atlanta @ 6:14pm • Flight 1797 leaves Atlanta @ 8:45pm, arrives @ Tampa INTL @ 10:10PM I will be in touch next week to let you know that plans are still on. Thanks This was the alert we ran to help fund her rescue: In 2003 John Babb of Berea, Kentucky shipped an 8 week old serval kitten to a woman in Ohio, who named her Sheena. (The breeder's website boasts that he is still selling serval kittens to pet owners in the U.S. for $6,000 and abroad for $9,000.). Fast forward 11 years... After Terry Thompson released 56 lions, tigers and bears in OH, the state decided to ban the private possession of big cats, but grandfathered in the existing animals as long as the owners would build a safe cage, register the animal and provide insurance or a bond, in case their animal escaped and hurt someone. Sheena's owner was willing to register her, and apparently kept her in a dog run, but was unwilling to provide insurance. She decided instead to turn Sheena over to the state of OH. To our knowledge she is the first exotic cat to be surrendered to the Ohio authorities. The ban became law in 2012 and the exotic pet exploiters predicted that hundreds or thousands of big cats would be dumped on the state, because they always try to scare off more protective rules with that absurd claim. It hasn't happened. People who really love their animals will do the minimal things asked of them by law to keep them. Sheena wasn't that lucky... Or maybe she was even luckier because when the state of OH called and asked if we would provide a permanent home for her we knew that YOU would help us do that. Please let Sheena know that she is loved and welcome at Big Cat Rescue by donating to her care. 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.
Getting Our First Working X-ray Machine
Note that this started in 2014 and was done in 2015 so this entry had info from the future included for brevity of the entire discussion.
Jeff Kremer secured the donation of an X-Ray Machine from Sarah and Bruce on 5/6/14 and today we decided on the model and got the quote for the machine. What we did not realize at the time was that this would become an epic ordeal that would take a year to complete.
The machine was too big for any of our buildings and had an arm that needed 9 feet of ceiling height, so we had to construct a two story building, with the idea that the second story floor would have to be cut out. Then we found out that it only worked on 3 phase power which was going to run us 165,000 above ground or 350,000 under ground, so Howie got the bright idea of buying a 3 phase generator.
I’d never heard of such a thing, but he found one that we had to have built and delivered w/ a crane, because it was the size of a small car. Then the power transformers weren’t big enough for the load, so they had to be installed.
Then there wasn’t a good enough Internet signal for the X-ray machine to transfer images to the software program in the cloud, so that had to be installed. Now the whole thing is on the outside of our cat area fencing, so as of 3/22/15, I still haven’t moved that.
Hi Tom, I will be your point person going forward for the machine. I have no technical understanding, but will be the one who will have to make the decisions, so please forgive my lack of expertise in this matter.
We are having a building constructed to house the machine, right next to our Cat Hospital, but if it is not done before the machine arrives, it can be stored in our current Cat Hospital. I understand that we need 14 x 16 feet of floor space and perhaps as much as 14 foot ceilings for a 700 lb cat to be X-rayed, so our current building can't handle it.
My husband, Howard, has been working with the developer next door and TECO to bring 3 phase power to our Cat Hospital. What do you need from me? - Carole
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.
Oxford Scientific on Odd Couples Susan Bass wrote: Carole, I just got off the phone with Jenna, who is working on the new Animal Odd Couples show for Animal Planet that we discussed. She'd like to set up a time to speak with you as well since you know more about Cam and Zabu when they first arrived. She is 5 hours ahead in London. Do you have a few minutes tomorrow afternoon to speak with Jenna? On Jun 17, 2014, at 4:55 AM, Jenna Lane wrote: Dear Susan, I work for a TV production company called Oxford Scientific Films, where I'm working on a series about animal behaviour for the Animal Planet channel. It's all about interesting relationships between different species of animals. I believe my colleague Sarah might have been in touch with you recently about your lion Cameron and tigress Zabu I wondered if you could spare a little bit of time to talk to me on the phone so I could find out a bit more about their behaviour, and if we could potentially film them for our series. I can call whenever is convenient to you if you let me know a good number to reach you on. I'm really looking forward to talking to you! Best wishes, Jenna Lane, Researcher Dear Jenna, Sorry for the phone issues. Tomorrow at 1PM EST if fine for Skype and my ID is BigCatRescue. This video is 6 years old, so isn't very high quality, but it shows the day that Cameron and Zabu arrived at Big Cat Rescue in 2004. The man with the blue tee shirt in the video was the volunteer who had contacted us about the plight of the cats in New Hampshire and he is the one who negotiated the release of the cats from the widow to us, but for the life of me, I can't remember his name. He drove with the cats, in the truck you see them being unloaded from.http://youtu.be/SNt0e1cguyY Background on Cameron and Zabu: http://bigcatrescue.org/cameron-lion/ http://bigcatrescue.org/zabu/ There are lots of links to videos of them together on those pages and on this one. http://bigcatrescue.org/lion-white-tiger-cameron-zabu/ You should know that Cameron no longer has that beautiful mane though. CAMERON UPDATE - He may look a little different now but he seems much happier and he's DEFINITELY more relaxed and content since we neutered him (and he'll be much cooler this summer!). Plus Zabu likes the fact that she doesn't have to spend 2 hours a day grooming him anymore! Read more about why we decided to neuter Cameron here:http://bigcatrescue.org/advocat-2014-04/ 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.
When to Euthanize a Tiger
At Big Cat Rescue we have a general decision tree that we and our vets use to determine when it is time to euthanize a big cat, but every situation is different. The vast majority of the time we just aren’t sure that it is the right decision until we do the necropsy, which is the animal version of an autopsy. The reason it is so hard to know, if we are doing the right thing, is because cats are hard wired to live the mantra of the wild; “Survival of the fittest.”
They just will not reveal their illness or their suffering until they cannot hide it any longer. We just had two situations, back to back, where we had to make the gut wrenching decision to euthanize an exotic cat. One was an ocelot (known in Central and South America as the Tree Tiger) and the other was an actual tiger. Both were 20-22 years old, but their histories were so different, that the decision in each case came after painful deliberation of our veterinary care team.
Amazing Grace the ocelot was 22 years old and had been with us since 1996. She had always been robust in health and purr-sonality and had been a favorite of Keepers and Guests alike. We knew Gracie’s moods, what she liked and didn’t like to eat, how to get her to relax when her hyperactivity was getting the best of her and what her favorite enrichment treats were.
When Amazing Grace came up on the Observation Chart for NOT being excited about dinner, and yet looking bloated, we knew something was wrong and scheduled a visit with our vet, Dr. Liz Wynn. Sedating a 22 year old cat is not something we would do without considerable cause, but Amazing Grace was in excellent condition and there wasn’t anything we could determine about her failing to eat from just looking at her. When she was sedated it was discovered, via blood work and being able to get our hands on her, that her kidneys were done and she had several tumors. The bloating was from fluid filling her abdomen, which is usually a sign of a failing heart. At 22 we did not believe that she had any chance for improvement and had to say, “Good-bye” to our precious, long time friend.
Her necropsy gave us the peace of mind that we had done the right thing for her. It revealed that she did, in fact, have liver cancer, advanced heart disease, many other masses throughout her organs and a tiny, blister – like surface over her entire omentum (the tissue that envelopes your organs). The second situation was even harder to make because Kimba the tiger had just been rescued 17 days before we had to make a life or death decision. We knew almost nothing about Kimba, except that she was literally starving to death in NY and that we weren’t even sure she would make it through the day that we loaded her into a transport and gave her food and water for the first time in who knows how long.
She and her two family members were all starving and dehydrated and drank 8 gallons of water between them in the first 24 hours. As soon as they arrived at Big Cat Rescue we began offering food and Zeus ate like there was no tomorrow, but Keisha and Kimba were shy about it, so we couldn’t be sure if they were coming into the feeding area at night. Within a few days, Keisha overcame her shyness and would eat while Keepers were present, but Kimba was still not packing away the chow like the other two. We weren’t sure if she was just more shy, or if she had been starved for so long that she just couldn’t eat as much at any given time, so we started feeding her several times a day. She would eat a couple bites, off a long stick, but then no more. She was seen drinking regularly, so we just did all we could to increase her food intake, in the hopes that we could build up her strength enough to sedate her and look for anything else that may be going on.
Maybe she had bad teeth and eating was painful? Maybe she had tumors or an obstruction that was keeping her from eating? Maybe she had some disease? Some things you just can’t tell by looking at a tiger, no matter how well trained your eyes.
We had noticed that she was missing much of the fur from around her rump, and thought it was from sitting in her own feces in her den in New York, which was the only place she could sit that wasn’t on rocks. We wondered if the heat was too much for her, even though she had a pool and the day we rescued her it was the same temp as what we have down here. We have overhead sprinklers and turned those on for her. Kimba seemed happy. She would walk around, climb up and lounge on her platforms over looking the lake, and would sleep the day away, like most tigers her age do, but she just wasn’t eating enough to improve her condition any, so we had to make the scary decision to sedate a very ill, 20 year old tiger.
More about that here: http://bigcatrescue.org/now-big-cat-rescue-june-11-2014/
Her exam showed that her teeth were fine and there weren’t any palpable tumors or obstructions but her blood work showed that she had a urinary tract infection and that her kidneys were in failure. Sometimes a UTI can make kidney values worse than they really are, so we began treatment for the UTI with antibiotics and fluids. At her advanced age, if there was any chance of turning this around, she had to get injections twice a day and 5 liters of fluids.
To do that we had to keep her in a transport wagon in the Cat Hospital and that worked for a couple of days because Kimba didn’t feel good enough to try and get away from us as we tended to her feeding, watering, brushing out the dense and dead Siberian coat (with a long handled back scratcher), and washing her down with the hose to keep her cool and clean.
She would let us get about 3 liters of fluids in her before objecting and moving away and that isn’t something you can force a tiger to endure. Repeated sedation would kill her for sure and add to the toxicity that her kidneys were trying to purify as well. It looked like, no matter what we did, she was going to die. The question was, would she do so in a tiny cage, after days or weeks of being poked with needles, or would she do so in comfort?
Since close confinement wasn’t working so well, and she seemed to be in better spirits, we decided to let her back into her yard in the hopes that she would drink enough on her own and yet still come to the side of the cage to get her meds, either in her food, or via injection. Her first day back outside she was SO happy! You can see her pouncing around on her platforms here: http://bigcatrescue.org/now-big-cat-rescue-june-12-2014/
But she wouldn’t take the meds in food and wouldn’t come to the side of the cage to be injected. We still had to get them in her though and had to dart her with the antibiotics to ensure she was getting them. She hated that and began hiding in her den and just growling when anyone approached. We set up trail cams to see if she was getting up to eat or drink and she wasn’t doing enough of either to survive. Her condition was worsening and she now had gone more than a day without eating at all.
So our choices were to sedate her yet again, put her back in the transport wagon in the Cat Hospital, keep injecting her twice a day with antibiotics and keep trying to give her fluids, when she was pulling away from us after only getting a tenth of what she needed and hope for a miracle, OR let her go to sleep peacefully in the one place where she had found happiness, however brief, where she could be surrounded by her tiger family and let her last moments be that of drifting off to sleep, in the shade of her beloved platforms, while gazing out over the lake?
Along with our vets we weighed the pros and cons and decided that Kimba had overcome death for the past couple of weeks through little more than her strong will and now that she was giving up it should be on her terms in a setting that she chose. It took us several hours and many tears to make that decision, but her necropsy showed that it was the right one for Kimba; no matter how hard it had been for us.
Four days after making the decision to euthanize Kimba we got the lab reports back and they showed that Kimba’s UTI was complicated by E. coli, from the filthy conditions she was forced to live in, and that the drug we were using was the best drug for her infection. That both broke our hearts, because Kimba wouldn’t have been so ill if her former owner had just cared enough to keep her cage clean, and gave us some peace in knowing that we were doing all that was medically possible for Kimba, and that if she had not responded to the drugs by now, she wasn’t going to.
Lessons From Mom, a book for Jamie’s birthday
Love & Marriage (I think I adapted this from someone else’s work)
If you are looking for the purr-fect mate: stop looking. If you want to keep the one you have, then take it from me and what I learned from Mom.
Appreciate him. Every time he takes out the trash, washes a dish, picks up his own socks, carries a bag of groceries or does anything that you can praise him for; do it. Lavish praise on him and act sincere, even if you are thinking to yourself, "It's about time!" Men can never get enough praise and other women know it.
Tell him how handsome he is. Do it every time you see him primping, exercising, getting dressed, getting undressed and even when you think he is just too full if himself. Men can never get enough compliments and other women know it.
Let him be right, especially when he isn't, but it doesn't really matter. Save your superior intellect for matters that would really cause you financial or reputational ruin. It will be easier to make sure he listens to you if he almost never has to.
Whatever he wants, whenever he wants, is what YOU want, in 99% of the times a choice is to be made. Really make him believe that you want whatever would make him happy. Men are like cats; if they know they have a choice, they will often concede it to you. But do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, whether he cares about what you want or not. Men can never get enough of being in charge and other women know it.
Surprise him with your thoughtfulness. You are particularly good at this, so make sure he is the recipient of your efforts to create a moment that will live forever in his heart. Men can never get enough of being made to believe that they are the center of your Universe and other women know that.
Be the mistress. Men leave their wives for their mistresses, because the mistress always looks her best for him and does all of the above. When she becomes the wife, another mistress will take her place. If you are ALWAYS the mistress he won't have a reason to cheat. Even if he does, as most men do, he probably won't leave you. Making him suffer for his indiscretion won't make him stay and certainly won't keep him from straying again.
Having a man in your life is something most women want for some un fathomable reason. If you want to keep yours, then consider these words of advice from someone who believes she is the happiest woman in the world. It was one of those books you can create online and I illustrated it with photos of Jamie and Justin.
My Mother's Memories of Her Mother
L-R Carole Norris, Jacqueline Norris, Mary Barbara Jean Norris
When Momma J acquie (my mother's mother) died, my mother and her sister asked if each of us grandchildren would speak at her memorial service. There were some memories that came before us, or were seen from the different perspective of my mother though and are too precious to be forgotten. Here is what my mother, Mary Barbara Jean Norris Stairs wrote:
"In 1940 Jacqueline Thompson married Floyd Norris and they moved to California to help Floyd's father who was building orange crates for pennies each. In January of 1941, she had their first daughter, Mary Barbara Jean, named after all her sisters and sister-in-law, and 11 months later her second daughter Carole, named after her favorite movie star - Carole Lombard. Seven years later in 1949 the third daughter, Diana, was premature and died after five days. Mother always kept our hair in ringlets when we were young and had our grandmother sew beautiful clothes for us. My mother is remembered for her hair always in place, beautiful jewelry, although just costume, and fine clothes, a lot of which were purchased at garage sales and flea markets.
Mother was always a hard worker. During World War II, she worked at Delco Remy, lifting armatures which weighed about 15-20 pounds, from conveyor to conveyor. She became quite strong and would be the entertainment at parties by arm wrestling the men. That strength was still apparent up to her last days. She would hold onto nurses' gloves and not let go. They would have to slip their hands out of the gloves and leave them with her.
She was also very athletic and was on the high school's basketball team. When we were growing up, Mother and Daddy would play basketball, volleyball, softball, table tennis, jacks and other sports with us. They both had many trophies for their bowling skills.
Another good quality was she was careful with money and always would put back a little into a savings account. Our first trip from Indiana to Florida was hosted by James Cope, President of Florida Christian College (the name was later changed to Florida College) where we stayed in a dorm room in order to keep down costs. We all loved Florida and moved here shortly after that trip. The trip and the move were done with Mother's savings. She was generous with her finances in sending us to college and later helping other college students in the Florida College Adopt-A-Student program.
Mother used to tell us about the time she and her mother, Goldie, were in a boat crossing a deep creek. They had baby chicks with them that they were taking to sell to get money for groceries. They lived in the Arkansas countryside and were very poor. The boat tipped over and everyone fell out. Mother did not know how to swim but Goldie was concerned about the baby chicks and was gathering them up so they didn't drown, totally ignoring Mother, who learned to "dog paddle" that day, but she was always afraid of water from then on. Her fear of water did not stop her many years later when her three small grandsons, Alan, Stacy and Mike Crim, stepped into a hole in Lake Keystone where Mother and Daddy lived. She would sink to the bottom of the hole and push up with all her might and push the three young boys closer and closer to the shore, taking a breath of air, and then going back down into the dreaded water until all three were safe. My sister said that was the scariest time of her life while she watched from the shore.
Mother assisted her sister, Barbara Huff, and her daughters in buying homes and cars; wanting us to have good running, safe vehicles. A Cadillac once saved her life so she knew how important the right car can be. In the 1980's she was stopped at the stop light at Waters and North Dale Mabry when a tractor trailer rig driver, who claimed his brakes failed, plowed into the rear of her large Cadillac. The Highway Patrol said if not for the impact resistance of the metal on that vehicle, she would not have survived. She still spent many days in the hospital with head injuries, which most likely contributed to her dementia in the final years.
They were in Amway reaching the Ruby level; had their own furniture business and invested in land in Florida (The Circle 8 in Pasco County) and North Carolina (Econa Mountain Estates and Blue Mist in Bryson City). Both of them were very good in sales.
We were taught to be self-reliant and industrious. When we were young we had to stand on stools to reach the sink, but we had to wash and dry all the dishes, iron the clothes including sheets and towels but we never got burned as she cautioned us on how to hold the iron safely. Her favorite saying was, "work is fun". The one work she did not consider fun was picking cotton; she felt that was the hardest labor she ever had to do.
I am blessed to have traveled with her to Arkansas, Missouri, Alaska, cruising the Mediterranean and visiting South Africa, which was our last trip, not counting the many trips to her beloved North Carolina log cabin. She was a good travel companion who loved God's creations." --BarJean
DejaVu is all I can say
It happens over and over, like a recurring nightmare for the wild animals suffering through it; only the names and places change.
Someone wants to “rescue” wild animals because that seems like glamorous work, so they buy animals (and just prolong the problem) until the really bad guys find out there is a new place to dump last year’s photo cubs, and then the “rescues” become more legitimate, in the eyes of the “rescuer” because at least they aren’t paying for animals any more.
Usually the big cats who need rescuing are the cubs who just outgrew the ridiculous 8-12 week window, in which USDA condones the use of cubs for photo and pay to play sessions. All it takes to fix this mess is for USDA to acknowledge that it is a violation of the Animal Welfare Act to take cubs from their mothers for this inhumane, unethical, albeit lucrative exploitation… But I digress.
This video was shot in 2009 at JnK’s Call of the Wild and the dangerous conditions, lack of respect for the powerful nature of these wild animals and lack of understanding of their physical and emotional needs was evident. The cats were thin, but not starving yet at that time.
Five years go by, and citations pile up for not providing sufficient shelter, not having an attending vet, not willing to provide documentation of where the cats came from or went and having a perimeter fence that was only 2 feet above the 6 feet of snow. This article from 2009 detailed the illegal purchase of a leopard that resulted in seizure and a fine, as well as a number of other violations, and yet the media treated it like a puff piece. http://bigcatrescue.org/lions-tigers-and-bears-find-refuge/
So, every few weeks more litters of lions, tigers, primates and bears are bred, used and discarded into these pseudo sanctuaries. But then the animals grow up into 500 pound apex predators who require thousands of dollars in food & vet care each year and before you know it, the “sanctuaries” have collapsed under the collective weight and debt. Then other sanctuaries, of varying financial stability, are called in to clean up the mess; but most of those are not in much better shape than the facilities they are being asked to bail out.
Big cats are bounced around from breeder, to photo booth operator, to the public as pets, who then dump them into the hands of backyard hoarders, who collapse and then the bigger sanctuaries come and move them to their fourth or fifth home, where they may stay until they die, but even then will sometimes end up in yet another rescue situation when the bigger places fail as well.
The second worst part of all of this is that the animals suffer from the time they are only a few hours or days old, when they are ripped from their mothers and thrust into this dismal cycle, and begin the years of suffering as the legal processes wind through the courts. The worst part of this scenario is that it would be so easily avoided by a ban on public contact with cubs. Help do that here: https://www.votervoice.net/BCR/Campaigns/30111/Respond
That’s what happened at JnK’s Call of the Wild.
In 1997 Ken and Jackie Wisniewski started “rescuing” big cats, bears, wolves and a variety of other wild and domestic animals. Before long they were in over their heads. Feeding the animals wasn’t a problem because there is a lot of roadkill in Sinclairville, NY. We counted half a dozen dead deer, a duck and raccoon, in just two days visiting this sleepy little town. Maybe the locals drive too fast, or maybe it is all of the grape vineyards and farms that attract so much native wildlife.
The problem was that the rotting carcasses were just left to fester, along with the piling excrement, in the tiny, barren cages. The lions and tigers, who are the most fastidious creatures on earth, were forced to live in these abysmal, fly infested conditions while USDA went through the tedious process of citing the facility year, after year, after year with no improvements.
Finally after many years of failing to to provide vet care or clean and safe caging, USDA revoked the license, which is a multi year task. The state of NY had previously banned the private possession of big cats, bears and wolves, but in all but 4 states (KY, OH, WA & WV) a person could circumvent the ban if they held a USDA license.
Now JnK had lost their USDA license and the animals could have been seized years ago, but as is often the case, the violator will just have a family member or friend get a USDA license issued in their name and then the whole process starts over. When Ken and Jackie Wisniewski lost their USDA license, they just had their daughter, Kristy Wisniewski, get one in her name. It’s easy: a one page form, name, address and phone and $40 and you can get around any ban, just about anywhere.
So, the long legal battles had to start over again until the daughter had a falling out with her mother and decided not to renew her USDA license. What usually happens is that there would now be no government agency checking in on the animals and conditions. These kinds of places would then enjoy the luxury of doing as they please with no one looking over their shoulder, and that would always lead to worse conditions for the animals.
By this time Terry Thompson in Zanesville, OH had set free 56 lions, tigers and bears in 2011 and state agencies awakened to the fact that it could happen in their states too. The NY state attorney’s office decided to send a message to all of the backyard breeders, dealers and pseudo sanctuaries that they would no longer turn a blind eye to the danger that these facilities pose to the public and launched the biggest seizure of wild animals in New York’s history.
USDA contacted the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries and asked if they could place the JnK animals. GFAS made arrangements for all of the animals to be rescued, but then Jackie Wisniewski decided that she didn’t want to give them up and would wait and see if the NY Department of Environmental Conservation really would take action, or if they would, like they do in most places, just ignore the situation until someone was mauled or killed.
On May 27, 2014 at 7:30 am Jackie Wisniewski found out the state of NY wasn’t bluffing.
What she couldn’t know, and we couldn’t tell you, is that the International Fund for Animal Welfare, IFAW, had taken the lead and arranged for the 11 tigers, 3 lions, 3 bears, and 2 wolves to be picked up and transported to Big Cat Rescue in FL via Loving Friends, Safe Haven Wildlife Rescue Zoo in NV, Wild Animal Sanctuary in CO, In-Sync Exotics in TX, the Exotic Feline Rescue Center in IN, and Animal Lifeline would transport the wolves to a facility in PA. On July 3rd IFAW reimbursed the transport costs of $4,409.03 for Big Cat Rescue.
We couldn’t let the cat out of the bag until after the last animal was rescued from the site for fear of starting a media circus that could propel the owner into doing something dangerous to the animals or the rescue crews. We know that most people who will donate to help big cats want to fund a rescue, but once the cats are safe, they are off to the next exciting rescue.
We hope that you are different.
We went out on a limb because these cats were literally starving to death, and one tiger, Sasha, had died before we even arrived. (We had agreed to take four tigers, but when we got there Sasha was no longer alive and no one seemed to know anything about why or when she died. Some said she was alive last summer, others said she was still alive in Feb of this year and others said she had been dead for years) We had to give up the chance to involve everyone in the excitement of a rescue because these cats depended on us keeping quiet so the owner wouldn’t do anything foolish. We were able to load our tigers by 1PM on Tues. May 27, 2014 but had to maintain silent mode until all of the animals were safely on their way to other rescue sites.
What we saw during the rescue was unimaginable suffering and conditions that clearly threatened everyone in the area. No agency had been able to inspect the animals since December 2013 (nearly 6 months ago) and at that time they said the cats were well fed, but that the rotting carcasses, piles of feces and ramshackle cages were reason enough to seize the animals. “Well fed” appears to be a judgement call because the 2009 video of the tigers showed them to to be far too thin 5 years ago, in our opinion. JnK had a pile of citations for not allowing inspectors onto the property, but in many cases those are considered by the bad guys to be far less incriminating than actually answering the gate and letting inspectors see what they are doing.
The cats were starving to death!
Their ragged fur, which was missing in places from laying in their own excrement, was stretched taut over protruding bones. Kimba the tigress, (born 8/94) seemed to have just given up and laid, unresponsive, in her den. Former volunteers there said she had been bred to Zeus for 4-6 litters of cubs in her life. It wasn’t until she saw that there was the promise of food, in exchange for pulling her aching body up into the transport wagon, that she came to life. Big Cat Rescue President, Jamie Boorstein, had locked Kimba in her den so that we could push the wagon up to the rickety door. As soon as she was released and given the scent of beef on a stick, she followed it right into the foreign transport box without much hesitation.
Zeus the tiger, (born 9/96 to Kimba) has limited vision and it looks like his retina may be separated in his eye, which can be extremely painful. Other tigers there had the same strange looking eyes, where the golden part of the iris has almost completely covered over the lens. As soon as Zeus saw food, he RAN down the length of his cage, chasing Big Cat Rescue’s Operations Manager, Gale Ingham, who was racing (outside the cage) toward the beast wagon that had been affixed to a hole that was cut into the side of his cage. Zeus was the largest tiger and the hole wasn’t really big enough, but metal piping made it impossible to make the hole any larger. Zeus didn’t care. He wanted that life giving morsel of food so bad that he squeezed, like liquid tiger, through the opening into the circus wagon. Jamie dropped the door and Zeus was on his way to a life of luxury that he couldn’t possibly imagine.
The cages were rotted to the point of falling apart. Rusty screws held ragged sheets of plywood together for the dens and doors. If the tigers had any strength left in them, they could have burst through. This made for some tense moments, especially when it came to loading Keisha the tigress. (born 5/00 to Kimba and Zeus)
Apparently, the way cats had been fed, back when they were being fed, was they were locked out of their dens, the food tossed into the dens via a back door, and then they were let back into the den.
The part that has to be explained here is that the dens were made of crumbling plywood. Citations went back to 2012 for these unsafe conditions. The doors had deteriorated over time to the point where a makeshift system was rigged to keep the tigers from just pushing the doors out of their rotted frames. It was made of curtain rod hooks that were shaped in a semicircle and screwed with tiny, and now rusted screws; one on either side of the door opening. Then 2 pipes were passed through the hooks to hold the doors shut. Jamie took a handful of the material and it turned to shards and dust in her hand.
The first attempt at capturing Keisha was to shut her in the den, then hook up the transport to a hole that was hastily cut into the side of her prison cell. With the other cats, Rescuers had been able to shut them out of their dens and lead them into the wagons, but Keisha still had life enough left in her to be frantic to eat, so as soon as her den door shut her out into the yard, she began clawing frantically to get back into the den where she thought the food would be. When a cat is focused on something, there isn’t much you can do to get their attention. Gale was waving the chicken and beef chunks on a stick and trying to get Keisha to forget about getting back into the den for food. It wasn’t working.
The area where Rescuers were working was so tight that the rope holding the transport door open had to be threaded into a vacant, nearby cage and operated from there by Big Cat Rescue’s CEO and Founder, Carole Baskin. Jamie decided to pull the den door open and hold it open so that Keisha could see for herself that there wasn’t any food in there, but Keisha was afraid to climb into the hay filled beast wagon and sensed it was a trap.
In typical cat style, she would stretch her neck and one paw as far toward the juicy meat as she could, without committing her back legs. Gale let her come in and get a piece or two, to see that nothing would happen, and on the third offering Keisha was emboldened to climb all the way in.
Keisha only has half an ear and a little bobbed tail. We think she lost them to the lions next door.
All over this compound the bears and big cats shared common walls of a material never witnessed by Big Cat Rescuers for housing big cats. The openings in the metal cattle panels were 8 inches wide and 6 inches high. It is incomprehensible that no human ever lost their life or limbs working so close to such dangerous wild animals, with nothing to prevent the animals from reaching the full length of their arms out to grab the passerby.
In the 2009 video Jackie Wisniewski reaches her arm, all the way up to her armpit, to pet the cats and talks about how her staff and volunteers have to earn the cat’s trust to pet them this way, but then admits that the cats are always looking for a way to pull you into the cage.
In some places a new barricade fence had been erected (where previously there had been none) and it was so tight against the cage that there was NO safe way to walk around the enclosure. All of the animals had shared walls which must have led to some intensive fights and quite possibly the deaths of animals along the way. No one seemed to know exactly when or how Sacha the tigress had died.
The only cage to have a double wall (one with a space of about 3 feet between the walls) was the one between Keisha and 2 lionesses. Keisha and the lionesses both had common walls with Zeus, but it would appear that after Keisha lost her ear and tail, someone finally installed a double wall between the lions and Keisha. That one small measure has probably saved her life, but her tail healed in such a scarred and unusual way that it’s doubtful she had a vet attend to her wounds. In the video you can see that her tail was missing as far back as 2009.
As each of the cats were loaded into their transport wagons they were rolled up into Loving Friend’s transport vehicle where they probably experienced air conditioning for the first time ever. Even though they loaded quite easily, they were all stressed out by the move and the chaos of the day, so the lower temp helped take some of the edge off. Within minutes Kimba was sound asleep in the deep, soft hay.
If anyone wouldn’t survive this trip, it would be Kimba. She just had so little spirit left in her. I checked on her several times to be sure she was still breathing, and seemed blissfully asleep. Update: 17 Days later we had to euthanize Kimba because she could not recover from the ailments brought on by being kept in such filth and starved. More here: http://bigcatrescue.org/euthanize-tiger/
Zeus gulped down water before laying down in his big fluffy hay bed. These cats, like so many others across the country, were kept on rocks. There was no place for them to feel the soft earth, nor roll in the grass, nor enjoy the shade of trees or bushes. The only shade, or escape from the sharp edged rocks, was in their smelly dens and on a small table in each cage, but these cats didn’t look fit enough to jump up onto them. Zeus had been a big and powerful male tiger at some point in his life, but now you could see the remains of his wasted muscles and protrusion of his ribs and hips.
Big Cat Rescuers loaded tigers for 2 hours and the officer in charge commented that we worked together like a well oiled machine. Despite the rush to load the tigers and move out of the way for the next rescue group, there were some heart breaking moments. The worst for cat lovers was the owner said her cat had died, so she had thrown the cat into the cage that housed the 4 youngest tigers, who appear to have been born at JnK in 2004 and were probably considered favorites.
As hungry as those tigers must have been; something must have registered in their heads that this was just too awful to consider. Time may have finally caused them to overcome their disgust at being fed another cat, had they not been rescued today, so the bloated body of the domestic cat laid there in a haze of flies.
As soon as the tigers were all loaded and their transport cages were strapped down for the 22 hour trip, Big Cat Rescuers and JT and Laura Taylor of Loving Friends were on their way back to Tampa.
The cost of the transport and rescue was approximately $7,000, but that is just the beginning. Getting these tigers back on the road to health will mean vet care, and specialists for the eyes. It means a lot of high quality food, vitamins, joint supplements and probably a good deal of pain management. Just one healthy tiger costs Big Cat Rescue $10,000 per year, just for food and vet care and these neglected tigers will need much more intensive care. Even though they are safe and will never go hungry again, it is only because people like you will open your hearts to these precious creatures. Please let them know that you are there for them, for now and forever, with a monthly gift of whatever you can afford.
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.
Big Cat Rescue for broadcast TV From: Kelly Lin Date: Tue, May 27, 2014 at 1:02 AM Subject: Potential documentary series To: info@bigcatrescue.org Hi Big Cat Rescue, I'm development producer with Infocus, a production company. We produce content for all the major broadcasters - Discovery Channel, Nat Geo, BBC, to name a few. We're the folks behind Monsterfish which is NG US #2 show currently. Our offices are in Asia but our work is global - we get commissioned out of the US, UK, and Asia Pacific. I think that there is huge potential in translating Big Cat Rescue for broadcast TV - it's definitely something our clients are looking for this year. I'm wondering if you're working with any production companies at the moment, as I'd love to talk further. Cheers, Kelly Lin Development Producer Infocus Asia Dear Kelly Lin, I'm not sure what you mean by "translating Big Cat Rescue for broadcast TV." Productions companies pitch us all the time, but usually what they want is for people to act irresponsibly toward wild animals for the shock value and we aren't interested in that sort of nonsense. We would be willing to work with a production company on a truthful presentation of what it means to run a big cat sanctuary day to day and you can find out more about the people involved and see some of the thousands of hours of high def video on our two YouTube.com sites: • http://bigcatrescue.org/about/our-staff/ • https://www.youtube.com/user/BigCatRescue • https://www.youtube.com/user/DailyBigCat Our mission is to end the trade and public contact with big cats so any show that we do would be primarily to aid in that purpose. - Carole Hi Carole, Many thanks for your reply. I'd like to see if there's any potential to feature the work at Big Cat Rescue into a format for TV. I get where you're coming from and I think that a look at our portfolio can assure you that we take a strong stand on factual programming rather than entertainment for entertainment's sake. We are the company behind Nat Geo's Monsterfish, which differentiates itself from all other fish shows in that the host is a fish biologist and conservationist, rather than an angler fishing for the sake of catching a big one. This is representative of the approach we take to our shows - we don't craft 'reality'. We've also filmed documentaries on the rescue of bears from bile farms. Our approach to Big Cat Rescue would be similar to our portfolio; it's about portraying the true reality of what happens in the day to day in an interesting and engaging way. I hope this helps to explain our approach - we take our factual programming seriously. If this piques your interest, I'd be keen to speak further. Many thanks for your time. Best, Kelly We swapped several more emails and tried to set up a Skype call that never happened. I explained that we aren’t able to film most of our rescues, and that’s what they really want. 6/15/14 Hi Carole, Many thanks for your emails and apologies for the delay - I was tied up in another production this past week. This is super helpful, thank you, let me share it with the team. As mentioned over our call, the fact that most rescues can't be covered is definitely a factor to the channels, but I'll see if there is any interest that combines rescues with the interesting day-to-day life inside Big Cat Rescue. I will be in touch if I receive favorable feedback from the channels. Best, Kelly 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.
Joe Schreibvogel update by Howie:
Schreibvogel provided further entertainment to us today when he tried to respond to my comment below about how ridiculous it is for him to claim Carole paid $100,000 to have dinner with Wayne Pacelle. He showed a post from 2011 by one of our staff expressing excitement about our being a Silver Sponsor at that year’s Taking Action for Animals Conference (TAFA) in Washington DC. The conference is devoted to animal welfare issues and legislation and is attended by about 1000 people. Then mathematical genius Joe showed a screen shot showing an HSUS gala where the Silver Sponsorship price was $50,000.
There are just two tiny little problems with Joe’s silly effort to back up his lie. First, last time I looked, $50,000 was not the same as $100,000. So where is the other $50k to back up the lie? Maybe Joe needs a new calculator.
Second, and more relevant, the gala Joe shows cost $50,000 for a Silver Sponsorship just happens NOT to be the TAFA event we sponsored. Joe’s screen shot is from an event we had no involvement in. Our Silver Sponsorship at TAFA in 2011 cost $2500 and was worth every penny. Oops Joe? Honest mistake, or one more lie? Then again, Joe seems to never lets the facts interfere with his personal reality.
He also rants about our being the $25,000 top level sponsor of this year’s TAFA, claiming we are paying that just “for a booth.” You might want to check the sponsor benefits list on that one Joey. In 2011 we did not have in place a federal bill that would end the abuse of big cats, so we were not the major sponsor. Now we do have that bill. The purpose of our large presence at this year’s conference is to promote awareness of and support for the federal Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act, HR 1998 and S 1381, to the 1000 attendees who care about how animals are treated.
The bill now has 102 co-sponsors in the House and climbing! This bill will stop people like Schreibvogel from continuing to exploit tiger cubs. Past workers for Schreibvogel tell us heart wrenching stories of cubs being taken from their mothers shortly after birth, physically punished for doing what comes naturally, and even being thrown into the air by Joe’s “husbands.” The TAFA sponsorship gives us multiple opportunities to build awareness of and support for this legislation that is critical to putting an end to big cats living in miserable conditions.
Thanks to Joe for today’s good laugh. I am sure he will keep ‘em coming. Of course, nothing tops him having someone else sing songs, filming himself lip syncing, then claiming he is a country western artist. Earth to Joe.
Online update re: Joe Schreibvogel lawsuit
Some of you have asked for an update on the lawsuits with Joe Schreibvogel, who we view as one of the two most notorious exploiters of tiger cubs in the world. See www.tigercubabuse.com.
During litigation the general rule is not to comment publicly. But there are some events that are a matter of public record on which we can provide an update.
In early 2013 we obtained a consent judgment in Federal Court in Tampa for a little over $1 million against Schreibvogel personally and against the zoo he ran at the time, which we refer to as the “Park.” Employees of Schreibvogel then incorporated a new entity which we refer to as the “Zoo.” Assets of the Park were allegedly transferred to the Zoo. Then both Schreibvogel (personally) and the Park (as a nonprofit corporation) filed bankruptcy, with the Park showing only nominal assets left. After that, Schreibvogel signed an agreement stating that his personal debts were not discharged by his personal bankruptcy. The Zoo’s bankruptcy was dismissed by the bankruptcy court.
We have filed a lawsuit arguing that the assets allegedly transferred from the Park to the Zoo should be available to satisfy our judgment. We are also seeking to obtain certain personal assets of Schreibvogel’s to satisfy the judgment. When we filed the original lawsuit in early 2011, the land that the Park occupied was owned by Schreibvogel personally. A few days after we filed the lawsuit, a deed was recorded in which Schreibvogel transferred the land to his mother, Shirley. The Bankruptcy Trustee has filed a lawsuit against Shirley to bring the land back into Schreibvogel’s personal bankruptcy estate.
So, the plan now is to persistently and patiently go through the time consuming process of going after assets of the debtors that would satisfy some or all of the money owed to us in the judgment.
While this is serious business, Schreibvogel does provide us with some pretty good comic relief along the way. Here are examples we particularly chuckle about. First, Schreibvogel repeatedly makes the absolutely ridiculous claim that Carole pays $100,000 to have dinner with Wayne Pacelle, CEO of HSUS. How he comes up with nonsense like this, and who he thinks would believe such rubbish, is beyond me. Past employees report that he is a regular user of illegal drugs. Perhaps that explains some of his thought process. But I chuckle every time a hear him make this absurd claim.
Another comical assertion he makes is that our efforts to collect on our judgment are nothing more than Carole’s “obsession” with him instead of efforts to recover on our judgment. He blames Carole for every decision we make. What he fails to understand is that ever since he began using our name and part of our logo, the decisions we have made on devoting more resources to educating the malls about tiger cub abuse and hiring and working with our attorneys have been primarily my responsibility, not Carole’s. I’m starting to feel hurt that he gives me no credit for all this work.
In a way though, seriously, the decisions were all his. If he simply had the good sense to stop using our name and logo and stop using our photos and stop using our videos when we filed the early lawsuits, it would have ended there. It was his decision to engage in prolonged, expensive litigation by filing counterclaims that were so lacking in merit that the court threw them out on summary judgment.
Most recently he made a rather pathetic video appeal online saying that if we would “back off, I would love to get out of this industry”, but if we continue our efforts to collect on our judgment, he will continue to breed tigers. Yeah, right. Next he will be trying to sell me a bridge. The funniest thing of all is that he has someone sing country western songs, then films himself lip syncing the song, and now claims he is a country western singer. And his gullible followers seem to actually believe him. What person in their right mind would lip sync and claim to be a singer? Can’t wait to see his first live performance. :)
Schreibvogel could have avoided all this by just not continuing to violate our intellectual property rights after we filed the early lawsuits. Instead he chose to force us to spend money and time suing him. There is no “obsession” involved in our efforts to collect on our judgment and recover those costs. It is our responsibility to do so. And I will continue to pursue him for as long as it takes.
Schreibvogel makes videos he wants our supporters to see where he tells them not to donate because we are wasting their money suing him. What he does not understand is that our donors are outraged by his treatment of animals, and our donors’ consistent and growing support is what allows us to continue this effort. Many thanks to all of you who have so generously supported the sanctuary and this effort against an individual we view as one of the worst of the worst among those who mistreat exotic animals. - Howard Baskin
Momma Jacquie Paid For Food Prep
She had a lot of names: Her birth name was Jacqueline Thompson, but she wanted a middle name and gave herself one; Jean. Her married name was Norris. Her daughters called her Mother. Most of you knew her as Jackie, unless you were kin and then it was Aunt Jack, Momma Jack or, as I called her, Momma Jacquie. NO ONE called her Grandma, even though she had 8 grandchildren and I don’t even know how many great grandchildren.
She insisted that I never call her Grandma and explained that it was because she was too young to be my grandmother. Being a child, I took that literally and wondered who my grandmother was, in this huge family of ours, if it wasn’t possible for her to be old enough. There was the suspicious issue of my cousin Scott being born the same day as me. In my young, conspiracy theory laden head, I thought maybe we were twins, separated at birth and that Scott’s mom, Mary, who was Momma Jacquie’s sister, was my real mom and THAT’s why Momma Jacquie wasn’t old enough to be my grandmother.
I’d stare long and hard at Scott and his parents, but didn’t see me in them. I looked like my Dad and sounded like my Mom, so I grew up unsure of how the family tree really was rooted. That uncertainty was compounded by the fact that I grew up with two sets of parents. My own, Barbara and Vernon Stairs, and the people, who weren’t old enough to be my grandparents, who had me call them BigDaddy and Momma Jacquie.
I’d heard stories about Momma Jacquie growing up in Arkansas,picking cotton, and how she’d married at the age of 16 to escape the hard life of being the eldest girl of 8 children who were all raised during the great depression. But by the time she was 18 she had two daughters of her own, Carole (my aunt) and Bar-Jean (my mother.)
My mother was born first, in 1941, and named after most of her aunts. Knowing the way this family loves to name their daughters after all their sisters, it was a good thing thatMomma Jacquie’s youngest sister wasn’t even born until after the birth of my mother, or else she would have ended up with a name like: Mary Barbara Jean Trena Norris Stairs.
My Aunt Carole was born in 1942, just days before the death of a film star comedienne that must have captivated Momma Jacquie’s imagination, because she was named after Carole Lombard, complete with the E at the end of her name, to be sure that she was not just any Carol, but rather named for the famous actress. For those who aren’t old enough to remember, Carole Lombard was married to Clark Gable and they were the Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie of their era.
Momma Jacquie’s favorite actress was the comedienne, Lucille Ball, who rose to stardom in 1951 in the show with her husband, Desi Arnaz, in I Love Lucy. What some of you may not remember, but I’m sure Momma Jacquie did, was that Lucille Ball was the first woman to run a major television studio. It was known for producing StarTrek and Mission Impossible. Thankfully that didn’t happen until a year after my birth or she may have insisted that my parents name me Lucy.
My mother tells me that despite the financial difficulties that must have been inherent in her family they had one of the first television sets. As I think back about the timing, Momma Jacquie went straight from the depression era to being married with 2 children during World War II. Big Daddy had been building orange crates for just pennies in California, and then a soldier and then a police officer while Momma Jacquie was doing her part for the war effort by working at Delco Remy which switched from manufacturing General Motors automobiles to military vehicles during the war. She had done some modeling and even had a nose job done because she wanted to look like the perfect, all American girl, and thought her Indian nose might stereotype her.
I can imagine that during such hard and trying times she must have turned on that TV and felt the sort of escape that only Hollywood could provide; a world where female comediennes were beautiful, happy and able to find the funny side of all of life’s trials. It was a world of make believe and I think it inspired Momma Jacquie to a lot of the behaviors that we observed in her.
I’m sure she fantasized about how different her life could have been if she had been rich, famous or of royal lineage. What she never knew, because I didn’t know it until last week thanks to Ancestry.com, was that she had married royalty. Big Daddy, who you knew as Floyd Norris, had roots that went back to William I theLion, King of Scotland in the 1200’s. Although she loved Big Daddy, I think she would have appreciated him more if his family had passed down that information, but they were a humble lot.
Momma Jacquie loved female comediennes, but was never funny. Maybe she tried her hand at it early on, but by the time I came along, she had figured out that she was no comic. She only finished the 6th grade, she had no secretarial skills and her handwriting was illegible. In the 1960’s my parents lived in Thonotosassa and Big Daddy and Momma Jacquie lived in Tampa. Both of my parents worked, so they would drive into Tampa before work, drop me off for the day to be with Momma Jacquie, and then pick me up at night and drive back to Thonotosassa.
I thought Momma Jacquie and Big Daddy were rich! Momma Jacquie didn’t have to work so I thought that being a car salesman must be a very lucrative business. He had trophies for his efforts and they were living the lifestyle of the rich and famous to my mind. They always had a new car, the furniture was white, with satin pillows, gold gilded mirrors and everything was off limits, due to it all being a collection of untouchable treasures. There was always a maid, but I thought that maybe she was just part of the décor because Momma Jacquie was always cleaning something and insisting that it would be great fun for me to clean stuff too.
They had a pool. It was just one of those little plastic kiddie pools, but I can remember lounging in that pool, the sunlight warm on my face, a blue jay hopping around in the branches above and watching Momma Jacquie doing jumping jacks in front of theTV with Jack LaLanne. I was glad that I was already wet and she wouldn’t want me slinging water all over the house to join her in his TV exercise workout.
Momma Jacquie used to take care of my cousin Matt too, while Aunt Carole worked. She always treated me like I was her favorite grandchild, but I figured it was because I was the only girl, and the only one she could model into the life that she thought she had missed…or maybe because when Matt was just a toddler he managed to drive her car into the side of the house. He not only wrecked the car, but wrecked any chance of boys being allowed to play in the house.
I lived two simultaneous lives. During the week I lived with Momma Jacquie and was groomed to fulfill her ambition of being a famous movie star. I was taught to read, and sing but dancing was forbidden, and was reminded constantly not to slouch, to stand up straight and to address adults as if I were one. I was coached in how to hold my pinkie out when sipping from a cup, keep direct eye contact when speaking, to shake a person’s hand firmly and spent much of my time walking with books balanced on my head. Shoes were not allowed in the house, so I became quite stealthy, as well as seeming to float across the room. Most importantly though, I was instructed not to talk to people and animals “who weren’t there” because people would think I was crazy.
On the weekends I lived with my parents in Thonotosassa, which in the 60’s may as well have been the wild, wild west. My cousin Scott and I climbed trees, hiked for miles, rode bikes, roller skated in the streets, chased lizards and snakes and would come home so filthy that his mom, Mary, who also kept an immaculate house, with baby blue shag carpet, wouldn’t even let us come inside. My house was made for living though, so we could go there. I had a dog, a cat and a bird and that bird would just spit seeds everywhere.
Living that double standard was confusing. I remember my mother just being mortified one day to see me cleaning out the birdcage with a hose. Not wanting to make a mess of my clothes, which would have been a sin at Momma Jacquie’s I had decided to wash the cage out, naked, in the front yard. Thinking back on this, half a century later, I wonder how confusing it must have been for my mother, wondering what on earth would possess me to be concerned about a little dirt.
When I started school Momma Jacquie no longer had me to groom every day, for that film career she was determined that I have, and had to find a way to fill her days. She discovered Amway and quickly rose through the ranks because she was a natural born sales person. There are two kinds of successful sales people; those that are so nice you just want to buy from them and those that won’t take no for an answer. Big Daddy was the first kind. Momma Jacquie was the second type. She showed me a gaudy, gold gilded glass coffee table that she didn’t want any more one day and said, “Do you like it?” I didn’t want to be rude, so I said “yes.” She responded by saying,“Good. That will be $150.” I would never have paid $150 for a coffee table, but I paid her, because I wouldn’t dare tell her, “no.” I didn’t even have a couch because I worked all the time and didn’t have time to be sitting around.
Momma Jacquie and Big Daddy built their Amway business to Ruby level and purchased a building on N. Florida Avenue to stock their supplies and hold their meetings to recruit and train. By the time I was 7 my family had moved to Panama City and then to West Virginia, so Momma Jacquie threw herself entirely into building an empire via Amway.
She visited us in West Virginia when I was about 8 and chided me for being fat. I remember the day and the photo that was taken that day, of my brother on a trike and me posing, as the loving sister, for the photo, behind him. I wasn’t fat, but it was the 60’s and women were now all supposed to look like the supermodel, Twiggy who was 5 foot 6 and weighed only 112 lbs. Momma Jacquie was doing her part to try and meet that ridiculous standard and was insistent that I do so too.
Momma Jacquie also got it in her head that my grey cat was not a fitting pet for someone who would someday be a star and that I should get a poodle. I was never a “dog” person and didn’t want a poodle. I got a cat breed book out and tried to convince her that Smokey was surely either a purebred Korat or a Russian Blue, due to her solid grey coat, but she wasn’t buying it. Smokey didn’t have a pedigree and that just wouldn’t do. We finally compromised with a purebred Siamese cat.
The part of this compromise that I did not fully comprehend was that my beloved Smokey would be dumped at the county shelter. Momma Jacquie assured me that someone else would adopt Smokey and she would be fine. This was a low point in our relationship, but a turning point as well. I believe that every choice we make happens for a reason, and ultimately was meant to be.
It was a while before I would learn about what happens to cats who are abandoned. When I could do something about it I did, largely because of the guilt I felt for Smokey.
Despite never being an animal person, when it came time for my daughter to go to college, Momma Jacquie offered to pay her tuition. Jamie had been working with me, taking care of the big cats since she was 12, and she said that she’d rather the money go to a Food Prep building. I’m sure it was hard for Momma Jacquie to give up on the thought of Jamie getting a college education, like she had provided for others in her latter life, but she put Jamie’s desires ahead of her own and funded the building that feeds our 100 lions, tigers and other wild cats. A plaque on that building commemorates her gift.
My family moved back to Tampa when I was 11 in 1972 and my dual family role resumed. After school my father would pick Chuck and I up and drive us to Momma Jacquie and Big Daddy’s storefront business on N. Florida Av. I liked to paint, write poetry, make jewelry and read. While other kids were reading Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, Momma Jacquie kept me stocked with books like, Psycho Cybernetics, Think and Grow Rich, and How to Win Friends and Influence People. I thought everybody read that stuff.
The storefront had 3 little stores in front and then the huge warehouse area for the Amway. I couldn’t make enough jewelry to stock one of the little stores, so Big Daddy gave me catalogs for glassware and I shopped for carnival glass, crystal and other fine glassware to stock the shop. After school, I manned the store. There wasn’t a lot of traffic, so I got a lot of reading done, and all of it would help shape my future.
During her Amway meetings, Momma Jacquie would trot me up onstage to show them how lovely my hair was thanks to Amway’s LOC, dish detergent. She’d ask me to talk about how great the products were and sometimes to sing. I don’t think she needed my help selling. Who would tell her “no?” I think she was always hoping that I’d be“discovered” by someone in the crowd.
I’m sure I was a disappointment to her when I got married at 17, had a baby at 19 and got too fat to model. Like her, I obsessed over my weight, only ate dietetic sweets and colas and exercised a ridiculous amount of hours in a day, but I didn’t look likeTwiggy. I was hungry all the time, so I chain smoked, secretly, as I knew my family would worry if they knew.
By the time I was 30, in 1991, I had built up a real estate business that still supports me today. I owe that success to Momma Jacquie‘s inspiration to dream big and my mother’s constant encouragement that I could do whatever I set my mind to do. Despite having plenty of money, I shopped at yard sales and just love getting a deal.
One of those turning points came right about that time. I’d taken to using those long cigarette holders, like you’d see in the 1950’s movies, because the nicotine was turning my knuckles orange, and I didn’t want anyone to know I smoked. I’d gone to a yard sale and bought a brand new, white, fuzzy bath robe, that still had the tags on it for fifty cents. I’d bleached my hair that night, but the old house that I’d recently bought out of foreclosure had a bad well, and was sputtering rusty water all over my hair as I tried to wash out the bleach. Exhausted, I went to bed with wet hair and figured I’d assess the damage the next day.
The next morning I slipped on the new, floor length, white faux fur robe and stumbled to the bathroom. I was aghast to see that my hair was bright red from the rusty water that had colored the bleached out shafts. Needing my morning dose of nicotine, I lit a cigarette, fastened it into the long holder and walked out on the balcony that overlooked my back yard. I was standing there, watching the birds and squirrels, wondering how I was going to fix this mess I’d made of my hair when the phone rang.
I could count on one hand the number of times Momma Jacquie ever called me. Everyone always said I was her favorite, but we just weren’t demonstrative that way. No hugging, kissing or calling for no good reason. When I answered the phone it was Momma Jacquie and she said, “I just woke up from the most realistic dream and I just had to tell you…”
“You were a movie star, with flaming red hair, and you were wearing a long, white fur coat, and smoking one of those long cigarettes, like they did on the silver screen, and you were holding court with all your fans from a balcony above them. It seemed so real. Isn’t that just the oddest thing?”
This was before portable phones, so I spun around to see how she could possibly be watching me to make this prank call. I quickly realized that she hadn’t seen me in a physical sense, but in her dream had seen me in stunning detail.
This was a turning point because it reminded me of First Corinthians 13: 12 “For now we see through a glass, darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then shall I know, even as also I am known.” This was one of those rips in the fabric of what we think we know, that illuminates who and what we really are. The woman who had tried to convince me that the invisible people and animals that I could see and talk with weren’t really there had just revealed that you don’t have to believe something is possible to experience it.
I fessed up to every part of her vision (except the cigarette) but I don’t know if she believed me. I hadn’t begun learning about remote vision, lucid dreaming or other paranormal activities yet, so I couldn’t explain how she could have seen me in such amazing detail from miles away. I gave up smoking that year. That moment did open up my mind to learning more about how the universe works. The more I learn, the more amazed I am at our capacity and our Creator.
Those who have gone on before us may be obscured from our vision, like “in a mirror darkly,” but I think that is largely due to our self-limiting beliefs. If there is anything I am sure of, it is that we are eternal; we are all connected, because we are all ONE.
Cocaine Kingpin Mario Tabraue Is Lobbying Congress to Let Him Keep His Cheetahs (and Liger)
Ex-drug-lord Mario Tabraue has been compared to Scarface. Say hello to his little friend on Capitol Hill. By Tim Murphy Senior Reporter https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/05/mario-tabraue-cocaine-kingpin-lobbying-congress-big-cats/
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.
China Doll Always Ready to Get the Party Started
As I pulled into the parking lot tonight, for what I expected would be the awful decision of euthanizing China Doll, the song, Let's Get the Party Started was blaring from the radio. I thought that was about the most inappropriate thing that could coincide with such a terrible choice to have to make, when a vision of the first time I ever saw China Doll flashed into my head.
She arrived at the sanctuary in a metal crate in the back of a truck. When I opened the door she bounced to her feet and with one big, fluffy paw, busted the crate open. She just stood there chuffing and melted my heart at once.
She had made the drive down, all the way from Tennessee, but now that it would be funny to break out, she did. It was her mischievous way of saying, "Let's get the party started." And that has been the nature of her life here. She has always been far stronger than anyone would expect, always the prankster, the instigator and the clown. She brought so much happiness into our lives and that of Shere Khan's.
China Doll Always Ready to Get the Party Started
As I pulled into the parking lot tonight, for what I expected would be the awful decision of euthanizing China Doll, the song, Let's Get the Party Started was blaring from the radio. I thought that was about the most inappropriate thing that could coincide with such a terrible choice to have to make, when a vision of the first time I ever saw China Doll flashed into my head.
She arrived at the sanctuary in a metal crate in the back of a truck. When I opened the door she bounced to her feet and with one big, fluffy paw, busted the crate open. She just stood there chuffing and melted my heart at once.
She had made the drive down, all the way from Tennessee, but now that it would be funny to break out, she did. It was her mischievous way of saying, "Let's get the party started." And that has been the nature of her life here. She has always been far stronger than anyone would expect, always the prankster, the instigator and the clown. She brought so much happiness into our lives and that of Shere Khan's.
Tribute to Nyla Leopard
Dr. Wynn and Gale came to help Nyla cross over into the exciting new lives that are ahead of her, but as she was letting go, it was like one of those near death experiences to me, but the life that flashed before my eyes was Nyla's. I remembered her as a cub, who had to be bottle fed several times a day and her brother being so difficult to feed while she was so eager to do it right and be a perfect angel.
I remembered her and Simba, playing their favorite game, back before we learned better, where they would race around and around a cage full of volunteers and then launch up and off the wall to be able to jump on someone's head. The goal was to tackle the person to the ground. You got extra points if they screamed.
I remember the day someone came to my bedroom one early morning and said, "Come quick! There's something gross in Nyla's cage." and it turned out to be Sundari and her black coated sister. Nyla hadn't opened the sacks, so I did and was able to revive the dead little Sundari, but could not save her sister. Sabre was their dad. That was 1996 and pre Internet, so we had not learned yet than none of the privately held exotic cats would ever serve any conservation value.
Day after day, I'd try to get her to take Sundari back, but Nyla wouldn't have any part of mother hood and was never bred again.
I'm so glad that she and her brother were re-united and got to go on "vacation" before her time was up. I had pressed for this to happen because we had come so close to losing Simba. I never dreamed that Nyla would go on before him. I am ever thankful to all of you who made her life the best it could be, and who worked so hard in the end to keep her comfortable until it was time to let her go.
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.
Cypress the Wild Bobcat Dies
It is always hard to say "good bye" to one of the cats who has graced our lives, but some are harder than others. I know I made the right choice in saying it was time to let her go, but her eyes will haunt me for a long, long time. I'll never forget that look when she thought she was drowning. Now I am drowning in the sorrow of having failed her. Hopefully her brief life will have touched some hearts out there who will become a voice for her and others like her.
Her story is here: http://bigcatrescue.org/cypress/ It reads a little weird below because the text was illustrated with dozens of photos on the web page.
January 4, 2014 9:28 am a call comes in from Bob Strouse who reports that a bobcat has been struck by a car and has dragged herself off the road at Cypress Gardens Boulevard and Hwy 27 in Winter Haven, FL. He has called Animal Control, a local rehabber and several vets, but no one will come help the bobcat.
I told the caller I would start heading his way and asked him to see if the bobcat was still alive. I loaded up the Toyota Tundra, that our Facebook fans helped us win, with nets, carriers and other tools to catch the bobcat. I lost precious time doing that so we really need to buy some BIG nets, falconry gloves and dog size carriers to keep in the Tundra for such emergencies.
I tried hard not to speed, because the last thing I needed was to waste precious time over a speeding ticket, but I knew from Bob’s voice that he was clearly upset that the cat was so close to traffic and so close to disappearing into the brush on the side of the road, on the other side of a barbed wire fence. Meanwhile he had called his wife, Lauree Strouse, to bring a big blanket and a carrier.
When I arrived on the scene there were 3 trucks and 3 people, including Bob and Lauree Strouse and their friend Shawn Patterson, between the 4 lane highway and the barbed wire fence, where the bobcat had dragged herself to evade capture. I had suggested throwing a blanket over her so that she would feel safe, but the brush on the other side of the fence was so thick that it had been impossible to do.
When these kind motorist and I circled around her she managed to drag herself with just her front paws through that muck to the other side of the tree. When we stepped into that freezing cold, black murky water we sunk up to our knees. It was like quicksand and I could feel myself being sucked down deeper with each step toward the bobcat. The muck was so thick it sucked our shoes right off so we were “running” barefoot, in slow motion.
On the other side of the tree the bobcat had gotten into water over her head. Her look of determination turned to horror as she realized that no matter how fast she paddled with her front legs she was sinking fast. She looked back at me with the most pitiful look as she was about to be sucked below the surface. Tears for her terror welled in my eyes as I lunged forward through the tree reaching out as far as I could shove the net through that tangle of branches.
She seized one last gulp of air before the net came up under her and lifted her out of the water. Bob said rather incredulously to me, “You’ve obviously done this before!” What he didn’t know, and I couldn’t possibly explain in that moment, was that only angels could have guided that net through the brush, under the bobcat and lifted her to safety. I am not that good and certainly, at age 52, not that strong.
Now I had her sitting like a fish in the net and any bobcat who has ever been in my net that way has quickly clamored over the edge and out. I needed to flip the net up vertically so she would be trapped in the bag end of the net with the barred rim holding the bag closed, but I was stuck, up to my knees in mud, leaning full forward on the tiny branches of the tree and couldn’t imagine how I was going to stand up.
If the branches broke, I was going to fall face forward onto this little broken bobcat and probably drown us both. I heaved up and backward with all the strength I could summon, flipped the net shut and felt myself going over backward. An angel, in the form of one of the motorists, was there to steady me.
Lauree asked how they could help and I asked them to bring the big blanket they had and the smaller of the two carriers I had brought. The bigger one would have been easier to get her into, but it wouldn’t fit through the tight tangle of undergrowth. They hauled the carrier to the only high spot on the inside of the barbed wire fence, and I staggered, zombie like, through the muck, one deep step at a time to this higher ground, all the while being careful not to tip the net open.
Getting the feisty little bobcat out of the net and into the carrier was no small feat either. Never mind that we had just saved her life and saved her from dying in the cold black muck alongside a highway. She wasn’t going in that carrier; no matter how soft and comfy that big fluffy blanket looked. We tried pushing her with the other net, but she wasn’t going to be forced and was spread eagle over the opening.
I was really wishing I had brought gloves, but time was wasting and she had to get to a vet, so while the heroes on the scene distracted her, I held the hoop of the net to the carrier door with my right hand and shoved my left hand as far under her body, and away from those teeth, to hoist her up and through the hole.
Angrily she spun around and began biting the nets, the door and a water bowl that was attached to the door, so it took a while to ease the nets out through a crack, without her lunging out against the barely open door. Once she was in the carrier they helped me carry it back to the Tundra on the side of the road, but we paused for this quick picture first. (A Polkism, I’m told) Each step was treacherous and backing through a barbed wire fence is no fun either, but the first part of the rescue was a success. I could not have done it without all three of these Good Samaritans, and the angels that surrounded us.
Bob and Lauree Strouse and another helpful motorist all stayed with the young, injured bobcat until help arrived. They were the difference between life and death for this little bobcat! Most of the calls we get are from people who are “too busy” to stay with the bobcat so we end up searching for hours and sometimes days, to no avail. These three wouldn’t let her out of their sight and called me repeatedly to help me with directions and to give me updates on her painful attempts to pull herself away from all the traffic, using only her front legs.
While I was driving the bobcat from the far side east side of Winter Haven to the far west side of Tampa, Jamie Veronica, our President, was frantically trying to arrange for vet care on a Saturday afternoon. She called on her husband, Dr. Justin Boorstein to help on his day off, she called our primary vet, Dr. Wynn to see if we could use her clinic and if she was around and she called Blue Pearl.
Dr. Wynn had a full day of clients but agreed to let us bring the little bobcat, who weighed in at a mere 16.2 pounds, to the Ehrlich Animal Hospital.
L-R Dr Liz Wynn, Jamie Veronica, Cypress the bobcat, Dr. Justin Boorstein. Dr. Wynn ascertained from the physical exam that Cypress had no broken legs, but that her pelvis felt like it was crushed. This was about the worst news we could get, so she sent the yearling bobcat kitten in for x-rays.
Cats in general have an amazing ability to heal themselves. The bobcat arrived with a bleeding toe and a puncture wound above her eye, and road rash on her joints as she bounced along the pavement after the impact, but the toe wound has already disappeared completely. Dr. Justin is cutting away the ravaged edges of her wounds and closing them with skin glue.
The bobcat’s temperature was only 92 degrees and should have been about 100-101 so she is on a full body heating pad, has warmed water bottles snuggled up to her and a thick blanket over the top to keep her from going into shock.
The bobcat has a seriously deep puncture wound right above her eye. She was very lucky not to loose the eye but we aren’t sure what caused this. It seems unlikely that any part of a car hitting her would cause this kind of puncture, so maybe she did it scurrying away from the scene when she bellied under a barbed wire fence, but bobcats are usually tougher skinned than that. Maybe it is what led to her being in the highway in the first place. Right next to the scene were bulldozers plowing down her forest. She’s obviously a youngster and most likely being pushed out of this territory by her mom and siblings, so it could have been a battle over territory that sent her running for the other side of the highway, where she got smashed by a car.
The results of the x-rays showed that her pelvis was crushed by the impact. It is broken in 4 places and 2 of them are places that will be very difficult, if not impossible to plate and pin. We consulted with orthopedic specialists, Dr. Hay and Dr. Salas, and both are telling us that two of the breaks are pretty “easy” to fix, but the other two are just about impossible to plate, so what they often suggest, with cats, is cage rest in the hopes that the cat will remain calm enough to let the bones mend back together on their own.
Just judging from the x-rays, the vets fear that even if they can do extensive reconstruction of her pelvis that she may never be whole enough to hunt. That was the beginning of an emotionally painful decision that we have to make; ie, should we euthanize her so that she doesn’t have to go through surgery, recovery and then likely live her life in a cage, or do we do every thing we can surgically, hope for a miracle in her own healing abilities, since she is young, strong and has a vicious will to survive, and then see how she does over the next few months?
These are such tough decisions because we could put her through all of this only to end up with her life being one of captivity that she will probably hate because she has known what it was like to roam for miles, choose her own favorite hunting and sleeping spots and everything else that comes from living free. I hate having to make these decisions and rely on the advice of our vets and Jamie’s sense of fairness to the cat. For now our plan is to take her in for more x-rays, and probably surgery if that is deemed best by all involved for the cat.
We did an FHO to save her leg but her pelvic canal healed so narrow that she couldn’t pass food and had to be euthanized in the end. https://youtu.be/dT8L2NvWSCM
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.
We Hire a Republican Lobbiest
Big Cat Rescue hired a Republican lobbyist, Jason Osborne to assure Republicans that this is a bipartisan bill where everyone can agree that big cats don’t belong in backyards and basements. Howie had met him and gave he and his family a tour during the Republican Convention when it was in Tampa as Jason was the Director of External Affairs for the 2012 Republican National Convention. He was also the Senior Federal Liaison for the National Rifle Association (NRA) from Aug 1999 - Jan 2006 and was responsible for NRA-related issues before the U.S. Senate and House Appropriations and Budget, Ways and Means, Finance Committees, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, and the Office of Management and Budget. This guy knew some Republicans and was loved by the NRA so he could reach the other side of the aisle for us on this issue that he really cared about; which was protecting tigers.
Every one of our Republican co sponsors since then has been by our combined efforts as most of the other Big Cat Coalition members just don’t have good relationships with Republicans due to their campaigns against the farmed animal industry.
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.
Tribute to Sasha Lioness
What started out as a simple procedure to remove a mass from her face seemed to all be going great. She had good respiration, good steady heartbeat, and we were all done and suturing up a little spot on her tongue, where another abrasion and lump had been found, when she stopped breathing. Dr. Wynn and Dr. Boorstein administered CPR and injections to the heart to try and bring her back, but she was gone. They are doing a necropsy now to try and determine the cause. Already they have discovered that her lungs were riddled with tumors. At nearly 20 years of age, Sasha is the oldest lion we have ever had.
Lioness Sasha has been declawed (and very badly, at that) and defanged) so she struggles to eat. We provide a soft diet for her, but without her teeth it is hard to hold the food and even hard to contain her tongue. You will often see her with her tongue hanging out as a result.
A Lion Pride of a Different Stripe
It took the combined efforts of USDA, undercover agents and concerned citizens seven years to shut down Diana McCourt (aka Cziraky) and her Siberian Tiger Foundation. It wasn’t until her landlords, Donnalynn and Christian Laver were able to evict her from the property that Knox County was able to seize the six cats who had been used for years as props in Diana McCourt’s “tiger training” scheme. By the end of the ordeal eye witnesses said that the cats were starving and they still have inadequate shelter from the elements.
Even though McCourt lost her USDA license to operate the tiger-tamer camp in 2000, and permanently in 2006, she still continued to charge people to come into her back yard in Gambier, OH and pet the adult lions and tigers. The cats would often be chained down so that people could touch them or have their photos made with the cats. To make the cats more pliable McCourt had their teeth and claws removed. (Joseph still has his canine teeth) Despite the abusive violations to their bodies and mobility, the USDA investigation included eight allegations of attacks on visitors in an 8 month period.http://youtu.be/kIVp21JQJs4
In May of 2007 Diana McCourt emailed Carole Baskin asking if she could move her operation to Tampa and bring her cats to Big Cat Rescue. Our response was that her cats were welcome here but her brand of animal abuse was not. By August McCourt had been evicted and Knox County was awarded custody of the four tigers and two lions. Dean Vickers, the State Director for the Ohio branch of the HSUS contacted Big Cat Rescue and asked if we could take the cats, but six more big cats increases our annual budget by $45,000.00.
When Sarabi, our lioness died, her half acre enclosure was opened up so that Nikita our only other lioness could have the run of both half acre enclosures. This large enclosure has an open roof and is only suitable for lions because they don’t climb, or very old, declawed tigers, who would be unable to climb. Taking on two lions, age 9 and 13, who have a 20 year life expectancy means a cost of $15,000.00 annually and $150,000.00 in the long run. Lions often end up in canned hunts, especially males who are coveted as wall trophies, so we felt certain our donors would help us rescue these two cats. Our board convened and agreed that the lions would be rescued as soon as we could make travel arrangements for them.
Calling with the good news, that at least the lions would be spared, we were told by the landlord, who has been caring for the cats since evicting Diana McCourt, that the male tiger, Nikita, would be heartbroken that his best friend in the world, Joseph the lion, would be leaving. As the conversation unfolded it appears that for the last 13 years, two tigers and two lions have shared a cage. (Joseph only coming along in the past 9 yrs) Instead of being elated for the lions, we now felt sick that they would be separated from the only pride (albeit tigers) they had ever known. And thinking about how they would feel, of course, led to thinking about how the tigers left behind would feel.
We appealed to our supporters, asking if they would be willing to help us rescue all four cats who have lived together and the response was an overwhelming, “YES!”
On Oct. 19th Big Cat Rescue’s President Jamie Veronica, VP Cathy Neumann, Operations Manager Scott Lope and Veterinarian Dr. Liz Wynn, DVM flew to Columbus, OH to rendezvous with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) staff and a driver and vet tech from the Animal Sanctuary of the United States (ASUS) at the Columbus Zoo at 6 am on the morning of the 20th. From there the entourage drove an hour to the Gambier, OH facility and met with the property owner and the Knox County Animal Control Officer, Rich Reed who had been granted possession of the six cats.
Within just a few hours all of the cats were safely loaded and on the way to Florida where they arrived at 6 am the morning of the 21st. While the weary drivers slept, the Big Cat Rescue team unloaded Nikita, Simba, Sasha and Joseph into their new enclosure, which is a little more than half an acre of lakeside living with high grass, cave like dens and hills from which they can survey their new kingdom.
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.
2013 Annual Report
With your help we are winning in the battle for compassion! Up until 2003 the number of requests for rescues we had to turn down due to lack of space or funds had roughly doubled each year, to 312 that year. We feared it would double again to over 500 in 2004. Instead, it has steadily declined since then thanks to the passage of a federal bill and several state bills that restrict the ownership of exotic cats. This year there were “only” 37 big cats who came to our attention as being abandoned. We were able to take in 9 wildcats plus 2 rehab bobcats. We offered to take 10 of the cats who were leopard size or smaller if their owners would contract to never own another exotic cat. The cats we did not take were those whose owners refused.
There is no point to our taking in cats just so an owner can go buy another cute cub and later discard it. We did not have enough Senior Keeper staff to take on more lions or tigers than the ones we have.
Animal Care: Rescued 9 exotic cats, including Nala the Serval, Skipper & Gilligan the Canada Lynx, Ginger the Serval, Mary Ann, Thurston & Lovey the Bobcats, JoJo the Caracal Serval hybrid and Reise the Cougar.
Rehabbed and released 4 native bobcat kittens; Gator, Copter, Khaleesi and Fencer.
Newborn kittens who are brought to Animal Control are routinely killed because with their immature immune systems they do not survive in the shelter environment. So we began a foster kitten program with our interns as the fosters. We have saved more than 70 kittens from being killed. We raise them until they are 2 pounds and healthy, then bring them to the Humane Society of Tampa Bay to be fixed and adopted out. See some very cute kitten video here:http://youtu.be/4yMMudueBow
and see cute cats meeting the vet here:http://youtu.be/lfXyynkYmfc
Bought 9 more acres for quarantine and native wildlife rehab.
Installed a new solar systemhttp://youtu.be/leiZPwsd1sA
By the end of this year, 92 of our 111 exotic animals are over the age of 12; 76 of those are over the age of 15; and 19 of those are over the age of 20. This is well beyond how long they are designed to live in the wild and much older than most zoo cats. This is a testament to the excellent animal care we provide, but we are dealing with many more age related illnesses and are losing more of our big cat friends every year.
2013 was a big year for expanding our big cat enclosures. We built our largest ever enclosure and dubbed it the Vacation Rotation Enclosure. This 2.5 acre cat-a-tat includes a pond, fountain, trees, forts and three safety areas for storms. We had to construct a number of above ground tunnels to move cats to and from nearby enclosures so they could “rotate” through the new enclosure, and we had to make significant improvements to those nearby cages. Two of them being were torn down and rebuilt from scratch so that all of our tigers, no matter how frisky, could be cycled through the Vacation Rotation area safely.
Sadly we had to say “goodbye” to these great cats: Willow the Siberian Lynx who was 18, Ty the Serval who was 20, SARMOTI the Tiger who was 20, Rose the Caracal who was 16, Shaniqua the Jungle Cat who was 19 and Bella the Tiger who was 17.
We never gave up on Precious the Bobcat after her strokehttp://youtu.be/ZY3IQuKAWwM
Award Winning Sanctuary
• Top Rated Non Profit at Great Non Profits
• We have received this award every year since they started awarding it in 2010 due to the many great reviews we get from visitors and donors each year.
• We again received Charity Navigator’s highest four star rating.
• Dalton Agency Contest
• We won a cash prize and pro bono professional video in this national online voting contest thanks to our dedicated supporters who voted daily.
• WEDU Nonprofit of the Year awards
• We are a finalist in the Best Use of Video category for this annual contest held by our PBS Station thanks again to our passionate supporters voting online. The winner will be announced in late February.
Education: Added audio story telling to the bio of every cat at the sanctuary and created a free virtual tour app in both iTunes and the Google Play Store. This app is being integrated into our guided tours to insure that every tour is accurate and relevant.
Also new this year was the use of the Vox tour system, where guests can listen via a headset to the guide or recorded tour. The benefit to the guest is that everyone can hear and can adjust their own volume. The benefit to the cats is that when using the recorded tour the guests move silently through the sanctuary.
We were presenters at the Big Cat Workshop hosted by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries and the International Fund for Animal Welfare where more than 20 big cat sanctuaries converged for a weekend of learning, networking and sharing. http://bigcatrescue.org/2013workshop/
We were presenters at Animal Grant Makers in Austin, TX in November on the topic of sanctuaries that fail, and how not to.
BigCatRescue.org gets about 1.5 million unique visitors per year with 1,498,422 in 2013. Our website is primarily an educational tool and according to Alexa we are ranked 224,835 worldwide and 66,562 most visited website in the U.S. in 2013 which was a doubling of our site’s popularity over 2012. We have 866 other sites linking to us.
Some of the pages that were the most popular each showed increases of 1,500% – 3,500% and these were:
• #4 Why it’s wrong to buy big cats had 119,418 visitors
• #7 Why it’s wrong to breed white tigers had 97,833 visitors
• #8 Why it’s wrong to breed ligers had 81,303 visitors
• #11 Why it’s wrong to breed domestic cat hybrids had 57,164 visitors
• #12 Why it’s wrong to breed Savannah Cat hybrids had 56,346 visitors (which should probably be combined with #11)
Our web site addresses local and global concerns about environment and has over 9,400 pages of information, movie clips, sounds, safe interactive online games with a conservation theme and photos. In any given week the visitors will be from more than 200 countries outside of the U.S.
The information provided has helped wildlife rehabilitators identify animals and obtain proper care instruction and helped officials in smuggling cases to identify rare species of exotic cats being illegally traded. Those are just a few of the ways that we know the site has had an impact this year.
We gave 195 field trip tours to the sanctuary and outreach visits this year. We gave 8 free tours and 12 discounted school field trip tours this year to groups for whom the modest price of the visit was not manageable. Even when we offer the tours for free, many schools cannot come because they cannot afford the $200.00 fee for their buses, so we maintain a fund where contributors can support big cat education by donating the bus fee.
Legislation/Education: The steady increase in legislation banning private ownership represents recognition by our society that private ownership leads to widespread abuse. Social values evolve. It took decades to ban slavery in England and for women to win the right to vote in America. Those ideas started out as “radical” and were held by a small minority. Gradually more and more people understood and agreed until they became a part of our value system that we take for granted today. The same trend is happening with private ownership of exotics. Gradually more and more people are realizing that this simply leads to widespread abuse of these animals. The best evidence of this is the accelerating trend in state laws. Just since 2005 nine more states have passed some level of ban.
Internationally, El Salvador, Slovenia, Paraguay, Ecuador, Peru, Sweden, Austria, Costa Rica, India, Finland, Bolivia, Greece, China, the UK and Singapore have all banned or restricted the utilization of big cats in circuses. It is time for the U.S. & South Africa to do the same!
Orchestrated our first Fly In to DC for 17 AdvoCats to talk to nearly 20 Legislators about supporting the Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act HR1998/S1381: images here: http://bigcatrescue.org/dc-fly-2013/ International Fund for Animal Welfare revealed that 75 percent of polled voters across the country support the bill’s passage.
The Library of Congress offers this guide to global laws regarding the private possession of exotic cats. Late in the year after the bills were introduced we resumed inviting our on site guests to call their Senators and Representatives asking them to support the Big Cats and Public Safety Act this year.
Through our CatLaws.com site, powered by Voter Voice, 8,324 of our 88,877 supporters sent 143,918 messages to 1071 recipients. While we wish that more than 10% of animal lovers on our mailing list would take the time to speak up for the animals, the ones who did were awesome. The 3 most popular letters sent were these:
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Letters in favor of the Big Cats and Public Safety Act, which would ban the private possession of big cats and ban cub handling.
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Letters opposing the exhibition of exotic cats and their cubs at fairs.
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Letters opposing a football player posting that he owned a tiger.
Some of the wins from these campaigns were:
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86 Senators and Representatives joined the 3 bill sponsors by co sponsoring the Big Cats and Public Safety Act (HR1998 & S1381)
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Darnell Dockett turns out to not actually possess a tiger despite his claim that he was going to bring it to practice.
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Hillsborough County, FL enacted an ordinance that allows them to seize assets in animal abuse cases and enacted another ordinance to protect feral cats and their caregivers.
Imagine what we could have accomplished if just 20% of our mailing list were to take action for the animals? This is an easy, no cost way for us to have a huge impact collectively. If you have not yet been active in taking action when we send alerts asking you to email a legislator, regulator or venue hosting an abusive animal exhibit, please make 2014 the year you join in. You CAN make a difference – the many supporters who do send these emails have proven it! The most vivid example is our having gotten owners of over 200 malls to agree not to allow cub petting exhibits, saving all those cubs from a miserable life on the road and being sleep deprived as they are handled or restrained for photo opportunities hour after hour. You can make ending big cat abuse part of the legacy of your life with just a few emails each year.
Wins for the Big Cats in 2013: Ft. Wayne, IN: Bears, wolves, lions, tigers, alligators, and venomous snakes are prohibited within the city limits of Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Unfortunately 2013 was noted by a Wall Street Journal poll to be the worst congress ever for a number of reasons, but most noticeably for animal lovers not one animal protection bill made it through the process. This article published in the Vegan Health and Fitness magazine gives some great examples of how parents can guide their children to treat animals by avoiding “traditional” animal attractions that we’ve come to learn are usually abusive, such as circuses and zoos. www.VHFmag.com
Fundraising and Marketing: Big Cat Rescue was reported favorably in the news 225 times in 2013. Some of our national press has included shows on CNN, MSNBC, National Geographic, Animal Planet, Discovery and the History Channel in addition to such publications as USA Today, National Geographic and the New York Post and major media coverage in several other countries as well. Big Cat Rescue has been in the press in 42+ states including AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, GA, FL, HI, IA, ID, IO, IN, IL, KY, LA, MA, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, NC, OH, OK, PA, SC, SD, TN, VA, VT, WA, WI & WV and dozens of programs of national or international coverage or in countries other than the U.S.
YouTube and Revision 3 were the big news this year. Revision 3, which is owned by Discovery, contacted us and asked us to be their first animal themed channel in 2012. Thanks to this partnership and cross promotions with Animal Planet, we are experiencing more than 1.5 million views of our YouTube videos per MONTH! By 2013 year end we had 405 videos with 130,011 subscribers and 71,633,898 views.
YouTube Mini Clip Site: DailyBigCat was launched Nov. 20, 2010 to provide a channel for the mini clips we upload directly from our iPhones. By year end this site had 4,574 subscribers and 748,688 views. Facebook: We surpassed 109,444 fans on Face Book Google +: This is a new social site for us in 2013 and we have already reached 30,000 fans on this new venue.
Big Cat Rescue has an Endowment Fund to provide a secure future for the cats. The Fund resides at the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay. Periodically the Community Foundation offers a matching program where the nonprofit sets a fundraising goal and when 75% of the goal is reached, the Community Foundation provides the remaining 25%, which effectively is a 33% match of the funds provided by donors. We set our most ambitious goal ever, $400,000, which is the maximum allowed. We had three years to reach the $300,000 that represents our 75% target, but thanks to our generous donors reached the goal in 9 months and received the $100,000 grant from the Community Foundation in 2013. We continued to build our affinity credit card program with Capitol One under which you can choose one of our beautiful cats for your credit card image and 1% of all of your purchases is donated to Big Cat Rescue at no cost to you.
To build awareness of our federal bill we signed up to be the top level Diamond Sponsor for the Taking Action for Animals Conference in Washington, DC in June, 2014 where more than 1,000 animal activists converge to learn more about legislation to protect animals.
Selected by Body Shop for their Dragon Fruit Lip Butter campaign which resulted in representatives from popular beauty magazines visiting the sanctuary and writing about our work to stop big cat abuse.http://youtu.be/j3kD84iFPms
Started the Cat Chat Show, a weekly podcast where we interview cat experts from around the world about all kinds of cats, from Tabbies to Tigers.
The Halloween “Haunted Trail” event was a lot of fun and a financial success! See some of it here:http://youtu.be/BseKW0QzbAU
Saving Wild Places for Wild Cats
In 2013 Big Cat Rescue donated $3,883.91 towards four conservation programs in the FL and in other countries on behalf of our volunteers.
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$1533.91 to Panthera to save corridors for wild cats to travel safely
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$1000.00 to the Florida Panther Refuge to help protect the Florida Panther.
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$850.00 to the Snow Leopard Trust to cover the cost of camera traps and snow leopard monitoring.
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$500.00 to the Tiger Trust to protect tigers in India by providing better legal assistance and training for game wardens.
Helping Others:
- Big Cat Rescue was recruited to offer our expertise and guidance in the development of a rescue center in Spain that will be broadening their focus from primates to now include big cats. AAP Primadomus is located on more than 400 acres in Villena and currently houses a variety of primates that have been rescued from private ownership, circuses, and laboratories. They are now expanding their focus to also rescue countless lions and tigers that are in need across their country. In an effort to prepare for this project nearly a dozen experts were invited to a symposium that focused on sharing information regarding the proper care of big cats in captivity, emergency protocol development, and enclosure design. Big Cat Rescue President Jamie Veronica and volunteer veterinarian Justin Boorstein travelled to Spain and joined experts from Italy, South Africa, France, Austria, the Netherlands and all across the United Kingdom.
Over the course of three days the team worked tirelessly to provide as much information as possible to the members of not only AAP Primadomus, but its origin center Stitching AAP. Stitching AAP is a rescue center for apes, monkeys and small exotic animals in the Netherlands that was founded more than 35 years ago. The symposium was a huge success. Big Cat Rescue will continue to work with AAP remotely throughout the development process. We are so pleased to provide assistance to organizations that are saving big cats across the globe!
See a digital rendition they did from the plans submitted:
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Created 8 Intranet sites, which are sort of a sanctuary-in-a-box site, for other sanctuaries to use. These came complete with every training video, training manual, chart and idea that we use to run Big Cat Rescue. We do this for free for sanctuaries that do not breed, buy, sell, trade nor allow contact w/ wild animals.
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Loaned one of our Green Level Keepers (Kathryn Quaas) to Wildcat Sanctuary for 5 weeks of brutal winter weather to help while they were hiring & training new staff.
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Big Cat Rescue provided our CatLaws.com service to Animal Coalition of Tampa in their efforts to send a powerful message to the Hillsborough County Commissioners on the subject of TNR. Trap, Neuter and Return. We similarly supported Be The Way Home effort in Hillsborough County that protects feral cats from being rounded up and killed. The Board of County Commissioners responded with ordinances to protect feral cats and their caregivers.http://youtu.be/o1ve94nYbP4
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Presented at Tigers 4 Tigers which is a coalition of all colleges that have tiger mascots who are working to save the tiger. It was also the last place for the good friend and world famous and much beloved tiger expert Ron Tilson to make a presentation before his untimely death this year.
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Hosted 2nd annual SkipAHolics reunion tour to thank the many people who help us keep an eye on our cats via the webcams.http://youtu.be/IuKXK4r7PEo
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We were a sponsor for Animal Coalition of Tampa’s Stride for Strays, as we are every year.
Then and Now: Below are the audited financial statements of Revenue and Expense for the past five years. We pride ourselves in keeping our fundraising and administrative total expenses below 20%. Because our tour revenue exceeds our fundraising and administrative costs, 100% of donations go to Program Expense.
The majority of the increase in Program Expense in 2012-2013 was the cost of lawsuits we filed in furtherance of our mission against what we believe to be one of the most notorious exploiters of tiger cubs. We won a million dollar judgment against this breeder/exhibitor for violations of our copyright and trademark in 2013. He filed bankruptcy personally and on behalf of his zoo. However, by consent agreement his personal debt to us is not to be dismissed in bankruptcy, and the zoo bankruptcy has been dismissed. So currently we are working through the process of seeking to recover our judgment against whatever assets we can. Without the generous support of our donors we could not have sustained this successful effort. Thank you!
Officers and Members of the Board of Directors in 2013 and meetings (2/23, 7/9, 9/24 & 12/17):
• CEO and Founder Carole Baskin (not compensated by BCR for her role as Director)
• President and Chairman of the Board Jamie Veronica (not compensated by BCR for her role as a Director)
• Secretary & Treasurer Howard Baskin (not compensated by BCR for his role as a Director)
• VP Director Lisa Shaw (not compensated by BCR)
• Director Mary Lou Geis (not compensated by BCR)
• Pamela Rodriguez (not compensated by BCR)
• Darren Kipnis (not compensated by BCR)
• Keith Lawless (not compensated by BCR)
• Kim Mahoney (not compensated by BCR)
These members met for quarterly board meetings at the sanctuary. The board met 4 times in 2013.
Paid Staff and Contractors:
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CEO and Staff Manager: Carole Baskin
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President, Editor & Creative Director: Jamie Veronica
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Operations Manager & Volunteer Coordinator: Gale Ingham
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Videographer and Social Networking: Chris Poole
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Director of Donor Appreciation: Jeff Kremer
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Gift Shop Manager: Honey Wayton
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Project Manager: Chelsea Feeny
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Education Director: Willow Hecht
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Cage Builder and Maintenance: Vernon Stairs
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Cage Building Apprentice and Maintenance: Scott Haller
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Grounds Keeper, part time: Jarred Smalley
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Bookkeeper: Barbara Stairs
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Assistant Bookkeeper: Katie Nikic
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Guest Services, part time: Valerie Stockton
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CFO: Howard Baskin
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Public Relations: Susan Bass
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Web and Social Media: LaWanna Mitchell
All of our animal care is done by volunteers or by staff who also volunteer time before & after work.
Volunteers: Big Cat Rescue had 89 volunteers at the end of 2013 who clocked in 40,547 man-power hours, in addition to 54 interns who clocked 32,400 man-power hours, plus 4,793 Volunteer Committee member hours. In total this amounted to 77,740 man-power hours provided roughly the equivalent workforce of 37 more full time staff. Between paid staff, part time staff, contractors and volunteers we averaged the equivalent of 52 full time staff. Interesting breakdown of volunteers: We have 89 volunteers; 69 women and 20 men. The youngest 18 years old, the oldest 76 years old. Between January 1, 2011 and September 10, 2013 Big Cat Rescue had 99 interns from 10 countries and 21 states.
Staff and Volunteer Training: Several of our staff attended the Safe Capture Course, as we do any time they are in Florida. Began turning our volunteer training classes into video classes.
Get our Financial Reports: See our IRS 990 and audited financial statement for Big Cat Rescue at http://bigcatrescue.org/finances/
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.
Please don't buy me gifts for the holidays!
There is only one thing that you could do differently for me, that would really make me happy, and that is to start using the automated tour on the iPads and iPhones. It pains me to walk around and overhear so many tours giving information that is wrong or not the best use of the short amount of time we have to educate our visitors. I've ignored it because I know how impossible it is to remember the stories of 100+ cats and work in all of the issues that we need to cover. That's why I have spent so much time trying to make the automated tour something that will work, regardless of which cats show up for your tours. It will need some tweaking, but we can't do that until it has been thoroughly tested by all of you, so please watch the video and take your own smart phones, with the free Big Cat Rescue app, or one of ours, out for a test run to get used to navigating and pressing the buttons. I would like the vast majority of our tours to be the automated tour so seeing you do this by Christmas would really make this my best Christmas ever.
I am in the process of tallying up the number of calls we got last year about exotic cats in need of rescue but think it was well under 30 and most were failing "sanctuaries". As 9 more states have passed bans, and momentum has been gaining for our federal bill, the bad guys aren't breeding and discarding as many cats as in years past. Just 10 years ago we had to turn away 312 big cats in a single year and that number was doubling every other year. A lot of that progress was due to YOUR efforts to end cub handling at malls.
In 2013 we lost 6 cats; Willow Siberian Lynx, Ty Serval, SARMOTI Tiger, Rose Caracal, Shaniqua Jungle Cat and Bella Tiger but rescued 12 cats, including King Tut Savannah Cat, Nala Serval, Skipper & Gilligan, Ginger the Canada Lynx, Mary Ann, Thurston, Lovey, Fencer & Khaleesi the bobcats, JoJo Caravel, and Reise Cougar.
We have purchased 9 acres NW of our corner, touching our border back by Jade and Armani the leopards and today are contracting to buy 4 acres along our southern border. Investing in the real estate around us is a better use of funds than the dismal return on CDs and gives us room to expand. We need to be prepared for displaced cats after the bill passes, although state bans have never resulted in a spike of abandoned cats. It doesn't make sense to spend resources building cages and taking in more cats as long as we haven't addressed the root issue, which is cubs being bred for pay to play and then discarded. Please know that you are changing history and will be remembered as the Big Cat Rescuers who made the world a better place for captive and wild exotic cats. This was the story time section of the volunteer newsletter.
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.
Big Cat Rescue’s Involvement in ITC Saving Wild Tigers
11/5/09 we were drafting an answer to this question:
Here is the question again: How can China's farms be phased out in terms of the animals and facilities themselves, as well as compensation for the owners of the farms?
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Assessment and Preparation of a Plan for each facility
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Assessment of existing management regime
THE most important thing to do is stop the breeding. Neutering all of the males is quick and cheap. That can be done in just a few minutes by our vet and the biggest cost is the sedation. There is just an overwhelming temptation, from what I see in pseudo sanctuaries, to allow "accidental" breedings so that they have cubs to attract the public. Mandatory castration of existing males and neutering all new cubs at a few weeks of age, will stop the increase of tigers in cages.
On 11/6/09 I reported this success from the ITC conference call: Resulting from today's call below. Summary is that we can petition the USFWS to rescind their "generic tiger" exception, so that all tigers have to be approved for breeding and use based upon how that use enhances wild populations. Just rescinding would be very easy, but we also want tougher restrictions on what constitutes enhancement of wild populations and more record keeping and transparency.
12/2/09 we were emailing w/ Judy Mills and IFAW to try and garner votes for the Chase contest which would end up funding ITC for a while.
12/8/09 Leigh Henry, of WWF reported, “things are moving quickly here at WWF on the US tiger issue. It has caught the attention of our leadership team as something we can do as WWFUS in the US for the Year of the Tiger. Our new Sr. VP for Communications seems likely to throw resources behind the effort.” And “News on the FWS front is that, after a successful WWF meeting with Dan Ashe, they have removal of the generic tiger exemption from the CBW permit system slated for the Fed Reg in the first quarter of 2010. “
At the state level we were trying to come up with the Top 5 worst states in regards to captive tigers and I suggested, “If you can only have 5, I would trade SC for NC as that is where T.I.G.E.R.S. is based (and FL) so it would stop the nations largest tiger dealer from being able to move cats back and forth across state lines and having them disappear in his other home state.
This is my opinion: The way it works is he says he is sending tigers from his FL facility to SC but no one in SC would ever know or care if they actually arrived, and visa versa. As long as he doesn't openly transfer them with a paper trail to someone else, USDA is clueless as to where the cats are.”
2/25/10 With the wins from the Chase contest Judy posted: “The ITC booth at the CITES CoP, generously sponsored by Big Cat Rescue, will be #R3, located in the foyer of the Sheraton Conference Center. The booth will feature ITC information materials, a continuous feed of ITC videos and tiger-striped giveaways (such as lanyards from which to hang CoP15 identification badges).”
3/12/10 Judy reported from the CITES meeting in Doha, “The ITC booth opened for business today, and delegates, observers and even CITES Secretariat staff already are wearing their CoP15 identification badges on our tiger-striped lanyards. “
3/13/10 The Peninsula reported, “Over 1,500 delegates representing more than 170 governments, indigenous people, non-governmental organizations and businesses are attending the world conference.”
3/23/13 Judy reported to the ITC, “We had confirmation in this morning’s CoP15 Committee II that the following three Decisions will be retained for at least more three years, until CoP16:… 14.69 Parties with intensive operations breeding tigers on a commercial scale shall implement measures to restrict the captive population to a level supportive only to conserving wild tigers; tigers should not be bred for trade in their parts and derivatives.”
3/29/10 Judy reported, “How this played out for tigers”. While the EU’s proposal to strengthen the ABC resolution came at the request of the Standing Committee, this fact was lost on the CoP. Because the proposal did not have a range-state co-proponent, China and its allies easily convinced tiger range countries (TRCs) and the CoP that the proposal was being imposed on Asia by the West. China opposed the proposal outright, saying it preferred the voluntary Hua Hin Declaration on Tiger Conservation to a strengthened CITES resolution on ABCs (which included an option for using compliance measures to inspire implementation). India and other TRCs intervened to support China in opposing the EU proposal, citing issues of sovereignty and making commitments to work regionally and bilaterally to stop illegal tiger trade. Fortunately, India and some other TRCs were married to keeping Decision 14.69 against tiger farming in place. Thanks to a great deal of behind-the-scenes effort by India, the UK, the CITES Secretariat, ITC members and others, the decision endured.
Highlight: The ITC booth was a big success. It was in a great location, looked inviting, offered a lot on materials of interest to CITES Parties, and attracted many, many delegates, giving us priceless opportunities to relay our messaging and help Parties understand our concerns. WildAid demand-reduction PSAs were a big draw, as were the many tiger-striped souvenirs we gave away. Big Cat Rescue deserves our collective thanks for making the booth possible. “
4/26/10 The USFWS announces their intention to remove the generic tiger loophole.
http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule?pubId=201004&RIN=1018-AW81
6/23/10 Lion burgers served at World Cup.
8/12/10 Carole reported to Judy on the 90-Day Finding on a Petition to Delist the Tiger (STATUS REVIEW NOT INITIATED) http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-19895.htm
Carole stated, “I may be not understanding this, but looks to me like someone asked to delist the tiger and (although it took them 5 years to figure it out) the USFWS decided that delisting the tiger wasn't warranted. Duh. I really hope they don't take that long to jerk around on rescinding the generic tiger loophole.”
10/22/10 Leigh Henry reported on the WWF and CEQ Tiger Summit Meeting, “ASK – Regulate US Captive Tigers to Ensure They Can’t Enter Illegal Trade (Leigh)
• US captive tigers linked to international trade issue
• Discuss trade threats & need to ensure US tigers not contributing to illegal trade
• (background on TCM, wild preference, removal of tigers from official pharmacopeia, etc.)
• US tigers – 5,000 (compared to 3,200 in wild), many unwanted, poorly regulated = opportunity
• Mention FWS and APHIS recommendations, as well as ask for federal legislation to require an overarching tiger registry
• Not just trade threat, but political issue as well – US needs to clean up own backyard to maintain leadership on tiger conservation (CITES Resolution applicable – US noncompliant); mention of China tiger farms and how China points finger at US when asked close farms
• Priority – USFWS needs to publish proposed rule in Fed Reg to remove generic tiger exemption BEFORE Summit
• Priority – US should create, either under existing or new law, a central reporting system and database for all captive tigers in the US, without exception.”
To which Carole responded, “Thank you for such a clear summary and especially for so much focus on ending the captive trade that provides the legal cover for illegal activity.”
11/9/10 Carole responded to Judy’s report US State Department Meeting for NGOs in Advance of the International Tiger Forum in Russia, 9 November 2010 by saying, “Thank you so much for the detailed notes. It was almost as good as being there. I take it that USFWS is still sitting on their hands about rescinding the generic tiger loophole for breeders in the U.S.?”
11/9/10 Judy proposed a pre-summit statement along with Colman O’Criodain , Debbie Banks, Grace Gabriel and Kristin Nowell, but Carole suggested this edit, “You guys know a lot more about this than I do, but I feel compelled to ask.
I wonder if rewording this:
We stand ready to assist and support tiger range countries in developing and implementing strategies that ensure an end to all trade in tiger parts and derivatives.
to this:
We stand ready to assist and support tiger range countries in developing and implementing strategies that ensure an end to all commercial tiger trade.
might be more effective? I don't know how AZA zoos go about "trading" tigers, but am guessing they don't buy or sell them. Since it is very hard to catch people with the parts and derivatives, but easy to catch them with live tigers, then maybe the way to end the trade is to call it "commercial trade" rather than focus on the dead cats. This could help us crack down on all of the breeding for the illegal trade that is being masked by the legal trade.”
Carole’s language was rejected, but she kept trying.
11/4/10 Responding to Judy’s email sending out a news story where India was claiming to be a “founding member of the Global Tiger Initiative” after all of the Indian NGOs pulled out in protest of inclusion of the World Bank, Carole reported, “Great call in this morning and so happy to have you back. I had to leave by 9:46 and you were just starting to get some consensus on the message. Looking forward to the minutes.
Will be on Headline News next Friday (not tomorrow) w/ Jane Velez-Mitchell discussing Tony the Truck Stop Tiger and she has another guest, Jane Garrison from LA who will be talking about the Tiger Temple debacle. “
11/19/10 the final statement by the ITC for the summit was not worded as strongly to protect live tigers as Carole would have liked, but was, “We endorse the stated goal of strengthening the
effectiveness of existing tiger-trade bans, with an aim of eradicating all trade in all tiger parts, products and derivatives. This is critical to the achievement of doubling tiger numbers by 2022.” Which at least opened the door to cover live tiger trading.
1/20/11 The Telegraph reports, “China has banned animal circuses and warned its zoos they must stop abusing animals or face closure. The ban will also force zoos to stop selling animal parts in their shops and zoo restaurants will have to stop serving dishes made out of rare animals, another widespread practice.
Similarly, zoos will no longer be able to pull the teeth of baby tigers so that tourists can hold them and will have to stop attractions where live chickens, goats, cows and even horses are sold to visitors who can then watch them be torn apart by big cats. …the Chinese government has now issued a total ban, which came into force on Tuesday across the 300 state-owned zoos which are part of the China Zoo Association.”
2/25/11 ThaiVisa.com reported that 6 tiger cubs were seized in a raid of a weapon’s dealer and that, “tigers can fetch $30,000 on the black market and despite their endangered status continue to be purchased for their bones and organs used in medicines, while their skins are prized as trophies and ornaments.”
7/28/12 Introduced Judy Mills to Bryan Christy who wrote, The Lizard King.
2/25/12 We offered to help support EIA’s efforts for tigers at the upcoming CITES meeting, but they never got back to us with a specific way to help or amount.
3/28/13 Judy wrote to IFAW, Howard and Carole, “I recently returned from nearly three weeks in Bangkok for the CITES CoP. Several countries, including China, brought up US tigers as a “domestic trade” problem equal to or greater than China’s tiger farms. One does have to appreciate that at least China knows where its captive tigers are! But this remains a huge red-herring tit-for-tat reason for China to ignore the CITES decision that says tiger farms should be phased out.
What transpired in Bangkok was alarming on several fronts. For tigers, the most significant was China and South Africa working toward legalizing rhino-horn trade, which would require China to lift its 1993 ban on trade in tiger bone and rhino horn, opening a Pandora’s box of demand for the bones of wild tigers. But I do not write today about tiger farms. I write to you seeking an update on US tigers, as I would like to close my book with an update on what good news may be unfolding. (FYI, there is very good news coming out of China, too, just not from the CITES meeting.)
I was interested to read in this morning’s New York Times about the continuing battle to retire Tony the Tiger from his truck-stop home in Grosse Tete, Louisiana (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/28/us/truck-stop-tiger-in-louisiana-stirs-legal-battle.html?ref=todayspaper). Any chance he will be living out his final years at Big Cat Rescue?
Specifically, I write to ask for updates on the current status of:
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US legislation to register, monitor and perhaps reduce the population of captive tigers in the United States.
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The current status of The Baskins v. Joe Schreibvogel and Joe V. Baskins.
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The current status of Louisiana’s Tony the Tiger. (Will he retire at BCR?)
Thank you in advance for your time. All my best, Judy”
Howard responded, “The federal bill is stronger than "register, monitor, perhaps reduce." The bill would ban breeding and possession, grandfathering in the current population who would die out, with few exceptions. Tracy is the best source for latest. Since the congress ended Dec 31, the bill died and Tracy is working on reintroducing it, along with some amendments. “
Carole responded, “The only way we would end up with Tony is if the state or USDA seized him. That is how we initially became involved in 2009. The Louisiana Dept of Wildlife and Fisheries had cited Sandlin and called me to come get Tony. Sandlin got an injunction to stop us, so we hired an attorney for Tony. After we exhausted the county issue of Sandlin having the tigers illegally since 1993 with the county making a retroactive exception for Sandlin, we didn't think there was any more we could do, but the ALDF then took up the case and remains in court to this day.
Michael Sandlin has said that "Hell will freeze over before he would send Tony to Big Cat Rescue." When I spoke with the NYT reporter, he said Sandlin told him that if he sent Tony anywhere, it would be to Joe Schreibvogel. I told the reporter that as bad as I thought that was for Tony, it was still better than being at a Truck Stop. The only thing the reporter wanted to ask me about was whether or not Tony's cage was a sufficient size. I told him that our efforts to remove Tony were not based on the cage size, but the fact that the tiger was suffering the continuous harassment of motorists, their dogs and the noise and fumes of a 24 hour truck stop.”
12/19/13, Sadly, Poaching of tigers in 2013 has been the highest in the past seven years, data compiled by the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) shows. The seizure of two more tiger skins from Bijrani area of Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand on Monday has taken this year's figure to 39 as against 31 last year.
While the total number of tiger deaths at 76 is less compared to last year's 89, the number of poaching cases has shot up much to the dismay of conservationists. “
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.
Hosted Big Cat Rescue’s first legislative Fly In to D.C. for the Big Cats & Public Safety Protection Act. Flew in the following and helped them explain the necessity of the bill to their lawmakers: 1. CA BOXER-LaMALFA Michael 2. CA BOXER-McCLINTOC Steve 3. CA BOXER-McCLINTOC Janet 4. FL SOUTHERLAND-NELSON Penny 5. FL SOUTHERLAND-NELSON Linda 6. FL SOUTHERLAND-NELSON Kathy 7. FL SOUTHERLAND-NELSON Breawna 8. MD CARDIN-HARRIS Jerilyn 9. NM PEARCE - UDALL Carol 10. NM PEARCE - UDALL Haley 11. NM PEARCE - UDALL Lee 12. NM PEARCE - UDALL Cheryl 13. PA FITZPATRICK - TOOMEY David 14. PA FITZPATRICK - TOOMEY Shellie 15. FL NELSON - RUBIO-BILIRAKIS Howard Baskin 16. FL NELSON - RUBIO-BILIRAKIS Carole Baskin 17. FL NELSON - RUBIO-BILIRAKIS Susan The 8/5/2013 USDA comment period was extended due to the AZA wishing to exempt their cheetah petting fundraisers, but closed today 11/18/2013 with over 15,000 responses and over 100,000 responses if you include those submitted via coalition partner’s supporters. 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.
Reise Cougar’s Name Means Journey
We are expecting a new arrival this Sunday. Her name is Reise and she is a cougar from Texas who ended up at the Southern Florida Wildlife Rehabilitation Center where JoJo came from. As most of you know, the owner is terminal and in the hospital, so his volunteers have been trying to place all of the animals. Reise had been declawed in TX, but they had just butchered her paws, so the nails keep growing back. There was a vet who helped SFWRC’s owner, Dirk, by donating his services to try and repair the paws. I’m not sure, but it sounds like this has been done several times, so I don’t know why it hasn’t been permanent.
When this vet, Dr. Patrick Mornane, heard that Reise needed a new home he offered to take her but he lives in N.C., and I’m told his health is bad. Originally we had been told that all of the cats had new homes, and that all of the other animals, even the chickens and koi had been placed, but the deal to send Reise to Dr. Mornane fell through. That left Reise as the last animal to need a home, but no one wanted to deal with her medical issues. We agreed to take Reise and have been trying for weeks to arrange a time that we, the FWC and the volunteer from SFWRC can all be there. Currently the plan is to bring her in Sunday.
Jamie whacked herself in the face with a pair of fence rippers and knocked herself off a ladder.
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.
3 Days in North Carolina at IFAW’s Big Cat Workshop
Dear Carole, On behalf of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS), I would like to invite you to the first-ever Big Cat Sanctuary Workshop to be held in the fall of 2013! This unique and interactive workshop aims to encourage and foster networking and collaboration among sanctuaries and promote best practices for animal care and sanctuary stewardship and sustainability.
The first two days of the workshop will consist of guest speakers and activities, including new approaches for sustainability and growth, brainstorming enrichment methods, and creating effective communication through various media, fundraising approaches and more. The third day will involve of a tour of Carolina Tiger Rescue, which will include an interactive discussion on conducting effective, educational, and mission-oriented tours for sanctuaries.
Workshop Objectives: This interactive workshop has a primary objective of bringing people together to build collaboration, networking, and trust that will help others excel. Working from the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries standards, the workshop will help sanctuaries to:
Identify leadership strengths and areas to improve Identify and try new approaches needed for sustainability and growth Value and recognize the accomplishments of others; reflect and share experiences
Apply best practices to animal care and sanctuary stewardship Dates: Friday, October 25th – Sunday October 27th 2013 Location: Hilton Garden Inn at Research Triangle Park, 4620 S Miami Blvd, Durham, NC 27703 with site visit to Carolina Tiger Rescue in Pittsboro, NC.
Participants: This workshop is by invitation only for sanctuaries providing lifetime care to big cats. We encourage two representatives, such as an executive director and a board member, from each facility to attend this event.
As a sanctuary committed to the long-term care of big cats and ending the perpetual trade that leads to displaced and unwanted animals, we feel your presence and participation in this workshop will be a mutual investment for all! Please find more information regarding the workshop, including an outline of the agenda, attached to this email. We ask that you kindly RSVP by August 1st 2013 using the attached form or by returning the postcard you’ll be receiving in the mail shortly.
Again, IFAW and GFAS are extremely excited to co-host this event, and we hope that you will be able to participate as a vital member of the sanctuary community! Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions. Sincerely, Kelly Donithan | Wildlife Rescue Program Officer
IFAW - International Fund for Animal Welfare World Headquarters 290 Summer Street - Yarmouth Port, MA 02675
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.
ZooKeepers Losing Life and Limbs
Within a week of each other, one worker at GW Zoo (the place we sued and won a 1 million dollar judgment) nearly had her arm ripped off and a man with 30 years experience, at an AZA zoo, was killed by an elephant. Whenever I hear stories like that, I always think how sad for those people involved and how fortunate we are that you guys are so well trained and responsible.
I often comment on these news stories because it is an opportunity to remind the general public that these are wild animals and they should be protected in their wild habitats; not bred for life in cages. That brings out all the animal abusers who point out that we have had accidents here too. What they fail to note is that those incidents were in 1997 and 1998 and are posted on our own website here: http://bigcatrescue.org/big-cat-attacks/
September 2, 1998 Citrus Park, FL: Black leopard bites volunteer (Mindy Harrell) attempting to pet animal through cage at Wildlife on Easy Street. Wounds to arm required 451 stitches to close. The volunteer admitted she was breaking the rules and was not allowed to return to the property.
December 25, 1997 Tampa, FL: The St. Petersburg Times reported that a man (Timothy Evans) who was bitten on the arm by a cougar in 1996 was suing WildLife on Easy Street. The suit was dropped when the man’s friend, the pet owner of the cougar (Sherrie Frost) was deposed. Both were former volunteers, and were suspected in the release of the cougar from WildLife on Easy Street in August of 1996 as he was trying to make a case that the cat he was accusing of the bite was dangerous. Both volunteers were dismissed from the program and the cougar was recaptured without incident.
If you are ever thinking to yourself that our rules are too numerous and that we are too strict, it is because we learned from our mistakes. Please be careful and keep in mind that these cats can move faster than you can blink.
Note that these are not topics for your tours. People always ask if any cat has ever escaped or if any cat has ever hurt anyone, and if you tell these stories, it will be the only ones they remember and repeat. It is here so that know that we have been open about it on our website and so that you will know what the bad guys are talking about when they talk trash about us. Your answer to these morbid questions that people ask should only be what you have seen yourself, or to say, “I haven’t been witness to anything like that, but you can search our website as it is over 9,000 pages of information about the sanctuary.”
This was written to the volunteers at Big Cat Rescue today.
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.
My Computer Crashed and Took My Diary With It
My back up drive failed and took with it all of my documents, including my diary again! Later I was able to piece the journal back together from older hard drives and saved emails.
Hi everyone! (Tammy Theis, Bobbi Brink and Mike Booth)
I am contacting you to see what you have in mind for our Panel: Networking, Media, and Effective Communication? I see that on the agenda Michael Booth is talking about Effective and Successful Communications from 4 till 5 and then our panel, including Mike, starts at 5 and runs till 6, I think.
So, my question is if Mike is doing a one our presentation and then joining us for a panel that continues the discussion; as it seems to be a similar topic? Also, what do you guys have in mind regarding how we should present? Do we each take 12 minutes for a presentation on how each of us does Networking, Media, and Effective Communication?
Or do we take the topic of our greatest strength and present on that for our 12 minutes? I know it would be a lot easier for me to talk about Media and our YouTube success for 12 minutes than to try and cram all three topics into 12 minutes. Do we want to entertain questions after each person presents, or wait until the end to be sure that each has time to present? What do you guys have in mind?
cc: Panelists: Mike Booth, IFAW; Carole Baskin, Big Cat Rescue; Tammy Thies, The Wildcat Sanctuary; Bobbi Brink, Lions, Tigers, and Bears. For the cats, Carole Baskin
Jamie and TeeGray
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.
We Won Is Posted Everywhere Until We Do I believe in the power of intention and have printed these up and hung them all over the house and on my desktops as wallpaper. It is to celebrate the future where cub handling is banned world wide. Image by Christina Hess, w/ my text overlaid. The calls you never hear about We do a pretty good job of letting you and our outside supporters know about the work we do to save exotic cats, but there are a lot of calls and emails that you never hear about because it turns out to be a case of mistaken identity or we never find the cat or the person who calls, saying they want us to rescue their cat drops off the radar before we can make arrangements. We told you some months ago about an injured leopard that we were trying to save, but we have no police powers and none of the agencies who do would intervene, so the cat continues to suffer, if still alive. Sometimes, in cases like Tony the truck stop tiger, the wheels of justice turn ever so slowly and four years have passed, but we haven't forgotten him and will update you the minute there is something to report. We get countless calls and emails asking us to save black panthers (mostly) and every other imaginable kind of cat, but the vast majority of these turn out to be fat domestic cats, hybrid cats who are not regulated, dogs, coyotes, foxes, raccoons, and even nutria (big rats). One of those calls ended up in me bringing Baby Cakes the genet back from the ASPCA in Largo. They found him wandering in a neighborhood and thought he was a Coatimundi...which was a pretty good guess. Many of the queries we can handle by having the caller send a photo, but a lot of times we have to drive out to the scene, wander around in the woods for hours, and then return with nothing to report to you. I know you guys do a lot that I never see too. Some of you have become experts at knowing when a cat is "just not himself" and know all of the ins and outs of inventory, check in, guest relations, cat poop and more. I am so proud of all of you and want you to know that we are all working to care for the cats who live here and end the suffering outside our gates. Watching this video is NOT mandatory, but shows you some of the behind the scenes work in our rehab program. 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
When Rose Was Born She Reminded Me of a Rosebud
(The last photo of Momma Jacquie and me dated 2/11/13. This was the day we moved her from Aunt Carole’s condo to the Cougar Camp at Big Cat Rescue to live with my parents)
Tiny, delicate and fiery red. But a name like Rosebud conjures up cows, so Rose became her name. She was born into a chaotic time at the sanctuary, so I didn't get to spend much time enjoying her kittenish ways. It was a decade before we were on solid footing at Big Cat Rescue and I finally had the chance to just observe her.
I envy the time our volunteers spend with the cats. It's a luxury I've rarely been able to afford. In a rare moment, where no one was pulling at me to deal with a personnel issue nor answer a phone call, I walked past Jamie who was trying to comb a knot from Rose's fur. Jamie was using the telescoping back scratcher.
At first I hurried on by, but then turned around, deciding this was a great teaching moment, to show through a video how we groom the cats. It's possible to give the cats some pleasure without risking a bite or scratch. Rose was clearly loving the good scratching she was getting in that hard to reach area behind her ears. I'm glad stopped and enjoyed this precious moment in time. In just another day or two Rose was gone.
Never a Boring Moment – Escaped White Tiger “Sighting”
I was about nine years old and was perched in the highest branches of the pine tree next to our home on Larwood Dr. in Charleston, WV, looking out toward the airport where my father was the private pilot for Gov. Arch Moore. It was my favorite spot. I could see for miles across the hills and valleys. I was watching planes take off and land at long intervals. I was bored out of my mind. “God,” I implored, “never let me be this bored again!”
Well you have to be careful what you ask for because I don’t think there has been a boring moment since. Today was one of the weirder days.
At 1:24 am the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office called me (apparently) but my ringer was off, so they called our Operations Manager, Gale, and said that a caller had reported a white tiger loose on Van Dyke Road and they wanted her to see if our tigers were all here. Gale did the rounds, even though we only have one white tiger, just to be sure that all of the cats were accounted for. Thankfully, she didn’t bother me with it and let me sleep.
At 8:52, 8:56 and 9:00 am I get (and miss) three calls back to back from Tallahassee, but I am out cleaning litter boxes and the caller didn’t leave a message, so I am unaware, until just now, that these calls were in my “Recent Calls” list. Probably the Florida Wildlife Commission. 850 717-14XX
At 9:06 am I get a call (also missed) from the Homestead area 305 247-80XX and they didn’t leave a message this time, but I see that the same number did leave a message at 1:25 am, saying that they were a Deputy with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office reporting a white tiger sighting on Van Dyke Road in NW Tampa. I find it odd that a sheriff’s deputy in Tampa would have a Homestead area code, so I call the real Hillsborough County Sheriff.
I tell them who I am and about the call and the Captain said they did get such a call last night, but that he has no idea who called me or why they would have a Homestead area code on their phone. No one else has reported the white tiger and we all just figure it was a drunk or a prank caller. Our enemies, the people who abuse big cats for a living, think it is fun to annoy us and the local police with their stupidity on a regular basis.
I told him that we have a new, high power dart rifle if they do see a cat and that we would be happy to help them capture the cat alive. I texted Gale after the call and that’s when she told me that she had been called in the middle of the night and had done her head count.
At 11:11 am I get a call from 813 735-93XX and it is a young man who is telling me that he was the caller to the Sheriff last night and that he had been to Big Cat Rescue with his girlfriend and hoped that he had not gotten us in trouble. I told him that all of our cats were in their cages, so there was no trouble to be in. He then told me that he loved Big Cat Rescue and that he was sober when he saw the white tiger running along side Van Dyke Road at Lakeshore. He said that he often sees white tailed deer along this stretch of road and that he was no big cat expert, but that it was definitely a cat, with a body about five feet long, and it was white.
He said that after visiting Big Cat Rescue, he knows that people often have such pets and he felt like it was important to let someone know it was running loose. He said he was really embarrassed to make the report because he could barely get up the nerve to even tell his girlfriend what he had seen. I told him he did the right thing.
He said he had checked the news this morning, fully expecting a huge media blitz over the discovery of a white tiger, but was surprised that no one else seems to have seen the cat. I told him that it’s pretty hard for a white tiger to hide, but if the owner knew the cat was out, maybe they had managed to round it back up. Unfortunately there are thousands of big cats in private hands and very little government oversight.
Curiosity got the better of me, so I called the Homestead number and the person who answered was not a Hillsborough County Sheriff, but rather runs a seedy little roadside zoo called the Everglades Outpost where they have been known for their cub petting display. I know the name because I have a photo of someone petting a full grown white tiger at the Outpost.
So, now I am wondering, why the Everglades Outpost would call me, pretending to be a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Deputy reporting a loose white tiger in Tampa when they operate a zoo 200 miles away?
2:30 pm A few hours after reporting this to USDA and the FWC my Inspector says that the Sheriff’s office often will mask the area code of their cell phones, and it is likely just a coincidence that the number on my phone matches the Everglades Outpost. Apparently there were 9 HCSO deputies, 1 Helicopter w/ 2 occupants, and 3 FWC personnel involved because of this crazy call. A huge waste of taxpayer dollars and yet another reason why the U.S. needs to ban the private possession of big cats. Not that there was a privately owned cat involved, but if it were not such a likely scenario, there would not have been such a huge number of people and resources called to action.
This was my response:
Dear XXXX,
When I made these screen shots, I see what you mean. The Sheriff’s office main number is 813 247-8000 so perhaps it is just a coincidence that the fake area code 305, attached to that number would just happen to be a place (Everglades Outpost) 200 miles away with a white tiger petting scheme. What are the odds of that?
OK, so it sounds like this was all just because of some local report. That is a lot less suspicious to me, then. Here are the screen shots of the calls. I can’t figure out how to save the voicemail to send to you, but if that really was a H.C. Sheriff’s Deputy, then you probably don’t need it.
5:18 pm a frantic woman calls and asks if I can tell her the name of their local, big cat rescue, because “there are two black saber panthers under a bridge in Burbank, California.”
Is there a full moon?
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.
Big Cat Rescue in Spain
AAP Primadomus is located on more than 400 acres in Villena and currently houses a variety of primates that have been rescued from private ownership, circuses, and laboratories. They are now expanding their focus to also rescue countless lions and tigers that are in need across their country.
In an effort to prepare for this project nearly a dozen experts were invited to a symposium that focused on sharing information regarding the proper care of big cats in captivity, emergency protocol development, and enclosure design. Big Cat Rescue President Jamie Veronica and volunteer veterinarian Justin Boorstein travelled to Spain and joined experts from Italy, South Africa, France, Austria, the Netherlands and all across the United Kingdom.
Over the course of three days the team worked tirelessly to provide as much information as possible to the members of not only AAP Primadomus, but also its origin center Stitching AAP. Stitching AAP is a rescue center for apes, monkeys and small exotic animals in the Netherlands that was founded more than 35 years ago.
The symposium was a huge success. Big Cat Rescue will continue to work with AAP remotely throughout the development process. We are so pleased to provide assistance to organizations that are saving big cats across the globe!
Last month I told you about a gruesome situation that we were working on but now we have exhausted all governmental channels and are taking this story to the media to see if we can get this leopard some relief. This is what I have sent to ABC Dateline and CNN's Jane Velez-Mitchell:
"This leopard was, according to her owner, Carolyn Atchison of Animal House in Moulton, AL, injured a year ago and yet this image was taken June 10, 2013 by some animal protection folk who went there to rescue the domestic dogs and cats that they said she was feeding to her big cats. The animal protection group said that Atchison told them the leopard had been fed a doberman, who fought back, but lost.
I have gone to the state, the USDA and the USFWS and they say there is nothing they can or will do. I am told that the Attending Vet is the owner's boyfriend and he says the cat is fine. This cat is obviously NOT fine. Can you help?
As you probably know, the ALDF is still fighting for Tony the truck stop tiger; now before the Supreme Court. We have a federal bill pending right now that would end the private possession of big cats. It is HR 1998 and called the Big Cats and Public Protection Act." We will continue to try and get some help to this cat and have already obtained an import permit into FL if the cat is seized. We have offered USDA and the USFWS placement for the leopard and told them we can have a crew there within 20 hours of notification that they have seized the animal, but both agencies are saying that it isn't their problem.
The owner claims that this is her favorite cat and that's why she won't give her up. She says the leopard is 19 and can't undergo surgery and she believes that the cat is not in any pain, despite both her and her vet admitting that the cat continuously licks at the wound. Every day, when you are out there in the rain and the bugs and the heat, you are enabling cats like her to have our resources to try and save them. We will keep you posted. This was in the July newsletter to volunteers at Big Cat Rescue.
Jamie and Little Feather Bobcat at Dr. Wynn’s office after her seizures.
8/5/2013 The USDA posted a request for public comment on our petition to ban cub handling for 30 days. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2013/08/05/2013-18874/petition-to-amend-animal-welfare-act-regulations-to-prohibit-public-contact-with-big-cats-bears-and See the 21,552 comments and supporting documents here: https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=APHIS-2012-0107
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.
People Say Our Sanctuary Was a Landfill
I keep hearing people say that our sanctuary was previously a landfill or a dump and yesterday heard that it was in foreclosure. These things are partially right, but the landfill statement makes people concerned for our cats' health and the bad guys frequently say that more than 100 cats have died here because we are built on a dump. The factual story is that in the 1980's I loaned $80,000.00, on what was 40 ac of dry ground to a man named Wendell Williams. He paid on time, so I never had a reason to come look at the property again until he quit paying. When I came out to see why he wasn't paying, I discovered that he had dug out an 18 ac lake and hit a spring. He had been selling the dirt; made lots of money and moved on. I did foreclose on him to get the property. The other way he made money was by allowing construction crews to dump building materials here after tearing down buildings. It is concrete, lumber, sheet rock, and plastic piping for the most part that he buried. None of that stuff would pollute our lake, which is tested annually because of the tigers, nor would it pollute our ground water.
Don Lewis used to bring home everything he could buy: trucks, boats, planes, baby strollers, clothing, everything he saw at every yard sale and "treasures" he would find in dumpsters. He covered the top of this 40 acres with his hoarding. He went to Costa Rica once a month and every time he was gone, I was hauling out dumpster loads of the junk he brought home. The restraining order he applied for against me was in an effort to be able to stop me from hauling off all his "good stuff" if he got a call while in Costa Rica from someone ratting me out. His secretary told me about the restraining order and that this is why he did it after his disappearance in 1997. We never fought, so I didn't have any idea that he had done such a crazy thing. It has taken 15 years, but we have almost eliminated all of the junk. (Written 4/28/2013 to volunteers)
Our cats live almost twice as long as they do in the wild or in captivity any where else, so it is a ridiculous claim by those who hate us that 100 cats have died for that reason. 100 cats have died because we have rescued well over 200 cats, who were mostly older and in poor health, over a 20 year period. We are the only facility that I know of that posts our cats' deaths and keeps a memorial garden on site and online for everyone to see.
Photo is Jamie in her first rehab project for investment and rental after having installed a new kitchen and floor.
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.
3 Days in Charlotte, NC
with Howie visiting his brother, the Nimphies and attending Tigers 4 Tigers conference at Clemson.
Bloomfire Article about Carole Baskin of Big Cat Rescue
Carole Baskin is the founder and CEO of Big Cat Rescue, a nonprofit sanctuary in Tampa, Florida dedicated to exotic cats that have been abused and abandoned. We gave her a call to find out all about her life’s passion and the intertwined challenges of saving cats, keeping customers happy and running a successful business.
Zerve: Could you explain what Big Cat Rescue is, for anyone who hasn’t heard of it?
Carole: We are the world’s largest accredited sanctuary that is dedicated entirely to exotic cats. We rescue lions, tigers, leopards and more, and give them a permanent home.
Zerve: What kind of situations are these cats rescued from?
Carole: They come from the entertainment industry, some have come from fur farms where they were going to be slaughtered for their fur... a lot of them end up coming to us as pets, but it’s not that people go out thinking “I want to buy a tiger as a pet”; what happens is that people have their picture taken with a cute little tiger cub, but it’s only legal to do that — or USDA guidelines say you’re only supposed to do that — when the tigers are between the ages of 8 and 12 weeks. So as soon as those cubs are too big to handle, the breeders and dealers and exploiters of these animals start passing them off on people, saying “Oh, it’s been bottle-fed,” and “It’s been around people its whole life,” and “It’s going to be just like a dog,” and “It’s going to grow up in your family and love you.” And people believe it, but they get home with this cat that by the end of the first year is going to be 200 pounds, in the second year 300 pounds, by the fourth year 500 pounds... you just can’t get rid of it fast enough!
Zerve: I’m sure in some cases, that’s pretty dangerous.
Carole: Very dangerous, even when they’re small. If you have an infant — a lot of people think it’s so cute to have a little baby meet a little tiger cub — that tiger cub could take that kid’s fingers off!
Zerve: So when these cats get to your facility, they have the space that they need and the people with the expertise to take care of them?
Carole: Yes. We only have 10 paid staff, but we have over 85 volunteers and we’re on 55 acres, so when cats come to us, they stay with us for the rest of their lives. Our cages are known for being some of the largest in the sanctuary industry and have a lot of bushes and trees and ponds and stuff for the cats to do, so we try to just make their lives as comfortable as we can until they die of old age, which at Big Cat Rescue can be in their late teens and early twenties. Usually in most other places they only live to be 10 or 12.
Zerve: It’s impressive that you have so many volunteers; it sounds like people are really passionate about these cats.
Carole: Yes, but it’s not just that you can come in whenever you want to and volunteer — it’s very strict. They have to put in at least four hours a week and take all kinds of classes and there are different levels that they have to progress through. Everyone wants to work with lions and tigers, but they have to be a volunteer with us for two years taking care of small cats (like bobcats, servals and caracals) before we even let them get anywhere close to a tiger or lion or leopard cage, because those cats can kill you. And nobody has any physical contact with the cats, we don’t touch them at all here.
Zerve: Sounds like a good idea. I’d be terrified to get that close to a tiger!
Carole: Especially when they’re in a bad mood, oh my gosh! Your blood just runs cold when they jump at you or roar at you.
Zerve: So what exactly is your role at Big Cat Rescue?
Carole: I’m the founder and the CEO, but even I don’t have any contact with the cats unless there’s a situation where we have to net a cat for the vet to check him out.
The primary part of my job is activism. I’ve learned over the years that we can’t rescue our way out of the problem: sometimes we have to turn away 300 cats in a single year, because we can only take in five or six as our older cats die of old age. The only way we are going to fix this problem is by changing the laws. So I spend most of my time at a computer with www.catlaws.com, where we are covering general bills and bills in every state trying to ban the private possession of these animals. Because nobody needs a tiger in their backyard or basement, that’s just crazy.
In fact, in 30 minutes, I’m going to be catching a plane to go to Clemson University to lecture to all of the schools that have a tiger as their mascot. They are creating a coalition to save tigers in the wild, and I’ll be talking about how the cat population in America is what is driving the extinction of tigers in the wild, because it creates a smokescreen for a lot of illegal activity. That’s why we have to ban private possession if we’re ever going to save these cats in the wild.
Zerve: Could you talk about where your funding comes from?
Carole: It costs us about $1.5 million per year to take care of the hundred cats that we have. Just a single tiger, to give you an idea, costs over $10,000 per year just for the direct costs: that’s food and veterinary care, that doesn’t include any of the overhead. So about a third of the money comes from our tours – thank you Zerve! – about a third comes from our gift shop (onsite and online), and then the other third comes from donations.
Zerve: We love selling tickets for your tours — which is your most popular?
Carole: The most popular is the standard Day Tour, where most people come and spend an hour and a half walking around and meeting the cats. Our most beloved tour is our Keeper Tour: people take the two-hour tour, make stuff for the cats to play with, and then they get to see the cats get the toys, and they get a very educational experience. That’s the one that people seem to love the most, the Keeper Tour.
Zerve: And the rest of us get to see the cats play with the toys on your Youtube channel [http://www.youtube.com/user/BigCatRescue], which is fantastic!
Carole: Did you see our boxes video[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J11uu8L8FTY] that went up yesterday?
Zerve: I just watched that this morning!
Carole: I love that, the cats have so much fun with their boxes.
Zerve: Yeah, it’s incredible how much like little house cats they are! Your channel is really impressive. Do you have a pro video crew?
Carole: No, actually we have a fabulous intern program where interns come from all around the world and spend three months living on the property and working with the cats. And one of those interns named Chris Poole offered to do a couple of videos for us, and I was like “Oh, you are fabulous!” so we ended up hiring him, which was hard because he’s from the UK and we had to do the whole process of importing this person, but he’s been with us probably five years now.
Zerve: Big Cat Rescue is in many ways unique among businesses that Zerve works with, but are there any tips you’ve picked over the years that might be good advice to people running any small business?
Carole: I think the biggest thing is the oldest cliché in the world: the customer is always right. Whenever the question arises as to whether it’s okay to cancel a ticket or refund the ticket, and it’s like “Absolutely! Always make the customer happy! Give them the money back!” Even if they come out, take the tour and then complain, give them their money back. We want people to go away feeling like this was the best experience they’ve ever had, and I think if you go at it with that kind of attitude you’re going to have the kind of success that we’ve had. We’re unique at Zerve as a cat sanctuary, but in our world, among other sanctuaries, what makes us unique is that we are financially sound! You just don’t see that very often. Most places are struggling every single day to figure out how they’re going to feed their animals, and we’ve been very successful by adopting a policy of being as transparent as we possibly can and as accommodating as we can — without exploiting the animals.
Zerve: Right — especially in today’s socially connected world, it’s extremely important to have good word of mouth feedback.
Carole: It’s our number one source of referrals, word of mouth. We do a release form when people sign in and ask them how they found out about us. We have radio ads running and sometimes are on Animal Planet and the like, but the biggest publicity throughout our entire history has been word of mouth.
Zerve: Have any celebrities ever shown up to take your tours?
Carole: If you go to our website[http://bigcatrescue.org/celebrities/], you can see all the celebrities who’ve been here — probably one of the most well-known has been Bo Derek. We just had a member of Black Veil Brides and his girlfriend Juliette Simms, a finalist on The Voice, and she just recently did a celebrity auction of a bunch of her clothes for us.
Zerve: I imagine this might be hard to answer, but: do you have a favorite cat there?
Carole: I really don’t. I have a favorite species: I just love the personalities of bobcats more than all of the other cats. You know, tigers are just so cool and they just take everything in stride because they’re at the top of the food chain and they know it, whereas bobcats are just wicked! [laughs] I just love them, they’re so little and so tough and they have to prove it every day.
My Dad Was a Private Detective
When I was in grade school my father (Vern) was a Private Detective and our family believed in raising their own kids so after school, instead of ending up in daycare, I ended up on stakeouts with my dad. I learned to look for clues and to notice patterns in behavior. It has served me well, but this set of clues has me befuddled. As you know from the Safari Guide, Precious and The Great Pretender are litter mates who we rescued from an auction where they were being bid on by taxidermists. They were 6 months old when they came home with us in October of 1992. They were already vicious, so we never handled them when they were young.
It wasn't until 2010, when Pretender was being checked out for neurological issues that we discovered he had been declawed on the front and one toe had been declawed on the back. Well, that was weird, but we didn't think much of it. Then, back to back Precious ended up on the Observation Chart for a malformed claw and Pretender was on the chart for not eating. I created a video that is 23 minutes long that shows you the lengths we went to in order to clip Precious' nails, without sedating her. At 21 years of age, we really didn't want to sedate either of them because the sedation can be very dangerous.
Pretender's issue was not as easy to assess, so he had to be sedated for a full blood work up, sonogram and rotten tooth extraction. While Jamie and I were trying to wake him up, which took more than 6 hours, we began wondering aloud about why someone would have these two kittens, probably as pets, and yet one was declawed on the front, and one toe on the back and the other kitten had all her claws? Maybe Pretender had been declawed front and back and just had some grow back in.
Maybe the people realized after the surgery just how scary it is to sedate a cat (did they have to finish before they were done due to some emergency?) or maybe they just felt so bad about doing that to him, that Precious was spared? If they cared so much, then why would they offload the kittens at an exotic animal auction where taxidermists would bid on cats to turn into den decorations? Who knows?
What we do know is that Precious and The Great Pretender have lived long healthy lives here; thanks to all of you keeping such a close eye on them and because of the great care you give all of the cats.
Jamie and Dad had a great love of plants.
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.
Boris the Siberian Lynx
Most of you probably don't know him, but he was a kitten who had been rescued from a Fur Farm the same year as Raindance and Natasha. We had a friend, named Delores Newman, who had mostly leopards, but had a single Siberian Lynx, named Ginger. She had decades of experience and saved Hallelujah and Glory Glory the cougars’ lives when they were first rescued and taught us a lot. When she asked if Boris could come to her place to keep Ginger company, we agreed. But I adored Boris, so the deal we made was that they would spend 6 months together with us and then 6 months together at Delores' house. They moved back and forth for years.
Delores died just recently, but had been in failing health for years. For many years I paid the property taxes on her home so that she wouldn't lose it, but over the years we had lost touch. She was a breeder (dogs and leopards) and our philosophy had changed back in the 1990's. I had heard that all of her cats had gone to Amazing Exotics in Umatilla, FL which ended up being run by Ron Guay Holiday. You may remember him from Cat Dancers and from a TV show that chronicled how his gay lover and his wife were both killed by a white tiger about a week or so apart back in the 1990s. I asked around, but never could find Boris and Ginger until last year.
Last year we took a group of volunteers to visit Elmira’s Wildlife Sanctuary and I discovered that through a circuitous route, my beloved Boris and Ginger, had ended up there. I asked to bring them home to Big Cat Rescue, but Robin and her crew had grown to love Boris and Ginger over the years and wouldn't let them go. Now we help with the cats' financial support. Elmira’s Wildlife Sanctuary is not accredited, but they are trying to do the right thing for the animals. Today I will be giving my second tour to their entire board of directors and key staff. I made a little video for them of Boris when he was a kitten.
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.
Tribute to Willow the Siberian Lynx
5/6/94 - 1/3/2013 Arrived at Big Cat Rescue 6/1/94
Willow was born at a fur farm in Canada. We had bought all of the kittens the farm had and they were shipped here in crates so small that the kittens could not move. The little wire crates appeared to be full of sticky, smelly gray fur. We opened the crates and pulled out the contents, and found a group of soiled, starving, sick and stressed little kittens. None of them died in transit, which was a astounding, considering the condition in which they had arrived, but sadly several did not survive long after. Willow was always one of the skinniest and willowiest of the group and thus her name.
She was raised with Natasha and Alexander, the bobcat hybrid, and still remains one of the friendliest cats here. She shared her large grassy habitat with Natasha. They were often seen lying in the sun grooming each other’s beautiful fur coats.
Like all wild cats, Willow was stoic and showed no signs of being ill until she refused her food one night. The next day she seemed just too tired and stiff to move so she was taken in to the vet where she was found to be in the final stages of renal failure. She made it clear that she was ready to go. Natasha sleeps most of the time now and is a year older than Willow. When she is awake she seems to be looking for her old friend from her resting spot. We are heartbroken at the loss of Willow and even more so, to see Natasha looking so sad.
Photo circa early 2000’s of Carole and Natasha. We do not display photos of people touching cats after 2004.
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.
2012 Annual Report
Big Cat Rescue is more than just a place that provides permanent care for big cats. It is a movement; a change in the tide of human perceptions and is the combined effort of more than 79,000 supporters. If you are one of them, you are a Big Cat Rescuer and the following is the great work YOU did! If you haven’t helped yet, you can do so now at the top right of the screen or here: http://bigcatrescue.org/donate
Big Cat Rescue’s Mission Statement: Big Cat Rescue’s dual mission is to provide the best home we can for the cats in our care and educate the public about the plight of these majestic animals, both in captivity and in the wild, to end abuse and avoid extinction. We are Caring for Cats and Ending the Trade
Advances: With your help we are winning in the battle for compassion! Up until 2003 the number of requests for rescues we had to turn down due to lack of space or funds had roughly doubled every other year, to 312 that year. We feared it would double again to over 500 in 2004. Instead, it has steadily declined since then thanks to the passage of a federal bill and several state bills that restrict the ownership of exotic cats. This year there were “only” 85 big cats who came to our attention as being abandoned. Note that 69 of them came from failed pseudo sanctuaries. We were able to take in 7. We offered to take all of the cats who were cougar size or smaller, if their owners would contract to never own another exotic cat, but the rest refused. We just do not have enough Senior Keeper staff to take on more lions or tigers than the three we took this year.
Volgistics became our new time tracking service on Jan 1, 2012 and has replaced our use of Freshbooks. Everyone seems to like the big buttons and easy check in and check out process.
Animal Care: By the end of this year, 96 of our 101 exotic cats are over the age of 12; 80 of those are over the age of 15; and 19 of those are over the age of 20. This is well beyond how long they are designed to live in the wild and much older than most zoo cats. This is a testament to the excellent animal care we provide, but we are dealing with many more age related illnesses and are losing more of our big cat friends every year.
We use operant conditioning to enable much of our vet care without the necessity of anesthesia, which is very hard on the cats, but despite that, 43 of our animals had to be sedated for vet care in 2012. We also performed 6 Necropsies: (most performed for interns, all with Dr. Justin), had 4 high ticket Special Surgeries at Blue Pearl, had 2 intricate specialized surgeries by Dr. Hay, 4 on-site dentals by Dr. Peak and vaccinated 84 cats, in addition to countless trips to Ehrlich Animal Hospital to have the cats treated by our volunteer vet, Dr. Liz Wynn.
Rescues: With the help of some very special donors we were able to rescue 4 bobcats, two Savannah Cat hybrids and two kittens that were reported to be bobcats, but who turned out to be tail-less Manx. One of those bobcats was Rufus who came in to a Rehabber on Dec 5 weighing 4 lbs, with a broken jaw, split canine and comatose. They figured he had been hit by a car, but at 4 lbs couldn’t believe that he survived. After he woke up from the coma he was pretty loopy, but they figured the impact had done brain damage. They had to wire the jaw shut, tube feed him and removed the broken canine. He appeared to be blind and was having bad and frequent seizures, that ultimately cut his life short, but he touched all of us deeply.
On 12/12/12 we had another perfect USDA inspection.
3 of our Cat-a-Tats were expanded with room additions, four of them had major renovations and five tunnels were installed to join cages to give the cats more room, including our first overhead tunnels. We constructed new Outdoor Recovery Cage and made major renovations to the Hospital Recovery Cage. We provided emergency rescue for a fox and a hawk, in addition to the bobcats.
Education: Our website, BigCatRescue.org underwent a painful renovation from a static html site to a WordPress CMS site during 2010 and 2011. All of the page names had to be changed to fit the new system which meant a huge drop in traffic and initially a huge drop in inbound links, although, by the end of the year we had gained more than a thousand more inbound links than we had before, so it is going to prove a worth while move. The site has suffered some major issues and has had to be moved to larger and more powerful servers as our traffic is back up to about 1.5 million new visitors per year. Our website is primarily an educational tool and according to Alexa we are ranked 445,200 worldwide and 102,750 most visited website in the U.S. in 2012. We have 1,110 other sites linking to us.
Our web site addresses local and global concerns about environment and has over 9,213 pages of information, movie clips, sounds, safe interactive online games with a conservation theme and photos. In any given week the visitors will be from more than 200 countries outside of the U.S.
The information provided has helped wildlife rehabilitators identify animals and obtain proper care instruction, helped officials in smuggling cases to identify rare species of exotic cats being illegally traded and those are just a few of the ways that we know the site has had an impact this year.
We offer about 200 outreach and field trips per year and have committed to offering 12 of them for free each year to lower income schools, but have given 18 such free tours this year and expect that demand will continue to rise with the cost of transportation. Even when we offer the tours for free, many schools cannot come because they cannot afford the $200.00 fee for their busses. Our Education Department has been writing grant proposals to raise the money needed for the buses.
Big Cat Rescue has been in the press 125 times, in 42+ states including AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, GA, FL, HI, IA, ID, IO, IN, IL, KY, LA, MA, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, NC, OH, OK, PA, SC, SD, TN, VA, VT, WA, WI & WV and dozens of programs of national or international coverage or in countries other than the U.S.
Award Winning Sanctuary: Great Non Profit 2012 at Great Non Profits. We have received this award every year since they started awarding it in 2010 due to the many great reviews we get from visitors and donors each year. Named as Top Day Trip for Families. 2012 CBS Tampa ranks BCR as one of the top “Day Trips for Families” http://tampa.cbslocal.com/top-lists/best-day-trips-for-families-around-tampa/ Best Place to Work: Big Cat Rescue was nominated to The Tampabay Business Journal as one of the best places to work.
Legislation/Education: The steady increase in legislation banning private ownership represents recognition by our society that private ownership leads to massive abuse. Social values evolve. It took decades to ban slavery in England and for women to win the right to vote in America. Those ideas started out as “radical” and were held by a small minority. Gradually more and more people understood and agreed until they became a part of our value system that we take for granted today. The same trend is happening with private ownership of exotics. Gradually more and more people are realizing that this simply leads to widespread abuse of these animals. The best evidence of this is the accelerating trend in state laws. Just since 2005 nine more states have passed some level of ban. Sweden, Austria, Costa Rica, India, Finland, Bolivia, Greece, China, the UK and Singapore have all banned or restricted the utilization of big cats in circuses-it’s time for the U.S. & South Africa to do the same!
Wins for the Big Cats in 2012: Ohio Bans Private Possession of Most Exotic Cats: On June 5, 2012 the state legislature banned the private possession of dangerous wild animals, including most exotic cats. Those who have the animals must register them but cannot buy or breed more. The only exemptions for breeding are AZA accredited zoos (and ZAA for now, but that needs to change) and sanctuaries that are accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries can continue to rescue wild animals. Up until now Ohio was second (behind FL) in the nation for the number of killings, maulings and escapes by big cats.
• Oprah Announces No Fur in Her O Magazine: The October 2011 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine announced its decision to never feature real fur in the magazine and only use cruelty free materials in its stories, including no leather or exotic skins. This decision was broadly embraced by the readership.
• CA, West Hollywood Bans the Sale of Fur: West Hollywood, CA became the first city in the nation to ban the sale of fur. With a three to one vote (with one abstention) the City Council approved the ordinance. The rule faced opposition from the local Chamber of Commerce, whose main trade group, The Fur Information Council, happens to be based in West Hollywood. Nearly half of the 200 stores in town sell at least some fur items and it is estimated to account for approximately $2 million in revenue each year. The measure will take effect on Sept. 21, 2013.
• NY, New York City Bars Ban Fur Clad Customers: Bar owner Johnny Barounis, a vegetarian, refuses to allow patrons wearing real fur to enter his trendy bards in Manhattan. His bards include Revision Lounge and Gallery in the East Village, the Back Room on the Lower East Side, and Auction House and Fetch, on the Upper East Side. ”We tell people, you are welcome to come in, but the fur stays out” said Barounis.
• Holland: The Holland Circus will no longer include wild animals in their shows. Here is a link to the dutch article: http://www.nu.nl/binnenland/2992728/circus-renz-stopt-met-wilde-dieren.html
• UAE Ajman: Jan 2012 became the first emirate to ban the keeping of dangerous animals in private homes. Last July, a two-year-old girl was attacked by a lion cub in Ajman and had to be rescued by a maid.
• Greece: Feb 3, 2012 The Greek Government has banned the use of all animals in circuses following a campaign by ADI and the Greek Animal Welfare Fund (GAWF), backed by over 50 local animal protection groups across Greece. The new animal protection law also addresses a number of important issues concerning stray animals.
• Bogata, Columbia and Paraguay Ban Wild Animals in Circus Acts June 2012: Hot on the heels of the news last week that the Colombian capital Bogota is to ban all animals in circuses, Paraguay has announced a nationwide ban on wild animals in circuses. Animal Defenders Intenational (ADI) applauds Paraguay for becoming the latest country to ban the use of wild animals in circuses under Resolution 2002/12 passed this week by the Secretary of the Ministry of the Environment (Secretaría del Medio Ambiente). Since ADI launched a major undercover investigation of animals in circuses in South America in 2007, a series of bans have swept across the continent as Governments have acted decisively to end the suffering of these animals. Bans are in place in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and now Paraguay. Legislation for a ban passed its second reading in Colombia earlier this year and legislation for a ban is well advanced in Brazil.
• China July 20, 2012: Wildlife conservation and forestry departments of northeast China’s Heilongjiang province announced that visitors will soon not be allow to pay for pictures with Siberian tiger cubs in a tiger park.
When our CapWiz account came up for renewal on Dec 31, 2012 we switched to VoterVoice for our CatLaws.com site. At the time of the move we had 73,503 supporters in our AdvoCat database. We loved CapWiz, but VoterVoice promises all of the same great tools for half the price so we are going to try them out for 2013 and see how they compare.
Animal Abusers Exposed, Shut Down and / or Fined: Big Cat Rescue enabled several under cover operations to gather evidence of exotic cats being abused, bred without regard for where they may end up, violations of the Animal Welfare Act that pertains to the cruel treatment of big cats and endangering the public. This information was presented to the authorities along with affidavits and supporting evidence that we hope will bring an end to much of the suffering in the facilities we selected as being the worst abusers.
• Dade City’s Wild Things had complaints about shoving 8-12 week old tiger cubs in the pool and forcing them to swim with patrons who pay 200.00 that resulted in the Florida Wildlife Commission initially taking the position that it was not safe, but then the FWC reversed themselves and said DCWT may continue, what many people find to be cruel abuse, as long as they didn’t shove the cubs back in the pool if they climbed out. Now DCWT staff hold the poor cubs by their tails so that they cannot reach the side to climb out, but the FWC, despite numerous complaints, has failed to shut down these activities.
• Inside Edition exposed Joe Schreibvogel of GW Park and the fact that at least 23 tiger cubs died at his facility.
• The BBC’s Show called America’s Most Dangerous Pets with Louis Therous suggested their show should have been named, America’s Most Dangerous Pet Owners.
• Animal Planet’s Fatal Attractions interviewed Carole Baskin in Tigers Unleashed about dangerous exotic animal owners including Savage Kingdom’s Robert Baudy and Lost Creek where Haley Hilderbrand was killed by a tiger while posing with the cat for her high school yearbook photo.
It appears that USDA did not pursue any of the exotic animal abuse cases to conclusion in 2011 or 2012.
Fundraising and Marketing: Big Cat Rescue was reported favorably in the news 125 times in 2012. Some of our national press included shows on CNN, MSNBC, National Geographic, Animal Planet, Discovery and the History Channel in addition to such publications as USA Today, National Geographic and the New York Post and major media coverage in several other countries as well.
YouTube and Revision 3 were the big news this year. Revision 3, which is owned by Discovery, contacted us and asked us to be their first animal themed channel. Thanks to this partnership and cross promotions with Animal Planet, we are experiencing more than 1 million views per MONTH! By year end we had 359 videos and they received more than 15 million views in 2012. We ended the year with appx 53,000 subscribers and 53 million views. Check it out here http://www.youtube.com/bigcatrescue
YouTube Mini Clip Site: DailyBigCat was launched Nov. 20, 2010 to provide a channel for the mini clips we upload directly from our iPhones. By year end this site had 3,200 subscribers and 434,000 views. We surpassed 79,000 fans on Face Book. 2 of 363 million If you search “big cats” our site comes up in position 2 AND 3 out of 363 million competing sites. We also enhanced our presence on Care2.org and many other such sites. We now have 500+ contacts in our LinkedIn presence here: linkedin.com/in/BigCatRescue Our MySpace account now has 7,418 friends. myspace.com/1BigCatRescue Mavrix Photo began using our photos in Dec. 2012
Google awarded Big Cat Rescue a grant of $40,000 per month in free AdWords. People who love animals love to share their photos and stories. In 2008 Big Cat Rescue unleashed a Chat Big Cats community but in December of 2012 the underlying provider discontinued the free service.
Big Cat Rescue now has an Endowment Fund to provide a secure future for the cats. The Fund resides at the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay. We initiated a program with Capitol One so that you can choose one of our beautiful cats for your credit card image and 1% of all of your purchases will be donated to Big Cat Rescue at no cost to you.
We were the Diamond Sponsor for the Taking Action for Animals conference in Washington, DC where more than 1,000 animal activists converged to learn more about legislation to protect animals. We were a sponsor for Animal Coalition of Tampa’s Stride for Strays, as we are every year.
One of Jamie Veronica’s photos was accepted by the Fish and Wildlife Service for publication in their 2013 calendar.
We were interviewed by Animal Planet and featured as experts in their series, Fatal Attractions – Tigers Unleashed and another upcoming episode.
An article on Hope the bobcat was featured in Nat Geo Kids Magazine, with a teaser on the cover.
Saving Wild Places for Wild Cats: In 2012 Big Cat Rescue donated $1500 towards Panthera conservation programs and outfitting rangers in other countries on behalf of our volunteers.
Helping Others: After delivering a couple of free webinars for the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS), and hosting their first in person 2 day Workshop in 2011, Patty Finch asked if the board of GFAS could use our facilities for their meeting. We were delighted to meet the members of the board that we had not met before and were proud to show off Big Cat Rescue to all of them. Howard Baskin presented on our fundraising streams and the history of Big Cat Rescue and I shared how we use google Apps and how we manage over 100 top notch volunteers.
Big Cat Rescue provided our CatLaws.com service to Animal Coalition of Tampa in their efforts to send a powerful message to the Hillsborough County Commissioners on the subject of TNR. Trap, Neuter and Return.
As with every year we supplied Free Passes, Certificates for Feeding Tours and Keeper Tours, and Two For One Passes to many other animal causes to use in their fundraising efforts. We donate primarily to those organizations that are providing services to cats of all sizes. We do donate to some human related fundraisers as well, but animal causes make up 3% of all charities and yet compete for less than 1% of all donated dollars.
Then and Now: Below are the audited financial statements of Revenue and Expense for the past five years. We pride ourselves in keeping our fundraising and administrative total expenses below 20%. Because our tour revenue exceeds our fundraising and administrative costs, 100% of donations go to Program Expense.
The majority of the increase in Program Expense in 2012 was the cost of lawsuits we filed in furtherance of our mission against what we believe to be one of the most notorious exploiters of tiger cubs. We prevailed in the lawsuit in early 2013. Without the generous support of our donors we could not have sustained this successful effort. Thank you!
Officers and Members of the Board of Directors in 2012 and meetings:
• CEO and Founder Carole Baskin (not compensated by BCR)
• President and Chairman of the Board Jamie Veronica (not compensated by BCR for her role as a Director)
• Secretary & Treasurer Howard Baskin (not compensated by BCR for his role as a Director)
• VP Director Lisa Shaw (not compensated by BCR)
• Director Mary Lou Geis (not compensated by BCR)
• Pamela Rodriguez (not compensated by BCR)
• Darren Kipnis (not compensated by BCR)
• Keith Lawless (not compensated by BCR)
• Kim Mahoney (not compensated by BCR)
These members met for quarterly board meetings at the sanctuary. The board met 4 times in 2012.
Paid Staff:
• Operations Manager & Volunteer Coordinator Gale Ingham
• Staff Manager, Editor & Creative Director Jamie Veronica
• Gift Shop & Guest Services Honey Wayton and Kim Dever
• Project Manager Chelsea Feeny
• Education Director Willow Hecht
• Vernon Stairs Cage Builder and Maintenance
• Scott Haller Cage Building Apprentice and Maintenance
• PT Operations Manager and Videographer and Social Networking Chris Poole
• Director of Donor Appreciation Jeff Kremer
• Assistant to Operations Manager and Staff Relief Person Jennifer Flatt
• CFO Howard Baskin
• PR Susan Bass
• LaWanna Mitchell is an independent contractor who works remotely on web issues.
All of our animal care is done by volunteers or by staff who also volunteer time before & after work.
Volunteers: Big Cat Rescue had 93 volunteers at the end of 2012 who clocked in 37,715 man-power hours in addition to staff, 25 interns (12,700 hours) and 5,658 Volunteer Committee member hours. Volunteers and interns provided roughly the equivalent workforce of 24 more full time staff. Interesting breakdown of volunteers: We 93 volunteers; 75 women and 18 men. The youngest 20 years old, the oldest 84 years old. Between January 1, 2010 and September 10, 2012 Big Cat Rescue had 77 interns from 10 countries and 22 states.
Staff and Volunteer Training: We want to say a special thank you to all of our staff & volunteers who have just completed their 10th year of service to the cats. Several of our staff attended the Safe Capture Course, as we do any time they are in Florida.
Get our Financial Reports: See our IRS 990 and audited financial statement for Big Cat Rescue at http://bigcatrescue.org/finances/
Jamie Veronica Murdock Married Dr. Justin Boorstein, DVM. This was their Save The Date video and I love how creatively Jamie captured their years together before the wedding.
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.
Enya Cougar Chokes to Death
Enya the cougar was named for the singer because when my grandfather was dying in Hospice care at home, he said he loved listening to her on CDs. He died just days before Enya was born. For 15 years her name has been a bittersweet word on my lips. I loved that the singer gave my grandfather some comfort in his last months, but missed him every time I called to Enya the cougar.
Losing Enya was sudden and unexpected. She had been in what appeared to be perfect health and just the day before I had been watching her purring contently as I paused to talk about her with a tour group. She was found dead on 11/18/12 and a necropsy revealed that a strip of red meat was found lodged in her esophagus that may have caused her to asphyxiate. If this was the cause of her death it is a freak occurrence. There is nothing that could have been done to prevent it.
Cutting the red meat up into smaller pieces would not be the solution as the cats would be more likely to eat these smaller pieces much more quickly than when they take their time and chew the bigger pieces. The reason that we supplement their regular diet with chunks of beef and chicken is so that they can have the pleasure of gnawing at their food as they are hard wired to do. We will all miss her and the huge purring sounds that came from such a petite little cougar.
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.
Petition for Rule Making to Prohibit Public Contact with Cubs
Note from the future 7/10/2021 USDA is required to respond within three years and here we are 9 years later with no response. I nagged them again via email a few days ago.
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.
Escapes: People always ask if we have had escapes.
If you just say “yes” then you can be sure that they will want all the juicy details and that is the one thing they will remember and repeat from your tour. We have had escapes but no animal has escaped the property since back in the 90s. Your answer to that question can be, “not since the 90’s” or “not to my knowledge,” or “not since I’ve been here.” In any case, unless you were part of the rescue team who brought the cat back, it falls under our Code of Honor where we agree not to tell a story if it isn’t ours. If you are pressed for details, tell them to contact the founder at Carole.Baskin@BigCatRescue.org The same would true for questions about injuries.
Some of you have probably seen that the bad guys now use our Memorial site as a way of bashing us. We created the site and posted every cat who died on it because our volunteers wanted a way to share their grief with each other and the world. Now it is being used to harm us, but as much as I was opposed to a site that focused on grief, I am inclined to keep it going because we are unique in the fact that we are so transparent. I’ve never heard of any sanctuary, zoo or private owner posting a comprehensive list of every animal who died in their cages and I think it is a testament to the great care we give our cats that we do so.
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.
What Makes Big Cat Rescue the Cat's Pajamas?
Big Cat Rescue is the largest accredited sanctuary in the world dedicated entirely to abused and abandoned big cats. The nonprofit sanctuary began in 1992 and is home to more than 100 exotic big cats. The cats at Big Cat Rescue are here for a variety of reasons, including:
• Abandoned by owners who wrongly thought they would make good pets
• Abused by owners in order to force them to perform
• Retired from performing acts
• Saved from being slaughtered to make fur coats
• Rescued as babies after hunters killed their mothers
Big Cat Rescue has many species of cats, many of whom are threatened, endangered or extinct now in the wild, including: Tigers, Lions, Leopards, Cougars, Bobcats, Lynx, Servals, Ocelots, Caracals
Big Cat Rescue’s mission is to provide the best possible home for the animals in our care and try to stop the flow of exotic cats needing sanctuary by educating the public about the plight of the animals and supporting stronger laws to protect them. This award winning sanctuary is situated on 55 acres in the Citrus Park area of north Tampa. Our IRS Federal ID# is 59-3330495. Our 990s are available online at GuideStar.org with a complete breakdown of how your donations are spent.
We are:
• Accredited by the Global Federation of Sanctuaries
• Certified by Independent Charities of America as a “Best in America Charity”
• A Member of the World Society for Protection of Animals
• Rated 4 Stars by Charity Navigator (their highest rating) and has the highest score of any animal based charity
The high profile good that is being done by Big Cat Rescue has inspired awards such as:
PC Magazine Names Big Cat Rescue in Top 12 Favorite Charities 2011
Big Cat Rescue, which takes in retired circus lions and tigers, also rescues other big cats from people who tried to keep them as pets, and otherwise offers sanctuary to large cats that are not eligible for release into the wild. It’s focused on educating people about the unsuitability of the animals as pets, working toward passing laws against roadside zoos, and shutting down breeding programs like the exotic pet trade. They also take in injured wild cats and rehabilitate them for release. The group has a video cam set up in the sanctuary, and they regularly post videos of the big cats. The cats eat a massive amount every day, naturally, so Big Cat Rescue relies on donations and paid tour groups to support them.—Arielle Rochette PC Magazine
Thanks to all of you who voted for Big Cat Rescue, we won the People’s Choice Award at the WEDU Be More Awards! Big Cat Rescue won against 90 contenders for the People’s Choice Award. WEDU has a viewing audience that includes 16 central Florida counties. Big Cat Rescue has won this award three years in a row, validating to us that many of your share our vision.
2011 Winner in Toyota’s 100 Cars for Good Big Cat Rescue was given a beautiful Toyota Tundra for being the top voted charity during their competition week.
9/2/2011 The Tampa Bay Business Journal awarded Big Cat Rescue in 3 categories: Best Black Tie Event Favorite Retreat and Team Building Venue and Second Best Fundraiser
With awards and recognition like these Big Cat Rescue has enjoyed the support of celebrities from all walks of life. They have either visited, donated, helped further our mission or have done all three! A few you might know are:
Animal Planet’s Ms. Adventure, Jane Goodall, Bill Murphy, County Commissioners, Congresswoman Castor, NY Yankees, Sue Zelenko, Arch Deal, Tim Harrison, Jethro Tull, 2008 Pageant Queens, Bo Derek, Tippi Hedren, Tampabay Bucs, Harrison Ford, The Lightning, Kate Walsh, Jim Fowler, Paul Parmar, Jack Hanna, Doug Williams, 717 South, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Harris, Hell’s Kitchen, Mary Poppins, Jersey Boys, Barbara Niven, Donna Vivino of Wicked, & Chadd & Kristi
The sanctuary receives no government support and relies on its educational activities, such as tours of the facility, and the generosity of donors for support of the cats. Donations are tax deductible. Because non program expenses (i.e. administration and fundraising) are funded from tour income, 100% of your donations go directly to support the cats.
Use of technology, which not only saves time, increases our ability to track a multitude of things and improve the health checkups the cats get by updating that information on a daily basis.
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.
Tribute to Skip the Bobcat
On 9/13/12 Skip the bobcat was discovered having a violent and prolonged seizure and foaming at the mouth. Dr. Wynn was contacted and the staff were instructed to give him medication that would hopefully ease the seizure. Unfortunately his seizure was too severe and he died shortly after. Gale gave him chest compressions and Jamie gave him mouth to mouth resuscitation to try and revive him to no avail.
We searched his enclosure for snakes, poisonous frogs, and any other clues that may have caused this reaction. We found one dead toad with a hole in his abdomen and are working to identify it. We will be performing a necropsy to see if we can discover the cause of his death. Blood samples have been taken to Dr. Wynn. Jamie is driving him to the University of Florida for a necropsy because of the concern for rabies, since he was foaming at the mouth and she was giving him CPR. He's been vaccinated, but we have to take every precaution.
Skip was much loved by a huge community including our volunteers. I am trying to contact each of the SkipAHolics by private message and ask that they do not post to facebook or social sites, including the SkipAHolics group for at least 2 days to give our volunteers time to find out from checking their Big Cat email.
Since we usually ask that our people wait a week before broadcasting such news in order that their fellow volunteers do not find out in ways that diminish their importance as onsite caregivers, Jamie emailed everyone at BigCatRescue.org with this notification in the hopes that they check their Big Cat email daily. Please do not post anything about Skip, or even hint of his passing until 9am EST Sunday Sept. 16. 2012 so that our volunteers do not find out the hard way by checking into Facebook.
Thank you for caring so much about Skip and all of our animals. I must say that Skip looked the picture of health today and that was largely due to your loving thoughts and care. If it turns out he died hunting toads, at least he was being who he was designed to be; a magnificent predator.
To see videos of Skip go to http://bigcatrescue.org/2011/skip-cam-episodes
Skip's Rescue: I was right in the middle of sending an email to LaWanna about some promotions she was dreaming up for the ChatBigCats.com site when Honey Wayton, our gift shop manager called and relayed an urgent message.
A woman had called to say they had found a bobcat alongside the highway and had it loose in their SUV and wanted to know what to do next because it was getting pretty mad.
Obviously this was their first bobcat rescue, because no one makes that mistake twice. I called the woman who said her name was Nici and she said that the bobcat laying alongside the road had caught her eye. Her husband, Skip had chased him down with a blanket, scooped him up and put him in the back of the car. He was dragging his back end, so the chase wasn’t much of a challenge, but picking up a VERY mad bobcat made him a fury of claws and teeth.
Nici said they were two blocks from their home and that they could just leave him in the car for us to deal with, if we wanted. As I frantically brought up a map to see that she was 2 and a half hours away, I didn’t think that was a great idea. I asked if she had a pet carrier that they could just plop the blanketed cat into before he fully regained his senses.
She didn’t but her friend Lorie did. Turns out that all three of them had visited Big Cat Rescue in the past and were eager to do anything they could to help save this skinny, crushed little bobcat. My instructions had been to completely envelope the cat in thick blanketing and take the top off the carrier, if necessary, to accommodate the entire bundle, and then bolt the top back on. I don’t know why that didn’t work for them, but I called Nici back a few minutes later, after starting Jamie on her way to Mt. Plymouth, and Nici said, “I hope you guys will name this bobcat Skip, after my husband because he is so brave!”
Slashing teeth and claws be danged, Skip had managed to get a grip on the bobcat’s scruff and lifted him into the carrier. Even though Lorie had brought over a German Shepherd sized crate the bobcat managed to go spread eagle over the entire door making it a real effort to push him into the pile of blankets in the carrier. Kind of like baptizing a cat in a cereal bowl.
They covered him up and waited with him while I called every vet I could find between there and Tampa. My concern was that the cat would go into shock before we could get him to a vet here, so I just needed someone to do a preliminary check and stabilize him. By the time I had called a dozen vets and a couple of rehabbers two hours had passed and Jamie was nearly there.
Our old van is a 1998 and has seen better days. It was shuddering so badly that Jamie Veronica had taken it into a station to check the tires but they were OK and the shudder happened even when sitting still. I’m no mechanic, but sounded like a rod knocking to me and I was sweating whether or not the van would even make it to the Mt. Dora area, NW of Orlando.
Once I gave up on finding a vet near the bobcat, or even on the way home, who would give him the courtesy of even the most basic care, which I assured them I would pay in advance if necessary, I began to try and sort out what to do when he arrived in Tampa.
If Jamie didn’t break down, she and the bobcat should be back in town around 6 pm. Our primary vet, Dr. Wynn had a previous engagement hosting a dozen people at 6pm. I asked if I should contact Florida Veterinary Specialist or our secondary vet, Dr. Dave Murphy. Dr. Wynn said she would call her clinic and see if Dr. Dave Danielson might be willing to look at the bobcat. He had worked with native bobcats before that we brought in, and was willing to help.
Another frantic call from Honey and Howard and I were on our way to the sanctuary to give tours. We have a Free Teachers promotion going on and instead of having 2 or 3 groups of twenty showing up at 3pm we had 9 such tour groups yesterday and it turns out 12 groups today including a wedding. It was the biggest single day the sanctuary has ever had. It was probably good timing because otherwise I might have made Jamie crazy by calling every five minutes and asking, “Where are you now?”
During one such call Jamie said she would need me to bring the squeeze cage to the vet’s office. How we were going to get the bobcat out of the carrier and into the squeeze cage was yet to be determined, but getting it there was the first step. As soon as my tour ended I trotted across the parking lot to the on site West – Boensch Cat Hospital. I chatted with Jack, who was recovering in the hospital from a nasty accident he had with the front gate, while I loaded the squeeze cage into my truck. Jack is doing fine and is living proof that cats do have nine lives.
I ordered pizzas for pick up because I knew Jamie hadn’t eaten since this morning and didn’t know if the vet and his staff would be skipping dinner to fit this bobcat, now named Skip, into their already hectic evening schedule. Jamie already had Skip inside and he was well on his way to a long, deep sleep by the time I arrived. She said they had tipped the crate up on end and hand injected him through the grated door. Within only a couple of minutes he was sleeping…or so we thought.
On the x-ray table he began blinking and trying to sit up, so he got a little more ketamine and went back to sleep. The first x-ray showed the crushed pelvis and Dr. Danielson asked if we wanted to go any further as this was going to be a lot of major surgery with limited hope of recovery. I told him we had spent more than $7500 on the last bobcat who needed plates, so we were willing to spend the money as long as the cat didn’t have any cat-killer diseases that would make him unfit for release. The blood tests were done and he had a clean bill of health so the only other obstacle, which was determined later during a sonogram was that he has internal bleeding and his spleen may be beyond recovery. Only a couple days of quiet rest and careful observation will let us know if he is going to live long enough to have the work done.
The vet tech Heather pulled ticks off Skip while Jamie checked his ears for mites, his fur for fleas and Dr. Danielson powdered his raw, purple rump, bruised badly from the impact. Judging by his pearly white fangs we guessed his age to be around two years old and while finely muscled, he only weighed a mere 17 lbs.
After consulting Dr. Wynn by phone, Dr. Danielson decided to take a lot more x-rays and did all of the other work, such as flea treatment and tests, so that in a couple of days, if the spleen is still operational, Skip could go to FVS for the precision plating and pinning necessary to give him full mobility.
We waited to make sure he would wake up OK from the anesthesia, which he did rather quickly, and then covered him up to rest quietly in the dark over night. Being a wild cat, close proximity to humans is very agitating. His whole life has been based upon the knowledge that man is to be avoided at all costs.
If Skip makes it through the night we may set up cameras to monitor him tomorrow so that he isn’t being exposed to constant stress. I am very thankful for all the love that has been focused his way and if love can mend a broken bobcat, then Skip will surely be ready to run free again soon.
Skip's Facebook Fans: Skip the Bobcat became a Facebook Phenomenon over the New Year’s Week of 2010-2011 You can join the conversation at http://www.facebook.com/bigcatrescue Big Cat Rescue’s posts are in bold, followed by Skip’s 193 pages of well wishes from his Facebook fans. His chat window on UStream was even more voluminous, but is deleted each time the system resets, so we were unable to capture it.
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.
Nikita Lion is NOT a Barbary lion
She only has two of the 17 DNA markers typical of the Barbary or Atlas Lion. The Barbary lion is extinct in the wild and only three have been identified as being a high probability of Barbary or Black maned ancestry. WildLink International looked at 327 lions who exhibited common signs of Barbary, such as bigger, darker manes, bigger bodies overall, black ticking on the golden fur, etc. and determined that only two males and Sarabi the lone female were even close to the Barbary lineage.
Sarabi had 14 of the 17 DNA markers, making her the closest living example of a Barbary lion. Sadly, Sarabi, died of cancer in 2007, so there are no legitimate breeding programs. There are many backyard breeders who claim to be breeding Barbary lions and even Wikipedia has a false claim of Barbary cubs in 2010 in Texas, but WildLink International had folded long before then when the King of Morocco died and no legitimate organization has pursued the quest to bring back this extinct species.
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.
July 2012 Carole presented this at the Taking Action for Animals conference in Washington, D.C.
One person can be the cat-alyst for change. If you are sitting in this audience, YOU might be the kind of person who has the passion to overcome the impossible in order to help save thousands, or millions of animals. Rose Church is one of those people.
How many of you have heard about Tony the tiger who has been kept at a Louisiana truck stop for the past decade?
How many of you have heard of, or recognize Ian Somerhalder from the Vampire Diaries?
Ian Sommerhalder
Rose Church is a pro bono attorney for the Ian Somerhalder foundation and she wanted to get Ian involved in freeing Tony the tiger. Ian has 2,300,000 followers on Twitter and she thought that getting him to Tweet about Tony might help raise awareness about Tony the truck stop tiger. She contacted me to ask what Ian could ask his followers to do.
Even though we get more complaints about Tony than any other single situation and have been working to free him for the past decade, we had exhausted our ability to do anything. We had hired the tiger a lawyer and had shown up with plenty of supporters to testify, but it had become obvious that the state of Louisiana was not going to do anything. USDA has revoked the license to display the tiger, but that rarely seems to stop exhibitors from exhibiting.
The ALDF (Animal Legal Defense Fund) had continued the fight in the only venue left, which was the legal system. Court cases wind their way through the system like a river of molasses so there wasn’t much anyone could do. It seemed like the whole world already knew about Tony, so having Ian Tweet his audience didn’t seem like a terribly productive thing to do. If we had the help of a celebrity we told Rose that he could make a far great impact for thousands of tigers like Tony by educating his fan base about the issue that causes so many tigers and other big cats to end up being bred, exploited and discarded.
The underlying cause for almost all of this suffering is cub petting.
I explained to Rose that it was big business in the U.S. for breeders to charge the public to pet or pose with big cat cubs. One claims to have made $23,000 in a single weekend at a mall, charging people to have interaction with the cubs and / or have their photos made with the cubs. The breeders and dealers were doing these pay to play sessions with older lions and tigers up until the death of a high school student named Haley Hildebrand.
Thanks to pressure from the media and then the public, the USDA issued a FAQ sheet suggesting that cubs under 8 weeks should not be used this way. In a separate appellate court case the judge ruled that cubs over the age of 12 weeks were too dangerous for such interaction. The unintended result was creating a loophole whereby breeders could still charge customers to touch cubs who were between 8-12 weeks old. That resulted in massive breeding in order to have profitable cubs to use. Since their shelf life was only 4 weeks, breeders decided to produce lion and tiger cubs every month so that they would always have “legal” age cubs to use.
Rose could hardly believe her ears. First of all, she had never seen these mall exhibits where tiger breeders set up shop and offer cubs as photo props all day over a four day weekend. Second, she couldn’t believe that USDA hadn’t done something to close that 4 week window they had created.
It can be anything from fixing a broken toy to curing some social ill; have you ever had one of those moments where you see a situation and think to yourself, “I can fix this.” This was Rose’s moment. She said to herself, “I can do something about this!”
Rose figured there at LOTS of animal protection groups out there and if they all worked together they could fix this thing. But, she doubted that anyone would listen to her if she made the suggestion that they do so. She took the information to her professor from Law School, Diane Sullivan because she knew that Dean Sullivan had her own animal law television show and a lot of clout in the animal protection community. She figured that if Dean Sullivan were to ask the big animals groups to come together that it might actually happen.
Rose asked me who the big players are that care about tigers. That was an easy question because I had been part of a team of more than 40 such organizations who worked together as the International Tiger Coalition. The ITC had been formed primarily to end the tiger farming in China, but time and again the hurdle was that China would resist our suggestions by pointing out the fact that the U.S. doesn’t even know how many tigers we have nor where they are nor how they are being housed. I gave her the names and contact info for the people who I felt had been most involved in the ITC and who could work well together.
Rose contacted IFAW, the International Fund for Animal Welfare and went over the list to get further input on who would be willing to work together on the tiger issue. The result was a round table meeting in D.C. at IFAW in July 2011. At the table were the International Fund for Animal Welfare, the Humane Society of the United States, Born Free, the World Wildlife Fund, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, the Wild Cat Conservation Legal Aid Society, World Council for Animal Rights, the Dean of the Massachusetts School of Law, Ian Somerhalder Foundation, the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries and Big Cat Rescue. Combined we represent more than 18 million supporters.
I’ve been a part of other animal welfare coalitions but this group has worked better together than anything I’ve ever seen before. The meeting was hugely successful and we got to the root of the tiger problem: cub petting. In your conference bags you will find a four page summary of the Tiger Handling Crisis. There is another page of citations used for the document that we are providing online at BigCatLaws.com
What the group concluded was that we can’t save wild tigers as long as there is such unregulated trade in captive tigers who provide a legal smoke screen for illegal activities such as poaching. China has made the argument that they should be allowed to farm tigers for their parts to fill the demand, but there will always be a demand for the “real” tiger; the “wild” tiger and expanding the market through farming tigers will only result in them being exterminated more quickly in the wild.
Right now there are more tigers in back yard cages in America than are left in the wild. It is thought that there are less than 3200 tigers left in the wild and at last count, by USDA, there were about 5000 tigers in USDA facilities. Only about 200 of those are AZA zoos, so the rest are in roadside zoos, circus acts, and back yards; and that is just the ones who voluntarily reported and who hold USDA licenses. For those who are not licensed by USDA, the people who own them as pets, there has been no census done.
As the group looked at the situation in the U.S., it became apparent that the number one cause for so many tigers to end up in deplorable conditions was the very lucrative cub petting industry. Two factors made this abuse possible.
Back in the 1980s white tigers became all the rage. White tigers would sell for $60,000 because the public was so enamored with seeing this freak of nature. What the zoos kept quiet was the fact that the only way to create that white coat was through purposely inbreeding, father to daughter, mother to son and brother to sister. Over time the cubs became more and more genetically impaired, suffering from club feet, open spines, crossed eyes and badly formed bones and teeth. Before long the Bengal tigers were so inbred that they were no longer reproducing or cubs were being born dead. But the public demanded to see white tigers, so the zoos started hybridizing Bengal tigers and Siberian tigers to continue the inbreeding a few generations more.
So many zoos and backyard breeders were cross breeding tigers that the USFWS decided it wasn’t worth their time to process the captive bred wildlife permits that are required for endangered species, so they created the “generic” tiger loophole. What this did was allowed zoos and private owners to breed non purebred tigers with no oversight and the tiger population exploded in the U.S.
The other factor that made it so easy for tigers to be bred and used as photo and petting props was that even though USDA had inadvertently created a four week window, between 8 and 12 weeks when cubs could be petted by the public, they had no way to enforce it because they do not require any sort of registration of tigers and rely almost entirely on what the tiger owner tells them as to the age of the cub or why the cub was taken from their mother. The same person who claims to make over $20,000 in a good weekend at the mall had 23 tiger cubs die over the span of just a little over a year, but to date the USDA has done nothing about it.
So, the coalition decided on a three prong approach to ending the abuse of tigers:
Close the generic tiger loophole at the USFWS
Ask USDA to close the 4 week window of cub petting
A federal bill that ends the breeding and trade in big cats outside of AZA zoos
Only a year has passed since one person arranged for a bunch of animal protection groups to work on this and we have good news so far:
The USFWS has put the suggestion of closing the generic tiger exemption out on the Federal Register for public comment and more than 14,000 commented in favor of doing so. The rule hasn’t been made final, but the government moves slowly.
We met with USDA, presented the Cub Handling Crises flier you have, along with the citations and the concurrence of 20 zoo vets who agree that cub petting should be banned. Unfortunately, the USDA has taken the position that they do not have the power to close the window. They made it; they should be able to close it, but they are unwilling, so we are still working on that one. For the most part their attitude seems to be that they don’t think it is a big enough problem because they don’t hear about it much. With your help we can fix that!
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.
Cats We’ve Offered to Take
Some cats you might never meet are those that we are asked to take but who never end up here because their owners would rather send them somewhere awful than to contract with us to never own another exotic cat. The following are just the ones so far in 2012.
1/26/12 A Serval is “found” wandering and a man emailed and asked if we would take the cat. When I told him that we would need him to contract with us not to own another exotic cats he responded by saying he had sent it to the Conservator’s Center in NC.
5/1/12 Holly MacCluen said she found a Savannah Cat and asked us to take her. We were able to convince her to keep the cat herself.
5/3/12 Kate Carpenter said she thought she had bought a Savannah Cat, but it turned out to be a Serval and she wasn’t licensed to keep it in FL. We offered to take her if Kate would contract with us not to own another exotic cat but she responded by saying she sold the cat to Drinkwater Cattery in Hudson, FL to use for breeding more hybrids.
5/20/12 An 80 year old woman in MI has a pet serval that she can’t care for any more so a friend of hers contacted us to see if we would take him. We said we will, if they will contract with us not to own another exotic cat, but so far they haven’t done so.
6/8/12 John Culbertson in Ohio responded to the new law that will require him to register his animals in order to keep them by trying to unload them. He is trying to dump 2 tigers, 2 lions and a cougar. We have asked if he will contract to never own exotic cats again, but he has not responded.
6/10/12 We were not contacted in advance about this tiger, but on ExoticAnimalTV.com Joe said that he just rescued a starving 17 year old tigress from a pet owner in CA. Thinking she is a purebred Sumatran tiger (very unlikely) Joe said he wants to get cubs from her before she dies.
We had also offered to take the bobcat and cougars from the Collins Zoo raid last year, but they went to Carolina Tiger Rescue and Wildcat Sanctuary. In reading their newsletters I see that there is some concern that the Collins Zoo owner may be able to get the cats back. I can’t even imagine how awful it would be to rescue animals from conditions like this photo and be compelled by the court to send them back.
6/14/12 We were asked to take a Jungle Cat hybrid by the "Bengal Cat Rescue" group because they said she had come, along with a number of hybrids from a hoarder. We said we would take her just to keep her from ending up back in the trade, even though we typically do not rescue domestic hybrids. They took issue with the fact that we do not condone the trade in hybrids and said they would find her another place, more in line with their beliefs. The cat bites, sprays and is by their own description far too wild to be kept as a pet, so they might change their minds.
Above is from volunteer newsletter today.
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.
Crazy Horse Bobcat Dies
Thanks to some of the very best volunteers in the industry and the processes we have in place for noting changes in our cats, Crazy Horse was observed to be off his food and acting strange about 3 weeks ago. To look at him, you couldn't see the mass in his armpit, until he was sedated and laid out on his back. The mass was the size of a grapefruit, and was purple and red from infection. We sent out samples for testing, but were pretty sure the results would come back as cancer. We wondered if it would be kinder to him to just put him out of his misery right then, rather than wait for test results and subject him to being confined in the Cat Hospital. At the age of 17, we feared his life would soon be cut short and we were torn as to what would be best for Crazy Horse. We opted to wait a few days and see. The tests came back mixed. Three tests. Three different results.
Meanwhile he had been on antibiotics for the infection and living in the West Boensch, onsite Cat Hospital, under the every vigilant watch of the Skip-A-Holics and our staff. We thought he would try to kill himself to escape the hospital cages, but turned out to be a very patient patient. He got his name because he is about half crazy and has never liked being anywhere near people.
About a week ago, he was re-evaluated by the vets to see if the antibiotics had helped. The swelling had gone down to about the size of an orange and all of the red and purple coloring had returned to healthy flesh tones. He was on the mend, but we still didn't know if the mass were an abscess or cancer.
On May 31, we took him in to see Dr. Wynn at the Ehrlich Animal Hospital. We had some cause to be hopeful, as he appeared to have gained a little weight, but he had been refusing to eat off a plate. He would only eat if fed from a stick, so we wondered if perhaps the mass was putting pressure against his throat or chest and causing the discomfort. As you can see in the photos below, the mass had continued to shrink a bit. It was the size of a small orange and moved pretty freely, so Dr. Wynn felt that she could surgically remove the mass, and we opted to try.
Three hours later, the mass had been separated from all of the muscle and blood supply lines, and the incision was sewn and stapled shut. I have a picture of the mass, which was the size of Dr. Wynn's palm, but it was just too gruesome to post here. During the exam Dr. Wynn had discovered a bad tooth, so as soon as Crazy Horse's armpit was sewn up he was rushed to another surgery suite to have the tooth removed and a flap made over the hole. To keep him from chewing at the staples, which come out in a week or so, he was fitted with an e collar. The mass is being sent out again to see if we can get consistent results this time on the whole thing instead of just the biopsies.
We don't know how much time this has bought for Crazy Horse. We are always ambivalent about these kinds of procedures. On the one hand, cancer is often an exotic cat's get-out-of-jail-free card because we don't want to submit them to traumatic surgery, nauseating cancer treatment drugs and only have them live a few months in misery. On the other hand we have removed tumors and had cats live another year of a pretty good life where they seemed happy up until the end. It's always a tough call and we make each one based upon what we believe would be in the best interest of the cat involved.
We appreciate that your support makes it possible for us to make those hard decisions entirely upon the best interest of the cat and not out of a lack of funding or a lack of understanding.
Just as I finished writing this our Operations Manager called me to tell me that Crazy Horse the bobcat has died. And now I sit here wondering; did we do the right thing? Should we have put him to sleep three weeks ago? Did we just make his last three weeks miserable by keeping inside the Cat Hospital? Or did we all have to go through all of the past 3 weeks and the surgery to make sure we were doing the right thing for Crazy Horse? If he had lived another year, we would have been glad to have done it, but to have him die so soon only adds to the pain involved in making this decision for him and for others in the future.
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.
Backyard Bobs and Crazy Bobs
For those who attended our last Volunteer Appreciation Day you might remember that one of the questions was to name the three big fur farm rescues by year and number of cats saved. The answer was 1993 - 56 cats, 1994 - 28 cats and 1995 - 22 cats. You know the cats from 1995 as The Backyard Bobs and The Crazy Bobs. What you might not know is how they got those gang names.
The fenced area where guests wait for their tour used to be the backyard of what was Carole's house in 1995. Friendly cats all lived together there and included The Backyard Bobs, Little Feather, Raindance and others. Apache and Divinity were part of the Backyard crew. They came and went from the backyard to a fenced area inside what is now the main gift shop room.
Cats who had been raised by their mothers at the fur farms were wilder and lived together in a group called The Crazy Bobs. They came and went via a pet door into a separate bedroom of the house. Selena, Crazy Horse, Levi, and Tiger Lily were all part of the Crazy bob crew. I don't remember how it happened, but as some point Selena ended up in the Backyard crew because even though she doesn't care for people, she loved Takoma, Apache and Divinity. We couldn't catch Selena to return her to the Crazy Crew, because she is such a little wildling, but it turned out for the best. It's a love affair that has lasted 17 years.
Photo was circa 1996-1997.
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.
From Cathy C yesterday: Hello Carole and Patty!
I hope your travels to Columbus went smoothly and that you are getting settled into your hotel. Fortunately the weather is pretty nice here today, though it's supposed to thunderstorm tonight.
I will be taking you around to your appointments tomorrow. You may need to bear with me because I am not an old hand at getting around the Statehouse, but our legislative appointments are all in the Riffe Building, which is the tall building across High Street from the Capitol. That is pretty easy to get around once you figure out the elevator system.
How about I pick you up at your hotel at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow morning? We can make the short drive to the Capitol, which has underground parking, then walk to the Riffe. That should be plenty of time to get us to our 9 a.m. appointment. The hearing is 3-5 p.m. and again starting at 7 p.m. I'll have to leave you all briefly at 5 p.m. for an appointment to talk about this bill with my own House representative, but I can meet up with the group for dinner wherever you all decide to go. My husband, Paul Becker, and I will both be testifying again, hopefully during the 7 p.m. time since he has to be at University of Dayton every day this week.
As for tonight, if you are up for it, the Short North is a short distance from downtown and has tons of restaurants, shops, small businesses, etc. Northstar has the best black bean veggie burger in the country (IMHO), and Z Pizza next door has a great vegan and vegetarian pizza. Glad you all are here, and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow!
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.
HSUS flew me to Ohio
to weigh in on the big cat ban following the Zanesville massacre. (Did I mention that I coined that phrase the day after the event? The media ran with it and now everyone refers to it as the Zanesville Massacre)
Holiday Inn Columbus Downtown Capital Square Confirmation number: 65094014
Best Flexible Rate 2 Double Beds Non-smoking Upload Pictures From Department: Ohio State Director (000-0-414 OH State Director), Purpose of Trip--Be Specific: SB 310 Exotic Pet Hearing in House - witness, Project Code: 00-12094 Ohio Ballot Measure, Reimbursed by another Org.?: No, Is this a consultant?: no
Mon 7-May-12 and Thu 10-May-12 at 175 E Town St Columbus, OH 43215 United States of America 1 (614) 221-3281 Fax 1 (614) 221-5266
Joe Schreibvogel and his minions were all over me at the hearing. Patty was a great ally during all of that. This is her recollection of that attack:
“We were there to testify on behalf of the legislation after the Zanesville event. Joe shoved a microphone in front of my face, with his camera man recording, and said something like I'm here to interview you. I said, condescendingly (which is very atypical of me, but I wanted to get rid of him) "ME? Be interviewed by YOU?" and he said "Perfect! That's just what I wanted. Perfect." and they left...* almost ran away. I think he was embarrassed. There were four undercover cops assigned to us, and the woman from HSUS was with us, and I believe she had been threatened by them, her life threatened, by I don't know if that was by email or what.
And then in mid 2014, Joe made a threat, I forget via what means, about going to a conference that I was going to speak at and something about me being careful or something like that or maybe he just said he'd see me there. I forget. It was probably in one of his videos. It was enough that my husband put his foot down about me attending and speaking, because it was the last thing I was going to do as Executive Director. So Kelly went instead, though I had filled her in. The conference was on government property and I guess I or someone sent a letter to homeland security about it, or to the the local sheriff, and they sent it on to Homeland security. Anyway, someone told them the names of his thugs that were going to be there with him.
As it turns out, only they came (not Joe) and Homeland security was watching for them and surrounded the car, had them get out, searched the car and told them to leave and that if any of them stepped foot on federal property (that day?), they would be arrested. I don't know if the GFAS files might have some letters on file about that. Deb Leahy at HSUS Wildlife Dept might remember. She was at the conference. It was held in conjunction with the USDA I believe. That was the conference where Kelly said something (that I think Joe broadcast about later I think) about sanctuaries in it for the money....which was a total distortion, of something she said.
And remember, Joe sent a letter to all the GFAS sanctuaries bashing you. I don't know if any of them might still have it, or if GFAS kept a copy. If I can help further or you have questions, feel free to ask. Sorry my memory isn't better!” - Patty
*Joe and crew ran because I was coming in between Patty and them and had blood in my eye. I wasn’t going to stand for them intimidating this sweet, little woman.
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.
Rufus Bobcat is Just Too Cute! In case you haven't reached cuteness overload yet! Rufus the bobcat kitten cuddles a toy as he settles in for a nap after a long day of exploring outside. A few days ago Big Cat Rescue helped 2 bobcat kittens in Fresno, CA. They had been taken from a den because the person thought their mom had been killed. We were able to find California wildlife experts who are working to either reunite the mom and kittens, or they will raise them for release if she doesn't come back for them. We called our friends at the rehab center in Ramona which is run by the Humane Society of the United States. Ali runs the facility and does a lot of bobcat work, but she was 5 hours away, so she called Cathy Garner, the Founder of the Fresno Wildlife Rehab center, which is right next to where the kittens were found. On April 18, Cathy contacted us saying, "Hello All, We are supposed to meet Kevin tonight and get the two orphaned bobcats from him at that time. We have successfully rehabbed many bobcats in the past and have the legal permits to do that. Thank you for your assistance in connecting Kevin with our rehab." It is only because of you who show up to help clean, feed, lead tours, train volunteers and do all of the hard work necessary in running Big Cat Rescue that we are able to help exotic cats all over the world. A big shout out to all of you for helping these bobcat kittens in their quest to get back to their mom! Remember, this is baby season and mother bobcats and cougars have to hunt, so if you find kittens, please leave them alone unless you are sure they are orphaned. Tribute to Rufus Bobcat Even though we knew it was touch and go for him every day, he just seemed so happy and content in between episodes that we all find it hard to believe that he is gone. In just four months he touched so many people and brought so many together for the well being and safe keeping of his kind. What a brave little angel.
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.
Give Her a Second Chance Letter about Tommie Girl
On Mar 5 we got a call from the Florida Wildlife Commission asking if we could help a blind bobcat that had been reported by the Manager of the Cemex Mine. His name is Tommie and he loves the wildlife that calls his land a sanctuary. He knew there was something desperately wrong with this little kitten from the first day he saw her, which was about two weeks before.
We made arrangements to drive up to the mine on Mar 6 to set a humane trap because the kitten had not been seen since Feb 27. Jamie and I drove up with a trap, nets, carrier, and bait for four days and Tommie Deaner agreed to check and set the trap daily.
On the way to Center Hill Tommie texted that the bobcat was in sight and that he had caught some fish for her and was feeding her. Jamie texted back to stop because traffic had us running a half hour late. Since there was no way to get a fish away from a starving bobcat, Tommie improvised and got a box out of the trash to trap her in.
When Jamie and I drove up we were waved to the scene by Cemex staff. When we saw the box we were thrilled at the prospect of NOT having to chase a bobcat all over place. The problem was that the box didn’t have a bottom. We slid a piece of plywood under the box, like you would pick up a spider with a cup and cardboard (per Jamie) and then put the whole thing in the van. The plan was to shift her from the box to the carrier inside the van, so that if the bobcat escaped, she was at least trapped in the van… with us. Well, that part wasn’t very appealing, but it was better than the risk of losing her and having her starve to death.
If you have never seen Jamie net a cat; you haven’t seen art in motion. Quicker than a blink she had her in the net and backed up to the carrier door. Since she really couldn’t see well enough to put up much of a fight, we got her in the carrier pretty neatly. She growled for a while, but the belly full of fish and the swaying motion of the van for an hour and a half put her right to sleep.
She has tested negative for all of the major cat killers, except her Toxo test, which is still pending. She is suffering from starvation, blindness and parasites and is being treated with the hopes that she will regain her sight as she improves. She has seen an eye specialist and she thinks there is hope for restoring her site.
Another Blind Bobcat Kitten Rescue: The baby bobcat came in to the SC Wildlife Rehabber, JoAnne on Dec 4 weighing 4.2 lbs, with a broken jaw, split canine and comatose. They figured he had been hit by a car, but couldn’t believe that he survived. After he woke up from the coma he was pretty loopy, but they figured the impact had done brain damage.
They had to wire the jaw shut, tube feed him and removed the broken canine. He is still only 5.7 lbs, but is eating solids on his own and doing much better despite walking into walls and getting stuck in corners. If he comes to a corner, he just sits down and waits, and waits, and waits, as if he cannot figure out that he is not trapped. He was having bad and frequent seizures, but those have almost subsided. He will be living in the on site Cat Hospital until he is bigger and stronger. We have set up a UStream web cam at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bigcathospital where you can watch his progress.
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.
Arranged for a group of our volunteers to visit Lubee Bat Sanctuary Hi Carole, Thank you for your interest in Lubee Bat Conservancy. How about Thursday, April 12? We prefer tours in the afternoon @ 1:00, but can accommodate as early as 11:30. Tours typically last 1-2 hours. Guests will be engaged with an age appropriate powerpoint presentation, followed by a visit to our primary bat facility. We house over 200 bats representing 12 species, including the Malayan Flying Fox which can attain a wingspan of 6'. All of our bats are frugivorous, and guests have an opportunity to observe them interacting with numerous fruits and enrichment devices. We typically request a donation of $15/person for private tours, but I can reduce the cost to $10. Please let me know if you would like to schedule the tour. Best regards, Brian Pope, Director Lubee Bat Conservancy 1309 NW 192nd Ave. Gainesville, FL 32609 www.lubee.org
Spoke at Animal Day in Massachusetts Invited by Dean Diane Sullivan who arranges this every year at the college of law where she teaches. Stayed at the Wyndham in Andover. The talk was well received by about 50-60 students.
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.
Letter to Gina Miller and Diane Sullivan about being on Diane’s show
Dear Diane, So that IFAW and I do not overlap, would you like me to talk about how we first met, via your interest in Tony the tiger, his back story, the endless lawsuits to free him, and then touch on some of the state and federal laws that we have been involved in, and the composition and progress of the International Tiger Coalition, so that it is something of a build up to Gina's presentation of the culmination of those efforts with the coalition?
I've copied Gina here, but for her benefit; it was because Dean Sullivan asked Rose Church to contact me about Tony that the coalition was formed. When Dean Sullivan asked to put a bunch of big cat experts in a room I gave her my contacts on the International Tiger Coalition and Rose arranged for all of us to meet in DC at the IFAW office last July.
We came up with a 3 prong approach: Rescind the generic tiger loophole with USFWS, End cub petting at USDA level and introduce a federal bill to ban the private possession of big cats. So far, the USFWS took public comment on our request ending Oct 21, 2011 but still hasn't ruled on it. USDA met with the coalition in January and still hasn't ruled on our request. The bill HR 4122 was introduced by the House on 3/1/12 and Sen Kerry has proposed to launch a senate version soon. All of this is because Dean Sullivan said, "let's get everyone in a room together..." For the cats, Carole Baskin
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.
Took 2 Truckloads of Volunteers to Elmira’s Sanctuary
Carole writes Robin Greenwood: Thank you very much Robin. How about Wed., June 13 at 11 am? We just went to the Great Ape Center this month, are going to the Bat Sanctuary in Gainesville in April and have our quarterly Volunteer Appreciation Day in May, so June is the next field trip I am trying to set.
I am guessing there will be 10-20 people coming, but can give you a better head count closer to the time. The good news about our people is that we are so strict about not reaching over barricades or touching animals, or wandering off around here, that we are pretty easy cats to herd.
Our people love to round up needed items, in addition to the $10 pp tour fee, so if you have some particular items that you need, just let us know. Also, we are happy to reciprocate a group tour for you and your family / volunteers. Just let us know what works for you. For the cats, Carole Baskin
Tribute to Modnic Tiger
It's been five days since holding Modnic's head as she made her peaceful exit from this world in the loving arms of her vet and keepers, but I can barely see to type how sad it is to walk by her enclosure and not be greeted by her gentle eyes, soft chuff and magnificent spirit. I am happy that she will never have to spend another day in a cage, but miss her so very much.
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.
Two Blind Baby Bobcats
By now you have probably heard about the two blind baby bobcats at the sanctuary. If not, Rufus came into the Carolina Wildlife Rescue in a coma and with a broken jaw. Jamie has helped them with bobcat rehab before so they originally contacted us for advice in Dec 2011. By Feb 14, 2012 it was clear that Rufus had become too imprinted for release and his eyesight had still not recovered. Through a big Valentine's Day effort we were able to secure his release from South Carolina and his import into Florida through both wildlife agencies.
Then on Mar 5, 2012 we got a call from the Florida Wildlife Commission reporting a blind bobcat at a mine in Center Hill, FL. You can read all about her rescue and see photos here: http://bigcatrescue.org/2012/today-at-big-cat-rescue-mar-8-name-the-bobcat-kitten
If she regains her sight, we would love to be able to return her to her rightful place in the wild and the mine manager has agreed to let her come back to what he refers to as his "wildlife sanctuary." The mine is many, many acres of natural bobcat habitat and is truly a sanctuary to many wild animals. If she does not regain her sight, or if the intensive care she needs during this interim makes her too dependent for release, then she will hopefully be a playmate for Rufus.
We have had other cats who were blind, such as Will the bobcat. Like Rufus, his eyes are just fine and quite beautiful, but what they see does not register in their brains. If you have ever fed Will or watched him for any length of time, it is apparent that he does not process the information coming in through his senses like a normal cat. He and Anasazie provide comfort to each other and have been great companions.
If you have been here a long time, you may remember Axel the tiger who grew deaf and blind as he aged. His keepers would stomp the ground near his lockout at feeding time to wake him and let him know that dinner was served. Others will recall Czar and Nakita the bobcats and lynx hybrid who grew old together here. As Czar aged, he too became deaf and blind. Nakita made a permanent impression on all of our hearts as she would lean up against him, shoulder to shoulder, to lead him into his lockout at feeding time.
There is probably no cat more self reliant, opportunistic or fierce than the bobcat, and yet the compassion shown by cats like Anasazie and Nakita are a great example to us. We have enemies, but they are all outside our gates. Nothing makes me more proud than to see all of our staff, volunteers and interns working together for a common cause. We have made it through the worst of times for big cats and are poised to end the suffering once and for all by passing the Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act. If you haven't signed your name to this most important bill yet, please do so at www.BigCatsAct.com
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.
Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act First Introduced
The Captive Wildlife Safety Act law began around 1998 and became law in Dec. 2003, and ever since we have been trying to close the loopholes that allow private ownership of big cats and cub handling. Thanks to the work of the Big Cat Coalition and the weekly calls Howie has led since our first meeting 7/25/2011, Rep. McKeon and Rep. Loretta Sanchez introduced the Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act in the House (HR 4122) and Sen. Kerry commits to introducing into the Senate, which he did just prior to the elections.
We had been trying to close the loopholes in the 2003 Captive Wildlife Safety Act on our own and others in the industry; specifically HSUS and IFAW had introduced both state and federal bills, but none could get the traction necessary to pass. These bills went by several names including the Shambala Act, the Roar Act, Haley’s Act, and others. Now that all of the big animal protection groups were working together we are all hopeful that this common sense bill will become law. I wanted to just call it the Big Cat Act because the current name is a mouthful, but the group wanted to emphasize the public safety element of the bill.
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.
Jumanji Leopard and Our Evolution of Thought
I suspect that our tour guides just don’t know what to say about Jumanji the black leopard because I often overhear people saying, or I read in some article that Jumanji came from the pet trade. His story online and in the Safari Guide is below and does not say that, even though it is true in a sense. Jumanji’s parents, Sabre and Lola were pets who were rescued by Big Cat Rescue but Jumanji was born here on 2/23/96. Back then we didn’t know any better and the people who advised us were breeders who said these were endangered species (true) and that they should be bred for conservation purposes (false). By 1997 we had figured out that none of the wild cats in private hands were part of the Species Survival Plans (SSP) and thus could never be used for any legitimate conservation breeding program. That is why we stopped breeding cats in 1997.
We had a few accidents in the first couple of years after that as we were trying to get all of the cats separated, spayed and neutered. Like TrickE and MrE the Amur Leopard Cats whose parents were in their late teens and thought too old to breed, Windstar Bobcat who was born to a hybrid father, who should have been sterile as the result of being a lynx hybrid, and the bearcats Mocha, Bean and Thing whose parents had been separated. We later discovered that binturongs are delayed ovulators meaning they can get pregnant but not have the babies until conditions are optimal. (Thank goodness, because we thought they might be the result of immaculate conception and that would have really messed with some of our religious beliefs.)
I use Jumanji’s stop as a way to introduce guests to our evolution of thought. While people are captivated by his beauty I say, “Big Cat Rescue was not always what it is today. Jumanji was born here in ‘96 because in the early years we were told that these were rare and endangered species that should be bred for future generations. What we learned was that none of the wild cats in private hands will ever be bred for return to the wild. In fact, the more we came to learn about these magnificent cats, the more we realized that they don’t belong in cages at all. They were designed to roam hundreds of square miles and it is cruel to confine them to cages measured in square feet. As a result, we stopped breeding in 1997 and began working on ways to end the abuses that cause so many beautiful cats like Jumanji to end up in cages.”
This helps you set the stage for later questions when people ask about cats on the tour path who were born here. We don’t post on their signs or on the website that they were born here because if a person only lands on that page, or only notices that sign, they may come away with the belief that it is OK to breed cats for lives of confinement. We need to be sure they get the whole answer.
I have also heard people say that he was Jamie's pet, but in 1996 when he was born, Jamie was 16 and was feverishly working to complete high school two years early because she was needed so badly at the sanctuary to help with all of the cats. The kittens had to be fed every two hours for weeks, then every four hours, then every six.
Jumanji and Black Magic were litter mates and Magic was a stargazer and very ill and hard to feed. Auroara the tiger was a cub (not born here) at that time as were some servals, caracals and bobcats. Jamie was feeding all of them around the clock.
There were some high profile cases where Jamie walked Jumanji on a leash, including the People Magazine article, one in the Palm Beach Post and then at a fundraiser in Chicago for the Cheetah Conservation Fund. We used to tell the story, which is pretty funny, about the latter, but don't any more because we don't want people to think that they too could walk a leopard on a leash. It was a bad idea then and we know better now.
This was the story that we don’t share on tours but I kept in my diary:
It had to be late 1997 or 1998 (maybe even as late as 1999) that we were invited to bring Jumanji Leopard, Hercules the Snow Leopard and Jayla Cougar to a fundraiser in Chicago for Laurie Marker Kraus’ Cheetah Conservation Fund. Later I would come to hate that she unwittingly promotes the extinction of cheetahs by promoting images of herself treating cheetahs as if they could be pets.
The event was at the Imperial Hotel and Mel Gibson was there filming a movie (Maybe What Women Want?) and staying at the Imperial. Jamie spent most of the night walking Jumanji up and down the hallways hoping for a glimpse of the actor. One funny moment happened when a man, clearly drunk, saw Jumanji and yelled to his wife that there was a black panther in the hall. The wife called him a drunk and told him to go to bed. He kept insisting so Jamie moved to the next floor.
The event was a black tie gala where Jim Fowler wanted an array of wild animals to be brought on stage where he would pontificate on them and the need for funding the Cheetah Conservation Fund. Our cats were NOT trained my the methods others used (such as starvation, beating, cattle prods and such). Our cats were allowed to pretty much be cats and we were just happy if they didn’t bite anyone. We get to the event room to practice and are told that Jumanji has to be walked down a spiral staircase, then across the ballroom floor, past a grand piano and huge, velvet theater drapes to a table. Then he’s supposed to jump up onto the table, stand there while Jim Fowler talks, and when dismissed, the cat is to hop off the table and exit stage right.
Jamie decides right then that she’s going to have to wear her hiking boots under her flowing, full length gown, because Jumanji is going to see all of this as a huge playground. Sure enough, during practice, he’s leaping off the spiral staircase, dragging Jamie by the leash. He jumps on the piano, leaps into the velvet curtains before taking her practically skiing behind him all over the room. All of this while it’s just Jamie, Judy Watson and me in the room. We know that adding a couple hundred people, in sparkly attire and bird feathers boas and hats is going to make matters even worse.
Hercules and Jayla are far less rowdy, and we go through the motions with them, except they aren’t going to do the staircase thing. They will have to enter from stage left. That’s OK. Jamie will make the grand entry meant to awe the audience into silent check writing. We practice for hours. Jumanji is having the time of his life, as are Hercules and Jayla. We are wondering if we should bow out or take the chance of the evening being an utter fiasco.
The event time comes and we are all sweating bullets. I’m watching from stage right, as Jamie and Jumanji descend that spiral staircase as if the cat were computer generated to do exactly what was requested. He passed by the previously undeniable call of the piano and curtains, walks right up to the table and hops to his spot. Jamie and I look at each other is total disbelief!
Jim Fowler does his talk and indicates to Jamie to walk Jumanji off the table to where I am standing in the wings. Jumanji is just LOVING the attention of everyone in the audience and has no intention of leaving. Jamie tries pulling, pushing, coaxing and the crowd starts to laugh as Jim makes some comment about the cat’s love of the spotlight. Now it’s getting crazy and that cat isn’t budging. I do the only thing I know a wild cat can’t resist. I turn my back and crouch down to the floor.
In an instant Jumanji leaps off the table for my back, and all I can hope is that Jamie has a good enough grip on the leash and sense of balance to keep the three of us from rolling out into the audience in a brawling blood bath. Jamie manages to keep her balance and grip, if not her composure. We both know what a dumb move that was but it got Jumanji off the table. That was the last time we took our cats out to a fundraiser, I think.
JUMANJI Male Leopard DOB 2/23/96
Since he is one of the first black leopards you see at the sanctuary, Jumanji is used to quite a bit of attention. Most days, he can be found in the shadiest part of his cat-a-tat lounging on his fern-covered tree log. It is very easy to see how well black leopards camouflage themselves in the jungle since most people walk right by without noticing him there. People magazine certainly noticed Jumanji though. His photo was featured in an article written about Big Cat Rescue. Jumanji is also known as quite the superstar achiever in our Operant Conditioning Program. He learns very quickly and always wants to please, especially when treats are involved. If the keeper is not quick enough with the reward, Jumanji will offer other behaviors to see if maybe the keeper wants something else. He makes it easy to capture and reward other behaviors, which he will then subsequently remember. The adage that leopards have the longest memories truly applies to Jumanji. On 2/3/09 Panther International pledged to donate $20,000 to Jumanji’s life time care.
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.
Tribute to Hallelujah the Cougar Jamie giving Hallelujah a bath after a weaning session in 1993 Hallelujah was the first "big" cat to live on Easy Street. Back in 1993 cougars were not considered to be Class I cats, so people often had them as pets and they were the poster children for disposable wild pets. Easy to buy, at about $100.00 for a cute, blue eyed, spotted cub, they were not a protected species and thus were easy to transfer across state lines and easy to discard by just turning them loose when they got too big to be fun. Before Glory, Glory and Hallelujah came here the biggest of our cats were lynx. Thanks to our educational tours and the letters from our supporters we changed the law in FL in 2007 making it illegal to trade in cougars as pets and cougars were added to the list of "big" cats who could not be traded across state lines as pets in 2003. https://bigcatrescue.org/hallelujah/
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.
Howie and I flew to D.C. for coalition meeting on Big Cats & Public Safety Protection Act
1/26/2012 The Big Cat Coalition met w/ USDA to present all of the evidence that they can and should ban public contact under the Animal Welfare Act.
Flight Info from my emails: Tampa, Florida airline logo US Airways 1172 Economy | Boeing 737 818 mi | 2hr 7min 11:55 AM Tampa Airport (TPA)
Arrive Washington DC, District of Columbia 2:02 PM Reagan Airport (DCA) | Terminal C
On-time performance: 80% | Seats: 20-C, 20-B | Seats are confirmed.
Return Thu, Jan 26 2hr 29min Total time Depart Washington DC, District of Columbia airline logo US Airways 1645 Economy | Airbus A319. 818 mi | 2hr 29min 7:25 PM Reagan Airport (DCA) | Terminal C Arrive Tampa, Florida. 9:54 PM Tampa Airport (TPA)
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.
Lobby Day in Tallahassee with Howie
Howie and Governor Crist
Dear Florida Humane Lobby Day participants,
Thank you for registering to attend the 2012 Florida Humane Lobby Day with The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and GREY2K USA. The day is going to be very exciting! We now have the opportunity to attend a press conference! Registration has now closed. REMEMBER: If you cannot make it, please contact me as soon as possible. We’re working very hard to set up meetings with your elected officials. In some cases, we may need to cancel the meeting if you are not able to attend, so please do let us know.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM Challenger Learning Center – Classroom A/B 200 South Duval Street Tallahassee, FL 32301
AGENDA:
• 8:30 am - Check In with coffee and snacks
• 9-9:30 am – Introductions. Briefing on Greyhound Racing Decoupling Bill
• 10 am - Press Conference
• 11 am-12 noon - Briefing on other Humane Lobby Day bills
• 12-1 pm - Working Lunch. Brief overview of the legislative process. Tips on successful lobbying and Q & A
• 1-2 pm - Tour of Capitol (optional)
• 2-4 pm - Legislative appointments
I hope you are making your plans. Here are few tips for planning your trip!
LUNCH – Due to the morning briefings and your all-important meetings with your member’s offices, we are budgeting 1 hour for lunch at 12 noon. We will be providing vegan pizza for lunch. We’re arranging for this to be a “working lunch” with us, as well as your fellow advocates, so there will be time for questions. You may bring snacks to keep yourself going, and there is also a cafeteria in the Capitol. Lunch is a quick hour (12-1 pm) and then you’re off on your tour of the Capitol. There may also be time during the afternoon between your appointments to hit the cafeteria, if you like.
ATTIRE - In order to be most effective and to fit in with the rest of the Capitol community, please dress in business attire (read: suits). If you don't have a suit, a nice collared shirt with a nice pair of slacks or a skirt and dress shoes will also work just fine. You may want to wear comfortable shoes and bring an umbrella, just in case it rains. Avoid loud prints or any clothing that makes too much of a statement, such as 'animal rights' or 'go vegan' type t-shirts. While it is a good idea to be clean and neat, please refrain from wearing strong perfumes or colognes.
PREPARATION - If you haven't already visited our Lobby Day FAQs page, you can do so by clicking here. We’re working hard to ensure you have an enjoyable and meaningful experience at Humane Lobby Day. Thank you again for making the commitment to be here. Finally, if you do need to cancel, but we hope you don't, please let us know as soon as possible for scheduling purposes.
See you on Tuesday, the 17th! Heather Carpenter Director State Grassroots Campaigns State Affairs The Humane Society of the United States 2100 L Street NW Washington, DC 20037 humanesociety.org
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.
2011 Annual Report
Big Cat Rescue is more than just a place that provides permanent care for big cats. It is a movement; a change in the tide of human perceptions and is the combined effort of more than 54,000 supporters. If you are one of them, you are a Big Cat Rescuer and the following is the great work YOU did! If you haven’t helped yet, you can do so now at the top right of the screen or here: http://bigcatrescue.org/donate
Big Cat Rescue’s Mission Statement: Big Cat Rescue’s dual mission is to provide the best home we can for the cats in our care and educate the public about the plight of these majestic animals, both in captivity and in the wild, to end abuse and avoid extinction. We are Caring for Cats and Ending the Trade
Advances: With your help we are winning in the battle for compassion! Up until 2003 the number of requests for rescues we had to turn down due to lack of space or funds had roughly doubled every other year, to 312 that year. We feared it would double again to over 500 in 2004. Instead, it has steadily declined since then thanks to the passage of a federal bill and several state bills that restrict the ownership of exotic cats. This year there were only 15 big cats who came to our attention as being abandoned and we were able to take in 10. We offered to take all of the cats who were cougar size or smaller, if their owners would contract to never own another exotic cat, but the rest refused. We just do not have enough Senior Keeper staff to take on more lions or tigers than the three we took this year.
Volgistics became our new time tracking service on Jan 1, 2012 and has replaced our use of Freshbooks. Everyone seems to like the big buttons and easy check in and check out process.
Animal Care: By the end of this year, 106 of our 119 animals are over the age of 12 and 89 are over the age of 15. This is well beyond how long they are designed to live in the wild and much older than most zoo cats. This is a testament to the excellent animal care we provide, but we are dealing with many more age related illnesses and are losing more of our big cat friends every year.
Rescues: With the help of some very special donors we were able to rescue Amanda, Arthur and Andre; 3 tigers who had been rescued in 2003 from NJ and sent to Wild Animal Orphanage in TX, which collapsed in 2010. Max the baby bobcat came to us after the RI DNR seized him from an illegal owner. 5 servals, Zoul, Zouletta, Zimba, Santino and Doodles, who had been kept in a NY basement for 14 years were rescued. Another serval named Kricket was also brought in from VA when her owner could no longer keep her. We were also able to help with the placement of another serval, a bobcat and did a lot of rehab consultation work via phone and email.
One of those bobcats was Rufus who came in to a Rehabber on Dec 5 weighing 4 lbs, with a broken jaw, split canine and comatose. They figured he had been hit by a car, but at 4 lbs couldn’t believe that he survived. After he woke up from the coma he was pretty loopy, but they figured the impact had done brain damage. They had to wire the jaw shut, tube feed him and removed the broken canine. He is now about 7 lbs, is eating solids on his own and doing much better but appears to be blind. He was having bad and frequent seizures, but those have almost subsided. They have asked if we can give him a forever home if his eyesight does not return and we stand ready to help. On 12/21/11 we had another perfect USDA inspection.
Education: Our website, BigCatRescue.org underwent a painful renovation from a static html site to a WordPress CMS site during 2010 and 2011. All of the page names had to be changed to fit the new system which meant a huge drop in traffic and initially a huge drop in inbound links, although, by the end of the year we had gained more than a thousand more inbound links than we had before, so it is going to prove a worth while move. The site was completely down in the Spring and Summer, but has been stable since August 2011 now.
Our website is primarily an educational tool and according to Alexa we are ranked 464,891 worldwide and 128,777 most visited website in the U.S. We have 1,104 other sites linking to us.
Our web site addresses local and global concerns about environment and has over 8,347 pages of information, movie clips, sounds, safe interactive online games with a conservation theme and photos. From 1/1/2011 until 12/31/2011 the site was visited 338,715 times, resulting in 764,943 page views. In any given week the visitors will be from more than 200 countries outside of the U.S. as you can see from this breakdown: United States 279,011, Canada 17,495, Poland 7,679, United Kingdom 7,610, Australia 2,848, India 2,123, Germany 1,578, France 984, and the Philippines 858 to name a few.
The information provided has helped wildlife rehabilitators identify animals and obtain proper care instruction, helped officials in smuggling cases to identify rare species of exotic cats being illegally traded and those are just a few of the ways that we know the site has had an impact this year. For search engine optimization reasons we launched BobcatRehab.com to make it easier for bobcats in trouble to find us.
We offer about 200 outreach and field trips per year and have committed to offering 12 of them for free each year to lower income schools, but have given 18 such free tours this year and expect that demand will continue to rise with the cost of transportation. Even when we offer the tours for free, many schools cannot come because they cannot afford the $200.00 fee for their busses. Our Education Department has been writing grant proposals to raise the money needed for the buses.
Big Cat Rescue has been in the press 326 times, in 42+ states including AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, GA, FL, HI, IA, ID, IO, IN, IL, KY, LA, MA, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, NC, OH, OK, PA, SC, SD, TN, VA, VT, WA, WI & WV and dozens of programs of national or international coverage or in countries other than the U.S.
Award Winning Sanctuary: PC Magazine Names Big Cat Rescue in Top 12 Favorite Charities 2011. “Big Cat Rescue, which takes in retired circus lions and tigers, also rescues other big cats from people who tried to keep them as pets, and otherwise offers sanctuary to large cats that are not eligible for release into the wild. It’s focused on educating people about the unsuitability of the animals as pets, working toward passing laws against roadside zoos, and shutting down breeding programs like the exotic pet trade. They also take in injured wild cats and rehabilitate them for release. The group has a video cam set up in the sanctuary, and they regularly post videos of the big cats. The cats eat a massive amount every day, naturally, so Big Cat Rescue relies on donations and paid tour groups to support them.”—Arielle Rochette PC Magazine
• 2011 Winner in Toyota’s 100 Cars for Good Big Cat Rescue was given a beautiful Toyota Tundra for being the top voted charity during their competition week.
• 9/2/2011 The Tampa Bay Business Journal awarded Big Cat Rescue in 3 categories: Best Black Tie Event Favorite Retreat and Team Building Venue and Second Best Fundraiser
• The Tampabay Business Journal selected Big Cat Rescue as a semi-finalist for Non Profit of the Year for 2011.
Legislation/Education: The steady increase in legislation banning private ownership represents recognition by our society that private ownership leads to massive abuse. Social values evolve. It took decades to ban slavery in England and for women to win the right to vote in America. Those ideas started out as “radical” and were held by a small minority. Gradually more and more people understood and agreed until they became a part of our value system that we take for granted today. The same trend is happening with private ownership of exotics. Gradually more and more people are realizing that this simply leads to widespread abuse of these animals. The best evidence of this is the accelerating trend in state laws. Just since 2005 eight more states have passed some level of ban. Sweden, Austria, Costa Rica, India, Finland, Bolivia, Greece, China, the UK and Singapore have all banned or restricted the utilization of big cats in circuses-it’s time for the U.S. & South Africa to do the same!
14,539 new subscribers joined as an AdvoCat to speak out for the cats at CatLaws.com in 2011 bringing our total number of AdvoCats to 54,447 who sent 134,431 letters to lawmakers and decision makers to protect big cats.
Animal Abusers Exposed, Shut Down and / or Fined: Big Cat Rescue enabled several under cover operations to gather evidence of exotic cats being abused, bred without regard for where they may end up, violations of the Animal Welfare Act that pertains to the cruel treatment of big cats and endangering the public. This information was presented to the authorities along with affidavits and supporting evidence that we hope will bring an end to much of the suffering in the facilities we selected as being the worst abusers.
• Inside Edition exposed Joe Schreibvogel of GW Park and the fact that at least 23 tiger cubs died at his facility.
• The BBC’s Show called America’s Most Dangerous Pets with Louis Theroux suggested their show should have been named, America’s Most Dangerous Pet Owners.
• Animal Planet’s Fatal Attractions interviewed Carole Baskin in Tigers Unleashed about dangerous exotic animal owners including Savage Kingdom’s Robert Baudy and Lost Creek where Haley Hilderbrand was killed by a tiger while posing with the cat for her high school yearbook photo.
Many of the worst breeders, dealers and tiger-tamer-wanabees were finally shut down between 2008 and 2010 but it appears that USDA did not pursue any of the exotic animal abuse cases in 2011.
Fundraising and Marketing: We overhauled (OK, Jamie overhauled) our online stores at http://www.bigcatrescue.biz/ and on eBay and greatly increased our sales by doing so. We currently operate 300+ social networking sites.
Big Cat Rescue was reported favorably in the news 326 times in 2011 which in a 19% increase over 2010. Some of the national press included shows on CNN, MSNBC, National Geographic, Animal Planet, Discovery and the History Channel in addition to such publications as USA Today, National Geographic and the New York Post and major media coverage in several other countries as well.
Google awarded Big Cat Rescue a grant of $40,000 per month in free AdWords. People who love animals love to share their photos and stories. In 2008 Big Cat Rescue unleashed a Chat Big Cats community. Members can post their own blogs, or join in our forums and contests. It is a YouTube/ MySpace styled community made up entirely of animal lovers. By year end there were 2,847 members and 34,359,740,539 videos, songs, photos and blogs posted to the site. (blows my mind too!) Get in on the action free at http://www.chatbigcats.com
Best Viral Video Award: YouTube. We ended the year with 35,442 subscribers and 37,492,151 views. By year end we had 323 videos posted on YouTube and other popular sites like google, Blip, MetaCafe, Revver and others. http://www.youtube.com/bigcatrescue
YouTube Mini Clip Site: DailyBigCat was launched Nov. 20, 2010 to provide a channel for the mini clips we upload directly from our iPhones. By year end this site had 2,563 subscribers and 166,724 views.
Our MySpace account now has 7,551 friends. myspace.com/1BigCatRescue We surpassed 54,000 fans on Face Book . We also enhanced our presence on Care2.org and many other such sites. We now have 500+ contacts in our LinkedIn presence here: linkedin.com/in/BigCatRescue Big Cat Rescue now has an Endowment Fund to provide a secure future for the cats. The Fund resides at the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay. We initiated a program with Capitol One so that you can choose one of our beautiful cats for your credit card image and 1% of all of your purchases will be donated to Big Cat Rescue at no cost to you.
Saving Wild Places for Wild Cats: Big Cat Rescue funded a $5,000 GPS tracking collar program that will be monitored by researchers with the Snow Leopard Trust. Founded in 1981, the Snow Leopard Trust is the world’s leading authority on the study and protection of the endangered snow leopards. This collar will allow researchers to track a wild snow leopard in order to study its habits and territory needs. A GPS tracking collar has been placed on one of the cubs of Khashaa, a female and mother snow leopard, within the study area. The cub, a male, is already pretty big at one and a half years old. We find this so exciting because it will help us begin to answer some of the unanswered questions about snow leopards, including information about dispersal patterns.
Big Cat Rescue has been working with WildTracks this year to provide images of our tigers’ paw prints for entry into their computer program which can determine who a cat is by their tracks when there are enough tracks submitted to use for comparison. Learn more and see photos of the print collection at http://bigcatrescue.org/2011/today-at-big-cat-rescue-sept-22
Big Cat Rescue offered to sponsor the first ever Florida Panther Festival if they agreed not to use any live cats at their exhibits. They did not take us up on the offer to sponsor the event, but did assure us that they would not exploit cats this way. Our camera traps have been set in various locations to monitor wildlife populations and poachers in the area.
Helping Others: After delivering a couple of free webinars for the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS), Patty asked if we would host their first in person 2 day Workshop. Howard Baskin presented on our fundraising streams and the history of Big Cat Rescue, Jeff Kremer presented on donor recognition while giving the group of 20+ attendees a tour, Chris Poole spoke on social marketing and networking, Patty Ragan shared the value of hiring a coach, Kari Bagnall illustrated how to get the most out of a tabling event, Patty Finch taught grant writing, teaching your board how to be helpful and how to avoid “founder’s syndrome” and I shared how we use google Apps, how we manage over 100 top notch volunteers, why it is important to have a plan and stick to it.
Big Cat Rescue later hosted HSUS Sanctuary CEO’s for their annual retreat and gave them an inside look at how we operate. In both the GFAS and HSUS workshops we shared our Intranet site along with all of our training documents and all of the assets to create a “sanctuary in a box.” All of these tools are included on our website behind a $1.00 pay wall so that anyone who wishes to improve their facility has access to everything we do. Big Cat Rescue also helped the Humane Society Legislative Fund in their work to end puppy mills because the same laws would protect cats and kittens from use in kitten mills as well.
Big Cat Rescue provided our CatLaws.com service to Animal Coalition of Tampa in their efforts to send a powerful message to the Hillsborough County Commissioners on two subjects. 1. Was to fund the voucher program for spaying and neutering dogs and cats for low income owners. 2. Was to ban the cruel practice of chaining dogs.
As with every year we supplied Free Passes, Certificates for Feeding Tours and Keeper Tours, and Two For One Passes to many other animal causes to use in their fundraising efforts. We donate primarily to those organizations that are providing services to cats of all sizes. We do donate to some human related fundraisers as well, but animal causes make up 3% of all charities and yet compete for less than 1% of all donated dollars.
Officers and Members of the Board of Directors in 2011 and meetings: CEO and Founder Carole Baskin (not compensated by BCR) President and Chairman of the Board Jamie Veronica (not compensated by BCR for her role as a Director) Secretary & Treasurer Howard Baskin (not compensated by BCR for his role as a Director) VP Director Lisa Shaw (not compensated by BCR) Director Mary Lou Geis (not compensated by BCR) Pamela Rodriguez (not compensated by BCR), Darren Kipnis (not compensated by BCR), Vincent Pavese (not compensated by BCR), and Keith Lawless (not compensated by BCR). These members met for quarterly board meetings at the sanctuary. The board met 5 times in 2011.
Paid Staff: Operations Manager & Volunteer Coordinator Gale Ingham Staff Manager, Editor & Creative Director Jamie Veronica Gift Shop & Guest Services Honey Wayton Intern Recruiter & Data Management Chelsea Feeny Education Director Dr. Beth Kamhi and her assistant Willow Hecht Vernon Stairs Cage Builder and Maintenance Scott Haller Cage Building Apprentice and Maintenance Videographer and Social Networking Chris Poole Director of Donor Appreciation Jeff Kremer Assistant to Operations Manager and Staff Relief Person Jennifer Flatt, CFO Howard Baskin, PR Susan Bass and LaWanna Mitchell is an independent contractor who works remotely on web issues. All of our animal care is done by volunteers or by staff who also volunteer time before & after work.
Volunteers: Big Cat Rescue had 96 volunteers at the end of 2011 who clocked in 37,556.09 man-power hours in addition to staff, 25 interns (12,700 hours) and Volunteer Committee member hours. Our interns came from 9 states and 6 countries. Volunteers and interns provided roughly the equivalent workforce of 24 more full time staff.
Staff and Volunteer Training: We want to say a special thank you to all of our staff & volunteers who have just completed their 10th year of service to the cats.
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.
Cats We Saved That We Might Never Meet
The following are a few wild cats who you helped save, but that you may never meet. Because of the collaborative efforts of all of you, Big Cat Rescue is known far and wide as THE resource for all things wild cat related. About month ago a desperate bobcat owner contacted us. He had been keeping a bobcat named Maggie in a back yard dog kennel for 15 years before the NC authorities found him out. It is extremely rare for people to keep wild cats after they reach adulthood and are no longer fun or safe to play with, but this guy did and it was obvious that he wanted Maggie to go someplace good. He had researched us and felt like we could give her the best home. His only problem was that the man was 79 and would never be able to see Maggie again if she came to Florida.
We suggested that he try Carolina Tiger Rescue because they would be close enough that he could visit. The only holdup was that CTR didn't have a permit for bobcats even though they have worked with almost every type of wild cat there. Bobcats are native and required something like our Rehab permit, even though Maggie (pictured at left) had never lived in the wild. The state was threatening to confiscate and euthanize Maggie, so we jumped in and endorsed CTR, but also told the state that we were standing by, ready and able to pick Maggie up if it turned out that they would not allow her to go to CTR. Last week, all went well and Maggie went to her forever home at CTR.
Meanwhile, a rehab bobcat kitten named Rufus, who is only four pounds, and thus probably only a few months old, was turned in to another Carolina wildlife center. You may remember that they had three bobcat kittens back at the same time we did and Jamie walked the center through the proper rehab techniques, since they had never raised orphaned bobcat kittens for release. The rehab center said it was the hardest work they had ever done because bobcats are much harder to rehab and release than other wildlife. If not for the fact that there were three of them to practice their hunting and fighting skills on, they felt that they would not have succeeded.
With Rufus being a lone bobcat, who already shows no natural fear of humans, they don't think they can give him the space nor training he needs and asked if we would take him as a permanent resident if they fail. They are pretty sure that Rufus will never be able to go free because he is blind. This may just be from the impact that broke his jaw and landed him in their hospital, so we are hoping that he recovers his sight, but if not we have offered to take him in if the state of NC will let him go. We will keep you posted.
We were asked to take an Asian Leopard Cat who appears to be illegally possessed in FL and we advised the owner that they would have to get approval from FWC for us to take the cat as we cannot accept a cat from someone inside the state if they do not have a permit. It is against the law. They decided instead to send the cat to an un-named "rescue group" and we advised them to seek a permit so that the animal is not confiscated and euthanized. His name is Skye and he had been bought as a pet and then bounced from home to home because ALC's make awful pets, despite being about as cute as they come.
And we got a call from a rescue center in Central America this week asking if it is OK to house adult, female ocelots together. We advised them against doing that as ocelots are notorious for latching on and NEVER letting go. Wild cats are solitary and do not want to share space; especially the tiny, barren quarters of most rescue center cages.
Thanks to those who wrote emails, made phone calls and helped promote the issue on facebook the Centerpointe Mall agreed to send the animal abusers home. (I didn’t call him out by name at the time, but this was Joe Schreibvogel) The outfit was due to be at the Grand Rapids mall for 10 days, up until Christmas, which would be the busiest holiday traffic, pimping out tiger cubs for photos. When the mall saw that a protest was springing up on facebook and was planned to arrive the next day, they sent the animal act home. The mall said they would never allow this kind of display and that applies to their other 17 malls too. More than 70 malls have barred this kind of abuse in the last year thanks to all of YOU!
Also, thanks to letters, calls and emails the NJ Senate passed a landmark bill that would require tiger owners to microchip, photograph and track where their tigers come from and where they go. This bill will be going before the Assembly next month and we will need your help then to make sure it becomes law and a template for other states.
One cat you may be able to help is Nala the Canada Lynx. Her owner Kristy says, "She is declawed & fixed. Located in MI. Has been kept outside in 10x30x5'6" cage. The lynx "belongs" to my ex boyfriend. He purchased her from a breeder in 03 or 05. He up and left. Took a job in China and I believe he is currently working in Thailand. I have not seen him since March 2008. He has since married. I have since married. He was sending me money to pay for her care but has quit. I'm currently in possession of the lynx but the permits are in his name. I really can not afford to keep her and care for her properly. I'm scared to contact the DNR as I'm afraid they will put her down :( I never wanted him to get her in the first place, tried to convince him not to. I'd be happy to sign a contract to never own anything exotic!" She said she will contact DNR after the holidays to see if they will allow her to send Nala here.
Sadly, any of you who are on the Wildlife Waystation's mailing list have seen that they are in deep trouble financially. They were prohibited from allowing guests on property several years ago so they cannot fund themselves through tours like we do. It costs Big Cat Rescue 1.7 million dollars per year to keep our sanctuary going. We do that with 10 paid staff and more than 100 volunteers. Wildlife Waystation had 400 lions, tigers and chimps and 52 staff and a 3 million dollar a year budget to meet. They have announced that they are having to lay off people. Their newsletters have been reporting dire circumstances since 2007. With the economy continuing to worsen, it will be very difficult for the Wildlife Waystation to fund themselves just through donations and grants.
After the Wild Animal Orphanage went bankrupt in 2010 and 400+ lions, tigers, bears, wolves and chimps were dispersed out into every possible nook and cranny of existing sanctuaries there just aren't any open cages out there. A Nat Geo production team has spent months just trying to find a place that would rescue a single tiger, with the promise of it being a TV episode featuring the facility and no one has been able to take even one tiger, much less the huge numbers of big cats at WW. The best hope for survival that those big cats have is if the Wildlife Waystation could duplicate the volunteer and intern program of Big Cat Rescue. Having all of the animal care done for free would ensure the animals are not neglected and donors would be more likely to step up for food costs than staff paychecks.
We are always trying to tweak our volunteer program here so that it can be replicated successfully anywhere in the world. Sometimes it may feel like Big Cat Bootcamp but it takes commitment and discipline to achieve great results. We are constantly being asked for help by other major sanctuaries because they all have the same problem: too many animals and too few people to care for them. We have made a conscious decision here to NOT rescue more cats than we can care for and we counsel others to make sure they can provide for the animals they already have before bringing in more. We have also made our entire BigCat.me site a template that can be used by other sanctuaries and we train them in how to set it up for their staff and volunteers. We share all of our training documents with them as well so that all they have to do is modify bits and pieces to fit their routines. We will do that for any facility that is not breeding, buying, selling, trading or allowing contact with the animals.
The systems only work if the people do. Every time you schedule yourself on a calendar and show up it makes it possible for us to get the work here done and illustrate to other facilities that it can be done. Every time you log your hours and keep up your shirt level commitments, it lets your fellow rescuers know that we are all working as a team and inspires others, who's names you might not even know. Every time you give a tour, send a thank you note, write a letter, get a purchase out in the mail right away or join a work project you are setting the example for others here and in every good sanctuary in the world. YOU are making a difference for animals you will never meet and changing the world for better in ways that are just astounding.
We are able to help cats all around the world because YOU are here taking care of our 119 animals and because YOU are making us the model for all other sanctuaries to follow. We always have work that needs to be done and can always use more cleaners, feeders, tour guides and admin help. Here are a few new projects that almost anyone can join: https://sites.google.com/a/bigcatrescue.org/volunteer/to-do-list
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.
"Maybe you should have given everyone a pep talk,"
Jamie said as the last of the sad faces left Food Prep. "It was an awful way to end Thanksgiving Day."
I was fighting back the tears as I was trying to post on the important updates the awful news that 17 year old Simba Tiger had just died. Gale, Chris, Willow, Regina and Chelsea had left their Thanksgiving dinner to come to help us carry out her body.
I countered, incredulous that Jamie could think me even capable of a "pep talk" at a time like that, but she stood firm. "They don't know how we deal with such pain. What they hear is us talking about watching your step, don't back into Shere Khan, duck your head, make sure the duct tape secures the bags, and get a sheet to make it easier to carry her...
They may not know that we talk about mundane stuff to keep from breaking down and weeping when a cool head is needed to be in charge." I am guessing that you do know that it is just a coping mechanism. We all deal with grief. We all lose pets, loved ones and the cats here who have come to depend on us. I hope that you all know that when we are dealing with a loss, such as Simba, that we are doing so with the only tools in our emotional toolbox to do so.
Tribute to Simba Tiger
Simba Tiger Female Siberian Tiger 6/8/94 - 11/25/11
Before being rescued by Big Cat Rescue in 2007, like most captive exotics, Simba had a very difficult life. She was owned by a woman in Ohio, Diana McCourt, who had declawed her and had her large canine teeth pulled. Supposedly, this made Simba “safer” to be with people.
The woman would chain Simba to the ground with short chains so the tied down cat could not stand or turn to bite people. Then, the woman would charge visitors to go in with Simba and straddle her to take photos. After years of people being hurt, the woman finally lost her USDA license. But, she kept operating without a license because there was no enforcement. When the woman was finally evicted from the property some years later for not paying rent, she just left, abandoning Simba and many other animals.
Thanks to our sanctuary's supporters, we were able to provide Simba with a a safe, peaceful permanent home at Big Cat Rescue. With all she had gone through, Simba still had a very warm personality and would approach the side of her enclosure and greet passersby with an enthusiastic “chuff.”
A beautiful tiger, with a rich cinnamon colored coat, she was probably one of the friendliest tigers at the sanctuary. Simba loved to spend the heat of the afternoon in the cool shade of her den and, just before dark, she would lounge peacefully in the grasses looking out over the lake. Her last days were spent enjoying a 3-acre natural habitat with the constant company of her tiger friend Nikita and the keepers who loved her so. Our heart is broken having to say goodbye on Thanksgiving Day 2011 to one of the sweetest tigers as she chose to journey on.
Simba the tigress died on Thanksgiving Day. She was 17 and had been in renal failure for a while but in the end it was her precious little heart that gave out. Thanks to Big Cat Rescuers who were on site tonight we were able to remove her from her cat-a-tat. Thank you Jamie, Gale Ingham, Chris Poole, Willow Hecht, Regina Rinaldi and Chelsea Feeny for being with her when she died and helping with her afterward. I know that Simba was thankful for all of you who helped her ease from this life to the next over the past few months.
That said, I thought Jeff Kremer said it so well when he said that he thinks it is no coincidence that she chose Thanksgiving Day as her day to leave because we will ever remember how thankful she and the other 100+ cats here are for all that we do for them.
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.
Big Cat Rescue is a Family Affair
Pearlie Mae was my blue-cream longhair cat and constant companion from the time I was 8 until after Jamie was born. When I lived in my truck, she lived with me, and when I didn't have so much as a truck to live in, my parents took care of her. I'd like to give you a little background on why I am moving my parents and my grandmother, Momma Jacquie, into the Cougar Camp.
My parents have always been work-a-holics, so my maternal grandmother helped raised me and thus the name Momma Jacquie. You have seen her name on Food Prep because when Jamie was old enough for college, she offered to pay her way, but at that time our Food Prep was a truck body with sinks down both sides and cutting up 500 lbs of meat a day was a dangerous proposition with knives flying and people crammed in like sardines. Jamie asked instead that the college fund be spent on building us a food prep building.
In 1997 when I lost my husband I discovered that one of our secretary’s had hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of our properties in her name and had become a beneficiary and executor of Don’s will. We had a dozen or so office staff and handy men to manage our real estate business and I didn't know who I could trust any more, since that woman had been my best girl friend for 17 years so I replaced a dozen people with just my parents. My mother ran the real estate office and my dad did all of the maintenance to the properties, in addition to all of the cage building here and all of the mowing and maintenance here at the sanctuary. Even though more than half of their work has always been to benefit the sanctuary, I paid them from my real estate business. When the sanctuary began to do a little better financially, my father became an employee here.
He has worked at the sanctuary 6 days a week for all these years until having triple bypass surgery and repair to five aneurisms in August 2010. My mother has worked 6 days a week for all these years doing the sanctuary's banking, and managing all of the mortgages and properties that I donated to the sanctuary as well as investments we have made in recent years as funds have allowed. She rents out the properties, negotiates the sales, chases down late payments, and cleans up and fixes up the properties when the tenants leave. She is the one who makes sure that petty cash expenditures have receipts to back them up, she checks our credit card statements to make sure we are not being billed for things we didn't order and works with Howie to do all of the back end work that goes into our tax accounting. She does all that while still taking care of all of my real estate business and while being the primary caregiver to her 86 year old mother, Momma Jacquie. She has never been paid a dime from Big Cat Rescue.
Any of you who date back to 1998 will remember the day the "old blue van" caught fire and burned on the way to an offsite event. Back then the sanctuary was costing me hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund and I could not afford another van. My parents bought and donated the van we currently drive. They have continued to donate money as well their time over the years and you may have seen their sign out by Joseph Lion.
Momma Jacquie doesn't know us any more for the most part and is now suffering from Bell's Palsy which causes her to fall and not be able to get back up. My mother had polio as a child and is a tiny little person who at 5'4" is not capable of getting my grandmother back up off the ground when she falls. With 55 acres to mow, my father sometimes cannot hear when my mother calls him for help and she won't bother Jamie or me to come to her. My parents live in a two story condo in Carrollwood and the stairs are just treacherous for them given the circumstances.
I feel the value offered by my family in the past and the value my parents still provide to the sanctuary is deserving of housing on site. It enables Jamie and I to do our work more efficiently by having them here where we have easier access to the check book and records and it provides us both with peace of mind to know that if anything happens, Jamie or I am always here to help. They will be coming and going from the Party House gate, so you probably won't even know they are here, but I wanted to let you know what is going on and why.
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.
An Anniversary Non Poem to Howie
At family time you made it clear
That poetry your heart holds dear
But how could I, a poem write
About a poet of your might?
Painting for Michael Angelo
Would be as crazy, don't you know
As trying to convey in rhyme
My thoughts of you and love sublime
When you are master, lord and verse
Someone who never needs rehearse
My simple efforts seem so small
And by comparison would pall
I'd sooner challenge Einstein's mind
Or close my eyes and lead the blind
Than try to impress you with word
The very thought is just absurd
For you're the smartest man I've known
Your brilliance has the sun out shown
That if I were to take a crack
At poetry I'd be a hack
So here upon the day we met
It surely is a safer bet
Foregoing all the rhyming part
To say I love you from my heart
The inspiration for this was Howie teasing me at a family dinner about how I never wrote him poetry any more.
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.
Tribute to Zoul the Serval
3/1/1997- 10/29/2011 Arrived at Big Cat Rescue 4/29/2011
Zoul let us know, as most do, that something was terribly wrong when he stopped eating. We took him to the vet for testing and found that he had moderate to severe kidney disease, fluid in his lungs, and one of the worst cases of spondylosis the vet had seen. Yet, he had shown no signs of this painful and debilitating condition. Zoul was not able to wake up from the sedation, despite the heroic efforts of his caregivers, and sadly passed away in his sleep. Though he only lived here with us at Big Cat Rescue for 6 months, we had all grown to love him and will miss him.
ZOUL'S RESCUE STORY
A woman in NY was battling cancer, her sister had run off leaving her with her three children ages 6-17 and her home was in foreclosure…. she also had five servals living in her basement!
She would never be able to rent an apartment to keep her five servals and was left no choice but to try and find them a new home. After careful consideration, we decided that we were able to rescue the 5 servals and immediately went into action. All the servals currently at the sanctuary live alone, which they prefer as they’re solitary by nature, so in order to house 5 servals in one enclosure we had to get creative. We joined two existing enclosures together which made one huge 3000 sq ft space that the servals could roam around in and enjoy.
On top of joining the enclosures together, we added platforms, den boxes, hideaway areas and we were told they had a waterfall as kittens and loved it, so we also added a pool! We received the import permits, loaded the van with carriers and equipment then started on the long drive to New York while others finished preparing the enclosure.
We arrived in Cohoes, New York, just north of Albany, to a typical residential neighborhood. The 5 servals had been kept in the basement of the house which had been converted into a living room and, except for a few escapes over the years including an incident where one of the owners was bit and hospitalized for a week, they’d never spent any time outside. There were 4 males, Santino, Doodles, Zoul and Zimba and 1 female Zouletta, all 5 had been declawed and were between the ages of 12 and 14 years.
All the servals, except for Doodles, are related and had been purchased from a pet store in Latham NY, Doodles was added to the serval pack at a later date and ironically belonged to a man in Florida whose wife told him to choose between her and the cat!
It was a kind of a bizarre and an uneasy experience to walk into the basement area and see the 5 servals hanging out in front of the fire, by the TV and on top of the hot tub! It is hard to imagine that these cats spent much time out of their concrete floored cell because the furniture and hot tub cover were not chewed and these five love to chew! But most of all it was just sad to see these 5 wild cats in such cramped unnatural conditions. The owners obviously loved the cats and had planned on them being a part of their life, they’d constructed a caged area with a drain in the floor so they could clean more easily and shut them off into the area when they had company or weren’t in the house. The cats weren’t living in filthy conditions, it was obvious they’d been fed as they all looked overweight, the owners recounted stories of them playing on pool tables and with their air hockey game, but it didn’t change the fact that their ignorance had led to the cats living on concrete in these dungeon like settings for over a decade….
Of course, life has lots of surprises and circumstances change and the owners are now unable to afford or house the servals any longer…
So the rescue began…
With the help of the owners, we managed to get four of the five servals into the carriers quite easily, but Doodles wasn’t impressed with these strangers invading his territory and wouldn’t go into the carrier even after we tried using food to lure him in, so he had to be netted. Sedating cats is always the last resort, certain cats can react badly to the drugs, so we never do this unless it’s absolutely necessary…
With all 5 servals safely loaded into the BCR van and the last tearful goodbyes said, we began our long drive back to Tampa. We drove straight through the night and over 20 hours later arrived back at the sanctuary! More staff members were waiting to help unload the cats. We weighed all the servals on the way to their new enclosure, they weighed between 31 and 42lbs. Ideally, they should have weighed between 20 and 30lbs.
We lined the carriers up and prepared them so we could simply unlatch the doors when we were out of the enclosure. Santino, easily recognizable with his old injury of a broken ear, was the first to emerge from the carriers and explore. One by one, the other servals finally began to follow his lead and introduced themselves to the outside world and their new home. - Jamie Veronica
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.
Big Cat Rescue could have been Zanesville
Big Cat Rescue could have been Zanesville and it could happen any where. For years to come people are going to be asking you if the Zanesville massacre was a freak event or if it could happen again. While the following are not stories I want you sharing, I think it is important for you to understand just how dangerous it is to allow the private sector to keep dangerous wild animals, no matter how well intended the people may be.
My previous husband Don wasn't always crazy. He was always a bit eccentric, thus the passion for collecting boats, planes and later big cats; but it wasn't until 1997 that he showed signs of clear dementia and was finally diagnosed as being bi-polar. Sundari was born in 1996 and Don sneaked her off the property one day to take her out to yard sales with him to show off. The reason people get big cats is because they want to show off. Sundari never would walk on a leash, but rather did a great impression of the Winnie the Pooh character, Tigger, as she bounced endlessly and often over his head, as he would try to walk her. Apparently he grew tired of her pouncing, biting and flipping out and put her in the van while he walked the neighborhood yard sale.
He didn't want her to get hot though, so he left the windows down. It kind of gives you a sense for just how crazy he had become that he thought a full grown leopard would just sit in the van with the windows down. I was at home and started getting calls from people saying there was a leopard running loose in their neighborhood. I didn't know Don had taken her off property so I thought the first caller was hallucinating, but when there was a pattern in the same neighborhood, I began to wonder what the heck was going on. Somehow Don managed to recapture her and came home and told me all about their adventures for the day and the calls began to make sense.
I began locking all of the dangerous cat cages. It may interest you to know that there is still no state or federal requirement that there be locks on cages. Don had a fit that I was locking him out of the cages so I made a HUGE ring of keys for him that really didn't open anything. The ring was bigger than the one I carry now and I explained to him that every cage had to have a different key. What I was counting on was that if he began trying to unlock a cage one of the volunteers, staff or I would catch him and divert his attention to something else. He was obviously a danger to himself, to the cats and to the public.
This worked for a while, but sometimes he would get frustrated and just take bolt cutters to the cage. You have surely noticed that there are squares cut out, all over the cages, that are big enough for a person to fit through, that have since been patched, but many of these were Don's handiwork. Although I was taking him to specialists and trying to figure out what was wrong with him, the fact is that it is almost impossible to protect someone from their own mental deterioration unless they do something criminal. Back in 1997 it wasn't criminal to take your leopard out for a walk in a neighborhood on a leash. Any of you who are caring for elderly parents know how hard it was to get their car keys away from them. Imagine if they owned 100+ dangerous predators how hard it would be to keep them out of trouble.
The fact of the matter is that the only people who hoard dangerous animals in their back yards are those who aren't normal to begin with. When they finally go off the deep end tragedies like Zanesville are inevitable. The only way to prevent such travesties is to ban the private possession of wild animals outside of accredited zoos and accredited sanctuaries so that there is someone, other than the government, making sure that things don't get out of hand.
Photo circa 1996 of Carole holding Sundari Leopard. We do not display photos of people touching cats after 2004.
Zanesville Timeline
10/18/2011, Terry Thompson, out of jail 2 weeks, set free 56 lions, tigers, bears, cougars, wolves and other wild animals. Terry cut the doors off the cages, committed suicide, and his apparent goal was to wreak as much havoc as possible with his last actions. His horrific act of violence against the animals, and the community, turned out to be a catalyst for change. Animal protection groups had been trying for years to ban the private possession of big cats.
1/6/2011 Ohio’s outgoing Gov. Strickland passed emergency executive order to require registration of dangerous wild animals and ban criminals from possessing them.
3/2011 Incoming Gov. Kasich allowed the order to expire
7/25/2011 IFAW hosted 11 orgs, 18 million supporters, to come up with a 3 prong approach to ending the big cat crisis.
• Close USFWS generic tiger loophole
• Cause USDA to end cub handling due to it being a breach of the Animal Welfare Act
• Federal ban on private possession and cub handling
The 11 org coalition, which included IFAW, HSUS, Born Free & Big Cat Rescue, knew that the next major tragedy involving big cats was just right around the corner, because in our world it’s pretty common place news.
10/18/11 When law enforcement had to find and kill 18 tigers, 17 lions, 8 bears, 3 cougars, 2 wolves, & 2 monkeys it was a 24 hour long blood bath that came to be known around the world as The Zanesville Massacre. I’m pretty sure the first time that phrase was used was on our website. No matter where you go, when you say "Zanesville Massacre” people know the story. What made it so memorable, was that people just could not believe that it could be legal to privately own such dangerous animals.
So why is it still legal? Celebrities have a lot of power in Washington and there are several people who have made their fortunes and found their fame by taking cute baby lions, tigers, snow leopards and other wild animals onto talk shows. Some of the most well known, like Jack Hanna claim to be there with babies from the Columbus Zoo, but most of those babies are actually bred by private owners for the pay to play trade.
Those breeders would be banned under the Federal law we lobby for. The celebrities are doing all they can to thwart our progress. Media has hampered change by pandering to the romantic notion that you can touch the wild and be held out as a “Lion Whisper”.
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.
DesPurrado Bobcat Dies It seems like it is always raining when we have to euthanize a cat and today was no exception. DesPurrado has been battling renal failure as well as dealing with thyroid issues for a long time, and with a change in meds recently we saw great improvement and had hoped he would be able to have a little longer with us. We always supply supportive care for as long as a cat has the will to live, and we try to watch the cat closely for signs that they are telling us that it is "time." Just a few days ago, DesPurrado was chasing lizards and showing his usual zeal for life, but when he refused his favorite meal in the whole world - whole prey rat, we knew he was giving up. On Wednesday, he didn't even get up to come for his rat, even though rat night is the highlight of his existence. At dinner time, even cats who are great buddies by day will threaten each other viciously over their favorite treats. Little Dove would ordinary grab her rat and run, but this week when she saw that DesPurrado wasn't feeling well enough to come get his, she sweetly carried her prize over to him and offered it up. He seemed to appreciate the gesture, but did not feel like eating it. Yesterday, when a bunch of us were in Moses and Bailey's cage next door; that would have been of the utmost interest to curious cats like DesPurrado, but he just laid in the grass, staring off into space. Where ever he was going, he was already on his way. Jamie and I decided to see if he would eat Thursday night, but he wouldn't and he refused his meds in favorite treats. We knew he would never get better, but had hoped to give him a quality of life worth living for a little longer. Like his response to Little Dove, he seemed to appreciate the gesture, but he was ready to go. Not wanting to make his last moments here those of being put into a carrier and carted to the vet, I asked if Dr. Wynn would come to his home today to help him cross over into whatever is waiting next for him. Jennifer helped and we all sat with him in the rain as he drifted away. They noted the huge and gorgeous butterfly that floated about his enclosure, in between the downpours. I wonder who had come to guide him on? Could it be Hercules or Catera who were living in my bedroom with him and Cleo-cat-tra bobcat back in 1997? Or Windsong coming to gather him back into her "pride" and the realm of the unknown? I don't know, but I do know that we will miss him and his great love of life. Tribute to Esmerelda Serval My favorite memory of Esmerelda was captured in a photo that I haven't seen in a while. It was long before digital images so it may not have ever been scanned. We had just built a big enclosure on the lake bank that was fenced on three sides and then extended far out into the water so that she could swim. The lake bank was steep and tiered in flowers and plants to prevent erosion. Esmerelda stood on the bank over looking the lake and her unfettered view of the land beyond. While there was a fence in the lake to keep her contained, she could stand on the bank and look out over the top of it and perhaps pretend that it was not there. She manifested all that is regal; all that is powerful and all that is capable of seeing a better future than the current reality. 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.
Why We Quit Breeding in 1997
What most of you probably do know is that PurrFection and PurrSistence the ocelots were litter mates who were born here in 1996. What you may not know is why.
Back then we believed zoos and breeders who said that ocelots are endangered and should be bred for conservation purposes. AZA zoos were starting up something called the Brazilian Ocelot Project and member zoos were purportedly paying $3,000 to Brazil for each ocelot they took from the wild there to be part of this breeding program. Their goal was to breed ocelots in zoos and send some of them to TX to re-establish the populations that had been wiped out by hunters.
We had healthy ocelots already and wanted to do our part to re-establish these lost TX populations and did not want cats to be taken from the wild, so we offered to help. What was soon discovered by the zoos though is that ocelots have regional instincts. In Central and South America ocelots eat snakes because most of them are non poisonous. When these ocelots were released into TX they went after rattlesnakes, and the project was over almost instantly upon release.
That's why PurrFection and PurrSistence still live here and part of why we quit breeding. Even with the smaller species of wild cats, there is too much risk in trying to breed for release when the real answer is in protecting habitat and enabling native populations to rebound. You will hear a lot of nonsense by tiger breeders these days claiming they are breeding for conservation. Now that the US Fish & Wildlife Service is about to rescind the generic tiger loophole, the bad guys are getting even more outrageous by claiming that they are breeding extinct species of tigers and that their tigers are purebred. This is not true. The only purebred tigers who can be used in Species Survival Plans are in AZA accredited zoos but even then, there is no legitimate release program for captive bred big cats.
I thought you might also find interesting some of the stuff that goes on behind the scenes here involving exotic cats that your hard work is helping to save, even though you may never see the cats.
What prompted me thinking about the ocelots was a recent request we got from a woman who was upset that an AZA zoo was keeping an ocelot in a tiny, barren, indoor cell and breeding her every year for more kittens to put in cages. The reason she was not allowed to be outside where the public could see her is because when she was born her father reached her from under the fence, pulled her into his cage and chewed her leg off. Not wanting to lose a potential kitten machine, but not wanting to answer the public as to why she was missing a leg, this ocelot was kept in solitary confinement. She was apparently so traumatized by the events that she would try to kill potential mates, so they bred her using artificial insemination. We offered to take her. The zoo didn't want the cat to go to a sanctuary so they quieted the complainant by giving the ocelot some outdoor space. It's not a very happy ending, but better than the life she's had.
Since the last newsletter there have been several cases where people have reported bobcat and cougar sightings. One was a mother bobcat trying to get her kitten across a busy 4 lane highway in Lakeland. We drove out to make sure no one got killed.
Someone in AZ found a baby bobcat who had been left for two days by her mother as the people stayed back and watched for her return. After a storm nearly drowned her they decided the mother wasn't coming back, brought her in and began searching for a local rehabber. No one was calling her back and every where she turned Big Cat Rescue appeared as the authority on rehabbing bobcats so she called us. We talked her through the emergency care and who to contact at the AZ Dept. of Wildlife to find a rehabber to help make sure this little one ends up back in the wild, where she belongs.
Another bobcat sighting was in the stairwell of an apartment complex in New Port Richey. Management wanted the cat trapped or killed and by the time we got off the phone with them the bobcat was a minor celebrity there and the manager was planning on a big PR campaign for why having bobcats was much better than having rats.
A cougar report came in from both Riverview and Oldsmar with similar requests and results. Initially callers just wanted the cats gone, but by the time we got done with them they were organizing neighborhood watch teams to try and gather photos, footprints and evidence to persuade the FWC to declare their area Florida Panther protected habitat.
When the people promoting Florida Panther week said they would have a presentation that let people know what it was like to hold a panther kitten we contacted them to say we would be a major sponsor of the first ever Florida Panther Festival, but only if there were no live displays of wild cats. They have agreed that no live cats will be used in their event.
A concerned citizen in Canada sent us photos of a lion with broken teeth at Gudzoo and asked if exposed roots were always painful. Dr. Wynn replied with a web page reference that indicates that to be the case. This zoo is already in the process of being closed down for a plethora of other violations, but this expert opinion helps make the case for why they should not be allowed to exhibit big cats.
I am sure there were more, but another inquiry came from Sri Lanka about a wild leopard who had an eye injury. They were asking for expert advice on what could be done for her so we hooked them up with the vet who has helped us with Bagheera, Jefferson and Narla's eyes, Dr. Tammy Miller Michau Diplomate, American college of veterinary ophthalmologists. She was able to advise them that the injury did not appear to be causing her pain and was probably best left alone unless she began finding it too hard to hunt.
We have also been working feverishly behind the scenes to get more malls and fairs to quit allowing the exhibit of wild cats at their venues. So far the CatLaws.com letter writing campaigns and the work by Susan Bass to educate the malls and media have been paying off. At last count the number of comments on rescinding the generic tiger exemption was over 11,000 and appear to be almost entirely in favor of the new rule. The AZA has asked for an extension so they can comment and it was granted for another 30 days, but we think they are for it too. If you haven't commented yet, please do so now and say, "I am in favor of rescinding the generic tiger exemption." That's all you need to say. http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=FWS-R9-IA-2011-0027-0001
Thanks for all you do every day to enable Big Cat Rescue to help so many wild cats around the world!
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.
7 Tigers Get a 3rd Chance
Today I’d like to tell you about seven tigers who are getting a third chance at life thanks to you. In 1996 a couple was lured into a tiger breeding facility where the owner had convinced herself and those who visited that she was breeding tigers for the purpose of saving them from extinction. There are no legitimate breeding programs sending tigers back to the wild and no reason to breed tigers in captivity as they breed very easily and their populations bounce right back as soon as they have protected forests with plentiful food. This couple took several photos of themselves with the cubs back in 1996 but I don’t know if they had any ongoing contact with the facility.
By 2003 the breeder was in way over her head and had somewhere between 24 and 50 tigers living in filthy, over crowded conditions. No one cared or did anything about it until a tiger was shot roaming the neighborhood. Wild Animal Orphanage agreed to take the tigers and the International Fund for Animal Welfare agreed to help fund the transportation. 24 tigers went to WAO in 2003. I don’t know why news reports listed 50 tigers, what happened to them, or if they just didn’t know how many were there. The problem is that no one tracks tigers.
Fast forward to 2010 and the Wild Animal Orphanage’s board, led by the daughter of the husband and wife founders (Carol Asvestas), decided to throw her parents off the property and off the payroll. There were allegations of fraud, and the Attorney General was involved, but I don’t know the details. By the fall of 2010 the board decided they were not going to be able to keep the facility going and they contacted the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries to help them place 400 animals, mostly tigers and primates. We agreed to take all of the bobcats, lynx and cougars, but they had already sent the bobcats and lynx elsewhere and only had 4 cougars.
Jamie and Justin drove to San Antonio to see about picking up the cougars and were turned away by the staff who said that they didn’t want to get involved in “politics.” Whatever that meant. The number of cats there varied wildly. Staff originally told us there were 200 tigers, then they said there were 75 tigers then 50 something. The facility went into bankruptcy and WAO dissolved and there have been many lawsuits and counter suits and now there are two or three women and a man who are taking care of 200 primates and the remaining 28 tigers.
Meanwhile, the couple who had taken photos of the cubs back in 1996 had set out on a quest to find the tigers they had known so many years ago. They knew the tigers had gone to WAO and knew WAO was in trouble. They wanted to make sure that these tigers didn’t end up being bounced around from failing facility to failing facility...or worse. In their research they discovered that Big Cat Rescue and the International Exotic Feline Sanctuary in TX were the only accredited sanctuaries that house tigers. The husband, who wishes to remain anonymous, came to Big Cat Rescue last month to check us out.
I gave him a tour and found him to be very knowledgeable about the the plight of captive cats. He told me that they were trying to find the cats they knew, but were having trouble getting anyone to return their calls.
(This paragraph is from the future ((7/10/2021)) because it was pretty funny, but probably not recorded anywhere) The man had scheduled a $700 Founder Tour, but I had been called away and my husband offered to take the tour. The man insisted it had to be Carole Baskin. That made people nervous because animal abusers had made many threats against my life and this guy was acting pretty sketchy. I managed to rearrange my schedule to meet with him and the volunteers sequestered him in the backyard tour waiting area, so I could get a look at him to see if he was a known threat. He looked to be about 80 years old, tall, thin and frail, so I decided that if he was an assassin, I could take him. I put him on a golf cart and started my usual tour talk about how we started and he cut me off and said, “Just show me the tigers.” I asked, “Why are you really here?” He confessed his search for these tigers he had known, but said every where he went they shut him down and wouldn’t tell him anything. I asked for the names of the cats he was looking for and he gave me a list. I called the person managing the placement of cats in the bankruptcy and asked if those names were on their list and they were. Now back to the 2011 recording of the story.
I contacted IFAW and asked for the names of the tigers who had been rescued in 2003 and photos. IFAW and WAO staff graciously provided these to us and Jamie began the long, tedious process of comparing stripe patterns.
The problem was that in some of the photos from 1996 only a corner of a face was visible where cubs were playing and piled up on each other. If the tiger photos that were emailed to us were not that exact same ¼ of the face, it was impossible to know if they were the same cats. On the trip back from taking Able the Cougar to NV, Jamie, Gale and Honey visited WAO to take more photos of the seven cats who had been rescued together in that group of 24 tigers back in 2003.
Jamie was able to find absolute and probable matches on 6 of the 7 tigers. The couple who had known the cubs back in 1996 agreed to help rescue and support all 7 tigers so that they could stay together in groups of three and four. Their 3 favorite cubs (who are now 15 yrs old) will be coming here so they can visit more often and the other 4 will go to another good facility. Because of the bankruptcy court involvement, and those who hate us getting in the middle of this and the transportation issues, this rescue is taking a while to bring about. We are racing against the clock though because the bankruptcy court is taking possession of the property next month and don’t want the tigers there.
The tigers who will be coming here are Misha, Apotha and Andre (Later renamed by the donors to Amanda, Arthur and Andre) and they will live together in the four tiger Cat-a-Tats that you guys have been joining together in the outback. To keep the BCR haters out of the process we have to be very guarded, so only the info on this page is to be shared: http://bigcatrescue.org/2011/tiger-rescue-2/
Now you have the chance to end the generic tiger loophole that has enabled the abuse that leads to so many tigers ending up in peril. http://capwiz.com/bigcatrescue/issues/alert/?alertid=53173501
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.
Response to Notary Board Complaint Presumably Filed by Bobbi Corona
I would like some evidence that Bobbi Corona actually filed this complaint because it is not signed and the person responsible for the bulk of these kinds of frivolous attacks is Joe Schreibvogel who operates under a number of aliases. I suspect that he is actually the one to have filed this complaint. He has filed numerous other false complaints with the USDA, the Florida Wildlife Commission, the EPA and other state agencies.
It is a slanderous assertion by the complainant to suggest that my parents "have a record of IRS misdealings" or that "It has long been suspected that Carole Baskin has been frauding the public." It is this last line that leads me to believe that this complaint was actually penned by Joe Schreibvogel because it is typical of his poor grasp of grammar and spelling and a phrase he often uses in his ranting.
It is also untrue to assert that real estate holdings are funneled through non profits. The fact of the matter is that I had real estate that I donated to the non profit, Big Cat Rescue, so that it could provide the income needed in the early years of the sanctuary to feed and maintain 100+ big cats. I put the land, rental properties and mortgages into trusts so that they would pass through my estate to the sanctuary. I do not benefit from any of the properties that I have put in trust for the sanctuary and have not drawn a paycheck from the non profit.
The reason these attacks are being made is because I have been very successful in lobbying for laws to end the abuse and trade in big cats as pets, props and for their parts. The largest contributing factor to the thousands of lions and tigers who are now being kept in basements, backyards and warehouses across America is from the exploitation of cubs who are trotted out to malls, flea markets and fairs for use as photo and petting props. Our campaign to end this abuse has outraged those who make their living from such abuse.
Now, as to the specific complaints: Perhaps I am misunderstanding the intent of the law, but I have understood this section to mean that I could notarize a parent or child's signature in the course of business in which I was employed as long as doing so was not deriving a financial benefit to me. I am self employed in the real estate business and employed by Big Cat Rescue as the CEO, although I take no pay or benefit from my role there. I have been the CEO or President since its creation in 1995 and have never been paid by the non profit and never derived a financial benefit from the organization. I donated my home and the 40 acres it was on to the non profit and moved off property so that it would be clear that I was not benefitting from the sanctuary. I have arranged these in chronological order as it will make more sense to see the actual flow of transactions.
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.
The Big Cat Coalition Formed in DC
Rose Church a pro bono attorney for the Ian Somerhalder Foundation contacted Big Cat Rescue asking what Ian could do to help Tony the tiger be saved from the truck stop in Grosse Tete, LA. Ian Somerhalder is the star of the Vampire Diaries and from Louisiana and had a Twitter following of 2.3 million fans at that time.
We had been working to save Tony since 2009 and so had the Animal Legal Defense Fund and there wasn’t anything more that could be done at the time as these things drag out through years and years of appeals, so Howard Baskin and I suggested that if Ian really wanted to make a difference for big cats that he help us stop cub handling.
Rose couldn’t believe that such abuse actually existed in this country and contacted her law professor, Diane Sullivan, to see what could be done. They thought that bringing together the big non profits who work on big cat issues together for a round table would be a good idea and asked if I knew anyone. I gave her the contacts we had in the International Tiger Coalition and she managed to get representatives from a number of them to come to a meeting on July 25, 2011.
Attendees were:
ALDF Stephan Otto from the Animal Legal Defense Fund
BCR Howard Baskin and Carole Baskin from Big Cat Rescue
BF USA Adam Roberts and Tracy Coppola from Born Free
GFAS Patty Finch from the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries
HSUS Debbie Leahy from the Humane Society of the United States
IFAW Jeff Flocken, Nathan Herschler & Gina Miller from the International Fund for Animal Welfare
ISF Rose Church from the Ian Somerhalder Foundation
MSL Dean Diane Sullivan, from Massachusetts School of Law, filmed the Plight of Tigers further down
WCAR World Council for Animal Rights
WCCLAS Wild Cat Conservation Legal Aid Society
WWF Leigh Henry from the World Wildlife Fund
Combined we represent more than 18 million supporters.
Each of us had come there to decide how we could end the big cat crisis. Each person around the table said what they thought the biggest contributing factor to big cat abuse and extinction was. No one mentioned cubs and I was the last or next to the last to speak. I said that if we end the cub handling, all the other abuses fall away; circuses, private ownership, illegal trade and the smokescreen for illegal trade which was causing extinction in the wild. We agreed on a three prong approach that day:
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Rescind the generic tiger loophole with USFWS.
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Force USDA to enforce the Animal Welfare Act which should already be interpreted to not allow cub handling.
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A federal ban on cub handling and private ownership.
https://bigcatrescue.org/big-cat-coalition/
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.
Sheba the Black Jaguar
This month I would like to tell you about Sheba the black jaguar; a cat who should be here but isn't. For years people complained to us about a black jaguar who would pace constantly in a small pit at Cypress Gardens. Big Cat Rescuers, Barbara Frank and Julie Hanan went to Cypress Gardens to check it out and brought back disturbing video that showed the jaguar to pace so consistently that there was a worn, dark mark in the wall from her pushing against it.
We met with Cypress Gardens staff to try and help them come up with ways to give Sheba privacy and enrichment so that she might stop pacing. They ignored us.
Later, when Cypress Gardens had gone bankrupt and were looking to dispose of all of their animals, we offered to take Sheba, but instead they sent her to Dade City’s Wild Things. Last year a former employee of DCWT brought me a photo of Sheba, her face swollen and blood dripping from the oozing wound. Even though she was too old to breed, the owner of DCWT, Kathy Stearns, had put her in with a male jaguar. Sheba had killed the male jaguar and suffered considerable trauma to her head and face. We, and the employee, reported this to USDA and FWS along with the photos and the employee’s letter stating that Kathy never gave the jaguar medical care for the wounds. Sheba was again on our minds as we went to lobby in D.C. for laws that would prevent cats like her from ending up in private hands.
Big Cat Rescuers, Jeff & Coleen Kremer and Howard & Carole Baskin just returned from Washington, D.C. in the sanctuary’s 7th annual trip to meet with other animal lovers where they petition lawmakers to enact more humane legislation. One of the best takeaways from the conference each year is the Humane Scorecard which lists all of the animal legislation from the previous session and how YOUR lawmaker voted. Howard said, “It’s just like homecoming every year to reunite with such great people who are working hard to end animal abuse.”
The four Rescuers went up early in order to make this the most profitable conference for big cats ever. Howard and Carole met with Richard Patch and Sara Amundson of the Humane Society Legislative Fund to get their expert advice on the best ways to end the abuse of tiger and lion cubs who are bred for pay-to-play schemes. They had similar meetings with Adam Roberts, CEO of Born Free USA, Cynthia Armstrong, the State Director of HSUS in Oklahoma, and many others too numerous to recount here.
The conference workshops were excellent, as usual and there was a private screening of The Elephant in the Living Room along with a Q & A with the producer, Mike Webber and the star, Tim Harrison. The DVD will be out in August and we will let you know when it is available. The conference concludes each year with Lobby Day where the hundreds of animal lovers from all over the country gather in groups by state to go see their members of Congress. See photos of Big Cat Rescuers showing Congressional Staff the horrid conditions in which big cats live in the U.S. due to the lack of governance and enforcement.
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.
Taking Action for Animals Lobby in D.C. with Howie On behalf of The Humane Society of the United States, thank you for your support of this year’s 2011 Taking Action for Animals Conference on July 15-18 at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC. Your generous sponsorship contributions help to make this conference possible and we are thrilled that you will be joining us! Registration: Your sponsorship includes 2 full conference registrations. Click here to begin the registration process, select “Sponsor Full Conference Registration” and use the access code BIGCATTAFA11. You should complete the process for each person you would like to register. Once you have used your two free registrations you will have the option to register for additional full conference registrations at a discount. Exhibit Hall – Table Assignment: Tables will be assigned on a first-come, first serve basis and we’ll do our best to accommodate any requests. We will email your table number(s) once assigned. If you do not plan on utilizing your exhibit space, we kindly request that you let us know so that it does not go unoccupied during the conference. Please call me at humanesociety.org Lobby Day, Monday, July 18th 2011, Schedule and Description: • 9:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., Hart Senate Office Building, Room 902 • 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., Capitol Visitor Center, SVC 200 TIMELINE • 7:30 am – 8:30: Breakfast, Marriott Wardman Park Hotel Atrium • 9:30 am – 10:00 am: Welcome, Hart Senate Office Building, Room 902 • 10:00 am – 12:00 pm: Senate meetings • 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm: Brownbag with Wayne Pacelle and Mike Markarian, Hart 902 • 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm: House meetings Suggested Workshops for Lobby Day Preparation: During TAFA there will be several opportunities for you to get the crucial citizen lobbyist training that you’ll need for Monday’s Lobby Day. As noted below, only ONE of these workshops is REQUIRED, but all are recommended. See this link for more information about each workshop: https://hsus.expoplanner.com/docs/userfiles/Workshop_Descriptions_TAFA_06-02-10.pdf Sunday, July 17, 2011 • 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM Lobby Day Training Session - Part 1 • This workshop is MANDATORY for anyone attending Lobby Day on Monday. • 10:15 AM – 11:30 AM Lobby Day Training Session - Part 1 • This workshop is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED for anyone attending Lobby Day on Monday. • 4:45 PM – 5:45 PM Closing Session with Stephanie Vance - Author of Taking Advocacy Action for Animals: Being an Effective Voice on Capitol Hill – and Beyond Stay tuned for more helpful Lobby day information and tips throughout the next couple of weeks, and feel free to let me know if you have any questions. Best, Kate Wall Grassroots Outreach Coordinator Federal Affairs 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.
Carole Baskin Bio for Speaking Events
Carole Baskin is the founder of Big Cat Rescue. She runs a real estate business to support herself and volunteers as CEO for Big Cat Rescue managing 107 volunteers, several interns from around the world and 9 staff.
She has run this Tampa based non profit since 1992 and has garnered international attention to the plight of captive big cats on CNN, Animal Planet, Discovery, U.S. News & World Report, People Magazine, The Today Show, Sports Illustrated, all of the local media outlets and many more national and international programs.
She has lectured in Costa Rica, Panama and many cities across the U.S. on cage construction, legislative affairs, and sanctuary standards in Universities, Law Colleges, and in numerous animal association conferences. Her efforts, combined with many others of like mind, have resulted in the 2003 passage of the Captive Wild Animal Safety Act which made it illegal to sell a big cat across state lines as a pet, the 2009 requirement that those in Florida who possess Class I animals must post a $10,000 bond and the reclassification of a cougar to Class I, making it illegal to own as a pet in FL.
Carole Baskin served as a past President of The Association of Sanctuaries and currently serves on the board of the Humane USA PAC and is the head of the Florida branch. The PAC is the nation's largest political action committee dedicated entirely to putting animal friendly candidates in office. Her mission is to end the trade in exotic cats and thus put herself out of business.
FWC Dirty Laundry Conversation with XXXX XXXX came out to view the necropsy reports on the three rehab bobcat kittens who died in 2010 and 2011 so that I would not have to email them in and make them subject to FOIA by the bad guys. There is nothing damning in the reports, but our enemies frequently doctor documents to reflect their allegations and giving them the base canvas was not something I was inclined to do. XXXX was so annoyed with these false complaints that he insinuated are being filed by Kathy Stearns, Judy Watson, Vernon Yates and Joe Schreibvogel, that he said from now on, if anyone wants to file a complaint against us they will have to meet with him in person, sign a sworn affidavit as to the allegations and when he finds them to be without merit he plans to file charges against them for falsifying a police report. Yay! He said that he has never gotten a “real” complaint from a real guest and that all of the allegations are coming from “the industry.” I told him that around here we just refer to them as “the bad guys.” For the rest of his visit he too referred to them as “the bad guys.” I never thought of him, or anyone else at the FWC as having any interest in the welfare of animals. He isn't happy with the current regime, but isn't sure just how bad they will be. The last regime, he confessed, would suppress any attempts on his behalf to bring charges against violators. He would go into a place like Horseshoe Creek and find 20+ leopards, shut into sub minimal kennels where they were connected to a legal size cage, and in his opinion, if the cats obviously never got access to the legal size cage, then it meant 20 cage violations. His superiors insisted that all citations should be consolidated, so if it was 20 leopard cages, the citation should only be for one cage violation. In some cases cats lived 9 years in these sub minimal and illegal cages, but the FWC's administrative judges would not hear the case. He tried to take cases against Darrell Atkinson, Susan Aronoff Bradshaw, Vernon Yates, Bert Whal, and others to the state attorney's office who denied him jury trials and often refused to prosecute at all. XXXX said the only way he could get a case tried at all was to take it to civil court, outside the authority of the FWC. If he continues doing that he won't have a job for long. He had told me before, but relayed again how they managed to shut down Horseshoe Creek. He had 47 citations, even though they had been dramatically consolidated, but no one would hear it, so he worked with the criminal justice system to set up a community service sting. An undercover agent paid Atkinson $400 to sign off on 40 hours of court ordered community service despite not doing them. That was the end of this awful back yard breeding operation that boasted breeding more than 60 leopards, plus lions, tigers, ligers, bears, wolves and more. When he bemoaned the fact that “too many people only give their animals whatever the barest minimum demands,” I asked if there was anyone, other than us, who gave all of their animals a decent amount of room. He admitted that there was almost no one who cared about the individual animal's need for space like we do. Even the larger zoos and attractions, with all of their million dollar public exhibits were usually just the tiniest of cells behind the scenes where they spent most of their lives. 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.
A Different Kind of Homelessness
Big Cat Rescue, in Tampa, FL frequently get calls about bobcats who have been hit by cars. It is always a challenge to have the caller properly identify the animal. While every animal life is precious Big Cat Rescue's focus is on saving exotic cats. Once the caller has described the cat sufficiently the Rescuers hit the road with a van full of nets, carriers, humane traps, flashlights, bug spray, blankets and high hopes of bringing the bobcat back alive.
Sometimes though, the cat either cannot be located or even if spotted cannot be caught. That was the case when a call came in on March 29, 2011. When Rescuers and licensed rehabilitator, Jamie Veronica, Gale Ingham and Chris Poole arrived on the scene of an accident that had happened on the exit ramp of Interstate 75 in Tampa the caller returned to the scene to help point them in the right direction.
The cat was no where to be seen, but as the caller relayed what he had seen earlier, the bobcat ran from the woods back into the busy exit ramp. Rescuers ran desperately to corral the badly injured bobcat back off the roadway. Jamie barely missed him with her net and made one last leap after him as he dove into the briars. The thorny underbrush was so thick that she just hung there, trapped in mid flight, but the tears that sprang to her eyes were not because of the thousands of rivulets of blood trickling from her gashes, but because she knows that you usually only get one swipe at netting a wild cat and she had missed this one.
Later on the way home she broke down and sobbed, “I feel like it's all my fault! I should have been faster. I was so startled that he was in the middle of the road and I didn't want him to get hit again. I could see the whole side of his face was caved in, and the blood...I think he lost the eye on one side.” The scene played over and over again in her head, but no matter how much it haunted her, there was no way to set the clock back and if she could it would have been much further reset to avoid the initial accident.
More Rescuers arrived on the scene and the search through the thick brambles and palmetto thick forest went on without a glimpse of the bobcat until around 9pm. Chris thought he saw a shimmer of brown fur but it moved quickly past him, leapt up onto a log, and then disappeared completely. The searchers tried to circle around the area, but it was dark and the woods were full of trash. Pieces of plastic and broken bottles reflected back millions of false illusions of eyes. Each had to be investigated to rule out what was garbage from what may be a one eyed cat.
The bobcat was not sighted again and the search party, bleeding from battling briars and mosquitos decided around midnight to call it quits and try again at first light.
The next morning Jamie and Carole drove out to the scene as day broke and resumed the search. A humane trap with fresh mice had been set where the bobcat had last been seen, but the hazy morning light revealed that it had not been successful. The stress of having been so close and yet not being able to catch the bobcat on the first try had kept Jamie up all night, but she was determined to find the cat on this morning and get him to a hospital.
Hours passed, and she saw just the slightest hint of brown fur in the thick palmettos but despite all of her skill and practice as a wildlife tracker, she could not get close enough to see if it was a bobcat, or a rabbit, or a rat, or squirrel, or a raccoon. It disappeared instantly and not another sound was heard. The only evidence of life were the discarded clothes and food containers that had belonged to the homeless who live in this small patch of woods.
Those who hate Big Cat Rescue for the work we are doing to end the trade and exploitation of big cats had filed a 22 page false complaint with USDA. The inspectors arrived at the sanctuary to do an investigation so Rescuers lost the rest of the day dealing with the nonsense alleged against them by the bad guys. The end result was another perfect USDA inspection but at the cost of precious hours of daylight. As soon as the investigation was over Rescuers raced back out to the scene of impact and resumed their search, but to no avail.
Thursday Rescuers arrived on the scene early but knew they were only going to have a short time to search as there were ominous clouds blowing in and tornado watches in the area. The humane trap was still empty and even the rats who were left outside of the trap, were untouched. The first night, when the bobcat had tried to re cross the road he may have been heading to a larger patch of woods, that surely held more prey than this abandoned island of trees. It was decided to move the trap into this more densely wooded area.
Off-roading in the rain, Carole recounts, “I noticed several homeless people coming and going and thought I would wait for them to pass before hauling the huge trap out into the dense cover. It was raining harder and harder though and yet the people kept coming and going, on foot and on broken down bicycles. A woman was working the traffic nearby with a sign that said, “Family In Need.” Most of them looked like the life had just been kicked out of them. Most of them plodded along, heads down, trying not to make eye contact. Others who seemed less worn down by their plight found the Big Cat Rescue logos in gold on the side of the black Dodge Hemi, to be of great interest, since it might mean a loose pet tiger in their area.
“I wondered how this bobcat could share space with so many homeless people,” Carole wondered. This was the only sizable plot of ground that had any natural foliage and couldn't have been more than about 20 acres. A bobcat needs five square miles of territory to survive but there was no where near that available near here. She must have become very accustomed to seeing people come and go, but they did not seem to know that she shared their plight.
What all of these precious souls had in common is that they have lost their homes. They are tenaciously holding on to what meager existence they can eek out of life while trying their best to keep their independence and dignity intact.
The storms raged on throughout the night dumping four inches of water in many places. The tornados flipped semi trailers on the Interstate and airplanes that had come in for the annual Sun N Fun Fly In.
Saturday Chris organized a large search party via Facebook and Jamie assisted by driving them via carpool back to the site. The plan is to have 20 – 25 people surround the area and move in from every direction to herd the bobcat into the center of the small patch of woods. With enough hands, eyes and nets, they hope to bring this one back alive.
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.
How Kanawha Got Her Name
Through making some stupid choices as a kid, I ran away from home at the age of 15. I isolated myself from family and friends, was living on the street, eating out of dumpsters and sleeping under cars. I worked as a waitress and often held three jobs at a time.
I worked in a breakfast room mornings, served lunch and dinner at a Greek Restaurant, and then worked till 2 am serving drinks in bars until they figured out that I was under age and I'd have to move to the next bar. Eventually I was able to earn enough to rent an unheated garage. It had a toilet, sink and bathtub but the water to run them all was via a garden hose I ran in through the broken window. There was no A/C, no fan and only the heat of one small space heater that I bought. One night, thinking I would freeze to death I fell asleep too close and caught my hair on fire.
The clothes I left home with hung on my skeletal frame now as I had been reduced to just skin and bones. I used an old rope for a belt and even my shoes were too big now and caused blisters on my feet as I had to walk to and from all of my places of work in Charleston, W.Va.
I lived with a 6'4" 250 lb mutant named Jim Jones, who was a drug addict who routinely beat me within an inch of my life. No matter how hard I worked, it was never enough to support his habits. Sometimes I would be out of work for weeks because I couldn't be serving food with blackened, swollen eyes and bloodied lips. It was then that I was at my lowest and often felt that I just couldn't keep going.
One night as I was walking home to my garage I deterred toward the Kanawha River bridge. I climbed as high as I could go and, borrowing a line from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, figured the fall alone would kill me. I slipped off my shoes and did a swan dive into the icy waters of the Kanawha River.
Much to my surprise, the fall didn't kill me, but as I surfaced I wondered if hypothermia might. Feeling really stupid I thought to myself that I couldn't even commit suicide right…Then I heard the voice of a man screaming from the bridge, "Don't worry! I'll save you!"
To my horror, a homeless man who had apparently watched me jump, had now leapt off the bridge to rescue me. Being in considerably worse condition than me, and drunk to boot, his rescue effort resulted in me dragging him back in to shore, but I was touched nonetheless. His selflessness in the face of what little he had to give showed me that no matter how bad things are, you can help someone else; you can make a difference, if you just never give up.
Fast forward to 1994 and a terribly skinny Siberian Lynx arrives. She was so far gone, and yet tenaciously held on to life and her indomitable spirit. She reminded me that no matter how difficult life becomes we never know what is just around the corner. If we have faith, stay positive and NEVER EVER, EVER GIVE UP, we will succeed.
I named her Kanawha so that every time I thought her name, I would be reminded to never give up. Now I volunteer with the Homeless Coalition and speak at their events to encourage others who are homeless to keep trying and to let their donors know that the people they help could one day be paying it forward.
Kanawha is 22 now, and as most of you know has lost her soul mate Katmandu who was 19. Kanawha suffers from seizures when she hears the lawn mower so we have moved her back into the wooded area of the sanctuary beyond Cameron and Zabu so that her final days are as stress free as possible.
As always, I want to thank all of you who give so deeply of yourselves to these animals. It is the inspiration that enables me to deal with the dark side of the enemies we face who seek to abuse and exploit big cats.
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.
Fantasy Portrait for Jamie’s 31st Birthday
Letter to the artist Christina Hess
Jennifer Oliver said you might have time to commission a fantasy portrait for me. My daughter's 31st birthday is in mid July and I was wondering what you might charge to do a fantasy portrait of her? She is an artist and a photographer and almost all of the images on our site at BigCatRescue.org are hers and all of our brochures, newsletters, graphics, etc. are done by her. She has been helping me with the sanctuary since she was 12. I lost my husband in 1997 and she buckled down and finished school at the age of 16 and as Valedictorian to boot. Can you tell how proud I am of her?
She is an only child and these cats have been her brothers, sisters and best friends for two thirds of her life. 79 of the sanctuary's cats are now over the age of 15 when exotic cats in zoos and in the wild usually die by the time they are 12. Jamie does all of our assisting with the vet and has had to face so many heartbreaks, with many more around the corner.
She used to tease that she would know she had made it in life when she had her own action figure. I think you might be able to create that for her in the way of a painting. She has great mermaid like hair of long ringlets, hazel eyes and her totem animal is the swan. She is a rock climber, hiker, who would rather spend her whole life tracking cats in the wild and saving their habitat. Despite being a tomboy, her best color on her typically tan skin, is hot pink. Some of her favorite cats are Jumanji the black leopard, Windstar the bobcat, Pharoah and Tonga the white servals and of course, all of the rehab bobcats, as she is also our rehabber. With your talent and imagination I am sure you could come up with something that would really mean a lot for her, if you have the time. If you do, what would it cost to do something that is roughly 12 x 12 ?
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.
Tribute to Katmandu the Siberian Lynx
Anal electrocution was the only way to escape the fur farm…at least as far as Katmandu knew, until the day his older brother made a gallant run for it. Moments later though, the sickening sound of the shot gun blast and Katmandu knew he would never see his big brother alive again. There was little consolation in the fact that his brother's pelt was now too riddled with holes to become another fur fashion.
Katmandu had seen things that you just can't get over. His siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles all killed and skinned for their fur. He and Stalker had been spared because they were the biggest and most handsome lynx yet and their owner knew that their size and looks would pass on even better coats to "harvest." They weighed 90 pounds each when grown.
When we arrived in 1993 Katmandu was only a year old, but he had seen the inhumanity that man was capable of and would never forget it. His little sister, Natasha, was too young to have witnessed or remembered the horrors of the fur farm and while they shared a similar birth, in the tiny, steel, wire floored cages in a metal Minnesota shed, their attitudes going forward were as different as night and day.
One of the first cages built at Big Cat Rescue housed Katmandu. Most cats figure out pretty quickly that coming here really is life on "Easy Street" but I don't remember a time in those early years that Katmandu didn't puff at me and strike the side of his cage whenever I would walk by. I always tried to give him an extra wide berth so as to not frighten him into such displays but, unlike the rest of the cats here, he never trusted me.
When we had to give the cats vaccines in the early days it usually meant netting them, which involved chasing them around until we could net them and inject them. Not Katmandu. To vaccinate him meant at least three big guys with nets and all of us dressed in enough padding to have been hockey goalies. The moment we stepped into the cage it was "game on" and the game for Katmandu was to see how many of us he could take down before I got him with the needle.
Thankfully our cage designs improved over the years so that the cats had a lockout area where we feed them every day that became the area we could call them into for shots. That became easier and easier through our operant conditioning program where the cats learn that coming into lockout is almost always something good like food and treats. But, not Katmandu.
It didn't matter that 364 days out of the year there would be something good about coming into lockout, he wasn't going to do it if there was any chance that a human was going to try and get anywhere near him. For 10 years Katmandu was the scariest cat on the property. No matter how much all of us tried to show our love and respect for him, I never saw any change in his ferocity until 2003 when he met, and fell in love with Dr. Liz Wynn.
She worked tirelessly with him and his cage mate Kanawha until she gained their trust. I didn't see how she initiated operant conditioning with them, but was just stopped dead in my tracks one day when I saw the result. She was standing over Katmandu who was in his lockout, looking up at her with adoration and expectation as she was giving commands and treats on a stick. There was no growling. No puffing threats at her. No slashing claws. Just Katmandu and what could only be described as puppy love in his demeanor.
I began to take note that every time she walked by he came, on the run, to see if she would stop and talk with him. It was one of those little pleasures that put a smile on my face every time I saw it because I felt that finally this brave cat had found a soul mate here, not only in Kanawha, but also in Dr. Wynn. All of the cats here have Keepers and Partners who are especially dear to them and we often note that they pick you rather than the other way around, but to see Katmandu have a person he trusted was something extraordinary.
There may have been others here who he came to love. There were certainly many who tried to gain his favor, but I never saw anything like what I saw between Katmandu and Dr. Wynn.
There is a lot that love can do, but it can't stop the ravages of time. When Keepers reported that Katmandu had his third eyelid up and was unsteady on his feet and drooling, we knew something was wrong. For the first time in the 18 years that I have known Katmandu he didn't rush over to threaten me when Jamie and I went to check on him. Over the years his arthritis had become so bad that he was on two strong painkillers both night and day. His back leg now had an even worse gait and it turned out that the cause of the third eyelid being up and the drooling was because of an abscessed tooth. His kidney values six years ago had not been good, but now they were really bad and at the age of 19 were only going to get worse.
The odd gait turned out to be a torn ligament in his knee that would have required extensive surgery and many weeks or months of recovering in a small cage in the cat hospital. There is no way that Katmandu would have been able to withstand the fear of such tight confinement as it would have been too much like the fur farm cage of his youth. He had already lived 7 years longer than anyone would expect a Siberian Lynx to live and it had been a pretty good life for a cat in a cage.
He had been able to retain his command over all around him and had lived a life of dignity. He had made a friend in a vet who would now help him ease over into the life beyond the walls of his cage. He had taught us all how awful the fur industry was by his refusal to ever forget those who were not as lucky and he, Kanawha, Natasha, Willow, Apollo and Zeus were to escape.
We will never forget Katmandu and will never forget why we endure the trials we suffer to end the trade in these great cats as pets, props and for their parts and fur.
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.
No More Snow Leopards at Big Cat Rescue
I shut off the Snow Leopard cave air conditioner for the last time tonight. Cloe the Snow Leopard had just left her exquisite body and was bound for that place where all good cats go when they die. As I walked to the office, the chorus of lions stopped me in my tracks to listen. An over-sized butterfly began circling me and then perched on a branch right above my head for a long moment before disappearing high into the boughs of the tree and darkening sky. I felt it was Cloe; happy to finally be free and wanted to share the moment with you. She kept circling before stopping to say, "Good-bye" and leaving.
Note from the future (7/4/2021) I’m not sure the transfer dates in the Snow Leopard Stud Book are accurate, but they could be. Some of them at least. I thought that Hercules arrived somewhere around June 17, 1997 but according to the records on file, it says he arrived 6/29/1997. If so, that means Don gave me Hercules the day before he left for Costa Rica on June 30, 1997. In Tiger King, Murder, Mayhem & Madness, some people said Don was going to take the cats to Costa Rica with him and leave me behind so the time of this seems to take the wind out of that sail. There would never be a better time for Don to try and smuggle a snow leopard to Costa Rica than that trip because Hercules would fit in a pet cat carrier and he was already down in West Palm Beach with Marc McCarthy, so Don could have flown the cub out of Miami, or via barge, rather than bring him to me as a belated birthday gift.
At the time that Don gave me Hercules, he said that he’d paid $10,000 each for him and a female from Marc McCarthy, but that the female was going to the Dallas Zoo to be on display while she was a cute cub and she would come to us as soon as she grew up. I didn’t know about the stud books back then so I didn’t know that Hercules, Cloe and Zoe were all born at John Aynes place called Oakhill in Luther, OK. I’d heard of John Aynes and knew his lover’s mother had been killed by a leopard at his place. I think that was around April of 1997. I think we had gotten a serval or two from him before as well. What is telling here, is that John apparently sent 4 week old Hercules to Marc McCarthy on June 28, 1997 and Don must have picked him up that day, or the next morning to have brought him to Tampa on June 29, 1997.
What is even more interesting to me is that I’d been told the female who would be coming to us went to the Dallas Zoo, but the record show that two three week old female siblings were sent to Fort Worth on May 30, 1997 but when they reached a mere 7 weeks old they were shipped back to John Aynes in OK. The record is wrong for sure here though, because it says that Cloe came to me 6/29/1997 (same date as Hercules) but she didn’t. Both Cloe and Zoe came to me on April 20, 1998, but they show here that Cloe was in Ayne’s possession June 29, 1997 and came to me April 20, 1998. Zoe’s record is all messed up as it claims she came to me with Hercules June 29, 1997 and then went back to Aynes on April 18, 1998 and then to McCarthy on April 20, 1998 and showed her dying there on Aug. 18, 2003. Zoe died here from a spider bite in 2003. Hercules died from cancer Jan. 29, 2010.
In April of 1998 when I was contacted by McCarthy, he said that he had the female Don had bought for me, but that her sister would surely die of a broken heart if I broke them up. I didn’t want her to end up in the trade where she would be bred to death, so I paid the ransom for her so the sisters could stay together. By this time they were a year old and Hercules had been living in my house all this time. This is when my father started building the snow leopard triplex with air conditioned dens, so they would be able to stand the heat here. I don’t recall now if McCarthy told me, or I assumed, the females had been at the Texas zoo this whole time, as Don had originally told me. I knew McCarthy to be a breeder of all kinds of big cats, so I had no reason to suspect they were born out of state, and thus no reason to believe that I was breaking any Endangered Species Act law to pay to keep the sisters together.
Looking at the records however, and now knowing how these breeders and dealers circumvent the laws, here is what it looks like to me: The cubs were born at John Aynes’s Oakhill facility in Oklahoma, and sold, illegally to Marc McCarthy (because it was a sale across state lines). Dealers often mark the paperwork as a Donation and just trade in cash. Marc took possession of the snow leopards in Florida in order to legally sell to Don Lewis in 1997 and later me in 1998. Where Cloe and Zoe were for the year in between the time Don arranged to buy Cloe and when they came here is still a mystery to me.
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.
Bobby Blue Rose Was The First Bobcat to Live on Easy Street
Windsong was the first exotic cat; the Founder of what is now Big Cat Rescue, but do you know who the first exotic cat to live at 12802 Easy Street was?
It was our dear little Bobby Blue Rose who recently passed away at the age of 19.
She was one of the 56 bobcats and lynx who were rescued from being killed for their coats in 1993. When we rescued all those kittens, all those years ago, we asked every family member, every friend and every employee of our real estate business to come help us feed the kittens every two hours around the clock. A lot of these people ended up falling in love with and taking home their favorite cats. Our maid took the kitten she later named Bobby Blue Rose.
Back then the cats were all at my home in Town N Country on 4.5 acres and the property known as Easy Street was just one of my properties that I had rented out. What is now the gift shop was a very old home built in 1954 and my maid and her family lived here for modest rent to keep people from coming and dumping on the grounds. Since she helped me care for 56 cats every day, I believed she was capable of taking care of one of them at her own home. That worked until Bobby Blue Rose grew up.
The woman had a teenage daughter and Bobby Blue Rose lived to terrorize that kid. She would hang out on the tops of the door frames with two paws on the frame and two paws on the top of the door and wait patiently for the teenager to unwitting pass by underneath her. She would launch onto her head and start ripping out her hair. It wasn't long before the woman had to decide between the cat and her kid and Bobby Blue Rose, like most of the others, came back to live with me for the rest of her life.
We learned the hard way that most people are not prepared to give a wild animal a life time home. The novelty wears off, the cats grow up and then they are often dumped or relegated to tiny, barren cells for the rest of their lives.
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.
Jack the Cat
In the place where Jumanji Leopardsss cage is today, Jamie lived in a single wide mobile home when she was 15. When a friend at school named Mike was abandoned by his mom, we let him move into a tiny travel trailer next door to her mobile home. Back then, I lived in the Gift Shop. My funniest recollection of Mike was on his first morning here he expected Jamie to whip up breakfast for him. She introduced him to the toaster and that kid probably lived on nothing but toast the whole time he lived here. Mike found Jack and Mike, a couple of tiny kittens, tied up in a bag in a dumpster. He kept the one he named after himself and left Jack at the sanctuary.
In 1995 the tour waiting area was a multi species collection of cats that included Glory, Glory the cougar, Fluffy the serval, Raindance and Little Feather the bobcats, a domestic cat named Breezy who had raised Little Feather and several other caracals, servals and bobcats. Glory would delight in carrying the smaller cats around in her mouth and would drool all over them. She was amazingly gentle, but you never wanted to touch any cat that she had just set down as they would be a slobbery mess.
Even though she was the biggest cat in the yard, Little Feather was the undisputed top cat and she ran the yard with an iron paw. She was probably granted such premiere status willingly because she was able to get the flea collars off herself and anyone else that would sit patiently as she worked it off them. Those were the days of flea powder, Sven dust, diatomaceous earth and flea eating nematodes before the advent of Advantage or Revolution.
Hallelujah Cougar was the same age as Glory, Glory but was always too rough for the other cats and for people, but he wanted desperately to be near his friends so we built an L shaped yard that wrapped around the back yard area full of cats. The fences were chain link then, so he could see them and race back and forth with them from his long tunnel that ran along the west wall.
Jack was always a mischievous one and loved to taunt the caged cats by showing off how free he was outside of their confines. He drew tremendous pleasure in enticing the cats to chase him to the end of their cages so that they would crash into the walls as he sped out of range. He would do this to Hal all the time and Hal would fall for it every time. Hal would be so focused on the chase that he would invariably plow into the end of this run as Jack kept running on the outside.
One day we were making cage modifications and had extended a fence at the end of Hallelujah's cage out into the open space. Jack had revved up for his run, but hadn't noticed that his runway would end at the same point as Hal's. Jack rammed into the fence at full throttle while looking back at Hal to egg him on. Ever since then Jack has had a bit of a kink in his neck and that is why his head is always cocked at a slight angle. I am sure Hal still snickers at him every time he passes by.
Photo was circa 1998 of Jamie and me with Jumanji during a photo shoot for People Magazine. We do not display photos of people touching cats since 2004.
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.
2010 Annual Report
Big Cat Rescue is more than just a place that provides permanent care for big cats. It is a movement; a change in the tide of human perceptions and is the combined effort of more than 50,000 supporters. If you are one of them, you are a Big Cat Rescuer and the following is the great work YOU did! If you haven’t helped yet, you can do so now at the top right of the screen or here: http://bigcatrescue.org/donate.htm
Big Cat Rescue’s Mission Statement: Big Cat Rescue’s dual mission is to provide the best home we can for the cats in our care and educate the public about the plight of these majestic animals, both in captivity and in the wild, to end abuse and avoid extinction. We are Caring for Cats and Ending the Trade
Advances: With your help we are winning in the battle for compassion! Up until 2003 the number of requests for rescues we had to turn down due to lack of space or funds had roughly doubled each year, to 312 that year. We feared it would double again to over 500 in 2004. Instead, it has steadily declined since then thanks to the passage of a federal bill and several state bills that restrict the ownership of exotic cats. This year we “only” had to turn away 89 big cats who were unwanted by their owners. We offered to take all of the cats who were cougar size or smaller, if their owners would contract to never own another exotic cat, but they all refused. We just do not have enough Senior Keeper staff to take on more lions or tigers.
By now everyone knows that communication and fundraising will be cell phone centric. On April 30, 2009 we added mobile phone number collection to our contact forms and promoted this new request with the Animal Lover’s Dream Vacation Giveaway. Our winners said, “It was the most fun we’ve ever had!”
Our new Intranet site established in January 2010 where all of our staff, volunteers, board and vet care professionals can interact and share information. This cloud based system was provided free via a Google grant and enables us to keep all of the sanctuary documents in a password protected cloud where Rescuers can log in and post their observations for the vet and can share photos, videos and stories with each other. Our cloud can be accessed via a dozen or more computers at the sanctuary, Rescuer’s home computers, smart phones and iPads. Those who subscribe to the site, such as the CEO, President, Operations Manager and the Vets can see, in real time, as observations are posted about the cats. This insures that there are always many eyes on the look out for ways to enhance the cat care at Big Cat Rescue.
Animal Care: By the end of this year, 77 of our 115 cats are over the age of 15. This is well beyond how long they are designed to live in the wild and much older than most zoo cats. This is a testament to the excellent animal care we provide, but we are dealing with many more age related illnesses and are losing more of our big cat friends every year. Cats who required extensive veterinary care in 2010 were Alachua Bob, Bagheera, Bellona, Catera, Cha Cha, Cloe, Crystal, Freckles, Hercules, India, King, Narla, Nirvana, Pretender, Purrfection, Sarmoti, Servie, Snorkel, Sophie, Takoma, Tonga and Windsong. These cats were moved so they would have new neighbors and surroundings for their own enrichment: Freckles, Indian Summer, Modnic, Narla. Nikita & Simba, Peaches, Precious, Reno, Sundari and Thing. Even though we offered to rescue the 19 lesser cats and 3 lions and tigers who were in need of rescue in 2010, Skip, Angelica and Midnight, Rain and Storm the bobcats, Servie the serval, Narla, Freddy and Sassyfrass the cougars were the only ones who ended up here. We found a rehabber for a bobcat in TN as well. The rest did not come here because the owners refused to contract with us to never own exotic cats again.
Despite triple bypass heart surgery in August, Vern stayed busy this year with all of the maintenance issues and with these 32 cage improvements: Armani & Jade, Bailey & Moses, Bengali, Calvin, Cameron & Zabu, China & Khan, Crazy Bobcats, Despurrado, Diablo, Flavio, Freckles, Jefferson, Joseph & Sasha, King, Modnic, Nala, Natasha & Willow, Nikita, Nikita & Simba, Rambo, Rehab Bobcats, Sarmoti, TJ, Trick E and Windstar. On 3/18/10 we had another perfect USDA inspection.
Education: Our website is primarily an educational tool and according to Alexa we are ranked 266,861 worldwide and 110,338 most visited website in the U.S. We have 458 other sites linking to us. We offer about 58 outreach and field trips per year and have committed to offering 12 of them for free each year to lower income schools, but have already given 25 such free tours this year and expect that demand will continue to rise with the cost of transportation. Even when we offer the tours for free, many schools cannot come because they cannot afford the $200.00 fee for their busses. Our Education Department began writing grant proposals to raise the money needed for the buses.
Volunteer Committee Member, Sharyn Beach, was published at Encyclopedia Britannica with the best statement ever written about why breeding white tigers is Conserving a Lie.
Our web site addresses local and global concerns about environment and has over 17,000 pages of information, movie clips, sounds, safe interactive online games with a conservation theme and photos. From 1/1/2008 until 9/9/2010 the site was visited 3,642,337 times, resulting in 8,197,155 page views. In any given week the visitors will be roughly 33% from 218 countries outside of the U.S. as you can see from this breakdown:
United States 2,757,351, Poland 204,209, Canada 198,127, United Kingdom 127,246, Australia 40,618, India 24,496, Germany 17,428, Japan 13,023, France 11,017, Netherlands 9,593, Philippines 8,559, Singapore 8,545, Sweden 8,177, Italy 8,136, Brazil 8,024, Malaysia 7,793, Spain 7,779, New Zealand 7,740, Ireland 6,788, South Africa 6,697, Mexico 6,554, Belgium 5,994, Russia 5,986, Indonesia 5,627, Finland 5,364 and Turkey 5,248 to name a few.
The information provided has helped wildlife rehabilitators identify animals and obtain proper care instruction, helped officials in smuggling cases to identify rare species of exotic cats being illegally traded and those are just a few of the ways that we know the site has had an impact this year.
Big Cat Rescue has been in the press 694 times, in 31+ states including AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, GA, FL, HI, IO, IN, IL, KY, LA, MA, MN, MO, MT, NC, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, VA & WA and dozens of programs of national or international coverage or in countries other than the U.S.
Legislation/Education: The steady increase in legislation banning private ownership represents recognition by our society that private ownership leads to massive abuse. Social values evolve. It took decades to ban slavery in England and for women to win the right to vote in America. Those ideas started out as “radical”, held by a small minority. Gradually more and more people understood and agreed until they became a part of our value system that we take for granted today. The same trend is happening with private ownership of exotics. Gradually more and more people are realizing that this simply leads to widespread abuse of these animals. The best evidence of this is the accelerating trend in state laws. Just since 2005 eight more states have passed some level of ban. Sweden, Austria, Costa Rica, India, Finland, Bolivia, Greece and Singapore have all banned or restricted the utilization of big cats in circuses-it’s time for the U.S. & South Africa to do the same!
Nationwide & Canada: Dade City’s Wild Things acquired a white tiger cub from G.W. Exotics, a notorious Oklahoma breeder, that they are marketing to the hilt in order to make money off her as quickly as possible. To accomplish that they dragged her into PetSmart to drum up some business. Almost 900 advocates responded to our alert and wrote to PetSmart demanding an end to displays of exotics like this, knowing the bad message it sends. We’re very pleased to share that PetSmart listened and immediately responded positively. According to corporate spokesperson Margie Wojciechowski at the Phoenix, AZ headquarters, she confirmed she had just come from a meeting and the company has “reinforced with our managers that no exotic pets are allowed on store premises. There will be no live display of exotic animals for events.”
• FL Sept. 1, 2010: The Florida Wildlife Commission passes final rules on the keeping of wild animals.
• FL June 23, 2010: Thanks to thousands of letters from Big Cat AdvoCats the Florida Wildlife Commission agreed to change the wording of their Nuisance Wildlife rules so that bobcats who are trapped as nuisance wildlife may not be killed, but rather must be released. While our 2,000+ letters asked that bobcats be removed from the list of nuisance wildlife we are still thankful that the FWC has decided to at least spare the life of bobcats who are trapped this way. We will continue to educate the FWC and the public as to why bobcats are so necessary to our ecosystem so that they may soon be removed from the list of animals that may be trapped.
• FL June 23, 2010: Animal AdvoCats vs Animal Terrorists. The FWC agreed to ban the practice of “fox penning” which was a blood sport in 16 locations in FL where foxes, coyotes and bobcats would be trapped or purchased from trappers to be turned loose in fenced areas for the purpose of training hunting dogs. Packs of dogs would be turned loose in the pens and scored on how persistant they were in chasing the wildlife. The FWC had rules that required hiding places for the wildlife, but investigators found that the operators would often block the access to the safety areas so that the foxes, coyotes and bobcats could be cornered and ripped apart by the dogs for the amazement and betting opportunities of the dog owners. For the first time in the history of the FWC meetings that we have attended since 1993 there were more animal advocates than animal terrorists in the room to testify. 52 concerned citizens spoke up in favor of a ban while only 20 animal abusers / hunters spoke up in favor of continuing the blood sport as part of their “cultural heritage and God given right.” As more of these egregious practices are exposed we expect the number of main stream Americans who show up and speak up to increase.
• FL June 3, 2010: Thanks to thousands of letters from Big Cat AdvoCats the legislature amended Florida Statutes 379.374 Bond required, amount. (2) No person, party, firm, association, or corporation shall possess or exhibit to the public either with or without charge or admission fee, any Class I wildlife, as defined in s. 379.303 and commission rule, without having first guaranteed financial responsibility, in the sum of $10,000, for any liability which may be incurred in the possession or exhibition to the public of Class I wildlife. The commission shall adopt, by rule, the methods of payment that satisfy the financial responsibility, which may include cash, the establishment of a trust fund, an irrevocable letter of credit, casualty insurance, a corporate guarantee, or any combination thereof, in the sum of $10,000 which shall be posted with the commission. In lieu of the $10,000 financial responsibility guarantee required in this subsection, the person, party, firm, association, or corporation has the option to maintain comprehensive general liability insurance, with minimum limits of $2 million per occurrence and $2 million annual aggregate, as shall protect the person, party, firm, association, or corporation from claims for damage for personal injury, including accidental death, as well as claims for property damage which may arise. Proof of such insurance shall be submitted to the commission. Effective July 1, 2010. In 2009 there were 111 Class I possessors in FL who managed to escape the bond requirement because they claimed they were not “exhibitors.” This new language was necessary to close the loophole in the 2007 law so that all “possessors” of Class I animals must post this minimal bond.
• OH July 1, 2010: A deal struck between The Humane Society of the United States, Ohio agriculture leaders and Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland will lead to major animal welfare improvements in Ohio on a raft of issues to protect exotic, domestic and farmed animals. The agreement includes recommendations from all of the parties for the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Care Board, the Legislature, and the Governor to ban the acquisition of dangerous exotic animals as pets, such as primates, bears, lions, tigers, large constricting and venomous snakes, crocodiles and alligators.
• China October 27, 2010: The Ministry of Housing & Urban/Rural Development suggested in an official web posting that zoos should adequately feed and house animals, should stop selling wild animal products and serving wild animal parts in restaurants, and should stop staging circus-like trained animal acts. The authorities report that zoos could be shut down for non compliance. This is the first step toward permanent laws to protect the animals.
• Germany June 17, 2010: The zoo director and three of the staff at the Magdeburg Zoo were convicted of cruelty to animals for killing three tiger cubs who were the result of a cross breeding tigers at the zoo. The zoo had bred a Siberian tiger to a Sumatran tiger. All of the tigers in the U.S. that are referred to as Bengal tigers are actually hybrids of Bengal and Siberian tigers as the result of the white tiger craze when Bengal tigers were inbred to the point of non existence in America. A fine of 8,000 euros was suspended upon the condition that the zoo not kill cubs as the result of their own improper breeding plans. The Magdeburg zoo case drew attention to the common practice of zoos breeding and killing animals to keep youngsters on exhibit.
• Russia November 29, 2010: Russia is now filing a bill for an exotic pet ban like other countries have passed. Despite Prime Minister Vladimir Putin having a pet tiger named Mashenka, the country is working on passing a bill that would restrict the ownership of monkeys, tigers, and crocodiles, because of their danger to the public and diseases they can carry, according to the bill that was submitted on Nov. 29, 2010 Thanks to all of you who wrote letters, attended town hall meetings and met with your lawmakers, the world is a little kinder place. Many of the worst breeders, dealers and tiger-tamer-wanabees were finally shut down. Most of these collectors were fined or shut down by USDA or the state, or both in some cases: You can read the USDA reports and news stories at http://www.911AnimalAbuse.com 134,704 letters were sent via our CatLaws.com site in 2010 which is triple the year before. We now have 44,606 members registered to help us with email campaigns. Thanks to all of our supporters being more aware of exotic cat issues and doing something about it, the wild cats had a lot of wins in 2010. Only bans on the possession of private ownership of wild animals are fully enforceable but any step forward in restricting ownership is helpful. For more details go to BigCatBans.
Animal Abusers Shut Down and / or Fined: Many of the worst breeders, dealers and tiger-tamer-wanabees were finally shut down. The following is from 2008- 2010. Most of these collectors were fined or shut down by USDA or the state, or both in some cases:
• CA: Hesperia Zoo AKA Cinema Safari Zoo owned by Stephanie Taunton was put on probation and fined $30,000 by USDA.
• FL: Horseshoe Creek owned by Darryl Atkinson was shut down by USDA and FL.
• FL: Wild Things’ land owned by Kathy Stearns went into foreclosure and bankruptcy.
• FL: Amazing Exotics was shut down. It was notorious for allowing contact between large exotic cats and the public for a fee. The head of their tiger-tamer-wanabee program was Ron Holiday (real name Ron Guay) who gained fame in the HBO movie Cat Dancers and the book by the same name. His career in dancing with big cats ended when a white tiger he had raised from a cub killed his wife and his lover within a few days of each other in 1998.
• FL: In 2010 Jeff and Barbara Harrod of Vanishing Species lost both their USDA and FWC licenses.
• FL: In 2010 Thomas R. Cronin of the Shell Factory was sanctioned by USDA for improper handling of animals, poor sanitation and lack of vet care.
• IN: Great Cats of Indiana, formerly known as Cougar Valley Farms, Inc., owned by Robert B. Craig and Laura Proper had their license revoked by USDA.
• IN: Ervin’s Jungle Wonders owned by Ervin Hall was shut down by USDA for a three year term.
• KS: In 2010 Clint Perkins of Riverside Zoological Park lost his USDA license to exhibit tigers and was fined for violations.
• MO: Wesa-A-Geh-Ya owned by Sandra Smith was shut down after a visitor lost his leg to a tiger.
• MS: Cougar Haven closed its doors for good, sending the last 3 big cats to Big Cat Rescue.
• NC: Metrolino Wildlife Park owned by Steven Macaluso was shut down by USDA.
• NE: Zoo Nebraska was ordered to find appropriate homes for their big cats and bears.
• OH: Pearson’s L & L Exotics owned by Lorenzo Pearson was shut down by USDA following six years of violations.
• SC: In 2010 Robert Childress dba Quality Equipment was fined by USDA for lack of care for tigers.
• TX: Zoo Dynamics, owned by Marcus Cook was fined $100,000.00
• TX: In 2010 Jamie Palazzo of Great Cat Adventures had their USDA license suspended for 3 years.
• TX: Wild Animal Orphanage closed their doors in September 2010 after investigation the Attorney General for fraudulent fundraising practices. 363 animals, mostly big cats and primates, are being disbursed to other sanctuaries. Three of the tigers are coming to Big Cat Rescue.
• Australia: Craig Bush, the “Lion Man” was ousted from the Zion Wildlife Gardens by his mom.
Fundraising and Marketing: Two Legacy Society donations over $100,000 each helped make this the best financial year ever for the sanctuary. The first was a bequest from the estate of Terry Nordblom for $110,000. The second was a matching grant of $200,000 in memory of William and Lois Modglin of Glendale, California. Final financial numbers will not be available until after our annual audit in the spring, but estimates will be posted here in late January after we reconcile the December statements. 2010 began using Posterous.com to post to 16 of our major social networking sites at once. We currently operate 333 social networking sites. 2010 we began using Traffic Geyser which increased our web traffic 24%.
Big Cat Rescue was reported favorably in the news 111 times in 2010 which in a 20% increase over 2009. Some of the national press included shows on Animal Planet, Discovery and the History Channel in addition to such publications as National Geographic and the New York Post and major media coverage in several other countries as well.
The Fur Ball netted over $80,000.00! Over 650 big cat supporters had a blast at the Fur Ball; dining, dancing, playing the Wheel of Fur-Tune casino table and bidding in the silent auction and live auctions. Spirited bidders in the live auction won exotic trips see lions in South Africa, and many other wild and exotic places. We had 26,154 visitors this year. Our BigCatRescue.org website visitors rose to 1,660,550 but the site was temporarily replaced for two months. During those two months (Jul-Aug) we did not have any tracking service on the replacement site. We plan to re launch the replacement site in January 2011. Google awarded Big Cat Rescue a grant of $40,000 per month in free AdWords. People who love animals love to share their photos and stories. In 2008 Big Cat Rescue unleashed a Chat Big Cats community. Members can post their own blogs, or join in our forums and contests. It is a YouTube/ MySpace styled community made up entirely of animal lovers. By year end there were 4,129 members and 107,374,194,388 videos, songs, photos and blogs posted to the site. (blows my mind too!) Get in on the action free at http://www.chatbigcats.com
YouTube. We ended the year as the 6th most viewed Non Profit of all time and the 7th most subscribed Non Profit with 22,393 subscribers and 669,725 channel views and a whopping 20,685,511 upload views. Up 500% from 2009. By year end we had 412 videos posted on YouTube and other popular sites like google, Blip, MetaCafe, Revver and others. http://www.youtube.com/bigcatrescue YouTube Mini Clip Site: DailyBigCat was launched Nov. 20, 2010 to provide a channel for the mini clips we upload directly from our iPhones. By year end this site had 248 subscribers, 5,046 channel views and 25,812 total upload views. Our MySpace account now has 7,625 friends. myspace.com/
We surpassed 36,000 fans on Face Book which is a 500% increase over 2009 as well. We also enhanced our presence on Care2.org and many other such sites. We now have 359 contacts in our LinkedIn presence here: linkedin.com/in/BigCatRescue Big Cat Rescue now has an Endowment Fund to provide a secure future for the cats. The Fund resides at the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay. bigcatrescue.org/communityfoundationoftampabay.htm We initiated a program with Capitol One so that you can choose one of our beautiful cats for your credit card image and 1% of all of your purchases will be donated to Big Cat Rescue at no cost to you.
Saving Wild Places for Wild Cats Leonardo DiCaprio Protects Tigers: Big Cat Rescue continued working with the International Tiger Coalition, which is a group of 40+ organizations committed to saving the tiger, based upon our unique ability to address the captive issues that imperil tigers in the wild. The goal is 10,000 tigers in the wild in 10 years. There are less than 3,000 in the wild currently and we are losing one per day due to poaching. We persuaded ITC to keep US tiger farming issue as part of their mission to eradicate because legalized trade puts even more pressure on wild populations. What makes this initiative unlike all of the past programs is two fold. 40+ major conservation groups, including Big Cat Rescue, have joined forces with one common goal: Save the tiger in the wild. There have been other joint efforts, but none this large and never before has an entity as powerful as the World Bank been a committed partner in saving wild places for wild animals. Big Cat Rescue sponsored the ITC booth at CITES and sponsored the attendance of the ITC Moderator, Judy Mills at the Tiger Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Leonardo DiCaprio attended as well and met with Prime Minister Putin. DiCaprio donated 1 million dollars to WWF’s fund for saving the tiger.
23 FL Panthers died in 2010 but 90 were born according to FWC. Big Cat Rescue is stepping up our support of local initiatives to save the Florida Panther.
Helping Others: America’s injured veterans have found Big Cat Rescue a place of tranquility where they can surround themselves with beauty and grace; a respite from all that they have endured protecting our country. It started with one group and now they come to visit quite frequently. It’s on the house and we provide lunch when we can as well by asking donors to contribute. They have done their part in keeping Americans free and we are doing our part to fight for that same freedom for the big cats.
Then and Now: Our CFO, Howard Baskin, compiled a ten year snapshot of the sanctuary and its growth. This is just a comparison between 1996 and 2010.
Wildlife on Easy Street to
Big Cat Rescue 1996 2010
Visitors 85 26,128
Total Expenses $1,686,386 * $1,363,443
Total Income $0 $2,245,798
Total Net Assets $148,455 $4,881,165
Spent on Program Services 100% 83% **
funded by Founder * 17% spent on Management and Fundraising combined
Officers and Members of the Board of Directors in 2010 and meetings:
• CEO and Founder Carole Baskin (not compensated by BCR)
• President and Chairman of the Board Jamie Veronica (not compensated by BCR for her role as a Director)
• Secretary & Treasurer Howard Baskin (not compensated by BCR for his role as a Director)
• Director Lisa Shaw (not compensated by BCR) Director
• Mary Lou Geis (not compensated by BCR)
These members met or plan to meet for monthly board meetings at the dates and places below: Monthly board meeting, Tampa, FL; Feb 7, May 2, Aug 1, Nov 7
Paid Staff:
• Operations Manager & Volunteer Coordinator
• Gale Ingham Staff Manager,
• Editor & Creative Director Jamie Veronica
• Gift Shop & Guest Services Honey Wayton
• Intern Recruiter & Data Management Chelsea Feeny
• Education Director Dr. Beth Kamhi and her assistant Willow Hecht
• Vernon Stairs Cage Builder and Maintenance
• Scott Haller Cage Building Apprentice and Maintenance
• Videographer and Social Networking Chris Poole
• Director of Donor Appreciation Jeff Kremer
• Assistant to Operations Manager and Staff Relief Person Jennifer Flatt
• CFO Howard Baskin
• LaWanna Mitchell is an independent contractor who works remotely on web issues.
All of our animal care is done by volunteers or by staff who also volunteer time before & after work.
Volunteers: Big Cat Rescue had 107 volunteers in 2010 who clocked in 56,411 man-power hours in addition to staff, 31 interns and Volunteer Committee member hours. Our interns came from 10 states and 8 countries. Volunteers and interns provided roughly the equivalent workforce of 30 more full time staff.
Staff and Volunteer Training: We want to say a special thank you to all of our staff & volunteers who have just completed their 10th year of service to the cats.
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.
This astrological reading by Ron Cole was a 60th birthday gift from Howard Baskin to Carole Baskin.
Looking for a New Vet in David Murphy
Thank you David (drusnak@tampabay.rr.com), Our vet has been donating her time for the past 6 years. She comes out twice a week and looks at all the cats. If they need surgery she can do minor things here, in our very small cat hospital and if they need more extensive work we take them to her clinic, which is just around the corner at Ehrlich Animal Hospital.
Our vet is 6 months pregnant with her first baby and very soon will not be able to come out as frequently and after the baby is born, she may decide to quit working altogether, so I have been looking for a back up vet who will work with her until she leaves and take her place if she decides to be a stay at home mom.
Dr. Dave Murphy was with Lowry Park Zoo for 21 years but left there this year. He says he will do it but will charge us 150.00 an hour or 750.00 a day and he doesn't have a clinic.
So what we need is access to a clinic that won't cost us a fortune, for 500 lb cat xrays, dental xrays, sonograms and surgery if it will be a long process and we don't have the right equipment at the sanctuary. We have an anesthesia machine and the big lights. We either need access to that for Dr. Murphy to do the work, or if there is a vet there who would be willing to do the work for the same fee or less, but we would want someone who has experience with exotic cats. They aren't too different from domestic cats, except that the anesthesia often kills them, or doesn't keep them asleep.
We love the people at Florida Veterinary Services (Now Blue Pearl) and always go to them when we have something very complicated, like a bobcat who had to have her leg pinned in 5 places after being hit by a car, or dogs and cats we have taken in for cancer treatment. They are just way too expensive for us, I think, for the more routine care.
I know they do a good job of publicity and that is something we do have to offer. We are the media darlings in the Tampa bay area, and the 6th most popular non profit on YouTube. We film a lot of our medical issues and it could be a very positive relationship for FVS, if they are inclined to help us out a bit.
Here are some of our medical videos:
• Bobcat treated at FVS by Dr. Levy http://www.bigcatrescue.org/video/00330.htm
• Snow Leopard Kidney Stones http://www.bigcatrescue.org/video/00376.htm
• Liger dental http://www.bigcatrescue.org/video/00326.htm
Lots more, but I don't want to bore you. Thank you for seeing if there is anything we can work out with them and/ or their fine vets.
Dave Murphy turned out to be a total jackass, in my opinion and was far too reckless. He didn’t last more than a couple visits before we realized that no vet was better than having him take chances with the lives of our cats and the safety of our people.
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.
Letter to Jamie Pickup at the BBC
Dear Jamie Pickup at the BBC, Here are some more links and issues that you may want to consider for your documentary. We have hundreds of hours of video that we can share with you and you are welcome to visit and film. We do not charge for our participation when it is a well known group who could actually help us end the trade in cats.
I was on CNN's Headline News Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell this past Friday about Tony the Truck Stop Tiger we have been trying to rescue. http://www.bigcatrescue.org/FreeTony.htm
As we discussed, Karl Mitchell, who is in Fatal Attractions, playing with a tiger and in the news having guests play with tigers, was sent to jail on a bad check charge. That was the only way the animal abuse ended there for a time. Shaquille the black leopard and Dara the cougar were rescued by us prior to his conviction and he had told my husband that the crushed skulls they suffered from was because he had to beat them with a bat to make them perform.
Here are the links to the info on the Robert Baudy, Savage Kingdom cats we rescued where one man was killed, another lost his leg and a teenager was mauled by an escaped cougar before USDA revoked his license. FL law is so lax that they never did revoke his state license. We rescued the last four tigers who had been abandoned at the facility. Their names were Modnic, TJ, Bella and Trucha, but Trucha has since died from mammary cancer, which is likely from the incessant breeding done at these tiger mills in order to produce cubs that can be used as Karl Mitchell, Joe Schreibvogel, "Doc" Antle, Kathy Stearms, Vernon Yates, Larry Wallach and others do to support themselves.
Robert Baudy's autobiography http://www.amazon.com/Baudy-Animal-Man-Biography-Robert/dp/1568250339
Siberian Tiger Rescue / Diana McCourt: This made 20/20 because 6 people had been injured at Diana's tiger training camp before she lost her USDA license. OH had no permit restrictions until this year on big cats, so she just kept on operating sans the USDA license and no one did anything to stop her. It wasn't until she was evicted for non payment of rent that the county was able to seize the cats and release them to us.
Black Leopard from Karl Mitchell: Shaquile's Story: If you don’t jump through hoops at work,
does your boss smack you in the face with a baseball bat?
Think your job is stressful? Shaquille had to jump through flaming hoops, as part of a Las Vegas night club act. And when he didn’t perform as well as expected, his boss beat him bloody with a baseball bat.
As a result, this 150 lb. black leopard bears lots of scars. His face was so badly beaten that his eye sockets were permanently shattered, causing the eyelids to roll in. His eyes will always tear as a sorrowful reminder of the abuse he endured. Perhaps they are also tears for all those other animals who are still made to perform for man’s entertainment.
Big Cat Rescue may have saved Shaquille from further pain, but this majestic black leopard will always carry physical and emotional wounds. For years he would leap at the cage and hang there snarling whenever a man came into view for fear of being tortured again. Over time, however, he has become much more comfortable with his surroundings. Now Shaquille lounges the day away and enjoys room service provided by loving care takers at the Big Cat Rescue Sanctuary. With his new found care and trust, men don’t even draw so much as a second glance from him any more.
Dara the cougar, also from Karl Mitchell, died from a brain infection caused by the massive trauma to her head. When I complained to USDA about the condition of these cats upon arrival, they said that their standards on training did not preclude beating the cats with a bat. I later got in hot water with USDA when I went on national television back in 1998? about Tiger's Eye Productions owner beating his cats with sticks. I said USDA wasn't doing their job. They said there was nothing wrong with beating cats with sticks. They slapped me with a bogus lawsuit, but I was able to get the court to throw it out.
This is the link to the story about the cougars we just rescued yesterday where the man had been killed by his pet lion in 2004 and the wife committed suicide last week abandoning these elderly cougars. Her sister said she had a bobcat, a couple more cougars, some wolves and other animals, but she didn't know what had happened to them. We couldn't find them anywhere. http://www.bigcatrescue.org/000news/0articlesbybcr/2010cougarrescue.htm
We have 116 big cats here and enough sad, but true stories to fill your program needs. We are the #7 Most Viewed Non Profit on YouTube because of all of the excellent HD footage we post of our cats, their rescues and their lives at Big Cat Rescue here: http://www.youtube.com/user/BigCatRescue We are happy to share this in order to let the world know that there is no good reason to keep big cats in cages. For the cats, Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
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.
Carole on CNN re Tony the Truckstop Tiger
I was on CNN's Headline News Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell today about Tony the Truck Stop Tiger we have been trying to rescue. Big Cat Rescue gets more complaints about Tony the tiger at the Tiger Truck Stop than all other complaints combined. In 2009 the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries had called Big Cat Rescue to come get Tony during their planned seizure of the tiger, but before we could take Tony, Sandlin filed for an injunction and the long legal battles began.
That same year Big Cat Rescue was the first organization to hire an attorney to represent a tiger. David Nance, Esq. exhausted his ability to fight for Tony in the back water Iberville Parrish. A state district judge ordered the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries in 2011 to revoke Sandlin’s permit, but the Legislature passed a law exempting Sandlin from state restrictions on owning exotic cats. Thankfully the national coalition of attorneys, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, took up the banner in 2010 and vowed that they wouldn’t give up. We never gave up trying to get that poor tiger out of that horrible place, but were unable to overcome backwoods, good ole boy politics.
Big Cat Rescue offered to let Sandlin save face by sending Tony here quietly, where he could live under an assumed name and not be on our tour or used in any of our marketing, but Sandlin refused. Later noted: Tony died on 10/17/2017 at the truck stop.
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.
Tribute to Shasta Serval 4/16/91 - 10/30/10 Arrived at Big Cat Rescue 6/27/97 Shasta arrived at Big Cat Rescue with Peaches and Alpha. She had been retired from breeding. She had an amazing metabolism and could eat as much as a cougar without gaining weight. She was discovered to have a rare form of Discoid Lupus for which she received medication the rest of her life. Though Shasta was up in years, she still found the energy to be quite playful. She would take an enrichment tube and bat it around, stirring up leaves and pine needles in a frenzy to keep up with it. October 2010 - Shasta had not been eating well, so we took her in to see Dr. Wynn. After 2 hours of surgery, an inoperable cancerous tumor was found. At 18 years of age, we decided the only option was to help her slip into that next realm while still under anesthesia. Thank you everyone who made her life in a cage bearable and for all of you who are working hard to end the trade in exotic cats. Mike Murdock Dies SPRING LAKE - Michael Eugene Murdock, 60, of Spring Lake, died Sunday, Oct. 31, 2010. He was an Air Force veteran of the Vietnam War. Services: Graveside, 2 p.m. Wednesday in Sandhills State Veterans Cemetery. Visitation, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at Adcock Funeral Home in Spring Lake. Survived by: Daughters, Mary Montengro and Jamie; brothers, Bill and James Jr.; sister, Brenda Parker; and a grandson.
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.
15 Questions About Big Cats
Carole Baskin, Founder and CEO of Big Cat Rescue, the world's largest accredited sanctuary, that is devoted entirely to exotic cats speaks out about:
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Where do big cats go when they are no longer profitable cubs?
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If the good sanctuaries are full, where do the big cats go?
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Should we be building bigger and more sanctuaries for the unwanted cats?
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What is the best way to prevent the abuse of lions, tigers and other big cats?
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Does banning private possession of exotics work?
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Who tracks maulings, killings and escapes by tigers and other big cat species?
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Do USDA and state inspections make sure breeders and dealers are being humane?
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When did the big cat crisis in America start?
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Are there laws to prevent exotic cats from being traded for their meat, skin and bones?
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How is the public to blame for the worst acts toward tigers and their cubs?
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What happens to breeders, dealers and other wild animal exploiters when they run out of money?
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What are some of the most lax states when it comes to wildcat standards and enforcement?
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Why doesn't the government do something about all of the abuse of tigers, lions, leopards, jaguars & other big cats?
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Are there illegal activities operating in the shadow of legal uses of tigers?
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What kind of tracking is done and what needs to be done to end the abuse of exotic wild cats?
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.
Celebrating the Life of Takoma Bobcat
Male Bobcat 6/1/95 - 10/14/10 Arrived at Big Cat Rescue 6/6/95
Takoma’s online bio: Takoma came to Big Cat Rescue in May 1995 with Divinity. His owner became ill and unable to care for him. She had seen our videos and knew that he would have a good home here, so she asked if we could take he and Divinity from her, which we did. He is without any doubt our prettiest Bobcat. He is so dramatically spotted that we have been asked if he is an Ocelot. He was neutered in 1998. Bobcats are not endangered and there just aren’t enough good homes available for these cats to justify breeding them.
Most of our bobcats were rescues from fur farms. The deal our founders made with the fur farms we discovered in the U.S. was that we would pay top dollar for every cat and kitten they had as long as the fur farmer would agree to never buy and breed cats again for slaughter. It came at a time that the public outcry was against the fur industry. Many of these animals were purchased at auctions where the uncaring owners were dumping the cats with no concern about their welfare.
There is much controversy over whether we did the right thing by paying the ransom for these cats. We still accept many unwanted cats each year, but do not pay for them and typically require that their owner surrender their license, in an attempt to keep people from just trading in their cats each year for a newer, cuter model. We have to turn away more than 100 cats each year due to a lack of space and funds and the lack of regulation of the exotic pet trade. Read more about our Evolution of Thought online.
October 2010: Takoma bobcat seems to be losing his fight against liver disease and it is compounded by kidneys that no longer fully serve him. We try to leave the choice of when to go to the cats and in his case are giving him fluids for as long as he will tolerate it, but have been letting him stay outside in the comfort of his nearby friends, both human and feline, rather than confining him to a small cage in the hospital for his final days.
When he decides that he won't put up with being trapped for fluids or when he decides to quit eating, we will help him ease over that bridge without pain. I know how hard it is to watch them die, but we owe it to them, to give them every opportunity, to make the choices they have available to them in captivity.
Photo was circa 1996-1997 of Jamie and Takoma. We do not display photos of people touching cats since 2004.
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.
Tribute to Two Toes the Bobcat
4/24/95 - 9/28/10 Arrived at Big Cat Rescue 6/6/95
Two Toes was rescued from a fur farm and came to live at Big Cat Rescue, along with Levi and eight other Bobcats, in June 1995. She got her name because two of her toes are white. She, along with her roommates, actively participated in Operant Conditioning sessions with our Big Cat Interns. Operant Conditioning is the act of rewarding a desired behavior with treats or praise. The first goal in the Operant Conditioning program is to get the cat to come over to the side of their enclosure when called upon by a Keeper.
Two Toes learned quickly that when she came over to her operant trainer, she was quickly rewarded with a special treat. Since Two Toes lived with several other bobcats, operant training was done by several keepers at one time, so that two bobcats were not competing for the same reward.
Most of our bobcats were rescues from fur farms. The deal our Founders made with the fur farms we discovered in the U.S. was that we would pay top dollar for every cat and kitten they had as long as the fur farmer would agree to never buy and breed cats again for slaughter. It came at a time that the public outcry was against the fur industry. Many of these animals were purchased at auctions where the uncaring owners were dumping the cats with no concern about their welfare.
There is much controversy over whether we did the right thing by paying the ransom for these cats. We still accept many unwanted cats each year, but do not pay for them and typically require that their owner surrender their license, in an attempt to keep people from just trading in their cats each year for a newer, cuter model. We have to turn away more than 100 cats each year due to a lack of space and funds and the lack of regulation of the exotic pet trade.
September 28, 2010: Two Toes, the bobcat, had been separated from her clan for observation. She was having a very hard time breathing. About the only way to tell the two females in the Crazy Bob Crew was that Two Toes has two white toes, but that is only apparent from the underside of her paw.
Sadly, she had a heart attack and died very suddenly. Heroic efforts were exerted to revive her, but she was on her way to wherever good bobcats go and after seeing the light, she wasn't coming back. Her after death exam showed her to be suffering from heart failure.
She was "only" 15, but that is the equivalent of being a 90 year old person. Despite being so old, she was glossy coated, shiny eyed and never backed down from being independent and defiant; the things we love most about bobcats. We are accustomed to our cats living far beyond the norm because of the excellent care given them, and we will miss her greatly - but she is finally free.
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.
Tribute to Midnight, Rain and Storm
At only 6 months old and quite unexpectedly, Storm has passed away. Though he was so young, his loss is still extremely hard for us. As Jamie Veronica, President of Big Cat Rescue recounts about his passing, "An image of him as a baby flashed through my mind, a memory so clear of this spunky and voracious eater. Just a wobbly little kitten he had eaten so much turkey for dinner one evening. He stopped to take a break and had fallen asleep face down in his plate of food.
As he lay there, it was heard to believe that he was not going to wake up in a few moments and continue on with his antics. At the end of the room there stood a massive collection of bins with blankets of all shapes and sizes. I pulled out the top bin. It was light with the weight of only a small blanket or towel. I opened the lid only to be struck in the heart once more. A lump swelled with in my throat and my eyes welled up once more. I reached out with the same hand that had just grasped the lifeless body of Storm the bobcat and timidly retrieved the last linen in the bin. It was a red fleece blanket with white snowflakes adorning it. I pulled the cozy blanket in close and closed my eyes. I recalled the night nearly five months ago when I retrieved the three kittens from their rescuer in Alabama.
I remember walking into the room to see a cardboard box on the coffee table. I pulled open the top of the box and peered inside. My eyes fixed on three tiny balls of spotted fluff snuggled up in the warm of this very same red fleece blanket with white snowflakes adorning it." Storm's life was short, but he was a very famous little bobcat. The story, videos, and news coverage of Storm is summarized below...
MIDNIGHT, RAIN AND STORM'S ARRIVAL
With a gun in one hand and a sack of bobcat kittens in the other, an Alabama hunter proudly plopped the newborns down on the counter and asked the veterinary assistant to raise them up for him so he could give them to his kids as pets.
The vet tech was stunned, but quickly recomposed herself to tell the hunter she would do it for him so as to rescue the babies from such an awful fate. She immediately began scouring the Internet for an expert in rehab and release. When she called Carole Baskin of Big Cat Rescue it was agreed that the kittens would come to Florida, be raised for re-release back to the wild and the paperwork began.
It took three days to secure the Florida import permit and time was of the essence. The only kitten formula available to the clinic was one that often causes serious dehydration in bobcat kittens. The second more critical factor was that their eyes would be opening any day and if they were to ever live free it was imperative that they not bond to humans. They never make good pets, but the bonding that takes place during the nursing stage could make them fearless of people and that would get them into trouble as adults.
While Big Cat Rescue President and resident Rehabber, Jamie Veronica, hit the road to begin a 24 hour road trip to rescue the baby bobcats, Big Cat Rescue put out a call to all of the Tampa animal based charities and on all of their social networks that they needed a nursing mother cat who had kittens of her own. Jack Talman of FosteringIsCool.com found a mother cat but her kittens were too old and she was going into heat so there was concern that she may not have milk nor interest for new babies.
Big Cat Rescuer, Merrill Kramer, called on Rick Chaboudy, CEO of Suncoast Animal League in Palm Harbor, FL and he said he thought he had a good candidate. Her name was Bobbi because of her half tail and she had given birth to 6 kittens of her own and then adopted two more. He found foster parents for all but two of the kittens and brought Bobbi and her brood over to see what she thought of diversifying her family.
Introductions like these can be very scary because the mother cat can be overly protective of her own kittens and fatally strike out at the new comers. President, Jamie Veronica, has had a considerable amount of experience in this area though and had taken every precaution to make sure it went as well as it possibly could. Bobbi turned out to be a dream come true for three little orphaned bobcats though. She immediately pulled them in close to nurse and began to bathe them. The little bobcat babies were so startled that they hissed at her!
She ignored their resistance and just kept on loving on them. Once they figured out that this strange smelling "bobcat" mom had the real deal to offer at her breasts, they were in love too.
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.
Newsweek Exposes the Cruelty Behind Breeding White Tigers
I’ve been working in the area behind Nirvana for the past several days and have had the pleasure of hearing tour guides talking about the white tiger issue. I have heard the amazement in the voices of the guests as they learned that every thing they thought knew about white tigers was wrong.
I have heard guests try to argue the facts or ignore the new information by proclaiming that they still think white tigers are beautiful. It has given me a new appreciation for what all of you go through when giving tours. It especially impresses me that some of you, who are still so new to the knowledge yourselves, manage to be firm in your presentations while still being kind to the guests.
This week a thirty year old secret was exposed in Newsweek, the second largest weekly magazine in America. Sharyn Beach exposed it in Britannica Online Encyclopedia in March of this year. It is the same secret that Big Cat Rescue exposed 11 years ago as the first organization to go public with the truth about the white tiger.
What I knew in 1998 was that people could sell a white tiger cub for $60,000 and just about all of the breeders and dealers and zoos were out to breed them. I had been to facilities such as the one where Shere Khan was born, (Dennis Hill in Flatrock, IN) and where Modnic, TJ & Bella came from (Robert Baudy of Savage Kingdom in Center Hill, FL) and where Auroara had come from (Predators Plus). What I saw haunted me because I saw many tigers who had horrible deformities; teeth going in all directions, eyes out on the nose, clubbed feet and lame hips.
These birth defects were primarily in the white tigers, but some of their golden litter mates were affected as well. I started asking about who the tigers’ parents were, who their siblings were, and discovered that people were inbreeding these cats. They never used that word, but rather would say “line breeding” or “selective breeding” or they would make outrageous claims about how they had “created” a line of white tigers by choosing the best pairings. In 1998 there were only 200 white tigers world wide. With Siegfried and Roy promoting white tigers as Royal White Bengal tigers the breeders scurried to meet demand.
Especially complicit were the Cincinnati Zoo & the Nashville Zoo who knew that the origins of white tigers only came from severe inbreeding. It was common knowledge to breeders that there was an 80% mortality rate. They should have put an end to it right then and there, but white tigers were a novelty and people would pay to see them. The accredited zoos, who actually keep pedigrees on their tigers, knew that inbreeding was the only way to increase their probability of getting that money making white cub.
In 1998 I still thought that most of the breeders and dealers out there were just ignorant. I was a member of AZA and had been attending their conferences and meeting their cat experts to find out what they thought to be best practices. I thought that if the private sector knew better they would behave better and so I spent a lot of time writing articles for their club called the Feline Conservation Federation (FKA the Long Island Ocelot Club). I was part of their list serve and participated in discussions about exotic cat husbandry in the hopes of helping their cats have better lives. We had only had the Internet for a couple of years and were still trying to find ways to use it to band all exotic cat owners together for a comprehensive repository of information on best practices. Our own website had only been up for two years and I was using it as a way of making all of the lessons we had learned available for everyone else. I figured the reason all of these breeders had so many defective tigers was because they didn’t know that they were all so inbred and they were just making it worse by not keeping records.
I proposed all of what I knew about white tigers on our website and suggested that we create a registry of all of the cats in the private sector, along with micro chipping, to make sure that no more cats suffered from such terrible birth defects. I quickly learned that the people making money off the white tigers knew what they were doing and ignored the agony they were inflicting.
About a year later a veterinarian wrote to me after finding our white tiger page on the Internet. He said that we were the only people telling the truth and that he had the full story because he had been the veterinarian for the Las Vegas duo for many years, as well as the vet for several large zoos. He had worked with 250 tigers. He spent 20 years documenting the origins and malpractice involved in breeding white tigers and had never found a way to make his findings publicly known. The zoos didn’t want anyone to know. Dr. Dan Laughlin and I spent hours on the phone pouring over the documents he had sent me to convince me of his credentials and his findings.
We launched his letter on our website which culminated in his statement, “…every white tiger in the U.S. is not only the result of repeated inbreeding of genetically defective animals but, even worse, is a hybrid or crossbred animal. Thus, anyone involved in breeding and/or exhibiting white tigers is doing a great disservice to honest conservation and preservation efforts to save the five remaining and endangered subspecies of tigers barely clinging to survival…”
We also quoted Ron Tilson, the head of the tiger species survival plan who said, "The white tiger controversy among zoos is a small part ethics and a large part economics. The tiger Species Survival Plan has condemned breeding white tigers because of their mixed ancestry, most have been hybridized with other subspecies and are of unknown lineage, and because they serve no conservation purpose…"
"However, there is an unspoken issue that shames the very integrity of zoos, their alleged conservation programs and their message to the visiting public. To produce white tigers or any other phenotypic curiosity, directors of zoos and other facilities must continuously inbreed father to daughter and father to granddaughter and so on. At issue is a contradiction of fundamental genetic principles upon which all Species Survival Plans for endangered species in captivity are based. White tigers are an aberration artificially bred and proliferated by some zoos, private breeders and a few circuses who do so for economic rather than conservation reasons."
Our tour guides began sharing this information with our visitors. We began writing letters to USDA, state wildlife agencies and to the media to raise awareness about the horrific practice of inbreeding to get white tigers.
The breeders, dealers, zoos and circus acts who were profiting from white tigers saw us as public enemy number one. There was no way they could prove the outrageous stories they were promoting about how these cats came from hidden islands, or were the product of their animal husbandry genius. If anyone looked beyond the image in front of them, they would find out the truth and that would mean the end of their profits. White tiger sales began to plummet, both from the over abundance of animals born and because more people were becoming aware of the inbreeding. I have seen white tiger cubs selling for as little as $1000.00. I have lost track of the number of adults who were offered to us for free and sometimes people even offering to pay us to take them so they could make space for more cubs.
The people who went from making $60,000 for a white cub to only $1000 for a white cub have no excuse for what they do. The only thing they can do is to try and discredit us. That is why they are always attacking us, and me in particular. I feel for you guys because it can be scary to have people say such horrible things about you, or Big Cat Rescue, if you speak out in a public forum.
Someone asked me recently if the woman who has the REXANO site has a full time person dedicated only to tracking my postings so they can go on there and talk all kinds of trash about me. Little do they realize that it just makes them look stupid and is actually helping us show the world what kind of person would breed white tigers.
Thanks to the pressure that Big Cat Rescuers have kept on them, the AZA came out with a policy statement against breeding white tigers fairly recently, even though they do not yet enforce it strongly.
It is so exciting to me to see that we have persevered through more than a decade of trying to get the world to see that breeding white tigers (especially) is cruel and unconscionable. To see Britannica and Newsweek running stories that tell the truth is a HUGE win! This was the headline caption for the Newsweek story this past week, “Bred for profit, the animals are often cruelly deformed by inbreeding.” The only reason this is happening is because of you. No one else was willing to take on the Goliath of zoos, circuses and Las Vegas (where REXANO is based). The day is coming when no more tigers will be purposely inbred to create a freak for the paying public. That day is coming because Big Cat Rescuers won’t give up until it does.
Inside America's Tiger-Breeding Farms
BY RAVI SOMAIYA ON 7/28/10 AT 11:15 AM EDT
Almost all of America's 7,000 tigers are born and raised here. Reports from tiger farms suggest there are many unscrupulous breeders, and activists allege that the trade is cruel. What's clear is that tigers are often kept in small pens, people die when safety is lax, and the cats are hideously inbred to produce valuable white cubs.
The trade is not illegal, though a recent law bans the sale or trade of big cats across state lines for the pet trade. But breeders exploit a patchwork of state-by-state rules, and loopholes, to continue to sell cubs. People who rescue unwanted or mistreated tigers estimate that the number of breeders might be in the hundreds. Several alleged traders contacted by NEWSWEEK refused to be interviewed, perhaps because in recent years many operations have been shut down by authorities.
One of the biggest, Savage Kingdom, in Florida, was closed by the Department of Agriculture in 2006. Several accidents had occurred there. In 2001 a handyman named Vincent Lowe went into a cage to repair a dangerously worn-down gate. Colleagues had to watch as a 318-pound male tiger, Tijik, "ripped out [his] throat," according to the USDA report. They could not rescue him for fear of being attacked themselves.
The tiger was eventually shot by Savage Kingdom's octogenarian owner, Robert Baudy, who had been in the tiger trade for many decades—he'd even been on The Ed Sullivan Show promoting his animals. "He was from an era before animal welfare," says Jamie Veronica, who is with the charity Big Cat Rescue and went into the farm after it was closed to try to remove and resettle dozens of tigers (all were eventually moved safely). "When he started out, people just saw animals as a commodity, a way to make money." The USDA report blamed Baudy for safety failures that led to Lowe's death. He could not be reached for comment at a number listed for him...
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.
From Fur Farm Rescuers to Freedom Fighters
Most of you know that the sanctuary started with Windsong the bobcat in 1992 who inspired us to do fur farm rescues in 1993, 1994 & 1995. When those last cats were rescued from the fur farm in 1995 that closed the era on cats being farmed in the U.S. for their fur. To our knowledge there were no more fur farms who were raising and killing cats for their fur within our borders…
But there was a fur farm left in Canada. We began negotiating with them to do the same thing there that we had done here: buy every cat they had IF they would agree to quit raising and killing cats for their fur. The price was going to be $90,000 to buy all of the cats and we would have to build cages for them as they arrived, which run us about $7500. per cage. The negotiations took two years but in late June of 1997 the first four kittens arrived: Apollo, Zeus, Boris and Natasha. They were only 2 months old and about as unfriendly as they come.
A month an a half later Don went missing. In our last story time I told you about all of the other cats and kittens who were in need of intensive care at the time of his disappearance. The chaos was just indescribable.
Two of our volunteers stepped in to help. Lenore offered to take Boris & Natasha and one of the cougar cubs to help alleviate the pressure on Jamie and I to provide around the clock care to so many youngsters. Jackie took a bobcat and 3 cougars. Of all of the people who adopted cats from us back then, I can only think of two people who didn't end up accidentally killing or returning them. Lenore and Jackie; although Jackie did send back Enya and her brother.
Over the years both have asked me to take all of the cats back, but with a little persuasion (OK arm twisting) I have been able to get them to keep their commitments to the cats. Both take a lot of pride in the fact that they have exotic cats as pets, but I think both would tell you that they wouldn't do it again if they had it to do over.
The picture is of Boris and Natasha (two males) who live on Lenore’s lanai. She still can't touch the cats and can never know the kind of love that we expect to be able to give and receive from pets. The cougar died last year. The reason I wanted to tell you about these cats today is because both of these former volunteers have called me recently with concerns about legislation we are trying to pass.
Our opponents, the people who breed, sell and exploit wild animals sent out a letter to permit holders in Florida telling them that the laws we are trying to pass will cause them to have to euthanize or relinquish their "pets." That isn't true, but the animal terrorists, as Jamie calls them, can't get any support for their position if they actually tell the truth. They have to make up scare tactics like this to get support for their abusive industry.
The laws we seek to put in place will ban the breeding, buying, selling and possession of exotic cats BUT there is always a caveat built in to grandfather in the animals that are currently possessed. When people try to give up their cats we always try to find ways for them to keep the cats because the animals don't like change and the people who bought them should keep their commitment to the animals if that is at all possible.
There is rarely room in good sanctuaries for exotic cats so we will always advocate for regulations that enable the cats to stay with their owners if at all possible and if that is suitable for the cat. What a ban would prohibit is bringing more animals into captive situations and would close the loophole caused by people claiming they had the animals prior to the ban. That is why they must register the animal at the time of the change in the law in order to keep the animal. The only cases I know of where animals were confiscated after a ban was when people refused, after being advised and threatened with confiscation several times, to register their animals.
Even though our former volunteers have kept their commitments to the cats, you can just tell from the look in their eyes that these cats would rather not be living their entire lives in a cage on the lanai in a subdivision. They don't make good pets and with your help we can ensure that no more cats like them are bred and sold into that trade.
Next month our CatLaws site will be integrated into our Facebook fan page and it will be easier than ever to get more people behind this movement to end the abuse. Chris has grown that site to have more than 20,000 fans!
I have been so pleased with the number of letters that you have been able to generate from the Gift Shop and through asking your friends to visit our CatLaws.com site. Now that you are getting the hang of checking people in for tours with the computers I hope you will start getting comfortable with helping them sign lots of the online letters when they get back from their tour on the same terminals.
In this story I spoke about some dumb things I did, like placing cats in pet homes and some failures I had in that I was never able to shut down the Canadian fur farm, so I'd like to leave you with a quote by Theodore Roosevelt to encourage you to take bold action, even if you aren't sure of your success;
"Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much, nor suffer much, because they live in the grey twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."
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.
Catera Bobcat Dies
”You don't have to worry about me anymore…now I'll be looking out for you," Catera purred softly. I sighed deeply, comforted by his words and yet slightly amused by his promise. His rumbling purr gave way to the sound of rain outside as I awakened more fully.
Yes, he was right; I wouldn't awake to the sound of a rain storm and wonder if he was safe and dry. No longer would I fret about him if I had to leave town for more than a day or two. My daily rounds at the sanctuary would no longer carry that heavy sense of dread as I approached his cage; wondering if he would have relapsed back again into some dreadful state of discomfort with processing his food. His life had been so hard from the very day he was born and yet he had such a zest for life and such a happy disposition that every time I thought I just couldn't stand to see him struggle through another setback, he would bounce back and take life by the horns again.
He died in his sleep, curled up in his den on August 10, 2010. Big Cat Rescuer, Sharon Dower may have been the last person to see him alive. It was around noon as she was cleaning in the area and she said, "I was talking with him just this afternoon, around 12:30. He chattered a bit, rolled over and showed me his belly, then yawned." A little while later, Hallelujah the cougar began wailing.
Everyone around the sanctuary knows what that means. Hal has a 6th sense for those who are dying and his wails sent chills down Marie Schoubert and Willow Hecht's backs. When they told Regina Rinaldi about it she exclaimed, "Uh-oh! Hal always gets vocal when a cat passes...he just knows." Some dear four footed friend was leaving the sanctuary and this world and it wasn't long before we discovered it was Catera. When Operations Manager, Gale Ingham called me into the Cat Hospital to tell me, I was stunned. Catera had been doing pretty well lately. I had just visited with him the night before and he was his happy, chirping, dancing self. After 13 years of worrying about his health every day, he was gone in an instant…probably his way of letting us all know that it was his decision and not the hand of fate.
His parents, Shiloh and Indian Summer had been a bonded pair for seven years before coming to live on Easy Street in late 1996. They had never reproduced, so we left them together and of course a litter of three resulted in just a few short months. Indian Summer, on the third day, began killing the kittens and by the time I could get to her, two were dead and she was biting the last one on the chest and abdomen. I snatched the bleeding kitten away from her and took it to medicate and bottle raise.
It wasn't long before the I discovered why Summer had brutally attacked her offspring. Catera (named for the Caddy that zigs) was obviously brain damaged and from the condition of all three kittens, it was apparent that they had not been nursing although the dam had stayed with them faithfully. He was skinny his whole life and that just accentuated his bug eyed face that seemed to be perpetually full of surprise and wonder.
It took hours to feed Catera and every time, it was as if it was the first time for him. It took him a year to get on to solid foods and again, every meal was like the first he ever had. If I were to walk out of the room and walk back in ten minutes later, he had forgotten who I was and only through the vocalizations we have shared over and over and over would he again recognize me. Once he made the mental connection, he would be exuberant and would dance around in circles, chirping, rolling and acting so cute that, no matter what, it would put a smile on my face and in my heart.
Every day was new and exciting to Catera and he is quite possibly the happiest cat who ever lived on Easy Street. Catera would run incessantly in circles and "bark" at everyone he couldn't remember, which was everyone. It wasn't until his "sister," President Jamie Veronica began doing operant conditioning with him many years later that Catera began to show much improvement in his ability to remember something from one day to the next. I have a chipped front tooth from where Catera, when he was a yearling, excitedly raced up into my lap while I was drinking a cup of coffee at my desk and knocked the ceramic cup into my front teeth. I never had it fixed and probably never will now as it is a reminder of his crazy antics.
In some ways his short term memory proved helpful. All of the cats just hate getting flea preventatives put on them and after Dr. Liz Wynn makes her rounds the cats all hate her for a few days, or weeks… but not Catera. Whether it be flea treatments, or shots, or being netted for surgery or exams, he would be as mad as a hornet for the moment, but if you walked away and came back 10 minutes later he had forgotten all about it and you got to start with a clean slate with him. What a great lesson he taught us about the beauty of forgiveness. It is even better for the forgiver than the forgiven.
People always ask me who my favorite cats are, but I don't have any favorites. Each one is so unique and has so much to teach us. Some who were especially needy or sickly, like Catera, may have occupied more of my time, than cats like Running Bear who is self sufficient and has never been ill a day in his life, but each one is so special in so many ways.
There was a whole group of people who made sure Catera got his meds twice a day; Becky Gagliardo, Jennifer Ruszczyk, Barbara Frank, Susan Mitchell, Jennifer Flatt and Gale Ingham, to name a few. Without their perseverance past his finicky ways, his life would have been much shorter and painful. He taught them the skills of finding new ways to hide a pill or to coax a cat to eat.
Rescuer Julie Hanan keeps up a memorial site for all of the cats who have passed here: https://sites.google.com/site/bigcattributes/home and our Volunteers can post their tributes to the cats there. I was sad to see that long time Admin Volunteers, like Merrill and Sherry, never got a chance to know Catera because he wasn't on the tour path. Our cats who are not people oriented are not on the tour path, and yet some of them have the greatest lessons to teach us about how to treat each other. I guess that makes it the responsibility of those of us who do know them to carry their message out to the rest of the world.
One of the most important things I have learned from these cats is that we are all one and we are all eternal. I find it interesting that the cats continue to revisit in both tangible ways, like Auroara in the leaves of the poplar tree, Hercules in his lion statue, Crystal in butterflies, Windsong in the dolphin that day on the beach and in the voices in our heads who whisper, "I am with you always."
It came as no surprise that shortly after Catera died I was stopped dead in my tracks by a dragonfly that kept flitting around my face until I stopped to listen. Once I turned off the endless mind chatter and stopped to pay attention to the dragonfly, it came up to hover directly in front of me for a long time. The big eyes locked with my own and I could hear Catera's happy little voice saying, "How's this for bug eyes? See; I can "focus." Ha Ha! Pretty funny, huh? I'm free now! Free as a bird! Free as a dragonfly! Lots to do…gotta go but I'll be "looking" out for you!" he circled around and around in his traditional little dance and then he was off to explore the world from a new perspective.
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.
Tribute to Sophia Cougar
Sophia Cougar 1/1/91 - 7/24/10 Rescued 1/22/09
"Will anyone give me $200 for this fine breeding age puma?" the auctioneer's voice blasts over the loud speakers in the livestock barn during an animal auction in Louisiana. An animal abuser raises his number, thinking to himself, that he can mount her head and that of the male cougar he just bought over the T. V. in his trailer. The gavel slams down and Sophia's life has just taken a perilous change for the worse. She and her mate had been ripped from their mothers when they were cubs, declawed and bottle raised to be used as ego props. When they were little they could be used for photo opportunities and could be walked about on leashes as mini trophies. Now they were too big for that and their owner had crated them into tiny cages and consigned them over to a live animal auction.
These auctions are legal in the US and all manner of exotic animals, many of them endangered species, are sold to anyone who has the cash. To qualify as a buyer is pretty straightforward; if you are buying an endangered species, like a tiger, you have to have proof that you live in the state and if you are buying any non endangered animal, all you have to do is prove that you don't live in the state. Once you leave the state, no one in the selling state cares who you are or what you do. If you are buying within your own state lines, then your state may or may not have some regulations. One thing is true everywhere and that is that even states with regulations never have the money or resources to properly enforce them. 7 states have no rules so anything goes. Want to walk your tiger through a nursing home or a grade school? "No problem" say a lot of states, including Florida, where we have repeatedly documented that very issue.
Sophia's new owner loads her and the male cougar into a truck and heads to a taxidermist he knows in Laronger, Louisiana named Joe. The story, as relayed to me by Joe, was that the owner pulled up and promptly shot the male cougar, announcing that he wanted the cat stuffed and mounted. Hearing the gun shot, Joe's wife Mary came running out of the house, just in time to see the gun leveled at the trembling female cougar in the tiny crate. Mary yelled out, "Don't shoot the cougar! Oh please! Don't kill the cat!"
Joe described himself to me as a wildlife sculptor, but when pressed for details of his art, he lowered his gaze and said, "My sculptures are cast into molds that are then sold to taxidermists." When animals are skinned and mounted, their skins are stretched over these plastic reproductions. Joe is famous for how lifelike his reproductions are and he credits that to studying the live animals. His acreage is divided into pastures full of caged animals; the kinds who are often killed for sport.
The redneck advises the couple that he paid good money for these cats so he could mount them on his wall. He looks to Joe to explain to the missus that she needs to mind her own business. Joe has done well for himself. The large, fenced track of land sports a very large home, with high glass windows out onto Joe's world, and a wrap around deck so that he can sculpt with unobstructed views, all of the creatures who are posing for the lifeless bodies of countless others of their kind. There is a barn the size of an airline hangar that houses row upon row, floor to ceiling, of the plastic reproductions of his art. His business is primarily selling to taxidermists.
Joe startles the red neck by asking, "How much for her?" The gun's barrel drops earthward as the killer reckons that he paid $200 for her and it cost him $50 to get her here, or in other words, he wants a $50 profit. Mountain lions are cheap. He can buy another one. Joe agrees and moves Sophia into a chicken coop.
That was 13 years ago and what looked like a chicken coop to me was probably used for housing fancy pheasants who were used as models for the stuffed bodies of exotic birds that are killed for fun. When Maria Davidson of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries called and asked me if we could rescue a cougar, she had told me that the cat was in a concrete floored cage that was made of chain link. She said the cage was roughly 6 feet by 8 feet by 8 feet high. A tip had resulted in the department's seizure of the cougar, but they had been told it was a cub, so when law enforcement arrived to take the cub to a willing new owner, they discovered an aged cougar instead. The person they had found, who would have been happy to rescue a cub, had no use for an adult and refused to take the cat, so Maria called Big Cat Rescue.
We noticed upon arrival that law enforcement officers were wearing flack jackets. Scott Lope, Chris Poole and I had not gotten THAT memo! I had overheard some of the officers talking about an infamous case involving the stealing of a 17 point buck and selling him for $3000 to a breeder in Louisiana (after the TX buyer defaulted on paying a promised $8000 for the deer when he heard it was hot property.) The lucrative trade in wild animals is second only to the illegal trade in drugs. It is rife with criminals and people who have little or no regard for life.
Maria suggested that only a small crew go around the house to the coop so that the cougar would not be stressed by new faces. I already liked Maria, because of all she is doing to end the abuse of wild animals in Louisiana, but this appreciation for how the cat was feeling just strengthened that good impression. She took her vet, Dr. LaCour, Scott and Chris down to assess the situation so we could decide which of the three types of transports we brought would be the safest and easiest way to move her. What they discovered was that the cat was in what appeared to be the final stages of renal failure and she could not walk. 17 is old for a mountain lion and renal failure is common in cats because their diet is high in protein. Cats only live 10 or 12 years in the wild, so their parts aren't designed to last this long.
If Sophia could not stand, there was no way she could be coaxed into walking into the transport. With ears flattened back she didn't trust humans and her hissing punctuated the unspoken threat to bite anyone who came near her. These situations are never black and white and this one presented a dilemma as well. On the one hand, this cat had lived in this chicken coop for 13 years and maybe it would be kinder to just let her live out her last few days here.
On the other hand, she had only a tattered tarp tied to the west wall of her cage, probably more for shade than to break the cold, damp northern winds. She had a concrete floor and a low concrete bench because the owner said that made it easier to clean. Even if we were to give him the hay that we had brought for her ride, there was no reason to believe that he would use it. In another Louisiana case, with the help of Sky Williamson, we had made sure that Tony the tiger got hay, but the Tiger Truck Stop had refused to give it to him. It is messy and these animals were not beloved pets who could impose on their owners' desire to make things easy on themselves.
We decided that even if Sophia only had a few days left to live, they should be in comfort and as much as we hate to tranquilize a cat, the only way she was going into her hay filled transport cage was if she were sound asleep. While she was sleeping Dr. Lacour did an exam and drew blood so that our vet, Dr. Wynn, would have a good idea of how progressed her situation was so that we could treat her accordingly.
Scott, Maria, Dr. Lacour and Guy the law enforcement officer who told me this was his first "cat call" in 18 years on the force, made a sling from a blanket and used it to carry Sophia out of her tiny, barren prison cell and into the next stage of her pitiful life.
We loaded her transport into the van so that we could keep an eye on her and better regulate the temperature to keep her warm. It would be a 12 hour ride back to Tampa and silence in the van allowed her to sleep most of the way. As long as the van was rhythmically rocking down the road she slept or laid quietly on the only softness she has known in more than a decade. (Was that a purr?) Since it was cold in Tampa when we arrived at 1 am we decided to move her transport into the cat hospital for the night.
The next day she still was having a very hard time moving about, so we decided to keep her inside on her fluffy hay palette until the weather breaks. It has been in the 60's during the day but has dropped into the high 30's at night. Sophia was just covered with fleas who had sapped away most of her blood and strength, so she was treated for the infestation. Meanwhile her new Cat-a-tat, which is 1,200 square feet of space, is being modified a bit more to accommodate her disability. I called Mary to let her know that Sophia had arrived at Big Cat Rescue safely. I was appalled at the way the cougar was kept all these years, but if not for Mary pleading for her life, Sophia would be just another nameless animal head on a wall.
Late on the 24th we hooked the hay filled transport cage to the front of Sophia's new enclosure. We set up her water near her as her eyesight is very limited. She ate well last night and sleeps a lot. Just the quick move from the West Boensch Cat Hospital on site to her new home near the other cougars seemed to wear her out, even though she was just being carried like royalty in her cat version of a rickshaw. The volunteers had prepared her new digs by converting every step-over door into an ADA ramp. They also piled boughs of Christmas trees in her cave and about her enclosure so she could sniff her way along the scented path to all the best features of her new home.
We don't know how long Sophia may have in this world, but thanks to all of our supporters, staff and volunteers, she will have the best life possible from now until then.
JULY 24, 2010
We had to say goodbye to Sophia today. Her quality of life had suffered greatly due to her advancing arthritis and kidney failure. She was 18 years old. When we rescued her from Louisiana, she was in such bad shape that we never expected her to make it through the weekend. And yet, she thrived with all the love and attention we gave her. Thank you to all the volunteers who gave her the best one and a half years of her life.
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.
Windsong Bobcat, Founder of Big Cat Rescue, Dies
Female Bobcat DOB 4/30/92 - 6/11/2010 Arrived at Big Cat Rescue 11/5/92
Windsong is the bobcat who started Big Cat Rescue. Windsong was at the Woods and Waters Auction on November 4 1992 where we went to buy Llamas to greenbelt some of our property. She was six months old, on a leash, and being held by her owner in a room full of noisy people and animals. She was obviously terrified. Her owner said she had been his wife's pet that she didn't want any more and he was here to get rid of her.
The man next to me began bidding on her and, as someone who had rehabbed and released wild bobcats since I was in my teens, I warned him that when this cat grew up she would tear his face off. He said that he was a taxidermist and would just club her in the head in the parking lot so he didn't have to deal with her. His plan was to stuff her and sell her as a den decoration. Windsong had already stolen my heart and there was no way we were going to allow her precious life to be stolen in such a gruesome way.
Windsong taught us more about wild animals than we had ever known, in a very short time. She shattered all of our preconceptions about the emotional nature of wild cats. The following spring we drove to Minnesota to pick up two Bobcats, two Canadian Lynx, and two Siberian Lynx to bottle raise as friends for Windsong. When the breeder turned out to be a fur farm we came home with all 56 kittens!
We have since learned that all wild cats make awful pets. As much as we love each and every one of ours, they all bite and they all spray.
Windsong Stays On My Mind
6/11/2010 Windsong was in the final stages of renal failure according to her blood work today. She had been diagnosed last December and treated for her advance arthritis, and given fluids, but the treatment only bought her another six months. Now she was wasting away, feeling too nauseous to eat regularly and was beginning to get mouth ulcers that come along with advanced renal failure. I could delay making this awful choice, pump her full of fluids and painkillers again and hope for a few more months, but that would only delay the inevitable. Windsong is 18 and there was no way to turn back the clock and time's ravages on her little body. She was already asleep while we were doing the blood work, so I asked Dr. Wynn to end her life before she had to suffer even one more day of feeling awful. It was very peaceful as her spirit left her frail little "cat suit."
I have never cried so much and wondered out loud to Jamie as to why? I believe that we are all eternal and come into and out of form for reasons that we signed up for in advance. I believe that each of us comes here to learn and to teach and to work together for a perfect existence. I don't miss the cats or the people I have loved who have died because I feel them in and around me all the time, so what are all these tears? Jamie responded that it is because Windsong is an icon. She is the reason that this sanctuary exists. She started all of this and now she's gone and it feels like something bigger than life has slipped away from us.
The water soothes me, so I drove out to the beach. As soon as I arrived I saw a dolphin rolling and playing in the bay. I wondered what Windsong, who was free at last would do on her first day of freedom. Would she roll in the surf like a dolphin? A seabird flew over head and I wondered if she would be torn between flying high above the shore, or swimming deep beneath the waves, or if you can do both simultaneously in spirit form. I am happy that she never has to spend another day in a cage, but the tears just kept streaming down my face. Why?
I thought back to the first time I saw her. It was on Nov. 4, 1992 (the date we celebrate as the birth of the sanctuary) when her owner carried her into the ring of an exotic animal auction. She had her paws wrapped so tightly around his neck. Her liquid gold eyes were exaggerated in her terror at all of the loud noises and the auctioneer bellowing over the loud speakers that surrounded her. Her eyes caught mine and I began to cry. I heard a song in my head from back in the 70's for a perfume; "I can't seem to forget you. Your Wind Song stays on my, Wind Song stays on my, Wind Song stays on my mind."
I couldn't quit staring through my tears into her precious little face. I heard Don bidding on her. A bobcat only had a "retail value" of about $160.00 but I heard the bidding go up over $775.00 and Don was not the latest bid. The auctioneer said, $775.00 going once, going twice... an eternity passed, I tore my gaze from her and looked at Don. He raised his card, one last time, and I could breathe again.
So today, as I thought about all that she endured as a captive born bobcat, who was torn from her mother, raised as a pet, abandoned at auction to the highest bidder and who spent the last 18 years in a cage, I couldn't help but marvel at what an indomitable little spirit she was. She inspired us to save cats like her. She inspired visitors to give up their social lives and become volunteers. She inspired an entire movement that went beyond providing sanctuary to ending the problem at its root. I only regret that I was not able to bring her the good news that we had ended the trade before she died. I can barely stand the thought of yet one more cat dying before we can celebrate that law that will end the breeding and abuse.
I feel honored to have known her and shed tears of admiration for all she has taught us and inspired us to do. Every one of these cats has done the same thing. They have given of themselves and inspired us to all be better people. It hurts so bad to see them age and die and sometimes I wonder how much more I can stand. I hear our volunteers saying the same thing. We are all afraid to even look at their medical charts any more as they are mostly in their latter stage of life. Despite how much our hearts bleed with each loss, those of us who are still here and still committed to the cats, can take some comfort in knowing that we have proven ourselves to be strong enough. We are their freedom fighters and we have to be strong, for those who are left and for those who will "stay on our minds," until we return to them the freedom of their birthright. Visit CatLaws.com today and send a letter to save a life. - Carole Baskin
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.
Tribute to Snorkel Tiger
Male Siberian/Bengal Tiger DOB 1996 - March 12, 2010
Snorkel was born in 1996 to the same abuser who bred Nakoma the lion, Roxy Luce. She breeds lions and tigers and uses them to make money by selling you a photo of you holding a cute little cub. The general public just doesn’t understand what could be wrong with this? Typically, these cubs are starved, deprived of bone building calcium and even poisoned to give them constant diarrhea so that they cannot gain weight. Exhibitors do this because the cubs are only profitable while they are small. According to FL state law, the public cannot touch the cubs once they reach 45 pounds. Then they are discarded.
Snorkel was given to a small, family-operated circus (Lance Ramos) when he exceeded 45 pounds at the age of 6 months. Because he had been so deprived of nutrition, he was very tiny and stands on little stunted legs. The other bigger circus tigers beat him up and one bit him across the nose so severely that, when he chuffs, it sounds like he is drowning, thus his name. He has never had soft grass to roll in or a pool or mountain cave to call his own before coming to Big Cat Rescue. He has been one of the happiest tigers we have ever rescued.
We had to say goodbye to another one of our great cats this afternoon. Thank you everyone for caring for him all of these years, you truly provided Snorkel the best possible life and he let everyone know with his enthusiastic chuffs.
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.
Wooing Dr. Diasti Dear Dr. Diasti, Thank you for coming to our rescue! At first this may all appear quite daunting, but we have some amazing systems in place to monitor our cats' health and our vet has access to all of this from her iPhone and from any computer. I have added you as one with Vet access, so please to not accidentally delete information. Changes you make on the charts appear for all of us on our versions. That is both the beauty of the site, and why we have to be very careful. This is where most of our cats' health records are kept and only 7 of our staff & volunteers and staff have access to this section: The Census is all of our cats, their ages and species. 74 of our 120 cats are over the age of 15 so we are dealing with lots of old age problems. These cats usually only live 10-12 years in zoos. Daily Med Charts are the dozen or so cats who are on meds daily. See the tabs at the bottom of the chart to click to different cats. Our Keepers log their initials to let the vet and our Operations Manager, Gale Ingham, know that the meds were taken. Documents has our USDA Program of Veterinary Care agreement that we have to keep on site for USDA inspections. How To Give Meds are training guides and a 25 minute video on how to use the sedation equipment and load the darts and jab stick. Med Inventory is the running inventory of our medications on site and is kept up to date by one of our Sr. Keepers. She also makes up the baggies for each cat's meds for each day. These are made up a week in advance and kept under lock and key. This is the anesthetic protocol and I think lions and tigers are somewhat different from each other in what works. The bold Record Archive is each of our cats and their medical history. The Record Archive 2 is for cats who have passed on, but kept as a reference. This link is our main Volunteer website where our 100+ volunteers make daily observations about the cats: These pages can only hold 500 entries each, so soon it will be a page ending in -2 Volunteers log the observations, the Operations Manager, Gale, checks them off after she checks on the cat and our vet checks them off after she looks at the cat on her weekly rounds. If this is too much bother for you, we can print the list on paper, and then after you have seen the cats, I will go in and check them off so that our volunteers know the cat has been seen by both the manager and the vet. In the left sidebar is a page called Food & Feces. Jamie Veronica and I do, because the first indication that a cat is sick is often when they leave food, or have some weird feces. The Food Chart link is for those cats who are always poor doers, so we know what goes in them and what comes out. The link at left called Med Charts takes you off this site and to the Secure Vet Log site at (mentioned above) The search feature on both sites is very good, so if you are looking for cats who had hypertension, you can type that key word and find the cat's charts. A lot of our files were handwritten and are on site, but they do not scan with OCR well enough to be included in our searchable charts. I am planning to scan and post them for reference individually though. I emailed Dr. Wynn and said I had found a vet who was willing to help out as a backup vet for when she is out of town, or unavailable, and asked if she would mind showing this person around and sharing her experiences. Since yesterday was her day here to do rounds, I don't think she will be available again before Sunday. We had another volunteer vet here, Dr. Kelly Rice, but she lives in Bradenton so she is having a hard time keeping up her hours as a volunteer. Dr. Wynn was always willing to let Dr. Rice help out on things, but Dr. Rice was only able to come once or twice a month and has said she is just too busy this time of year to come at all. Both women originally just came here to volunteer cleaning cages, but when I found out they were vets I asked them to help with veterinary stuff. Dr. Wynn apprenticed under Dr. Stacie Wadsworth for about 3 years, I think, before Dr. Stacie retired and moved out of state. Dr. Rice has only helped Dr. Wynn with a very few procedures and usually prefers to clean cages when here. (Dr. Wynn in green & Dr. Rice in yellow) The dark haired woman assisting in these, in the navy shirt, is my daughter and our President, Jamie Veronica. She trained with Dr. Stacie in her clinic so that she could assist here way back 15 years or so ago. Jamie is on site 5-6 days a week and assists in all of the vet care as someone who can lure the cats into lockout, net them if they won't and is the kind of person who will hold onto an angry cat well enough that you will never have to worry about being scratched or bitten. She also does all of our rehab work with bobcats. Naturally, I have been doing this for nearly 18 years as well and am almost always available to assist.
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.
Diana Rao Says I Should Write a Book (as do many others)
An email to Diana Rao, one of our volunteers who was going skiing. My cousin, Mike Crim, and his teenage daughter were skiing in CO and he hit a tree and died on the slope. His wife and teenage son were back at the lodge that day because they were sick. Mike worked for a place in Tampa called In The News and did the framed Big Cat Rescue article in the Party House for us.
His mother, Carole, is my mother's only sister and my namesake. She had six boys. Matt, her eldest, is the one I was raised with by our Grandmother "Momma Jacquie" (of Momma Jacquie's Cool Cat Cafe) Matt and his girlfriend was my private tour on Saturday. Matt had worked with Jamie on the Dave Mathews Band contest we did at Skipper's Smokehouse because they are DMB groupies.
Both of our mothers worked full time back in the 60's so Momma Jacquie raised Matt & I until we were old enough for school. Jamie was her first great grandchild and she really wanted Jamie to go to college, but Jamie finished high school 2 years early as Valedictorian of her little private school so that she could help me run the sanctuary when Don left in 1997.
She never got the chance to follow her path, and when Momma Jacquie offered to send her to college, she asked that the money be donated to the sanctuary so we could build Food Prep instead. Back then Jamie had cuts all over her from working in the tight quarters of our old Food Prep that was in a truck body in front of Apollo and Zeus. Imagine all of the people slinging knives during food prep in a space that was only about 3 feet wide and 15 feet long, and that was what Food Prep was like. A real nightmare!
Coincidentally, in 1997 we lost Don, my aunt Carole lost her husband Duane, who was Mike's dad, and we lost my grandfather, Big Daddy (the odd names were because he and Momma Jacquie told everyone they were my parents when I was little.) Two years later Jamie lost her half brother Mickey in a car accident on his 29th birthday. You have probably seen the sign on Jumanji's cage that she had made to commemorate the loss.
From his obituary: CRIM, Michael, 41, of Temple Terrace, Fla., died in a skiing accident, December 24, 2009. A devoted servant of the Lord, husband, father, son, brother, uncle and lifetime friend, he selflessly gave in everything he did. Heaven is richer, our lives are poorer.
All in one email it seems like a lot of tragedy, but we have a huge family, so it probably isn't much different than the average over all.
And her reply: WOW Carole, it truly is a tragedy that he died so young and the fact that your family is so large doesn't lessen the sense of loss. Your family lost someone who sounds like a wonderful, active and caring man. My heart goes out to you and all the others. It seems like all of you are very close and share a lot of experiences and not having him there will be sad. I think the loss of a loved one, be he/she friend or family is something no one ever gets "used to". The pain is always sharp and the sense of loss is always great. I think the only thing we learn from our many losses is that the passage of time does eventually heal and sweetens our memories. The last sentence of his obituary, "Heaven is richer, our lives are poorer" is one of the most beautiful tributes to someone I have read.
On a different note, I hope that somewhere in your very busy schedule you have taken or can take some time to document and keep a written history of your family's rich and varied history, I don't need to say how unique your family is in all the many things you have accomplished and all the experiences all of you have gained in achieving the creation of BCR. It would make fascinating reading and at the least should be put in writing as a gift to your family.
Personally I find Jamie an amazing person with unlimited talents and drive and I don't really know her (not that I wouldn't love to rectify that). All the photos that she has taken over the years could be a perfect accompaniment to your family history book. WOW!!! I could just see it now. Will work on a title for the book :) .
Actually, to take it a step further (and this book may already exist without my knowledge), a book detailing how you went from owning exotic pets to advocating against them being kept as pets with all the twists and turns would make a fascinating read. Not only for those that know you personally or are involved in BCR but just as a good read. I have told you before that the best part of the volunteer meetings has ALWAYS been your stories not only of the animals but at times of how you got from point A to point B. In our safari guide there are is a summary of how BCR was created but I know there is sooooooo much more to it. Your story should be in one giant picture filled book. You are an excellent wordsmith and your delivery (if it were an audio book) would be powerful.
Anyway, I have taken up enough of your time and I know you have precious little of it. I will end my note by saying once again how sorry I am about your loss and that I will keep you and your family in my prayers that memories of good times spent and the passage of time will bring you comfort. Fondly, Diana
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.
2009 Annual Report
Big Cat Rescue is more than just a place that provides permanent care for big cats. It is a movement; a change in the tide of human perceptions and is the combined effort of more than 60,000 supporters. If you are one of them, you are a Big Cat Rescuer and the following is the great work YOU did! If you haven’t helped yet, you can do so now at the top right of the screen or here: http://bigcatrescue.org/donate
Big Cat Rescue’s Mission Statement: Big Cat Rescue’s dual mission is to provide the best home we can for the cats in our care and educate the public about the plight of these majestic animals, both in captivity and in the wild, to end abuse and avoid extinction. We are Caring for Cats and Ending the Trade
Advances: With your help we are winning in the battle for compassion! Up until 2003 the number of requests for rescues we had to turn down due to lack of space or funds had roughly doubled every other year, to 312 that year. We feared it would double again to over 500 in 2004. Instead, it has steadily declined since then thanks to the passage of a federal bill and several state bills that restrict the ownership of exotic cats. This year we “only” had to turn away 50 big cats who were unwanted by their owners. We offered to take all of the cats who were cougar size or smaller, if their owners would contract to never own another exotic cat, but they all refused. We just do not have enough Senior Keeper staff to take on more lions or tigers.
By now everyone knows that communication and fundraising will be cell phone centric. On April 30, 2009 we added mobile phone number collection to our contact forms and promoted this new request with the Animal Lover’s Dream Vacation Giveaway.
We upgraded all phones and Internet service at the sanctuary to FIOS which Increased upload / download speeds by 10 times enabling us to be much more efficient. This was necessary to handle the fact that so many more of our programs are hosted in the cloud, such as Raiser’s Edge, which we invested in, for donor management and online donations. Another area in which we improved our efficiency was in opening accounts with SendOutCards.com and Enthusem. Both sites are similar in that they provide a fast and easy way to send real cards from anywhere that you have an Internet connection, but we chose both because they have different aspects that work well for us. SendOutCards.com has an easy to use interface and Enthusem gives us both a way to track who has responded to special codes that we print into the card and also provides us with an excellent card shop that our supporters can use without having to commit to a contract.
Animal Care: By the end of this year, 74 of our 120 cats are over the age of 15. This is well beyond how long they are designed to live in the wild and much older than most zoo cats. This is a testament to the excellent animal care we provide, but we are dealing with many more age related illnesses and are losing more of our big cat friends every year. Even though we offered to rescue the 17 lesser cats who were in need of rescue in 2009, Sophia the cougar and Desiree the serval were the only ones to come here. We renovated a mobile spay trailer that we had provided to local area feral cat groups, who now have their own clinic, into a mobile rescue trailer. Vern stayed busy this year with all of the maintenance issues and with these cage improvements:
Added a room addition onto both of the rehab cages so that these cats can be shifted to a safe side with plenty of places to hide while their cages are cleaned. Repaired Serengeti Serval’s cage, and most of the other servals cages that had rusted from the constant spraying. Katmandu & Kanawha Siberian Lynx’s cage was repaired as was their den, repair of ponds in cougar cage and in most of the tiger cages, Anasazi and Will Bobcat’s den repair, replaced rusted wire on Natasha & Willow Siberian Lynx’s cage, repaired the damage done by a falling tree on Hallelujah’s cage, fixed Bella’s doors and that of 18 more big cats.
Connected two serval cages with a tunnel and doors for Peaches and Lucky so that they can shift into new spaces easily. Built a new cage for Nikita lioness so she could be on the tour path in a big enclosure, and still give up her old cage to provide more room for Joseph’s Pride to spread out. Built a concrete den for Precious Bobcat, installed a barricade around Nikita.
Installed more video surveillance cameras, resurfaced Easy Street , repaired leopard statue on land bridge that was installed to give people a moment to think a cat is loose and thus get a feel for what it means to have big cats in private hands, repaired wells, water lines, pulled down most of the remaining rotten pine stumps (30+ foot high)
We assisted in the rehabilitation of an orphaned baby bobcat in NC. Nina Fischesser, Director, Blue Ridge Wildlife Institute Lees-McRae College, Banner Elk, NC had contacted us for advice in rehabbing and releasing an orphaned baby bobcat. Giving cats a second chance at living free is the best part of our day!
On 3/12/09 we had another perfect USDA inspection.
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.
Howie Says Committee Emails are Well Written
Howie wrote to Carole:
I was up before Willow so reading emails and went through x's and for the first time read yours and Jamie’s entirely vs skimming. I think your and her original emails were very well worded, and in yours you clearly assumed they would stay on committee and work on the problems, and you made a point to share blame in not giving the partners attention. But what I really want to say to you my love is that as I think back about how you dealt with them sticking you with all this 7 days before the party, and how you managed as you always do to just make happen what has to happen, and did it so well and in a way that will turn out for the good, and the way you continue to sort through the staff and organizational issues, all of which probably would have given me a nervous breakdown, it literally is bringing tears to my eyes to think what an absolutely amazing woman I have married. I love you so much, but beyond that I am awed by you.
The visiting has been nice, but I already miss you and look forward to being home with you tonight. - Howard Baskin
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.
Jamie's letter to the old Volunteer Committee dated 11/25/09
December Committee Meeting discussion topics from Jamie: If you would like I could be available to discuss these issues via web cam. Carole can bring her laptop and we can meet inside the E-center or the Party House, I would just need to know the day and time. And just a reminder; Carole wants to attend the committee meetings, so regardless let her know when and where.
Operant/Photo Reward: i think we should set up some better guidelines for giving out this award at this upcoming committee meeting, and then track who gets it each month. I uploaded a document located in the volunteer folder that lists all of the awards, when they are given out, and who has one them. We can add this information to that document as well.
I know we kind of set this award up for people that were on the board multiple times, but usually the people that are on the board are always on the board, so then it becomes something of a popularity with the committee contest. I have two suggestions;
One, we make it a random selection, that way it is not favoritism and everyone has an equal shot at getting a cool reward (I mean really everyone deserves to be rewarded, they are all volunteering their time). At the beginning of the meeting we could have everyone write their name on a raffle ticket and put in a bowl, then at the end of the meeting we could draw out a name to choose a winner. This would also add something positive to a usually negative monthly meeting. Or two, let the volunteers vote. I don’t like this one as much because it doesn’t really give the wallflowers of the group that great of a chance to win.
Annual Volunteerism Awards: For some reason we did not do our annual September reward where we give the volunteers pins to recognize how many years of service they have contributed and we take their photos by year group and sponsor conservation projects. I am going to try and get pins ordered in time for the December meeting, so we need to plan on doing this then. Who set up which conservation projects we did last year? If not, and we do not have someone to do this, I will choose the projects. We will need to separate the volunteers into groups under a year, 1 year, 2-4 year, 5 year, 6-9 year, 10+ years and take their photos. Then we can print the photos with info on their sponsored project to post online, in volunteer sign in, e-center, and food prep.
Holiday Gift: I believe that Honey is doing sweatshirts as the holiday gift for volunteers that attend the December meeting. I also want us to give each volunteer a bottle of the Papio wine located in the room where summer camp was held in the party house. We really need to get rid of this stock of wine and this would be the perfect time. Let’s try and get rid of it all, sending more than one bottle home with each person if necessary.
Volunteer Party: I need to know the names of the awards and the names of the winners for the awards that will be given out at the appreciation party. I have not heard back from anyone regarding the idea of having the ceramic plaques like in the tour waiting yard made as the awards. These only cost us about $15 so I think that these would be a nice gift to give as the award. I need the names as soon as possible (before the actual committee meeting) in order to have them made and ready for the party. Perhaps you all could get together this weekend and come up with a list of the award names and winners.
Partner Privileges: I know a while back we started a program for the Partners where they can take a chair out to a cat and read to them as an alternative to operant conditioning. Is anyone participating in this? I think we should announce at the meeting that this is available again for those who may have forgotten. Also since it is on the tour side of the barricade, I would suggest that this program be available for the Partners to participate in during anytime of day, not necessarily just in the morning. I am also unsure as to our exact rules regarding Partners out on the tour paths unescorted. I have told yellow and green shirts that they can walk the tour path at any time as long as they let their coordinator know, which is usually Honey, and sometimes Jess. If this is incorrect, I think we should consider allowing this.
It does not hurt anything and gives an easy reward to the Partners. We should also announce this at the meeting. I also think that if Partners would like to observe feeding on days when there are not feeding tours that they should be permitted as long as they remain on the tour paths. This too should be announced. It may seem like I am trying to give the Partners a lot here, but it really isn’t that much and after thinking about the Partner program and what their jobs actually entail, the work they do for us sucks and I think that these little allowances on our part would make them feel much more appreciated and give them something to look forward to when they come out to volunteer. One last suggestion on this would be to allow Trainees the same privileges if they are accompanied by a Partner or a Senior Partner.
Committee Members: I would like to know if all of the committee members are happy serving on the committee, if not I would like to give any member the opportunity to resign if they would like, with no ill feelings from my part if they do. We are all out here because we love the animals and want what’s best for them, but we also need to be aware of our own happiness, so if anyone is not happy, please do not feel obligated to try to do so much. Take a step back if need be and find out what makes you feel good about being out here and do not feel pressured to any more than that.
I also think that we should bring on a new committee member that could represent the admin volunteers. After thinking about the Partner department discussion we had last month and how we do not have that many Partners and were trying to think of ways to recruit and retain Partners it dawned on me that we do not have that department adequately represented on the committee. We are all Keepers for the most part. I am not sure who we should select for this position, so maybe we should ask the Partners to vote for their representative. I think that this would be the best route for selecting a new person as it would not be seen as favoritism and the Partners could feel empowered by selecting their representative.
Freckles Liger Wakes Up Unexpectedly
Freckles was sedated for a dental and she didn’t go down easy. She’s a fierce cat and maybe even more dangerous than most because she’s a liger. A cross between lion and tiger; she’s just not sure who she is and we are left without a whole lot of experience with that blended personality.
We’d gotten her into her lockout cage by covering it entirely with wood so she felt safe. We had to disassemble all of that, and remove one wall of her feeding lockout, in order to get her out of the cage, and into the back of a truck that would haul all 500 lbs of her into the cat hospital. After pulling off the wall of the lockout and straddling her to pull her out, she lifted her head and just about sent all of us screaming and running for our lives...
Except that we couldn’t do what came natural. We had to freeze, keep our wits about us, and wait for her to lay her head back down and go back to sleep.
Tribute to Tarzan Jungle Cat
Male Jungle Cat DOB 5/1/93 - 12/3/09 Arrived at Big Cat Rescue 9/19/94
Tarzan came to Big Cat Rescue in the Spring of 1995. His owner had purchased him for the purpose of breeding hybrids, but Tarzan hated domestic cats and so became worthless to his owner. When Tarzan arrived, he was neutered and placed in a large natural enclosure with a very feisty female Jungle Cat, Shaniqua. He fell in love with her right away and the two have been inseparable ever since. Tarzan is one of the more food motivated felines at the sanctuary and absolutely loves to eat. You would never know of his voracious appetite to look at his sleek build. Tarzan is also very vocal and is often heard caterwauling as the sun sets. The sounds that come from these small cats are unbelievable and rival their larger feline cousin, the leopard.
12/3/09 Tarzan went in to Dr. Wynn's clinic today because he was seen limping. He has been struggling with renal failure and treated almost continually over the past year for upper respiratory infections. He has also been slowed down considerable by advanced arthritis. His x-rays indicated he had fractured his leg and with his bones and joints being so far gone and arthritic, the only humane option was to put him to sleep. At the age of 16, he was our oldest Jungle Cat and it is not likely that he could have withstood surgery and the long and painful healing process given his advanced age and ailments. It is always a hard decision to make, but we believe it was the kindest option for Tarzan. Be sure to give Shaniqua a little extra love as you walk by.
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.
Tribute to Trucha Tiger
Female Siberian/Bengal Tiger Hybrid DOB 1993-8/29/2009
With one final breath she lifted out of the cancer ridden body that had once been Trucha the tigress. She had literally been bred to death. In the wild she would have had cubs once every three or four years as she spent the time in between raising her family and teaching them all about what it means to be a tiger. In captivity tigers are bred two to four times a year because there is a huge demand for cute, cuddly cubs.
Breeders, like the notorious Robert Baudy of Savage Kingdom, who used Trucha until he lost his USDA license, will purposely inbreed their cats to try and produce the white coat color that accompanies the genetic defect. The cubs can only be used for petting sessions, photo ops and other pay-to-play schemes for a month or two before they are too big to handle. Many die from the rough handling, being dropped, and being starved and having diarrhea induced to keep them small. Meanwhile their mothers are already pregnant with the next litter of cubs to be exploited.
Trucha had just taken her last breath, but I felt like the weight on my chest was such that I would never again be able to breathe. I suspect that those who stood with me, Dr. Wynn, Scott, Cathy and Chris were all experiencing some similar form of grief as we eased Trucha out of her captive existence to whatever lays in store for her next. No matter what that is, it has to be better than the lousy hand she was dealt this time around.
Imagine being born in some tiny, filthy jail cell and then ripped from your mother at the age of only two weeks. The only one who would ever care about you, your mother, calls your name, moaning for the return of her cubs, but you are put into a metal cage in the breeder’s house. He is a slovenly sort and uses the lure of playing with baby tiger cubs to get young girls into his home. They will do just about anything to be the one who gets to feed you that bottle of cold, putrid liquid that bears no resemblance to the warm milk of your mother.
The young girls are often outcasts who do not have strong family or social ties and are subject to the bad influences so prevalent in big cat owners. They are often drunk or high on drugs when they come to care for you. They have no real training and your needs go untended due to neglect and ignorance. As soon as your eyes are opened you are subjected to hours upon hours of flashing light bulbs as you are handed from one laughing, giggling person to the next. You scream for your mother. You scream for it to stop, but no one hears your cries. Those who would rescue you have no legal recourse to liberate you from your tormentors. Those in charge of insuring your welfare are never there for you.
You have grown too big in just 3 or 4 months to be used this way. Your mother has already produced another litter of cubs, who are being pulled from her to start the process over. Your eyes have been so badly damaged that you only see shadows. You jump at everything and your world darkens in around you. Maybe it is better that you can’t see what is going to happen to you next.
You are relegated to some small, concrete and steel cell where you will be fed rotting flesh of whatever is cheapest; road kill, sick cows; the meat that cannot be sold. Your water bowl will be green with algae or swimming with mosquito larvae if it has water at all. The temperatures at both extremes will challenge your will to live because all you may have is a leaky box for shelter. You will be thrust in with other inmates, including your own litter mates, in the hopes that you will breed young. Your ragged ears and many scars are the visible result of having to battle for every day of your existence. The inner stress is far more debilitating. Your incestuous breeding is exactly what the breeder wants because that will get him more white cubs and the white cubs fetch more money.
You become the tiger version of a puppy mill. Your days of boredom, neglect and abuse turn into months and then years. Somewhere, far, far away tigers like you are roaming hundreds of miles. They are choosing their own mates, raising their own young and they are the most respected individuals in the forest. You have never known a single day of freedom, but you are hard wired to expect it. Every day is just one more reminder that you are a prisoner.
Most of the estimated 5000 tigers in the US will live and die in these same miserable conditions. You were one of the lucky ones. When Savage Kingdom was shut down the zoos, circus acts and backyard breeders only wanted the white tigers. They left you and three other golden tigers behind to die. The government agencies that regulate the trade in tigers either didn’t know, or didn’t care that you were slowly starving to death. By the time Big Cat Rescue learned of your plight, Bella the tigress was almost dead. The rest of you weren’t far behind. You had just about given up hope.
After 14 years of being bred to death, you found a true sanctuary; one that doesn’t breed and doesn’t allow “accidental” breeding either, which is the way that pseudo sanctuaries explain how they have cute little money-making cubs every year. In your last two years you had the best of everything that money could buy, but money couldn’t buy back your health. The cancer was inoperable and had spread throughout your entire mammary system. The one thing Big Cat Rescue couldn’t give you was your freedom, but they did give you the freedom to make many of your own decisions.
When you decided that you didn’t like living with Modnic any more, after 14 years of being forced to, you got your own private space, your own mountain cave den and your own ball and pool. As long as you were letting your rescuers know that you had a healthy appetite for life you were given supportive care, but when the disease had begun to erode the little joys you found in eating, playing, swimming and chuffing, you knew they would be there for you to ease the transition.
Today, when you closed your eyes for the last time, it was in the respectful presence of just a handful of the many people who had come to know and love you. Your tragic life was an inspiration to thousands of people who came to know you over the Internet. All that you endured was finally brought out into the light and while there was no justice for you, it was still a huge stride for your kind. On the very day that you died, a major supermarket chain pulled their sponsorship of a fair that was using a live tiger act, a sign that our society in evolving. Your suffering was not in vain. You could shut your eyes and say your job here on earth was done. https://bigcatrescue.org/trucha-the-tigress-has-died/
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.
It has been a fabulous year so far
Sent this to Trundy Stairs today after she sent hers to me:
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What time did you get up this morning? 5:20 am (but that's rare, lemme tell you)
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Diamonds or pearls? diamonds (who picks pearls?)
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What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Something with Jamie, but I forget what even though it wasn't that long ago.
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What is your favorite TV show(s)? the Tudors on ShowTime.
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What do you usually have for breakfast? scrambled eggs
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What is your middle name? Ann, what Chuck always tags onto my name because if it was heard in our house, it was because I was the one in trouble for a change.
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What food do you dislike? grits
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What is your favorite CD at moment? The Four Hour Work Week
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What kind of car do you drive? truck
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Favorite sandwich ? peanut butter and pickle
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What characteristic do you despise? laziness
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Favorite item of clothing? does a haku lei count?
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If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? insane, as long as I could be guaranteed a round trip ticket
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Favorite brand of clothing? Carole Little (yes, that really is a brand and not just the backward way of what everyone in the family calls me when I am not in trouble)
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Where would you retire if possible? RETIRE???
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What was your most recent memorable birthday? My most memorable bday was my 6th (I am 47) Not that it was such a great birthday, but it is the ONLY one that I remember.
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Favorite sport to watch? None, naught, nada, gag me with a spoon...
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Farthest place you are sending this? Odessa
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Person you expect to send it back first? I almost never even read these things, but found yours to be interesting and thought I would reply
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When is your birthday? June 6, 1961
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Are you a morning person or a night person? Morning
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What is your shoe size? 8 (weight 155 lbs, height 5'7" in case you were wondering)
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Pets? Not enough time for this one. Maya the bengal cat at home and Howie's two cats, Garfield and Sidney.
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Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? Jamie, the volunteers and I released Hope the bobcat this morning up at Starkey's Ranch. I have been seeing the world all day through her eyes. What a wondrous, awe inspiring world this is. I bet she walks for three days straight, just because she can. Free at last!
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What did you want to be when you were little? vet
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How are you today? seeing the world as if through the eyes of a captive set free
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What is your favorite candy? anything chocolate, except cake
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What is your favorite flower? live ones. I cannot stand the thought of hacking the heads of perfectly beautiful flowers to bring them inside.
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What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? The day AFTER the Fur Ball.
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What's your full name? Carole Ann Stairs Murdock Lewis Baskin and nearly a few others. I prefer just Carole Baskin.
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What are you listening to right now? The sound of Howie typing up our annual audit.
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What was the last thing you ate? horrid, dry shrimp that I cooked. The latter part of that sentence explains the first part.
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Do you wish on stars? Yes
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If you were a crayon, what color would you be? I loved your answer on this one. I would be the color a kid would be least likely to stick in his mouth.
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How is the weather right now? Perfect, I just got in from a long walk on the beach and it was another glorious day.
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The first person you spoke to on the phone today? Jamie asking if I was awake because she didn't want me to miss Hope's release.
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Favorite soft drink? I don't like soft drinks.
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Favorite restaurant? Macaroni Grill
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Real hair color? dirty blonde.
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What was your favorite toy as a child? a ragged, black cloth cat with no eyes and just a pink nose embroidered on.
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Summer or winter? Summer
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Hugs or kisses? I really don't like to be touched but I am trying to force hugs.
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Chocolate or Vanilla? Always chocolate (amen to that sister!)
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Coffee or tea? Coffee
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Do you want your friends to email you back? No, you already sent me yours.
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When was the last time you cried? Today when Hope looked back over her shoulder at Jamie, as if to say thank you and goodbye. That was so touching we all cried.
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What is under your bed? dust bunnies
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What did you do last night? Worked till midnight getting ready for a meeting with Senator Martinez' aid, who stood me up today.
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What are you afraid of? I am not afraid of anything. I think we create our own reality.
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Salty or sweet? Both together at the same time. Great idea!
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How many keys on your key ring? I have three key rings just to hold all the keys
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How many years at your current job? 16 years with the sanctuary, almost 30 years investing in real estate.
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Favorite day of the week? Sunday. I love walking around the sanctuary when we are closed and the cats are all sleeping.
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How many towns have you lived in? Long term in Tampa, Odessa, Charleston, DC, Sissonville, San Antonio, Panama City and for days or weeks in parks, under cars or behind dumpsters all up and down the East coast when I first left home.
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Do you make friends easily? I try to avoid it. There is so much I want to do while I am here, but being a good friend has never been on the list. I try to make an exception for Howie, Jamie and my Mother but fall far short of what people need in a friend. I am glad that others, like you are so much better suited for it. It is a tough job, but someone's gotta do it.
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How many people will you send it to? just you
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.
Tribute to Shatia Canada Lynx
DOB 5/17/93-4/14/09 Arrived at Big Cat Rescue 6/26/93
Shatia came to Big Cat Rescue from a game farm in Ohio. She has Cardio-Myopathy, a heart condition, so she will never be as big and beautiful as the other Canadians, but she has a lovely disposition. Although declawed on all four paws, she can climb any tree by leaping up to the first branch and then climbing like a monkey, wrapping her oversized paws around each branch. She was raised in the house and has the best house manners of any exotic we've known, but she was moved to a pen with two other tame Canadian Lynxes when she came into her first heat in 1995 and began, as they all do, to spray bucket loads of urine on everything. She now lives in a huge pen next to Dances With Wolves. The pen has a magnificent old tree as its centerpiece!
We tried introducing them back together but they didn't get along and we had to separate them again. They seem to like each other best as neighbors, rather than room mates. Shatia died in her sleep at the age of 16 due to lung disease. Game farms are places where wild animals are bred to be used and killed. Please help us end these kinds of practices at CatLaws.com.
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.
2008 Annual Report
A Year in Video by Jamie Veronicahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo4O2srCwX4
Big Cat Rescue is more than just a place that provides permanent care for big cats. It is a movement; a change in the tide of human perceptions and is the combined effort of more than 80,000 supporters. If you are one of them, you are a Big Cat Rescuer and the following is the great work YOU did! If you haven’t helped yet, you can do so now at the top right of the screen or here: http://bigcatrescue.org/donate.htm
Big Cat Rescue’s Mission Statement: To provide the best home we can for the animals in our care and to reduce the number of cats that suffer the fate of abuse, abandonment or extinction by teaching people about the plight of the cats, both in the wild and in captivity, and how they can help through their behavior and support of better laws to protect the cats.
Advances: With your help we are winning in the battle for compassion! Up until 2003 the number of requests for rescues we had to turn down due to lack of space or funds had roughly doubled each year, to 312 that year. We feared it would double again to over 500 in 2004. Instead, it has steadily declined since then. Read why, and about the offers we made this year and why their owners would not agree to our terms. http://bigcatrescue.org/000news/0articlesbybcr/2008AbandonedBigCats.htm
At least one big cat sanctuary has dropped “Feline” from their name as the new laws have caused such a dramatic decrease in the number of unwanted big cats that they are turning their attention to other animals. We are on the brink of no more abused and unwanted big cats. This change only happened because of you, and I just can’t thank you enough!
CFO, Howard Baskin was a finalist in the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s CFO of the Year awards.
We became the first animal charity in the world to be qualified for and utilize Mobile Giving Foundation’s Text 2 Give program. Text tiger to 20222. We discontinued the service in Dec. 2011 however as the carriers were constantly requiring us to change the text everywhere the call to action was posted and we often did not have access to places that reposted our videos.
Animal Care: Rescued liger and 2 tigers. What do we do when a baby Florida bobcat arrives that is still nursing? We find a domestic cat who is nursing kittens and hope she will “adopt” the baby bobcat. Big Cat Rescue’s version of Growing Up Bobcat takes you day by day through the challenges of rescuing a baby bobcat, hand rearing her and teaching her all she needs to know so that she can one day be set free. Watch for Hope to be released in the spring of 2009.
Big Cat Rescue planned Chance the bobcat’s escape for months. Last year a baby bobcat call came in as the third one in three weeks. He only had one eye and a lump on his belly the size of an orange. Big Cat Rescue was there to get him the medical attention he needed. Emergency surgery repaired the hernia in his abdominal wall. The swelling was the contents of his intestines and other internal organs that had spilled out of the muscled area and were rubbing away at the inner lining of his skin. The attending vet, Dr. Liz Wynn, believes that his hernia and missing eye were caused by some sort of trauma. The area where he was found is completely surrounded by development in West Tampa, but bobcats are often reported there and last year one was found as road kill. After months of recuperation and rehabilitation, Chance the yearling bobcat was released. Watch the movie and see his wild dash for freedom: http://bigcatrescue.org/video/00190.htm
As our population of exotic cats continue to age, we are dealing with more and more medical issues. You may have seen some of these procedures on our You Tube site where we have dealt with abscesses, tumors and rotting teeth. Our cats live about twice as long as cats would in the wild, so their parts begin to wear out, long before the cats are through with them. Some of our 2008 surgeries have included draining a hemtoma on Windstar the Bobcat’s ear, removing a cancerous growth from Trucha the tiger and treating a bite wound after her sister bit her.
Removing a non cancerous growth from her sister, Modnic the tiger, pulling what was left of Indian Summer’s rotten teeth to stop the infection, treating a fracture to Cachanga Caracal’s front paw and removing rotting teeth from King the tiger. Shiloh went in to the vet for an evaluation of his rotten teeth and was found to be suffering from bone cancer. He is the 19 year old cage mate of Indian Summer and was put to sleep to end his misery.
Most captive cats do not get the early nutrition they need for healthy bones and teeth because their owners pull them from their mothers to bottle raise them. There is no substitute for their own mother’s milk and their natural diet in the wild. While we try to supplement their diets and feed them whole prey, it is always too little, too late. These great cats were not designed for lives of captivity. Our hope and your help will ensure a future where wild cats live in the wild and not in cages. Read tributes to our cats who have passed on at: https://sites.google.com/site/bigcattributes/home
Only 4% of our budget is spent on fundraising, so that is why it is so easy to see where your donations go. The cats got lots of cage enlargements and improvements in 2008.
Our snow leopard cat-a-tat was built in 1997 and featured a freezer box that is air conditioned 24/7 where the snow leopards could choose to go when it got too hot. 11 years ago these enclosures were our most noteworthy and still offer more comfort than most, but due to their shape and location, there was no way to expand them as we have done with most of our other cats’ cages. We have two snow leopards and three cage sections, but had no good way to shift the cats from one side to another. After Shaq the black leopard passed away, It only took volunteers a couple of days to join Shaq’s two sections to one section of the old snow leopard enclosure. Volunteers then spent days painting the cages, landscaping and hauling in logs and lots of stuff for Chloe the snow leopard to enjoy. Finally the big day came for her to gain access to her new area. See her enjoying her new, enlarged space here: http://bigcatrescue.org/video/00205.htm
It’s like musical chairs but with big cats! Windstar moved into the waterfall cage next to Aquarius the Fishing Cat. Of all of our bobcats, Windstar loves pools the most, so while his cat-a-tat was getting some upgrades, he vacationed with a lake side view and a fish filled private pond. Now that his enclousure has been remodeled he has returned to his home with its window view into the President’s office.
Nyla leopard has been on the list to get an 8 x 12 concrete den, cleverly disguised as a fern covered hill, with a huge room addition since August of last year. Her project kept getting pushed back due to the rescue of four tigers from a facility that was shut down by USDA in FL and 2 lions and 2 tigers who were rescued from Ohio. Now Nyla has a hurricane shelter like all of the other cats and she is really loving it.
Snorkel was relocated up next to Auroara’s old one acre enclosure next to Shere Khan and China Doll. He will be on the tour path now and rescuers are sure that he will enjoy his new digs. Snorkel is very social and loves to snort and chuff at keepers when they clean his Cat-a-tat or when they are feeding him.
When rescuers released Snorkel into his new pad, he excitedly toured the perimeter, checked out his swimming pond, jumped on top of his den to get a better view of his territory and then chowed down on some fresh grass growing in the enclosure. All the while Shere Khan followed Snorkel, watching his every move. Keepers dug out several large weeds that were growing in Snorkel’s previous home and then loaded up Flavio into the tiger transport. What was old to Snorkel was brand new and fun for Flavio. He hopped right into transport and moved just one Cat-a-tat over. All the new smells will keep him busy for quite a while.
Moving all these tigers around does have a purpose. Now two empty tiger enclosures could be joined together to make a double tiger enclosure for Trucha and Modnic. The new enclosure gave them almost twice the room. At Big Cat Rescue there are a few empty enclosures that are set aside for projects such as these. This way as an enclosure needs to be maintained, repaired, replanted or whatever else, Keepers can relocate the resident feline to one of the empty Cat-a-tats. Because we rescued three more big cats this year, we only have one empty enclosure suitable for tigers and could really use a couple more spares for these moveabouts.
The operant conditioning program has become a crucial element in making these relocations go smoothly. Through the use of operant conditioning Keepers are able to get nearly any cat into transport or their feeding lockouts by simply rewarding the cats with their favorite treats.
CleoCatra Bobcat has a new, duplex with elevated dens, lots of logs and thick green ferns and bushes. When she moved out of her old, single sided enclosure, Vern was able to connect it to Cherokee Bobcat’s single sided cage. Now Cherokee has a big duplex, giving her twice as much space as she had before. She already had lots of ferns and foliage, but now she has a lot more room to run.
We took down a lot of dead pine trees and have planted lush landscaping in cat-a-tats that were renovated to be a new home for Mac the Cougar, Bobcats Bobby Blue Rose and Indian Summer. When Indian Summer moved, her enclosure was connected to Bobcats, Running Bear and Little White Dove’s single cage. That gave them a duplex and the best climbing tree in the sanctuary. (Indian Summer is 19 and her climbing days have long since passed) These younger cats (11 yrs) love to climb and now we frequently see them lounging high in their new tree house.
It took four years of raising funds and a year of permitting hassles but only 2 weeks to build the first phase of the 10 foot high concrete wall that will one day surround Big Cat Rescue. See photos of this imposing barrier and find out who helped: http://bigcatrescue.org/000news/0articlesbybcr/zoning.htm
The faithful followers of our site have probably noticed the new addition of pet related articles we have posted to benefit the lives of pets. http://bigcatrescue.org/pets/000pets.htm
We launched a huge campaign to upgrade two of the largest and most expensive enclosures that housed Auroara, Shere Khan and China Doll the tigers. See a slide show of the cage enhancements and the biggest of our cats having the biggest of times. http://bigcatrescue.org/000news/0articlesbybcr/TigerCages.htm
As Big Cat Rescue has become more successful in ending the trafficking of exotic and endangered wild cats we have drawn the wrath of the breeders and dealers. Our lives have been threatened and our vehicles vandalized. Twelve tires on our van, trucks and trailers were rigged to explode at high speeds over a 3 month period. We mounted surveillance cameras around the property and on the rehab cages so we can monitor the bobcats without exposing them to humans. http://bigcatrescue.org/000news/0articlesbybcr/2008cameras.htm
Education: On March 27th, 2008 Big Cat Rescue was honored to host almost 100 visitors from a very special audience. The American Animal Hospital Association was visiting Tampa for AAHA’s 75th Anniversary Yearly Conference held this year in sunny Tampa, Florida. This specialized group of attendees included veterinarians; practice managers; vet technicians, assistants and support staff; vet students, and family guests. Read more: http://bigcatrescue.org/000news/0articlesbybcr/2008AAHA.htm
In April Big Cat Rescue was the featured story at Encyclopedia Britannica. Anita Wolff had contacted Jamie Veronica to ask for permission to use some of her photos and she suggested they contact Carole Baskin about some of the legislative work we are doing. Encyclopedia Britannica devotes an impressive section of their site as a source of information, a call for action, and a stimulus to thought regarding humanity’s relationship with the animals with whom we share our planet. They support worldwide efforts to ensure humane treatment of animals, develop the understanding of their nature, promote their survival, and protect and restore the environment. We are honored to be a part of the great work they are doing to educate, inform and enlighten. Read it here and see some of Jamie’s photos they have put to use:
http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2008/04/big-cat-rescue/
Our Education Department had to raise their prices to cope with growing demand, but our financial return continues to escalate. We offer about 220 outreach and field trips per year and have committed to offering 12 of them for free each year to lower income schools, but have already given 30 such free tours this year and expect that demand will continue to rise with the cost of transportation. Even when we offer the tours for free, many schools cannot come because they cannot afford the $200.00 fee for their busses. Our Education Department began writing grant proposals to raise the money needed for the buses.
Huge gaps in U.S. regulations for tigers held in captivity could make the big cats a target for illegal trade, wildlife trade monitoring group TRAFFIC and World Wildlife Fund found in the first-ever comprehensive report on captive tiger regulations across the United States. The report, “Paper Tigers?: The Role of the U.S. Captive Tiger Population in the Trade in Tiger Parts,” found there are no reliable regulatory mechanisms to keep track of captive tigers in the United States. Big Cat Rescue provided investigators with crucial data and enabled them to see how the lack of protective laws and enforcement are exploited by animal abusers in the real world. http://bigcatrescue.org/000news/0articlesbybcr/
Big Cat Rescue wants to end the need for big cat sanctuaries, but until that day comes we are involved daily in assisting other sanctuaries. We help improve their ability to convey their message and assist with manpower, resources and guidance on issues such as fundraising, animal care, volunteer training and more.
On November 21st we began assisting the Parco Zoo Punta Verde in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy in a three-year study on Caracal caracal for the purpose of providing information on the species to expand the knowledge of the behavioral, social and pathological state of Caracal caracal in captivity and to create husbandry guidelines on species. GoNomad.com posted letters from Big Cat Rescuers about animal interaction opportunities that exploit big cats as a way of educating tourists of the real issues involved in keeping big cats captive.
Modified our Children’s DNA ID disks so that they can be used in MO as well as FL and distributed 140 via the Assemblies of God in Springfield. Once a month all of our Big Cat Rescue Volunteers meet to share lunch, stories about the cats and to get the essential training they need to make Big Cat Rescue the haven it is for the cats. In April we had a guest speaker, Laurie Macdonald, Florida Program Director of Defenders of Wildlife, come and educate us about the issues facing the Florida Panther, bobcats, black bears and other native wildlife. Our boots were lined up at the door as 70 or so of us sat on the floor, mesmerized by her slide show presentation that included some of our own cats as stand-ins for their wild cousins.
Love is the universal language and the one we speak best at Big Cat Rescue, but now our website, which is well over 5,500 pages of information, is available in Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Check out the google Translate box in the lower left hand side of every page of our site to translate the page into one of the supported languages. The translations are far from perfect as this technology is still being developed, but we are happy to be able to reach so many more people around the globe.
Legislation/Education: Thanks to all of you who wrote letters, attended town hall meetings and met with your lawmakers, the world is a little kinder place. Many of the worst breeders, dealers and tiger-tamer-wanabees were finally shut down. Most of these collectors were fined or shut down by USDA or the state, or both in some cases:
• CA: Hesperia Zoo AKA Cinema Safari Zoo owned by Stephanie Taunton was put on probation and fined $30,000 by USDA.
• FL: Horseshoe Creek owned by Darryl Atkinson was shut down by USDA and FL.
• FL: Wild Things’ land owned by Kathy Stearns went into foreclosure and bankruptcy.
• FL: Amazing Exotics appears to have been shut down. It was notorious for allowing contact between large exotic cats and the public for a fee. The head of their tiger-tamer-wanabee program was Ron Holiday (real name Ron Guay) who gained fame in the HBO movie Cat Dancers and the book by the same name. His career in dancing with big cats ended when a white tiger he had raised from a cub killed his wife and his lover within a few days of each other in 1998.
• IN: Great Cats of Indiana, formerly known as Cougar Valley Farms, Inc., owned by Robert B. Craig and Laura Proper came under investigation by USDA.
• IN: Ervin’s Jungle Wonders owned by Ervin Hall was shut down by USDA for a three year term.
• MO: Wesa-A-Geh-Ya owned by Sandra Smith was shut down after a visitor lost his leg to a tiger.
• MS: Cougar Haven closed its doors for good, sending the last 3 big cats to Big Cat Rescue.
• NC: Metrolino Wildlife Park owned by Steven Macaluso was shut down by USDA.
• NE: Zoo Nebraska was ordered to find appropriate homes for their big cats and bears.
• OH: Pearson’s L & L Exotics owned by Lorenzo Pearson was shut down by USDA following six years of violations including the mauling death of his own two year old child.
• TX: Zoo Dynamics, owned by Marcus Cook was fined $100,000.00
You can read the USDA reports and news stories at http://www.911AnimalAbuse.com
Better laws were passed:
• CITES Decision 14.69: Parties with intensive operations breeding tigers on a commercial scale shall implement measures to restrict the captive population to a level supportive only to conserving wild tigers; tigers should not be bred for trade in their parts and derivatives. (Most of the tiger breeding in the U.S. is for photo booths and petting sessions. None of the breeding of generic tigers does anything to conserve wild tigers. Ask your lawmakers to uphold this CITES decision and end the breeding of tigers outside of the Species Survival Plans in AZA accredited zoos.)
• MO: Effective March 2008 MO Wildlife Code changed as follows: Safety: Because of the inherent danger and potential liability associated with the possession of bears, mountain lions, wolves and their hybrids, the Conservation Commission now requires owners of these animals to identify each individual with a microchip embedded under the animal’s skin. The owners must also submit a blood or tissue sample for DNA analysis. All animals must be registered with the Department when acquired, born, at death, or when sold. This will aid enforcement of illegal sales of these animals and will help Department biologists distinguish escaped and released captives from wild animals. MO Conservationist magazine Feb issue at magazine@mdc.mo.gov where Wildlife Code book for 2008 has been released.
• Sheriff Kevin T. Harrison asks county to ban private possession of dangerous exotics.
• December 11, 2008 Park Hills, MO bans most exotic animals, except small monkeys, within the city limits.
• OK: 5/7/08 Gov. Henry signed Senate Bill 1463 into law last week. Sen. James A. Williamson (R-Tulsa) introduced the legislation which prohibits the use of computer-assisted remote control hunting of wildlife. The bill also makes it illegal to engage in, sell, offer for sale, assist in or provide facilities for computer-assisted remote control hunting. Thirty-eight states prohibit Internet hunting, and a federal bill introduced in the U.S. Congress – S. 2422 and H.R. 2711, the Computer- Assisted Remote Hunting Act – would end Internet hunting nationwide.
• UT: Internet Hunting Banned. Gov. Huntsman signed Senate Bill 164 into law. Sen. Michael Waddoups (R-6th) introduced the legislation which prohibits the use of a computer or other device to remotely hunt an animal.37 states now prohibit Internet hunting, and a federal bill introduced in the U.S. Congress – S. 2422 and H.R. 2711, the Computer- Assisted Remote Hunting Act – would end Internet hunting nationwide.
• USDA roared out in support of Haley’s Act HR 1947 but Congress never took the time to hear the bill in 2008. http://bigcatrescue.org/laws/zPDFlaws/USDAcommentHR1947.pdf
• Iberville, LA: Referring back to a law that has been on Iberville Parish’s books since 1993, the LA Wildlife and Fisheries Dept. finally banned the notorious Tiger Truck Stop from using live tigers as a public display. Thanks to Sky Williamson and more than 11,000 letters from Big Cat Rescuers, the Tiger Truck Stop was finally ordered to remove the last remaining tiger from this truck stop cage in Grosse Tete, LA. This should have ended a sad history of 21 years of tigers in small concrete cages in the middle of this busy truck stop, but the owner filed a lawsuit to keep Louisiana’s Wildlife and Fisheries from doing their job. At year end we are still fighting to Free Tony the tiger at FreeTony.com
Directing the traffic to the legislative sections had to be more creative however, because by and large, people don’t want to think about politics. The cat’s stories and their photographs had to be compelling enough to overcome this typical aversion to political matters and we feel that we have had considerable success in doing that since we have been able to track 728,656 visitors to our legislative pages in 2008. 1,653,788 legislative pages were viewed in 2008. 1,743,210 visits to our main web site bigcatrescue.org resulted in 5,794,358 pages being viewed. Combined visitors were 2,471,866 who viewed 7,448,146 pages or 6,772 visitors per day who viewed 20,406 pages per day. Our peak day in 2008 was May 13 with 9,340 page views on bigcatrescue.org alone.
The most popular campaign was to free Tony the Tiger from the Truck Stop and accounted for one quarter of all letters sent.
Carole filled in for Allen Green at the Public Interest Land Air Water conference that attracted 3,500 people from all over the U.S. who care about issues such as wildlife trafficking, climate change and other important issues concerning our planet’s health.
At the Sept. 17-19 Florida Wildlife Commission hearing in Jacksonville discussed public comments on the Captive Wildlife Rules. Of the 1,700 comments our supporters were 1,430 of them. 44,460 letters were sent via our CatLaws.com site in 2008 which is up 25% from last year. We now have 42,826 members registered to help us with email campaigns. That is up 9,542 in 2008.
Big Cat Wins Abroad:
• Brazil: 12/11/08 After ongoing efforts by many animal organizations an animal group in Brazil has successfully lobbied and a law has been passed banning all animals in circuses there.
• Johor, Malaysia Bans ALL Commercial Hunting: The Johor government banned all forms of commercial hunting. Johor is home to the Endau-Rompin National Park, the second largest national park in Peninsular Malaysia. The state will lose some money in licensing fees — in 2006, it issued more than 2,000 hunting licenses — but that pales into insignificance when compared with the benefits of such a move. Johor wants to save the tiger. The ban would also help the Department of Wildlife and National Parks to collect data, train staff and curb wildlife crime. Classified as an endangered species, the tiger is fully protected. But its food is not. The ban should ensure that the population of animals that the tiger preys on — such as wild boar and deer — will increase. If the tigers have sufficient food, they are also unlikely to wander into areas with human habitation.
• Australia: August 3, 2008 Environment Minister Peter Garrett immediately banned the import of Savannah cats into Australia upon learning they were a cross between a Serval and domestic cat. He said the Savannah cat posed “an extreme threat to Australia’s native wildlife.”
• Australia: Craig Bush, the “Lion Man” was ousted from the Zion Wildlife Gardens by his mom.
Fundraising and Marketing: Big Cat Rescue was reported favorably in the news 70 times in 2008. Some of the national press included shows on Animal Planet, Discovery and the History Channel in addition to such publications and Encyclopedia Britannica and Women’s World Magazine and major media coverage in several other countries as well.
The Fur Ball netted over $110,000.00! Over 550 big cat supporters had a blast at the Fur Ball; dining, dancing, shopping in the Bargain Sale, tasting and voting in the cake contest, playing the Wheel of Fur-Tune casino table and bidding in the silent auction and live auctions. Spirited bidders in the live auction won exotic trips see lions in South Africa, tigers in Thailand, visits Paris, Brussels and London and golf at St. Andrews. Roger and Wilhelmina Hopper won the mountain condo vacation in the costume contest. The men’s and lady’s Rolex watches donated by AvantGold were won by Trey Ashmore and Linda Colon. The Wheel of Fur-tune raffle prize of $1000 Gift Certificate to AvantGold went to Richard Bosley and the King of Feasts cake contest prize went to Cakes Plus. Watch the video of the night’s fun and see if we caught you on film in the photos posted under the video. http://bigcatrescue.org/000archives/2008furball.htm
We had 24,734 visitors this year, compared to a comparably sized zoo that hosts 700,000 visitors annually. With our annual budget approaching a million dollars a year, we have to be creative in our fund raising, so we turned to the 1,743, 210 web site visitors to bigcatrescue.org and on Valentine’s Day asked them to shop in our new online store at http://www.bigcatrescue.biz/ On July 30th we began cross promoting the online store throughout our main web site.
Watch this new episode of Magnificent Obsessions starring our very own Scott Lope. Lion Feeding Frenzy premiered with lots of interest sparked with each airing. Scott has also been featured as the big cat expert in Untamed and Uncut and Monster Quest in the U.S. and U.K.
On 2/9/08 we added this Social Bookmarking option to every page of our site to encourage visitors to add us to their social networks.
People who love animals love to share their photos and stories. On March 1st Big Cat Rescue unleashed a Chat Big Cats community. It offers unlimited storage space for members’ photos, videos and music.
Members can post their own blogs, or join in our forums and contests. It is a YouTube/ MySpace styled community made up entirely of animal lovers. By year end there were 785 members and nearly 2,500 videos, songs, photos and blogs posted to the site. Get in on the action free at http://www.chatbigcats.com
In late December, 2008, we qualified for google Adsense ads to run on YouTube. We ended the year as the 6th most viewed Non Profit of all time and the 8th most subscribed Non Profit with 4,265 subscribers and 111,015 channel views. By year end we had 139 videos posted on YouTube and we began using TubeMogul to post to other popular sites like google, Blip, MetaCafe, Revver and others. http://www.youtube.com/bigcatrescue
Our MySpace account now has 6,291 friends, 254,024,879 people in our network and our site has had 34,443 profile views. http://www.myspace.com/1BigCatRescue
We took our cats’ faces to Face Book: http://apps.new.facebook.com/causes/68903 and enhanced our presence on Care2.org and many other such sites. We added 134 contacts to our LinkedIn presence here: http://www.linkedin.com/in/BigCatRescue If you live in the Tampa bay area, look for Big Cat Rescue videos on Brighthouse Channel 340 in the Pet Performances section. Some of your favorite videos, like Hope the baby bobcat are playing there right now.
Big Cat Rescue now has an Endowment Fund to provide a secure future for the cats. The Fund resides at the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay. Thanks to the generosity of our donors we were able to qualify for a 33% matching fund by raising $150,000.00. The Community Foundation granted us a $50,000.00 match and this brought our total to $200,000.00 that can generate income to provide for the cats in years to come. http://bigcatrescue.org/communityfoundationoftampabay.htm
We initiated the Legacy Society. This recognizes supporters who have included the cats at Big Cat Rescue in their estate planning. For more info visit: http://bigcatrescue.org/legacy.htm
We began offering Instant Bingo in our gift shop and created free bingo to play online as well as a site for non US members to play charity bingo where the big cats win every time the player loses. http://www.bigcatbingo.com
On 7/31/08 our Google grant went up from $10,000 a month in free ads to $40,000.00 a month at a cost of only $1,500.00 to us.
Our Ink Recycling new supporter count was up 324% increase over September 2007 thanks to 235 new ink recycling supporters!!! This came following a 1/2 page ad about it in the fall issue of The Big Cat Times. On Sept. 15th we began distribution of newsletters from Dunedin to Sarasota in 20 CVS, Bally’s, Sears, Blockbuster and Albertson’s stores at a cost of $150.00 a month. Read all of the back issues here: http://bigcatrescue.org/cat_tales.htm
Placed first paid ads in Cat Fancy, CATS, Dog Fancy and DOGS to appear in Dec. issue.
In November we began accepting American Express and Discover credit cards.
Thanks to your votes Big Cat Rescue was awarded the People’s Choice Award by WEDU, our local PBS affiliate. More than 80 charities competed in a 16 county radius for this award, but Big Cat Rescue took 31% of the vote. This is the second year in a row that Big Cat Rescue has taken home this coveted prize. We have been advised that we are finalists again for the award in 2009.
In the lead for America’s Best Animal Shelter. Winners to be announced in 2009.
Saving Wild Places for Wild Cats: Big Cat Rescue was welcomed into the International Tiger Coalition, which is a group of 39 organizations committed to saving the tiger, based upon our unique ability to address the captive issues that imperil tigers in the wild. The goal is 10,000 tigers in the wild in 10 years. There are less than 3,000 in the wild currently and we are losing one per day due to poaching. We persuaded ITC to keep US tiger farming issue as part of their mission to eradicate because legalized trade puts even more pressure on wild populations.
What makes this initiative unlike all of the past programs is two fold. 39 major conservation groups, including Big Cat Rescue, have joined forces with one common goal: Save the tiger in the wild. There have been other joint efforts, but none this large and never before has an entity as powerful as the World Bank been a committed partner in saving wild places for wild animals.
Harrison Ford, one of Hollywood’s hottest actors, thanks to his latest Indiana Jones movie breaking records in theaters, is on the board of Conservation International and spoke at the June 9th launch. Also in attendance were our friend, the beautiful Bo Derek, who won the Wildlife Guardian Award at the Fur Ball last year, and Robert Duvall. HSUS brought Tiger Kids to the launch and this photo is from their participation as a ITC members. See these celebrities up close and purrsonal in the most important roles of their lives in this video we shot and find out more about how the World Bank and the International Tiger Coalition plan to save the tiger. http://bigcatrescue.org/video/00206.htm
Other: On 4/4/08 we had another perfect USDA inspection. We were “green” before it was cool with our recycling, water restrictions and other steps we have taken to walk softly and leave only footprints, but things are going to get a lot greener, and yellower and purpler. Our friends at Biological Research Associates lovingly relocated 2000 pickerelweed, golden canna and gulf coast spikerush. They spent an afternoon transforming the lake bank and by summer you should see a green three foot swath of native plants that flower in yellow and purple like irises and canas. Kevin Atkins, PWS Senior Project Scientist and Vice President of Biological Research Associates, who once worked with Belinda Wright in the wilds of India to save the tiger, has a deep affection for the big cats. In reference to wild excursions and his upcoming trip to Africa he commented, “It’s a beautiful planet.” http://bigcatrescue.org/000news/0articlesbybcr/2008Greener.htm
With more than 100 big cats on 45 acres, we are always in the process of refurbishing and replacing old cages. Landscaping is another ongoing project whether it be hauling off tree limbs lost in a storm, to mowing acres of grass, to installing beautiful plants to give the cats shade, privacy and the excitement of the butterflies. Most of the trees and flowers at Big Cat Rescue were donated and this video thanks John Deere, Tampa Bay Nursery, Babs of Garden Magic, our volunteers and those of you who make it possible. http://bigcatrescue.org/video/00192.htm
Helping Others: Big Cat Rescue offered a $5,000 reward for information resulting in the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for shooting a young, female tiger to death. Her body was found next to an apartment complex and I-35E in Dallas, TX on Christmas Day. This was our first offer of a reward to solve a crime and it generated leads but no convictions. We donated thousands of dollars worth of our tours to other worthy animal non profits including Animal Coalition of Tampa, Boxer Rescue, the Humane Society, the Lakeland SPCA, the Largo SPCA, National Humane, and many, many others.
America’s injured veterans have found Big Cat Rescue a place of tranquility where they can surround themselves with beauty and grace; a respite from all that they have endured protecting our country. It started with one group and now they come to visit quite frequently. It’s on the house and we provide lunch when we can as well by asking donors to contribute. They have done their part in keeping Americans free and we are doing our part to fight for that same freedom for the big cats. Offered to provide mounted cougar and a native bobcat who was road kill to the Florida Conservation Commission to use in their exhibit at the fairgrounds, if they would stop using live cats.
Then and Now:
Our CFO, Howard Baskin, compiled a ten year snapshot of the sanctuary and its growth. This is just a comparison between 1996 and 2007.
Wildlife on Easy Street to Big Cat Rescue 1996 2007
Visitors 85 24,574
Total Expenses $1,686,386 * $926,619
Total Income $0 $1,509,284
Total Net Assets $148,455 $2,760,047
Spent on Program Services 100% 86% **
funded by Founder * 14% spent on Management and Fundraising combined
Officers and Members of the Board of Directors in 2008 and meetings:
• CEO and Founder Carole Baskin (not compensated by BCR)
• President and Chairman of the Board Jamie Veronica
• Vice President & BOD Cathy Neumann (not compensated by BCR)
• Secretary Jen Ruszczyk (not compensated by BCR)
• Treasurer Howard Baskin (not compensated by BCR)
• Director Dr. Liz Wynn, DVM (not compensated by BCR for her role as a Director)
Paid Staff: Figures from 2007 as the final reports for 2008 are not in. Check back after April 15, 2009: We went from 3 paid staff to 7 and now provide worker’s comp insurance. We are working to offer health insurance if enough of our staff opt for it.
• Operations Manager & Volunteer Coordinator Scott Lope $35,000.00 incl. bonuses
• Staff Manager, Editor & Creative Director Jamie Veronica $24,700.00 (compensated but not for her work as a member of the board) Gift Shop & Guest Services Honey Wayton $22,800.00
• Intern Director & Lead AdvoCat Tiffany Deavor $25,000.00 Replaced by Kathryn Quaas in 2008. Education Directors Dr. Beth Kamhi & Coleen Kremer $14,000.00 combined
• Vernon Stairs Cage Builder and Maintenance $35,600.00
• Jessica Allen took Bridget’s place in Feb. Chris took Brian’s place May 1.
• LaWanna Jones hired as an independent contractor 3/1/08 to work on web issues. Debra Scott was hired as an independent contractor to do CapWiz alerts in July.
All of our animal care is done by volunteers or by staff who also volunteer time before & after work.
Volunteers: Big Cat Rescue had 110 volunteers in 2008 who clocked in 39,902.57 man-power hours in addition to staff, intern and Volunteer Committee member hours. Roughly the equivalent workforce of 23 more full time staff.
2008 The S.A.V.E. award for Scratch’s Award 4 Volunteer Excellence. The recipients were January – Becky Gagliardo, February – Rich Bluder, March – Mary Lou Geis, April – Sherry Levesque, May – Erin Newman, June – Scott Milshaw, July – Shiloh Grant, August – who? , September – Rachel Pipitone, October – who? , November – who? and December – who? Winners of the S.A.V.E. award are allowed to direct $500.00 to the cat project of their choice.
The Volunteer of the Year Award is Big Cat Rescue’s most prestigious award. It is also the hardest award to bestow as we have the best volunteers in the world and so many of them deserve our highest honors and praise. This year’s recipient was announced at the 2008 Fur Ball by Cathy Neumann, our Vice President. Because of her outstanding service Cathy won the award herself so frequently that the only way to get her out of the running was to name the award after her and let her present it each year. This year’s winner was Becky Gagliardo. Check out Becky’s hero page to find out more about her. http://bigcatrescue.org/hero/beckygagliardo.htm
Staff and Volunteer Training: On Jan. 25 Coleen Kremer, Dr. Beth Kamhi, Scott Lope, Jamie Veronica, Honey Wayton, Tiffany Deavor, Jen Ruszczyk, Jessica Allen, Barbara Frank, Dr. Liz Wynn, DVM, Howard Baskin and Carole Baskin met for a four hour crash course in People Mapping by Dr. Mike Lillibridge.http://bigcatrescue.org/000news/0articlesbybcr/PeopleMap.htm Jamie Veronica and Dr. Liz Wynn completed the Safe Capture Course on Sept. 15, 2008. We want to say a special thank you to four of our staff & volunteers who have just completed their 10th year of service to the cats: Bill Lewis, Mary Lou Geis, Cathy Neumann and Scott Lope.
Tribute to Shaquile the Leopard
Date is approximated. DOB 1991-2008
Shaq arrived at Big Cat Rescue on 3/4/96. He is retired from a nightclub act in Las Vegas. He arrived with a cougar whose face and head had been so severely beaten that she arrived with an infection in her brain from the open wounds and has since died. We were told that Shaq's former owner beat him to the point that the skull around his eyes has been so badly damaged that the eyelids roll in, causing his eyes to tear a lot. Perhaps they are tears for all of his kindred spirits who are still made to perform for man's entertainment.
It is understandable that he hates most men. His memory of the abuse he endured still lingers. But, the female volunteers all go out of their way to give Shaq extra special attention, to speak gently and softly with him and it is heartwarming to hear him purring and rubbing up against the cage affectionately in return. He loves the comfort and attention we lavish on him and will roll over and play with his ball and bat it around his cat-a-tat as long as you’ll stay and watch him. We are so incredibly happy that we have been able to provide a nurturing home for him where he can feel safe and loved by all. He will always have a home here, no longer forced to endure abuse at the hand of man!
THE DAY HE DIED
Tears dropped down onto his lifeless form from the eyes of those who had gathered around Shaq to ease him over to the other side. His black spotted fur, dappled by the afternoon sun, glistened but no longer gave rise and fall to his sedated breathing. His 17 year prison sentence ended today.
We were remembering the proud, fearless leopard and how he had touched all of our lives with his strength to overcome the awful lot he had been dealt. Shaq had been born in a cage. He was bred to be used in a nightclub act by a trainer who made his living from the suffering of many big cats. As long as people would pay to see big cats doing stupid pet tricks he could count on a good living by providing the disposable product of the trade; young, compliant felines.
Cubs live with their mothers for the first few years, so breeders pull the cubs before their eyes open and bottle raise them to be completely dependent and subservient to their human master. By the time the cats are a year old, they are nearly full sized; appearing to be adults, but still mentally kittens. The crowd is wowed by the mastery of the trainer over what they think to be a full-grown and fully intact lion, tiger or leopard. Usually they are declawed, defanged cubs who have been beaten into submission repeatedly behind the scenes.
A well-known tiger tamer boasted to me that the way you teach a big cat “who is boss” is to chain them to a wall and beat them with a whip, standing just out of reach. After a while the cat learns that no matter how hard he tries, he cannot retaliate and after a while gives up hope. His spirit dies and he is considered tamed or trained. The training goes on behind locked doors because the public would never support these wild animal acts if they knew the truth.
The trainers all claim that they only use “positive reinforcement” and when in front of the public they do, but the cats are ever reminded of the brutal force that will be used against them if they fail to comply. Sometimes it is in the carrying of a whip, which the trainer will defend as only being a guide, and sometimes it is in the verbal threats using words that only the cats in the ring can hear. It can be as subtle as a look (remember how your mom could do that?) or a gesture that the cat associates with pain.
At Big Cat Rescue we use positive reinforcement or operant conditioning as it is often called as a way to keep the cats’ minds stimulated and to assist us in their care and it works… when the cat wants it to work. This sort of training involves rewarding the cat with a little cube of meat for doing something we need them to do, like come into their feeding area, or show us a paw, or lay down next to the wall of the cage so we can give them their vaccinations or treat minor injuries. We do it because taking care of 100+ cats goes a lot easier if you have to get flea treatments on them and they come when called. It isn’t feasible to chase down a tiger just to put a few drops of Advantage on him. The cats at Big Cat Rescue do it because it is something fun to do and they are bored out of their minds. The agonizing boredom of captivity is the hardest issue for anyone to address when caring for animals who cannot be set free. We never withhold food from their main meals, so the treats are merely the cat’s way of measuring if they got our request right.
It’s helpful, but it isn’t reliable. The cats only respond to this kind of training on their own terms and for those who are being paid to perform for the public there isn’t the option of just turning to the crowd and saying, “Sorry, the cat doesn’t want to jump through the hoop today.”
In Shaquille’s case, people paid to see him jump through the burning hoop in the nightclub show and he was going to jump or die, and he knew it. He knew what would happen if he didn’t and one day, upon reaching adulthood, he proudly decided he wasn’t going to do it anymore. It was in the early days of the sanctuary when we would rescue a cat but not require the owner give up their rights to own again. Our policies evolved as we witnessed time and again that breeders, trainers, photo booth operators and exotic pet owners would dump the cats as they grew up in favor of new babies.
The first time I saw Shaquille and the cougar who came with him, I thought that some horrible accident must have happened en route to us. Calling the former owner we learned that the injuries they suffered from had been the result of the beating they had taken at his hand for not performing. He had no remorse and had broken no laws because there are virtually none that protect the big cats. When we complained to USDA we were told that beating big cats to make them perform was considered “standard training methods.”
The cougar had a fungal infection in her brain because it had been exposed from the crashing blows to her head and wasn’t long for this world after that. Shaq’s face was the consistency of ground hamburger and his eye sockets had been crushed so that even years later, when he had fully recovered, his eyes teared constantly. His involuntary trail of tears were a solemn reminder of the abuse he had endured. His story was told to thousands who visited him at the sanctuary, once he was comfortable around people, and to millions who visited his page on the Internet.
Shaquille’s indomitable spirit has been an inspiration to so many. He purr-sonified strength in adversity and the ability to forgive. As a result many people around the globe made a connection with him that bridged the gap perceived as “us” and “them.” All of those thoughts were passing through our minds as he breathed his last in our arms.
The silence of the moment was shattered by an unearthly howling across the refuge. Hallelujah, a cougar and, the first big cat to come to the sanctuary, made the same proclamation as has become his habit when cats cross over. To my ears it was both chilling and comforting. Hal’s timing and the fact that he never otherwise makes such a call let us know that we really are all connected. We feel each other and that connection transcends our physical bodies.
It is sad for us to lose the physical connection with another that we best understand, but Hallelujah reminded us that Shaquille and all those who have gone on before him are ever in our midst.
Leopards are designed to run 40 mph and leap 20 feet. They are strong swimmers and climbers and in my opinion are the smartest of all cat species. No cage is sufficient for their needs. Shaq was born in a cage, lived 17 years in a cage, and died in a cage…but now he is free. His work is done. He brought to light the dark side of the entertainment industry and he put the torch in your hands to continue exposing animal abuse until it ends. You are his voice.
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.
Musings of a Keeper Walkabout Dec 10, 2008
If well received, this may be the first in a series of Keeper Walkabout notes by our staff and volunteers. As I walk about the sanctuary each day I often think how much our supporters would love to see what we see on a daily basis. It is so sad that these cats are in cages, but inspirational to see them make the best of it. This is an effort to convey the daily life at Big Cat Rescue.
As I arrived Kathryn was scurrying to the gate for a tour. Honey was busy in the gift shop and Jessica popped in to update me on the medical conditions of some of the domestic cats she has taken home to foster and place. The new intern was cleaning inside and outside there were “Blue Shirts” everywhere, buckets in hand, cleaning the cages.
Later Honey updated me on Hope and Ace the rehab bobcats. Hope weighs about six pounds now and has finally figured out that if you stick half your body into the pipe where the rats come from, the rats won’t come that way. Back before Ace was diagnosed with AIDS she would have been able to show Hope how to cheat, which is to get in the highest place in the cage and watch all of the rat holes at the same time. Because we don’t want the rehab cats to associate people and food Jamie had installed pipes to send the rats into the rehab cages, with the entry point far from the bobcats. Because Hope is getting too good at catching the rats, keepers had to extend the pipes much further away so that the arrival of the rat did not coincide with a keeper coming to clean their water bowl. There is a screen to hide behind while cleaning the water bowl, but bobcats are pretty smart, and we do all we can to insure they will survive in the wild when they get to go free.
The sun is shining through the fuchsia colored Bougainvillea that drapes over Windstar the Bobcat‘s cage outside my window. It is too pretty outside to be sitting at the computer, so I head out. The first cage I notice appears to be waist high grass throughout and guests must wonder why we don’t mow in there, but if you stand and gaze at the enclosure, you start to notice a maze of tunnels. Little bobcat size tunnels that weave and wind all over the 1200 square foot space. There is one special little sunning spot where the grass is padded into a purr-fect little cat bed with a view of the white sand beach and lake. Little Feather is the resident here and would surely throw a hissy fit if her grass labyrinth were altered in any way other than her own choosing. Mike was cleaning bobcat cages nearby but he knows that poo and leftovers are all you can take from Little Feather’s cat-a-tat.
About 30 mallards, here for the winter, took to flight as I walked too close to where they were hanging out with the swans and guinea hens waiting for Mary Lou and Rosie to feed them. That caught the eye of Apollo, Zeus and Anastasia, the Siberian Lynx nearby. Old Anastasia is crippled and diabetic, but was working on a mat in her ruff when the commotion began. A couple days ago it was 40 degrees and today it is 75 degrees and her coat doesn’t know if it is coming or going. As the old coats shed and new coats come in, some of the lynx look like Rastafarians with their dreadlocks.
Calvin the Palm Civet cautiously watches from inside his new den in his new enclosure. This new place has so many more great places to climb and root about thanks to the hard work of our keepers in transforming an otherwise bare space into a Palm Civet wonderland. Also enjoying his new digs, is Pappa Bear the Coatimundi. His former owners had cut off all his toes in a botched declawing attempt and shaved his tail to hawk him as the “world’s largest rat.” After the old bobcat Sheera died, Pappa Bear was the perfect candidate for her cage since he cannot climb or dig. Today he was rooting obliviously in the leaves and brush of his new piece of real estate.
Adonnis and Bagheera the Black Leopards were sacked out and sleeping so soundly that even the sound of fall’s leaves crunching under my feet didn’t elicit so much as a whisker twitch. They were sleeping in exactly the same position and looked like a mirror image of each other. On the far side of the sanctuary the wind blowing in the cattails on the lake was mirrored in the way the breeze swayed Joseph the Lion‘s big dark mane. Cameron the Lion had decided that he didn’t want the keepers taking his left overs from last night and was barking at Marie if she came too close. Lions are funny that way. You never know when they are going to get possessive about something; their mate, their food, a stick… but when they get into that mindset, all you can do is leave them be.
While writing this, Scott came in with a hawk in a towel and Chris in tow with a video camera. Apparently the hawk had gone into Hercules the Snow Leopard‘s cage and in the excitement that followed, was unable to take the time of squeezing back out through the 4 x 4 wire. Scott and Chris were taking the hawk to examine him for injuries and if he was OK he would be released immediately. Never a dull moment…
I had just caught Shaniqua the Jungle Cat pinning something to the ground. As I tried to see around her to learn if it was a mouse, lizard, snake or bird, she turned around, one paw behind her back (still holding down whatever it was) and gave me the same feigned innocence of a child with her hand caught in the cookie jar. I asked, “What have you got there?” to which her expression clearly said, “Who me?” Not budging, I just waited to see, and she reluctantly let it go. She probably figured she could easily catch it again when the “prey police” weren’t around. Tonight is whole prey night and it is every cats’ favorite night because you get whole mice, chicks, rats, rabbits or beef ribs depending on how big you are. They are dead on arrival though and not as much fun as catching your own prey, but we discourage eating lizards here as they often cause liver flukes.
TJ the Tiger was neutered a few days ago and the next day seemed completely over it. Today he was chuffing softly at passerbys and gazing out at the ducks who had settled back onto the lake. Vern was busy renovating a jaguar cage for a new liger and tiger rescue. That meant building a bigger den, bigger feeding area and bigger doors between sides of the enclosure. Somewhere a ball was banging noisily against the side of a cage and guessing from the sound of the impact, it was a tiger having fun. Julie‘s video of cats with balls is pretty hilarious:
The sounds of scrapers clinking against the wire walls of the cages and the sounds of scrubbing and hoses spraying water bowls was not enough to make Cleo Cat Tra the Serval lift her head from a mid morning nap. Not even the flick of an ear, but several of her Serval neighbors, Arizona, Purrsonality, Esmerelda and Shasta were strolling about, with ears ever tuned to each sound. I am sure they were straining to hear the clicker sound that goes along with Operant Conditioning. They love the treats on a stick and the relief from boredom that comes along with the clicker sound.
Passing by Trucha and Modnic, the Tiger sisters, who too were up and about, and King the Tiger who was lounging in his den, I came upon Pat, our resident master gardener, and her troop of gardeners. They were almost entirely obscured by the mountains of trimmings they took out of the butterfly gardens in preparation for winter. She kept reassuring me that this was healthy for the plants and they would come back even more beautiful in the spring. I’m glad we have so many talented volunteers from every walk of life. Dropping into the Volunteer check point, volunteers were clocking in and clocking out. I ran into Kym who gestured wildly in her enthusiasm about having Big Cat Rescue as her team mascot in the cancer awareness event coming up in April. There will be 60 camps at the event and each prepares a goodie bag for all of the other campers. Her bags will be full of information on the tigers at the sanctuary, as the theme was wild animals and she chose tigers. With fewer than 4,000 tigers left in the wild and China farming them for their parts, the tigers need all the awareness they can get.
Catera the Bobcat looked great and lately we have been really worried about him. His mother, Indian Summer, killed all his siblings, 11 years ago at birth, and Catera is mentally challenged as well as being frequently sick. Catera is the canary in the mine here and if there is a flea on the 45 acres, it will be on Catera. If there is anything going around, he will be sick first. His mom knew he wasn’t thrifty enough to survive, but we didn’t give in so easily. It has been a struggle to keep him healthy, but he has such a zest for life, we just never could give up on him. This last bout of intestinal issues had me thinking it was the end for him, but after exhausting all of the natural remedies we could find, Dr. Liz resorted to a chemical stool softener that he will have to be on for the rest of his life. He was dancing in circles, chirping like a bird on speed and back to his effusive little self today, so I guess it was worth it all to him.
Running Bear and Little White Dove, the dynamic Bobcat duo, just had their cage size doubled. Most of our cages are in excess of 1200 square feet, but as the lesser cats have died we have not found others in need of rescue. There is a huge need for cage space for Lions and Tigers but only our “Green Shirts” are qualified to care for the big cats. It takes as least 2 years and a commitment of no less than 8 hours per week, every week, to be a “Green Shirt” here so we are limited by the number of keepers for bigger cats.
An article in today’s news about an idiot taking her bobcat to Petsmart to have her photo with Santa, and the mauling of Santa that followed, said that she paid $1,500. for the bobcat. That is three times what they sold for a decade ago, so that tells me that the breeding is slowing down as a result of the bans we have been able to help pass in 7 states recently. If we could ban it in FL, OH and MO. the suffering caused by the exotic cat pet trade would be all but over. You can help us do that at http://www.CatLaws.com.
Showing off their new space to run, Running Bear and Little White Dove went bounding from one end of the old enclosure to the far end of the new add on. Julie did a great play on the idea of what is on and under our trees during the holiday season in a video.
Nico the Geoffroy Cat was moved to the tour path. As he has grown bolder around people we decided to move him out to where he can get an even broader look at the world. He had been a pet that came to us taped up in a box. He is the last of the Geoffroy Cats at Big Cat Rescue and you never hear about people trying to keep them as pets any more.
The smaller the species, the more they have to prove. It never works out well for the cats when people attempt to make pets of them. It goes against everything they are hard wired to be. Today as I walked by he was peering from the depth of his den; two shining orbs in the pitch blackness.
His new enclosure is closer to the path, but not on the main route and we will watch him carefully to be sure he is happy with the arrangement. We offer 14 regular guided tours each week and the public is not allowed to visit unless on a guided tour. All of our cats have the ability to hide if they want to, but we don’t want to put any of them in a position where they are uncomfortable, so we’ll see how it goes.
Some cats LOVE attention and Rambo the Jungle Cat is one of them. Perhaps by the next writing he will be in his new home which is right in the middle of where the tour paths converge. He is going to love that kind of attention!
As the three o’clock tour guests arrived I warmed up my long overdue lunch of tofu and green beans and talked to Bill the tour guide. Two years ago, after protesting fur sales at the mall, Bill, a veteran, had gone to MacDill Air Force Base and asked why they were selling animal fur garments in the Base Exchange. Unable to justify such an antiquated practice the base removed the fur products from their store and chose to go fur free. Two weeks ago, the entire SE region, which spans VA, to MS to FL has gone fur free too. One person really can make a difference.
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.
Howie Elected to the Board of the Chamber
Yesterday Howie was elected to the board of Tampa’s oldest and most prestigious Rotary Clubs. He also serves on the Chamber of Commerce’s Board as detailed below. I am so proud of him.
Howard, Thanks a million for just being you. Your loyalty to the chamber and community is phenomenal. Your wisdom is much appreciated but your patience is absolutely incredible. We have some growing pains to deal with as we move forward with this whole governance process and I think we can all see that this will mean real progress in terms of our overall professionalism. The ‘bad’ news is that we have lots of areas in which to improve. The good news is that we have an excellent foundation, solid staff and a great board so nothing is totally ‘broke’ just leaky. Mike and I marvel at your ability to slog through this with good humor and always with your eye firmly focused on the goal of making things a little bit better as a result of your effort. Happy Thanksgiving to you Carol and all your kitty’s!!! - Jerry Custin President/CEO Upper Tampa Bay Regional Chamber of Commerce
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.
Tribute to Shadow the Cougar
8/1/93 - 10/2/2008 Shadow came to Big Cat Rescue with his companion, Sugar. He was a product of the pet trade and came here on 8/2/98. Their owner had become ill and, when Shadow and Sugar knocked out a window of his mobile home in an attempt to escape, he decided that he could no longer care for them. Shadow is the most talkative cat at Big Cat Rescue and will enthusiastically call back to Keepers that talk to him with a raspy RWOW! Shadow has been neutered so that he can remain with his mate Sugar.
Even if you have never visited Big Cat Rescue, you probably knew Shadow, the chatty cougar who inspired our blog and video series called " The Shadow Knows." He was our largest cougar and certainly the most vocal. If you called out to him from any where on the property, you would get an immediate “Raaaaah!” back. He never seemed to tire of talking either and as long as you would talk to him, he would cheerfully chirp back. His cage mate, Sugar, would just watch in her gentle, bemused way.
Now she watches, and waits, with longing looks down the path where she last saw Shadow leave. The volunteers take turns sitting with her, talking with her and trying to ease her transition. She has had Shadow at her side for the past 12 years and even though cougars are solitary in the wild, captivity changes things. It is extremely rare that adult cats can be introduced to each other without injury but sometimes, when they have been raised together, they seem to take pleasure in having someone to snuggle with in their den.
Most of our cats live into their teens and early twenties, and our oldest cat was just shy of 30 when he died. Shadow was only 15 and appeared to be the picture of health when a brain tumor sent him into a massive seizure. He was immediately rushed to the vet for diagnostics and had to be anesthetized in the process. The anesthesia relieved his convulsions, but when he started to awaken he would regress back into paddling, screaming seizures.
When it became apparent that he would never have another peaceful moment we decided that euthanasia would be the only humane thing to do. That is never an easy decision, but when a cat is old, wasting away and suffering, that is an easier choice to make. When the cat looks on the outside to be vibrant and healthy it is much harder. We had to be sure that his brain disease was beyond repair and when we were, needle in hand, we tearfully began to say our goodbyes.
One injection and he would pass from the fitful, drug induced sleep he was already experiencing, to crossing over the Rainbow Bridge. It would be quick, painless and silent. He would never know what happened. Before we gave him the shot, however, he drew his own last breath and died. For his entire life, Shadow never had a choice. A greedy backyard breeder sold him into the pet trade. He was kept cooped up in a trailer until we rescued him and Sugar in 1998. He never got to choose his own path, his own home or even his own dinner. He was forced to take the lousy hand life had dealt, but he did it with a happiness that was contagious. Only in his very last moment was he able to make the decision to walk out of life on his own terms.
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.
Howie’s request from the Universe was for Peace of Mind
Happiness, dear Carole, is what greases the wheels of life. It's also what opens the floodgates, marshals the forces, commands the elements, raises the sun, aligns the stars, beats your heart, heals what hurts, turns the page, makes new friends, finds true love, calls the shots, waves the wand, connects the dots, feeds your mind, frees your soul, rocks the world, and pays compound interest. Yeah, so easy to forget. Wild on, The Universe
Howie’s request from the Universe was for Peace of Mind.
Photo is Howie and I at a free game / event for Big Cat Rescue held at the Yankee’s Stadium in Tampa.
Windowlusions: (Window Illusions) A shadow box installed over each window of a room that displays the live feed from a real location.
The need: People pay ridiculous amounts of money for a sliver of a view, but with Windowlusions they have the best view money can buy. Being programable they could be in Paris for breakfast, switch to a mountain cabin for the day and watch the sun set at the beach that night. In the evening they could tune into the Northern Lights.
Used as a mood setting tool, it could be tuned into Club Med for dinner parties, a mega church for worship, or even enable real time feed back from shark divers, jungle explorers, archaeological digs; the possibilities are endless.
The concept: It could come in several styles and price ranges. One is just prerecorded days of pretty scenes with a long loop. One could be a fantasty world for children where the world outside their window could be computer generated. The third, my favorite, would be from live cams so that you really get a feel for the change in weather.
The benefits: As an exterior mount box (to give the illusion of looking out a window into this world) it would decrease heating and cooling costs by providing a superior barrier to outside temperatures. In cases where windows have to be able to open for safety reasons, this could be make to look like shutters on the outside, but when closed provides a video screen.
No more burglar bars as these would be mounted just as securely as the bars could be and no visibility from outsiders to tempt them. Superior protection from home invasion by people or flying missiles, such as trees during hurricanes. Could lower insurance premiums as a result.
In appropriate applications the exterior could be covered in solar collecting film to power the Windowlusion.
The patent issues: Design of the exterior mounted box with solar capacity and smaller, cheaper inside wall hanging styled screens to cover the wide range of affordability. The wall hanging style would be similar to a computer screen, but with access to the paid programming of Windowlusions.
The exterior mount box would come in several standard sizes so that it could fully cover most standard windows, but would also be built to request. It isn’t much more than a box holding a computer type screen that is affixed to the outside wall of a home or office. The box would be larger than the window opening to give the feel of looking out a window into the imagery. The screen would be curved or enhanced over the traditional computer screen style to help create this effect.
The programs feeds would be wireless to each window’s receiver. There would be several channels that could play simultaneously so that the kids can be living in their fantasy world, while the parents are relaxing in front of a quiet sunset.
The feeds could travel through FIOS or satellite to the user’s home and each channel used would be a separate billable unit to the user. The feed sources would pay to provide feeds from their locations as they can use this as unparalleled marketing of their club, resort, school, etc. Their logo and contact info would be at the bottom of the screen. This gives them an incentive to always keep the web cams up, working, clean and pointing to the best action or content they have available to them.
Saving habitat: Co pays could be arranged with those who are protecting land for the purpose of the feed. For instance, the jungles of South America could be protected and rewarded for the diversity of wildlife they maintain, which would make them a favorite channel. Funds would be split to enable them to maintain such diversity. If you could have any vista you wanted, any time you wanted, you wouldn’t have to build roads out into pristine areas in order to live there. That helps save the planet and all of the species on her.
Feasibility: This is all currently possible with existing technology. I do not know if the web cam video can be delivered at high enough resolution and high enough speeds yet for it to have the most polished appearance, but if not, those days aren’t far away. By the time the technology is here, our patent will be completed and we will be ready for it.
First steps: I bought the URL Windowlusions.com and some other sound alikes and similars.
Find out what the patent process and fees would be to protect this application of current technology and future improved satellite/ laser delivery methods for the web cam content. I believe that advances in laser will make higher resolution and higher speed video delivery available in the very near future. Cable will be a thing of the past, but for now we need to protect both methods.
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.
My Parent’s Recollection of The Old Days at WEDU
Today the preacher used the analogy of Handel's Messiah to illustrate how such profound beauty could come from the most unlikely sources; a man known to curse like a sailor in three languages. It stirred a memory in my father that he relayed as we walked to our cars.
It was 1958 and he was the cameraman at WEDU in the era before video tape. An enormous choir had come to Tampa to sing Handel's Messiah live from WEDU but all the singers couldn't fit in the building, so they carried everything into the parking lot for the big moment.
The choir was assembled, the conductor was perched with his baton held high, the cameras were rolling and right on time it all appeared on TV screens throughout the area: an enormous number of people, dressed in robes, standing in a parking lot, lips moving and nothing but the ear piercing sound of screaming jets overhead for the duration of the show.
WEDU was in the direct flight path of MacDill Airforce base and in the cold war era drills at the base included B-52's, with their earth shaking launch rockets splitting the air from a low altitude without a moment's notice.
You've come a long way baby! Makes HD look like a minor improvement.
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.
My Darling Husband Continues to Defend Me
and enable me to devote my time and energy to ending the trade in exotic cats. His letter to the Better Business Bureau: Bennett, on the logo, we never received the original email sent in October. Below is an email trail where I wrote to Julie in December asking if they had come out. She forwarded a zip file with the logos, but we did not get the content you refer to with the measurements, just the email below with the zip folder, which I then passed on to Carole. Absent any other information, I assumed that the image that was in the zip file labelled with "ltr" in the name was sized to the specifications you wanted and used it thinking I was being very diligent in making sure NOT to change it.
Aside from no instructions, it was my recollection that the former logo had been sent in a series of specific sizes and I remember Carole cautioning me that we were not supposed to change it, just use one of those sizes. Whether I understood or recall that correctly from the prior logo or not I am not sure, but with that frame of reference in mind and seeing nothing to the contrary I assumed the logo in the zip file was the approved size. We will of course adjust it and also move it on the letterhead. We also checked the website and while the logo is correct in most places, we found one location that was off, so are correcting that.
With respect to the complaints, first let me clear up some confusion. The name Lisa Welch came up only because of an error on the website where Gini Valbuena's information came up under the page on Lisa Welch in error. Thanks for noting that so we could correct it. Lisa Welch was not involved in your complaints as far as I know. Lisa Walker, very similar name, was.
Before I address the language, let me give you a little additional information that came subsequent to our last communication. I realize you are not dealing with the substance of these activities, but I provide this for background so you understand our approach. Wednesday we got a call from George Feder, a reporter and frequent guest on America's Most Wanted. His profession is crime prevention and educating young people to steer them away from crime, but part of his time is spent on stories for the TV program.
He called to tell us the Gini Valbuena has visited him twice insisting that he try to make a television show about the disappearance of Carole's husband 10 years ago in a way that would imply Carole was involved, which is absurd. He described Gini as "obsessed", "crazy" and "just plain evil" and was calling just to let us know she was out there doing this. He delivered to us the same nonsensical materials she and her cohorts send around trying to get anyone to listen and hoping at a minimum to waste my time. Some of these materials were sent to your organization a year or so ago.
Again, I understand the substance is not the issue for you, so talking to Mr. Feder would serve no purpose, but FYI I'm sure he would be willing if you were ever interested. He said when he repeatedly asked her why she was interested in this she would just start raving about Carole. He offered to testify in court if asked. Moving on, below is the language that was on the website, corrected to reference Lisa Walker.
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.
Tribute to Kennedy the Bobcat
Kennedy and Will were playing just days before Kennedy died of a massive seizure from his previous brain trauma.
DOB 9/15/07 (est.) - 1/24/08 Arrived at Big Cat Rescue 10/5/07
When Kennedy was a young kitten, about six to eight weeks old, he was hit by a car while trying to cross the road. A witness to the event took the injured kitten to a nearby animal clinic that in turn contacted Big Cat Rescue. In October of 2007 Rescuers drove across the state to Merritt Island, where the clinic was located. The young Bobcat was named Kennedy, due to the proximity to the Kennedy Space Center. Kennedy suffered severe brain damage that resulted in a month of intensive care.
He often had seizures and had to be force fed three times a day. After many weeks of recovery, Kennedy recovered almost completely. He still has limited vision with one of his eyes. Due to the daily hands on care that Kennedy required, he became too accustomed to humans and will not be a candidate for release back into the wild. Whenever BCR rescues a native Bobcat, every effort is made to come into contact with the cat as little as possible so that release will be an option. We are saddened that Kennedy is not a candidate for release, however he will be provided a permanent home at the sanctuary. Kennedy is being raised together with Will, another bobcat similar in age. Hopefully the two will bond with one another.
The following was his rescue story: Within minutes of a call coming in from a veterinarian on the Spacecoast, Jamie and I were racing cross country to save a baby bobcat. The vet explained that a man had seen a car hit the baby bobcat and he scooped up the unconscious kit and pulled into the first clinic he could find. With legs splayed in every inconceivable direction and blood pouring from the kitten’s nose, no one expected him to survive the night…
But he did. Barely regaining consciousness the cub showed no sign of being able to see or hear but he struggled desperately to walk. He had to catch up to his mom. She couldn’t be far ahead.
When he was still alive the following evening and the blood loss had slowed to a trickle from his nose, the vet called Big Cat Rescue to see if we would come get him. It would be an eight hour round trip in the middle of the night and the vet’s description of his condition didn’t sound promising, but we had to try.
On the long trip to Merritt Island I thought about the vet’s description of the kitten’s determination to take off walking, even though he was walking into walls and getting stuck in corners of her office. What possessed him to overcome his body shattering impact with a car and try to keep on going? She had said he was a kitten, so I figured he must have been trailing his mom at the time of the impact. She said he was emaciated and he was struck on the main road, near the bridge that connects Merritt Island to the Florida mainland.
Knowing that extinction rates on islands far exceeds that on larger land masses it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that with rampant development in Merritt Island there was probably not a sufficient prey base left for a mother bobcat to feed herself and her young. She and her babies were starving and her only option would have been to pack up the kids and go…but they were too big to carry and too small for this kind of daring travel.
She would wait until dark and then bolt from brush along the road across the bridge to better hunting grounds. No doubt her heart was racing because she knew the dangers and I could imagine the tremble in her call as she urged her little ones to hurry across the road. I shuddered at what she must have witnessed when her smallest and weakest kitten disappeared under the wheels of a car. The sickening sound of the impact with his fragile little body. The horror of seeing him flattened and bleeding and even worse to see a dreaded human scoop him up and drive him away.
I thought about my own family, and my extended family of staff, volunteers and staunch supporters. Despite the fact that they are all overworked and underpaid doing the work of angels in caring for the abandoned and abused, I keep urging them forward to take greater risks to end the trade in wild animals. The twenty billion dollar trade in wildlife is now second only to the illegal trade in narcotics and many of the same gun and drug dealers are involved in both the legal and illegal trade in lions, tigers and other exotic animals.
As we at Big Cat Rescue press forward for laws that protect the animals we are targeted by the vengeance of those who have been profiting on the trade and the delusional who support that trade because they define themselves by the type of animal they hold captive. They are a dangerous lot who threaten me and the ones I love but great rewards only come to those who take great risks. Just like the mother bobcat and her kits we are firm in our belief that there is a better world on the other side of the battlefield. There is a world where we all live free and respect each other’s place on this glorious planet. All we have to do is bridge the gap in the minds of men.
Jamie named the bobcat kitten Kennedy, not only because of his close proximity to the Kennedy Space Center but also because his strong will to live is inspirational. Just like a President inspired a nation, this little bundle of determination will inspire those who take the first steps in faith. Like Martin Luther King said, “You don’t have to see the whole staircase; just take the first step.”
On January 23, 2008 Kennedy was found acting strange. He was taken into the West-Boensch Cat Hospital on-site and evaluated by our vet, Dr. Liz Wynn. Determining that he had suffered a seizure, she put him on valium to help ease him through the day. He had a series of small seizures, despite the calming medication, so he was kept inside over night. Kennedy's version of a seizure would often be to walk in circles, incessantly and although his eyes respond to light, he would walk into walls as if he couldn't see. The drugs helped him sleep it off when he was in such a state. Unfortunately, Kennedy suffered a much stronger seizure than ever before this night and died.
Like the man Kennedy was named for, his time here was cut short, reminding us just how precious and fleeting life is. If there is anything we could learn from his brief time here it would be to keep moving forward, even when we cannot see the way. His soft whisper from the other side tells us to believe in ourselves, to be fearless and to know that only love is real. All else in our "reality" is just an illusion.
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.
2007 Annual Report
Big Cat Rescue is more than just a place that provides permanent care for big cats. It is a movement; a change in the tide of human perceptions and is the combined effort of more than 74,000 supporters. If you are one of them, you are a Big Cat Rescuer and the following is the great work YOU did! If you haven’t helped yet, you can do so now at the top right of the screen or here: http://bigcatrescue.org/donate.htm
Big Cat Rescue’s Mission Statement: To provide the best home we can for the animals in our care and to reduce the number of cats that suffer the fate of abuse, abandonment or extinction by teaching people about the plight of the cats, both in the wild and in captivity, and how they can help through their behavior and support of better laws to protect the cats.
Advances: Combined Federal Campaign Best of the CFCIn late November we conquered the web site issues that have made our site inaccessible to all browsers other than Internet Explorer resulting in a 33% increase in the number of pages viewed by the 2,510,255 visitors to our bigcatrescue.org site in 2007 and 1,147,174 visitors to our www.CatLaws.com site for a total of 3,657,429 online visitors in 2007. Big Cat Rescue is increasingly listed in world wide publications as a “must see” in Tampa. Began the permitting process for the wall we have been raising money to build for the past 4 years.
Big Cat Rescue has been accepted into the federal version of the Combined Federal Campaign. Where we could only be in the local books in years past, we will be in every book that goes out to government employees as a choice for their auto deduction giving. Not only were we accepted, but we were also awarded with the Best of the CFC seal. In the local market we receive upwards of $7,500.00 in donations, so we are hopeful that we will do even better by going national. We are extremely grateful for this opportunity and thank those of you who are participating
For the first time in our history, Big Cat Rescue offered a reward for information. When a tiger was found shot to death along side an apartment complex and busy highway in Dallas, TX on Christmas day, we announced a $5,000.00 reward for information resulting in the arrest and conviction of the people involved. The police and animal control authorities told us that they cannot offer such bounties and that our doing so greatly enhanced their ability to pursue the case. See the video plea http://bigcatrescue.org/video/b42008/5000reward.htm
Animal Care: Rescued four tigers left to die at the now defunct Savage Kingdom. (TJ, Bella, Modnic & Trucha) Watch this dramatic rescue here: http://bigcatrescue.org/video/b42008/savagekingdom.htm Built & remodeled cat-a-tats for them.
Rescued two lions (Joseph & Sasha) and two tigers (Nikita & Simba) from the now defunct Siberian Tiger Foundation which was nothing more than a thin guise for Pay to Play with tigers. Read about that rescue and see the video here: http://bigcatrescue.org/rescuelionsandtigers.htm Built & remodeled cat-a-tats for them.
Rescued four native bobcats in four weeks. (Ace, Chance, Kennedy & Will) Read about their rescue and what is being done to send them back to the wild here: http://bigcatrescue.org/rehabbobcats2007.htm Built & remodeled cat-a-tats for them.
Rescued a Savannah cat (Diablo) who was abandoned and living in an animal shelter that was not designed for long term care of exotic cats. Assisted in the rescue of another Serval and Bobcat and another two Tigers, finding them permanent homes in facilities that meet the guidelines set out at http://www.sanctuarystandards.com/
Vernon Stairs finished all of the new safety entrances to cages. He built tunnels on the lions cages, Precious Bobcat and The Great Pretender Bobcat, and others to enable easy shifting and introductions. Vern doubled the size of Jumanji the leopard’s cage and added a cave and mountain. He joined a number of cages to each other to provide more room for the cats to roam. Catera Bobcat got to move in next to his mom and dad in a huge double sided enclosure.
Began renovations to Auroara the tiger’s 1 acre, lakefront home to provide better drainage and a hurricane room. Began work on a hurricane shelter for Nyla leopard after moving her next to her brother, Simba after years of them being separated.
Moved Bailey Bobcat in with Anasazi and Moses the Bobcats. Moved Rose Caracal to a double cage and introduced her to Cachanga Caracal. Moved the African Civets to Bailey’s old cage after it was civet-ized. Reintroduced Dances with Wolves and Shatia the Canada Lynxes. Our cats are altered so that no accidental births will occur from these groupings. Spayed Zabu the white tigress and Bella the tigress. http://bigcatrescue.org/video/00143.htm
Raked the entire park before freezing weather to try and kill fleas and eggs and may switch products again as efficacy is fading. Refurbished all 18 pools and one of them twice thanks to TJ the tiger being an absolute maniac when it comes to chasing fish.
Every year the cats get pumpkins to smash after Halloween http://bigcatrescue.org/video/00062.htm, but this year they also got Christmas trees http://bigcatrescue.org/video/00162.htm.
Staff and Volunteer Training: In addition to our monthly, on site volunteer training courses, Tiffany Deavor took several online training courses, Scott Lope and Dr. Liz Wynn are scheduled for Safe Capture course, Sharyn Beach, Howard & Carole Baskin and Susan Mitchell attended D.C. conference on effective grass roots efforts. Carole continues to take online courses and audio seminars to enhance her efficacy in legislation and leadership. Fine tuned some of our training methods and tracking.
Education: Joined the International Tiger Coalition with the mission of preserving 10,000 tigers in the wild in the next ten years. More about that here: http://bigcatrescue.org/internationaltigercoalition.htm
Assisted WNET and SeaStudios.org in ascertaining the number of big cats in the U.S. for their film about a world without humans. As there is no government agency responsible for tracking these animals, it falls to anecdotal evidence that we have been compiling for many years.
The illegal portion of the 15 billion dollar trade in exotic pets is second only to the market for illegal drugs. In 2005, some 210 million wild animals were brought legally into the U.S. and many more were smuggled, because there are just 120 USFWS inspectors to cover 39 International airports and all of the border crossings. In just the legal importations, that means each inspector must view and approve the health of almost 15,000 animals per day, every day of the year. Big Cat Rescue provided the photos and resources for an eBay guide to let buyers and sellers know that it is illegal to trade in many exotic cat furs.
We also provided this information to the World Wildlife Fund in Poland to enable them to train their border guards to recognize endangered cat species that are frequently smuggled through customs. Provided bobcat and Canada lynx photos and info for a scientific training / educational presentation on wildlife awareness for Environment Canada.
Cambridge University Press selected Carole Baskin’s article on Cause Related Marketing for their Professional English in Use Series textbooks called Professional English in Use – Marketing. It is a new addition to the Profession English in Use Series that is a self study reference book that will be used for classroom work and tutoring. Cambridge included Baskin in their 2008 Who’s Who Among Executive and Professional Women “Honors Edition.” as well.
We implemented our first Artificial Intelligence V-host on a page called Ask the Cat where you can type in any question and the virtual cat will answer you in an intelligent way: http://bigcatrescue.org/askthecat.htm All of our species information pages were recorded and now each page offers the visitor the opportunity to read and/or listen to the information. This can be downloaded onto mP3 players as well.
Jamie Veronica’s photos of cougars were requested by wildlife biologist Anna Huckabee Smith, AWB for use in her 5 year status report for USFWS and Wildlife Trends which will be covering the topic of captive cougars being turned loose when they are no longer wanted as pets.
We harnessed the powerful mapping technology available with google maps and posted online, interactive maps that show the accredited and non accredited facilities (mostly back yard pet owners) who keep dangerous big cats. It took four maps to hold all of the information, but they can all be accessed online here: http://bigcatrescue.org/map.htm This was offered to the FWC as they had stated they would be releasing this data online soon, several months ago, and this saved them the time and effort. It will be helpful to the media when tracking maulings, killings and escapes and to emergency response personnel in the event of natural disasters. Until now, this information has not been immediately accessible to fire fighters, the police or animal services.
Visitors: In 2007 Big Cat Rescue had 26,497 visitors for guided tours. 16,424 were adult tours that generated $409,587.03 which is up 2.62% from last year. Our biggest leap was in our kids tours for families with children under the age of 10 and with 3,271 participants that was up 44.31% and generated $54,668.60. All of our tours are guided and are educational. Our Education Program also convenes camps, special field trips and such and those were attended by 4,969 and generated $66,309.71 which is an increase of 15.37%. In keeping with our desire to give back to the community we provided 27 free field trips for Title One schools and others on a needs-based application.
Prices: Because we were nearing capacity at the end of 2006 we raised our prices considerably in 2007. This slowed our growth sufficiently to keep the sanctuary a serene home for the cats but increased our bottom line. Prices were raised from $20 to $25 for adults and from $12 to $15 for children under ten. All of our specialty tours were raised to $50 from $25. Our supporters understand that as word spreads about Big Cat Rescue being such a magical experience people have been flocking here, and that we had to raise the prices in order to keep the number of guests down to a reasonable roar. The added benefit is that people who visit really are committed to the animals and we are not just another tourist attraction.
Legislation/Education: Presented testimony, statistics and charts to the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commissioners in Destin, Key Largo and St. Petersburg, asking to ban contact with big cats and their babies and to allow counties to enact more restrictive rules to protect the animals and the public. Presented testimony, statistics and charts many times to their staff at planning sessions before and after the Commission meetings. Provided the same to the Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking.
Testified at a Congressional briefing about the need for Haley’s Act, a bill to ban contact with big cats. The International Fund for Animal Welfare liked the presentation materials so much that they asked permission to reproduce them for their own legislative use, which was, of course, granted. Presented a slide show on using the secret, the law of attraction, to assist in lobbying efforts in the exhibit hall at the Taking Action for Animals conference in Washington, DC. There were 950 registrants and many more visitors throughout the two day exhibit.
Through our online video marketing we are educating more people in a week than we have visit the sanctuary in a year! We are changing the way people think about animals and as a result they are acting more compassionately. The recent outcry at Michael Vick’s involvement in dog fighting shows that people care about animals more than ever before. As wonderful as that is, however, it isn’t enough.
Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Legislation can’t change the heart, but it can restrain the heartless.” Knowing this to be the case, we are using our online marketing to change legislation too.
In December 2003 we had to turn away more than 300 unwanted big cats and every other year that number was doubling. That same year a new law, that we helped pass, banned the sale of big cats as pets across state lines. The following year, for the first time ever, the number of abandoned big cats dropped to 160. We decided, then and there, the only way to stop the suffering and abuse was through the creation of better laws that would ban the private ownership of lions, tigers and cougars as pets. Thanks to the laws enacted below, the number of abandoned big cats in 2007 has dropped to 72.
By December of 2004 we launched a new section of our website www.CatLaws.com that would enable people to learn about pending bills and enable them to connect to their lawmakers to ask for laws that would protect our communities while ending the suffering and abuse of big cats. We believed that if people knew what was happening and knew how to help that they would.
Directing the traffic to the legislative sections had to be more creative however, because by and large, people don’t want to think about politics. The cat’s stories and their photographs had to be compelling enough to overcome this typical aversion to legal matters and we feel that we have had considerable success in doing that since we have been able to track 1,147,174 visitors to our legislative pages in 2007. The combined number of visitors, between our main web site bigcatrescue.org and our legislative website, is now 10,020 visitors per day with an average of 4 pages viewed by each visitor or roughly 40,000 page views per day. Our peak day in 2007 was March 15 with 55,184 page views.
The next step was to get a person to take action by composing a letter to their congressman and that is even harder yet, but we believe the numbers speak for themselves: 33,596 letters were successfully sent from the legislative site asking for better laws to protect the community and to end the suffering and abuse of big cats kept in backyards and basements. The Legislative Action Center report shows a steady, quarterly increase.
The results are measurable in more than just statistics however. In the past 2 years seven states banned the private possession and barter in big cats and the numbers we have to turn away continue to drop. The USDA has issued policy statements against the private ownership of big cats and against heretofore accepted practices such as walking a 500 pound cat on a leash in public and allowing people to pet big cats at fairs, malls, parking lots and schools. Details on these here: http://bigcatrescue.org/lawsbigcatbans.htm
USDI issued their new rules that went into effect in September 2007 that ban the transportation of big cats across state lines by non USDA entities. They also defined a sanctuary as a place that provides a permanent home and does not breed, sell, trade nor allow public contact with the big cats. Before now there was no definition of a sanctuary and many places that were adding to the problem were doing so under the guise of being sanctuaries. The language used by USDI is practically verbatim from our web sites at bigcatrescue.org and SanctuaryStandards.com. http://bigcatrescue.org/laws/lawscaptivewildanimalsafetyact.htm
In 2007 the Florida legislature unanimously agreed to impose a $10,000 bond on anyone in the state who exhibits big cats. This bond is used as a surety in the case of injury to the public and can be used by the FWC to care for dangerous wild animals when they have been abandoned. Big Cat Rescue had been a strong proponent of this bond and our supporters, via our CatLaws.com site had made their wishes known to their legislators. On July 2 Governor Charlie Crist signed the bond requirement into law and the FWC drafted the rules to enforce the new law in 2007.
The Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission put together a task force to review their policies that still allow the breeding and selling of big cats in the state with only the addition of a $40.00 USDA permit. Public opinion polls on our web site indicate that 76% of those polled would support a ban on all exotic animals as pets. That same percentage also agrees that hunting should be outlawed. Florida’s Wildlife Conservation Commission is funded almost entirely by issuing hunting permits and permits to people to own exotic animals so the fact that they are reviewing their own policies in view of changing public opinion is certainly measurable evidence of Big Cat Rescue’s impact on this very serious situation.
The FWC staff announced that they are making recommendations to the Commissioners that include proposed rules:
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Raise the classification of a cougar from a Class II pet to a Class I animal that may not be kept as a pet.
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Prohibit contact between big cats and their babies in accordance with the new federal bill that is pending which would ban the practice.
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Prohibit transport of big cats to flea markets, parking lots, etc.
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Require that exhibitors have all of their animals on exhibit as there is a current issue of meeting the letter of the law by exhibiting one animal while warehousing dozens more in minimum size cages that would appall the public.
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Require Class II owners to secure a $10,000.00 bond as is now required for Class I.
As mentioned above, there is a federal bill called Haley’s Act HR 1947 that is gaining momentum in the U.S. House and is expected to pass this session. This bill is being broadly marketed by Big Cat Rescue because it will ban contact between the public and big cats, including their babies. Baby tigers and baby lions are bred to be used as photo props and for petting sessions and then are discarded when they get too big. This bill would stop the unscrupulous breeding for this industry and ultimately would end the biggest cause of the over abundance of big cats in captivity.
Using the email targeting feature of the CatLaws.com site we were able to convince the Medieval Fair to not allow a shabby traveling circus to set up shop by having our supporters write Hunsader Farms, the owner of the property, and telling them how they feel about such abuse. 3,236 of our online supporters sent letters to the Chinese government urging them to ban the farming of captive tigers for their fur, bones and organs. All of these advances have been made possible by getting our message out to the people who can make a difference. See below how we got the message out.
Fundraising and Marketing: We were in the press 85 times. Howard Baskin was featured in the Nov. 5th issue of U.S. News & World Report for his charitable work with Big Cat Rescue. http://bigcatrescue.org/000news/aboutbcr/usnewsandworldreport.htm
Scott Lope was quoted in Newsweek about the escape of Tatiana the tiger from a zoo where she mauled three young men and killed a teenage boy. http://www.newsweek.com/id/82067/page/1
Awards: In January of 2007 Big Cat Rescue was awarded the People’s Choice Award by WEDU, our local PBS affiliate. We won again in Jan. 2008. More than 80 charities competed in a 16 county radius for this award, but Big Cat Rescue took 31% of the vote. Next year the contest is going national. Won Parenting Magazine’s Best of Tampa Bay Award. In August Big Cat Rescue was Change.org’s Pick of the Month.
TV: Animal Planet show called Ms. Adventure aired our episode in March and Real Strange aired in Europe. The first episode of “Big Cat Rescuers” ever aired on: April 11, 2007 cable channel 19 7:00 PM and April 15, 2007 cable channel 20 6:30 PM. This one hour episode was created by our own Jamie Veronica, Brian Czarnik and Honey Wayton, and features several of our keepers, partners and of course, Scott Lope our manager. Our big cat expert Scott Lope was interviewed on the History Channel’s MonsterQuest‘s search for the elusive big black cats that are frequently reported roaming wild all across the U.S.
Roar and Rolling: Lindy Melendez with EGS Printing has generously donated a van “wrap” that is valued at $5000. See the stunning artwork here: http://bigcatrescue.org/images/EasySt/van/index.htm The wrap was done with a lot of love from everyone at ESG Printing.
Memory Lane: Our cemetery was transformed from a pitiful little hodgepodge of cage placards to a wall of memories created in stone and inlaid with marble headstones that feature a laser inscribed image of the cat, his or her date of birth and death and the sponsor of the plaque. This was done as a fund raiser for the living cats and in its first year generated enough money to support a tiger for a year. Thanks to Babs Riddle the grounds were luxuriously sculpted to include gardens, a shell path and benches where our volunteers can rest and reflect on the lives they have known who continue to inspire them. Great marble lions that were donated to us now flank either side of the impressive entrance. http://bigcatrescue.org/foreverremembered.htm
Google: In today’s fast paced environment we have to stay quick as a cat and be as entertaining as a basket full of kittens. We have found mini videos, or podcasting, to be our most effective way of marketing our message. On July 8, 2006 we launched our first video on google. We now have 195 live videos playing and have had 183,514 viewers. Our most popular video is an hour long film about all of the plights faced by exotic cats in the wild and in captivity and it has been played 51,357 times. None of our tracking can tell how many times people play our videos on their iPods after downloading them.
YouTube: (the fastest growing web site in the world) In August of 2006 we launched our YouTube account and have 72 of our videos playing that have been viewed 1,752,846 times. We have 881 subscribers to our videos with more joining all the time and are the #2 Most Viewed (All Time) – Non Profit and #9 – Most Subscribed (All Time) – Non Profit. In late December we launched two additional sites dedicated to our Educational Department and our Animal Communicator.
MySpace: myspace.com/1BigCatRescue In August of 2006 we launched our MySpace account and are one of the top ranked sites as we have 221,617,683 in our network who have visited our profile page 22,928 times and we have 4,276 subscribers to our videos there. MySpace has become such a popular portal that it now ranks in the top 10 list of referring sites that send visitors to our main website at bigcatrescue.org. That ranks our own MySpace account just behind such powerful referrers as the google, yahoo and aol search engines.
VEOH: In 2007 we began posting our videos to Veoh.com We have 143 videos playing and these videos are getting thousands of plays each. Veoh is the next generation in T. V. viewing. Videos can be watched in low resolution for free, or for a fee can be downloaded in high resolution and watched on a television set or computer. We post most of our videos as a free download, but post PSA’s in high resolution so that the media can get b-roll from us instantly for less than the cost of mailing a disk.
We now film, edit and post 1-2 videos each week. Our videos have been so popular that they have been picked up for use on Current TV and many online content providers. In addition to our online video marketing we have been in the press 427 times and if you haven’t heard of the Fur Ball, you don’t watch TV, listen to the radio or read the papers. We have been blessed with complimentary ads from all of the biggest media outlets such as Cox Radio, The Tampa Tribune, The Tampabay Business Journal, the Maddux Report and the St. Pete Times to market our biggest annual fundraiser each year. We also have Public Service Announcements running on Brighthouse cable TV and nationally on Animal Planet.
Search Engine Ranking: Our goal was to increase the number of web visitors by increasing our web site’s visibility on the Internet. The most dramatic breakthrough was in revamping the underlying html so that browsers other than IE could view the site. The second more important feature was implementing navigation that enabled visitors to see every level of our 12,000+ file site. Even though this was not accomplished until November the pages viewed increased 33% in 2007 when the even though the number of new visitors only increased by 12%. For the first time in history we have risen to the top page of google’s search page for the keyword “tigers” and are number 18 of more than 43,000,000 competing sites. To see the ranking on our most important key words visit: http://bigcatrescue.org/get_more_hits.htm
Party of the Year: That’s what a lot of people in the know call it. The Fur Ball netted more than $120,000.00 with a sell out crowd of 700 people. That’s up $80,000.00 over last year! See the entire recap including photos of Bo Derek and our colorful, cat themed guests here: http://bigcatrescue.org/000archives/2007FurBall.htm
Saving Wild Places for Wild Cats: The Jaguar Trust. Trapping is the furthest thing from our mission, except when it comes to camera traps for tracking and aiding wildlife. Our own Big Cat Rescue president Jamie Veronica went to Guyana, South America with a fellow volunteer on a mission for the sanctuary. Jamie and Justin Boorstein were in Guyana for ten days setting new digital camera traps with video to track Jaguars, Ocelots and Pumas. Our partner, Foster Parrots, tells us that with the recent import ban of all birds into Europe, Guyana now finds herself in a position to change the long practiced wildlife export industry there. Many trappers are finding that there are no markets for their “products”! Many of these trappers now find themselves unemployed and the government may start to look at the potential revenues of eco-tourism to fill the gap. If we can make a concerted effort with our conservation project we hope to serve as an example and to garner the support of Guyana to create the world’s premier rainforest destination. Our plans include the promotion of our project here in the US and a marketing strategy to heighten the visibility of this important move in Guyana.
Visitors to Guyana will have a choice of tour itineraries ranging from an ambitious 3 and 4-day Kanuku Mountains hike that will bring them to the realm of the Harpy Eagle, to more leisurely tours that will encompass sightings of Red Bellied, Scarlet, Red and Green, Blue and Yellow Macaws, Giant Anteaters and a wide variety of primates. Horseback and canoe excursions will let tour groups experience the wilds of Guyana at an intimate level. Visitors can also travel to Kaeiteur Falls to witness one of the world’s tallest single-drop waterfalls of 741 feet. Construction on the first of two planned lodge complexes, located in Nappi Village, has been completed by the local tribes with funds from Foster Parrots and Big Cat Rescue. Contact SaveTheCats@bigcatrescue.org to spend your vacation dollars saving the wildcats in the rainforest.
Africa: President Jamie Veronica and volunteer Barbara Stairs also toured Africa to see the issues first hand that have resulted in game parks being virtually the only lands left that house wild cats. She will work with relatives there to check out sources for offering handmade products in our gift shop that could help preserve wildlife there as we currently do in the Jaguar Trust. (Barbara Stairs funded this excursion)
Since 2005 Big Cat Rescue has provided both funds and volunteers to the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya . Lewa relocates problematic wildlife to protected areas and provides education to children in the area who would not otherwise be able to read or write. In addition to the funds that Big Cat Rescue donates, we also provide a U.S. market for Kenya ‘s craftsmen and send clothing with our volunteers to distribute when they visit. Our volunteers take their skills and attitudes of compassion for all life into these barren regions and share a message of hope.
China, India, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia and Pakistan: Every year since 1997 Big Cat Rescue has donated to the countries that are home to the Himalayan mountain range where the elusive snow leopard is found. One whole corner of the gift shop explains how the sale of items made by the villagers helps save the snow leopard in the wild. In 2006, Dr. Tom McCarthy, the Conservation Director for the Snow Leopard Trust, came to Big Cat Rescue to explain just how crucial each sale was to protect these exquisite cats.
The snow leopard lives in regions where the average person makes the equivalent of $1.00 per day. Most of the people who share the same highlands with the snow leopard are herders and to them, the loss of one sheep or goat can mean the difference in their survival. Most of the snow leopards that are killed are retribution killings; meaning that the cat has been blamed for killing one of the herd and the herdsman has killed the next snow leopard he saw. The herdsman can eat the cat and sell the hide for 25.00 which for them is a month’s wage. There are many other middle men along the way who are anxious to get their hands on a snow leopard pelt or penis for the Asian medicinal trade or for the black market. The pelt dramatically becomes more valuable as it goes down the line and can cost $5,000.00 or more to the final buyer.
The Snow Leopard Trust members in China, India, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia and Pakistan work closely with the local people to find out what they need. In some cases, they can create handicrafts like those we sell and make five times what they can make from herding.
The programs are structured with reducing reliance on Snow Leopard Trust funds for each consecutive year and to remain in the program the community must ensure that no snow leopards are killed. If anyone in the community kills a snow leopard, the entire community risks losing their right to participate in the program for a year and that is enough to keep everyone watching out for the snow leopard. Their claims of protection must verified by the game wardens and governmental agencies who actually have incentives to discover poaching because they are often paid a portion of the confiscation if they can catch a poacher.
Big Cat Rescue is the second largest retailer for Snow Leopard Enterprises.
We collected fecal samples from our captive snow leopards for the Snow Leopard Trust to use in training dogs to be able to tell one wild snow leopard from another just by sniffing the scat left behind. This will greatly enhance conservation efforts and is a cost effective method as well. The video we produced is being aired on our sites, and also being used as a marketing tool for the new program and the Snow Leopard Trust.
The U.S. State Department enlisted our help in saving the critically endangered Amur Leopard because of our ability to reach so many people who care about wild cats and their habitat. You can learn all about what is happening with the Amur Leopard & Tiger here: http://bigcatrescue.org/cats/wild/leopard_save.htm. For more details on our International work visit: http://bigcatrescue.org/000archives/2007AttachmentAInternational.htm
Other: Big cat breeders, dealers, collectors and exploiters hate us because as we educate the public about the truth behind their abusive practices such as breeding white tigers, ligers or babies for photo booths their profiteering opportunities are drying up. There is no justification for their activities so their only recourse has been to file a plethora of false complaints with authorities who regulate us and to make false accusations to anyone who will listen. The only gain they could expect was to keep us busy proving ourselves so that we would be diverted from our mission of ending the abuses that result in so many unwanted big cats. Now the regulators are on to them as we have proven time and again our integrity which is illustrated in our perfect inspection reports and our continued accreditation by The Global Federation of Sanctuaries and the Better Business Bureau. Only one media outlet in 2007 repeated their slanderous accusations, but the article went on for many pages explaining that the reason such libelous statements are made is likely due to our success in exposing the activities that result in Florida having the highest incidents of maulings, killings and escapes by big cats.
Created pages devoted to the cats who have live and died in cages here with tributes from the keepers who loved them and who work ceaselessly for their freedom: https://sites.google.com/site/bigcattributes/home Thanks to the work of our AdvoCat LaWanna Jones we added hundreds of new e-Cards here: http://www.bigcatfun.com/ecards/ and added hundreds of new online puzzles, new bookmarks and hundreds of new free online games here: http://bigcatrescue.org/game/games.htm.
Then and Now Our CFO, Howard Baskin, compiled a ten year snapshot of the sanctuary and its growth. This is just a comparison between 1996 and 2007.
Wildlife on Easy Street to Big Cat Rescue 1996 2006
Visitors 85 26,497
Total Expenses $1,686,386 *$708,607.00
Total Income $0 $1,236,237.00
Total Net Assets $148,455.00 $2,419,227.00
Spent on Program Services 100% 91% **
funded by Founder *4% spent on Management and 5% spent on Fundraising
Officers and Members of the Board of Directors in 2007 and meetings:
• CEO and Founder Carole Baskin (not compensated by BCR)
• President and Chairman of the Board Jamie Veronica
• Vice President & BOD Cathy Neumann (not compensated by BCR)
• Secretary Jen Ruszczyk (not compensated by BCR)
• Treasurer Howard Baskin (not compensated by BCR)
• Director Dr. Liz Wynn, DVM (not compensated by BCR for her role as a Director)
Paid Staff: We went from 3 paid staff to 7 and now provide worker’s comp insurance. We still can offer no other benefits than the peace of mind in knowing their work is changing the world.
• Operations Manager & Volunteer Coordinator Scott Lope $35,000.00 incl. bonuses
• Staff Manager, Editor & Creative Director Jamie Veronica $24,700.00 (compensated but not for her work as a member of the board)
• Social Science Director Brian Czarnik $18,400.00 (leaving for Chicago early 2008)
• Gift Shop & Guest Services Bridget Czarnik $18,400.00 (leaving for Chicago early 2008)
• Gift Shop & Guest Services Honey Wayton $22,800.00
• Intern Director & Lead AdvoCat Tiffany Deavor $25,000.00
• Education Directors Dr. Beth Kamhi & Coleen Kremer $14,000.00 combined
• Vernon Stairs Cage Builder and Maintenance $35,600.00
All of our animal care is done by volunteers or by staff who also volunteer time before & after work.
Volunteers: Big Cat Rescue had 107 volunteers in 2007 who clocked in 57,302 man-power hours in addition to staff and Volunteer Committee member hours. Roughly the equivalent workforce of 27 more full time staff. Created the S.A.V.E. award for Scratch’s Award 4 Volunteer Excellence. The recipients were January – Julie Hanan, February – Cathy Monroe, March – Tiffany Deavor, April – Glen Yancey, May – Kym Marszal, June – Merrill Kramer, July – Barbara Frank, August – Marie Schoubert, September – Edith Parker, October – Babs Riddle, November – Anne Canterbury and December – Angie Gabor (the first Red Shirt to ever win) Winners of the S.A.V.E. award are allowed to direct $500.00 to the cat project of their choice. Created pages devoted to our dedicated volunteers at: http://bigcatrescue.org/hero/000hero.htm and our 2007 Volunteer of the Year is Barbara Frank.
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.
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Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.
My Mother’s Report on Family Trip to S. Africa
Wed., Dec. 5: Departed Tampa 9:10 a.m.. on United #1572, on time and arrived at Dulles 11:19 a.m. It was blowing snow lightly at first, then heavier and heavier. We had a five-hour layover in order to insure we would be able to catch our flight on South African Airways #208 at 5:20 p.m. We took a trolley to our gate then had to board another trolley that drove us for ten minutes to the other side. The plane was very new, clean, could handle about 600 people and it was nearly full. It was 30° and ice was forming on the plane so the machinery came out to de-ice which took 20 minutes. Apparently, it was decided that wasn’t enough so they did it again causing a total of a two-hour delay before taking off and two hours late on arrival. Good food but was slow to serving us as we were on Aisle 65. So many young people and babies on board because the whole month of December is a holiday and schools are out through January – their summer. Naturally one baby was crying almost the entire trip.
Thurs., Dec. 6: We arrived at Johannesburg airport. I had requested a wheelchair for Mother when I purchased the tickets so they met us, showed us exactly where to go, got our bags, took us through Customs and delivered us into the waiting arms of Carole and Ron who were quite concerned because we were almost the last ones through. Our bags apparently were loaded first but took off last. That night we stayed at a bed and breakfast near the airport. The lady had six or seven rooms on the block which she rented and then she would fix any kind of breakfast you wanted. The rooms that Mother, Jamie and I stayed in were beautifully decorated in antique.
Fri., Dec. 7: Jamie was the first one up and started taking pictures of the beautiful pool and garden area. The lady threw out food for the birds so Jamie saw many unusual birds. Africa has 2,000 bird species. Breakfast was huge. The coffee was served in a glass container with a plunger that you pushed down to strain out the coffee grounds. Jamie gently was trying to push but it seemed stuck and then cracked the glass sending coffee and glass on the table, floor and particularly in Jamie’s plate so she got another serving of food. The mess was quickly cleaned up.
The expensive homes have large yards that are beautifully fenced with decorated walls, lights, ornaments and curled barb wire on top to discourage uninvited guests. The landscaping is gorgeous with soft-looking grass and many beautiful flowers and lots of fruit trees. Johannesburg, like all large cities, is very crowded with fast-moving traffic which is very stressful but Ron maneuvered us safety through all the aggressive and crazy drivers. The further north we traveled towards their home in Louis Trichardt, it thinned out and we enjoyed the beautiful country.
We crossed the Tropic of Capricorn which is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the earth. It lies 23° 26′ 22″ south of the Equator and marks the most southerly latitude at which the sun can appear directly overhead at noon. This event occurs at the December solstice, when the southern hemisphere is tilted towards the sun to its maximum extent. The other circles are Tropic of Cancer, Equator, Artic Circle and Antaric Circle. There were several interesting sites along the way where we stopped and took pictures.
Jamie has enough camera memory for over 1,000 pictures. That evening we had Debonos Pizza. In the homes, every door and window has iron bars with separate keys for each lock. No screens – you just open the windows and let the fresh air in along with any bug or bat that wants in. Jamie photographed a dung beetle on the kitchen floor and then scooped it up with a paper towel and gently dropped it out the window onto the ground outside. They say mosquitoes aren’t a problem in that area but I saw a couple in the house and had several welts on my legs. December is the rainy season and Ron says bugs have been much worst than he remembers. Carole and Ron have an enormous, beautiful house - all tile floors; stone, brick and wood outside and inside. That evening Carole fried chicken with mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, gravy, corn on cob and, of course, cornbread – yum, yum!
Sat., Dec. 8: After a good breakfast, we went to the mall, which is about the size of the small mall area on Dale Mabry where SteinMart is located. When you park, there are “car watchers” who watch your car while you are shopping and then you tip them when you return. That evening Carole fixed her famous lasagna and I fixed a big salad.
Sun., Dec. 9: Ron preached at a small church at Makhado; there were about 100 there and the small building was packed. Surrounding the current building is a foundation that will triple the size. Stacks of bricks are in the yard. As they have money, they buy the materials and work on building the walls.
Ron preached in small phrases of English and the translator, who is the regular preacher, repeated in their language. Ron preaches at different congregations each Sunday using the same format. They sing in their language and have beautiful, strong, energetic voices. The children’s class is taught up front by a lady and dismissed before the men come in. People kept arriving through about midway service. They were very friendly. They dress very nicely but Carole says they seem to wear the same outfit every Sunday so they might only have one nice outfit. They only meet Sunday morning – no midweek service.
Ron and Carole have classes in their homes or go to other homes who want special classes. A few unusual ways of their service are that the head of the Lord’s Supper breaks the bread in small pieces so that each person only has to pick up a piece and not everyone trying to break off pieces themselves. The wine cups are stacked once they have taken their drink. This helps because the dark shadow on the tray makes it hard to tell if the cup is full or empty. Then at the end of the service, they announce the amount of the contribution. Sunday night we ate at Mike’s which is a chain in South Africa – very nice, clean, good food presented artistically.
Mon., Dec. 10: We started our two-hour drive toward the Pafurigate in northern Kruger Park which is a five million acre reserve – one of the largest in the world. A Nyala, which looks like Kudu, was spotted once. We had a picnic in one of the drive-off spots. Driving by the river, we spotted a lone hippo playing with water coming out of his mouth like dual fountains. We drove past an elephant without seeing him because we were looking at a bird nest. We viewed giraffes, zebras and lots of impalas, tortoise, and a dung beetle rolling dung.
It was amazing the way Ron maneuvered the truck so we could get good camera shots. You are not allowed out of your vehicle except at special designated areas so he would work the truck in circles to get just the right angle. After we checked into our lodge, Jamie and I went on a night drive with a tour group and saw a Jackson chameleon, pearl-spotted owl, two water buffalo and a hare. Our small, petite female guide had a cracked windshield but did not explain what caused it. She carried a rifle bag but we’re not sure if there was a rifle in it or, if there was, if she knew how to use it. Bugs were flying in our hair and on our clothes. I tried to ignore them and count it as part of the journey.
That night all five of us slept in one rondavel – which is a traditional African-style house. It is usually round in shape and is traditionally made with materials that can be locally obtained in raw form. The rondavel's walls are often constructed from stones. The mortar may consist of sand, soil, or some combinations of these mixed with dung. The modern floor is concrete. The roof braces of a rondavel are made out of tree limbs, which have been harvested and cut to length. The roof itself is made out of thatch that is sewn to the wooden braces with rope made out of grass. The process of completing the thatch can take one weekend or up to a year with a skilled artisan, as it must be sewn in one section at a time, starting from the bottom working towards the top. As each section is sewn, it may be weathered and aged in so as to form a complete weatherproof seal. Carole and Ron had a climb upstairs by using a ladder and the ceiling was slanted making it hard to maneuver when you are 6’4”.
Tues., Dec. 11: In the morning, we ate the breakfast Carole had packed and watched a hornbill male bring food to his female. Hornbills generally form monogamous pairs. The female lays up to six white eggs in existing holes or crevices, either in trees or rocks. Before incubation, the females —sometimes assisted by the male—begin to close the entrance to the nest cavity with a wall made of mud, droppings and fruit pulp. When the female is ready to lay her eggs, the entrance is just large enough for it to enter the nest, and after she has done so, the remaining opening is also all but sealed shut. There is only one narrow opening, big enough for the male to transfer food to the mother and the chicks. When the chicks and the female are too big to fit in the nest, the mother breaks out, and then both parents feed the chicks.
This time of year is the end of spring and the start of summer. There were a lot of baby animals that we saw. We saw a saddle-billed stork, a chameleon crossing the road and more of the same animals as before. That night we stayed at the Olifants Camp. Each cabin had a door sign warning of terrorism, burglars and other traumatic possible events.
Wed., Dec. 12: While we ate breakfast, we watched the monkeys go through the garbage bags of rooms that were being cleaned. They quickly leave when the cleaners start after them. On our drive we saw rhinos close up – real close up – two lions, possibly young females, who were lying down and wouldn’t get up even when Jamie did her excellent impersonation of the lions announcing their presence. They lifted their heads and ears but didn’t seem interested – as she probably had an American accent.
At one location other visitors told us there was a leopard that had been in a tree but jumped down and was lying in the grass. Jamie got a picture of spots behind some brush but even though we waited for some time, it never moved enough to see any ears or tail. We saw a wildebeest, quite a few more hippos and other animals that we saw earlier. At one point, we were stopped along the road with about four other cars watching a herd of elephants feeding. We could only see a few because of the trees.
Then all of a sudden like a signal was given, the herd crossed from one side to the other side, going in front and behind all of the vehicles on the road. There were tiny babies up to huge papas – numbering over 100. The main herd was crossing near a small white vehicle that occupants had to have been terrified; we were not surrounded by as many and it really got our adrenalin going. That night we stayed at Kukuza.
We thought from the map that the restaurant would be close enough to walk so the five of us headed out walking and walking. Once we got there and placed our order, Ron and Carole went back to get the truck. They figured it would take them 20 or 30 minutes to walk back and drive the truck and it takes these servers that long to prepare a meal. Drinks are usually served without ice but they will bring it if you request, which we did. Our server agreed and said he would “organize” the ice.
The restaurant was a converted old train station started in the 1800’s and had not been in use since 1972. Every night until then, had been overcast, but that night was clear and the sky was spectacular! There were more stars than the sand of the seashore and the Milky Way was outstanding! The Milky Way is the galaxy which is the home of our Solar System together with at least 400 billion other stars and their planets, and thousands of clusters. As a galaxy, the Milky Way is actually a giant, as its mass is probably between 750 billion and one trillion solar masses, and its diameter is about 100,000 light years. Jamie gave Mother and me a lesson in astrology which was very interesting.
Thurs., Dec. 13: Jamie and I got up at 3 a.m. to go on a 4 a.m. sunrise drive with a tour guide. We walked from our rondaval to the truck which was about four blocks. There were strange sounds in the darkness around us and our steps quickened until we got to the appointed meeting place. We were the first ones there and felt very thankful when others arrived. We didn’t see any new animals but did see some aggressively, playful monkeys trying to push each other off a bridge. Beneath were hippos splashing in the water.
We drove for three hours on back roads and didn’t see much. The sunrise was pretty but not exceptional. During the last few minutes of the drive, a young male lion was casually strolling down the paved highway, not caring that five vehicles were following him. Impalas were darting back and forth across the highway in front of him seemingly confused about which direction they should go but they were not in any danger at that point because the lion was ignoring them also. Once we got back we had breakfast at the lodge. We ate under a thatched pointed rondavel roof with about 50 bats hanging from the center peak. Then we drove to the gate leading from Kruger Park and bought more gifts at a private hut outside the gate. It was a five-hour drive back to Johannesburg and the same bed and breakfast where we stayed the night we first arrived in South Africa.
Fri., Dec. 14: It was another wonderful breakfast and then drove to the airport where Jamie and I boarded a flight to Cape Town. Upon arrival, we were met by our tour guide, Grahm Bester, who said we could call him “lollipop” as he ate at least three a day. He was born and raised in Namibia which is on the west coast just north of South Africa. He checked us in at our hotel - Protea Cape Castle – and then took us on a half-day tour of the city. There is a constant SE wind which is extremely strong at times causing the trees to have a permanent bend in that direction like the trees in Aruba but not as drastic.
He said the most beautiful housing area in the city was the Malayan quarters where no two houses together can be painted the same. They were brilliant greens, yellows, purples, etc., very gaudy. Cape Town was developed by the Dutch as a midway point in their spice trade. In the middle of town are the “Company Gardens” where they grew all their vegetables but now it is all manner of flowers, trees, shrubs, etc. It was a nice place to relax. You can buy food and enjoy the peace. We had tea and “pancakes” (what we call crepes) with cream and syrup. Their syrup is so strong and sweet that it needs to be diluted with whipped cream. The ride was very scenic with winding roads and crazy drivers, again. People think the Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean meet at Cape Town, and billboards make that statement but our guide says it is only the Atlantic Ocean with the Indian Ocean further north on the east coast.
I personally don’t understand how you can decide where one large body of water meets another – where is the line drawn? They have different phrases for “fine” which they call “sorted – like “I’m sorted”, “everything’s sorted”. Instead of “watch your head”; it is “mind your head”. Instead of “rent”, it is “let”. Instead of “strange”, it is “dodgey”. We asked our guide for restaurants in the area that had the Cape Town flavor. He said he could recommend his favorite two – McDonalds and KFC. He left us at the V & A Waterfront to shop and then to go to dinner at Quay (pronounced “key”) Four for a fish dinner. After dinner, we took a taxi back to the hotel. It is too dangerous to walk after dark. We overheard other tourists talking about being robbed while they were going to the clubs and night life.
Sat., Dec. 15: Breakfast was served at the hotel and then our guide took us to Table Top Mountain which is 3,000’ up by revolving cable car. A lot of the time the mountain is covered by cloud which comes one-fourth way down the mountain and they call it the “tablecloth”. There were gorgeous views from on top; lots of lizard, birds, flowers and shrubs. We then went to the Cheetah conservation and Jamie went inside & said it was like a dog. Some are trying to get cheetah out of the cat classification. Its claws do not retract and the skeletal structure is more like a dog.
We had lunch at a quaint, local restaurant of boboita which is yellow and white rice with spicy meat sauce, coconut, finely chopped tomatoes and peppers. Dessert was a delicious soft cheesecake with crème, ice cream and berries. Temperature was 103 but dry and breezy – still hot is hot. Then we went to the Butterfly Gardens where they keep the air very humid for the butterflies. Our guide had a very hard time with the humidity and could only stay inside for ten minutes. To Jamie and me it felt like Florida. They also had parrots, blue-tongue lizard, iguana and marmosets.
Dinner was at the Spur in a very large 3-story mall. The beef enchilada was very good but the meat was chewy and like tough chicken.
There are a lot of “townships” which we refer to as shantytowns – homes made from whatever materials they can find but they have electricity and most have antennas.
Sun., Dec 16: We were picked up for a two-hour journey to Gansbaai from our hotel at 8 a.m. by one of the crew of the white shark diving company (Stephen Frank, Sharkzone (21 552 1824 (W), 82 894 4979 (mobile), 76 277 2005, e-mail Stephen@sharkzone.co.za, Eileen, sharkdive@iafrica.com, 21 532 0470 or 083 412 3733).
We were picked up first but we had to stop at various hotels for other guests for a total of 18 or 20 on the boat. Formalities and safety briefing was completed upon our arrival at the harbor before the 24’ catamaran departed. We went out three miles from land, threw out anchor and immediately saw a 14’ shark but no one was in the cage. Jamie and others put on their wet suits; five go in a cage at a time. There were six or seven sharks.
Guide says they are mainly curious and not wanting to eat. The duration of the tour out at sea is approx. 5 hours. Snacks and drinks were served onboard the boat and a then a sandwich upon our return to shore. After the dive, they took us to Saxon Guest House which had a beautiful view of the ocean and sunset – our only capture of a sunset in two weeks. We walked to dinner about five blocks away as we were told it was very safe in that area – still all the homes had fences and gates with curled barbed wire and the restaurant kept it’s doors locked and unlocked them for each guest.
Mon., Dec 17: Our second day of white shark diving was much different than the first. The sea was rougher and five people got sick, spending most of the trip hanging over the rails – feeding the sharks. Only three sharks showed up so Jamie didn’t go in the cage so that other people who had not been could have their chance. Jamie got some exciting shots the day before so we just enjoyed the boat ride and watched the kids’ eyes as the few sharks that there were came circling the boat. Afterwards we went back to Cape Castle in Cape Town. We were too tired to go out and eat so we ate at the hotel. They really need lessons in cooking but it filled our tummies.
Tues., Dec 18: We were scheduled to view the penguins on the beach but were “touristed out” and ready to do nothing. This trip we have seen 73 species including birds, mammals and reptiles. The six most impressive were lions, elephants, rhinos, hippos, leopard and sharks. Our guide took us to the airport and we departed Cape Town 1340 (1:40 p.m.) on South African Airways #336 to Johannesburg.
In Johannesburg we were to connect with #207 at Gate 11, which was a long trek with our gear. Jamie went to look for more souvenirs and I stayed with the luggage. Another traveler noted that the flight had changed to Gate 3 which was a good distance from Gate 11 – more than would be expected - so I waited for Jamie and we hurried to Gate 3. Many passengers had the same problem; when on the plane they announced they were waiting for several passengers. We finally departed at 6:15 p.m., watched a couple of movies, had several meals and slept.
Wed., Dec 19: We arrived at Dulles at 6:00 a.m.; had to collect our bags; go through Customs and recheck our bags; then board United #1571 at 8:30 a.m. Vern picked us up in Tampa at 10:50 a.m. As wonderful and exciting as the trip was, it was good to be home.
As nice as December was in South Africa, I think the best month would be mid-November, which is their spring, and the time that Carole suggested. We missed a lot of the flowers of spring that Carole said were really beautiful and the weather would be a little cooler.
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.
False BBB Complaint Against Big Cat Rescue
Gini used the name Carol Valbuena to file a false report about Big Cat Rescue. It is apparent that she, Lisa Walker and Debbie Sandlin co conspired to do this together. They have no cause to file such reports and only do so because they are angry that their neighbors were being notified that they could come speak at a public meeting.
I really do not understand your perception that this mentions the content of the complaint. It simply states the reason they filed the complaint. The complaint to BBB was that the BBB logo was on the letterhead and then goes on to make false accusations about our fundraising, falsely says we are not a sanctuary, falsely implies that our operating surplus, which is needed for capital improvements and then to build an endowment, is somehow commercial or benefitting us personally, and her favorite is falsely implying that Carole is a suspect in her husband's disappearance. She objects to our having sent the letter, but that is no basis for a complaint to BBB, it is our right. In fact (a) the names and addresses of the owners of dangerous animals are public information available from FWCC, (b) we did NOT mention any of their names or addresses in our letter, and in fact when people called us for that we declined to provide names and referred them to FWCC (by the way, a number of people called to thank us), (c) FWCC has announced that within three months they will have the entire list on their website, and (d) the St. Petersburg Times on their website has an interactive map of our neighboring counties where you can move your cursor over a google style balloon and the names and addresses of the dangerous animal owners pop up.
The notion that these dangerous animal owners are placed in danger by having their names revealed is ridiculous on its face and particularly absurd since it is required by law to be public information. And look at the other things she writes to you. "Ordinarily I do not get into such matters" - obviously a lie. Using a false first name, Carol instead of Gini. Another of your complainants used someone else's address. Saying that forwarding her complaint to us would "put her life in danger" - how ridiculous is that? As you and I continue to spend time on this, I ask you to consider the credibility, or rather lack thereof, of the source of these complaints.
The reason to document their behavior is so that as they continue these efforts, people they approach can go to the website and see the nature of the source, the pattern of behavior and, importantly, the motives or reasons for the behavior. Without explaining their motives, their behavior makes no sense.
I believe we complied in good faith, as we always try to do, with your request. I need to ask you to understand that it is important to give some explanation of their behavior. With that in mind, in deference to your request I have replaced the language with the language below. If this is not acceptable, I would be interested to understand why and hear from you a suggestion regarding how we explain why they did this.
On 10/7/07 Gini used a different first name, Carol, to file a complaint against Big Cat Rescue containing false information. Lisa Walker and Debbie Sandlin filed similar complaints and it is likely the three conspired together to do so. They did this in response to our notifying neighbors of dangerous animal owners about public hearings to be held that affected their rights.
The sad part of all this, Bennett, is that one of their main motivations is to take up my mine, with total disregard to also wasting yours, because every minute I spend on their complaints is a minute not spent putting an end to the animal abuse they benefit from. They have succeeded in that. Respectfully yours, Howard Baskin
In 2021 Mina Michelle Johnson pulled this criminal report of Carol Virginia Valbuena Hines
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.
A letter from Howie to Leonora LaPeter Anton at the St. Pete Times
Dear Leonora, Carole tells me that your recent questions have been directed at getting more views on exotic pet ownership and about the numbers of cats in the wild. Thank you for taking the time to do that.
There is one comment in one of your emails that I would like to address. You may well have decided at this point the structure of your story and what you are going to include, so nothing I say may matter. But I would like to make one distinction clear in case it is not. The distinction is between mentioning Don’s disappearance versus the mentioning the claims of Carole’s involvement. I believe in one email you suggested Carole might not like your mentioning Don’s disappearance, and you made reference to her denying involvement.
Mentioning Don’s disappearance is not really something with which Carole has a problem. I’m not sure it would be a “big case” other than for the media circus that surrounded it, and I think that media coverage was generated not by the disappearance but by the false claims of Carole’s involvement. I doubt if Don’s disappearance would appear on your radar if it were not for these false claims and the hope of the breeders/owners that you will revive them. Those claims were not made by law enforcement, they were made by individuals who had something to gain. Law enforcement did their investigation and the result is obvious. But, it is a true fact that he disappeared, it is part of the history of the sanctuary and of Carole’s personal history.
In contrast to mentioning the disappearance as part of the history, repeating ten year old lies like those groundless accusations is different. It makes titillating reading for the masses. But I believe it serves no journalistic purpose or public benefit. It only serves the breeders/owners who make any effort they can to try to cause Carole pain, use up our time on their false complaints, and distract from the meaningful issues of extinction and captive animal ownership.
Carole mentioned to you some of the various ways in which the breeder/owners file false complaints with regulatory or accrediting bodies. This week we experienced a new one that I think is one of the best examples of what we are dealing with when it comes to the tactics and ethics of these people. Carole received a call for “Carole Lewis” from a regulator saying Carole was behind in child support payments for her son. Carole’s only son was a stepson for whom she was never financially responsible who died in a car accident years ago. The regulator who called concluded she must have the wrong Carole Lewis, not that uncommon a name, and we would have thought so too except for events later in the day. Carole got to the sanctuary to learn that our manager’s drivers license had been suspended for his allegedly failing to make child support payments. Scott has never been married and has no children. Think this is a coincidence? I suspect there is some hotline where people can anonymously report child support violators and the breeders/owners used it, like their false anonymous claims to Workers’ Compensation and others.
I did not ask you the content of the “tip” you said put this story on your radar. But I can tell you one thing for sure. The sole purpose of the tip, like these other actions, is to use you to cause Carole pain, try to discredit her, and use up our time to distract us from the work of changing the laws to protect the animals. The justifications these people use for their selfish treatment of the animals generally do not find acceptance with the public, who show increasing concern over the treatment of animals. So instead of intelligent debate on these issues, their primary tactic basically to “fight dirty” by spreading lies to try to discredit Carole since she is prominent in this effort and being effective in the trend toward tougher laws.
Whether you print the lies about involvement in Don’s disappearance, or the other lies they spread about the sanctuary, is up to you. I believe you when you say you want to write something that is balanced and fair. I don’t sense you are going about this with malice like Chris Hawes clearly did. When it comes to the issues of how animals are treated, there is a way to present sides of the argument with balance. But I do not see how there is a balanced and fair way to repeat outright lies. Simply printing them, no matter how they are framed, creates the innuendo and the shadow of doubt that the attackers desire.
There is certainly a human interest story in Carole’s evolution of views and activities. More significantly there are two really important issues - extinction of the animals in the wild, and their treatment in captivity - that are genuinely important to the world as a whole and an increasingly number of individuals. Exploring these serves a true journalistic purpose and truly serves the public interest, which I would think is inherent in the mission of the Times. Again, this is obviously your decision, but I don't see how reprinting ten year old lies serves these higher goals.
You will do as you see fit. If you do choose to rehash the false claims that were made about Don’s disappearance or the other claims the breeders/owners make, I can pretty well predict what will follow:
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Yates and cohorts will gleefully be sending emails to each others patting themselves on the back for making you their latest agent in their disinformation campaign by getting you to revive the ten year old lies about the disappearance and any others they manage to get you to print. And they will be laughing at you as well as at us for their success in this.
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When I tried to meet with Mr. Yates to understand his views on exhibiting animals, on top of the papers he brought with him was the old People Magazine. Now, he will have a copy of your article on top, trying to use the good name and reputation of the Times as support for his lies.
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He and/or cohorts will start a new round of complaints to the accrediting bodies that we are approved by, sending your article as evidence of their claims. This will further drain my time by having to respond to them. As in the past, we will prevail, but they will have succeeded in making a nuisance of themselves to us and to the staff of these organizations.
Last, if you print the old lies, you of course cause some pain here just because it is painful to see this in print. In some ways perhaps more for me than Carole, because it is probably harder when someone you love is unjustly attacked than when you are yourself. And Carole, who has already been through so much over Don’s disappearance and does not deserve more, will of course survive the hurt of having the old lies printed. What will carry her, as in the past, is her strong will, her obvious knowledge of the truth, her passion for her mission and understanding that her role unfortunately includes being the subject of these attacks, and finally her strong faith and her belief that ultimately things happen the way they are supposed to. And, despite the distractions, we will continue our work toward protecting the animals. The breeders/owners can cause pain and distraction with these attacks, but the cultural evolution in the way treatment of exotic animals is being viewed by the public across the nation and world will continue. If you read this far, thank you, even if it makes no difference.
I’ll part with two quotes I find interesting but not sure if you will. One is the Ghandi quote I mentioned to you in our conversation and promised to send: “You can judge the moral progress of a nation by its treatment of animals.”
The other comes from a book I just started called “A Game Ranger Remembers” by a man who spent his life as a ranger at the Kruger National Park in South Africa. He talks about the difference in the way animals were viewed when the park was founded many years before to the time he became Chief Ranger in 1983. His remarks reflect a transition that continues at an accelerated pace today. He says:
“When the Park was proclaimed by President Paul Kruger, attitudes toward animals were based on a very literal interpretation of the biblical injunction that God had given Man dominion over the birds of the air and the fishes of the sea. By the time the pioneers (i.e. founders of the Park) bowed out the world was coming to realize that such dominion meant not the conferral of a license to plunder but the assumption of a great and noble responsibility.” Sincerely, Howard Baskin
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.
Jamie Questions Whether We Can Rescue Two Lions?
It seems like everyone is for the rescue of these two lions, I feel we don't have enough people to take care of them. Like Brian said, sometimes it's only him and Tiffany that are available to clean and he is leaving soon and Tiffany is paid to be working inside, not cleaning cages. So if she is only cleaning on one of her days off then that will soon leave us with six more days out of the week to find coverage to take care of another two upper level cats. Not to mention, that two more big cats will end up costing us $15,800 a year. Where are we going to get all this money from?
Only a hand full of people are actually helping with our biggest fundraiser of the year...and isn't it strange that the people that complain the most about us needing to rescue more cats are not in that small group of people, soliciting donations, thanking donors, and actually earning the money needed to care for the cats we have...
We just took in four cats that are costing us $30,000 a year. So now we are looking at $45,800 a year. I hear whispers and rumors of upper level people wanting to move on to greener pastures and possibly even leave the animal world all together. I hear complaints of having to be here instead of having "fun" dealing with guests, working with other volunteers and interns, doing boring admin tasks.
So with your votes, I really ask you that you look 10-20 years in the future. Are you still going to be here? Are you still going to be working holidays, weekends...Are you going to take over getting sponsors, soliciting auction items, planning and executing our biggest fundraiser of the year? Howard is retired and this will probably be his last year putting together the Fur Ball.
This place is my life and I will be working here until I die from stress or I am mauled to death, so remember that, because each cat rescued is ultimately mine and Carole's responsibility. That said I will stand by you and vote yes, if it is agreed that
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the two lions can be housed together
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coverage can be found to clean/feed without using our paid admin staff,
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you are ready to commit your time off, weekends and holidays for the remainder of these cats' lives,
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and you can joyfully work on admin tasks, peacefully coordinate volunteers and interns, and are excited to get out there and solicit donors, sponsors, and manage our fur ball
My thoughts may have come across harsh, but they are only meant to be blunt. I want everyone to stay here and I want everyone to be happy and really enjoy their experiences here. But lately from my own experiences out here, I find that people are overworked and bitter for it. The only way to not over work everyone is to lighten the load. The more cats we continue to rescue, the heavier it will be for everyone. In the back of my mind I still come back to this...the best thing we can do for the situation as a whole, is spend those hours each week, that would be dedicated to caring for one lucky animal, fighting for legislation that would end the cause for cats in need of rescue. The animals, Jamie Veronica, President
I wrote her back and told her that I wish I had said that. She fears she may have driven off those who are at the edge of burning out and I told her that if we wake up tomorrow and it is just her and me that we have been there before and we can do it again. I am so proud of her.
Photo is from the 2007 Fur Ball and that is news anchor, Cynthia Smoot, to my right.
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.
Howie’s letter to Leonora LaPeter Anton
Leonora, I would be happy to speak with you if we can do it in person - it seems to me the nature of your inquiry deserves that, and I would enjoy meeting you. For me there actually is a lighter side to the serious email Carole sent to you that makes me smile. I was 54 when we married, and it is my first marriage. You can probably imagine that at that age this was quite a decision. If I had to point to one single thing that clinched the decision for me, it is something that perhaps you can sense from her email - she openly says what is on her mind directly. You know where you stand, with no games. I love that. I have my nephew arriving Thursday for a week, so if it possible for us to talk either before he arrives or after he leaves that it would be most convenient, but if not I will try to work with your schedule. This Wednesday afternoon would be particularly good if that happened to work for you. Sincerely, Howard Baskin
8/14/07 Carole writes Jamie and Volunteer Committee: Subject: 2 lions
I need a consensus if we are going to rescue the two lions that were confiscated from Diana Mc Court in Ohio. She is the woman USDA shut down, but she continued letting people come pet and get mauled by her cats and 60 Minutes, or one of those guys did an undercover story on her to show it. Animal Control has taken possession and is awaiting a Judge’s ruling saying that the cats can be placed permanently. There are 4 tigers and 2 lions and I have tentatively told Animal Control and HSUS that we would take the lions if Diana cannot take them back, but I need your vote before I can commit for sure. For the cats, Carole Baskin
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.
PurrFect Planet Diary
The diary of a $77,000,000.00 idea. August 11, 2007
I met Pegi Goff at the first Tampabay area Meetup of people who wanted to share The Secret ie The Law of Attraction. I walked up to her after the meeting and said, “I know I am supposed to meet you, but don’t know why.” She seemed ready for that opening line and launched into how she was ready to get involved in something that really mattered. Her first donation to Big Cat Rescue was with the White Tiger brochure and T-shirts.
Within days she presented me with a Webkinz plush toy that had a corresponding online game element and a $77,000,000.00 idea was born. I had set that figure as my intention, but at the time had no idea how to achieve it. I think this is it.
Webkinz launched in 2005 and as of this date claims 2 million units sold to retailers and 1 million registered users of the Webkinz World website. NPD Group reports that the product brought in more than $1 million (USD) in United States retail sales in 2006.
Last year, after Howie showed me an article about it in Business Week, I signed up for Second Life. From time to time I have logged in to try and figure out how to do good with this otherwise materialistic phenomena. Yesterday, August 11, 2007, Second Life had more than 800,000 players online who had spent $1,400,000.00 in the last 24 hours.
8.9 million user accounts have been created since its inception in 2003 and most of those since 2006.
At this writing, Pegi and I are calling our venture PurrFect Planet and she called me Friday to tell me that she had gotten a commitment for a $10,000.00 grant and possibly that much per year if this could be developed as an educational tool.
We are set to brainstorm this soon but here is what is coming to me from the Universe:
It starts with the most adorable plushy cat toys you can imagine. The toy is small, but has such charm and detail that adults will keep it on their desks. Teenagers will proudly carry it, because it will represent an icon that is a constant reminder of who they perceive themselves to be. The toy will be marketed to remind the owner of what it takes to succeed. This is why it should be a top- of- the- food- chain- predator. A cat because of the big cat charity supported by the income and that shelters the income, in turn.
Buying the toy gets you into the online community. You create and personalize your character and you have a home that you share with the plushy type that you bought. Your home is sort of the MySpace equivalent where you show off who you are and invite friends to see it. Players can post photos, videos and music to share with friends. You can pay for enhancements or earn them.
You pay for enhancements by making donations to a charity through the game so that it can be tracked. To be a vendor you have to be a charity or donate a substantial portion of each sale to a charity within the PurrFect Planet. Green enhancements are encouraged by price breaks, bonuses and status. This would encourage players to seek out wind powered home improvements over petroleum and such so as to get people thinking about what it takes to keep a planet healthy. Status is a rating system that becomes a badge of honor with benefits.
You can earn money to spend in the game through the educational component. You can travel to wildlife preserves and spend time transformed into a forest creature, native to the area of the preserve. This will require a huge data base of information for each type of preserve. There could be oceanic preserves, polar preserves where the ice caps are melting based upon the number of players in the game who are using products that contribute to the destruction of the ozone. There would be the typical rain forest preserves, prairie preserves and savannahs. Each with its own eco system to keep in balance by knowing about it, understanding it and really becoming a part of the whole process by being a creature in it.
Based upon your status you are transformed. A new or poor player would enter as a bug or slug. They would get an instant info sheet that tells them where they can find refuge, who eats them, how they reproduce and who or what they have to find to eat. They are then competing in the preserve to stay alive, find a mate, reproduce, etc. They are playing against other players and perhaps against the machine in the absence of others. More advanced or higher status players are doing the same but also have to find and eat appropriate prey, who are the poorer, less advanced players.
Predators have to eat a minimum to stay alive. This encourages frequent play to keep your predator healthy. If you are eaten you can’t play again unless you buy another online creature at that level (Howie’s idea) or you can opt to start over as a bug. You get points for your proficiency that can be converted to status (a higher up the food chain animal) or game dollars to spend inside the game.
Your character could be taken by poacher and jailed in a zoo, circus or sold as a pet. If so, you would have to buy a new character or work your way back up again. There would be a built in incentive to hire more game wardens with your discretionary dollars (think Monopoly’s Get Out Of Jail Free card). To enhance your chances for reproducing you have to buy gestures, such as the mating dance of a bird in order to attract a mate. Somehow those signals could then be visible to other players of the same type of animal, to help them find each other to work together cooperatively to build and guard nests and feed young. If your parent character is eaten, then there could be some way that you can assume the role of one of your offspring, just like nature handles the situation.
If you are a group animal you have to offer some trade off to be a valuable member of the group, such as picking fleas off other group members. Fleas would seek out mammals to sustain themselves and perhaps could only be picked off by others in your same group type. The message here is that to benefit yourself, you have to help others. The game would teach lessons in economics. If you spend money on material things it doesn’t help you reach the higher potential you could if you were reinvesting in your future, such as buying green to save the polar caps, or paying the salary of a game warden to help protect your character when it is in the reserve.
Characters could speak via typed chat or via headset and microphone. Second Life currently provides this to users. I am wondering if all of this could be done with scripting within Second Life? Since it already has most of the groundwork, perhaps we could buy an island, or suggest that SL sell planets, where our own scripts may over ride some of theirs in order to create this game format. Perhaps some sort of fee split on the annual $79.00 price they charge could be arranged if they saw the potential here. I don’t know how we would pitch the idea without giving it away. I am sure someone knows the answer to that and is just around the corner.
To make this work we need people who can create such a game. We need people who can create the huge data base of information sheets on each animal that we use in the game so that it is educational. We need to make it available to schools as a way to teach science and biology in such a way that kids want to learn. We will need a way to determine eligibility of charities, such as only those accredited by Give.org, or those who meet certain standards. This game would then be promoted by the charities to their members as a way of generating funds for their programs. For the cats, Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
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.
Cherishing the Life of Nakita Bobcat
Cats make us laugh but they can also touch our hearts in ways that defy explanation. Nakita the bobcat is one of those cats. The first time I saw Nakita she was sharing a small rabbit hutch with Czar, a cat of uncertain parentage, but who appeared to be a cross between a Canada Lynx and a Bobcat. It was a cold day in November of 1992 in South Carolina and the cats had only a couple of boards on top of the cage to protect them from the elements.
Both cats were hunched down, as close as they could get to each other, as if in a combined effort to look bigger and more formidable to the two novices who stood before them. They knew, all too well, all about the exotic pet trade and we knew nothing. We were being told that they were rare creatures who would only survive if we bought them and bred them for future generations. We were ignorant as to the deception of that advice, but we could clearly see that these cats would be much better off with us than in this rickety chicken coop of a cage, so we paid the ransom and took them home.
As the years passed we learned that none of these animals are genetically traceable for use in any internationally sanctioned Species Survival Plan and even if they were, there isn’t a re-wilding program in existence for any of the exotic cat species due to man’s encroachment on their habitat. We learned that paying their ransom just enabled the drunk who had sold them to continue his dirty trade. We learned a lot; more than these pages can hold, but for now I just want to share two precious lessons learned.
In the wild bobcats and lynx are solitary and only come together for mating. Nature has equipped them to be self sufficient and to look out for number one. One of the things I love most about bobcats is that they draw a line in the sand and are quite content to live and let live as long as you stay on your side of the line, but the second you cross over, the fury that is theirs to unleash is a fearsome thing. They are that way with us and with each other and almost every scar on my body is from breaking up bobcat fights. (This should come with the warning: Do Not Try This At Home!)
Czar and Nakita never fought and I was thankful for that. I don’t know if I could have survived breaking up a fight between a hybrid the size of Czar and a cat as sure of herself as Nakita. Their love was the stuff of legends.
When Czar was in his teens he succumbed to both deafness and blindness, but he lived on for years because his unwavering companion put aside all that is instinctive in her to only provide for herself. They would lay close and groom each other throughout the day. At dinner time, Czar could not see the volunteers with wagons full of meat coming. He could no longer hear the excited chirps and calls of all the other cats that alerted everyone down the path that the glorious hour of the day had finally arrived.
All of the other cats would be excitedly pacing in and out of their lockouts where they are fed, but Czar would sit, staring with eyes that no longer see, into the darkened silence that surrounded him. What happened next would bring tears to the eyes of everyone who ever witnessed it and still brings tears to my eyes today.
Nakita would nudge Czar to stand and leaning against him, as one might steady an elderly person, she would slowly walk, shoulder to shoulder with Czar and deposit him in his lockout where the staff would place the food before him. In his last days, all he did was sleep all day, but at supper time Nakita made sure he got up and made it into his feeding area. Nakita’s devotion to her loved one was far more than we often see in human families and it taught me that real love never fails.
Czar died in the spring of 2003 and I wondered if Nakita would survive it. They were so old, having been born in 1988, and had never been apart. Nakita taught me about being strong and resilient in the four years that have lapsed since then. Now that she no longer had to serve the role as constant companion and friend she seemed to take on a renewed interest in the world around her.
She has a high vantage point in her cage from where she watches the song birds and seems to draw herself just a little closer to the heavens that shower her with morning sunbeams. A lizard darting by would have her full attention and the butterflies seemed to dance out a message that only she could translate.
In recent days though, age has taken its toll on her tiny little body. She eats as much as before, but is becoming thinner and more fragile every day. She still lives for the sounds of the food carts and at feeding time I will see her sitting up as tall as she can stretch herself looking in the direction of the path where her caretakers will emerge with the day’s delicacies.
It is painful to watch her go and when she signals that she is ready we will ease her to the other side, but she has done what she came here to do. She has taught us all a lot about what it means to really love someone and how to keep finding joy in the little blessings after losing all that you cherished most.
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.
The Millionaire’s Manual to Making Millions
You wouldn’t go to a doctor who was sick all the time. You wouldn’t hire a mechanic who couldn’t keep his own car running. You wouldn’t hire a consultant who had never personally experienced success. If you wouldn’t read books about how to make millions of dollars by people who have never done it, then this book is for you.
I didn’t make millions writing books either, although I expect to soon. I made mine in real estate and mortgage investing and began at the age of 19. I was a multi millionaire by the time I was thirty. I gave away most of it and even more returned to me. Everything I touch turns to gold and I am not saying this to impress you, but rather to inspire you, because you and I have a lot more in common than you might realize.
I believe that we are all connected and anything that one of us does affects all of us. If I am successful then you will be successful. If I am happy, you will be happy. All you have to do is recognize and accept the connection. This is going to be a short book because the concept is so simple.
Every good thing and every bad thing that ever happened in my life was the direct result of what I was feeling or thinking at the time. I was 45 before I understood this. It is a hard fact to accept, if you have had some of the awful life experiences I have had, because you just can’t believe that you could have attracted something so bad. Once I accepted that, however, it was the moment of liberation for me. I had found the key to having what I want and now I create the life I want on purpose and life just becomes more and more magical every day!
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.
Perry Watkins is creating a program called Life Management and asked how I manage my day.
Thanks for asking. The following may be more info than you want but it seemed like a good time for me to re evaluate what I am doing anyway.
8:00 am: I wake up and before getting out of bed, pray the prayer of Jabez: It is from the Old Testament and abbreviated it goes like this:
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Thank you God for all that you do for me, and I list out lots of stuff that comes to mind and really feel the thankfulness and gratitude while doing it.
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Bless me indeed. I ask for what I want with full expectation it is coming.
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Expand my territory. For me this means the reach of the sanctuary and its mission and the notion of expanding my understanding of the Universe.
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Guide me with Thy loving hand. I am asking to be conscious of Universal intelligence throughout the day so that I make good decisions.
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Keep me far from evil that I may do no harm. I say this part because it is in the original Prayer of Jabez, but I don’t have any real concern that I am going to do evil or harm to anyone.
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Through Jesus name, Amen. I say the last part because I am a Christian and that is the way we were instructed to pray in the New Testament.
8:30 am: I watch my slideshow Vision Statement that takes about a minute. I eat breakfast in front of my computer, check the 100-200 emails that come in each day and answering and forwarding them as appropriate. I use Outlook, so I color code those that I need to come back to. I check my Outlook calendar to see if there are any appointments and if they are, I usually will stick a Post It on my screen to notify me, even though Outlook is set to pop up and tell me a half hour before.
I put all of my appointments, birthday notices, and recurring issues on the Outlook calendar. Three days week, M, W and F I go to the gym at 10:00 am and that is set as a recurring appointment. The maid comes every other Tues., the Volunteer meeting is the first Sunday of each month, and there are a myriad of paperwork things that have to be done monthly or annually that are all on the calendar as recurring.
I use Outlook’s Task pane to list all of the stuff that comes in needing my attention. I post the date it came in and when it is due and if there is a drop dead date it goes on the Calendar too. When new mail or email comes in, it goes onto the Task list if I am not going to do it today…and I am probably NOT going to do it today.
Once I go through all of the new emails, I will look into the Task pane to see what I can cross off the list. I base it upon deadlines, mostly, but find that I often will do what I like doing and not do what I hate doing. I hate the phone and it could take me a month to call a person back, whereas I will email back in seconds in many cases, since I am at the computer all day.
Noon: I eat lunch at the computer or in the car if I have to go somewhere.
I work at the computer until around 4 pm, which is when I usually schedule private tours for big donors, or just my face time at the sanctuary to check on the cats and let the staff and volunteers know that I exist. They don’t see me all day, because I work from home. I used to work at the sanctuary, but with 100 volunteers, each stopping in for a couple minutes to say, “hello” I couldn’t get any work done. I have 8 paid staff and 100+ volunteers who help me keep that going and then I have 2 paid staff that stay on top of my real estate business, handling incoming payments, outgoing bill payment, and everything else that goes with keeping a 100 or so rental properties and mortgages running smoothly. They take care of all of my banking, taxes, insurance, cars, etc. All I have to do is find and negotiate the buying and make the decisions on the selling.
On the way home I go roller blading, or take a walk on a beach somewhere and listen to The Secret or similar stuff on the iPod. This is all I listen to in the car as well. When I get home I may go for a swim, or take a shower, eat dinner in front of the computer again while working. I will usually work until 10 pm, unless we have some sort of networking event we have to go to. The time I spend exercising is my focus time. I re focus on what it is that I want and the inspiration that leads me to that goal usually comes during this period of time. Sometimes I wake up with it and in most cases, I just can’t wait to start my day.
10:00 pm: Check tomorrow’s calendar to see if I have to be any where early. Play the Vision Statement slideshow again. Go to bed.
A lot of nights I work until 11 pm or midnight, but that is usually because I am really on fire and lose track of time, or because I have a deadline that has to be met. As you have heard me mention before, I am always in a state of prayer, where it kind of feels like being on the phone with God all day. So when a butterfly flits past, the first thing I think is, “Hey thanks, that was really great to see!” or when a person is giving me a hard time, I am peaceful inside and quietly wondering, “What is it You really want me to get out of this?” Since we are all doomed to heads full of chatter, I try to make as much of it count for something as possible.
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.
I love Howie so much!
Serenity
Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. It is the result of long and patient effort in self-control. Its presence is an indication of ripened experience, and of a more than ordinary knowledge of the laws and operations of thought.
A person becomes calm in the measure that one understands themselves as a thought evolved being, for such knowledge necessitates the understanding of others as the result of thought, and as one develops a right understanding, and sees more and more clearly the internal relations of things by the action of cause and effect, one ceases to fuss and fume and worry and grieve, and remains poised, steadfast, serene.
The calm person, having learned how to govern themselves, knows how to adapt themselves to others; and they, in turn, reverence their spiritual strength, and feel that they can learn of them and rely upon them. The more tranquil a person becomes, the greater is their success, their influence, their power for good. Even the ordinary trader will find their business prosperity increase as one develops a greater self control and equanimity, for people will always prefer to deal with a person whose demeanor is strongly equable.
The strong, calm person is always loved and revered. They are like a shade-giving tree in a thirsty land, or a sheltering rock in a storm. Who does not love a tranquil heart, a sweet-tempered, balanced life? It does not matter whether it rains or shines, or what changes come to those possessing these blessings, for they are always sweet, serene, and calm. That exquisite poise of character which we call serenity is the last lesson of culture; it is the flowering of life, the fruitage of the soul. It is precious as wisdom, more to be desired than gold, than even fine gold. How insignificant mere money seeking looks in comparison with a serene life - a life that dwells in the ocean of truth, beneath the waves, beyond the reach of tempests, in the eternal calm!
How many people we know who sour their lives, who ruin all that is sweet and beautiful by explosive tempers, who destroy their poise of character, and make bad blood! It is a question whether the great majority of people do not ruin their lives and mar their happiness by lack of self-control flow few people we meet in life who are well-balanced, who have that exquisite poise which is characteristic of the finished character! - James Allen. 1864-1912, Author
Being One With All Who Were, Are or Will Be
A letter to Barbara Frank after she asked how I feel so connected to the cats who have died. Dear Barbara, Feeling the cats as ever present has come from just being aware. That was how I first heard from Malachi, Nini, Sarabi and others (while they were alive) and that is what has fueled my desire to let the world know how connected we all are. That awareness comes from feeling gratitude, which keeps me in a happy frame of mind and that is what opens the doors to experiences that I can only describe as miraculous. The How To Manual for this is ridiculously simple. Every morning, before my feet hit the floor I pray a prayer from 1 Chronicles 4: 9-10
“And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that I may do no harm! And God granted him that which he requested. “
The Bible says Jabez was blessed greater than any others because of his prayer. I add to this prayer a long session on all of the things I am already thankful for; all the people, all the blessings, all the changes in attitude that I am seeing, etc., and then I start the prayer. Throughout the day, every time I have a negative thought, such as feeling that others aren’t doing what they should (ie: the Vernon Yates and Gloria Johnsons of the world) I stop myself and purposely find 5 or 6 good thoughts even if the best thing I can think of is to say to myself that if it weren’t for them there wouldn’t be a good example of why we need better laws.
I try to find and FEEL some good thought about them and I don’t stop until I have some good feeling about them. I do this on every negative thought that comes my way. At first it takes a while and feels like a lie, but what I found is that it quickly becomes habit. The more I have done this, the more connected to God I have felt.
When I read The Science of Getting Rich it really brought into my awareness that God isn’t off in some far off place. He is the Thinking Stuff (as the author calls Him) that is in all and in between all that we see. So the space between me and my keyboard right now is God and God is Love. Then I think about the fact that every cell of my body is mostly space (from a scientific standpoint) so the space in each cell, between the electrons and neutrons is filled with God. There are lots of references in the Bible to being filled with God but even with 46 years of going to church 3 times a week, I never really FELT this until now. And Wow!
What a feeling! What has been really weird is the feeling of being surrounded by all who ever lived and all who ever will live and feeling their presence as clearly and fully as this cat sitting next to me on the floor. People and animals who I had thought of as dead are more alive than they ever were in their limited earthly form, and it is like they are all this ONEness.
While I often will recognize a presence walking with me as that individual personality, I sometimes have more of a feeling of all being One and being connected to that One. It is in that state that my best ideas and intuitions give birth. I still step in and out of this flow, like dipping my foot into a pool and becoming the water, and am working on being the water all the time, because the best things happen when I am feeling love and gratitude. I am not sure how to share this with others, so I am trying to just be a living example in the hopes that when people see that it works for me, they will try it themselves.
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.
Remember the Helicopter Brothers Don Invested With in Costa Rica?
This was translated from Spanish to English using Google Translate so it’s a little hard to read.
The San José Trial Court ordered the payment of $ 20.2 million in favor of dozens of victims of Osvaldo Villalobos Camacho, recently sentenced to 18 years in prison for aggravated fraud and illegal financial intermediation. Villalobos attracted - according to the ruling - dozens of foreign investors, whom he offered to pay high interest rates in exchange for their money. They lost their funds after the sentenced today and his brother, Luis Enrique Villalobos (a fugitive from justice), closed the firms Ofinter and The Brothers after the intervention of the Prosecutor's Office, in July 2002. This caused dozens of people material and moral damage, the Court estimated.
According to Ewald Acuña, legal representative of a group of investors, the money frozen in the Villalobos' accounts, as well as property and assets of their companies, are enough to answer for the economic damage. However, we must wait for the ruling to be final. Corporate lawsuit. Those affected not only sued Villalobos, but also a group of public limited companies and companies related to him. These include Casa de Cambio Bulevar, Corporación Platino, Inmobiliaria Platino, Inversiones Hass, Framagra, Casa de Cambio Ofinter, Tourism Support Services, West Pack Marketing, Dorado Internacional and Compañía Mercantil El Desierto.
Of the reparations for the economic damage, those of Dana Webster and Patricia Fleming stand out, to whom Villalobos must return $ 2.5 million and $ 1.2 million, respectively. “The judgment showed that, under no circumstances, did the State of Costa Rica conspire to leave the people who were defrauded by Mr. Villalobos without money. “The court made public the existence of a group of people outside the process who engaged in interfering, obstructing, demanding and even threatening. I am referring to people who thought that the way to help the Villalobos was to harass, ”said Acuña.
Once the sentence is final, a civil process will be established. In bank accounts $ 12 million are frozen. The rest of the amount would be covered by goods that must be auctioned. Unconventional case. During the sentencing - on May 16 - the judges highlighted that the Villalobos brothers mobilized more than $ 400 million before being discovered. In his defense, Osvaldo Villalobos tried to separate his foreign exchange activities from those of his fugitive brother.
The judges were convinced that the firms were one and that they were dedicated to raising money. "We are facing an unconventional crime," said Judge Carlos Pérez. https://www.nacion.com/sucesos/tribunal-ordena-pago-de-202-millones-a-victimas-de-ofinter/4OJKVWRC6ZE43OMTOQFSXYOPFA/story/
Luis Enrique Villalobos Comacho and his brother were purported to me by Roger Petersen to be the head of the Costa Rican mafia. Who knows if that was true, but it’s obvious they were con men who made millions off people like Don Lewis who were out to get rich quick and who relied on the verbal recommendations of others without doing any real due diligence.
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.
Ray and Nancy Murray
Questions for Ray Murray
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If your goal is to help people, how do you most effectively accomplish that? One on one, book, Internet, etc.?
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Is it more your goal to help a limited number that you can make a profound difference in their lives through your coaching, or would it suit you better to reach the masses with knowledge that gets more people generally moving in the right direction?
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You mentioned having a number of businesses; do some or all of those businesses have helping people as their purpose? (When I refer to helping people, I do not mean charity; but rather education/ motivation/ inspiration)
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What do you want people to know about you?
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What do you know about you, that perhaps most people might not know, and yet would benefit from knowing?
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When you are gone, what do you want people to remember about you?
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What lasting change are you most pleased with that will have been as a direct result of your time here?
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When you look back over your life what has given you the greatest sense of peace?
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Defining moments. What were the turning points or defining moments that brought you to where you are now?
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What qualities have served you best?
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How do you start your days?
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How do you end them?
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How do you prioritize the time in between?
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What areas of life have you looked at and thought, “I can fix that.” and did?
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To what do you credit your success in those endeavors?
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Are their issues that you think about and want to change, but have not found the opportunity or the time to pursue? What are they and why do they interest you?
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How do you inspire others to look beyond their own comforts to using their energy to make the world a better place?
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Are you involved with others who meet for that purpose? If not, are you aware of any such groups who have the desire and the real ability to do so? A Mastermind group of sorts?
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Theoretically, non profit board members would fit that description for focused change, based upon the charity, but I am wondering how often even these boards are utilized for creating change vs. just being used as a fundraising tool.
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How do you think charities could be better educated, motivated or inspired by what you know about running a for-profit business and what you know about the way things work in life?
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How would you get that message to the people who need most to hear it?
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From what you know of other successful people who serve on the same boards that you do, would some, or many, of them desire to share what they know of running their businesses and lives with the officers of the charities they serve so that the charities would be better capable of achieving their missions?
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From what you know of people running charities, would some, or many, of them be open to learning from their board members?
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If time is the major impediment to both of the above, how can that be overcome?
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What do you hope to accomplish in the next 5 years, God willing?
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What do you see as the best plan to achieve that?
Sent the above questions to him via email on 5/1/07
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.
Thinking Fat Thoughts
Do you ever wonder why some people can eat anything and not get fat, and yet if you even think about cookies you put on 10 pounds? I believe the key in this statement is the word think.
From an early age I was taught to obsess about my weight and appearance by the example set forth in my family’s women. They were all notably beautiful but they worked hard at it; always dieting, exercising and never being really satisfied with the way they looked. Some people are influenced by the opposite extreme and grow up trying hard to NOT look like their family. In either case, these perceptions are often instilled in us while we are children and so we accept the beliefs, no matter how flawed.
At five feet seven inches I weighed 212 pounds in 1998 and decided that I had to do something different. I tried every diet imaginable and have amazing will power (having given up smoking and drinking years before) but every time I would find a plan that would allow me to lose weight, I would drop a few pounds and then level out.
By 2007 I had managed to stabilize at 165 pounds and was consuming 1100 calories per day on a low carb, high vegetable protein diet. I ate 6 small meals per day. I drink a gallon of water a day. I was playing tennis three days a week, working out at the gym three days a week and had been doing so since 1997. I was swimming AND roller blading five days a week. My biggest complaint was that I had no time to work because all I had time for was dieting and working out. Despite this, my weight crept up to 168 pounds, but now I had really discovered the power of The Secret.
Considering the fact that thoughts become things, I decided to change the focus from being fat to being thin. Instead of moaning to myself that “no matter what, I can’t lose weight” I decided to image myself thin. Every morning, when I pray the Prayer of Jabez, I see myself slender and beautiful. I know that I can attract anything that I want and believe that I am attracting this into my life.
Throughout my day, instead of thinking that I “cant have” what I want to eat, I say that “I only want what is good for me and will allow me to be the best I can be.” I have found that just this tiny shift has had amazing results. I don’t feel deprived. I don’t suffer cravings. I don’t have the desire to reward myself with some forbidden food because I managed to lose a couple pounds. (Ever done that?)
I have dropped the tennis and swimming and have more time. I have dropped to 158 pounds and am continuing to drop to my desired weight of 140 pounds. It didn’t take sacrifice and it didn’t take more work. All it took to have what I wanted was the clear image of what that looks like and the belief that it is happening. To receive the body I wanted, all I am doing is keeping my thoughts in harmony with that picture and belief. What do you believe is possible for you?
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.
When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change
I wrote and posted this online:
Howard was 52 and was kind, funny, attractive, gregarious and financially secure. He was a semi retired banker, a Harvard MBA with a law degree, who had been blessed with many friends and who had enjoyed the company of beautiful women that he had really liked, but he had never married. It was always his desire to find his soul mate and marry, but it had just never happened. He had never even lived with a woman. Now he was thinking it might never happen and being discouraged he had not dated in a year. He sat down at his desk and decided he would try one last thing; he would “put it out to the Universe” that he was ready to find her…
Six months earlier I had broken up with a man who would rather see me dead than let me leave the house; for fear that I would leave him. Why did I always attract the dangerous sort? From the time I was 15 my life has been a continuous series of abusive relationships with men. I had always been attracted to the charismatic, womanizing, death defying sort. They were always dead broke or incapable of supporting themselves. I loved the adventure, the intrigue and the challenge of staying alive but it came at a terrible cost to my health and my sanity. At the age of 41, I didn’t know how much of either I had left.
I had always had trouble with my weight and given how little I eat and the way I eat, I had finally decided it was all in my head, and went to see a hypnotherapist. It was in this semi somnolent state that I discovered I always seek out the same relationships. Waking, I decided to make a conscious effort to change my choices in men. If he seemed daring, cavalier or dark, in any way, I would avoid him and seek out someone who was kind, funny and financially secure…
When I first saw Howard he was dressed in a plain grey business suit and was stiffly walking up the ramp to a fundraiser for a new initiative to save tens of thousands of dogs and cats from being euthanized in our county’s shelter each year. I remember thinking to myself, “I could sure loosen him up a bit!” Hearing my footsteps behind him, he turned and kindly asked if I was attending this same function.
He was everything I had never looked for in a man. I was everything he had never looked for in a woman. The night we met was November 1, 2002. Six months later we moved in together. We were engaged a year after meeting and married two years after meeting. We have found all that we wanted in each other and together our lives are far more abundant than they were before. I have never been so happy, so satisfied or so thrilled to be alive!
Howie is my best male friend. He is my business partner. He has helped me find ways to make the sanctuary self supporting. He has been loving, attentive, fun; a real joy to be around. We understand The Secret and we are co-creating a beautiful life together.
When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. We both changed the way we looked for love and romance and found what we really wanted.
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.
I always win
I am not boasting here, but stating a frame of mind that I have had since I was a child, and it has served me well. I was fortunate to have parents and grandparents who always told me I could achieve anything and as a result adopted that belief early, but it doesn’t matter when you start. Anyone can change the way they think.
I remember being five or six years old and watching a kid’s program on T.V. The hero was vanquishing all of the villains using a walking cane that had a lion’s head grip that shot darts. I could see myself carrying that cane and liberating the good from the evil. I never lacked for imagination, but most kids don’t.
At the commercial break the announcer said, “You can win the treasure chest of toys including the walking cane. All you have to do is mail in your name and address to win.” I believed him. I thought all I had to do was mail in my address. What did I know of contest, odds and such? So I did. And I won.
From that day forward I was convinced that whatever I wanted to win was mine. As a teenager at a roller-skate-athon I was raising money for MS and out of a hundred or more people entered into a raffle pulled my own name from the hat. Not feeling that was fair, I dropped it back in and someone else drew my name. Still feeling that I had somehow improved my odds unfairly, I threw it back in and asked someone else to draw and again, my name was pulled. It wasn’t until I took my one ticket out and asked that they draw again that a different winner was pulled.
I don’t know what kind of odds that amounted to either, but it certainly reinforced my belief that I always win. As a result I won’t play the lottery, because it somehow feels like I have an unfair advantage, and I don’t like the way that feels. I got rich anyway without feeling bad about it. In fact, I feel great about it because even though I always win in business, I strive for Win Win situations.
Maybe you have never won anything in your life, but it is only because you haven’t convinced yourself that you always win. If a six year old can do it, so can you. Every day tell yourself, “I always win!” Feel it. Expect it. In no time you will be experiencing it.
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.
I just joined the Science of Getting Rich program and posted this testimonial:
Learning to Walk...again
I left home at the age of 15, but I must admit it was because of my own misperceptions and not because of anything my family did. I had the benefit of being raised by people who taught me early to read, The Power of Positive Thinking, Psycho Cybernetics, Think and Grow Rich, etc. and they always told me that I could accomplish anything I set my mind to.
I had taken up with a man much older than me named Jim, who was 6 foot 4, weighed 230 pounds and who was both an alcoholic and drug abuser. He showed up at my door in W.Va. and said he wanted to go to Disney World. (From the future: Actually there was a span of time between the two, but I shortened it for this letter) Jim had taken and failed his driver’s license test five times. I told him I would drive us there. My plan was to drive him back to Tampa, where his family lived, rather than Orlando where Disney World was, and for most of the trip I had him fooled.
When it came time to make the last leg of the journey though, Jim was drunk but he was onto me. He had turned around in the seat and was hitting me, screaming at me, and in this case, more importantly blocking my view. I missed the stop sign and drove into the path of a car, twice as big as the little import I was driving, that was doing 60 miles an hour. The impact into my door crushed my car in half and threw me out through the windshield.
I woke up the next day in a hospital with doctors telling me that two of the bones in my neck had been broken and that I would never walk again. They were telling me I would need a rod implanted in my spine just so that I would be able to sit up in a wheel chair. Dumbfounded, I couldn’t speak. This couldn’t be my life. Some may have called this denial, but it was the unwillingness to accept this that kept it from becoming my reality. Jim and some of his friends helped me escape the hospital where I was listed as a Jane Doe. I didn’t want to be a burden to my family and wouldn’t tell anyone who I was. They took me to Jim’s family where I was bed ridden. I would throw myself onto the floor and using my elbows drag myself around the room. I used the furniture to pull myself up and was growing stronger every day, but I couldn’t walk. I didn’t want my family to know about my condition, but somehow my grandfather found out and he came to take me to a chiropractor.
With the help of the chiropractor and my strong belief that I could accomplish anything, including the ability to walk again despite a broken neck, I was soon walking. I didn’t know about The Secret back then.
I didn’t know that I was bringing all of the bad experiences into my life because I was focusing on how bad things were. I didn’t know that I brought healing into my life because I was focusing on the image I could see in my mind’s eye of me being able to walk again. I was being thankful for the fact that I was alive and that I was improving every day. It was that crystal clear image of what I intended to be and thankfulness to God for what I had that made me whole. I didn’t know what it was called. It would be thirty years before I would understand it. Now that I know The Secret Law of Attraction I want to share it with everyone.
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.
Tippi Hedren Invites Me to Go Boating With Her
The Secret has always worked in my business life, but I am just now learning how to apply it to every aspect. I didn’t know what it was called, and I wasn’t sure how it worked, but I knew that if I could see the end result I wanted and feel it, like it was already here, I would be amazed at how it would come about. When I first watched The Secret, I realized that this was not just because I am so blessed, but rather something that anyone could do. As a result I have been sharing it with everyone who will listen.
Sometimes you have to be careful what you ask for, because I think God has a sense of humor. I have never cared about material things, but I know that in order to accomplish all that I intend to accomplish for the betterment of society, I have to have financial security.
Financial security is a hard thing to really see in your head, so I borrowed from Jack Canfield’s advice and pictured the lifestyle that goes along with it, as a way to bring it about. Again, I don’t have any desire for the jet set lifestyle, but was attempting to find a way to picture enough money to ensure that I can continue to provide for my family, for the sanctuary that is home to more than 140 lions, tigers and other big cats, and especially the funds needed to change the laws so that animals are treated with more compassion. So, I pictured the island home, the yachts, the planes, the cars, the celebrities…
Within a week, a movie star that I have only met twice called me and invited me to be her guest at the home of one of her supporters. She offered to have someone come for me in a private plane. When I went online to their website to find out a little more about them, I saw the island house I had pictured, with two yachts and a seaplane tied up on the beach. Once I arrived I saw a Bentley and a Porsche in the garage and some of the nicest and most generous people I have ever met. I was half tempted to pinch them, just to see if they were real.
They treated me to a lovely dinner cruise on their yacht and asked me to spend the night in their resort. They were so hospitable and wanted to help in any way possible. It was obvious that they know and practice The Secret. I was able to spend some quality time with the celebrity that I barely knew and now we are all working together to create some better legislation. This is such a small example of the power of the law of attraction and it makes me smile every time I think about the level of detail that was all manifested in such a short period of time. Carole Baskin, Founder of Big Cat Rescue
From the future: As I was reading this story today, it reminded me of a funny moment that I don’t appear to have ever recorded. While spending the night with Tippi’s donors, she caught me in the hall, with a look of utter distress on her face. She had been wearing skin tight pants and when she needed to relieve herself, she had gotten the zipper in front jammed. She was so embarrassed to ask for help, but it was becoming an emergency, so I was the person she felt least awkward to ask for assistance. Tippi is a tiny little thing, so I got down on my knees in front of her to try and free the zipper without ripping the fabric. She was telling me to “Hurry up! Can’t you do it any faster?!” and the more distressed she got, the louder she got, until she had drawn the attention of the donors to what looked to be a lewd scene in their hallway. We were able to explain and got the zipper un stuck in time.
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.
Roxanne the Dog Dies
Dear Jamie,
Your mom will tell you that I died peacefully in my sleep on the night of March 11th. I knew this would be a hard transition for you and I didn’t want to see you cry. I just acted perfectly normal and decided to step out while my body was sleeping.
Someday you will see death for what it really is. It is just like walking through a door. We are just as alive on the other side, but we keep coming back to the game, because we love it so. We pick out a costume and a role often get so into the part that we forget who we really are. I am back in the game already. You just haven’t recognized me yet.
Your mom buried me outside the fence, under the Bougainvillea bush, in keeping with the tradition you guys have of bringing life from death. I live again in the fuchsia flowers, but that is just the life that springs from my old costume. My real essence is in the wind on your face and the thoughts in your head. She thought that given your propensity for symbolism, that it made sense to bury me outside the fence, because I used to jump the fence all the time, when my body was younger.
I taught you how to care deeply for others by my escapades. Those lessons were tough, but they made you tougher. I served a purpose in your life as a little girl, but you are so grown up now, and I am so proud to be your friend.
We have so much work to do now. There is so much joy and abundance ahead of us. You will recognize me in a passing stranger, in an awe inspiring sunset, in an injured creature that finds their way to you, in a clever thought that you may think is your own. We are not confined to these costumes, even while we are wearing them. I am everywhere, just like you are in your dream state and like you will be in your waking state as you awaken to all that you are capable of. I’ll always love you, Roxanne
Cousin Scott Smith DUI Email from Mom to me: Last night a deputy called to tell me that Scott Smith had been picked up on DUI and wanted the deputy to call because I knew "someone" who could get him out of jail - probably, he was thinking of Chuck. The deputy said there was nothing anyone could do to get him out of jail and I told him that I understood that and thanked him for calling. No matter if it is a relative, drunks belong in jail if they are so inconsiderate that they will get behind the wheel. I didn't call anyone and just went back to bed. I will call Mari later in the day and see if she knows about it. If she can't find him, she will worry. Kerry left Scott and moved to Lakeland to be near her job about a month ago. They have been seeing each other and trying to reconcile if Scott would straighten up but this looks pretty hopeless. Just thought you would want to be updated. A couple of other pieces of depressing news: MJ is sick with 103 degree temperature and a lot of lung congestion. There is a lot of flu going around. I am keeping close watch on her and keeping fluids near her bed. Love, Mom Momma Jacquie Loses Her Mind Mom said that when she went to pick Momma Jacquie up for church she was wearing every bracelet and necklace she owns, which is a substantial amount of weight, pants, knee high boots and no bra or blouse. She thought she was ready for church. The next day she had no recollection of it. I hope Jamie puts me out of my misery before I become this sort of a burden to her. From the future: My mother continued to care for my grandmother until her death in 2014. Before BigDaddy had died in November 1997 he told us that we needed to watch over Momma Jacquie because he thought she was losing it back then. It was a ten year decline. It’s like a long, slow death.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.
Sarabi was euthanized today due to a very aggressive cancer
I was away and Jamie had to make that call. I think it may have been the first time for her to have to do such a heart breaking thing. I wrote the following the the volunteers after the blood work indicated it was cancer and we had to euthanize Sarabi.
You hear a lot of backyard breeders saying that they are breeding Barbary Lions to save them from extinction, but it isn’t true. Many years ago, when the King of Morocco first came up with the idea of bringing the Barbary Lion (AKA Black Maned Lion or Asiatic Lion) back from the edge of extinction, he sent a group called Wildlink to the U.S. to look at 327 captive lions who were reported to have traits of the Barbary Lion.
Of the 327 likely candidates only three were considered pure enough representatives of the species to use for a captive breeding program. There were two males chosen and Sarabi, our lioness was the only female selected. She is a representative of 14 of the 17 Barbary traits, making her the closest living relative to the cat that is now extinct in the wild. Before the program ever got off the ground the King fell sick and his family had no interest in saving the cats who once were used by the Romans for entertainment in the coliseum.
We don’t believe in breeding cats for lives in cages so we never bred Sarabi, but because she may someday be called upon for her genes, we did not spay her. She would cycle in and out of heat and did so for many years. This last time didn’t seem any different than before until she came out of heat and wasn’t hungry.
She was started on antibiotics but two days later was not improving. After an emergency consultation with three vets it was decided that we would open her up to spay her and see if there was anything else going on, such as an impaction, that was causing her to act nauseous. It was after dark before Dr. Stacie Wadsworth, DVM and Dr. Elizabeth Wynn, DVM could wrap up their day work to come to the sanctuary. The wind had begun to howl. The next morning we would discover that 14 people in central Florida had been killed in the squalls and tornadoes that spun out of those raging winds.
Thanks to Dr. John & Sherrod West and Richard and Debbie Boensch we have a small cat hospital on site. Since Sarabi was too big to transport into the clinics of either of our vets (394 lbs) we were fortunate to have our own safe place for surgery and recovery that had been built with huge doors that would allow the rolling transport to roll right inside. Scott Lope and Cathy Mayeski saw to it that the hospital was fully stocked with all that we would need and made sure that everything was clean. Jamie and Justin Boorstein rounded up flashlights, radios and emergency gear to make the big move from Sarabi’s half acre enclosure on the other side of the lake to the cat hospital.
I sat with Sarabi and tried to assess her condition. She kept giving me the image of “poison” but insisted that she hadn’t eaten poison. She acted like she just couldn’t get comfortable. Sometimes she would dry heave, but only briefly, and then she would lay as close as she could get to me, with only the wall of her cage separating us. She rolled her belly up to me as if to say that this was where the pain was, and I could feel the heat, but did not touch her for fear of inflicting more pain. (Not to mention the fact that having my arm inside the fence would have been a really stupid thing to do.)
Scott did an expert job of anesthetizing and I was amazed at how well trained our staff has become in emergencies like this. On radio command they all emerged from the darkness: The transport truck backed up to her cage, the golf carts surrounded it, she was lifted onto a blanket and hoisted into the transport by half a dozen volunteers, while some held lights and others carried the drugs and tools. In no time she was being brought into the bright lights of the cat hospital and placed on a table that we had designed just for this very purpose.
This emergency crew had worked together before everyone knew what to do. Cathy began shaving the belly while Justin, Jess and others began restraining her legs. Scott held her mouth open while Dr. Stacie fitted her with tracheal pipe for gas. Dr. Wynn made a makeshift mouth piece for Sarabi by using two regular, full size gas masks, as caps over her canines so that she wouldn’t bite her tongue or cut off the air supply in her sleep. Barbara Frank and Becky Gagliardo filled syringes with fluids and an IV drip was installed. Brian filmed the scene to share with other big cat vets and students. Sarabi was sleeping like a kitten. Everyone had watched The Secret recently and was reminding each other to only think happy thoughts.
Palpitation of her abdomen revealed a hard mass, the size of a loaf of bread. It was apparent that this was the source of the problem, but what was it? Surgery revealed a huge area of necrotic (dead) tissue and that could be one of two things. It could be an enormously invasive cancer or the result of a snake bite. It would be days before a lab could verify the cause of the affliction, so a hard decision had to be made: Cut out the tumor and have a huge gaping hole in her belly for her to contend with or install three drains and pray that it was a snake bite.
If we were to find out the next week that it was cancer, we would have to euthanize her and her last week would have been one of misery after such invasive surgery and then the issue of trying to close up such a huge wound. If we were to find out it was a snake bite, then the tissue will slough off anyway and cutting away at it tonight was not going to speed up the recovery any. There were no fang marks, but I was told that if the bite had been a few days ago, the holes would not be apparent now. The vets asked me what I wanted to do, but I told them that they were the experts and that I trusted their judgment. We opted for drains.
Scott took the first watch with her and was relieved later by Jamie and Justin. I took the watch the following day. All doped up to feel no pain, Sarabi drifts in and out of sleep. I feel each breath she takes as she exhales on my skin. I drift back in time and think of all we have been through together…
She arrived in 1995 as a tiny, two week old cub. The people who bred her claimed to be running a sanctuary but were selling her and Mufasa at an exotic animal auction for 150.00. They were so strung out on drugs that they were trying force feed her curdled milk and Sarabi was resisting mightily. It was never our intention to rescue big cats, but my late husband couldn’t leave her in the hands of such incompetence and brought them home to me. We would learn later that you can’t buy a cat out of even the worst situation because it just continues to fuel the breeding and selling, but 12 years ago we didn’t see the big picture.
We had a house full of rescued bobcats and lynx who had come from the last fur farm rescue we did in 1995. More than 20 youngsters had the run of the house. Lions being the pride animals they are were more than happy to be adopted by these older, yet smaller furballs. The bobcats would all pile up on the bed into a purring heap of fur and the smaller ones had to be pulled out of the stack periodically for fear of them being crushed by the weight. The little lions were too small to jump up onto the bed and would pace, frantically screaming, for me to lift them up into the pile with the others. They were more than happy to be on the bottom of the stack and would dive right in. I don’t think I will ever forget what it felt like to see Sarabi and Mufasa so happy in their makeshift family pride of bobcats and lynx.
Once one bobcat was awake, the whole group would spring to life and go racing through the halls and out into the fenced yard via a pet door. The little lions would again be screaming to be put down on the floor to join them and every where the bobcats went the toddling lions were right behind them. The lions were floor bound where the bobcats were leaping off door jambs, furniture and window sills. Sometimes I would see Mufasa and Sarabi pause by the mirrored closet doors to talk with their reflections. When the bobcats were just too aloof, the reflections always wanted to talk with them.
Weaning the bobcats from the bottle to meat was a pretty quick process that ended up with a couple of days of feeding a warm mush of meat and milk from my hand to their lips. Once they got the idea they would lap it up from a plate and within a week the milk was no longer needed. Lions, on the other hand, were a much messier process. It became such an ordeal that I would put on a swimsuit and sit in the bath tub with them. By the end of each meal we all had to shower off in the tub. Doing that four times a day got old in a hurry for me, but the cubs just loved it.
In time the lions weighed more than I did and sleeping on the bed with the bobcats was not a viable option for the bobcats. I remember the first cage that we built for them. All of the reference books said that lions don’t like the water, so we build a cage that was an acre in size and consisted of three sides and the lake as the fourth side. Sarabi and Mufasa were too big to move in carriers and back then we didn’t have the transport wagons so we decided to walk them on leashes from their backyard area to their new cage. They wouldn’t go anywhere without each other, so one person had to walk both of them or they would get so freaked out at the prospect of being separated that they would only hang onto each other. I had both of them leashed and as soon as the gate was open it was like skiing behind a twin engine boat.
As we bolted across 20 acres and into the new enclosure, I released the collars and watched them both go flying across the cage… and into the lake. Dang! I guess all of that weaning in the bath tub had imprinted on them that water is great fun and the books just didn’t apply to them. Perplexed we had to round them up before they hit the other side of the lake and the only things available were a Jon boat and a canoe. Floating bathtubs looked like even more fun. The rowdy pair began trying to climb up into the boats and it was all we could do to keep them upright while herding the cats back into their enclosure. By this time you can imagine how tired I was, but had to leash them back up and ski back to their backyard home, until we could build a fourth wall on their new enclosure.
We went through some sad times too. When Mufasa died under anesthesia for a simple X-ray at the Gainesville University Vet Center so many years ago, I thought it would kill Sarabi too. She wailed for weeks and moped for months. Nothing could console her. She hugged my neck so tightly every time I saw her, as if she feared that I would disappear from her life like he had, if she ever let go. I used to love her hugs but these were just heart breaking. In time I learned that no matter how much I may love her, it was reckless to indulge my need for contact and risk her life and that of every cat in the sanctuary if I should be killed. Each of us had lost our life’s mates, but we had each other and eventually we both pulled through.
In time we both learned to love again, but in time it was Sarabi who relived the pain of losing the one she adored. We had been boarding a lion who belonged to a woman (Susan Aronoff) who lived in a condo, but when she took him away, Sarabi felt the sting of loss once more. Now her friends are a silly young lioness named Nikita, next door and the tigers from the circus. At night Sarabi leads them all in a multi racial choir of roars that echo across the lake.
The most important lesson that I learned from Sarabi is that she and her kind do not belong in cages. They have their own agenda and amusing us wouldn’t be a part of it if they were free to make their own homes, choose their own mates and raise their own families. They have a precious life to live and a legacy to leave and our job is to make sure that we don’t destroy the planet that is their birthright too.
2006 Annual Report
(Bo Derek was at the 2007 Fur Ball so this image is out of sequence. )
Big Cat Rescue’s Mission Statement: Big Cat Rescue’s dual mission is to provide the best home we can for the cats in our care and educate the public about the plight of these majestic animals, both in captivity and in the wild, to end abuse and avoid extinction.
Advances: Big Cat Rescue qualified for the Combined Federal Campaign’s National book and was certified by Independent Charities of America as one of the Best in America. This means that any government employee in the country can choose Big Cat Rescue from their 2007 gift guide next year to receive auto-deducted donations from their paychecks. We have been longstanding members in the local campaign but this will expand our exposure from the sun-coast area of Florida to the entire United States.
In January Ringling Bros. Circus announced in the Tampa Tribune that they had dropped tigers from their new show and that if the format was successful they intend to drop the big cats from their other acts as well. The UK announced the end to tigers and other big cats in traveling shows. Jamie traveled to Guyana, South America to help set up an eco-tourism lodge to save jaguars, ocelots, jaguarundi, margay and others in their native habitat. She began camera trapping and instructed local Amerindians in how to change the film and mail the results to us. She has been camera trapping in the U.S. as well and has participated with wildlife offices to help catch poachers. Read more about what we are doing to save cats in the wild at http://bigcatrescue.org/conservation.htm
Big Cat Rescue was welcomed into the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) bolstering its global Member Society network. WSPA now has 692 affiliated organizations in 142 countries and there are only 50 US members and most are Humane Societies. The WSPA is the world’s largest federation of humane societies and animal protection organizations. Through direct field work, campaigning, legislative work, education and training programs, WSPA strives to create a world where animal welfare matters and animal cruelty ends. We are proud to be inducted into this membership.
Animal Care: Thanks to oversight by our Operations Manager, Scott Lope, and the devotion of more than 100 well trained volunteers, the cats continue to thrive. Our enrichment program has advanced from once a week per cat to twice to three times per week per cat. Thanks to Jen Ruszczyk coming in before work, after work and on weekends, 57 of our 142 cats are now in the operant conditioning program with expertly trained volunteers. Thanks to Dr. Wynn, DVM and Dr. Wadsworth, DVM, our cats have been healthy and Cheetaro the leopard was neutered and Zabu the white tigress was spayed.
We rescued a Jungle Cat hybrid and reunited him with his owner. Scott Lope and some volunteers rescued a local neighborhood from a marauding python and found a home for him as well.
Staff and Volunteer Training: Sharon Marszal went to eBay school and then trained Bridget Bolger as her replacement. The intern and volunteer programs continue to evolve and this year included interns from Canada, Wales, CA, MA, NY, OR, PA, & VA.
We hosted Tom McCarthy of the Snow Leopard Trust as he shared breathtaking photos of snow leopards that he has been studying in the wild for more than 15 years. We support the Snow Leopard Trust through our gift shop sales of items made by the local villagers. Big Cat Rescue is the second largest retailer for Snow Leopard Enterprises, despite the fact that many huge zoos are also retailers. We hosted Snow Leopard Trust’s CEO Brad Rutherford subsequently and entered into a co-branding campaign where we sell, and allow the Snow Leopard Trust to sell, our Snow Leopard Screensavers with all of the proceeds going to snow leopard conservation. We shipped 100 of the screensavers to them as our donation and we continue to offer them in our gift shop and online. Read more about snow leopard conservation at http://bigcatrescue.org/snow_leopard_save.htm
Several of our staff and volunteers attended the Carnivore Conference hosted by Defenders of Wildlife and were happy to get to spend some time with Jeff Corwin and Dr. Alan Rabinowitz. The volunteers staffed a booth there to expose others in the animal world to the work Big Cat Rescue is doing for both captive and free roaming wildcats. Three of our volunteers, including Susan Mitchell, attended a course in effective, mainstream lobbying sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States.
Education: We brought in two new Educators: Beth Kamhi and Coleen Kremer who work as a tag team to cover all of our educational outreach and field trip activities. They provided 171 field trip tours for 5,263 students and hosted 60 summer campers on site. Beth and Coleen were able to add mini camps during holidays to our already popular summer camp. They did outreach presentations to 60 schools and other educational venues reaching tens of thousands more people. With help from our donors we were able to offer 43 of these outreach programs for free.
Our new zoning from 2004 allows for a Natural History Museum so we took the remains of cats that have died over the years to be taxidermied so that these rare cats will still be able to educate future generations. We filmed portions for an expose on the small cat and hybrid cat trade. We created a new Education brochure and inserts with the help of some donors who specifically asked to help with our Education Programs. With the help of AdvoCat, Robin Kitzmiller, we were able to put the Cat in FCAT by offering a complete online resource of K-12 study guides that teach the necessary skills for kids to pass the FCAT in Florida. Pass it on to your favorite teacher here http://bigcatrescue.org/teachersresource.htm
Shere Khan was the cover cat for Big Cats the USBorne Discovery Internet Linked book by Jonathan Sheikh-Miller and Stephanie Turnbull. This book was discovered in the Dead Zoo in Dublin, Ireland by Jamie Veronica while she was visiting there and is available world wide. Click on the photo to order your copy. AdvoCat, Lawanna Jones, created and we began distributing the Child Safety ID Kit at the Fur Ball and to the principals of all of the area’s schools. We have approached a number of child protection organizations to achieve a cooperative marketing program of this important tool.
Laura Lluellyn-Lassiter joined our volunteer force and is known as an animal communicator. She has helped give insight as to the true nature of the cats and produces her own blog called Cat Heart Whispers on our blog page. She works with our cinematographer, Brian Czarnik, to produce regular episodes of Animal Talk that can be seen here http://bigcatrescue.org/podcats.htm If people knew who these cats really are inside, they would not support industries that use them as props.
With the professional voice talent of supporter, Bonnie-Jean Creais we were able to add audio options to our educational pages about the different species of cats. There are a number of reasons why this is helpful. Children learning to read, can play the audio while reading the text to learn more difficult words. The visually impaired can click on the large image link and listed to the information without struggling to read. The audio can also be downloaded via subscription to our RSS feed at http://savethecats.hipcast.com/rss/animaltalk.xml that enables a person to listen to the information on their iPod or other portable player.
Our White Tiger page continues to be the most popular page on our site (after our main page) accounting for 7% of all of the visits to our 17,000 page site. We believe that this has had a tremendous impact on the white tiger situation because the price of white tiger cubs (which can only be produced through severe inbreeding) has dropped from $30,000 to $3,000 and the American Zoological Association has come out publicly against the practice of breeding and exhibiting white tigers. Breeders are giving away adult white tigers because the public now knows the dirty little secret behind white tiger breeding. If you don’t know it yet, check out http://bigcatrescue.org/white_tigers.htm
Legislation:
• Ban big cat contact to save human & big cat lives
• While escaped big cats are being shot in Ohio
• Those who are responsible for breeding so many excess lion and tiger cubs are pimping them out at an OH mall
• AdvoCat News for October 2011
• Meet 3 new tigers, see a purrsonal tribute to Steve Jobs, vote for us to win $25k and more
• Cubs Dragged From Mall to Mall.
• Ask these mall owners to consider the lives these poor cubs endure and end big cat displays at their properties.
• YOU can be a part of the most thrilling rescue of the year!
• Most Important Comment Period Ever to End the Trade in Generic Tigers!
• Ask USFWS to Rescind the Generic Tiger Exemption. You only have until Oct. 21 to Comment.
With the help of our supporters sending 30,765 letters we promoted state bills to ban the exploitation of exotic animals and several federal issues to curb the breeding, buying, selling across state lines as well. In 2006 sixty state bills were passed to protect animals and 11 were defeated that would have endangered animals. Thanks to all of our supporters who sent 2,282 letters asking for it, the USDA enacted rules to prohibit declawing big cats, barred walking big cats on leashes, banned using expired medicines on exotic cats and prevents shooting cats as a form of acceptable euthanasia. The USDA also stepped up their enforcement by shutting down 9 facilities this year as compared to only 3 in the prior two years. Three more states banned private possession of exotics in 2006 and seven countries enacted laws to protect the big cats including the banning of circus acts, barring possession of big cats as pets and closing down canned hunts.
The API did an excellent under cover investigation into the private possession that is espoused by Phoenix Exotics and the Feline Conservation Federation. Carole Baskin presented HB 1459 and SB 990 to Committees in Tallahassee on April 17th and 18th and she attended a luncheon with Senator Robert Byrd in Washington, D.C. She spoke at Capitol Advantage’s conference in D.C. on smart strategies for building advocacy influence. As a result of the speech, the President of the American League of Lobbyist, Paul Miller, has joined our Advisory Committee and has agreed to donate his time to helping us end the abusive trade in big cats. Attorney Jowita Wysocka has also agreed to donate her time to researching cases to help us promote Haley’s Act, a bill to ban contact with big cats. She and Paul have both joined Big Cat Rescue and IFAW in starting the Big Cat Caucus.
Patricia Massard took over the daily posting to the Big Cat Rescue Yahoo group, which now has 157 members and to all of our blogs at http://bigcatrescue.org/blog.htm
Fundraising and Marketing: Thanks to a couple of HUGE cat lovers, Big Cat Rescue got its first donation of $30,000.00 from a single family foundation. Many other large donors stepped up this year as well with $10,000.00 donations each. Through our participation in the Chrysler Birdies Championship we were able to get a matching grant in the amount of $10,000.00 and were one of the top performing charities in the league thanks to all of you who earmarked your donations to this program. Thanks to Cynthia Montayre, the gift shop on-site and online grew exponentially.
WEDU awarded Big Cat Rescue as second runner up in to the Top Charity in their 16 county viewing area at their first annual Be More Awards. We were originally selected because of our excellence in Marketing but were included in the overall Top 5 based upon the scope of what we do and the way we do it. We have been chosen for inclusion again for 2007.
Howard Baskin joined the Downtown Tampa Rotary and has been a speaker at the Center Club. We are attending a lot more Chamber meetings and joined the Governmental Affairs Committees in two of the Chambers. We were featured in A Kid’s Guide to Giving (ISBN 1-58476-489-9) by Freddie Zeiler as one of 100 kid approved charities. The Fur Ball had more than 500 attendees and netted more than $52,000.00. As always it was THE party of the year!
TV Stars: Our most exciting innovations have been in the movie realm. Big Cat Rescue was granted its own weekly, half hour, regular series on cable T.V. and will air its first episode soon. Jamie Veronica, Brian Czarnik and Honey Wayton took the courses necessary to bring top quality nature films to T.V. You can already see mini clips online at http://bigcatrescue.org/podcats.htm. These mini movies, that run from 2 minutes to 1 hour in length, are available online at Google Videos, My Space, You Tube and VEOH. Just type in “Big Cat Rescue” and you will find us in all of these hot social networking sites. Brian Czarnik has been cranking out at least two episodes each week to keep the content fresh and has been responsible for the upkeep of these sites and several more behind the scenes. All of these are available through iTunes now too. People just can’t get enough of seeing their favorite cats!
Big Cat Rescue was specifically mentioned in the press 117 times (that we know of) in 2006. This included such media as, The Washington Post, O, The Oprah Magazine, Associated Press, Geraldo At Large, Der Spiegel and Glamour Magazine. Big Cat Rescue was also pivotal in supplying background information on the number of people killed and mauled by captive cats to reporters from ABC’s Prime Time 20/20. Read all of the headlines here: http://bigcatrescue.org/news.htm
Thanks to coordination efforts of Julie Hanan and more than 50 volunteers, Big Cat Rescue provided a gift wrapping station at Borders Book Store for the weeks leading up to Christmas. They raised over $5,000.00 for the cats and handed out thousands of brochures and newsletters. This good-will effort cost our volunteers valuable family time during the holidays, but they did it to spread the word about the plight of the big cats. Barbara Frank has become our Wedding planner and has hosted 12+ weddings at Big Cat Rescue, raising $8,000.00 for the cats this year.
Charity Guide: Big Cat Rescue is now featured in Charity Guide’s Directory of volunteer opportunities. Our organization appears in the “How to Make a Difference” section of Charity Guide’s article titled Big Cat Rescue: Save Exotic Felines. Charity Guide publishes an editorially reviewed directory of opportunities to make a difference – which influences the volunteering decisions of over half a million “would-be volunteers” per year. Inclusion in their directory is based on research and extensive evaluation.
Our database of visitors and supporters has grown to a little over 45,000 and Catherine Monroe has been crucial in keeping that list up to date. Our Ezine recipient list has grown to more than 26,000 and AdvoCat, Christy Anderson, keeps them posted monthly on the happenings at Big Cat Rescue. We were the recipient of a Google grant that gave us $1,187,258.63 in free advertising that resulted in over 200 million impressions and 2,800,000 click throughs to our website. At the peak of this grant period our website was receiving more than 1,000,000 hits per DAY. We are now averaging about 30,000 page views per day, according to Google Analytics, and have a continuing grant for $15,000.00 a month in Google advertising.
Grounds Improvement: Our entire Board of County Commissioners voted in favor of Big Cat Rescue’s rezoning of 3 acres to allow for more onsite intern housing, overflow parking and access to a paved road. This access allows us to move forward on the major zoning that we had approved two years ago because much of the actual building was contingent upon us securing alternative access. This year we added room for four more interns and an indoor area where we can offer air conditioned facilities for parties and weddings at the sanctuary. This indoor area is also used for our monthly meetings in inclement weather, and as an area where we can offer video showings, slideshow presentations and meeting space. It augments our small E-Center so that we can accommodate larger school groups. Before now, if children come for a field trip and it is raining, they have to stay on the bus, but now they can come inside, see a video about the sanctuary and then as soon as the rain lets up go out and meet the cats. This area is a 2800 square foot mobile home with a 1500 sf covered patio and decks.
We built a new Cat-a-tats for Alachua Bob and Nairobi the Serval. With the help of a lot of donors we completed the new Cat-a-tats for the orphaned cougar cubs. Shatia and Dances With Wolves, the Canada Lynx, both got new cage additions and a gateway to each other with the hopes that these two old females can one day live together. Flavio’s pool had to be rebuilt and the waterfalls for both he and SARMOTI had to be rebuilt. Hurricane shelters that double as safety cages were started for Banjo, Bean, Mocha and Thing, the bearcats. Many of the cages were painted to prevent rust and lots and lots of flowering bushes were planted around the cages to attract butterflies and to provide shade as they grow up and over the tops of the enclosures.
We built up the paths and dug out and landscaped retention ponds to alleviate muddy paths for next rainy season. We shored up our sinking wall along the lake side and improved the road so that we can drive entirely around the property for better patrolling purposes. We began construction on a wall of memories for the cemetery. The stone wall has marble plaques that are laser engraved with the names and photos of cats who have passed on. These also bear the name of the Forever Sponsor who donates 500.00 two the purchase of the plaque. See how you can be forever remembered here at http://bigcatrescue.org/foreverremembered.htm
Helping Others: We provided offsite housing for Humane Alliance members who have come here to help ACT set up a low cost spay and neuter center and offered to transport animals to and from the clinic once a week for the rescue groups. We hosted team building events for the Emergency Animal Response Service group and gave them 150 free passes to give to all of the volunteers who help in times of disaster nationwide. We donated to all of our favorite animal causes (too many to list) giving them Expeditions and Free Passes to auction off to help them raise money to provide services for domestic pets. The Humane USA PAC (the nation’s largest political action committee for animals) hosted its Kids, Cats & Candidates day at the sanctuary. We donated an Expedition to raise money for our long time supporters Mario & Lenore Infanti who are facing health issues.
When our beloved tiger, Nini, died Brian Czarnik wanted her to live on and so we sponsored a tiger in the wild in Way Kambas Park. The money donated will help protect the tigers in this critical reserve. We worked with the Smithsonian Institution in a project to examine the population biology of small carnivores in Gabon, West Africa and Borneo. We hosted a party and raised more than $1000.00 to aid the campaign that would require the government to provide emergency plans for people who won’t leave their pets. This bill became law in 2006 and will protect America’s pets in times of disaster. We also sent proceeds from our Fur Ball to Lewa Conservancy in S. Africa and invested in creating eco-tourism in Guyana, South America to protect the wild cats in that area. At the request of the World Wildlife Fund in Poland we have provided photographs for them to use in creating a handbook for border guards to prevent the illegal trade in exotic cats and their pelts.
Other: Merrill Kramer took over our ink recycling program and reports income of roughly $2,000.00 per month now. You can learn how your old ink cartridges can save cats here http://bigcatrescue.org/ink
Jim Haaf, art director of the Jaycees showed his support for our mission without even asking as is evidenced by this wonderful park bench that we discovered alongside the road. When Howie called to find out who to thank, he discovered that they have donated two of these lovely benches to us. We are so grateful to all of our supporters who look for unique ways to express their devotion to our mission.
Tampa Bay Buccaneer, Chris Simms brought a group of children from the Children’s Home to visit Big Cat Rescue.
Officers and Members of the Board of Directors in 2006 and meetings:
• Founder, CEO, and Board Chairperson Carole Baskin (not compensated by BCR)
• President and Director Jamie Veronica (not compensated by BCR)
• Vice President & Director Cathy Mayeski (not compensated by BCR)
• Secty and Director Jen Ruszczyk (not compensated by BCR)
• Director Brian Czarnik (not compensated by BCR)
These members met for monthly board meetings.
Paid Staff:
• Operations Manager Scott Lope (compensated but not a member of the board)
• Gift Shop Manager Cynthia Montayre (compensated but not a member of the board)
• Administrative Bridget Bolger (compensated but not a member of the board)
Volunteers: Big Cat Rescue had 107 volunteers in 2006 who clocked in 32,000 man-power hours in addition to staff and Volunteer Committee member hours. Roughly the equivalent workforce of 16 full time staff.
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.
Weight Loss
The following is the diet that I follow every day. I have been on it for more than a year. It doesn’t bother me to eat the same thing every day and it lets me be able to ascertain exactly what is in my diet. Howie and I eat out every one or two weeks, and sometimes I don’t have the Tofu and Broccoli available (because my daughter cooks it for me a week in advance) so I will pick up a 12 pc pack of sushi at Publix. There is rice on the sushi, but maybe two tablespoons in all. I use the one little packet of soy sauce that comes with it. It is usually tuna and chopped veggies in the little rolls. When we eat out, I eat fish, dry, steamed veggies and sometimes rice. Rarely I will have a piece of bread or a glass of red wine. I never eat sugar or deserts of any kind.
I roller blade 30 minutes a day 5-6 days a week (6-8 miles) and work out at the gym with weights for half an hour, three times a week. I walk the sanctuary every day for an hour. I play tennis for an hour three times a week and in the warmer months will swim laps for 30 minutes 5 times a week. I have not been playing tennis for the past couple of months and that is part of why I am gaining weight. Just the time lost in the pool in the colder months is enough to make me start gaining weight as well.
I eat six or seven times a day. First number is calories/carbs 8:00 Matol protein cake 160/15 and glass of Headstart 62/15 http://www.matol.com/corpo/HBoutique/wpCatalogue4200_niv3.aspx?lang=EN_US&item=03720315&E=3 10:00 Matol protein candy bar 150/15 http://www.matol.com/corpo/HBoutique/wpCatalogue4200_niv3.aspx?lang=EN_US&item=03720415&E=3 12:00 Salad with 1 tablespoon of low carb (1 gram) dressing, no croutons 170/1 plus whatever is in lettuce, onions, broccoli, snap peas and 4-5 grape tomatoes 30/5 ? 2:00 Matol peach mango drink 90/4 http://www.matol.com/corpo/HBoutique/wpCatalogue4200_niv3.aspx?lang=EN_US&item=03720335&E=3 4:00 Matol yogurt berry drink 130/14 http://www.matol.com/corpo/HBoutique/wpCatalogue4200_niv3.aspx?lang=EN_US&item=03720505&E=3 6:00 Tofu patty, plain and steamed broccoli dry (sometimes asparagus instead) tofu patty 80/0 & broccoli 25/2 8:00 Matol cocoa (if I am hungry and usually I am not) 120/7 http://www.matol.com/corpo/HBoutique/wpCatalogue4200_niv3.aspx?lang=EN_US&item=03720325&E=3 10:00 Matol fibersonic (just for the fiber) 120/32 http://www.matol.com/corpo/hBoutique/wpCatalogue4200_niv3.aspx?lang=EN_US&E=2&item=031S
I drink a LOT of water, and no other drinks, except for three times a week I have a plain cup of coffee with soy milk. 40/11 The breakdown of those items is calories/carbs and then a full description online at the links beside each item. If I eat everything above in a day I consume 1177 calories and 120 carbs but it is rare that I would consume all of that in one day.
I hate having to spend so much time exercising just to keep from gaining weight on such a low calorie diet. I think it is a huge waste of time, but if I don’t I just pack on the pounds.
I am anemic, hypoglycemic, a free bleeder, and going through menopause, so I pass out if I don’t keep my blood sugar up. 9 years ago I weighed 212 lbs and did no exercise and was on Clariton because I couldn’t breathe without it. I was sick all the time and suffered from horrific headaches. I hardly ever have a headache now and have not taken any sort of prescription medication in the past 9 years. I have always taken vitamins and take glucosamine for my joints (back and knees). I can’t walk without it.
What is really amazing is that I haven’t had a cold in more than 9 years and am in otherwise excellent health. I feel great most of the time. I am 45 years old, 5 feet, seven inches tall and weigh 162 lbs but would like to weigh 145. When I went on the Matol diet, a year ago, I dropped down to 145 lbs, but have ballooned back up to my current 162.
I can’t eat meat. It is hypocritical of the message that I am trying to convey of having compassion for all life if I eat animals. I feel bad enough about the fish. Now head over to 4/17/07 for the rest of the story.
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.
Laura Asks About the White Cats Who Were My Friends
Laura asked when I stopped seeing the white cats. (This photo taken later of Babylon on his cat tower shows one of the large white cat sculptures in the background)
I never knew anything about wild cats as a kid. I could not have told a bobcat from a cheetah. The cats were not really white, so much as they were almost hard to look at, white light. Their shape was very much like the shape of the cougar, but as a child, I would not have known that. They were not shaped like cats, but that is how I referred to them. They were the size of Shadow to me as a child, so probably the size of Catrina in reality.
They didn't have names and while their voices were distinctly different, they shared a unison that is hard, even now for me to explain. I always heard their two voices and still do. That part never left me. Their voices have always been like two people saying the same thing in two different ways. They always agree with each other and I am usually the one trying to argue some other perspective, but they are always right.
A case in point: When Hercules, Armani and Jumanji were all about a year old, circa 1998 I had a limo that was like they haul old folks around town in. On one side of the bus I had installed stainless steel cages and on the other side of the bus were seats and we were on our way to a T.V. station to do an on air appearance. Jamie and Daniel, her boyfriend and I were going as the handler for each of the three cats.
Daniel was in the back of the bus holding Armani in his lap. Jamie may have had Jumanji out, but I don't recall and Hercules was in the cage. I was coming down off the ramp and heard the first voice say, "Hold on tight!" Immediately the second voice expanded on that and said, "Hold on tight and no one is going to get hurt!" and then my voice saying silently, "What are you guys talking about? There isn't anyone around us. What could possibly..."
There was an explosion like a bomb going off in the back. I looked into the rear view mirror and all I could see inside the van was smoke. The bus lurched to one side and it was all I could do to keep it from flipping over. I wrestled it off the road and into a field. Jamie was already freeing Hercules and leashing him up, with Jumanji on the lead in her other hand. The smoke was too thick to get to the back of the bus, so I ran around the bus on the outside to the back door.
When I opened it, Daniel was sitting perfectly still, staring straight ahead. Armani was slumped in his arms; not moving. Both of them and the entire back of the bus was sprayed with blood. There was a hole in the side of the bus ripping all the way under the floor where Daniel's feet had been resting so that the ground could be seen beneath his dangling feet. I didn't know if there was a fire in the bus because of the smoke, so I grabbed Daniel, who had a death grip on Armani and hurled them out of, and away from the van.
Jamie had Jumanji and Hercules a good distance from the bus and Daniel was starting to show some sign of life. We all thought that Armani was dead. She still hadn't moved. Jamie and I got everyone into the shade as it was blazing hot that day. Armani slowly regained (I pause, because it is hard to say what she regained. It was as if she regained consciousness, but I don't know that she was unconscious, so much as scared stiff and the same seemed to be true for Daniel.)
Apparently both of the tires on the back right had blown at the same time and the force of the radial tires exploding into the fiberglass shell of the van had sent millions of tiny shards of metal and fiberglass across Daniel and it appeared that all of the blood sprayed all over the van and the cat was his, but he wasn't bleeding any more. The smoke was from the rubber on the pavement. The voices were right. No one got hurt.
From the future, Lenore Infanti says this was probably as we were driving down for the Naples Morning Show at her local station. She said one of the cats peed on the set. I remember Hercules bounding around like a pinball on a leash backstage, having the time of his life.
This was a dramatic example, but very typical of the way they are always speaking, almost over each other, but clearly and always in agreement.
As for seeing them; I don't remember seeing them as clearly as I did up until I was 12 or so, with fleeting exceptions. Because their form is one of light and not hard boundaries, I have often felt that I have seen them fleetingly as an adult, but not like when they were my constant companions as a child. I always feel their presence and never lost that and have always heard them throughout the day.
When I walked into Kanes a few years ago and saw them across the room, my first reaction was one of non reaction, as if it was perfectly normal to glimpse them and then I noticed how rigid their form and that is when I decided, no matter what, I had to take those statues home, because they looked exactly like what I had always seen. When I see them, I usually just greet them as, "hey, guys!" and when I speak with them, I always refer to them as "you guys" but there is no sense of male or femaleness and until you asked me about it the other day, I never even thought about them having names. In retrospect, I guess it is because I think of names as labels that separate us and I tend not to think of spirits as separate. It's either that or my excuse for not remembering people's names...
Later I sent: Jamie is such a private person that I rarely know what is going on in her head. As you know, from her Mayan calendar description, she controls information as part of her way of feeling safe. Like all kids, she obviously conversed with those that were unseen to others, but she wasn't about to let anyone in on the conversations.
What was unusual about her is that everything had to be white. Her walls were white, her clothes were white, all (and I mean all) of the toys she selected were white. The white crayon was the first one to be used up. White crayons on white paper didn't bother her a bit. She was always able to manipulate her environment. Lights on and off from her crib and most chilling to both her father and I were the music boxes. He had a dozen or so ceramic clowns that were music boxes and they would play all the time without any assistance from us if she was alone in her crib. We always thought the place was haunted, but it didn't matter where we moved, and it wasn't until much later that I realized all the stuff that I moved, without intending to was mirrored in Jamie.
Speaking of moving things; I was at a reception for a candidate a few weeks ago and a woman across the room said to me, knowing about my past with the fur farms, that her coat was already dead when she bought it, so it wasn't her fault. She and the two women next to her saw the tongs on the table behind me come flying at her and as they caught my attention from the corner of my eye, they flipped in mid air and flew under the table they had launched from. I thought a cat must have jumped on the table and caused the tongs to go flying and asked if there had been a cat on the table and one of the women said, "No, they just sort of leaped out into the air on their own!" This woman is someone I have to be nice to, so I quickly changed the subject and got her talking about herself and she seemed to forget all about being attacked by tongs, but the other two women left and I didn't see them again all night.
To which Laura responded: My dear Carole,
You are I are so much alike. It's the Reed energy, I know. It is very strong spiritual energy that can make anything happen. Thank you for sharing the story with me. I appreciate it. I am still laughing about the tongs. It's a great visual. I have to really be aware when I get angry or things still fly. That was an interesting comment by that woman about her coat already being dead so it wasn't her fault. I assume it not to be her fault that the animals were killed before she bought it? I am writing this one down for another perspective for an article.
When I first met Jamie or saw her before I knew who she was, the energy around her was white, almost to the degree of being translucent. By being silent as much as she is, she keeps it really pure and strong. I know her feelings are very deep and she is probably misunderstood by alot of people. She has so much potential and will definitely be a force to be reckoned with in the future. We need the strong feminine energy and Jamie has a strong healing energy that will only continue to grow.
Thanks again for sharing. Feel free to share anytime as I forget most people can't or don't remember how to do this and it would freak people out.
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.
Big Cats Benefit From the Secret
I had always known the secret and was a multi millionaire by the time I was 30, but I didn’t know that I knew the secret until I watched www.TheSecret.tv. I always believed myself wealthy, even when I was a teenage runaway sleeping on the streets, because I just knew that I was capable of creating my physical reality. At the age of 16 I was paralyzed in a car accident, breaking my neck in two places, and told I would never walk again, but that didn’t fit the image I had in my mind and in six months I was working as a waitress. I haven’t had a cold in 9 years because I just tell myself, “I don’t get sick.” Everyone kept telling me I was lucky and I believed that must be it until I watched The Secret.
In 1992 I started the world’s largest accredited rescue facility for big cats; lions, tigers, cougars, bobcats and such. Even in a post 9/11 world where animal charities are folding all across the nation due to the lack of funding that resulted from the public being deluged with images of Katrina victims, tsunami victims, terrorism victims and war our sanctuary has prospered. The principals of The Secret at work are what I would attribute that to, but after watching The Secret I have been inspired to fine tune these principals to create the world of compassion that I want to live in.
This is a work in process and I have converted The Secret to an iPod movie file so that I can carry it with me everywhere I go. While I am driving I listen to the soundtrack. While I am standing in line, I watch and listen, over and over again. Every time I listen to it, I hear something that resonates in a way that I didn’t quite catch the time before. While the wealth attraction element of the video is something I am very comfortable with, I am listening intently to try and discern the best way to deal with “what I don’t want.”
I don’t want to see lions in circus acts. I don’t want to see tigers being bred, used for photo booths and discarded. I don’t want to see bobcats and lynx killed for their fur… and I know now how important it is to re-frame all of those issues into what I do want. Our web BigCatRescue.org site gets more than 1 million hits per day and I use the site to move people to action by either having them contact their legislators about laws to protect the animals or in educating them so that they don’t support industries that cause suffering and abuse. So much of the message is negative and I have been asking people to NOT do things, or NOT support things that cause harm, so my challenge now is to find a way to make sure all of this energy is focused on what we do want which is planet that recognizes that we are all ONE.
I still don’t have it all sorted out yet, and welcome positive suggestions, but there have been such tremendous successes just since I have started to re-focus on what we do want. In the past year seven states enacted bans on the keeping of large exotic cats as pets (AR, IN, KY, KS, LA, MD & NY) and several cities and counties have banned this dangerous and inhumane practice. Africa, Australia, Brazil, China, India and the U.K. have all passed landmark legislation to protect exotic cats in captivity and in the wild this year as well. The Secret is working on a global scale and I am so thankful that you have made this powerful movie available. - Carole Baskin, Founder & CEO of Big Cat Rescue 12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL 33625
This was posted at TheSecret.tv
I am envisioning 77,000,000 that will allow me to rescue all of the cats that the USDA currently is unwilling to confiscate from horrid conditions. We will change the laws to prevent the breeding and exploiting of these magnificent cats and will be able to offer the living ones a place of permanent safety and rest.
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.
Yesterday was a day of deep reflection for me
Three major facilities going under all at once, leaving so many animals with no where to turn and a
from a couple in Bulgaria who were asking for our help. 255 cats in desperate need and I was struggling to see if I could make room for 2. It brought home to me a couple of things that I wanted to share with you.
We can’t even begin to make a dent in the number of cats that need help by rescuing them, even though that is what ALL of us want to do.
But we can stop this from happening over and over again and I think that is the main reason that we are doing okay financially while other places are closing in record numbers. Our supporters know that we are really making a difference, changing the laws, educating the public, getting involved with the media and changing the way people think about these magnificent animals. We are not just some stepping stone along the way that is here today and gone tomorrow without having done anything to fix the problem.
I know that all of you would rather be rescuing animals, taking care of animals, spending your days with the animals, but instead you are stepping outside of your comfort zones and talking to people, writing to politicians, dealing with the press and really making an impact that is being experienced around the world.
When I read that the founder of the Big Cats of Serenity Springs died yesterday at the age of 47 (only 2 years old than I am) and her volunteers were saying they didn’t think they could keep the sanctuary going without her, I couldn’t help but think of what would happen at Big Cat Rescue if I died today… and realized that I could go peacefully knowing that all of you are so committed and so adaptive that the cats here would never know a day of suffering. For that, I cannot thank you enough. For the cats, Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
I just read your email and it brought tears to my eyes. It was a beautiful letter and I would like to thank you for your heartfelt words. As a mom who has often thought "what would happen to my children, if I died?", "who would love them and care for them like me?''. I know exactly how you feel. You, have an amazing staff and a core of volunteers who would never let this Sanctuary meet the same fate as the other facilities. But, most importantly, if it were not for you, your dedication, commitment, and love, none of this would be possible. We are spreading the word about these animals because you saw the greater picture. We would all love to save every animal in the world. Until that day comes, we can say, we did our best. We are all here, because of your dream. Thank you, for what you have accomplished and for what you will accomplish. **By the way, I'm way older than you. So, I'll be at the "Rainbow Bridge" before you!!!! - Barbara Frank
The day before I had gotten a nice note from LaWanna Jones:
You have taught me more than you will ever know about being a better and more mature person. YOU have brought so much to my life. I cherish the friendship you have given me. Actually the first trip to BCR and what I learned there truly changed my life. So much of what I do and focus on and conversations are about the things I learned there and have learned since. My life has taken on a different meaning and purpose since meeting you.
We were invited to the watch party after the primary election last Tuesday. (We have worked very hard helping campaign for two friends running for state rep, one in this district and one in the next district over, both have been long time carpet customers and friends) Anyway they have read everything I printed for them for months; they have done a bit of research on their own. I can tell by our conversations. ANYWAY, at the watch party I had the opportunity to hand out a paper I made up and speak one on one with a senator and others. Don’t know if any of them will go the list of website links I handed out or not. Just one example, the focus of “my world” has changed since meeting you. - LaWanna
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.
Twice Born
Dear Laura, While in meditation with Sundari I saw a huge snake, coiling sensuously through the rain forest to a jade green pool as if to lead me there. (Mind you, in 3D life, I take the opposite course of snakes) I immersed myself in the pool completely and purposefully drew water into my lungs because I felt certain I should do it. The sensation of water in my nose caused me to want to cough, but holding back from rejecting the water, I took it in. I could then see myself from a few feet away, floating in this womb like state. I appeared trancelike. I got distracted (shouldn’t do this while driving) and didn’t go back to it. This morning, I looked up Snake and found this:
Kundalini takes sexual energy in its raw form and converts it into fine spiritual energy of an extremely high frequency, which then allows the fruition and activation of paranormal activities such as good quality OBE's, telepathy, matter/energy conversion, and communication with entities that inhabit the vast areas of our multi-dimensional universe.
Before yesterday, Sundari spent most of her adult life in heat. She was always soliciting the males (of all species) but now her energy has the opportunity to be so much more productive.
Breathing underwater can be likened to creating harmony between the above surface self and the under surface self. A realization of the entire being. A immanent birth of an entire being.
I am uncertain of what she refers to in her conversation with you. I don’t feel like I have lost power, because I feel it growing stronger every day, but maybe she refers to some past existence or some alternate existence. I am already beginning to enjoy the fruits of my labors and every day more so. Sometimes I can barely imagine it getting better or moving more quickly in the direction that I had hoped. I often express dismay at not being able to effect change more quickly, but frankly don’t know if I could stand it as the pace is dizzying already. Perhaps her message through you is to assure me that I can.
The notion of being twice born is interesting. Sundari had a black twin who I was unable to save. When volunteers came to me and said there was “something gross” in Nyla’s cage I walked out to see what it was. I wasn’t in any hurry because I was expecting they meant yucky poo or vomit. In the dirt were two placental sacs and afterbirth. I ripped open the first sac and pulled Sundari’s lifeless form from the bag. Wiping the mucous from her nose, I put her muzzle in my mouth and breathed with her until she took her first gasps on her own. I then turned to the second sac and did the same. Wow. Jade. I didn’t make that connection until just now. I had called her Jade (as in jade green pool above; gosh the mind is just incredible!)
Jade only lived a few days. She just never seemed to really take hold of life. I figured she didn’t get the oxygen she needed fast enough for her brain to function fully. I don’t know how long they had laid there on the ground, but they were completely cold and the blood coagulated. I had tried as soon as I got the cubs breathing to get Nyla to take them, but she wouldn’t even look at them. After cleaning them up so they looked like leopards and not like cold slimy dead things, I took them back to Nyla to see if she would take them and she wanted no part of it. As Sundari grew, I kept trying to get Nyla to take some interest in her, but she never did. I chalked it up to the fact that these cats are so inbred and have had much of their natural instinct bred out of them by selection of only the most docile (meaning most dull of spirit) for the pet trade.
Interesting physical facts, such as dark and light in the womb together. Light being stronger than darkness and able to over come despite both being born of equal size.
“Sometimes this means you have to suffer the loss of what you think you have loved the most.” I am not sure what or who that is. Until 2001 I would have said that was Don or Jamie. Since that time, I don’t think you lose people. If I think about what I love the most now, I think it would be the ability to effect change for the better. Losing that would make this life seem bleak and without purpose.
The hero’s path or quest is that ageless reference to one who is unwittingly presented with a good vs evil dilemma as is a common theme in myths of heroes. There is almost always the same chain of events:
-
awakening to the issue (lack of understanding and compassion for fellow creatures),
-
learning about how the Universe works from some wise sage (a collection of old soul cats perhaps?),
-
being lead down many wrong paths or forced to fight many off subject battles along the way (to clarify the mission and engage the hero at a personal level)
-
guidance by his mother figure who is all knowing and encouraging the hero to go beyond his and her ability,
-
overcoming the father figure’s exposure of self doubt, fear and un enlightened thoughts
-
achieving the victory and then making the ultimate choice of keeping it for himself or sharing it with all others
-
the final definition of a hero being the one who chooses to share all that he has with all others for the benefit of the entire realm.
This is where my understanding of Sundari’s message is unclear.
Perhaps my approach is all wrong, but it has been so successful, and feels so right that I have a hard time seeing what alternative would work better. I get bad press sometimes because I make everything known and that makes it easy for people to attack me. If they didn’t know anything, then they could only guess, but my experience has been that most of what they say is untrue and based on assumption any way, so making known what is does nothing to hurt my mission and anyone who is truly looking for the facts can then find them on our site.
The arena that I have found to be most effective in creating change is the political process and that is all public record. Even if I did not speak a word of my lobbying, it would be available to anyone watching and Gloria Johnson lives 10 miles out of Tallahassee, is a lobbyist by trade and defines herself as my biggest opponent on the issue of keeping big cats as pets. Every time I speak to a legislator here they mention that she has been there with her baby cougar or baby tigers for them to pet and I know when she talks to them they mention me because she has told me so. She and I work together, weirdly enough, on wild cougar issues, but have agreed to disagree on the captive issue. No matter what I do to regulate the exotic pet industry it will send the exotic pet breeders, dealers and buyers into a rage and that is the basis for the bad press I get every once in a while. They will bring up something from 1998 or prior and the media loves gossip so they rarely have any interest in the evidence to the contrary of something that sounds juicy. Any press is good press in my estimation so I don’t waste much time on it. This could be the “glossing over” Sundari refers to.
I am open to using all of the positive energy at my disposal for persuading legislators to stop the breeding, but politicians aren’t known for their spiritual acuity. They care about what voters want and getting 40,000 voters (our supporters) behind an issue is the quickest way to legislate morality. “Legislation cannot change the heart, but it can restrain the heartless.” Revealing my plan of action to 40,000 people always means that my opponents know what I am doing and there is not much opportunity for staying under cover there. It is a numbers game and the best way to garner support is the Internet. We average 1,000,000 hits per day but Thursday we had surge of 2,500,000 and I don’t know why. Harnessing the power of these masses is what has caused 6 states to ban the trade in the past 2 years and what is causing so many more states to do the same. Possibly for the first time in its history, the USFWS took a proactive step on this issue this year without Congress forcing them to and the same is happening with USDA. It has just been amazing, but has been, I believe, due to the pressure from so many people who are better informed now via the Internet’s ability to expose the truth and unite supporters. That is why the Big Cat Rescue series on Animal Planet is so crucial to keeping this momentum going.
Cats succeed through a long stalk and a short springed attack. I have watched “the enemy” (apathy and misunderstanding of our connection to each other) for a long time and the pounce has already been made. Feathers are flying in every direction and the prey is struggling for its last hold over the unwitting. I don’t think now is the time to go back into hiding.
Sorry for the long email. It has been cathartic to evaluate Sundari’s message and try to make current application from it. I am going to hop on over to the sanctuary to check in on her. Sundari would like the image of me hopping. Thanks again for being such a vital part of this evolution.
Twice Born
Dear Laura, While in meditation with Sundari I saw a huge snake, coiling sensuously through the rain forest to a jade green pool as if to lead me there. (Mind you, in 3D life, I take the opposite course of snakes) I immersed myself in the pool completely and purposefully drew water into my lungs because I felt certain I should do it. The sensation of water in my nose caused me to want to cough, but holding back from rejecting the water, I took it in. I could then see myself from a few feet away, floating in this womb like state. I appeared trancelike. I got distracted (shouldn’t do this while driving) and didn’t go back to it. This morning, I looked up Snake and found this:
Kundalini takes sexual energy in its raw form and converts it into fine spiritual energy of an extremely high frequency, which then allows the fruition and activation of paranormal activities such as good quality OBE's, telepathy, matter/energy conversion, and communication with entities that inhabit the vast areas of our multi-dimensional universe.
Before yesterday, Sundari spent most of her adult life in heat. She was always soliciting the males (of all species) but now her energy has the opportunity to be so much more productive.
Breathing underwater can be likened to creating harmony between the above surface self and the under surface self. A realization of the entire being. A immanent birth of an entire being.
I am uncertain of what she refers to in her conversation with you. I don’t feel like I have lost power, because I feel it growing stronger every day, but maybe she refers to some past existence or some alternate existence. I am already beginning to enjoy the fruits of my labors and every day more so. Sometimes I can barely imagine it getting better or moving more quickly in the direction that I had hoped. I often express dismay at not being able to effect change more quickly, but frankly don’t know if I could stand it as the pace is dizzying already. Perhaps her message through you is to assure me that I can.
The notion of being twice born is interesting. Sundari had a black twin who I was unable to save. When volunteers came to me and said there was “something gross” in Nyla’s cage I walked out to see what it was. I wasn’t in any hurry because I was expecting they meant yucky poo or vomit. In the dirt were two placental sacs and afterbirth. I ripped open the first sac and pulled Sundari’s lifeless form from the bag. Wiping the mucous from her nose, I put her muzzle in my mouth and breathed with her until she took her first gasps on her own. I then turned to the second sac and did the same. Wow. Jade. I didn’t make that connection until just now. I had called her Jade (as in jade green pool above; gosh the mind is just incredible!)
Jade only lived a few days. She just never seemed to really take hold of life. I figured she didn’t get the oxygen she needed fast enough for her brain to function fully. I don’t know how long they had laid there on the ground, but they were completely cold and the blood coagulated. I had tried as soon as I got the cubs breathing to get Nyla to take them, but she wouldn’t even look at them. After cleaning them up so they looked like leopards and not like cold slimy dead things, I took them back to Nyla to see if she would take them and she wanted no part of it. As Sundari grew, I kept trying to get Nyla to take some interest in her, but she never did. I chalked it up to the fact that these cats are so inbred and have had much of their natural instinct bred out of them by selection of only the most docile (meaning most dull of spirit) for the pet trade.
Interesting physical facts, such as dark and light in the womb together. Light being stronger than darkness and able to over come despite both being born of equal size.
“Sometimes this means you have to suffer the loss of what you think you have loved the most.” I am not sure what or who that is. Until 2001 I would have said that was Don or Jamie. Since that time, I don’t think you lose people. If I think about what I love the most now, I think it would be the ability to effect change for the better. Losing that would make this life seem bleak and without purpose.
The hero’s path or quest is that ageless reference to one who is unwittingly presented with a good vs evil dilemma as is a common theme in myths of heroes. There is almost always the same chain of events:
-
awakening to the issue (lack of understanding and compassion for fellow creatures),
-
learning about how the Universe works from some wise sage (a collection of old soul cats perhaps?),
-
being lead down many wrong paths or forced to fight many off subject battles along the way (to clarify the mission and engage the hero at a personal level)
-
guidance by his mother figure who is all knowing and encouraging the hero to go beyond his and her ability,
-
overcoming the father figure’s exposure of self doubt, fear and un enlightened thoughts
-
achieving the victory and then making the ultimate choice of keeping it for himself or sharing it with all others
-
the final definition of a hero being the one who chooses to share all that he has with all others for the benefit of the entire realm.
This is where my understanding of Sundari’s message is unclear.
Perhaps my approach is all wrong, but it has been so successful, and feels so right that I have a hard time seeing what alternative would work better. I get bad press sometimes because I make everything known and that makes it easy for people to attack me. If they didn’t know anything, then they could only guess, but my experience has been that most of what they say is untrue and based on assumption any way, so making known what is does nothing to hurt my mission and anyone who is truly looking for the facts can then find them on our site.
The arena that I have found to be most effective in creating change is the political process and that is all public record. Even if I did not speak a word of my lobbying, it would be available to anyone watching and Gloria Johnson lives 10 miles out of Tallahassee, is a lobbyist by trade and defines herself as my biggest opponent on the issue of keeping big cats as pets. Every time I speak to a legislator here they mention that she has been there with her baby cougar or baby tigers for them to pet and I know when she talks to them they mention me because she has told me so. She and I work together, weirdly enough, on wild cougar issues, but have agreed to disagree on the captive issue. No matter what I do to regulate the exotic pet industry it will send the exotic pet breeders, dealers and buyers into a rage and that is the basis for the bad press I get every once in a while. They will bring up something from 1998 or prior and the media loves gossip so they rarely have any interest in the evidence to the contrary of something that sounds juicy. Any press is good press in my estimation so I don’t waste much time on it. This could be the “glossing over” Sundari refers to.
I am open to using all of the positive energy at my disposal for persuading legislators to stop the breeding, but politicians aren’t known for their spiritual acuity. They care about what voters want and getting 40,000 voters (our supporters) behind an issue is the quickest way to legislate morality. “Legislation cannot change the heart, but it can restrain the heartless.” Revealing my plan of action to 40,000 people always means that my opponents know what I am doing and there is not much opportunity for staying under cover there. It is a numbers game and the best way to garner support is the Internet. We average 1,000,000 hits per day but Thursday we had surge of 2,500,000 and I don’t know why. Harnessing the power of these masses is what has caused 6 states to ban the trade in the past 2 years and what is causing so many more states to do the same. Possibly for the first time in its history, the USFWS took a proactive step on this issue this year without Congress forcing them to and the same is happening with USDA. It has just been amazing, but has been, I believe, due to the pressure from so many people who are better informed now via the Internet’s ability to expose the truth and unite supporters. That is why the Big Cat Rescue series on Animal Planet is so crucial to keeping this momentum going.
Cats succeed through a long stalk and a short springed attack. I have watched “the enemy” (apathy and misunderstanding of our connection to each other) for a long time and the pounce has already been made. Feathers are flying in every direction and the prey is struggling for its last hold over the unwitting. I don’t think now is the time to go back into hiding.
Sorry for the long email. It has been cathartic to evaluate Sundari’s message and try to make current application from it. I am going to hop on over to the sanctuary to check in on her. Sundari would like the image of me hopping. Thanks again for being such a vital part of this evolution.
Animal Planet Considers Us for a Show
If you haven’t seen The Secret it is in the E Center and it is responsible for us being right on track with our 2006 Vision of having our own local series and a series on the Animal Planet show.
Locally, our pro bono CPA is on the board of the Community Network Television channels 19 and 22. They are going to train Jamie in video production and then make her an Associate Producer for the station which gives her use of all of their equipment from cameras to editing and then she can air all of her work on their stations. This is all being done for free. AND…
Our pro-bono attorney Russ Alba just got the following email: Subject: Television Series
Dear Mr. Alba, Thanks for your time. To reiterate...what we'd like to propose to Animal Planet (Discovery Communications Inc.) is a "fly on the wall" series with "Big Cat Rescue" as our venue. This would entail some considerable shooting over a period of time, giving the audience (hopefully world-wide) a "through the keyhole" look at the sanctuary, the animals and the people who devote themselves to this truly noble cause. The series would ultimately be personality driven, the drama, melodrama, comedic and triumphant moments being drawn from the staff, the volunteers...and of course, the animals.
While we have proposed the concept to Animal Planet, we have not been specific with venue and style. The final proposal would be based on our having knowledge of what and with whom we're dealing. If this is of interest to you, let's arrange to meet. As I told you, we have a place on Sand Key...and I'm eager to get a bit of Florida summer in my veins. (How's that for madness!!). Looking forward to hearing from you, Best, Ron Lyon
For a bit more about us, I refer you to our web site, www.wizardsofweird.com or check IMDb.com.
Their credits include:
Lyon produced and directed some thirty 90-minute specials for ABC, including “Organized Crime in America”, “Manson”, “Hitler” “In Search of Howard Hughes” and “Assassinations: An American Nightmare” from which came numerous awards.
Included among his many television films are the highly rated “City in Fear”, starring David Jannsen and Mickey Rourke, “Love’s Savage Fury”, starring Jennifer O’Neill, Raymond Burr and Perry King, “Sins of the Father” starring James Coburn as well as director Jan Kadar’s award-winning film, “The Other Side of Hell” which starred Alan Arkin.
As President of Ray Stark’s television company, “Rastar” a division of Columbia Pictures, Lyon acquired the vast collection of Robert Ripley’s “Believe It or Not!” facts and oddities. In 1981 under the banner of Haley/Lyon/Rastar, Lyon created, produced and directed the Ripley’s pilot which spawned the long-running series on ABC starring Jack Palance with Lyon based in Paris as Executive Producer.
Subsequent to “Believe It or Not” Lyon’s special “Exploring Psychic Powers” hosted by Bill Bixby featuring James Randi and Uri Geller was a huge international success. After a stint at both Universal TV and Kings Road (as President, Kings Road Television) he and his partner Jenny Paschall launched the Nickelodeon series “Beyond Belief!!” which appeared in dozens of countries and was later the basis of a best selling book written by Paschall, published by Random House. Jenny Paschall went on to write 3 more “weird” trivia books: Hatches, Matches and Dispatches, Odd Laws and Brain in a Box.
Lyon and Paschall’s Discovery series “Would You Believe It??” began as a one-hour special/pilot which received spectacular ratings on its June ‘95 premiere on the Discovery Channel. Produced by Lyon and Paschall, directed by Lyon, and written by Paschall this intrepid team’s work continued to run on Discovery through 2004. It can be seen in over 60 countries world wide.
Based on the success of “Would You Believe It??”, Lyon and Paschall crafted “Simply Unbelievable” a series which debuted on the Travel Channel in 2001. In addition he and Paschall have created many specials for both Discovery and Travel including “Strangest Remains”, ‘Most Haunted in America” “The Best Places To Find UFOs” and “Most Haunted Journeys.”
Today, Lyon continues to produce and direct for cable and television networks worldwide. Paschall co-produces with Lyon, and writes the shows. She is also a regular feature writer for the English paper, The Express on Sunday, specializing in trivia and ghost articles, and she has a regular food column in a New Jersey newspaper. Showtime’s Ace Award winner Christmas perennial “Daisies in December” is based on a short story by Paschall. Both Lyon and Paschall, as “experts” in the world of the bizarre and the paranormal, lecture throughout the United States as “The Wizards of Weird”. In addition both continue to conduct seminars on producing, directing and writing at both colleges and high schools. http://www.wizardsofweird.com/bios.php
The entire 2006 Vision:
2006: Exotic cats may no longer be sold or traded into canned hunts.
Action: Meet with legislators in our area, specifically Mike Bilirakis and Senator Bob Young (head of the appropriations committee) and gather the support of non animal groups, such as the Florida Chamber of Commerce. Big Cat Rescue will become better educated about the legislative process and teach classes on ethics and legislation. We will contact HSUS to find out how the best way to do this will be and to see what training they provide. Big Cat Rescue will train members in ways to gather the information needed to end the cruel trade in exotic cats by demonstrating that so small a percentage of the public approves canned hunts or is supported by canned hunts that the legislation really does represent the majority.
The Big Cat Picture will be narrated by a celebrity, widely distributed via sales, public and private showings and the website. We will edit the clips to load faster and play better or switch to streaming media for maximum effect. Big cats will have protection under state laws in all states in that they may not be owned as pets.
Action: Big Cat Rescue will provide better state, county and city level resources to educate and enable our expanded supporter base to create laws that better protect the exotic cats. In part this will be on Big Cat Rescue's own Animal Planet program called Big Cat Rescue which will showcase big cat rescues by accredited sanctuaries. These weekly segments will include discussion of all of the issues that exotic cats face, expose the perpetrators and the effect that each person makes with their choices and will be a means by which to broadly spread the message that no exotic cat should be kept as a pet or in a cage. We will film anything and everything that could make for an interesting 30 minute television documentary. Big Cat Rescue will solicit video from other accredited sanctuaries for use in exposing the big cat issues. We will find someone in the film editing industry to help us turn these segments into something saleable to Animal Planet.
By suggesting permits, permit fees and substantial fines for non compliance we can insure that the laws have the funding needed to make them effective. Once game farms are no longer licensed to keep exotic cats the exotic cat pet owners who circumvent the pet laws by keeping exotic cats under the guise of a game farm will be unable to renew their permits. This decreases the number of buyers for their offspring significantly. The Sanctuary Standards and Exotic Cat Standards will be accepted as the guidelines for exotic animal care and used as a model for the new laws. Big Cat Rescue will introduce a federal bill to prevent the trade in all exotic cats across state lines as pets.
Big Cat Rescue will continue to encourage implementation of the federal bill The Captive Wildlife Safety Act signed Dec. 19, 2003 that makes it illegal to breed, buy, sell or donate a big cat as a pet across state lines. We will continue to research and work on making the breeding, buying and selling of exotic cats at a state level illegal. We will research ways to close the USDA permit loopholes that allow private pet owners to pay $40.00 to call themselves a commercial enterprise in order to circumvent the law.
Animal Planet Considers Us for a Show
If you haven’t seen The Secret it is in the E Center and it is responsible for us being right on track with our 2006 Vision of having our own local series and a series on the Animal Planet show.
Locally, our pro bono CPA is on the board of the Community Network Television channels 19 and 22. They are going to train Jamie in video production and then make her an Associate Producer for the station which gives her use of all of their equipment from cameras to editing and then she can air all of her work on their stations. This is all being done for free. AND…
Our pro-bono attorney Russ Alba just got the following email: Subject: Television Series
Dear Mr. Alba, Thanks for your time. To reiterate...what we'd like to propose to Animal Planet (Discovery Communications Inc.) is a "fly on the wall" series with "Big Cat Rescue" as our venue. This would entail some considerable shooting over a period of time, giving the audience (hopefully world-wide) a "through the keyhole" look at the sanctuary, the animals and the people who devote themselves to this truly noble cause. The series would ultimately be personality driven, the drama, melodrama, comedic and triumphant moments being drawn from the staff, the volunteers...and of course, the animals.
While we have proposed the concept to Animal Planet, we have not been specific with venue and style. The final proposal would be based on our having knowledge of what and with whom we're dealing. If this is of interest to you, let's arrange to meet. As I told you, we have a place on Sand Key...and I'm eager to get a bit of Florida summer in my veins. (How's that for madness!!). Looking forward to hearing from you, Best, Ron Lyon
For a bit more about us, I refer you to our web site, www.wizardsofweird.com or check IMDb.com.
Their credits include:
Lyon produced and directed some thirty 90-minute specials for ABC, including “Organized Crime in America”, “Manson”, “Hitler” “In Search of Howard Hughes” and “Assassinations: An American Nightmare” from which came numerous awards.
Included among his many television films are the highly rated “City in Fear”, starring David Jannsen and Mickey Rourke, “Love’s Savage Fury”, starring Jennifer O’Neill, Raymond Burr and Perry King, “Sins of the Father” starring James Coburn as well as director Jan Kadar’s award-winning film, “The Other Side of Hell” which starred Alan Arkin.
As President of Ray Stark’s television company, “Rastar” a division of Columbia Pictures, Lyon acquired the vast collection of Robert Ripley’s “Believe It or Not!” facts and oddities. In 1981 under the banner of Haley/Lyon/Rastar, Lyon created, produced and directed the Ripley’s pilot which spawned the long-running series on ABC starring Jack Palance with Lyon based in Paris as Executive Producer.
Subsequent to “Believe It or Not” Lyon’s special “Exploring Psychic Powers” hosted by Bill Bixby featuring James Randi and Uri Geller was a huge international success. After a stint at both Universal TV and Kings Road (as President, Kings Road Television) he and his partner Jenny Paschall launched the Nickelodeon series “Beyond Belief!!” which appeared in dozens of countries and was later the basis of a best selling book written by Paschall, published by Random House. Jenny Paschall went on to write 3 more “weird” trivia books: Hatches, Matches and Dispatches, Odd Laws and Brain in a Box.
Lyon and Paschall’s Discovery series “Would You Believe It??” began as a one-hour special/pilot which received spectacular ratings on its June ‘95 premiere on the Discovery Channel. Produced by Lyon and Paschall, directed by Lyon, and written by Paschall this intrepid team’s work continued to run on Discovery through 2004. It can be seen in over 60 countries world wide.
Based on the success of “Would You Believe It??”, Lyon and Paschall crafted “Simply Unbelievable” a series which debuted on the Travel Channel in 2001. In addition he and Paschall have created many specials for both Discovery and Travel including “Strangest Remains”, ‘Most Haunted in America” “The Best Places To Find UFOs” and “Most Haunted Journeys.”
Today, Lyon continues to produce and direct for cable and television networks worldwide. Paschall co-produces with Lyon, and writes the shows. She is also a regular feature writer for the English paper, The Express on Sunday, specializing in trivia and ghost articles, and she has a regular food column in a New Jersey newspaper. Showtime’s Ace Award winner Christmas perennial “Daisies in December” is based on a short story by Paschall. Both Lyon and Paschall, as “experts” in the world of the bizarre and the paranormal, lecture throughout the United States as “The Wizards of Weird”. In addition both continue to conduct seminars on producing, directing and writing at both colleges and high schools. http://www.wizardsofweird.com/bios.php
The entire 2006 Vision:
2006: Exotic cats may no longer be sold or traded into canned hunts.
Action: Meet with legislators in our area, specifically Mike Bilirakis and Senator Bob Young (head of the appropriations committee) and gather the support of non animal groups, such as the Florida Chamber of Commerce. Big Cat Rescue will become better educated about the legislative process and teach classes on ethics and legislation. We will contact HSUS to find out how the best way to do this will be and to see what training they provide. Big Cat Rescue will train members in ways to gather the information needed to end the cruel trade in exotic cats by demonstrating that so small a percentage of the public approves canned hunts or is supported by canned hunts that the legislation really does represent the majority.
The Big Cat Picture will be narrated by a celebrity, widely distributed via sales, public and private showings and the website. We will edit the clips to load faster and play better or switch to streaming media for maximum effect. Big cats will have protection under state laws in all states in that they may not be owned as pets.
Action: Big Cat Rescue will provide better state, county and city level resources to educate and enable our expanded supporter base to create laws that better protect the exotic cats. In part this will be on Big Cat Rescue's own Animal Planet program called Big Cat Rescue which will showcase big cat rescues by accredited sanctuaries. These weekly segments will include discussion of all of the issues that exotic cats face, expose the perpetrators and the effect that each person makes with their choices and will be a means by which to broadly spread the message that no exotic cat should be kept as a pet or in a cage. We will film anything and everything that could make for an interesting 30 minute television documentary. Big Cat Rescue will solicit video from other accredited sanctuaries for use in exposing the big cat issues. We will find someone in the film editing industry to help us turn these segments into something saleable to Animal Planet.
By suggesting permits, permit fees and substantial fines for non compliance we can insure that the laws have the funding needed to make them effective. Once game farms are no longer licensed to keep exotic cats the exotic cat pet owners who circumvent the pet laws by keeping exotic cats under the guise of a game farm will be unable to renew their permits. This decreases the number of buyers for their offspring significantly. The Sanctuary Standards and Exotic Cat Standards will be accepted as the guidelines for exotic animal care and used as a model for the new laws. Big Cat Rescue will introduce a federal bill to prevent the trade in all exotic cats across state lines as pets.
Big Cat Rescue will continue to encourage implementation of the federal bill The Captive Wildlife Safety Act signed Dec. 19, 2003 that makes it illegal to breed, buy, sell or donate a big cat as a pet across state lines. We will continue to research and work on making the breeding, buying and selling of exotic cats at a state level illegal. We will research ways to close the USDA permit loopholes that allow private pet owners to pay $40.00 to call themselves a commercial enterprise in order to circumvent the law.
I “Resigned” from the Animal Advisory Committee
Dear friends,
I have resigned from the Animal Advisory Committee and I will be in D.C. on legislative issues for the next couple of days, so it could be several days before we get a chance to speak with each other. Because emails have been circulated by those who oppose my efforts and they have engaged the attention of the press, who have gotten a copy of Commissioner Blair’s letter from his office, I felt that I should let you know that you may be contacted by the media for comment and I didn’t want you to be surprised.
If these tactics work to remove me from the AAC then it sets a precedence for those that will be affected by the proposed ordinance to have other members, who they describe as “nuts” removed as well. The work we do is controversial, but we should not be dismissed from our positions without being allowed to face and answer our accusers.
Since I am no longer a member of the committee, I believe there is no violation of the Sunshine Law for me to send these letters to you since they are public record and in the hands of the press. I would strongly admonish all of you, however, not to discuss it among yourselves as Charlotte indicated that it would violate the Sunshine Law for that to happen. You may contact me individually after Thursday. The following are the sequence of letters. Commissioner Blair’s letter below was in hard copy by mail and I have retyped it word for word and can fax you the original if you wish to verify it.
Dear Carole Baskin, I wanted to take a moment and thank you for all of your hard work over the past year in service on the Animal Advisory Board. This community needs volunteers that are willing to serve on the various Boards and Councils to advise the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners on important decisions for this community. I am thankful for your many hours of dedication and service.
However, over the past few months I have received an abnormal amount questions and concerns from citizens and media regarding the eligibility of your participation on the Animal Advisory Board. I researched some information and although I did not find anything that would exclude you from eligibility of service the constant media contact regarding past history that involved your facility is too much for our staff to continue to handle.
Please know that this is a very difficult situation that I am in. I am going to have to ask you to resign from your position on the Animal Advisory Board immediately. I appreciate your understanding in this matter.
Again, I wanted to thank you for your time of service and all that you have done for the Animal Advisory Board.
Regards, Brian Blair County Commissioner
My letter to Commissioner Blair dated 6/4/2006
Commissioner Brian Blair
County Center
601 E. Kennedy Blvd., 2nd Floor
Tampa, FL 33602
As the sanctuary has become better known and more financially stable, it has allowed me to become more active in what can really end the flow of abused and abandoned big cats, i.e. passing legislation that would end the activities that create that horrible flow.
The forces that oppose such legislation are largely people who want to own these animals as pets or use them to make a living. A recent undercover report by API shows how these people circumvent the current laws and shows the abusive conditions in which these alleged “exotic animal lovers” keep their “pets.” This can be viewed at www.api4animals.org/a3b_exotic_pets.php.
My role in promoting legislation to end this abuse has grown dramatically within the last year. Representative Poppell specifically asked me to appear with him and his cosponsor Senator Posey at the press conference announcing what became known as the “Python Bill” this past session. The bill was directed at the horrible situation in the Everglades where pet pythons released into the area are taking over and wiping out the native wildlife at an alarming rate.
The request that was made to me by both legislators was to draft amendments that would expand the bill to include all dangerous exotic wildlife. The bill made it through 4 committees and just fell short of reaching the floor this year. I testified before a number of the committees and have been told by various members that they were strongly in support and could be counted on to help when we try again next year, and chances are strong for passage next year.
The majority of our population oppose exotic animal ownership and exploitation. The small number of people who are breeders, exotic animal owners and exhibitors who are threatened by the legislation know they do not have the support of the voters, and have no good arguments in support of their position since it is based on selfishness. So, as I have become a visible leader in support of these laws, their approach has been to try to discredit me and Big Cat Rescue. Since there is no basis for that, they can only do it with lies.
Unfortunately, they got the ear of one local reporter some months ago. She made up her mind what her story was going to be before she came to us and demonstrated absolutely no interest in seeking truth, only in confirming what she had already posed. The story was then constructed to create impressions that are absolutely false. That story has then been circulated broadly by those who want to continue to abuse exotic animals.
There were two primary sources for that story that we know of. One was a man in St. Petersburg, Vernon Yates, who believes that riding around town with a tiger in the back of his pickup truck is appropriate behavior because it is, unfortunately, legal. He was sighted by a Pinellas County Commissioner in the Commissioner’s neighborhood in 2004. This lead to an appearance before the Commission where he loudly called the Commissioner a liar. His performance can still be viewed on the County site at http://www.pinellascounty.org/media/bcc022205/Results.htm (Click on #64 at the bottom of the page.) A second source was a woman in North Carolina who is an exotic pet owner who operates under multiple aliases to make it appear that many people are sending emails. She has a criminal record. Below is a copy of an email from this woman bragging about her role in helping Vernon Yates feed misinformation to the reporter. Please note that it specifically states that one purpose of effort with the reporter was to have me removed from the “commission board”, i.e. the Animal Advisory Committee.
No Vernon didn't I did... with Vernons information..lol.... and with all the messages we have sent out, (you and me) she is being removed from the commission board and they will be doing a TV expose' on her next week.. the tv crew is out at Vernons now.. he keeps calling me and having me speak to the reporter on behalf of simply simian... so we are in the forefront anyway
As you can see, it has been their plan to use you to remove me from the Advisory Board since back in March when they fed Chris Hawes (Carole adds she was at Bay News 9) the misinformation she relied on for her article.
As for the evolution of the practices and philosophy of the sanctuary, we not only have nothing to hide, we lay this out very clearly in the About Us section of our website, which I enclose for your reference. We have always had information about the past on the site and never hidden it. But we made it even more explicit after this story came out to demonstrate clearly that we have nothing to hide. And while I wish I had been quicker to come to the understandings it took some years to realize, the silver lining is that this past has given me greater credibility in the fight to change the laws. I have the advantage of explaining that I started out believing that the activities we are trying to stop, breeding and pet ownership, were appropriate, and learned differently with experience as I saw the abuse and abandonment that followed first hand. The reaction to the news report from people who know our sanctuary has generally been “what in the world is wrong with this reporter?”
In their efforts to discredit me, Mr. Yates and/or other exotic animal owners have filed false charges with TAOS (The Association of Sanctuaries), USDA, and Give.org, the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance. Out of close to one million non profits in the country, we are one of only about 80 that meet the strict BBB charity standards. In each of these cases, the organizations involved found that the allegations were without merit. In some cases, their requests for documentation or proof of the charges were not responded to by those making the charges, because there of course was none. But, part of the strategy of the exotic animal owners is just to be an annoyance, as they are being to you. And they hope to impair our relationships with supporters and impair our funding without regard to the impact on the animals in our care.
Below is an email being circulated by these people to generate the emails that you no doubt will have received from this group over the weekend. Since they are urging that they be sent by Sunday June 4, I suspect they somehow know that I have a tentative appointment to see you in a tiny gap that you may have in your schedule, although I understand it may close if you run late.
Below is the email that was circulated to generate emails to you this past weekend:From: EPOU@yahoogroups.com mailto: EPOU@yahoogroups.com On Behalf Of Raven Simons Sent: Friday, June 02, 2006 5:59 PM To: EPOU@yahoogroups.com Subject: [EPOU] FW: FL Animal Rights activist removed from Animal Advisory
Hello all, I am asking an important favor of everyone. Please write a thank you letter to Mr. Brian Blair for removing Carole Lewis Baskin (Big Cat Rescue and Humane USA) from the Hillsborough County Animal Advisory Committee. Carole is having a fit at being removed. Mr. Blair needs to show community support on this decision.
To all the bird people- This is the women that posted our names and address on her Humane USA website.
To all the pet owners- I welcome anyone to attend the meetings with us. This group called the Animal Advisory committee are nuts. They are extreme in their views.
Please feel free to forward this email to supportive individuals. We need as many letters as possible by Sunday 6/4/06. Anyone and everyone can write a letter, not just Hillsborough County people. This effects any animal owner. Counties tend to follow each other's lead.
Animal rights activist do not have a place on an advisory committee. They have a personal agenda that is not in anyone's best interest, including the animals.
Mr. Blair can be reached at Blairb@hillsboroughcounty.org . I am including the letter that I sent. Thank you, Lisa
Dear Mr. Blair:
I am writing to thank you for removing Carole Lewis Baskin from the Hillsborough County Animal Advisory Committee.
I have been attending the Animal Advisory meetings. The committee is made up of animal rescue / animal rights individuals and local veterinarians. Ms. Baskin is the Florida director of Humane USA, an animal rights group. I feel there should be individuals representing the pet community (groomers, kennel owners, dog trainers, ect.) on this advisory committee.
The current Animal Advisory committee is outrageous in their proposals. They would like the Hillsborough County ordinances to regulate the pet population and our ownership to an extreme. Without the balance of pet industry individuals, I feel that Hillsborough County will not be a pet friendly place to live. The pet industry provides many jobs in our area and has a multimillion dollar impact on our County. The medical community has also proven that pets improve the quality of our lives.
The story on BayNews 9 about the fraudulent fund raising at Big Cat Rescue, which Ms. Baskin is the CEO, is of concern also. It makes you question her integrity. Thank you for taking the time to address this issue.
Respectfully, Lisa Welch
This is also being circulated through the email list of the Phoenix Exotics, a group who promote exotic pet ownership and whose abuse was documented in the API study. Please notice that they view the entire Committee as “nuts” and feel people who are concerned about animal welfare have no place on it. You can review the credentials of the Committee, many of whom are intimately involved in trying to solve the massive problem of stray, feral and abandoned animals being faced by Animal Services and our County. Those writing to you in support of my departure of course would like a committee packed with people who make money from the animals. Will their interests be in solving the problems we are facing? You can also see how they use the Bay News 9 report, and the untrue interpretation of it.
Mr. Blair, you are a fighter both literally and figuratively, the latter in fighting for what you believe is right. And you are no stranger to the controversy that the fight generates. Your office has to deal with people calling in on both sides of issues all the time. And whatever proposals are made by the Animal Advisory Board will be no different. No matter which direction they take, they will be controversial and generate public comment. That will happen whether I am there or not.
I am sorry that my appointment has motivated these people to harass you in this way. But there is absolutely nothing in the history of the sanctuary that should create any awkwardness unless you are being lied to, which unfortunately is the modus operandi of the people who oppose the legislative work I am doing. If you were the recipient of the letter you sent me, I think the first thing you would say to whomever sent it was that one of the most basic founding principles of our nation is the right to face your accuser. You would feel you had a right to at least understand in person what is being alleged and by whom. And you would be correct. That is how I feel.
The impact on me of resigning is that these people learn that their efforts pay off and it will only encourage them to do more. And not only would that resignation not solve the problem of your receiving inquiries, it is likely exacerbate it. 1600 people wrote to the County Commission to support the relatively unemotional issue of our recent rezoning and 100 took the day off to show support. How will our thousands of supporters, the majority of whom are local, react if I resign? I cannot lie and say “personal reasons” because everyone would know it was not true. That would only support the untrue allegations about our honesty.
As noted, there are many controversial issues you have to deal with and hear from people about. Not just to be fair to me, but to be fair to you, I think it is important that we get to speak in person as soon as possible so you can decide what is the “right” side of this issue to be on. I honestly do not believe it will serve you well to become known as the Commissioner who caved in to a group of people who want to own and exploit exotic animals. I think that is likely to create far more “awkwardness” than you are experiencing now.
I will not take any action on your request until we have spoken and will continue to try to get on your calendar. I hope to do that so you have an opportunity to review this before it gets more media attention. And for your reference, I am not “having a fit”. I have not even spoken to anyone but my husband and your aide about this because I am hoping to avoid an embarrassment for you. But I am sure you can imagine my disappointment at receiving your letter. I look forward to a chance to make sure you at least understand the other and true side of whatever you are hearing.
Sincerely, Carole Baskin. Founder and CEO
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.
Exploiters Attack Animal Advisory Committee
This was an email from Carole to Howie explaining who was behind the campaign to remove me from the Animal Advisory Committee.
Complaint by Exotic Pet Owners Uniting c/o Penny Stoven at justbarnyard
I don’t know if she is just beyond understanding, or if she doesn’t want to understand. She doesn’t want her chat list EPOU.org to be listed on our web site and asked me to remove it, but it was in the body of the letter we wrote to Commissioner Blair because Raven Simons had cross posted it from EPOU’s site to the Phoenix Exotics site and that is where we found it to include in our letter to Commissioner Blair to show him this was an organized effort of the exotic pet people to discredit Big Cat Rescue by having me removed from the Animal Advisory Committee.
I explained to her that I couldn’t delete a portion of the letter because I was showing to the world the entirety of what had transpired. Neither she, nor her organization were referenced at all, as it just happened that the email had their address in it.
This is the substance of what she is complaining about, which was in the body of the letter to Commissioner Blair:
…Below is an email being circulated by these people to generate the emails that you no doubt will have received from this group over the weekend. Since they are urging that they be sent by Sunday June 4, I suspect they somehow know that I have a tentative appointment to see you in a tiny gap that you may have in your schedule, although I understand it may close if you run late.
Below is the email that was circulated to generate emails to you this past weekend:
From: EPOU On Behalf Of Raven Simons Sent: Friday, June 02, 2006 5:59 PM To: Subject: [EPOU] FW: FL Animal Rights activist removed from Animal Advisory
Hello all, I am asking an important favor of everyone. Please write a thank you letter to Mr. Brian Blair for removing Carole Lewis Baskin (Big Cat Rescue and Humane USA) from the Hillsborough County Animal Advisory Committee. Carole is having a fit at being removed. Mr. Blair needs to show community support on this decision.
To all the bird people- This is the women that posted our names and address on her Humane USA website.
To all the pet owners- I welcome anyone to attend the meetings with us. This group called the Animal Advisory committee are nuts. They are extreme in their views.
Please feel free to forward this email to supportive individuals. We need as many letters as possible by Sunday 6/4/06. Anyone and everyone can write a letter, not just Hillsborough County people. This effects any animal owner. Counties tend to follow each other's lead.
Animal rights activist do not have a place on an advisory committee. They have a personal agenda that is not in anyone's best interest, including the animals.
Mr. Blair can be reached at Blairb@hillsboroughcounty.org . I am including the letter that I sent. Thank you, Lisa
(Carole’s note: I am not sure if this letter was from Lisa Walker or Lisa Welch, but both were animal exploiters who hated me.)
From the future; this is who Lisa Walker was & how it turned out:
2010-09-09 Brian Blair lost his seat as Commissioner in the election.
2010-09-23 Jim Norman appointed Lisa Walker to the Animal Advisory Board. She was one of the people who filed one of the false BBB complaints against us.
When Carole Baskin and Big Cat Rescue became known for trying to stop the trade in exotic cats as pets, several of the exotics dealers enlisted pet breeders to began slandering her in an attempt to draw the attention off the subject; Dangerous Animals as Pets, which is not a subject anyone can defend, and try to misdirect attention in any way she can. Carole Baskin had advocated strongly for laws that banned dog fighting in 2006 and 2007. Carole had been appointed to the Animal Advisory Committee and was elected President with a primary task of reducing the euthanasia rate in Hillsborough County.
Surveys show that 3/4 of all the dogs who end up euthanized in shelters are pit bulls. The only exceptions are in the areas where mandatory sterilization of pit bulls occurs and in those places pit bulls make up 1/3 of the animals killed in shelters. People who breed pit bulls say they do it because they love the animal, but just like with exotic pet owners, it typically isn't the animal they love, it is the ego trip possessing that animal gives them, that they love.
Lisa Walker was often an attendee at the Animal Advisory Board meetings to deter the county from banning pit bulls. On June 20, 2007 she testified before the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners on the subject of dog bites asking that education be substituted for breed bans. Since there is no money for such educational programs, it essentially allows them to continue to breed animals that were selectively bred to kill.
Breeders like Lisa Walker and exotic pet dealers worked together to have Carole Baskin removed by Brian Blair from the Animal Advisory Committee. Lisa Walker lives with her fiancee Reid Hutches and they are pit bull breeders. The address she used in her false complaint about Big Cat Rescue is registered to Reid Hutches. Several places on the web refer to Lisa Walker as the main contact for the Mid-Florida APBTC and use the same number as on her complaint: (813) 8175. She is listed as the secretary of the Mid FL APBTA and claims to be a non profit organization and solicits donations online, but as of 10/16/07 the name Mid Florida American Pit Bull Terrier Association cannot be found as listed on the Division of Consumer Services web site. Soliciting in FL without being registered subjects the violator to $1,000.00 a day in fines.
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.
Mayan Calendar
Laura Lassiter: The Mayan Calendar indicates this is the big kick off date for planetary enlightenment and I am thrilled to be here in 3D. This is a chronological exchange in reconnecting with Laura Lluellyn Lassiter: 5/16/06 Dear Laura, I am looking for a woman who recently visited Big Cat Rescue with the EARS group. I gave a tour to a group and was particularly impressed with an animal communicator in the group and would like to reach her, but no one could tell me her name.
5/17/06 Hi Carole, You found me. I am the animal communicator that helped to volunteer. If you would like to talk with me on the phone, my cell is 727-804-6939. I am impressed that you had my email address.
I have not had the opportunity to write you a personal thank you note yet for taking your time and introducing all the beautiful cats you are caring for. Words cannot express the magnitude of gratitude the animals feel towards you, Carole. What a blessing to live your passion on a daily basis and help bring awareness to their plight. It was my honor and privilege to be there and experience their presence. I would like to take this opportunity to give thanks not only for the tour, but for all you are doing for the big cats. I look forward to speaking with you and to help you however I can. Have a good day. For the animals, Laura
5/17/06 Dear Laura, Finding people is what I do best. I probably should hire out to law enforcement. At any rate, I am very glad to have found you. After the tour, I just kicked myself for not asking you for your contact info because I was so struck with your insight. I don't have any immediate reason for contacting you other than to let you know that I enjoyed your interaction with the cats and your ideas in the session after the tour.
It has been my intention to hold some little workshops for our people to teach them non verbal communication with the cats, but it is just something I do and not something I have ever tried to teach. I think you could do a much better job of it. I remember you saying you were not from around here, but I don't know where you call home.
I am starting these classes on the third Monday of the month and this month we are going to watch The Secret. If you haven't seen it, I think it is the best 5.00 and 90 minutes I ever spent online at www.TheSecret.tv If you would consider being a guest speaker at one of these classes or at our monthly volunteer meeting which is usually about 45 people on the first Sunday of the month at noon, we would love to have you. Just let me know what it would take, if you are willing.
Thanks for the kind words. I am fortunate to be surrounded by incredible people who have made the sanctuary all that it is. For the cats, Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
5/17/06 Hi Carole, First, I just moved off of Clearwater Beach to the Snell Isle area in St. Pete. Originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma, I have been here since 1989. I apologize for any misunderstanding as I have never considered myself being from Florida. Travel, therefore, is no problem. I had been considering volunteering some time previous to my visit when I met someone at Panera who told me of a black cat that was being read to every Sunday. What an incredible thing to do! However, the opportunity had not presented itself for me to visit your facility until the EARS workshop as I support myself as a loan officer and unfortunately in recent times, have worked 14-16 hour days. I have just started to transition as the consciousness has been evolving towards remembering a universal language for some time.
I gladly welcome the opportunity to share with you and your volunteers any knowledge that might be useful. My abilities as a communicator are quite different than most as I never lost my awareness and intuition as a child and was always encouraged to use it. Therefore, it is natural to read and translate energy and address the core issues and permanently resolve those issues. This will present itself from a spiritual point of view (such as their specific purpose in your life or why they chose to experience what they do) in addition to the physical, mental and emotional components.
I would be glad to be a guest speaker. If you will let me know what you would like to focus on or anything specific, I will share from the animal's perspective. I would also like to attend any meetings that you have with your volunteers and experience communication with the big cats. Thank you again. For the animals, Laura
5/18/06 Dear Laura, I am glad to hear that you are signing up as a volunteer. That makes it a lot easier for me to allow you access, but because of the minimum 4 hour per week requirement on your time, I did not want to ask you to commit to the program. I know we make allowances for work done off site if you are in the Partner program, which is more admin than cage cleaning, but there are some restrictions on your ability to wander if you don’t keep up minimum hours on site. The reason is the inherent danger of being around big cats and not knowing who has been moved, who is stressed because of a new cage mate, or loss of a cage mate. While I believe you can help with those situations immensely, there is a level of comfort our Volunteer Committee will need to feel with you before letting you get too close by yourself.
You perceived correctly that I am asking you to lay the foundation for something here. Our people are accustomed to me talking to the cats, detailing their illnesses to the vets from the cat's insides and while they love me, they think I am something of an anomaly. For me to say, "You can do this too." Isn't as effective as them seeing someone else who has been attracted to their cause show them that this is something we are all capable of doing.
I broke the ice with this article: http://www.bigcatrescue.org/talk_to_animals.htm
In our December? newsletter I ran a story about another animal communicator.
Our cats have spoken to me for a long time, but it wasn't until recently that I began to write for them, the way you are writing now for the animals of Katrina. Their stories have always been posted throughout the site, but that isn't who they are. They now speak out of the universal truths that inspire all of us from this page: http://www.bigcatrescue.org/spiritguides.htm These concepts are the vision I would like to ultimately share with our volunteers and then the rest of those we encounter.
For your first talk, I think just sharing what you experienced with the animals during Katrina, why that is compelling you to write and share that experience and how that can be applied to their relationships with the cats of Big Cat Rescue and their pets at home, would be a great introduction.
It sounds like you have been through some very troubling times but I am glad to know that you understand the nature of spirit and can detach yourself from the physical to see the wonder in this eternal unfolding. For the cats, Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
5/22/06 Dear Laura, Thank you for all that you do for the animals and for being willing to share your time with us. Our next volunteer meeting is June 4 at noon on the beach at Big Cat Rescue. After the meetings (30 minutes) we break into classes. What I would like to do is have you come and talk to the entire group about what you do for 10 minutes or so as a teaser to a longer, more interactive session afterward.
Since everyone would rather come to your class than any of our other classes, such as CPR, how to clean a cage, etc., we would have to announce that only those who are caught up on all of their classes could attend your class, but that we will have you come back, from time to time so they can catch it if they miss it this time. That is if you are willing to do so.
One of the key issues for me is to teach our volunteers how to have meaningful relationships with these cats without touching them. Our beliefs and safety regimens have evolved over time. We do not touch the cats (other than for medical reasons) because if a cat were to bite or scratch someone, the cat could be killed by the state and tested for rabies even if that person did not want that to happen and because to do so sends a message to those who see or hear about it that these animals could be kept as pets and that false notion is the main reason we exist. Some of our people long for the "good o'le days" when they could pet the cats they love. I miss it too, but never ask anything of our people that I won't do myself.
I can experience the same wonderful feeling of stroking the cats and feeling them purr from across 6 feet or 600 miles but don't really know how to show someone else how. I know we all can do it (and a lot more) but I am verbally challenged yet. I am working on how to convey that and will teach it, but I thought that you may be able to open that door for them by introducing them to the Universal language, as you so aptly put it. Some of the volunteers hope to persuade me to make exceptions for them to touch the cats by saying that the cat wants them to put their hands on them but it has been my experience that the cats have a much greater capacity to embrace the feeling of Oneness without physical contact.
This could be much more encompassing in time. I believe the reason most people buy wild animals as pets is because they long to reconnect with nature. We can teach them how to do that without breeding an animal for life in a cage. Eventually this could be opened up to the public by having our volunteers and tour guides become fully immersed in the wonder of truly communicating with nature.
We reach about 30,000 people each year on site and 1,000,000 hits per DAY on our website. We can spread this message pretty effectively if you are up for it. I sent the wrong dates on the Monday night classes. It is the fourth Monday of each month, not the third and the next one is May 22 at 7PM at Big Cat Rescue in the E-Center. We will be watching The Secret and then have a little discussion afterward. You are welcome to join us for either the Sunday or Monday classes, but let me know, so that I let the person at the gate know to let you in. We have never allowed the public to attend our courses, but you came into picture for a reason. For the cats, Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
5/24/06 The website where you printed the Mayan calendar page now links to Big Cat Rescue under Misc on this page: http://www.mayanmajix.com/links.html
I ordered horoscopes for me, my daughter and husband. My daughter and I are both Jaguar (what else?) and I am still reading and digesting the information. The calendar is amazingly complex and intricate.
She is 7/16/1980
Day Sign: 1-Jaguar (Ocelot)
Year: East 7
13 day: 1 Jaguar (Ocelot)
Night Lord: 7
Venus Phase: Morning Star
I am 6/6/61
Day Sign: 2-Jaguar (Ocelot)
Year: North 1
13 day: 1 Reed
Night Lord: 2
Venus Phase: Morning Star
Howard is 5/13/1980
Day Sign: 3 Road (Grass)
Year: West 3
13 day: 1 Dog
Night Lord: 1
Venus Phase: Morning Star
I am still digesting the info. Our first big corporate sponsor was and still is, Jaguar of Tampa because they were supporting two Jaguars that my husband talked me into bringing here. They died at more than 20 years of age, but Jaguar still supports us by supporting Cheetaro the Leopard out front. My daughter wants to move to Guyana (a word for God) to protect the Jaguars and Ocelots there. I am trying to keep her here and encourage her to travel back and forth to set up the 12 eco tourism lodges that the government will exchange for protecting the entire mountain range where these cats dwell. It always comes down to money, so I am trying to help her find ways to fund her passion for protecting this unspoiled place by reaching wealthy tourists here. She is going back in September. She loves living in the bush, relying on her instincts and being surrounded with animals rather than people. She is going to Jacksonville this weekend to see their multi million dollar jaguar exhibit, but is just incensed that it was reported that they took cats from the wild for their display. For the cats, Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
5/26/06 Dear Laura, I just got in and wanted to let you know that I had another long talk with Cathy about the courses and explained to her that my only purpose of having you share your talent with the group is to empower all of us to be more effective for the effort we put into the job. It makes no sense for me to introduce an element that makes the volunteer coordinator's jobs more difficult, except that if we want to know what the cats are saying, we have to listen and do something about it, which is more work than taking the easy way out and just saying we can't hear them. In time it makes our job easier because we aren't having to guess so much and suffer the consequences of guessing wrong.
She would like for you to gain her confidence and that of the rest of the volunteer committee: Jamie (my daughter), Scott the Operations Mgr who lives on site, Jen who is the week end co coordinator with Cathy and Brian who is about the most gentle and sweet person you will ever meet. All of them, except Scott are on our Board and they all make up the Volunteer Committee. Mostly, what they want to see is how this can help the cats without adding to the challenging egos of some of the volunteers they have to manage. I think that is pretty easy to do after thinking about this all day.
I explained your cotton ball idea and suggested that you share that with the VC on Saturday. On Sunday you give your little talk about who you are, what you have done and then afterwards a small group who are caught up on their classes can join us for cotton balls. What you are helping them do is realize their ability and to encourage them to feel a person at a spirit level.
While there is always the temptation of the ego to get in the middle and claim spiritual one-up-manship, we can couch the entire project in a framework of mutual respect and love for each other. Just like our volunteer program requires people to be voted into Green, participation in this program could require that one must show love and respect to their fellow volunteers including their coordinators to remain in the program. If a person cannot communicate lovingly with the people they work with they are not equipped to communicate with the cats.
I have selected the volunteer coordinators/ board members based on their ability to put the animal's needs ahead of their own and their ability to treat the volunteers fairly. This program wouldn't be the model that so many animal groups turn to if it didn't have great leadership and that is a reflection on the VC/Board. A lot of people come into the program with the attitude that they should run the show and will second guess the VC until they finally figure out that VC is working in the best interest of the cats.
It is easy for a person to say they communicate with the cats because who can contradict them, but if they cannot communicate with the VC, then it isn't likely that they are communicating from the heart with the cats. That is why I loved your phrase, Heart Whispers. It is all about the heart.
If we can present this in such a way as to make it clear that you can't be challenging your coordinator, or gossiping about your fellow keeper, or complaining about how you would do things differently, if you are coming from a place of love and acceptance of what is, then we can immediately make the VC's job easier and then they can focus more on the things that are important than the petty people issues that consume much of their time.
With the test for participation in the classes being one's ability to be kind to their fellow man, it is easy to keep this on track toward all of the ultimate good it can do. I am very excited at what I can see unfolding for all of us. For the cats, Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
5/27/06 Hi Carole, I completely agree with everything you said. This is incredible how everything is unfolding and we must give credit to the cats. They are so smart. We must have needed this awareness or they would not have asked me out Thursday.
I will work with you and share with you, your volunteers, the cats, anyone or anything what I have learned and know. My soul purpose is to help raise the consciousness of the planet and help anchor the higher frequencies. However that can be facilitated, so be it. I have already learned so much in such a short period of time being around the cats and you. There is nothing that heart energy cannot accomplish.
I understand you are taking your sanctuary to a new level, one in which has never been done before, whether it is partnering with wild animals or domestic ones. You are setting precendent and are giving new meaning and changing perceptions on how to treat our fellow spirits. I, too, feel very strong about our working together. The animals chose me a long time ago to help them in ways people were not ready to receive.
You are in process of co-creating a new paradigm for exotic animals globally. I am in awe at the process as usual. My respect and love for life deepens as I watch the cats (nature) work their magic.
You have my commitment Carole and my heart to help you. It was a big concern somewhere that needed awareness. I would never do anything to bring harm to you or the cats. I also know the courage it takes to break new ground and set the example. One doesn't need to have a "Spine-A-Thon" for me. I have backbone, stand up and accept responsibility. Any emotional needs I had for approval were released long ago. I know we can all accomplish your vision. There will be a huge transformation and transition for all..
Thank you for sharing. I am ready to do classes. I finished my article yesterday, but wanted to sleep on it overnight. Several emails will be coming today and I am posting on the blog today. I will also send you emails concerning other things that I think you may be interested in. If you do not want that, please let me know as I can imagine the amount of emails you receive. Enjoy your weekend. Thanks again Carole for sharing. For the animals, Laura
5/27/06 Dear Laura, You manage to balance on a very fine line with the apparent ease of a trapeze artist. On the one hand you seem to have mastered the ego in your willingness to go with the flow and on the other hand you know when to speak up and aren't shy about it. If you hadn't spoken up and told me that you needed to speak with the volunteers I would just have pressed on (bullheadedly, as usual) and could have gotten this off on a sour start.
You spoke the truth in saying that it starts in each person, because your decision to consult the volunteers first, made me stop and think about the way that I approach them. Thankfully they always do what I ask, but I need to take more time to get their buy in so that they feel appreciated. I couldn't do any of this without them.
That will also set the example for them in dealing with the rest of the volunteers. Securing absolute trust takes more time than just giving an order, but ultimately it is worth the time, because you don't have to reestablish trust every time you ask someone to do something.
You referred to this vision as being mine, but on a deeper level I am sure you know that it is not my creation. I am thrilled to be along for the ride, but The Vision is that of the Universal Consciousness. It sort of reminds me of one of those Stephen King films where people from all over a ravaged planet start converging on one spot for survival. I sense that we are all converging on a spiritual consensus for our souls' benefit. Each one of us is bringing our special talents to the table so that we can share and learn from each other. There has never been a better time to be here. For the cats, Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
5/27/06 Our Spirit Guide page is very new and our Blog page has only been around for a couple of months, but they are coming up fairly high in our website for their age. About 20 people per day are logging into SpiritGuides and 27 per day are logging into the Blog where they can find your Heart Whispers. Both are coming up in the top 500 pages, and our site has 9000 pages altogether, so they are moving up quickly. I get free advertising from google, so if there are search words or phrases that you think we should target for your Heart Whispers, just let me know. For the cats, Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
5/28/06 Dear Carole, Here is a very important article. It will supplement other information I will be sending you regarding the cosmic energies that are flooding the universe. It will help you to understand not only the physical symptoms you may have been experiencing, but help you to understand the losses we have suffered in recent times. I didn't tell you the other day when you sent your Mayan sun sign that you are the only other person I have personally met who is a Reed. As I said, Reed's are the spiritual leaders. No doubt, you know you have a spiritual mission that will help to change the healing of our planet and every living creature. Enjoy.
May 27 and 28, 2006 (9 Ahau and 10 Imix) The midpoint of the Fourth NIGHT and the beginning of the Breakthrough Celebration by Carl Johan Calleman
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.
Why Did I Choose To Be Born?
If my gestation period were 9 months, that means that somewhere around September 6, 1960 when I decided to manifest myself on the physical plane again, so I got to wondering, “why?” What was happening in the fall of 1960 that made me want to come back and make a difference? (My email address at this time was MakeADifference@BigCatRescue.org)
In October Jane Goodall observes tool-making by a chimpanzee, calling the attention of science to the practice. She sees a chimp that she has named David Graybeard take a blade of grass and shape it so that it can be poked into a termite mound for the purpose of removing termites. David proceeds to eat the termites so obtained.
Echo, the first passive communications satellite, is launched on August 12 as a result of efforts by John Pierce. Other communications-satellite developments are by the U.S. military. On May 22 Midas 2, the first U.S. spy satellite designed for detecting missile launches, relays information it obtains with infrared cameras to Earth. On August 18 the military satellite Corona, publicly known by the civilian code name Discoverer 13, is launched. It successfully returns a capsule to Earth -- the first object ever returned from space. A week later Discoverer 14 uses cameras designed by Edwin Land to spy on the Soviet Union, parachuting canisters of film back to Earth, where they are captured in air by specially equipped aircraft. They are said to yield more images in a single day than the U-2 spy system had in its entire lifetime. There will be more than a hundred similar missions in the Corona program, which continues until 1972.
In November Digital Equipment Corporation led by Kenneth Olsen introduces the PDP-1, a computer with a maximum memory of 26,000 bytes, making it state of the art. It is the first commercial computer with a keyboard input and a monitor to show what the user has entered. Because of its size and configuration, it is the predecessor of the minicomputer, a computer affordable by small businesses.
The first commercial reprocessing plant for radioactive wastes is built in West Valley, New York.
Physician John Charnley [b. Bury, Lancashire, England, 1911, d. 1982] implants a two-part joint replacement made of plastic and cobalt-chrome into a human to replace a damaged joint. Wilson Greatbatch [b. Buffalo, New York, September 6, 1919] files a patent for an implantable pacemaker that permanently regulates heartbeat.
About this time some women enlarge or reshape their breasts with a semiliquid plastic in a bag that is implanted in the skin; the plastic material is silicone, familiar to many by its trade name as the toy Silly Putty. About 2,000,000 women will use the implants in the next 30 years.
August 29, 1960 Hurricane Donna kills 50 people in FL. Oct. 14, 1960 Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy participate in the first T.V. presidential debate. Nov. 1, 1960 JFK announced his idea of a Peace Corps. Interracial marriages are illegal in 31 states. February 1, 1960 the first blacks contest segregated tables and after 6 months of protesting are granted the right to eat with whites. March 6, 1960 Switzerland gives women the right to vote. May 9, 1960 the FDA approved the birth control pill.
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.
90 lb. Florida Panther, in a dog trap, in a garage
(Photo is 5/15/05 Sundari Leopard smacking my hair.)
I had just gotten in from a three hour meeting of the Animal Advisory Committee where we had wrestled with the long range goals of Animal Services and how we would be able to stop the flood of animals in the front doors to be euthanized because people didn’t want them any more. How could we fund education and aggressive spay / neuter programs in a county government fraught with cut backs? How could we stop the killing of 34,000 healthy dogs and cats each year in an environment of thought that could only do more of what wasn’t working by building more places for people to bring their pets to die? It was a topic worthy of the energy we had all put into it tonight, but at the end of the night all we had managed to do was suggest that an outside consultant be paid to tell us how to do it and we would leave funding the implementation to another day’s discussion.
Being away from my computer for 3 hours means a pile of emails will have collected and standing at my desk I began to sort through them. I really wanted to go to bed, so not sitting down seemed to me, as if it say, I was not committed to answering all of this mail, but would see if there was anything that just couldn’t wait until morning. Then the phone rang.
The voice on the other end was shaky, female and began, “I got your number from the answering machine, and I’m sorry to call so late, but I have called everyone I can think of and Fish and Game said they would send someone yesterday, but they never did, and the trapper said he will just euthanize the cat, and the cat is scared, and I am afraid he is going to die, and if I let him loose someone is going to shoot him. It’s a big cat. I think it might be a Florida Panther. It weighs 90 pounds, is three feet long, has VERY big teeth and his paws are as big as my hands. I caught him in my garage. He has been tearing up cats in the neighborhood and some are missing. I think he ate them. I caught him in the trap with some cat food. He just fills up the entire trap…”
I don’t know how long she went through her description before I spoke. There was no hurry to speak as she was just flowing with information. I jotted down the details as I silently pondered her authenticity. I have been outspoken against people breeding and selling exotic cats and have committed much of my time to trying to stop the trade. I had become the target of a segment of our society that is comprised largely of drug dealers, criminals and those just too ignorant or uncaring to see that their participation in the industry causes such suffering for the animals. In their chat rooms they had suggested more than once that the only way to stop me was a bullet. Was this call in the middle of the night a set up for just such an opportunity?
Was this woman’s voice shaking because she was lying and involved in something that could send her to prison? The notion of a 90 lb. Florida Panther, in a dog trap, in a garage, in a waterfront community like Apollo Beach, was pretty far fetched. Is that why Fish and Game had not responded, or did she just say she called them first so that I wouldn’t? I queried her more, asking the same questions in different ways. If she was lying she would get tripped in her own tale and if she wasn’t she would surely think that I was an idiot who just couldn’t get the picture.
After a while I decided that no one could have made up a story like hers and told her I would be sending our Operations Manager Scott and our own licensed trapper to see if she changed her mind about wanting someone to come right away. Her only concern was if our trapper was of the same conviction as the one she had called earlier and I assured her that we would not kill the cat. She gave her contact info and it all matched up with the public records. She was in a high rent district that was not consistent with where most of our opponents live. I called Jamie to wake her up.
Groggy she answered the phone. She had been too exhausted to sleep, but had finally managed to drift off when she heard my voice saying, “Get up. We have to pick up a Florida Panther in Apollo Beach.” She said to wait out front and she would be ready in three minutes and she was.
As she climbed into the truck she asked me to repeat what it was we were doing again and why. If this was a 90 lb cat we would have to pick up the van from the sanctuary and have an enclosure ready upon our return. The woman was afraid for the cat because she couldn’t open the trap to give him water and he had been in it for a couple days. We needed a place we could release the cat so that he could stand up (which she also said he couldn’t do in the tiny trap he was wedged into) and get a drink.
As we switched out gear to the van Jamie called Scott to alert him that we needed a cage ready. He prepared our rehab cage because it is far removed from the tour route and the other cats in case this was truly a wild cat and as a quarantine measure.
On the one hour trip to Apollo Beach Jamie and I placed bets as to what was in the trap. Would it be a dog? A raccoon? A neighbor’s oversized tom cat? A bobcat? Partly this was due to the barrage of such sightings that turn out to be such animals and partly in our nervous aversion to what the real implications of this trip could mean to our lives. Jamie was armed and has become something of an Amazon in strength due to her daily life of outside work at the rescue. I have a history of deflecting harm thanks to an overly protective Guardian Angel and hardly ever even consider my own safety but I worried for Jamie. She is the permit holder to pick up a native animal and had to be there. She knows the element of enemy we are up against. A master of disguise and undercover surveillance she has been face to face with those who use and abuse these animals. If anyone knew the dark void of greed, ego and selfishness that these exotic animal breeders and dealers shared it was Jamie. We were ready for whatever the night might bring.
I was somewhat relieved to find at the end of our route the homes were in the million dollar range. At least gun fire would probably cause an investigation. The caller met us at the door and holding back her dogs waived us to enter the garage. I quickly scanned the room to try and determine if there was anyone lurking and to get a feel for what kind of person we were dealing with. I wasn’t too thrilled with the notion of being thrust into the garage; was that so we wouldn’t make a bloody mess on the carpet?
Opening the garage door I saw the trap that was virtually busting at the seams with brown fur. Glancing around the garage I didn’t see anyone or anyplace anyone likely could be hiding. I know Jamie’s observation skills were far more adept and that she could also go on for hours describing exactly everything in the room to its most minute detail after a five minute visit. The woman rejoined us and shut the door behind her. She was no match for us and I began to un tense every muscle that had been as tight as piano wire for a battle.
She described the cat again; as if we couldn’t see him, and detailed discovering the cat a week before and all that she had done to try and find help. Finding no one who cared, she borrowed a trap and set out to catch the cat herself for fear that someone would shoot him. Finally she turned to Jamie and asked, “So, what is it?”
Jamie responded that it was a Jungle Cat and I interjected that it was the biggest Jungle Cat I had ever seen. We gathered a written statement from the woman, interviewed her mother who owned the home, took photos and settled the 26 lb. Jungle Cat into the back of the van for the hour ride home.
2:13 am we arrived back at the sanctuary and the only way to get the cat to the rehab cage is to carry him across 2 acres of underbrush on a foot wide path lit by only a flashlight. I carried the flashlight and Jamie hauled the 36 pounds of cat and trap. Jamie turned him loose in his new enclosure and unlike most trapped cats he just moseyed out of the trap and strolled around the Cat-a-tat checking out the brush boma, the cave and the swinging platforms. She gave him water and secured the cage.
The next day we called Fish and Game, now known as the FWCC, to report the incident. We checked the lost and found while Dr. Wynn checked the cat over to try and tell, without sedating him, if he was a male, neutered or not and what was up with those huge paws? We had filmed an interview for an expose into the small cat and hybrid cat dealers and the producer called saying she needed a few more break away shots. I told her about the rescue and offered to let her document what happens when these animals escape.
The minute she saw the cat she said it was a Stone Cougar and that there was a hybrid dealer a couple hours away who was trying to make himself famous by breeding a Chaussie (Jungle Cat / Domestic Cat cross) that looks like a cougar. Purposely inbreeding causes traits such as the polydactyl feet to make the paws bigger and the stunted, dwarf like legs to make the cats’ body style more closely resemble a cougar. The Jungle Cat is used for its brown coloring and hybrids are typically larger than either parent, so this would give the desired size for the pet owner who wants something big enough to beat up the neighbor’s Rottweiler.
This cat’s escape, or release, sums up the hybrid issue. The first generations are large, mentally confused, and often exhibit the worst of both species rather than the best. Hybrids are marketed as being miniature wildcats with all of their beauty and mystique while being easy to keep; eating cat food and using a litter box. What is most often created is a rather ordinary looking cat with no house manners who will fight you to the death for the defrosting meat in the sink. Children and pets are particularly in danger and there isn’t a house that can contain them, or in which anyone who can smell will want to live. They are often relegated to lonely lives in back yard cages or are turned loose to fend for themselves on whatever neighbor’s pets they can catch.
This cat probably sold for $2500.00 and was just a way to make some money to his breeder. This cat once was a new buyer’s prized possession. This cat knew what it meant to live in fear on the street with no one who cared if he lived or died, except for a woman who was determined that he would not be shot for killing the neighbor’s cats. This cat may now spend 20 years in a cage because he is too big and too dangerous to be kept as a pet anymore.
This cat is the one with a story to tell and you can help him tell it: Exotic cats were not meant for life in cages. Please don’t support the exotic pet trade; including the hybrid pet trade.
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.
Chris Hawes of Baynews 9 Slams Us Based On Animal Exploiter’s Lie
More than meets the eye?
Thursday, March 16, 2006 by Chris Hawes
Bay News 9 combed through hundreds of pages of documents to uncover this story. The mission of Big Cat Rescue in Citrus Park is to make you care about animals.
The first page of its web site mentions how it provides a home to "abused" and "abandoned" cats. However, former volunteers say many of the cats living there weren't in need of being rescued, and that they were bought from breeders to be bred. At least 30 of the 150 cats that live at the facility were not rescued, and were actually born at the facility. Former volunteers say stories about what the facility does are, at best, exaggerated.
"If it's not a rescue, it shouldn't be tagged as a rescue," said former Big Cat Rescue board member and volunteer Jim Moore, who worked for almost five years there and even lived on the property for a while. Moore and others intimately familiar with Big Cat Rescue say it's time they spoke publicly to set the record straight about the non-profit facility and its founder and CEO, Carole Baskin.
"She wanted to one day have the largest private collection of exotic cats in the world," said Debra Sandlin, who volunteered at the facility from 1997 - 2000.
The former volunteers point to examples like Fluffy the serval cat as one of many possibly misleading stories on the web site. The web site says many of Big Cat Rescue's servals were purchased at auctions where uncaring owners dumped them. Halfway down the page, it says Fluffy "came as a result of the pet trade." Fluffy's seller, Sandra Flaherty, said she raised the serval on baby food and would have only sold her to a good home. "She was sold as a pet and possible breeder," said Flaherty.
Another serval cat is described on the web site as coming to Big Cat Rescue after a pet shop owner was afraid she would bite children who taunted her. "Not a word of it's true," said the cat's former owner, who said she parted with the serval because she was paid a thousand dollars.
One of the most convincing pieces of evidence for many of Baskin's critics is a video of the tiger cub Shere Khan. Big Cat Rescue's web site says he was "unwanted and uncared for," and "could not walk." However, a home video with Baskin on it tells a different story. "This is Shere Khan," Baskin said in the video. "He was bottle raised in a loving and nurturing home." "I see a normal tiger cub," said Sandlin.
Baskin discussed the allegations with Bay News 9 and agreed with the perception that the majority of cats at her facility came from abusive situations. She stood by her web site's story of Shere Khan's abuse, despite the video showing him standing on his hind legs. "He could lift himself, but just barely," said Baskin.
The tiger is just one of the stories the former volunteers mention. They're also troubled by claims that many animals on the site were born into the pet trade. "The majority of the animals that are listed on the web site where it says born into the pet trade were actually born there (Big Cat Rescue)," said Sandlin.
"That's because back prior to 1997 that's what we were, pet owners," said Baskin. "We were the pet trade." One of the few points that Baskin and her critics agree on is that Baskin and her husband sold and bred cats. "We went through a whole range of beliefs," said Baskin. "He was set on breeding virtually every cat here." Baskin says she's up front about that history. The extent of that breeding, however, is described nowhere on the web site, although one statement says no exotic cats have been bred there since 1997.
Baskin is the founder and CEO of Big Cat Rescue. Volunteers who worked there, however, say that's simply not true. "There were some binturongs born," said Judy Watson, a Big Cat Rescue volunteer from 1997-2000. Binturongs are more commonly known as bear cats. Former volunteer Jim Moore, who worked at the facility from 1995-2000, says he believes the bearcats' births were no accident.
A mid-1998 newsletter announced the imminent birth of caracals, medium-sized exotic cats with large, pointed ears. When shown the newsletter, Baskin responded, "You got me on that. I just, I don't know. It's not in the list of cats that we currently have." Baskin says the list shows she's telling the truth about the animals at Big Cat Rescue and that they're now in better homes than they once were, but she didn't want Bay News 9 to copy or videotape the list for fear her critics will "use the portions that they can zero in on as showing something negative about us." Of course, that's what's already happening with other records that have leaked out.
Baskin says some of the people attacking her are motivated by a piece of legislation she's backing that would severely limit the the breeding and ownership of exotic animals.
I later wrote to Chris Hawes date unknown:
Dear Chris Hawes,
I left a DVD for you (not VHS) so it is a smaller package you will be looking for. The API investigation just came out and there are at least two more that are coming out soon from international organizations that focus just on exotic cats in private possession.
I am being very supportive in stopping the breeding and selling of these magnificent animals and will draw the fire from those who use the animals for their own selfish gain or ego. They cannot argue the issue with any credibility and thus turn to trying to keep the attention focused on my past. I felt from your questions and your approach that you were helping them. I felt the same way about the way you handled the hybrid issue a while back and how the zoning story tried to make it look like our neighbors have a problem with us when the worst you could get them to say was that they thought their kids were snack size.
I know it is a reporters’ job to tell an unbiased story, but I think you can see that I was being straight with you despite you trying to corner me into saying something that could be misconstrued. The animals cannot tell their story. Unless you spend every day, like we do, trying to find ways to ease the boredom of life in a cage for them, you cannot fully appreciate just how abusive it is to breed them for such lives.
By enabling my detractors in their attempts to discredit me, or keep me rehashing things that haven’t happened here in many years, you add to the suffering of generations more of these animals if I am unsuccessful in changing the laws to end the breeding and trade outside of the internationally accepted species survival plans. I hope that your concern for the animals will override any desire to accommodate those who hope to stop this legislation so that they can continue to breed, buy, sell and exploit the animals.
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.
My Mother’s Hands
I don’t know who wrote this, but I think it was shared with me by my mother to illustrate a point. It was 8 days after her birthday, so maybe I had read it somewhere and shared it with her, like I did this Ann Landers letter.
Mama, some ninety plus years, sat feebly in her chair. She didn't move, just sat with her head down staring at her hands. When I sat down beside her she didn't acknowledge my presence and the longer I sat I wondered if she was ok. Finally, not really wanting to disturb her but wanting to check on her at the same time, I asked, "Are you alright, Mama?" She raised her head and looked at me and smiled. "Yes, I'm fine, thank you for asking," in a clear strong voice.
"I didn't mean to disturb you, Mama, but you were just sitting here staring at your hands and I wanted to make sure you were OK,"
"Have you ever looked at your hands," she asked me softly. "I mean really looked at your hands?"
I slowly opened my hands and stared down at them. I turned them over, palms up and then palms down. No, I guess I had never really looked at my hands as I tried to figure out the point she was making. Mama smiled and related this story:
"Stop and think for a moment about the hands you have, how they have served you throughout your years. These hands, though wrinkled, shaky and now weak and cramped with arthritis have been the means I have used all my life to reach out and grab and embrace life. They braced and caught my fall when as a toddler I crashed upon the floor. They put food in my mouth and clothes on my back. As a child my mother taught me to fold them in prayer.
They tied my shoes and pulled on my boots. Then held my books and wiped my tears when I went off to school. They shook as I first learned to play the piano then became stronger and more sure as I became better and practiced more. They have entertained many for years as well as entertaining myself during moments of memory. They have been dirty and clean, scraped and raw, swollen and hurting. Decorated with my wedding band they showed the world that I was married and loved someone special.
They were clumsy and uneasy when I tended to my first born child but got stronger and surer with each one after that. They wrote the letters and trembled and shook that I sent off to my sons in the wars but hugged each one tightly when they came home. They cooked, cleaned and planted gardens. They sewed buttons, hemmed skirts and made quilts. And counted pennies to make ends meet.
They have decorated Christmas trees and welcomed guests into my home. They trembled and shook when I buried my parents and spouse or saw my daughters walk down the aisle.
Yet, they were strong and sure when I cuddled and fed my grand children. They have held children, consoled neighbors, and shook in fists of anger when I didn't understand. They have covered my face, combed my hair, and washed and cleansed my body. They have been sticky and wet, bent and broken, dried and cracked.
And to this day when not much of anything else of me works very well these hands hold me up, lay me down, and again continue to fold in prayer. These hands are the mark of where I've been and the ruggedness of my life.
But more importantly it will be these hands that God will reach out and take when he leads me home. And with my hands He will lift me to His side and there I will use these hands to touch the face of Christ ."
I will never look at my hands the same again. But I remember God reached out and took my Mama's hands and led her home. When my hands are hurt or sore or when I stroke the face of my children and grand children I think of Mama. I know she has been stroked and caressed and held by the hands of God. And I want my hands to feel the same.
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.
Nini Tiger Dies
Yesterday I show up for an appointment with a writer for Cat Fancy magazine and am met at the gate by Jamie and Scott telling me that Nini, our 22 years old tigress, didn’t eat yesterday nor today. The vet has been summoned and Nini is looking vacantly into space.
While Scott waits at the gate for Dr. Wynn, Jamie and I take the golf cart out to talk to Nini. We knew this day was coming but had been leaving the date of departure up to Nini. As long as she was eating well and enjoying her days of napping in the sun by her pool we would try to not cry as we saw her disappearing before our eyes a little more each day.
Despite eating well she had been losing weight for the past couple of months. We suspected a tumor in her stomach, but at her advanced age there was no point in subjecting her to surgery, chemo or even in anesthetizing her to run a battery of tests. The knock down alone would have killed her and even if didn’t her options would have only meant pain and having to spend her last days in a hospital rather than in her lakefront cat-a-tat where volunteers had lovingly transported her fish friends when she had moved to this new enclosure last year. All of the other tigers had eaten the fish that the volunteers had put in their pools, but Nini had made pets of hers.
I prayed for a sign to know what would be the best thing for Nini. I stooped down to look in Nini’s cave and instead of the familiar look of recognition, as if happy to see me, she looked scared. She seemed to say with her eyes that she know the time to depart was here, and like most of us, she was coming to terms with trying to face the unknown.
Here was a magnificent creature who had always had to be so brave. As a smaller female, in an industry dominated by much larger, more powerful males, she could never show fear or she would be killed or mauled. She had tolerated being stripped of all dignity by being made to perform for crowds of people who were too stupid to understand that the ticket they bought to watch her do tricks was what kept her confined to a circus wagon for the first 17 years of her life.
With tears streaming down my face; I wondered “Why?” Why did she put up with that when most tigers don’t after they reach adulthood? After retiring here in 2002 Nini became the most beloved of the circus cats. She captivated the staff and volunteers with her graciousness, but even more remarkable was her effect on guests. How many people came to me and said “I looked in her eyes and saw God!” I am not sure what any of them meant by that, but it was obviously a spiritual experience for them. Even more had confided that she spoke to them just as clearly as if out loud and in their own language. I knew they were telling the truth, because she had told me she didn’t belong in a cage and that none of them did. Nini had the rare ability to cross the species communication border and her message was always the same, “We are all ONE.”
Dr. Wynn arrives and concurs that Nini is never going to get better and that euthanasia is the most compassionate thing to do. Moments seem like hours as I finally manage to speak the unspeakable and say that it’s time to end her life. Who am I do decide that? I can hardly write the words now, just as I could barely speak them then. Jamie was silently crying and Scott was trying so hard to be stoic through this. We have to face this over and over again, but it never gets any easier.
Once the agonizing decision was made we all wanted it to be done as quickly and painlessly as possible, but Nini still belonged to the circus and their vet wanted to be the one to put her to sleep. She couldn’t be here until the following day. Dr. Wynn tried to reconcile our emotions of having to make this decision with the reality that waiting until tomorrow was not going to make that much difference to Nini, who has known she was dying for a while now. I didn’t want Nini to have to experience even one more minute of fear, but I was not allowed to make that call. She did not seem to be in physical pain, so I tried to accept the political situation for what it is and not jeopardize the lives of the other 10 circus cats by over riding the circus vet’s order to wait for her.
Carole 1/23/06 8:45 am: Jamie calls and tells me that Nini’s spirit had been set free.
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.
Humane USA Political Action Committee
Heather Veleanu is on the steering committee with me for the Florida chapter of the Humane USA Political Action Committee which is the nation’s largest animal protection PAC. She makes regular trips to Tallahassee to petition for better laws for the animals and had asked if I wanted to go with her. Being new to all of this legislative process I thought it would be a great opportunity to watch an expert in action and was thrilled at the opportunity.
Trying to Remotely Heal a Bobcat
(Photo of Jamie dated 5/4/05 It’s my favorite photo of her because she is in her element)
My cell phone rang and my blood ran cold. It always does. We have to turn away hundreds of big cats each year and every time the phone rings it makes me sick to think that it will probably be some gut wrenching situation that I will have to say “no” to. Not one for idle chit chat I always answer, “This is Carole.” I never screen my calls by the caller ID because if I did, I probably would just never answer calls I did not recognize just to save exposure to the pain.
On the other end of the line was my husband, Howie, telling me that the Sheriff’s office had just called him reporting a bobcat being struck by a car. Howie had dispatched Jamie and Scott to the scene already and was just letting me know they had it covered.
I had gotten the call as I was driving to a real estate closing. There was no way I could be there for the cat. No way to hover over the cat and focus all of the energy and prayer I could into mending his crushed and broken body. All I could do was try from afar; sort of like remote viewing. I only had five minutes so I put every ounce of energy into imagining the cat before me; seeing him on the side of the road. I envisioned his broken bones mending miraculously as I prayed they would. I know how the impact with pavement causes “road rash” to scrape away the fur and skin from bone as these animals are hit with the force of an oncoming car at 50 MPH. I pictured the skinless side of him, that would surely now be laying in the dirt and gravel of the roadside, pulling together as if being zipped back up. I took a deep breath of my own; wishing that into his own collapsed lungs. I could see him looking better in my mind’s eye and had to walk into the closing to pay attention to the matter at hand.
Jamie just called and reported that the bobcat was alive and that much to her amazement, and that of the vet, he didn’t have any broken bones and no road rash. Just a few spots of missing hair. I was elated. Had this worked? I was so happy for the bobcat…but she continued, “The weird thing was that he had just eaten a rat or something and the impact had shattered the bones of his meal which pierced all of his vital organs and he would probably bleed to death.” Jamie went on to say that he had been given medication for the pain and put in the incubator to spend the night at Carrollwood Cats with Dr. Stacie Wadsworth.
I was devastated. I never thought about an injury coming from within. How could his meal have all of its bones crushed and not the bobcats own ribs? I felt certain the imaging and praying had worked, but I had not thought of everything. All I could do was try again, based on this new understanding of his situation, but picturing how his internal organs SHOULD look was much harder for me to imagine. He died at the vet’s office.
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.
2005 Annual Report
Big Cat Rescue’s Mission Statement: To provide the best home we can for the animals in our care and to reduce the number of cats that suffer the fate of abuse, abandonment or extinction by teaching people about the plight of the cats, both in the wild and in captivity, and how they can help through their behavior and support of better laws to protect the cats.
Advances: In 2005 the IRS reported that there are 964,000 registered charities in the U.S. Only 81 of them qualify for and display the BBB Wise Giving Alliance Standards seal. Big Cat Rescue is one of them. This seal confirms that the organization meets all 23 of the Standards for Charity Accountability. We have become so well known in the area, that our volunteers complain about wearing our logos in public because everyone loves us so much they just have to stop us and tell us so. Howie Baskin helped a Girl Scout troop organize our first Golf Tournament which netted 15,000.00. Invested in undercover surveillance equipment to shed light on the dirty truth behind the exhibition and exploitation of exotic cats.
Animal Care: We added more whole prey to our cats’ weekly diets and switched over to a prepared diet created by Natural Balance that improves their health via vitamin supplements. Faith the baby bobcat was upgraded to a much larger and more challenging Cat-a-tat where she had to learn to “out-fox” her food. Later, after completing her survival training, she was released onto 17,000 acres of pristine bobcat habitat. President Jamie Veronica, and the interns track her weekly to insure that she is thriving on her own. We had to turn away 85 big cats that were no longer wanted by their owners but we rescued Snorkle the tiger from a circus owner and brought in tigers: India, Nyla, King, Princess and Narak from the circus. Rescued three baby mountain lions who were orphaned by a hunter in Idaho. Their names are Artemis, Ares and Orion and they were neutered and spayed this year so that they can always stay together.
Staff and Volunteer Training: Jamie Veronica got licensed by the state to be able to pick up injured or escaped wildlife. In the past it had to be brought to us by someone who was so licensed . Cathy Mayeski and Jen Rusczcyk completed the Clicker Training Expo in CA and now have 57 of our cats in the Operant Conditioning program. Jen organized and developed the Enrichment program making it one of the best in the country.
Jamie Veronica took the Intern Program to the next level and manages their housing, group activities and scheduling. The Volunteer Committee re-wrote the Volunteer Program and the Intern Program and have updated ALL of our volunteers level of certification through testing. Some of our members attended the EARS training. (Emergency Animal Rescue Service) Hired green shirt Sharon Marszal to work filling orders for the gift shop and sent her to eBay training classes. Read books on Non Profit Marketing, Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver and Flash to perfect our skills in these areas.
Education: Our Education Director, Kathryn Quaas, is partnering with the Florida Aquarium to promote several joint efforts for schools and summer camps. We did legislative presentations to Stetson Law University on three occasions this year promoting a register to vote drive. The Fur Ball CD of games, puzzles, screensavers and more were given to the 500 attendees with 300 extra being used as rewards for children who answer questions correctly during her presentations and field trips.
Howard began working with the Greenfund Network to create a joint venture in schools where kids turn in ink cartridges for recycling in bags that tell about Big Cat Rescue so that both their school and the sanctuary can benefit from the program. Some kids may not care about raising money for scholarships, but they do care about saving tigers and this is a way to inspire them to keep these cartridges out of the landfills.
Filmed the rescue of three orphaned baby cougars with David Hurd Productions for use on the Animal Planet’s new series that will be aired repeatedly, and thus help educate people about what is happening to their precious wildlife in the name of sport. Six local libraries now stock our video, The Big Cat Picture in their documentary sections.
The portion of our web site that is devoted to education aimed at children through learning games has grown in leaps and bounds. We added hundreds and hundreds of puzzles, free wallpapers, free screensavers and other educational activities that feature photos and drawings of the cats along with our message that “Exotic Animals Don’t Make Good Pets!” Began compiling worksheets and coloring pages for a educational handbook for students next year. Added FCAT lesson plans to our Teacher’s Resource area. Used the Google grant to broadcast the availability of these teaching aids to students, their parents and teachers. We participated in a study with Odd Cast that resulted in us being awarded 100,000 free streams for our Virtual Hosts.
Legislation: Founder, Carole Baskin was unanimously elected to serve on the Board of the Humane USA Political Action Committee. She was also appointed to the steering committee of the Florida Chapter of Humane USA. We enlisted the Florida Animal Control Association to help us approach the State of Florida in an effort to change the rules to better protect the animals and the public. We were joined by HSUS and Humane USA in this endeavor and have asked the National Fraternity of Police Officers to join us as well. Carole was also appointed by Commissioner Brian Blair to serve on the Animal Advisory Committee and was elected secretary. In November she was unanimously nominated to serve as Chair of the Animal Advisory Committee. We attended the Tampa Bay Partnership’s Tampa Bay Day in Tallahassee and met with 25% of the state’s legislators to ask for better animal protection laws.
We began promoting our Legislative portion of our web site that is dedicated to educating the public and legislators about animal welfare bills. 1,111,647 pages of bills were viewed by visitors. We rallied support for the Federal bills to stop canned hunts with an aggressive online letter campaign to get people to ask their senators and representatives to co-sponsor this bill that would make it illegal to transport exotic animals across state lines for the purpose of injuring or killing them. We promoted hundreds of bills at the state and federal level. In just the first year we were responsible for 20,969 letters being sent to congress on behalf of the animals.
We launched our first online petitions and gathered 494 signatures on one to ban breeding and sale of exotic cats and 1878 signatures on 10 things we want legislators to know which includes the banning and breeding of exotic cats. We also launched our first online polls to see how people feel about issues such as animals in the circus, bobcats and cougars being hunted, exotic animal pets and more. Response has been terrific and we are finding that roughly 85% of the public loves animals and want better laws to protect them and 90% do not want to see big cats being made to perform.
Attended AZA’s Legislative session and Taking Action for Animals in Washington, DC. Met with our Senators and Congressmen in D.C. and here locally to discuss the exotic animal issues. County Administrator, Pat Bean and Animal Services Director, Bill Armstrong both toured and interacted with the cats, learning about how we use operant conditioning for emergency preparedness. We hosted tours for Hillsborough County Commissioners: Kathy Castor, Ronda Storms, Jim Norman, Ken Hagan, and for aids to Brian Blair and Mark Sharp. We also toured Pinellas County Commissioners: Ronnie Duncan and Karen Seel. We introduced these commissioners and State Representatives Kim Berfield and aids for Kevin Ambler along with team players for gubernatorial candidate Jim Davis so that they have a better understanding of why Florida needs laws to prevent the private ownership of dangerous exotic pets.
Requested that we be appointed to the state’s Captive Wildlife Committee but were denied as the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission decided to comprise the committee of exotic pet owners. State Legislators made it known later that the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission “had better fix this exotic animal problem or the legislature was going to get involved and FWCC was not going to like it.” Began working on a memo with the help of former gubernatorial candidate Bill McBride’s law firm that affirms a County’s right to impose laws that do regulate exotic animal ownership as long as those laws do not single out exotic pet from other provisions that would apply to all. In the past the Counties often thought they were helpless in the face of the constitutional amendment that had granted the Fish and Game agency the ability to act outside of the legislative process that all other states enjoy.
Fundraising and Marketing: We had our first ever $10,000.00 day of tours and private tours in December. Implemented our first direct mail campaign at Christmas with a request to support the three orphaned cougars. We doubled the price of the Fur Ball tickets from 55.00 and 75.00 to 100.00 and 150.00 and raised a net of $60,000.00 (up from 40,465 last year) with only 500 attendees. This enabled everyone to have a better time because there were no lines and our volunteers found it much easier to deal with 500 people at check out as opposed to 850 like we had last year at lower prices. We discovered last year that at 55.00 we were just breaking even and for people for whom that was a lot of money we found that they did not spend money in the auctions so we had to evaluate whether the Fur Ball was a donor thank you party or a fundraiser and deciding it was the latter made the agonizing decision to double the price.
Opened an online store on eBay to reach a broader market with our logo’s items and unique offerings. We tried MagFundraising.com for the first time and raised almost 3000.00 in magazine subscription commissions. Our volunteers raised $3000.00 wrapping books at Borders Books. Invested in Telosa’s Donor Management software. We were given the front and back page of the Tampa Tribune’s Commentary section and have been on several national programs including CNN, Fox, Animal Atlas on Discovery Channel and Animal Planet.
We purchased a second terminal for our Point of Sale system due to the overlap of tours beginning and ending in the gift shop. In Jan our web site was averaging 170,000 hits per day and by the end of the year was reaching more than 300,000 hits per day with a surge to 744,000 hits per day thanks to a Google Adwords grant for unlimited advertising for three months. Cox radio gave us more than 100 on air spots to advertise the Valentine’s Day wedding at Big Cat Rescue and gave us 300 more free advertising spots on air for our golf tournament on two stations. They also donated 300 spots for the Fur Ball.
Jamie Veronica’s photos have been used in Biodiversity Magazine by Tropical Conservancy, and we created a Stock Photo portion of our website where featured artists donate their work and we sell the images online. We set up Cafe Press and Zazzle sites to sell her images to raise money for the cats. We were asked to apply for the WEDU’s charity awards for our fundraising and marketing achievements. The ink recycling program with Greenfund Network has succeeded far beyond our initial goals thanks to marketing the envelopes through our newsletter with now has a circulation of more than 35,000 homes. We are candidates for the Webby Awards with the winner to be announced in 2006.
We created several video productions that tell viewers what we do including Orange Sky by Jamie Veronica and the Two Minute Tour by David Hurd. In addition to this we created several new interactive slideshows including one called Born To Be Free that contrasts life in cages to life in the wild. We started our first automatic direct deductions for banks and credit cards and a program with Albertson’s where participating card carriers can have part of their purchases donated to us. We created our first Big Cat Travel site that allows people to get the best Priceline prices on airfare, car and hotel rental, cruises and event tickets with the commissions paid to Big Cat Rescue. Carole lost 17 more pounds with Matol and set up www.Matol-Diet.com so that others can lose weight, build their own home business and the commissions go to the cats as well. Volunteer Beth Stewart created and marketed a calendar of our sanctuary called Saving Big Cats. This calendar was available at Amazon.com, Borders.com and BarnesAndNoble.com and we sold a number on site and on line as well. The calendar was produced by TideMark Productions and featured photos of our cats for every month and their personal rescue stories.
With the help of Teasdale Worldwide Howard Baskin created our first formal Corporate Sponsorship program, both in general and for the Fur Ball. We held special kid’s tours after Thanksgiving and Christmas and were packed and got a lot of good press coverage for doing something for the kids. We were in the press 48 times in 2005 and many of these were interviews with Scott Lope. We were in Glamour Magazine twice, on CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Inside Edition and were instrumental in providing background information for Parade Magazines’ piece on the exotic pet trade and for ABC’s Prime Time that should air next year. We have a PSA that was made jointly with the Girl Scouts of America that is airing nationally to encourage young people to get involved and do something good in their community. We ended the year with money in the bank to begin building our Big Cat Lodge.
Grounds Improvement: Completed two more tiger Cat-a-tats for the circus tigers in case of emergency. New Cat-a-tats were built for cougars; Mack and Cleo along with hurricane proof dens for each of them. Cages were reshaped and room additions built for Caracals; Rusty & Sassy and Cachinga & Cachanga. The same was done for the Serval; Alpha, Bobcats; Alex & Windsong and Banshee. In addition many of the cats got hammocks, swinging platforms, secondary dens just to play in and Alex & Windsong got a new fort. Tonga was moved and his old roofless cage was turned into a temporary playground for the three orphaned cougars.
The E-Center was whimsically painted to look like a leopard and the Cabins were painted by volunteer Julie Hanan to look like a tiger. Butterfly gardens were added by Kathryn Quaas and the kids of summer camp to the Cabin area. We moved the cavies off the tour route to a much larger enclosure and tore down the old otter cages that they had lived in on the lake. The area was cleared so that there is a beautiful view of the lake and the tigers and lions beyond now.
Brought in a new Intern home that is a 4BR/2BA and Vern built a deck that is perfect for socializing after a long day of cat chores. Cleared all Brazilian Peppers from the back forty and built a road around the cell tower to make the back parcel more accessible. This area required heavy clearing and then bush hogging of dog fennel and some fill over the concrete to turn it into a lovely park like area. Stood falling wall back up. Weeded and planted ferns at the beach. Began massive clean up of Styrofoam from lake banks. Bought a new shed for the two new golf carts and a new riding mower. Added lots of filing cabinets and storage cabinets to the gift shop and office. The fenced waiting area had a cola machine, waterfall and lots of landscaping and mulching added to create a nice place for guests to wait for their tours. Donor recognition signs were added to this area.
Bought three more acres for alternate access and parking and cleared the land of dog fennel so that we can keep it mowed. Took on debt for the first time in our history with the purchase of this land. Began negotiations with Outback and the County on building a multi use Education and Conference Center called the Big Cat Lodge. Unveiled the new conceptual drawings of this improvement created by Collman and Karsky with help from Genesis at the Fur Ball. Applied for a Planned Development for this additional 3 acres to give us cross access, parking and 6 more residences for interns and volunteers.
Helping Others: We invited other animal welfare groups to use our Legislative tools in customized banners on their web sites so that they could encourage their visitors to write their representatives about important animal welfare issues. We hosted the Alzheimer’s Memory Walk for 600 walkers who raised 50,000 for Alzheimer’s victims. Worked with PAKT to help them negotiate a deal with the circus and AZA for promoting responsible, life time care for animals who have had to work for a living. Continued to help ACT by driving the Spay Day trailer each month so that 100-160 cats per month can be spayed.
Charities that we donated to this year in the form of Free Passes to our sanctuary: 100 passes to No More Homeless Pets Adopt-a-thon 30 passes and gift certificate for a Big Cat Expedition to Florida Voices for Animals, Donated a Big Cat Expedition, a Feeding Tour and more to Animal Coalition of Tampa for their Some Enchanted Evening fundraiser and the same again to their Stride For Strays walk-a-thon. Donated the use of our facility to the Humane Society of Tampa Bay for their Volunteer Appreciation party and to National Humane Society for their volunteer and donor recognition party at Christmas. Donated an Expedition and Two for One Passes to SPOT and worked with them to create a segment on Pinellas County’s Public Access Channel. Hosted a party for a team of Florida Panther protectors.
We raised 1250.00 each for EARS and HSUS to aid the animal victims of Katrina and 1000.00 each for conservation programs to save the margay in Brazil, to help start an eco tourism lodge in Guyana and to assist Lewa in Africa.
Other: Gave a private tour to Toronto Blue Jay’s Shea Hillenbrand. Customized a golf cart for hurricane use by creating a cat-proof cage to drop down over the carriage so that we can access any part of the property in the event of a cat being loose.
In a year when tsunamis, earthquakes and hurricanes ravaged the globe and other sanctuaries, even good ones, found themselves considering the euthanasia of their animals rather than let them starve due to the drop in donations we were able to thrive. We are thankful to our staff and volunteers who worked tirelessly to make this possible and to all of our donors and visitors who kept our cats fed in these worst of times.
The saddest news is that we now have to turn away nearly 100 exotic cats every year, because we cannot afford to take in all of them that are being bred and sold into the entertainment, pet and zoo industries. The most common victims are Lions, Tigers, Cougars, Servals, Caracals and Bobcats. We are now devoting more time to raising awareness and trying to get laws enacted that will protect these magnificent creatures from man.
The mission has evolved from just saving the cats that ended up in places like fur farms, hunting ranches and auctions, to making a difference on a global scale. People who come here and spend time with our cats are transformed. I hear, over and over again, how people feel like their lives were changed forever by knowing these animals on such a personal level. Many times I have heard visitors say, “I looked into that cat’s eyes, and I saw God!” For many of them, it is the first time that they have ever felt that they were intimately connected with the rest of creation. It is a wake up call that we are all ONE.
It is my dream to integrate the beauty and majesty of the great cats with the inner awakening we can enhance in our visitors. By making people more aware, we can make the world a better place.
Our Officers and Board of Directors
• President Jamie Veronica (not compensated by BCR)
• Vice President & BOD Cathy Mayeski (not compensated by BCR)
• Secty/ Treasurer Vernon C. Stairs (not compensated by BCR)
• Director and Coordinator Brian Czarnik (not compensated by BCR)
These members met for monthly board meetings.
Paid Staff:
• Operations Manager Scott Lope (compensated but not a member of the board)
• Gift Shop Manager Cynthia Montayre (compensated but not a member of the board)
• Administrative Sharon Marszal (compensated but not a member of the board)
L-R Susan Bass, Howard Baskin, Carole Baskin and Carl Bass.
This was our annual gala called the Fur Ball. We met Susan when she was at The Dutcher Group. Later Howie ran into her husband Carl at the airport and arranged for us to reconnect, around 2011. Susan had left Dutcher and was working for Lazy Days RV Center, but left them and became our PR person.
Ares, Artemis and Orion
Ares, Artemis and Orion were only 3 weeks old when they arrived from Idaho, their mother having been shot by a hunter. They had to be fed every four hours and Scott and Liz and Jamie had many sleepless nights caring for them. Scott arranged for them to be flown in on Southwest Airlines in the cabin. It was wonderful publicity for Big Cat Rescue and its cause, as the captain even played "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" over the loudspeakers so that everyone could hear. Luckily, Scott drew a lot of attention with Ares and Artemis and drew attention away from Jamie who had Orion, because Orion at the time was having diarrhea which got all over Jamie. Artemis was Scott's favorite and Ares was Dr. Wynn's favorite and Orion was Jamie's favorite.
They had a very difficult time weaning the cubs from the bottle and would often get completely covered in the milk/meat mixture they were trying to administer to get them weaned. This went on for weeks and reflects their dedication in giving these animals the best life possible. Scott even set up a 1/2 door so that the volunteers could come and safely see the cubs being raised. Because of their dedication, Big Cat Rescue can continue to educate the public about how cougars are still being persecuted in the wild. Please check your e-mail and the .me site regularly for information on what you can do to help with your voice through letters, e-mail, and other communications with the media and our lawmakers.
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.
Howie Writes to Glamour Magazine
My wife is not a Don’t.
Ms. Cynthia Leive | Editor-In-Chief | Glamour | 4 Times Square New York, New York 10036-6593
Dear Ms. Leive, When my wife Carole and I visited New York last winter we noticed a photographer on the street, but paid little attention. However, we almost hit the floor with laughter when one of our volunteers recently showed us your September issue, where Carole is the central figure in your “Top 10 Don’ts” (see attached copy).
Little did your photographer know that he was only seeing the tip of the iceberg, as you can quickly gather from the enclosed photo of Carole’s closet. Carole is the Founder of Big Cat Rescue, the world’s largest sanctuary devoted to abandoned, abused and retired big cats. Feline attire has become part of her persona. Our two domestic cats and I are afraid to even enter this closet for fear of being devoured. So, I am grateful for ANY fashion advice that you can provide to Carole.
I do, however, feel obligated to point out that your magazine’s opinion is not universal. Enclosed is a copy of our local “lifestyle” periodical, Tampa Bay Best Magazine. Carole and I were recently featured in it as “people with style” (see tabbed page). On the other hand, this was probably not based on our attire, and will also invite snickers in your big city about our small town taste, so perhaps it was best left unsaid. The Publisher of Tampa Bay Best has offered that if you would be kind enough to send a digital copy of that page, he would be happy to run it in the magazine giving Glamour full credit. If you would be willing to do that, his contact information is in the magazine.
Thanks again for providing a huge chuckle, and for the effort, as unlikely as it may be to succeed, to educate my wife on the dangers of excessive cat print attire. Sincerely, Howard Baskin
8/23/05 Howie and I are so happy. I just can’t thank God enough for this wonderful man. He is all I ever dreamed of. Jamie is in Seattle for a week following the Dave Matthews Band, camping, visiting the Woodland Park Zoo and visiting with Avi. I only wish she could find someone so wonderful as Howie.
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.
Gloria Noble Johnson Cougar Ridge
Dear Gloria Noble Johnson, You asked me if I thought there was no reason to breed exotic cats and it sounded like your thoughts on that are evolving. I am early on in that process and thought that sharing how this belief has come to be may aid you in the unfolding of your path.
I always loved cats and knew I would do something for them someday but I left home at 15 and was a street urchin for two years before marrying an auto mechanic. The next decade was spent as most probably are: raising a family, earning a living and being too tired at the end of the day to do anything but collapse on the couch.
By the time I was 23 I was divorced and still raising my daughter (two of the children had been his from a previous marriage) and earning a living. I felt more and more that something really big and expensive was going to become my burden, but had no idea what it was, so I worked 7 days a week and reinvested every penny we didn’t have to have for food. Being caught up in the rat race I didn’t spend any time thinking about the big picture.
I remarried at 30 and started the sanctuary the next year. The evolution of the sanctuary was pretty average. We had a pet bobcat and when we went in search of another one discovered 56 that were going to be slaughtered at a fur farm and brought all of them home. Unable to give personal attention to 57 lynx we placed them in homes where possible. We bought out two more fur farms and began asking everyone who had cats about how to care for them.
We met all the people you usually meet at that stage: The breeders, the dealers, the users, the “educators” and the exploiters who all had very polished media sound bites that they had rehearsed for years to justify what they did. To newbies like us, who knew nothing of the facts, it all sounded very noble. We met Robert Baudy, Darrell Atkinson, Doc Antle, Peter Caron, Judy Watson and on and on I could go for pages. They seemed to be the experts and there was no one else to ask.
Zoos wouldn’t talk to “the private sector” and most of the places calling themselves sanctuaries explained that they had to breed and sell in order to support all the cats they already had bred and not sold. The “educators” quoted famous people by saying that “people will only save what they love” indicating that by taking animals to schools, flea markets and shopping centers we were teaching people to care about animals and that would ultimately save them. We fell for all of it.
Then one day we were at an exotic animal auction and I recognized a cat being sold. I knew he was a kitten I had raised and placed in what I thought would be his forever home. We bought him and brought him home and I began microchipping all of our cats. Never again was I going to wonder if a cat of ours had wound up on that downward spiral. People began asking me to take back cats we had placed and I always did. I began to realize, that unlike me, when people committed to an animal, it only meant that they were committed as long as it was fun or at least convenient. My husband was suffering from Alzheimer’s by now and was totally irrational. I couldn’t stop him from breeding and selling, but I started sneaking cats to the vet and having them neutered. He could pair up cats until the cows came home, but they weren’t having any kittens.
I lost him in 1997 when I was 36 and our assets were tied up in court (and obliterated I might add) over the next six years. The cats were costing me 400,000.00 a year, but the courts would only allow 150,000.00 of my business earnings to go to the cats each year for the six years. My daughter was 17 and graduated 2 years early so that she could help me care for the cats. All of my time was spent trying to figure out ways to keep the cats fed.
Finally in 2003 it was over and my new life had begun with Howie who I just married last November. He was a retired Harvard MBA and lived frugally enough that he wouldn’t have to work again. His life was all about spending time with his friends and playing golf and tennis. Now he works crazy hours like I do for no pay in order to lift some of the burden of the sanctuary off me. He has used his special talents with people skills to get a lot of media exposure for us. I always believed that if people knew what we were doing they would support us.
That was a long winded way to get to where I meant to start the letter. Because I now don’t have all of the burdens I have had in the past I have been able to sort of hover over the situation and take a good look at it. I am amazed at how simple things look from 30,000 feet up. I asked myself:
What is the problem? How can I fix it?
It has been my observation that there are hundreds of exotic cats each year that end up unwanted, which usually ends very badly for them. Even the people who do keep them for their whole life, usually keep them in conditions that we would equate to life in prison at best. So it got me wondering as to “Why?”
Too often, when I ask myself that, the answer is “because that is the way I always did it or always believed”. I discovered that no one outside of the Species Survival Plan was actually breeding for conservation back in 1999 when I became active on those committees in the AZA. My task was to define all of the cage space in zoos and the census of all exotic cats of known origin (pedigreed back to the wild) that would be viable in breeding for true genetic conservation. None of the back yard breeders in Florida were holding animals that could be traced back to their historical origins. The Baudy cats especially are known around the globe, not only in AZA but in WAZA and ICUN as being the most unhealthy, inbred, lame, “throw away” cats in the industry. Zoos were being encouraged to “get rid” of all of their un usable stock to free up cage space for the real conservation efforts.
Since there is no demand for the big cats after they aren’t cubs that draw in customers, these cats were culled or sent to brokers who then sell them at auctions to anyone with money in their pocket.
The last of the myths that I believed that finally couldn’t withstand the light of open questioning was on the issue of taking animals out for education. I haven’t done that since firing our education director in 1999 when she shoved a Jungle Cat into a carrier to go out to a school. Our policy had always been that if the cat didn’t want to go, you just went alone. Even though I abandoned the practice long ago, I still believed that bringing people face to face with the animals, even if not in a natural environment, was still doing some good for engaging people to save wild places for wild animals. I was wrong.
At the 2005 AZA Legislative Conference Todd Willens, the Senior Policy Advisor to Chairman Richard Pombo, on the House Resources Committee spoke to us. While everyone was patting themselves on the back about all of the success stories in endangered specie recovery brought about by captive raised and released endangered animals, Todd pointed out that less than 1% of endangered species have recovered or improved at all as a result of all the zoo efforts combined. “No matter how you cut it, that still means 99% of all endangered species continued to decline or went extinct since the Endangered Species Act was created in the 70’s.” he reported.
For 30 years we have been exhibiting cats in un natural situations and saying we are doing it to make people care and it hasn’t worked. Einstein’s definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect a different outcome. So now the hard part, how do I fix it?
I can’t fix the problem of shrinking habitat caused by the explosion of the human population. I can’t do it in Florida and I can’t do it globally.
I can stop the suffering and abuse that exotic cats face as a result of being kept as pets, traded like used cars or used in entertainment. I believe that I can because I believe that the crisis of exotic cats escaping, killing and mauling people has reached an epidemic level that legislators are willing to respond to. I believe that the majority of people would agree that there is no reason that an animal should be purposely bred for life in a cage, just because we want to see one.
If it’s not for the good of the animal and it’s not for the good of the specie, then what other purpose is served in allowing the practice of using and abandoning exotic cats? Just my rambling thoughts on the matter. - Carole
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.
2004 Annual Report
Advances: The biggest advance in our history was this year when we went from “Tampabay’sBest Kept Secret” to a Household Name in the local area. This was due largely to the great media exposure donated by six local Cox Radio Stations. Hillsborough County gave us big green directional signs in 5 locations to direct visitors to our door. For the first year ever, in our 12 year history, we were able to cover all of the sanctuaries expenses from its own income! Thank you everyone! Howard Baskin was able to find a reasonable CPA, Marsha Weiss, and an accountant who completed an audit for our finances for grant writing purposes. This enabled us to apply to the Combined Federal Campaign and to apply to the online version of The Better Business Bureau called Give.org. Christy Anderson launched our first E-zine that carries AdvoCat issues to 5000 subscribers and links to our electronic version of The Big Cat Times. Jamie finished a movie that was nearly five years in the making called “The Big Cat Picture“. This has been widely distributed and 2 minute clips on every species of wild cat has now been added to our website from the movie. We wrote a 20 year plan and began taking steps to reach our goal of eliminating the cause of so much suffering and abuse.
Animal Care: We took in five new tigers and a lion, but had to turn away 114 big cats. We submitted our anesthesia machine parts to have one usable unit rebuilt. We built 5 new Cat-A-Tats with pools and dens and another multi-acre enclosure with dens and a pool. Built new dens for Esmerelda, Tobi, and Little Feather and cage enhancements for Sultan, Canyon, Genie, Maharajah, Bailey, Scratch, Baby Cakes and Hercules. Shere Khan and China Doll got a hurricane shelter and we repaired cages that were badly damaged from the four hurricanes in six weeks. The Enrichment team is growing stronger and more professional in their collaboration with others, such as Disney, to help write a comprehensive Enrichment Guide. Operant Conditioning has been led by Jennifer Ruszczyk with marvelous results.
The cats are learning their cues and are much easier to handle for check ups. All of the volunteers have retaken their animal care classes this year and have re certified their credentials via testing. Dr. Liz Wynn, DVM has been donating time every week as a liaison to Dr. Stacie Wadsworth, DVM. We began using Truly Nolan for regular flea spraying and for rodent control with marvelous results.
Staff and Volunteer Training: Attended the USDA’s Big Cat Symposium. Jamie Veronica attended AZA’s weeklong college course, Managing for Success. Jen, Howard and Carole attended and presented Operant Conditioning and Cage Building at The Association of Sanctuaries’ annual conference in Stone Mountain, GA. Susan Mitchell attended Karen Pryor’s Clicker Expo and spent some time with Gary Priest from the San Diego Zoo and quite a bit of time with his top trainer of cats. Susan also completed the Safe Capture course that some of our staff attended last year. Our volunteer program was overhauled to create an administrative branch for the first time in our history. We now have red through green level requirements on both the Keeper side and the Partner (admin) side and the proud recipients of those levels of accomplishment.
We began our first Intern program with three interns. Cathy Mayeski has been screening applicants from around the world and by the year’s end we have had 3 successful graduates from the program and two of them moved here to stay in the volunteer program. By the year’s end we have 6 full time interns and by next year hope to have 12-15. They have come from Wales, Canada, Brazil, Spain, Peru and all across the U.S. The interns work all day, six days a week for three months in exchange for housing and the experience of a lifetime. They are a volunteer force unto themselves and now have their own Den Mother, Gale Ingham who keeps them busy and makes sure they get the most out of their time at Big Cat Rescue.
Education: Hired Kathryn Quaas as our new Education Director and started offering regularly scheduled kid’s tours every Saturday at 9 AM. Summer Camp 2004 was a big hit. We created, with the help of creator LaWanna Jones, and a grant from Ken and Terri Pereira, an interactive CD called The Truth About White Tigers and distributed 1000 free copies. With the help of PeTA we were able to distribute 1000 copies of their CD about veganism.
Produced a new screen saver called 12 Tigers that has tiger photos and facts. Created an online game with the help of Point 2 Nature that children will be able to access online for free. It is a memory game of matching the cats with their fur and their sounds for fun fact rewards.
Created hundreds of pages of online games, puzzles, calendars, free screen savers, quizzes, polls and colouring activities for children of all ages. These interactive games are part of our campaign to reach the schools and day care centers with activities to teach children about animals and to inspire awe and respect for their beauty and their rightful place in nature. Our Big Cat Expedition continues to be our most pervasive educational tool and Susan Mitchell has trained countless people in the Operant Conditioning program portion that we offer to illustrate the medical needs of the cats and how we meet them. Our tours continue to increase and this allows Denny Mitchell, Brian Czarnik, Bill Lewis and many other great tour guides to educate people about the plight of these animals in the wild and in captivity. The most frequent response that we still hear from guests is “I had no idea!”.
Legislation: We reviewed the Captive Wild Animal Coalition‘s proposed sanctuary standards and wrote and submitted the sub section specific to felid care based upon a compilation of our own standards, those of ACE and Florida’s Fish and Game. We assisted Animal Control’s approach to the State of Florida in an effort to require owners of dangerous exotic animals to post on their property the dangers that exist and to allow the public to easily determine if their neighbors are harboring dangerous animals. We began promoting a page on our site called Support Legislation and AdvoCats.
We partnered with Capitol Advantage to create the first and only online presence in the Animal Welfare industry that is promoted on MSN, Yahoo, AOL, Congress.gov, PBS, the LA Times and E-the-People. In just the first days of creation is already responsible for about 30 letters per day going out to legislators on important animal issues that are currently pending including: Stopping canned hunts, prohibiting steel jawed traps and asking USDA to quit issuing licenses to people who are circumventing the new 2004 law that prevents the sale of big cats as pets. We noted a drop in the number of big cats being abandoned. Every year the number of big cats in need of shelter was doubling and by 2003 we were turning away 312 exotic cats. After the passage of the Captive Wild Animal Safety Act in Dec. 2003 that prohibited the sale across state lines of big cats as pets that number dropped to 114 abandoned cats in 2004. We posted a composite of all state laws and enabled viewers to go directly to their state’s online regulations. Our founder became a major donor to the only Political Action Committee fund for Animal Welfare issues called HumaneUSA.
Fundraising and Marketing: We purchased a new Point of Sale system with cash register and inventory software. Implementing this software has enabled us to better track inventory, sales and trends. On May 19 our web site received 29,724 page requests to be our largest day ever. By the end of the year our site is currently averaging about 100,000 hits per day. Jamie and Howard attended Scott Moller’s Fundraising Seminar in Tampa and Howard, Carole and Jen attended Scott Moller’s Fundraising Seminar in Stone Mountain, GA. Scott Lope and Daniel Capiro have been working closely with players of the TampaBay Lightning to raise awareness. Thanks largely to the lion vs tiger ligers thousands of dollars in radio air time donated by six Cox Radio stations, our Fur Ball attracted 850 guests and we netted 50,000.00 as well as had a Roaring Good Time. Jamie created our first Holiday Card with a collage of the cats for our use and for sale in the gift shop. The Adoption Kits have been so successful that she has had to order them by the hundreds from a printer, rather than printing them one page at a time on her computer as she has done in the past.
Our online giftshop sales soared from $7,914.00 in 2003 to $32,351.00 in 2004. We began monitoring news alerts at Google for exotic cat issues and proactively writing in to the media. We were in the press 63 times compared to 35 times in 2003. Our newsletter The Big Cat Times (formerly Cat Tales) is now in color and goes out quarterly to 23,000 supporters.
Grounds Improvement: At our January zoning hearing, 96 people wrote letters of support and 47 attended the hearing and spoke in support of the fine work we are doing on a global level. At the second hearing more than 200 supporters came to stand before the Board of county Commissioners in favour of Big Cat Rescue’s planned development. In the past we had to haul 30 bags of trash, twice a week to the end of the road. This year we managed to get our very own dumpster on site. We moved the golf cart shed, tore down the old green barn and re-routed the fencing to increase parking area. We repainted the cabins, food prep, painted the E-Center and repainted several of the cages. We installed new signs on the buildings so that they are consistently called by name in our documentation and training manuals and to avoid confusion. Sentry Signs enabled us to put new signs on most of the cats along the tour path that states their name, species, date of birth and how they were rescued.
We began a fence improvement campaign called the Catter-Wall. Two marble lions were donated for our front gate and we may have someone willing to donate a new front entrance next year. Food Prep was tiled and had gutters installed all the way around. Kiss Cote was applied to the Leopard Cat-A-Tat as a rust preventative trial model in March. The roads were reinforced to prevent inaccessibility to certain areas in the rainy season. We started the process for adding a 4 bedroom, 3 bath dormatory for interns. We upgraded to broadband and now have a wireless Internet connection available for guests.
Helping Others: We covered ad costs for The Association of Sanctuaries annual conference in March to insure that the people who need the training will know it is available. We also paid expenses for three of the speakers on Cage Building, Operant Conditioning and the No More Homeless Pets approach to companion animal abandonment. We shared the secret to our high search engine placement with TAOS and CWAPC and members of both organizations. We joined the Sanctuary Workers And Volunteers Association SWAVA and provided material for them to launch their campaign. We send out news alerts to everyone in our new Yahoo group and in the TAOS Yahoo group and include a Tip of the Day feature in which we share ideas that have worked for us. We gave permission to Florida’s state government site, at their request, to use our photos to illustrate why we should protect the Florida Panther.
Charities that we donated to this year: 100 passes to No More Homeless Pets Adopt-a-thon and gift certificate for a Big Cat Expedition, 50 passes and gift certificate for a Big Cat Expedition to Florida Voices for Animals, 50 passes to Clearwater High school’s Project Graduation, 100 passes to Dress For Success, 300 passes to The National Humane Societies spay/neuter and adoption programs. Big Cat Expedition to Clearwater Chamber of Commerce’s annual fundraiser. Donated a Big Cat Expedition and several Two for One Passes to Animal Coalition of Tampa for their Spay Day fundraiser. Big Cat Expedition for two and 200 passes to the Tampa Museum of Art. 1000 passes and a 1500. Expedition Package was donated to the Global Understanding’s Carousel Ball. There were many, many more that we donated to this year that we did not keep stats on. We offered to let No More Homeless Pets – HC and Florida Voices for Animals utilize our legislative program in a manner that is branded for their constituents.
Other: Carole Baskin represented The Association of Sanctuaries at the Captive Wild Animal Protection Coalition’s conference in San Francisco and was made The Association of Sanctuaries liaison to The Captive Wild Animal Protection Coalition. She served as the interim President of the Association of Sanctuaries in 2004.
2004 was a grrreat year and we are looking forward to an even better 2005!!!
The narrow mission of Big Cat Rescue is to provide the best permanent home we can for the limited number of abused, abandoned and retired big cats that the sanctuary can afford to take in. However, the sanctuary must turn away over 100 cats per year and the number is growing.
The broader mission, therefore, is to reduce the number of cats that suffer the fate of abandonment and abuse by educating as many people as possible about the conditions that lead to the plight of these animals. We do this through our tours of the sanctuary, our school education programs, our 2100 page website that receives viewers from all over the world, by supporting species preservation efforts, and by providing a hands-on experience for interns from around the world.
We hope, by setting an example and teaching about how animals should be treated, that this will carry over into how we humans treat each other as well, and in doing so make the world a better place for all living creatures.
Our Officers and Board of Directors
• CEO Chair of BOD and Founder Carole Baskin
• President Jamie Veronica
• Vice President & BOD Cathy Mayeski
• Secty/ Treasurer Vernon C. Stairs
• Director and Operations Manager Scott Lope
• Director and Coordinator Brian Czarnik
The current board of directors will serve until December 31, 2005. Between now and then, staggered terms of four years and five years each will be set by the existing Board of Directors to insure the uninterrupted good work of Big Cat Rescue.
The financial audits for 2004 are posted here and include total income in the past fiscal year, expenses in the same program, fund raising and administrative categories as in the financial statements, and ending net assets.
Income
Gifts and Contributions cash: 232,597.
Program Service Revenue: 314,143.
Inventory Sold: 48,076.
Rental Income: 31,718.
Interest & mortgages 85,041.
Events income: 39,631.
Total income for the year 751,206.
Expenses
Animal Care: 363,798.
Employee Benefits: 74.
Payroll Taxes: 4,650.
Accounting Fees: 3,525.
Legal Fees: 17.
Supplies: 39,322.
Telephone: 14,232.
Postage & Shipping: 4,911.
Equipment Maintenance: 9,970.
Printing & Publications: 50,583.
Travel: 1,476.
Conferences: 3,443.
Depreciation: 18,116.
Total Expense for the year 574,906
Excess for 2004 $ 176,300
Net Assets at the beginning of 2004 $ 1,142,039
Net Assets at the ending of 2004 $ 1,318,339
While this accounting appears to show a gain, it does not take into consideration money spent on capital improvements and set aside for more capital expenditures. Our complete 990 is available online at Guidestar.org under Big Cat Rescue. Neither the Founder nor any of her family nor friends are paid by Big Cat Rescue.
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.
Jamie and Daniel have broken up
It is Christmas day and it is raining. It has been raining for days. Jamie and Daniel have broken up and she is so sad. My heart breaks for her. Howie is wonderful and we are going to my parents home in a few minutes to exchange gifts. Howie sent me this letter that he wrote to a volunteer and I was so impressed with it that I include it below as a testament to who he is:
Below is FYI, since Diane responded to you as well, so you know what she was responding to. Obviously not for forwarding to anyone else. But the concepts may be of some use in reinforcing your points with Daniel/Scott. It may not hurt to point out to them (I would do in person not email) that Diane is willing to accept your promise that their behavior will change, and you will be extremely upset if you hear it has not. It might also be worth pointing that as a general rule sarcasm and humor that pokes fun are dangerous, can easily get out of hand, and are contagious. The culture of an organization tends to reflect the behavior of the leader(s). If the leaders talk about people behind their backs, gossip becomes the culture. If they discourage people from doing it, the norm drifts more in that direction. Even if Scott and Daniel use sarcasm or poke fun in a limited way that might not cross the line, others who pick up that behavior will not necessarily do so. Just a few thoughts for ya.
Howie’s email to Diane
I would just like to offer a couple of additional thoughts if I may. They may not appeal to you, and that is up to you, but please understand I offer them with good intent and from caring. What you reported to Carole really pained us both and she has made a considerable effort to act on it. Words said and actions done can never be taken back. So the question becomes what does one do after being hurt by someone's words or actions.
It is hard to know what motivates human behavior. Sadly, we are subject to so many forces including how we were treated growing up, etc. And many things we associate with the behavior of children, like acting out to get attention or being mean to each other, we see in adults. And the brilliant minds that have devoted themselves to the study of psychology have come up with diametrically opposed theories about this, leaving it pretty much a mystery.
And if I can continue to "wax philosophical" (perhaps motivated by the holiday season), if what motivates human behavior is a mystery, then how much more lost are we in figuring out the big question of why we are here at all. Just like psychologists differ so in explaining human behavior, so many religions offer conflicting answers.
Personally, I think that in some way our "journey" here as a soul is to learn and grow, and perhaps when the occasion arises to help others grow. I think that growth could be viewed in sort of a chart with a bar for each way in which we might grow, such as career, or in a talent we have. And among those is how we treat other people.
In my own case, I have found change is possible. And sometimes the lesson comes gradually, other times from a defining moment. For instance, as a youngster I had a very bad temper. I recall punching a hole in my bedroom wall. I would get mad at myself for poor performance, like in tennis. Then one day in junior high school I played against someone who made my temper look mild. After all kinds of antics that I could see were turning off everyone watching, he so lost it that he threw his racket wildly and while not intending to throw it at me, it whistled by my head. It was like Scrooge seeing himself. Watching him, I realized what I looked like when I got mad and resolved to change my behavior.
About 15 years later I was a junior partner in a furniture business. I had a horrible day solving problems created by the total stupidity of two of our truck drivers, who then returned very late and backed the delivery truck right into the front of my almost new van. The boss had listened to my frustrating day and watched through the window as I dealt with the accident. When I walked back into the store he had this baffled look on his face and I asked him what was wrong. He just shook his head bewildered and said "Don't you EVER get mad?". I took it as quite a compliment given my resolution of years before. And of course, I do occasionally get mad. But I don't throw tennis racquets.
I've also had the experience of having had a very sarcastic sense of humor as a young man, or what I thought was humor. More gradually, through feedback from people I cared about and who took the step to express their feelings, I learned that beyond a very limited amount it was not appreciated. I've worked to eliminate the pure sarcasm. I still tend to have a "teasing" element, but even then I try to avoid it with anyone who I manage to perceive does not appreciate it, and also try not to use it too often. More like a spice than a major ingredient.
Anyway, I did not tend to write an autobiography here. What I am getting at is that I've had the experience of behaving, for whatever reason, in a way that I later realized was undesirable and possibly hurtful although I did not perceive that when doing it. I have also had the experience of having other people treat me poorly. There was a fellow who came to work with me at Citicorp who initially behaved in a very inconsiderate, non team player way particularly toward me. Our office had a great camaraderie and his behavior was inconsistent and I felt could really damage it. I learned that he had come from an office where the culture was competitive and back stabbing. To make a long story short, he and I had a long talk and he changed his behavior and became a friend I still know today.
Carole has very emphatically charged Scott and Daniel with changing their behavior. I realize I am not the person Daniel has demeaned, so I do not carry the hurt, and a course of action that I think has value may be hard for you. But I think there is a great potential benefit to the entire volunteer program, and therefore to the cats, if the courage you showed in presenting your feelings to Carole leads to Scott growing as a manager and leader and fosters him promoting a culture that avoids the volunteers in the future experiencing what you have. As for Daniel, I don't know if you can look past the injury and take some satisfaction in possibly helping him grow. I don't know what motivates this aspect of his behavior. I have the impression that he came from a rather dysfunctional family situation, and I wonder if some of it is a way to get attention, or alternatively to elevate his own self esteem by "putting someone else down", which is sadly a common human behavior in many ways.
What I do think though is that Carole's effort to change their behavior, which could benefit both the sanctuary (and by that of course I mean the cats, since that is what we do this for), and the two individuals in terms of personal growth, becomes pointless and doomed if because of the hurt you feel you are not able to give them a chance to show they can.
I am not at all sure if they can change their behavior. Old habits are hard to change. But if they try and fail because you are unable to let them succeed, then the lesson they learn is to never try because it will not work.
It may be more than is fair to ask of you, but in what I perceive to be the interest of the cats, I'd like to just suggest that you see if you can give them the chance. If they fail, the risk is incremental hurt and you may not be up to that risk. But if they succeed, there could be huge benefits to all the volunteers in the future. I have the impression we have lost good people in the past because of this kind of thing. This could be a chance to turn that around. It may not work, but it is a chance. So I would only ask that you give it some thought.
And of course, another very significant benefit if it did go well, which I point out selfishly, is the ability to have you continue all you do so well and hopefully enjoy and find the satisfaction again in doing it.
I am not a very "religious" person in the way of attending services, but I believe strongly in certain religious concepts. Forgiveness is one of the toughest to implement, but I think that may be what makes it valuable. I have not been hurt by Daniel, but I've been hurt by others. And I try to view forgiving as one of those opportunities to grow.
I probably would not have spent this evening writing this, but the Christmas music I was playing and holiday spirit just got me thinking about it. Sorry if boring or unhelpful. Thanks for indulging me. And thanks as always for all you have done for the cats, regardless of whether you are able to give these two a chance to redeem themselves. And this is just a personal note. There are no bbc's and it does not require an answer.
I hope your Holiday is in all other respects a wonderful one. I look forward to seeing as much of you as you decide to offer to the cats. - Howard Baskin | Advisory Board Chairman | Big Cat Rescue
Diane ended up leaving Big Cat Rescue and it appears stole our donor records when she left to use as a way of garnering favor with some of the people breeding and dealing in big cats. I was totally surprised at her betrayal.
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.
Sending Jamie and Her Film to the International Wildlife Film Festival
For Christmas your film, The Big Cat Picture was entered into the International Wildlife Film Festival by Big Cat Rescue. Your mother has paid for you and a guest to attend the International Film Festival. You will be leaving Tampa May 2 and returning May 9. During the Festival you are signed up to see:
The Kodak Film Experience, Fly-fishing; Trail ride, Dinner Reception, Kodak Student Training, Sounds from the field, Film Screenings daily, Filmmaking Ethics, Copyright issues, Native people Filmmakers for conservation, Underwater filmmaking workshop, Cowboy Chili Feed, Field trip, to the National Bison Range, Mini Training seminars by Kodak, Meso-American Aquatic, Women with a wild side work shop, How to be a star presenter, The future of wildlife, programming, Cinco de Mayo celebration, How to pitch film commissioners, Getting the shot Music for film, International distribution, Western barn dance, Raptors of the Rockies field trip Anatomy of an Award Winning film, Attracting younger viewers, Covering the uncovered, Triple your productivity, White water rafting, Annual Awards Show.
There is some sort of food gathering each night at the festival. You will be staying in a historic Victorian Bed and Breakfast that serves breakfast daily. The B& B is ¼ mile from the Film Festival and the downtown area.
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.
Honeymoon at St. John’s Island in the U.S. Virgin Islands
Tonight is our last night at Beit Hawa, which means the House of the Winds. Howie’s friends, Barry and Margarite Rich let us use their island home for our honeymoon. Tonight has been the best day yet. The vacation allowed us to do a lot of things that were fun and gave us the chance to get away from the phones and hassles of our daily life. It inspired a lot of lovemaking in some pretty interesting places, including the porch over Rendezvous Bay. We had time to read and to write and to reflect and tonight our collective creative juices were cascading like the waterfalls of Cinnamon Bay. It was unstoppable and as we each shared what we had been working on. We were amazed to see how closely our goals and dreams dovetailed.
Howie has asked me several times to sit down and write out a 20 year plan. He wanted me to be clear about what it is that I want so that he can help me achieve it within a time frame that leaves us some time to enjoy life without every day being a struggle. He was being remarkably generous in offering me 20 years to get there and so I did my best to draft a plan that would do it in 10. The result is the 2005 Master Plan that I won’t detail here yet because I just gave him the first draft and he will undoubtedly fine tune it to make it workable.
I am so blessed to have a husband who is so willing and capable of making my dreams come true. I have been concerned that these have been MY dreams and that ending the suffering of exotic cats in captivity is just not what Howie would prefer to be doing with his time. He has told me that he wants to play more tennis and play more golf and spend more time at peace. The idea of administering such an aggressive plan as we proposed to each other tonight did not seem to me to be the way for him to have the leisure time he wanted. He confessed tonight that it may just be the product of too much caffeine in the coffee and cigar he had this afternoon and that tomorrow he will wonder what on earth he was thinking. If that is the case, that is okay too.
For now he says that it takes a couple of years to really get a handle on a situation and to start to make sense of it. He believes that he sees a path to reach the ultimate goal that I seek and that although it means structuring his time differently, and less play time, it will give him the sense of purpose that his life has lacked. I often think about what it will mean to be at the end of my time here, looking back. Will I feel that I spent this time wisely? Will I have made a difference? I think we all have moments like these, but unfortunately too many of us don’t have them until it is too late. I don’t want to cause Howie stress. I want him to get out of life whatever he needs to make him happy. I just can’t help but think that achieving a definable goal will bring far more satisfaction than any game can.
Our honeymoon was spectacular! The house is beautiful and there is always a strong wind so it is cool even in the direct sun. There is a waterfall and small pool, a Jacuzzi, main house and guest house. The view is stunning and ever changing with the clouds, the sun on the bay, the pelicans by day and bats by night flying by and the howling of the winds. We spent three days snorkeling and did a little hiking. The coral reefs were full of beautiful fish, turtles, sting rays, sea urchins and color. We swam until we were out of breath and then just floated, face down, watching all of the underwater dramas unfold. We visited Caneel Bay, Hawksnest Bay, Cinnamon Bay, Trunk Bay, Salt Pond Bay and of course Cruz Bay where the ferry brought us in. Howie did a great job of getting us around the island on these narrow roads despite rain, mud slides, sand slides and vertical pathways and all of it done on the left side of the road! The whole island is only 9 miles across and we drove every paved inch of it.
We ate at the Del Groto, The Fish Trap, Shipwreck Landing, Skinny Legs, Morgan’s Mango and the Salty Dog Café at Mongoose Junction. We saw a real mongoose crossing the road, lots of donkeys (they say there are 400 of them here) plenty of free roaming goats and cows and we heard a lot more birds than we saw. We visited the Sugar Mill on the far East end of the island and saw quite a few plantation ruins and that of a fort. We spent an evening at the Westin in their gym and walked down to the bar in search of the perfect Pina Colada. The best was a non alcoholic version at the Fish Trap.
We took our first shower together in the outdoor shower of Beit Hawa. We made love almost every day. One night I heard Howie yelp from the outdoor shower and discovered that in the dark he had reached for the soap and it moved…it was a very large frog perched on the soap rack. The view from the bathrooms and dressing rooms was more spectacular than most seaside hotel lobbies could ever boast. We walked hand in hand through the misty coastal forests and ruins. We held each other close as we walked along beach after glorious beach. While snorkeling we would turn to each other with outstretched hands and through our masks, with our faces all smushed by the goggles would make google eyes at each other.
I love him so much! He is such a blessing! Thank you God!!!
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.
I Married Howard Gene Baskin
I met Howie on Nov. 1, 2002 and we were engaged on the beach of Anna Marie Island on Nov. 1, 2003 and married on that same beach Nov. 1, 2004. Howie’s friend got his notary’s license in order to perform the wedding. Jamie’s boyfriend, Daniel Capiro played the guitar and Jamie gave me away. As you can tell from the photos, it wasn’t your typical wedding. Howie insisted that we all precede him to the beach. In the distance I saw a caveman coming our way and from that very distinct walk said, “I think that’s Howie!”
He wanted to so something memorable and he really succeeded. He says it’s a testament to my good nature that I wasn’t mad that he’d do something so silly. I love him all the more for it. He did put a coat over his caveman dress for the actual ceremony. He wanted us to write up vows that would be like a constitution for how we would deal with each other. These were mine to him.
Proposed Wedding Vows
I promise to always treat you with love and respect.
I promise to always yield to your desires to the extent that I can without sacrificing my faith or the well being of the cats in my charge.
I promise to be loyal and faithful to you.
I promise to take care of my body for your pleasure.
I promise to cherish and care for you long after you have forgotten my name.
I promise to always yield to your will… as long as it does not conflict with mine.
I promise to eliminate the possibility of death by poisoning by NOT surprising you with a home cooked meal.
I promise to never discharge a weapon in your direction unless you are being strangled by an anaconda.
I promise to leave ALL my cats to you when I die.
I promise that if the exotic cat issues are cured within our lifetime that I won’t start bringing home stray dogs, elephants or homeless WWII vets.
I promise to never join a nude PeTA protest without adequately cloaking my identity.
I promise to always refer to you as my Last husband and not my Latest husband; you can introduce me as “her majesty”.
I promise that you will never have to deal with more than one of my personalities at a time…Whoa! Who said that?... You can’t go making promises like that without a vote… Some of us shouldn’t be allowed to vote…Hey, I resemble that remark… We will have to get back to you on this one.
Carole Baskin Weds Howard Baskin
Big Cat Wedding: Big Cat Rescue Founder Carole Lewis weds Advisory Board Chairman Howard Baskin on Nov. 1, 2004 ! On Nov. 1, 2002 Howie and Carole met at the kick off party for a new concept that Mary Hessler Key was introducing to Tampa Bay called No More Homeless Pets. The coalition was being formed to end euthanasia of healthy dogs and cats in shelters by implementing an aggressive spay and neuter program. Big Cat Rescue is one of the founding members of No More Homeless Pets of Hillsborough County.
At that party, Howie won Carole’s adoration immediately because he had actually visited WildLife on Easy Street and knew who we were when it seemed that no one in the area had ever heard of us.
By the following year Howie had joined Big Cat Rescue (formerly WOES) as the Chairman of the Advisory Board. He has worked with Carole full time to build awareness of Big Cat Rescue and its mission and build a sound financial base from which to continue our work.
On Nov. 1, 2003 Howie proposed to Carole on Anna Maria Island at sunset and Carole was so overwhelmed that all she could do was write YES! in the sand. (You know how she cries all the time…) This was her dream come true and the man she had waited a life time to meet.
The Fur Ball was such a major production that they couldn’t bear the thought of immediately afterward having to organize the huge wedding that would have been required to include Howie’s many friends and Carole’s large extended family. They opted instead to have a private ceremony on the same beach where they had gotten engaged. So on Nov. 1, 2004 at sunset Howie and Carole were wed by Phil Balducci, the friend of Howie’s who had arranged for their fateful stay on the island in Nov. of 2003. Jamie Veronica took photos, Daniel Capiro took video and serenaded the happy couple with a song and his guitar.
As you can tell from the photos, this wasn’t your usual wedding, but Howie and Carole aren’t your typical couple either. One glance at the wedding vows online and you get a sense of their commitment to each other and their sense of humor. They just returned from their honeymoon in the Virgin Islands so more photos will be posted later, but for now you can see that the theme was one of caveman takes bride before the ceremony and bride puts caveman on a short leash immediately after.
The Wedding Vows
Carole and Howie, you have come here to this beautiful beach where you became engaged one year ago to proclaim to your desire to spend eternity together. In doing so, you have created the following vows, or promises, that you want to make to each other as the foundation of this life partnership you create today. You view these promises as a kind of personal Constitution. By this you mean that as time goes by, circumstances change, and you face new challenges, you will refer back to these vows as principles that will guide your behavior.
There are some actions that are totally within your control and can be promised absolutely. There are others that are not totally within your control. You recognize that human frailty is such that, despite your best intentions, you are not perfect and may not always be able to live up to even your own expectations. With respect to these commitments, your promise today is to do the best you can to honor them, and at a minimum never intentionally or willfully dishonor them.
That being said, there is only one absolute promise you make to each other today, and for each of you it is the most important. That promise is to always be truthful with each other. You both believe that preserving that trust, and having it grow with time and never be damaged, is the foundation of your relationship. No matter what the future brings, you can deal with it together with respect for each other if you preserve that trust. The following are things that you mutually promise to each other you will do to the best of your ability:
You will do your best to treat each other each day in way that, if through the will of God it turns out to be the last day you have together, you will not regret anything you did or said that day. You will take to heart Steven Covey’s admonition that “Love is a verb,” a conscious decision about how you will treat the person you love.
If you experience a negative emotion as a result of the behavior of the other, such as frustration, irritation or anger, you will do your best to neither lash out hurtfully nor, at the other extreme, allow silence to let these feelings become a festering sore that grows over time. Instead, recognizing that each of you seeks to make the other as happy as you can, you will treat these feelings as impediments to your mutual happiness that you should work on together. You will do this by sharing your feelings in as caring a way as you can, listening in the same caring way, and then working together on a solution, whether it involves efforts to change behavior, compromises, or simply understandings that will help remove the negative emotions associated with the behavior.
When moods, frustrations and stresses from the outside world are pressing on you, you will remind yourself that in the face of this adversity, the one anchor you have is the love of your partner and you will do your best to avoid taking out your frustrations or moods on her or him.
You will actively seek ways to keep your relationship, and your partner’s life, fresh and interesting, but not so interesting that you drive Howie nuts.
You will try to be a rock-like base from which your partner experiences life. In times of joy, this is a rock from which they will be able to leap even higher because there is someone with whom to share the moment. In times of adversity, this rock will offer a base of unwavering support to lessen the burden of the challenges you face.
You will take a moment to just hold hands at least once each day, and remind yourselves how lucky you are to have found each other.
If at times you find you have not lived up to these commitments as well as you had hoped, instead of being defensive, you will do your best to acknowledge the variance from the vows and then forgive fully.
In addition to these mutual promises, you make the following individual promises:
Howie, you promise to close drawers and cabinet doors after removing items, and particularly the closet door to keep your old cat Crystal from peeing on Carole’s clothes. You also promise to fold up your recliner blanket after you use it rather than leaving it strewn all over the living room.
Carole, you promise to turn on the light on when you wash dishes so they have some remote chance of being clean when Howie goes to use them. You also promise not to turn into the Wicked Witch of the West.
With these promises in mind, do you, Howie, take Carole to be your partner for eternity?
[Howie answers]
And Carole, do you take Howie to be your partner for eternity?
[Carole answers]
Howie, please give Carole the ring that symbolizes your eternal bond, saying “with this ring I thee wed.”
[Howie places ring on Carole’s finger saying “with this ring I thee wed”]
Carole, please give Howie the ring that symbolizes your eternal bond, saying “with this ring I thee wed.”
[Carole places ring on Howie’s finger saying “with this ring I thee wed”]
I now pronounce you partners for eternity.
You may now kiss each other to seal this union.
[Play Rod Stewart singing ‘Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?’ as we open champagne]
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.
The Sanctuary Is In The Black by Over $100k
Howie and I awoke and made love this morning. He is so wonderful and has made my life so purrr-fect. So much has happened that I just can’t document it all. The sanctuary is in the black by over $100,000.00 and that has never happened! It has never been in the black through summer before. All of this is due to Howie and all of the insightful changes he has prompted. This has lifted an enormous burden from my shoulders.
The reason I am writing today though is because of a conversation that we had a few days ago. In June 2003 I had written up a trust agreement leaving the house to Howie and it was my intent that if anything happens to me the house would be paid off or he could choose the cash or other property instead. He still hadn’t signed it a year and a half later and we were talking about situation when he said, “If anything ever happened to you I don’t know what I would do. I don’t know if I could live in this house because everything about it reminds me of you. I couldn’t change anything about it because it is so much of you. I couldn’t sell it because it would be like selling a part of you… the memory of you. I could give it to your daughter, I suppose, but I just don’t know if I could stand being here or not being here without you.”
He went on to say that the same was true of the sanctuary and he just didn’t know if he could stand to be surrounded by the memory of me or if he could stand not to. I have never been so loved.
I decided to have a wedding quilt made. He can wrap himself in it at night, or keep it in the closet if he can’t stand it when I am gone. It is a quilt of the photos of him and me and the cats and the words and phrases of our lives: Love, Honour, Cherish, Integrity…We will get married on it on the beach and have something to remember our early courting days in our old age.
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.
Meditation Brings Back a Flood of Memories
My fiancee, Howie Baskin and I were on a flight from our home in Tampa, Florida to Los Angeles, California and I was taking advantage of the rare opportunity to indulge in the pleasure of reading a book. This one was called “Corporate Nirvana” by Judith Anderson. We were somewhere over the desert and I was getting tired. The author was detailing her intuitive encounter with a group of business people in which she suggested that they close their eyes and imagine that they were all alone, on a deserted island. There was no work to do. No deadlines. No responsibilities. No demand on their time. There was only the island, the sand crunching between their toes and the birds over head. Their attention was diverted to a beautifully ornate, bejeweled treasure chest in the sand. As they approach they can see that it is unlocked and they know that inside is their gift. This gift will be the answer to the question that is plaguing them now. They will know when they see this gift exactly what it means to them and therein is their answer.
I haven’t meditated in the deep relaxed manner that I had been practicing in over a year. I have been too busy. Things have been going too well for me to value the need for it. This seemed like a perfect opportunity to shut the book and try her visualization. I asked myself, “Why am I always taking on tougher and tougher problems? Why can’t I just say, “enough is enough” and be happy with what I’ve done?” Holding that thought, in my sleepy half conscious state, I began the walk down the beach in the deserted island in my head.
Seagulls overhead, palm trees swaying in the tropic breeze, the warmth of the sun on my face and the sand crunching between my toes. So far, so good. Ah, there is the treasure chest…going over to admire it…it really is beautiful…I wonder what is inside, but I hesitate. Do I want to know? What if I don’t find an answer? What if I do and don’t like it? I stall and ponder the gravity of the moment. In this box that I made up, in a place that I made up, lays the answer to the one problem that has driven me since childhood. Here at 30,000 feet, while I look to all the world that I am asleep, I am about to discover the meaning of life…the meaning of my life anyway.
I begin to slowly lift the lid. There is an aura of purple light escaping from the treasure chest. “Nice special effects” I compliment to my imaginative self. “I wasn’t expecting that.” I am opening the lid so slowly as if I am expecting some dragon to consume me with its fire breathing anger. Come on Carole…open the box…its just a box…go on now open it!
Leaping backward from the box as the top swings open I can only see what looks like a purple, fuzzy blanket in the bottom of the box. Tentatively, I lean forward thinking there must be something under the cloth. It isn’t moving and there doesn’t appear to be any real shape to it. I am disappointed with myself.
“That’s it! That’s the best you could do? You have the opportunity to solve all of your life’s struggles in one vision and all you can think of is a blanket! I must be cold. That must be what is behind this first thought and my REAL revelation must still be in the box.” I try hard to see something else in the chest and after a while I resign myself to just being totally unimaginative.
OK then, let’s have a look at the fuzzy purple blanket and what ever that could possibly mean to me. As I am muttering, “purple blanket” to myself I lift it up out of the dark box and hold it full length. “Well, how about that?” I say to myself as the living material, with a light that gave it the fuzzy appearance, unfolds to the sand. “It’s not a blanket at all. It’s a cloak, shimmering with a life all its own. It is breathtakingly beautiful! It is too precious to wear. No king ever wore a cape as magnificent as this! I wonder briefly if I am worthy to wear this aura of lavender light?
“Of course I am,” I chide. “I made the thing up. I can wear it.” I put it on. Wow! I am cloaked in spirituality. What does that mean to me? It means that I have remembered who I really am.
I am safe. I am at peace. I am at one with God.
Everything I have ever done was leading to this moment. Every challenge that I ever set myself up for has culminated in this moment of awakening. All I have ever been trying to do was to reach this moment of spiritual enlightenment.
My driven self said, “OK. Nice lesson. Now get back to reading and learn something.” My spiritual self said, “I am learning now. I am learning that my drive has come from the need to prove myself worthy, but my spirit has always known that I am and that every lesson in life is about reaching a higher level of Nirvana.”
As if the flood gates had been instantly opened every challenge that had beset me along the way raced through my mind. I was seeing what was common in every situation: Every time a challenge presented itself, it was a much more difficult one than the one before. Every time I succeeded in reaching the goal there were people who I felt were betraying me. In each case, as the stakes were higher, those people were stronger or greater in numbers than the time before. It wasn’t the tasks or the challenges themselves that were my lessons to learn, but rather, how I would deal with the people who would disappoint me so profoundly.
How I would deal with having betrayed myself. Nothing on this earthly plane; wealth, fame or fortune means anything. It is all about reconnecting with God and that is done by reconnecting with ALL of His creation. Yes, Carole, the people too. Perhaps the people especially. It is about remembering who you are and how we are all One.
The author, Judith Anderson suggests the Piper Principle:
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What troubles a person most about a situation actually reveals an aspect of themselves (an underlying fear or concern) they don’t yet see; a blind spot.
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Underlying fears and concerns of leaders, and the unconscious way in which they protect themselves from them, show up in parable form as organizational barriers or blocks to achieving whatever goals are set.
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When aggravation or blocks show up, a person can pay the piper, investigate the blind spot, and resolve the fear and concern or blame others. Unproductive patterns reappear until you pay the piper.
I don’t think I have ever considered a more truthful thought than that.
Some lessons I just go through over and over and over until I get it. Once I get it then the next lesson is harder and will keep repeating over and over until I finally get that one too. Until yesterday I didn’t see this pattern of escalation. I wonder, if I had, would I have had the courage to take on each new challenge, knowing that success ultimately meant a tougher lesson to follow?
Ignorance is bliss, but it is highly ineffective when we know our days are numbered and we have so much to learn in this lifetime. I am increasingly convinced that we live forever and are doomed to repeat lives of frustration and striving until we each experience our own moment of looking into the treasure chest and discover ourselves and our connection to All that Is.
The rest of this is not meant to read like a resume of accomplishments, but rather as an example of how each of us is presented with unique challenges that we meet to the very best of our ability each time. Many times challenges have been presented to me that I was incapable of overcoming. Connecting with people has been the hardest for me. Sometimes we may look back and think we could have done better, but I don’t think so. I think we are all doing the best we can for the skills we have now and that the only way we will ever “do better” is by learning from each lesson.
My family were fundamental Christians and raised me to believe that we are to strive for perfection, but being human, will always fall short. The only good news in that was that God is Love and is capable of loving us even though we are never really good enough or deserving. This belief was the canvas on which I would paint my life.
I was five years old, naked as a jaybird, cleaning my canary’s cage in the front yard with a hose and wondering how a caged bird could sing? Free birds had something to sing about, but why do caged birds sing? Caught up in my own reverie and enjoying the summer sun on my skin and the sand between my toes I was quite taken aback by my mother throwing a blanket over me and dragging me into the house, all the while telling me that “little girls don’t go out side naked.” I wondered, “why not?” I felt so connected to the earth, the sky, the water from the hose, the soft summer breeze in my hair... “What is this obsession people have with hiding who they are? Cloaking who they are?”
I was a big kid; always head and shoulders taller than my peers, with a shock of short white hair and big blue eyes. Butterflies would light on me in the playground and every stray followed me home. I had the same entourage of broken down, unwanted people throughout my life. All of the kids that were disabled or slow or who just didn’t fit in with the “in” crowd flocked around me. I always tried to help them see what was special about them that no one else had to offer. It wasn’t that I was so understanding and wonderful. It was because if I could heal them enough to feel that they belonged they would start to fit in with others and would leave me alone.
I preferred the company of the animals and my spirit guides, the two leopard size, glowing white cats who were with me always, but who I wasn’t supposed to talk about unless I wanted to merely call them my “imaginary” friends. It’s one of those things that a kid just keeps to themselves when they realize that adults are too scared to talk about invisible, panther like creatures who sound like God when they speak in that still small voice, that carries all of the majesty and power of thunder.
Three years later I am eight and my father is the personal pilot to the governor of West Virginia, Arch Moore. We live in a trailer park, in a single wide tin can that is always freezing inside. Our lot looks like the terrain from a hostile planet with its caked, dry and broken clay surface.
Until I was six I was raised by my mother’s mother during the day while my parents worked. At night my parents would pick me up and take me home to sleep and then the next morning I’d wake up back at my grandparent’s home. My grandparents have stayed in Florida and I am still hating this separation from my other parents and the warmth of Florida. Both of my parents work full time and I have become responsible for taking care of my brother who is six years younger. There is a seething anger at my situation that seems impossible to me to resolve, and the only respite from it comes from the animals that I rescue. Taking care of them, takes my mind off what I cannot change.
One day a cat with a couple of bullet holes in her finds her way to my door. I discover that the man across the street had shot the cat because it was near his trash can. This man is big (compared to me), has a history of beating his wife and children (Ada), and is ugly to boot. His face is deeply scarred with pockmarks that indicate a hormonally challenged youth, and maybe one bar brawl too many, and he is now in his late twenties or early thirties. He drinks, he swears and he is just about as vile a human as any I have ever encountered. Until this moment, I have made a point to stay clear of him, even though his daughter and his younger son, have found me to be a safe haven in a life that heretofore was unbearable to them. It is his children who have come to me and told me that their father shot the cat and was threatening to kill any cat he saw come near his trailer.
Trembling, but fully resolved to make myself clear, I march up to this man and tell him that if he decides to take another shot at a cat, or if I hear a shot being fired and even think it is him, then that gun shot will be the last sound he ever hears. He just stands there looking down at me, but as scared as I am, I feel like I am in charge of this moment. I am offering up a challenge, that I have no idea how I will be able to carry out, but I can’t let him know that. After what seems an eternity of staring down this man, through my tear streaming eyes, he turns and goes inside his trailer. He blinked. He turned. He ran from me. I won!
I never heard another shot being fired. The word of that confrontation, spread by his own children, earned me a tremendous following in that poor little back woods trailer park. Now the kids who gathered around me were high school age and I felt like I had the moral support of every kid in the neighborhood. I used to lead them in money making schemes from selling popcorn and Kool-Aid, to mowing lawns, washing trailers, and making pot holders and such to sell door to door. Rock bands were making it big and I tried to assemble one, but I couldn’t sing and we just didn’t have what it took. I felt like learning to make a living was important and learning to manage others was going to be a crucial part of that. It felt necessary although I didn’t know where it was leading.
I felt like I was in some sort of intensive training for something important. I didn’t know what it was about, but as a child you trust your instincts more. At school I was quiet and respectful but felt like the public school system was not meeting my educational needs. There was something important to learn about this thing called life and it wasn’t in memorizing multiplication tables. There were machines that could do that far better than I ever could, so what was the purpose in all of this useless knowledge? Teach me how to succeed. Teach me why the caged bird sings…
I wouldn’t wear shoes. You can’t be connected to the earth and all of the glorious power that is available to you with shoes on. It was fortunate for me that we lived in a West Virginian “holler” where going to school barefoot wasn’t considered too weird. After school I went into the forests. It wasn’t your typical kid-playing-in-the-woods so much as going to learn what it was like to be the woods, to be the brook, to be the animals and the wind. I would climb up as high as I could get in the trees to get a better vantage point on observing everything around me. I wanted to know how everything worked, how it was all connected.
The teachers would send home piles of homework. My attitude was that it was a ploy designed to keep bad kids off the street. If they had to turn in a lot of work the next day they didn’t have time to be in trouble. I wasn’t being bad. I was learning something that I thought was a lot more important and I wasn’t going to do class room “busy” work outside of the classroom. This got me into a considerable amount of trouble with my teachers, but I aced every test and my grades were still As and Bs despite all of the bad marks for refusing to turn in homework.
By the time I was 12 we were back in Florida and I was attending a little private school called Florida College Academy. There were grades 1 thru 9 there, with one class for each grade level that had 12-24 students. My great aunt, Mari, was the principal which as her son, my cousin Scott, and I knew was the worst set up possible for a kid. You were perceived as having special privileges by your peers, and yet the reality was that you were held to a much higher standard because of the fact that relatives see you as a reflection on themselves and they want to be seen as perfect.
It was 1971 and women were burning their bras in the streets a decade before, but our school had held to very antiquated beliefs, that said little girls were to be modest and wear long dresses and never speak out against authority. I actually bought into most of that but a lot of the girls were not from religious homes and even those that were frequently dressed in pants at home. They wanted to be able to wear pants to school so that they could play more freely on the playground. Even though I didn’t even own a pair of pants, everyone turned to me to do something about it. I thought their reasons were sound. Wearing a dress on the playground was certainly less modest than wearing long pants and so I decided to take the suggestion to the principal.
Not only was my Aunt Mari an authority figure within the family and the school, but she was someone I had observed carefully since I was a toddler in the way in which she dealt with my cousin. Scott and I were born the same year and day and look like twins. We have often wondered if we were and just were separated at birth to be raised by two different families because neither one could afford both of us. My cousin has grown up to be a maintenance man in an apartment building. I watched his mother tell him he was stupid and that he would never amount to anything his whole life. By contrast I was always told I could do anything I set my mind to do. Both of us lived up to our parents’ expectations.
I went to my aunt and presented our case and was promptly dismissed as being “un-Christian like”. I went back to my classmates and suggested that the only way to effect a change in the dress code was to lead an organized uprising against the status quo. I busily engaged both sexes in my plan and drew up posters and hung them in the halls, held rallies and basically just wouldn’t shut up until I got what I was asking for. I fully expected to be burned at the stake. Much to my amazement we won. I went out and bought my first pair of pants. (They were plaid and hideous. It was the 70’s after all.) I kept them for twenty years as a reminder of that success.
Two years later, at the age of 14 I was trapped and raped by three men (Steve & Jim? Crabtree and George Minogue). They cut my throat and for years I carried a scar that I hid with scarves. I didn’t tell anyone because I fully believed that I was to blame. If I had not been in a place where I shouldn’t have been this would not have happened to me and thus I felt that not only was it my fault, but that it proved I was not worthy as a human being. I was no longer a virgin and could no longer expect that I would grow up and marry a decent man and live happily ever after. Within a year I had let this event colour every aspect of my self esteem. The deeper emotional scarring of this event however came from the betrayal of my best friend.
Cindy Clark Brown and I had been friends since we were nine or ten years old. I was the innocent; the perfect daughter, cooking and cleaning for my family and joining in working the landscaping business after school. Cindy was about as wild as they came. She was a year older than I and was smoking, drinking and experimenting with drugs. She was always in trouble and would often come stay with me until her family could brace themselves to deal with her again. She made fun of me for being a goody two shoes and was jealous of my beauty and sense of grace. People always commented on my air of confidence. The fact was that my grandmother had always made me walk around the house with books on my head and the result was a walk that had an unintentional haughtiness to it.
Cindy and I had been out for a walk earlier and she was flirting with three men from the race track. We went to their house and played cards, while they had both the radio and the T.V. on full blast. They were all stoned and I watched the scene in amazement. I had never been exposed to this sort of activity, and although the only part I participated in was the card playing, I was very curious about this sort of approach to life. Cindy was sitting in their laps, giggling and whispering in their ears. I wondered if they knew how stupid they looked and sounded?
That night, when Cindy and I were supposed to be in bed, she wanted to slip out my bedroom window and go back to their house. I reluctantly agreed and as we cleared the yard, Cindy said she needed to go back to my room to make a call, and that I should go on ahead of her. I did as instructed.
They were waiting for me. What I didn’t know, until many years later when Cindy felt compelled to clear her conscience, was that she had told them I was a virgin and had sold me to them for drugs. The call she made was to let them know I was on the way.
A year later, back in W.Va. I had turned 15. My mother, who had always been my most trusted friend, and I got into the first fight we had ever had. She had accused me of having sex with a nice boy I knew and I had not. I was defending his honour more than my own, because I was so convinced of my own guilt from the rape. As she was storming off to work she said, “When I get home, I don’t want to see your face!”
This was the last family photo before I left home, and yes, I am only 14 in that photo, which explains how I was able to wait tables in bars without being discovered.
I thought she meant that she never wanted to see me again and as fate would have it, I was ready for the next challenge. A young man named Jim Jones, who I barely knew from Florida, was in boot camp near Washington, D.C. He had gone AWOL from the army and was driving back to Florida and asked if he could drop by. I told him I couldn’t live here any more and asked if he would take me with him back to Florida. I packed my cat, my radio and two paper grocery bags of clothes and waited for his arrival. As we drove away I watched my 9 year old brother playing in the yard and wondered if I would ever see him again? Taking care of him had always been my responsibility and as much as I hated being saddled with that, I felt guilty leaving him there.
I had known Jim from the skating rink where kids from my church were all taken to be with others of “our own kind”, but Jim worked there and intrigued me. He was 6 ‘ 4 “ weighed 230 pounds of solid muscle and had long golden hair down to his waist. He was a genius on skates, if not intellectually. Running from the U.S. army should have been my first clue that he was never going to be a brain surgeon. I only knew Jim from the rink and had invited him to one church picnic. Now I was on the run with him.
I worked bars and restaurants and sometimes held three jobs at once because Jim wouldn’t work. Turned out he couldn’t even pass a driver’s license test. He had a bad drug habit and a nasty temper and whenever the two mixed I was caught in the cross fire. I was always on guard to dodge a swing from a punch that would knock the wind out of me. He beat me with a bed rail one time so severely that I couldn’t go back to work for weeks because I was so badly bruised. As he swung the rail and hit the concrete walls of the garage we lived in he had knocked huge gaping holes in the concrete as a constant reminder to me of how much it hurt to be on his bad side. As scary as it was to be with him I believed it was better than the alternative. I had seen the brutality men could use to crush someone as innocent as I had been and at least there was only one of Jim to deal with. Jim was the constant validation of my belief that I was unworthy.
Jim decided he wanted to go home and I was driving us there through San Antonio, Florida. He was drunk and was all over the steering wheel and blocking my vision. With one arm I was trying to push him back into his seat so that I could see, as I ran a stop sign and was hit broadside in the little Toyota we were driving. The Mercury Cougar that hit us was later reported to have been traveling in excess of 60 miles per hour. Drunks seem to never be the victims in auto accidents and Jim was no exception. He walked away without a scratch, once he woke up from the stupor. I went through the windshield and broke my neck. I remember getting up and dragging the front bumper of the Cougar out of the road as I went around first to the passenger side and made sure the little old lady was okay and then around to the driver’s side to check on the little old man. He had hit the steering wheel pretty hard, but was able to speak.
What happened next was like the opening scene from the movie, The Gladiator. When I saw that movie I was awestruck at how it looked exactly as I had seen it all those years ago. I walked out into a field of tall grass. The sun was shining. The wind was blowing softly through my hair, as I reached out with both hands to lightly touch the tops of the waving strands of grass. Everything was silent and then it went white.
I woke up in a hospital, unable to move. I was paralyzed and Jim was telling me that he didn’t want the doctors to know who I was because he was still on the run from the army. I remember two doctors standing over me, x-rays in hand, telling me I would never walk again because my neck was broken in three places. The only hope I would have of even sitting up in a wheel chair was if they fused a steel rod up through my spine. They obviously didn’t know that I was just a child. I had gotten my first marriage proposal at the age of 12 and had always looked a lot older.
I laid there thinking, “This cannot be my life. I can’t be paralyzed. This can’t be happening to me.” I suspect most people go through that denial, but I just wouldn’t give in to the “reality”. I had learned from previous efforts that you can’t give up. No matter how big and bad the odds are stacked against you, you just absolutely cannot give up. Being young and ignorant, I didn’t know what these doctors could legally do to me, but I wasn’t going to take my chances of waking up and finding that some surgery had left me incapable of ever getting past this paralysis. I believed I could heal myself, but not if I had a metal rod installed through my spine.
Jim and his friends from the band (Jim said the band’s name was Credence Clearwater Revival, but I find that hard to believe in retrospect) came and whisked me out in a wheel chair without telling anyone. I spent what seemed an eternity at his parent’s home unable to walk and only able to drag myself across the room, but I dragged myself a lot. I wouldn’t call my family. I didn’t think I was welcome there anymore. Jim’s parents didn’t want to be held responsible for what their son’s actions had caused and didn’t want the army to find their son, so they were happy to hide me and my affliction. My grandfather, Floyd Norris, through a miraculous chain of events, somehow found out where I was and got me to a chiropractor who soon had me walking again.
Because I wasn’t even old enough to be in a bar, I couldn’t work anywhere for very long because I couldn’t show the management my driver’s license for the employment forms. After the paralysis I often collapsed and doing that just once with a tray of flaming cherries jubilee was enough for me to think that I needed to find some other sort of work. I didn’t have a high school diploma and was underage but had heard you could get a worker’s permit. Arch Moore was replaced by Governor Rockefeller who decided to replace all of the state’s planes with helicopters, but none of the state’s pilots, including my father could fly helicopters so my father was without a job.
More as an effort to avenge my father’s dismissal from the aviation team I applied for an opening in the state’s Department of Business and Economic Community Development and got it. I quickly advanced through the ranks and became Governor Rockefeller’s secretary’s secretary. My job was to investigate officials that Jay would be dealing with and put together photos and bios so that he would look good. What didn’t look good, when the word got out in the press, was the fact that a 15 year old high school drop out had risen through the ranks of the W.Va. government to governor’s aide when there were far more “qualified” men and women vying for the position.
1977 was the first time I was in the newspaper as an adult. Being born the fifth living generation had gotten the family into the newspaper in 1961.
The press made a big fuss of the fact that I moonlighted at a Greek restaurant and insinuated that I might be the veiled belly dancer, Little Egypt. My boss told me to dress as frumpy as possible that day and wear glasses so that people wouldn’t think I was hired for my looks.
Had I known that I was on this learning quest to deal with people issues I think I might have stuck it out and played that hand to the end, but at the time, I thought these challenges were about accomplishments and proving worthiness. I had proven that I could step out of a wheel chair, out of the smoke filled bars and into the governor’s office (and not just any governor, but a Rockefeller) and rise to the top. I wasn’t old enough to run for election. That would have to wait.
Riding high on this wave of worthiness I drove Jim to his mother’s home in Tampa and dropped him and his trailer full of belongings off in the front yard. I didn’t have enough money to get back to my job in W.Va. so I looked through the want ads to find waitress work that would get me enough gas to get back to the job that I was told would still be mine upon my return, despite the media craze that had erupted.
What happened next was one of those near misses. It is a juncture in your life that is probably meant to happen, but gets thwarted. I walked into “Our Place” bar on Ben T. Davis beach and was hired on the spot. 20 years later I would discover that my daughter’s fiancée (Daniel Capiro) was being raised by the waitresses in that bar and I would have been raising him had I shown up for work, but I didn’t.
I had come so far and I just wasn’t willing to go back to even a short term job where my ass was constantly being patted and pinched. Instead, I drove across town to a luncheon spot and was, again, hired on the spot, but I had to have frumpy shoes for the job. All my feet could ever stand were sandals if I had to wear shoes at all. I walked across the street to the Zayre’s store and overheard a man saying that he needed to hire a clerk to run the automotive department. That sounded like a new challenge and didn’t require stifling shoes, so I asked for and was given the job. I would work for a couple of weeks, collect my checks and then head back to West Virginia to see where that road would take me. I never went back to West Virginia.
I was living in a Datsun Pickup truck with a camper on the back. My cat, Pearlie Mae, who I had had since I was 8, lived with me so I had to park where it was cool for her during the day, but the days were getting hotter and she was going to die in that truck if I didn’t find somewhere for her to live. My manager’s name was Michael Eugene Murdock and I spent more time dodging his advances than I did stocking shelves. He was leaving his wife and moving into an apartment. I asked if my cat could stay there during the day and I would pick her up at night. He was happy to trade sexual favours for the cat’s room and board. I hated him. At night I would pick up my cat, do what I had to do to cover her “rent” and then she and I would back the truck up against a building somewhere so that no one could surprise us by opening the back hatch.
I would wash my hair in the bathroom of the nearest gas station at night after they had closed for the evening. I tried to maintain my independence for as long as possible, but finally gave in to the pressures of needing a roof over my head as well as the cat’s and moved in with him.
Despite hating Mike, I married him at the age of 17 and gave birth to our daughter at the age of 19. My mother knew that I was living with a man who was not my husband. She had just enough psychology in college to believe that if she suggested I marry the man, I would rebel and leave him, which was the result she was really hoping to get.
I thought it was really what she wanted me to do. I had felt such a loss in the trust that our former friendship had enjoyed and I believed that if I married him, as she suggested I should, then I could be worthy of her love again. I would do this to please her. She had no idea how I felt about him. I stayed with him for eight years, because I was raised to believe that marriage is for life. When I couldn’t take it any more and divorced him, my mother finally revealed that she never liked him and never wanted me to marry him, but had thought that by suggesting it I would run.
Mike was very physically abusive, but clever enough to hurt me in ways that were not visible to the casual observer. It was again, my sick way of validating my belief that I was not worthy. Meanwhile my growing and learning self decided to apply for a job at the Tampa Boat Mart in 1984. The job paid better money than I had made elsewhere and required an interview and an IQ test. I was fascinated by the opportunity to have my intelligence measured and probably applied based on that aspect more than any other.
The owner’s wife did the interview and test and said that I had registered as a genius. Bolstered by this, I told her I would take the job, but wanted 50% more than the job had offered. She balked but I could tell that she wanted me for the position, so I made a deal with her. I would work for the first 6 months at the price in the paper, but at the end of six months she would advance me to the salary that I requested, because I explained that I would be so irreplaceable to her, or else let me go. She agreed.
I asked her to lay out everything that she could possibly think of as my job description. When she did, since I was salaried, I asked if it mattered how long I worked to get it all done. She said if I could do it in four hours that was fine and if it took me ten, that was fine too, but I wasn’t getting overtime. In no time I had automated the process so that I could do it in just a couple hours a day. This freed up my time to work on a business that I believed was going to be my key to financial freedom. I left the Tampa Boat Mart in 1985.
This was me working at the Neptune and S. Dale Mabry Hwy Radiant Oil gas station owned by Joe Capitano in 1982. He had offered me my own station out on Gunn Hwy, but I got the Boat Mart job instead.
At the age of 19 I met and began dating Jack Donald Lewis. Everyone said he had made his money in illegal drugs, but he told me it was from cutting the axels off trailers for re use by the company and selling the boxes. While at the bank one day a loan officer told him she had a $20,000.00 mortgage that was in default that she would sell for $2000.00 if someone would just take it off her hands. Don couldn’t read or write above a first grade level, but he could understand getting something for ten cents on the dollar. He asked her to make a copy of the documents and he brought them to me with the story. Thinking there must be a catch, he asked me to find out what it was. I couldn’t find one. If we bought the mortgage for 2000.00 and the people started paying us on the 20,000.00 balance we would be getting a great return on our money. If they didn’t pay and we foreclosed, we would get 20,000.00 at the foreclosure sale or we might even get the house and be able to sell it for more.
We did it and we made more than 20,000.00. I knew that this was my next big challenge and even then knew that it was just a stepping stone to allowing me to do something far more important than make money, but I didn’t know what that was and didn’t waste much time thinking about it. Instead I was calling every bank and loan office in a 5 county area asked to see their bad loans. They thought I was crazy and I got a lot of resistance at first, but they soon learned that I wouldn’t betray their confidence and I would quickly and easily turn their bad loans back into cash for reinvestment. The Boat Mart gave me the regular paycheck I needed to grow the real estate business so that I never had to take money out of this exponentially growing pot of gold.
I worked crazy hours. I worked every waking hour. I divorced the man I hated and lived in a huge house on Lemon Street with lots of rooms that I rented out so that I didn’t have to touch my investments for living expenses. The business had grown to well over a one million dollar value.
I drove an old Impala that I had paid 100.00 for, bought all my clothes at Goodwill and had taken on some investors who were happy to get 12% return on their cash and let me make the difference for growing my portfolio. It was a man’s world but I knew how to play the game. I started a business called C.Stairs, Investments and told people that I was Mr. Stairs’ secretary. They wanted to deal with a man. I made one up for them. I was so convincing that for years after Don Lewis and I married people called him Mr. Stairs because they just assumed I had married my boss. I had bought into the belief that as a woman I was unworthy of being treated the same as a man.
I am a little hazy on the year, but I was about 27 (1988) when I was driving a drunk, named Bill Benjamin, home from a bar. My car had stalled and he got out to push it out of the road as I steered. It was in the early morning hours and a woman who had fallen asleep at the wheel careened into the back of my 1983 Blood Red Volkswagen Rabbit and pinned the drunk to my bumper, while hitting with enough force to give me a concussion and to bend the door frame where my head hit it.
I woke up in the hospital again, but this time with a Viet Nam vet suffering from post traumatic stress who was screaming bloody murder if I tried to leave the room. I stayed by his side constantly, even though I only knew him as someone I had bought a rug from a few days before. Both of his legs had been crushed and he was in a lot of pain. I felt guilty because it was my car he was pushing out of the road. I had to do something to feel guilty. It wasn’t in my paradigm to go without that cloud of unworthiness hanging over my head. I was so caught up in Bill Benjamin’s drama, that I didn’t realize that I didn’t know who or where I was.
My secretary (Anne McQueen) found me in the hospital. I had been missing for days so she had done the obvious and called everywhere until she located a Jane Doe. Was my name Jane? When she gets me on the phone she asks where my daughter is. I have a daughter? A baby? “Oh my God, where’s the baby?” my mind screams. Sensing my fear she tells me that maybe my daughter had been living with my husband. I have a husband? Then who is this man? All of a sudden I am aware that I don’t know anything about whom or where I am. I just can’t describe that. I have seen some films since then that try to address what amnesia is like, and nothing really conveys what that fear is like.
She takes me home and there are people living there who say that I own the house. I walk into an office full of file cabinets, papers and ringing phones and I do not recognize any of it. I answer the phone and people are asking me questions and giving me information that means absolutely nothing to me. I spend hours reading every file, looking at photos, meeting my daughter, for what seems like the first time, talking to my secretary and one of the women who lives in my house (Mary Young) to try and reconstruct my life.
Over the next weeks and months I get a handle on it and things start coming back to me, but I never know that something is forgotten until I try to fill in a blank spot or until some revelation comes to me as a memory and I sit there wondering, “Was that in this life?” At the time I thought it was a very unfortunate setback, but in retrospect it just seems to be another challenge that I posed to myself to see if I could rise to above it.
This time I was betrayed by my own memory.
I discover that when I touch people I see their lives, or what I imagine to be their lives. I am always confused, still, when I get a rush of feeling, if it is theirs, or if it was mine from long ago, just now surfacing. One of the most dramatic instances of this happened years later when a volunteer (Crazy Gary) introduced me to his room mate. I shook the smiling man’s hand and immediately fell to my knees sobbing. The despair was overwhelming. I was embarrassed by the incident and brushed it off to both of them as just being over worked, but the next day the room mate put the barrel of a shotgun in his mouth and blew his brains all over the ceiling. Crazy Gary told me he knew that his room mate was sad, but had no idea of the depth of his despair. I knew.
Don and I married on October 10, 1991 at ten minutes after 10 am. We lost one million dollars in our assets to settling with his wife and one and a half million in assets to settle with his girlfriend, Pam, who was trying to have him brought down on Racketeering charges so that she could keep our 3 million that was in her name. I had always allowed Don to hold our money because I believed he would give me what was owed if I were ever to ask for it. There were a lot of real estate transactions for Pam and her trust in 1991-1996, but they began to taper off and 2004 was the last entry I found for her doing business in Hillsborough County. She had satisfied a mortgage made by our ex secretary Luba Myck. I knew Richard Dery was in Camp Pam, but didn’t know Luba was. 1995 appears to be her last actions in Pasco County, with one suspicious document between her and Jack Martin.
Since Don could barely read or write he didn’t know that she had put the properties in her name, or so he said. What had been 5 million dollars worth of my work was now reduced to half that, but I could rebuild it and did. I had learned how to negotiate the best deals and had learned how to do all of our foreclosures, tenant evictions and get people out of the bankruptcy courts when they ran there for protection.
I learned by going to the court house and reading every file I could lay my hands on, copying the language and forms the attorney’s used and then setting up charts that showed me what the appropriate times between filings were. I spent hours in the law library reading cases and making copies of those that were particularly pertinent to my cases. I sat in on every hearing that the judges would let me sit in on. I befriended several of the judges who would afterwards give me their summary of what had just happened. A lot of the judges did not like that I represented myself pro se and would hold me to a much tougher standard than the attorney’s were being held to, but none could make me give up.
When attorneys were hired to combat me they usually fell into the trap of underestimating my preparedness. In all these years I only ever lost one case, and I won it on appeal. Even the judges who had initially tried to run me off ended up being very supportive and would often compliment my ability over that of my licensed peers, which didn’t make me very popular among members of that profession.
I was a 30 year old multi millionaire real estate tycoon by anyone’s definition, and undefeated in the legal arena. Everything I touched turned to gold, but I still felt unworthy. What was next, a billionaire? Would that make me feel better?
This wasn’t working. Maybe if I could change the world. Maybe then I would be worthy. Maybe then I would say, I’m OK. I belong. I can be at peace.
Consciously I began looking for a way to give back to God all that He had given to me. Unconsciously I was setting myself up to fail and validate that long held belief that I was unworthy... or win and prove once and for all that I was worthy.
All you have to do is wave the wand of intention to bring it into your life. Before I knew what happened we were rescuing cats from fur farms, drug lords, circuses and unprepared pet owners. I was writing books on exotic cat care and my articles were being published in magazines and newsletters all over the country. There were more than 200 animals depending on me for support and the IRS said I couldn’t call it an expense, despite the fact that it was costing me about 300,000.00 a year, so I called it a non profit in 1995.
Two years later, my husband has disappeared off the face of the earth leaving me as the accused of an unknown crime, and all of my assets are seized by the courts upon a petition by the children of his former wife, and my secretary, my only girlfriend for the past 17 years, who I discover has put nearly 600,000.00 worth of my assets in her maiden name and changed my husband’s insurance policy to make her the owner of a one million dollar life insurance policy, just four months before his disappearance. She tells his children that Don and I were having marital trouble and suggests that they appoint her as conservator of his estate.
His estate! I don’t think anyone knew better than Anne that Don spent all of his time in dumpsters and cruising neighborhoods after yard sales to bring home van load after van load of trash. I had been trying to get him to an Alzheimer’s specialist but Don said Anne was telling him that I was trying to have him committed. This can’t be happening. This can’t be my life. Sound familiar?
The courts only allow me to use 125,000.00 of my income each year, for the next 5 years, to support the cats, because the courts are “preserving the estate” in case my husband wanders back into town. In the first years after his disappearance I discover, through the private detective I hire to find him, that my husband, the man I have adored since I was 19 has had a string of girlfriends, mistresses and even prostitutes. Women come out of the wood work claiming that Don told them he would leave everything to them or their illegitimate children by him. I discover that the love we shared was a lie. I was betrayed.
Our expenses are far more than double what the courts will allow me to touch and there is no where for the animals to go. I get to learn a whole new set of skills in running a non profit, but I haven’t chosen just any charity. No. I chose the one type of charity that sees less than 1% of all donated dollars. I had to pick an animal charity. People give more money to art than to animals. In retrospect, this would only be a good test of my worthiness if I could overcome insurmountable odds, right?
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, PeTA, brought me a video clip of a lion being beaten senseless with a baseball bat while restrained within the confines of a small transport cage. They explained that this abuse had been video taped undercover and sent as evidence to USDA, but that when the perpetrator had told his USDA inspector that this was considered a standard training method for big cats nothing had been done to stop him. The question was posed to me asking if this was, in fact, a routinely accepted practice. In front of all three major television stations I said that the sad fact is that this sort of brutality is frequently visited upon these innocent animals by people who have USDA’s stamp of approval, but that it was inhumane and USDA was negligent in their unwillingness to enforce the animal welfare act that my tax dollars were paying them to implement.
A few weeks later I was served with a summons. In disbelief I read the case style: The United States of America versus Carole Lewis. Being bludgeoned into unconsciousness with a bed rail all those years ago did not take my breath away like reading these few words. My country. The one I had pledged allegiance to along with Captain Kangaroo each morning of my earliest remembered years. The country I sang songs about, even when I wasn’t in school. The one that bore the flag; the mere sight of which could raise goose flesh on my skin with pride and adoration. My country had not only abandoned me, it was attacking me, and it was doing so because I spoke out against cruelty.
Some pencil pushing bureaucrat was going to show me to keep my opinions about her doing her job to myself and she was in a position to levy the entire nation against me…or so it seemed. Maybe America did have tanks and jet fighters and nuclear weapons, but I had the truth on my side and was not going to take this lying down. Our supporter list had grown to about 3000 people and I sent out a newsletter detailing what the charges against me were and why I felt the USDA had taken this action. More than 2000 people wrote in on my behalf and for a long time I didn’t hear from the USDA.
Then I found out how they work. If they don’t have a legitimate claim then they make an accusation and never follow through on it. This way they can always point to the accusation and say that they cannot comment on pending litigation. They never have to prove their case. I would never be able to clear my name of the ridiculous and unfounded charges unless I took control. So I did. I learned all I could about how to represent myself in a Federal lawsuit and I called for a final hearing. I was stalled several times and when the day my “day in court” arrived, I got a call from the Federal judge who said that the USDA had decided to dismiss their suit against me. Then he asked if I would please let my supporters know to quit sending him mail and calling his office. With such a victory you would have thought I would have felt vindicated, but all I felt was betrayed.
Over the next five years the court appointed co conservator and attorneys ate away at my estate, in the name of preserving it, until there was only a fraction of it left. Then they declare my husband dead, when there is nothing left under the court’s control to take, and tell me to have a nice life. Meanwhile the cats are costing nearly half a million dollars a year to care for and the nation is in a recession following the stock market crash that sends everyone scrambling into real estate as the only safe investment. Having that much money diverted into real estate by people who know nothing of the business drives the price of property through the ceiling. The government steps in to try and pull the economy back up onto its feet by lowering the interest rates and giving loans to anyone who will take them at rates lower than they have been in my lifetime, makes my niche a little difficult. I loan at 18% and buy distressed properties at a fraction of the cost and then resell them. With all of the stock money now in real estate there are no deals and almost no one has to borrow at 18%.
Stress has made me fat and irritable and I drive to the Keys every two years to spend the weekend crying in a hammock on suicide watch until it’s time to get back to business Monday morning. I learn how to raise money by begging; something I wouldn’t do when I was living out of garbage cans as a 15 year old run away, but I have to do it now for the cats. I learn how to manage people and put together a team of volunteers that become world renown for their ability to work together. I run through a string of low life boyfriends that continue to validate my belief that I am not worthy of the love of a good man. I lose 70 pounds so that I can be more effective at getting out the message that exotic cats don’t make good pets.
The last 20 of those pounds were the hardest and after exhausting every diet known to man, I tried hypnotherapy. I was just starting to read about spirituality, healing, past lives and was willing to try anything. I remember that first session like it was yesterday. In the meditation the therapist asks me to walk down the beach and notice a little girl sitting by the shore. He tells me to go up to her. I don’t want to. He urges me on. I don’t want to. I finally give in and of course, she is me, about 5 years old, full of innocence, big blue eyes and white hair. He tells me to hold her and to tell her that I will never betray her again. I will protect her from anything and anyone else who tries to hurt her. I made a pact.
My life changed again. Suddenly I find myself asking, “Is this my life? Can this really be my life? I didn’t think I deserved a life this good.” Enter, Howie Baskin. He’s a brilliant 52 year old bachelor who makes my heart skip a beat. He is the kindest, most loving, genuinely wonderful spirit I have ever encountered on the planet. He personifies integrity. He is way out of my league which, of course, just adds to my desire to have his love. To Bask-In his love. (I just couldn’t have made this up!) But he is more than just the next level higher of a challenge. He is both my reward for reaching this level of understanding and my partner in learning to love mankind. Becoming one with him is my first step in becoming One with all humanity.
I am reminded of a Bible principle that says man’s greatest love for God is expressed in being a living sacrifice. Nothing defines a living sacrifice better than Howie. His friends all tell me that he is the most wonderful, loving person in their life. He lives for others. Watching him, marveling in who he is and how he is, causes me to look inwardly and challenges me daily to be more understanding and more loving. He says his goal in life is to help me love people the way I love animals. I thought I took on big scary goals, but this man knows no fear!
Now things are looking better than they ever have before. I have finally paid the piper in this lesson of betrayal. I had betrayed myself when I accepted the notion that I was not worthy and the even more erroneous notion that I could achieve worthiness if I overcame the obstacles that I invited into my own path. I was going to deal with being betrayed by the people I trusted, and loved the most, until I understood. My fortune cookie tonight even confirmed the presence of God in the statement, “You never hesitate to take on the toughest challenges.” It was as if He said, “I am here with you and this is just my humorous way of letting you know that I am as real as the piece of paper in your hand.”
The real estate business is recovering. The sanctuary managed to break even on operating expenses, if not capital expenses, for the first time ever last year (2003). I have been elected as the Vice President of the Association of Sanctuaries and am serving on its Board of Directors. (From the future: I don’t remember I have the opportunity to influence legislation that will protect wild animals and the physical and moral support of a team of family, volunteers and the man I admire most in the world to help me achieve those goals.
What I notice about each of these hurdles is that I was focused on the subject matter. While I may have been successful in dealing with that aspect, what I failed, almost universally, to do was to learn from the interaction with the people. In most cases I saw the people as the problem and bulldozing them aside was my methodology. It seems abundantly clear that I will continue being presented with challenges that are stressful and painful until I pay the piper on this issue of loving people other than those in my innermost circle.
I wonder how I could go about this learning in a less painful and ineffective manner? Maybe it’s time to put on the fuzzy purple blanket (to give myself the warm fuzzy I have longed for), the cloak of spirituality, and take a look at reality from a different, non judgmental, perspective.
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.
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Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.
Hurricane Frances
was the sixth named storm, the fourth hurricane, and the third major hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. The system crossed the open Atlantic during mid-to-late August, moving to the north of the Lesser Antilles while strengthening. Its outer bands affected Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands while passing north of the Caribbean sea. The storm's maximum sustained wind speeds peaked at 145 miles per hour, achieving Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. As the system slowed down its forward motion, the eye passed over San Salvador Island and very close to Cat Island in the Bahamas. Frances was the first hurricane to impact the entire Bahamian archipelago since 1866, and led to the nearly complete destruction of their agricultural economy.
Frances then passed over the central sections of the state of Florida in the U.S. only three weeks after Hurricane Charley, causing significant damage to the state's citrus crop, closing major airports, schools and canceling a collegiate football game. The storm then moved briefly offshore Florida into the northeast Gulf of Mexico and made a second U.S. landfall at the Florida Panhandle before accelerating northeast through the eastern United States near the Appalachians into Atlantic Canada while weakening. A significant tornado outbreak accompanied the storm across the eastern United States, nearly equaling the outbreak from Hurricane Beulah. Very heavy rains fell in association with this slow moving and relatively large hurricane, which led to floods in Florida and North Carolina. A total of 49 lives were lost from the cyclone. Damages totaled US$12 billion.
Hurricane Ivan
was a large, long-lived, Cape Verde-type hurricane that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The cyclone was the ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. Ivan formed in early September, had reached Category 5 strength on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, and became the 10th most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. At its peak in the Gulf of Mexico, Ivan was the size of the state of Texas. It also spawned 120 tornadoes across the eastern United States.
Ivan caused catastrophic damage to Grenada as a strong Category 3 storm, heavy damage to Jamaica as a strong Category 4 storm and then Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands and the western tip of Cuba as a Category 5 storm. After peaking in strength, the hurricane moved north-northwest across the Gulf of Mexico to strike Florida as a strong Category 3 storm, causing significant damage. Ivan dropped heavy rains on the Southeastern United States as it progressed northeast and east through the eastern United States, becoming an extratropical cyclone. The remnant low from the storm moved into the western subtropical Atlantic and regenerated into a tropical cyclone, which then moved across Florida and the Gulf of Mexico into Louisiana and Texas, causing minimal damage.
Ivan caused an estimated US$18 billion in damages to the United States, making it the fifth costliest hurricane ever to strike the country. We didn’t get hit too badly by this storm, but it has my nerves on edge that it is just one storm after another this year.
Hurricane Jeanne
was the deadliest hurricane in the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the tenth named storm, the seventh hurricane, and the fifth major hurricane of the season, as well as the third hurricane and fourth named storm of the season to make landfall in Florida. After wreaking havoc on Hispaniola, Jeanne struggled to reorganize, eventually strengthening and performing a complete loop over the open Atlantic. It headed westwards, strengthening into a Category 2 hurricane and passing over the islands of Great Abaco and Grand Bahama in the Bahamas on September 25.
Jeanne made landfall later in the day in Florida just 2 miles from where Frances had struck 3 weeks earlier. Building on the rainfall of Frances and Ivan, Jeanne brought near-record flood levels as far north as West Virginia and New Jersey before its remnants turned east into the open Atlantic. Jeanne is blamed for at least 3,006 deaths in Haiti with about 2,800 in Gonaïves alone, which was nearly washed away by floods and mudslides. The storm also caused 7 deaths in Puerto Rico, 18 in the Dominican Republic and at least 4 in Florida, bringing the total number of deaths to at least 3,025;
Jeanne is the 12th deadliest storm in the Atlantic hurricane history ever. Final property damage in the United States was $6.8 billion, making this the 13th costliest hurricane in U.S. history. Jeanne took out several trees at the sanctuary and smashed some cages, but none of the cats escaped. I had to use my body as a patch in the roof of a cougar cage until a patch of wire arrived, but that was the scariest part of the damage done.
I’m exhausted from being on high alert for weeks now due to hurricanes hitting Florida. I watch them for days, not knowing where they will land, and fearful for the lives of my cats and family. People are saying that it is global warming and life in Florida will always be this way from now on. I don’t know how long I can deal with the stress.
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.
Tribute to Maya Lioness
For several weeks in July and August, Maya had been in intensive care in the Big Cat Rescue Cat Hospital due to complications with her seizures. During that time she had several bad days that made us just about decide that euthanasia was the only humane thing to do, but about the time we would finally decide that she had been through enough, Maya would decide it wasn't time to go yet and would make another miraculous rebound. It has always been our policy to continue to provide whatever heroic efforts were called for as long as the cat seemed to be choosing life over death. Maya seemed to really have a strong will to live.
By August 16th her cage had been outfitted with an air conditioned den and as she was doing better, Maya was moved from the confines of the hospital back out to be in her own familiar grassy cage, next to her buddy Nikita. She was the picture of contentment and although she would occasionally step in her den to cool off she preferred to lounge in the shade. Her favorite pose was up against the cage wall with all four feet in the air.
On August 19 and August 22 most of the regular Big Cat Rescue staff were in Zolfo Springs helping the Peace River Refuge and Ranch recover from Hurricane Charley so only a skeletal staff was left behind. Maya seemed fine and was no longer on round-the-clock observance.
On Sunday the 22nd, Howard Baskin was giving a VIP tour when he discovered Maya breathing hard. He alerted the staff of her condition by cell phone. Within 5 minutes Carole arrived and began hosing Maya down to cool her off. Soon after, Scott Lope, Cathy Neumann, Kathryn Quaas, Becky Gagliardo and Dr. Liz Wynn raced onto the scene. Maya was carried back into the cat hospital where it was discovered that her temperature had spiked to 109 as the result of a severe seizure that must have ended shortly before Howard's tour arrived. Maya was given fluids and Dr. Stacie Wadsworth and Dr. Rose Borkowski were called for advice. This time Maya was not responding. Scott tried to call Carole to ask if Maya should be euthanized because this seizure had left her with no chance of ever enjoying a quality life. Before the call could be answered, Maya made the decision herself and breathed her last.
We are thankful that she got to spend her last couple of hours with the people that she loved most. We are grateful for the time she spent with all of us in teaching the lessons about accepting and making the most of the hand we are dealt. Maya touched so many hearts and inspired so many people. She will always be remembered as a brave little lion with heart of gold and an indomitable spirit. A special thank you to all of the generous supporters that have donated towards Maya's Medical Fund over the years. In her honor, Maya's Medical Fund will remain set up for other animals in need that find refuge at Big Cat Rescue.
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.
Hurricane Charley
took out the Peace River Sanctuary owned by Lisa Stoner. I took a crew down to put her perimeter fence back up so that no wild animals would escape the property. There was an AZA supplier that also went by the name of Peace River, and many of their animals did escape into the country side.
I went there first, not knowing there were two facilities with the same name. One a breeding compound and the other a good sanctuary. I was really glad, after seeing all of the animals running wild at the first place, that I was at the wrong location.
It had always been our plan to load our cats onto semis and leave town if we were in the path of a hurricane, and I previously had the trucks, trailers and contacts to do it, but on this trip I saw semi trucks up in trees and know our cats are safer at the sanctuary than they would be on the road. It was also the first real test of our cage structure. Lisa Stoner had emulated our cage design and those were the only cages left standing after Hurricane Charley.
Hurricane Charley was the third named storm, the second hurricane, and the second major hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. Charley lasted from August 9 to August 15, and at its peak intensity it attained 150 mph winds, making it a strong Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. It made landfall in southwestern Florida at maximum strength, making it the strongest hurricane to hit the United States since Hurricane Andrew struck Florida in 1992.
After moving slowly through the Caribbean Sea, Charley crossed Cuba on Friday, August 13 as a Category 3 hurricane, causing heavy damage and four deaths. That same day, it crossed over the Dry Tortugas, just 22 hours after Tropical Storm Bonnie had struck northwestern Florida. It was the first time in history that two tropical cyclones struck the same state in a 24-hour period. At its peak intensity of 150 mph, Hurricane Charley struck Captiva Island, causing severe damage.
Charley, the strongest hurricane to hit southwest Florida since Hurricane Donna in 1960, then continued to produce severe damage as it made landfall on the peninsula near Port Charlotte. It continued to the north-northeast along the Peace River corridor, devastating Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, Cleveland, Fort Ogden, Nocatee, Arcadia, Zolfo Springs, Sebring, and Wauchula. Zolfo Springs was isolated for nearly two days as masses of large trees, power poles, power lines, transformers, and debris filled the streets. Wauchula sustained gusts to 147 mph; buildings in the downtown areas caved onto Main Street. Ultimately, the storm passed through the central and eastern parts of the Orlando metropolitan area, still carrying winds gusting up to 106 mph.
The city of Winter Park, north of Orlando, also sustained considerable damage since its many old, large oak trees had not experienced high winds. Falling trees tore down power utilities and smashed cars, and their huge roots lifted underground water and sewer utilities. The storm slowed as it exited the state over New Smyrna Beach and Ponce Inlet, just south of Daytona Beach. The storm was ultimately absorbed by a front in the Atlantic Ocean shortly after sunrise on August 15, near southeastern Massachusetts.
Damage in the state totaled to over $13 billion. Charley initially was expected to hit further north in Tampa, and caught many Floridians off-guard due to a sudden change in the storm's track as it approached the state. Throughout the United States, Charley caused 10 deaths and $15.4 billion in damage, making it the second costliest hurricane in United States history at the time.
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.
Persistence
”Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race." ~ Calvin Coolidge
A few nights ago we were making love (Howie and I, not Coolidge) and I exclaimed, “No one has EVER been so good to me!” Without even missing a beat, Howie replied, “Nor to anyone else.” I believe that. I cannot image any person ever being more loved and cared for than the way Howie treats me. I always thought of myself as being the most loving in relationships, but my expression of love pales by comparison.
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.
I resigned as the acting President of The Association of Sanctuaries
today and wrote the following letter. What is funny is that I let Howie edit it and sent his version which is below mine.
Dear Board, I have always held TAOS in the highest esteem and even though I did not wish to serve on the board or be an officer I agreed when Barbara had been abandoned by the rest of the board and had the weight of the conference on her shoulders. I stepped in to help and learned a lot about why the membership does not support TAOS events or TAOS initiatives.
As a member, I saw TAOS as a service provider and was happy to serve the rest of the membership by contributing in ways that I felt would enable all of us to share and have better sanctuaries. In speaking with the membership these past several days I am impressed with what a wonderful group of people we have who are doing good work and who all voice the same desire: That we focus on what we have in common and build on that. I share that sentiment.
Those of us on the board have had several conversations about why the membership is not supportive, why there is so much back biting and why the members don’t support the conference or dues increases or any of the financial needs of TAOS. We could have asked each other that question for ever and never gotten an answer, but when we ask the membership they are answering in unison: The leadership of TAOS is not their choosing and they feel that they don’t get any benefit from submitting themselves to a governing body that is unrecognized for all practical purposes.
We promote TAOS as setting members apart from pseudo sanctuaries but it doesn’t because TAOS is still virtually unknown. AZA is so much bigger and stronger than TAOS and it faces the same lack of recognition in the general public that causes zoos to wonder why they would submit themselves to all of the politics and onerous paperwork to be a part of something that does not help them. Any of us who write grants to support our work know that including the fact we are accredited by TAOS doesn’t have any bearing on our ability to secure the funding.
The only reason I have tried to keep TAOS afloat is because of its participation in the Captive Wild Animal Protection Coalition, but TAOS cannot afford to even pay its dues there and given the current draft of the standards it is unlikely that they will ever be adopted widely. I have submitted a considerable body of work only to have it come back to me with revisions that make it impossible for all but 4 or 5 sanctuaries to meet them. Those sanctuaries can only meet the standards suggested because they are not governed by USDA. I believe in the concept of standard sanctuary standards but if those standards would require funding that most major zoos couldn’t afford then the only purpose of them will be to eliminate sanctuaries; the good and the bad. There isn’t a zoo or game farm in the country that meets these high standards, but these standards won’t apply to them. They only apply to those of us who are left to deal with their carnage.
TAOS appears to have lost its founding mothers and has had a recent history of high turnover in its leadership. To dismiss our Executive Director with no viable plan or person to replace her just smacks of incompetence. The timing and lack of preparedness for the transfer of documents, credit cards, email accounts and such just further illustrates the emotional imbalance of the remaining board members. TAOS’ only national acclaim to fame is that it accredits sanctuaries who are not inspected by state or federal agencies and some of those are under fire with allegations of breeding, escapes and substandard conditions. At a very minimum TAOS should require USDA licensure so that we don’t have to take that sort of heat.
There is a huge disparity between what the membership thinks TAOS should be and what the board of TAOS believes it is. I am told by the board that the membership does not have any say in the leadership or direction of TAOS because it is an accrediting body. I am told that this is standard for accrediting bodies, but that is not the case for AZA and their 6000 members. The TAOS board has reiterated that board members should not have to be working members, but rather are in place to set policy and standards. In 12 years TAOS hasn’t managed to get its standards in writing and its policies are unclear and not enforced.
TAOS does not have a plan for sustainability. The grant money ran out and membership dues and current supporter’s donations are not enough to even cover the cost of accreditation visits. I had hoped that with my business background, Barbara Yule’s great rapport with the membership and Lynda Sugasa’s husbandry training and energy we could turn TAOS around and build an organization that would be self sustaining. By building the trust and support of our member base we could better promote TAOS’ high standards and encourage other sanctuaries to want to participate by improving their facilities.
Because this is not what the current board envisions I have become a voice of one. I do not serve your purpose if I am at odds with virtually every decision the board makes. I will not be held responsible for your decisions by being perceived as in agreement by my participation on the board or as an officer. I was particularly incensed that you would tell Barbara that it was a unanimous decision of the board to ask her to resign, when everyone on the board knew I did not support the decision, whether I was at that meeting or not. I do not wish to continue taking the flack for the actions of the group when I feel that these actions will destroy TAOS.
Please accept and post my resignation statement below to the membership immediately so that I don’t have to go to each person individually and do so. I will not allow you to mistreat me in the same way that you have the past President by not being straightforward with the members.
“I believe in the necessity of an accrediting body such as The Association of Sanctuaries and the high ideals and standards that are encouraged by participation. I agreed to serve on the board and as Vice President during a time when there was only one other participating board member and officer in an effort to help Barbara Yule bring the annual conference to the membership. That event was not widely supported by the membership nor by the leaders of TAOS. In the months since then I have tried to determine what it would take for the members to be more supportive of their association. I feel that I am unable to meet the needs of the membership by my participation as an officer or member of the board of TAOS. The board’s decisions do not reflect my own and I do not wish my beliefs to be misperceived by association. For that reason I am resigning from the board and as the Vice President/ acting President. I do not believe it is helpful to the movement to keep splitting and dividing into more and more accrediting bodies and will not be soliciting the start up of yet another group. My hope is that the members, including Big Cat Rescue, will become more active in supporting TAOS. By working together and focusing on what we do have in common we can make TAOS something we can all be proud of.”
Howie wrote to me:
I should not be insisting that I write your resignation. Part of my seemingly uncontrollable impulse to "fix" everything. I so want you to be happy and to help in every way I can. If you want to write it up to you. I'm happy to just review and it would not take long to do that. Sometimes a few words that change tone can change impact. It is tough because you feel strongly about that what is happening is wrong, but do not want to hurt TAOS and lower its chances of survival. I don't remember when you started, but one "public" tact might be that you joined when Barb was desperate for help and no one was available, feel you have done what you could, but now that Board has been expanded need to return to neglected duties here. Anyway, gotta run. Back mid morning and happy to talk if you like, up to you. - Howard Baskin
Howie’s vanilla version:
Dear TAOS Board Members, I have decided to resign from the Board effective today. My reasons are in the statement below, which I wrote with the intent that it be published to the membership. I would appreciate your doing that by tomorrow so that I do not have to do it individually. As you know, one of the things I have urged to no avail recently is that we communicate immediately and effectively with the members. If the Board does not publish the statement, I will send it separately so that my resignation does not become another piece of information that is not promptly communicated.
I think you will see my reasoning in the statement, which I have tried to frame in a way that is as supportive of TAOS as I can. And as noted below, I would like to make sure you each know that I respect each of you and the work you do very much despite not agreeing with recent Board decisions, and that if permitted I will continue to be an active supporter of TAOS. I sincerely believe TAOS can fill a much needed role that can enormously help our cause, and I hope you are able to work through the current situation and that it will grow and prosper. I think the alternative of TAOS failing would be a very sad, sad shame. Respectfully submitted July 14, 2004 - Carole
STATEMENT FOR RELEASE:
To TAOS Members from Carole Lewis
I believe in the necessity of an accrediting body such as The Association of Sanctuaries and the high ideals and standards that are encouraged by participation. However, it has never been my desire to serve on the Board. I had declined a number of times. I agreed to serve on the board and as Vice President last year at the request of Barbara Yule, during a time when there was only one other participating board member and officer, in an effort to help Barbara bring the annual conference to the membership. My own opinion and the feedback I have received from other attendees is that while it is always difficult for any of us to get away and most of us are on tight budgets, the conference program was extremely useful was very well worth the time and expense to those who attended. Unfortunately the event, which is intended to be a primary source of funds to support TAOS’ operations, was not well supported by the membership, including those who had leading roles in the past. I think this is a shame and would like to urge everyone to attend in the future.
Since the conference I have tried to continue to contribute as a Board member. In the last few months the Board has made a number of decisions with which I do not agree. This has two implications. First, I find myself unable to make a meaningful contribution as the sole dissenter, and if I am not able to make a contribution there is little purpose to my serving. Second, while I respect the right of others to have different opinions than my own, and I particularly have personal respect for the individuals on the Board and the wonderful work each of them does, with the Board’s decisions not reflecting my own beliefs, I do not wish my beliefs to be misperceived by the members. For that reason, I am resigning from the Board effective today.
I would like to make very clear that I believe very strongly in TAOS. By way of analogy, any of us can disagree with whatever laws our current Congress passes, but I think we all support our country and our democracy. Similarly, while I am disappointed with certain decisions, I believe strongly in TAOS. I believe that sanctuaries can accomplish far more if they work together than if we each just do our own thing. I believe that by attending our annual conference we can learn from each other, learn from outside experts, build supportive relationships that can be of great comfort as we do our difficult and stressful work, and give suggestions and feedback that can help TAOS continually improve in fulfilling its mission. I believe that while we have many different viewpoints on many things, the most important aspects of our work we have in common and we should focus on that and be tolerant of our differences.
I intend to continue to be an active supporter of TAOS and very much urge each member to do so. I have particularly enjoyed talking with quite a few members in recent days and enjoyed hearing their thoughts. I would like to urge every member to help support TAOS and, for the good of the animals we all seek to save, help TAOS continue to evolve and be the best organization it can be.
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.
Howie Says He Knew I Was The One by Our 4th Date
At dinner the other night the subject of love at first sight came up and Howie told everyone (and me for the first time) that he knew I was the woman he had been looking for by the 4th date.
I Love to Watch Howie Sleep
Dear Howie, Tears of appreciation stream down my face sometimes when I pause in the kitchen, stopped dead in my tracks, by the image of you in the chair. You look so peaceful with the soft afternoon glow of the sun on your face, the cat snoozing in your lap (and purring I imagine). I watch the gentle rise and fall of each breath. I notice the way your hands rest so gently on the arm rests, like the gentle way that you touch me. I see the outline of the cats from Bali behind you and think of the exotic way that make love with me. I wonder what dreamy thoughts fill your mind in this moment of restfulness? How these must contrast to all of the difficult mind stretching tasks that you take on every day to make my life a little better. You are so good to me! So wonderful! I just can’t tell you how happy you make me! - Carole
(Photo is December 2018 and Pearlie is sleeping on top of Howie. I still love to watch him sleep)
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.
Bailey Bobcat Escaped
My father loves the cats and has dedicated his life to giving them homes that are full of opportunities to use as many of their wild instincts as possible within the confines of a cage.
But there is something about his large frame, his shock of white hair, or probably most likely, his ice blue eyes that just freaks some of the cats out. I think it’s that prey / predator relationship where prey animals almost always have brown eyes and predators often have light colored eyes. It was painful to see how the cats would hide from him; knowing how much he loved them.
On this day there were cage modifications that were being made to Bailey’s cage, so she was locked in one side while Dad worked in the other. Bailey thought the blue eyed giant was surely coming for her and squirmed right through the wall of her cage that had contained her for many months. An alert went out and it was all hands on deck to try and locate her and recapture her.
Someone thought they saw her in the swamp between the tigers on Tiger Lake and the larger part of the lake. Most of us were slogging through the swamp and Jamie ran down the cat walk to get an overview of the scene. Bailey was smarter than us and up on the cat walk. She wasn’t going to get her paws all muddy.
She came toward Jamie and without a moment’s hesitation Jamie dived to catch her. Pinning her to the walkway, Jamie yelled for a carrier to be brought to her. Bailey never did squeeze through the walls again.
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.
Letter to Brandi after she had a hysterectomy: Speaking of incisions: Years ago an adult cougar was spayed and had a pain patch on her shaved belly to reduce the pain. The vet gave me replacement patches and instruction on pulling off the old one and re affixing the new one. We don’t knock a cat out unless it is a life or death situation and this cat was handleable, so I decided I would just rip the old one off and slap the new one on. I braced myself for her reaction and had the new one opened and ready to stick as I pulled off the old patch. In the condition you are in, I am sure you understand how she took that and we launched into a rolling and tussling match all over the bathroom where she was recovering. I was trying to keep her mouth off me and finish getting the old patch off. I was as determined as she was but after what seemed an eternity I started getting more and more tired and rather loopy. After a while, I just didn’t care if she killed me. Panting and in a daze I marveled at my sudden nonchalance and noticed that the new patch had gotten stuck to me in the midst of the struggle and, let me tell you, I was feeling NO pain. Everything was sort of in slow motion from that point forward, but I figured out that slapping the new one on her would give me a considerable advantage and I was finally able to get the old one off too, once she couldn’t feel her belly any more.
Barbara Ross Thanks Me For Presenting to Her Marketing Class Dear Carole, Thank you so much for being a guest speaker this May for our MKT 616-Marketing on the Cutting Edge class. The students were fascinated by your story and your efforts. Before your presentation I do not think they had ever contemplated how many non-profits are started. They were amazed to learn that a HAVARD MBA would be putting his efforts towards a non-profit, so maybe they will spread their horizons when they think about jobs in the future. I am forwarding your contact to my colleague Judi Washburn as a potential client for her promotions class in the fall. I also will be contacting you to come again to speak to the American Marketing Association-Collegiate Chapter, I think the students would love to hear your story. Once again thank you so much, I will be out to see the cats-once a find a babysitter for my little guy, Barbara Ross Wooldridge Assistant Professor of Marketing The University of Tampa
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.
Rescue of Cameron, Zabu, and Cheetaro
Cameron, Zabu, and Cheetaro came from the Greenville Wildlife Park in New Hampshire, when the owner died and his wife was killing other animals in the park to feed to the cats because she was running out of money and because she liked the cats the best. There were several cats that Big Cat Rescue offered to take, but Cheetaro's mate and two of the jaguars never made it here because they were sold off to someone else.
In 2004 Carole received a call from a woman named Judy Behrens who was trying to buy two jaguars from Lance Ramos, who was successfully getting this woman to raise her bid by telling her that Big Cat Rescue was outbidding her, which we were, of course, not doing because we never purchase cats. These are most likely the same two jaguars that never made it here, and one of them is most likely the same jaguar that recently tore the thumb off of a visitor at Judy Beren's organization. By bringing media attention to the inappropriateness of keeping animals for our own amusement, that jaguar may have done more for our cause than he would if he had come here, because we never would have allowed that to happen.
While we want to rescue every single cat in the world that is suffering, we can be grateful to the ones who speak for themselves by being who they are and making their boundaries clear. So Carole had us all send a message to that jaguar by having the whole group repeat two short phrases that sum up our mission: caring for the cats and ending the trade. This story was told to the volunteers of Big Cat Rescue in 2010 but is placed here, as this was the day of the Greenville rescue.
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.
Letters to and from Lynn:
Lynn to Carole: I’d love to hear what your dream was about, if you care to share. I'm curious. The other dreams you've had lately, was the productivity they offered connected to BCR, personal or other business?
Peace River is not as nice as BCR, plus the gal who runs it is high strung & very stressed. Her energy would be tough to be around and would drain my energy. I visited another facility last week and have two more I'm seeing this week. At this point, I'm just exercising all my options and praying for the Universe to place me where my mission can be best served. I'll tell ya what... I'm sick of this phase. I just want to get to work. There's soooo much to do bridging the honor/respect gap between human & beast. Lynn
Carole to Lynn: The dreams in general have just been much more grounding and centering; sort of a reminder of who I am and what I am capable of when I don’t let “reality” get in the way. I often dream that I am flying, but lately the dreams have been sort of testing my limits; how high, how fast, how much can I control the situation. The rest of the dreams have been similar in that they have just been a reminder that I create everything around me and I can make it into whatever I want it to be. It has been very empowering but not terrible specific.
In the dream about you there was travel on trains and to theatrical performances that seemed to be set the time around the turn of the century. I was listening to one opera singer (someone earlier in the day had suggested that opera should be allowed to go extinct and should not warrant government grants to preserve it) talking about how the music connected them to who they were. I was trying to understand this phenomenon that is foreign to me and perhaps because of your great love of music, you rather burst into the scene. I was sitting at the table with this performer and you came up from behind and quite smothered me with a hug that said, “Hello old friend, I have been looking through this life time for you.” As I turned to see who you would be this time around, already knowing from your embrace and your aura that I have known you forever, I saw that you were still tall and very beautiful, but much more full bodied, as women were then. You were wearing a long, apple red gown and red gloves up past your elbows. You were vivacious and full of life in what was otherwise a rather dark time of rather puritan ethics.
I don’t remember what you said. It didn’t matter. I knew what you were saying which was that we all find our own way. We all connect back to God in different ways. We all have different talents and are using them to the best of our current possibility. Those who seem to be so stuck in the mire of their own dramas are great inspirations to others who are even less evolved. Some are violins, some are cymbals, and some (like you) are grand pianos. Life is a beautiful symphony and each of us plays a part. You will find the rest of your band. Carole
Lynn to Carole: Are you familiar with the song "From A Distance" recorded by Better Midler? If not... you'd like it. It's a wonderful musical adaptation of your "Life is a symphony" sentiment. I talk about this song in my book, specifically one line of its lyric: "From a distance we are instruments, marching in a common band, playing songs of hope, playing songs of peace, they're the songs of every man."
What a nice thing to say, that I'm a grand piano. I see you as a concert harp, delicate yet very strong.
I'm aware of C.A.R.E. but intuitively felt that this is not the right place for me & SS. The task of finding the right place for me & SS is quite a challenge. The facilities that would allow me in, such as Horseshoe Creek & C.A.R.E., are not the standard I want to work in. The facilities that are an excellent standard, won't allow me in. As with zoos, hands-off facilities feel human contact to be a stress on an animal, especially if it has been abused in some manner. This is absolutely true, if the human engaging in contact is uneducated. I am well educated in such things. As with a human that's been emotionally or physically neglected or abused, isolation isn't the cure. Socialization and love is the only rehab that breaks through walls of defense. Receiving love, in the form of touch, is the best enrichment there is, no matter what species, human or beast.
Yes... I guess part of me is still trying to sell you on me & SS, but I also know the animals at BCR are love starved. This is why so many of them came running to greet me, why Maya responded to me the way she did, and why Cherokee (I think that was the Bobcat's name) talked to me. If you won't let me enrich your animal children with the love they are craving, I know you have it in you to nurture them mind/body/spirit in this manner. Lynn
Carole to Lynn: My favourite instrument is the harp. Thanks, and I do like the song, From a Distance.
It is because the animals are so love starved that they are so dangerous. Raindance tried to pull me through the wire as I was inspecting a cut on her chest from outside the cage just yesterday. I have seen it happen frequently. The animal asks for attention and when they get the opportunity to latch on and pull they do, with every intent of bringing you in through the hole in the wire. They aren’t being mean. They really just want more. I have had the same problem from inside the cage where the cat refuses to let me leave. I have worked with them for a decade and know that there is no limit to their need. I cannot fill them up and all of the volunteers and guests that we previously allowed to shower them with affection are never enough. It breaks my heart that the cats are so hungry for something that I cannot provide to them without risking their lives.
If they bite anyone they have to be killed and tested for rabies. The state can demand it and it just isn’t worth the risk. Perhaps their lives of starving this way are worse than death, but I just can’t bring myself to expose them to other’s hands and other’s varying levels of understanding. I really loved the idea of Shaman Safari as I thought it would be teaching people how to reach outside of themselves and connect with others. I could see this sort of training benefiting my volunteers who have been denied the access to touch the cats as a way that they could reconnect and have the closeness that they feel they have lost. Only you know how Shaman Safari will evolve, but I find it interesting that you quote the song: “From a distance…” A Freudian slip of the lyric I wonder? - Carole
4/11/04: Howie and I were having dinner with Dick and Anna Marie Nimphie, the Lexus dealership owner here in Tampa the other night and Howie told them about his first realization that he was in love with me. He had told the story several times about the blood pressure, but never said when that was. I could only estimate from the things I knew about, like the dye in his blood and was stunned that he knew to the day.
He started out by telling them that on January 19, 2003 he wrote in his diary that he thought he had met the woman that he wanted to marry.
While getting groceries he stopped at one of the self test blood pressure machines and was at the border line of needing medication. He had tested his blood pressure because he was feeling queasy and light headed and felt like his heart had been in his throat all day. His blood pressure was always perfect before and never altered at all, so this was cause for alarm.
His doctor put him through all the tests and couldn’t tell what was causing the condition and even went so far as to have dye injected into his blood and in a freezing room (kept that way for the machinery to run right) he had to have his entire, shivering body scanned. There was a picture on the wall of a wedding and his blood pressure was bordering on exploding. The doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with him.
In true medical fashion, after all of the expensive tests had been exhausted, the doctor finally asked Howie if there had been a change in his life and Howie said that for the first time he thought he was in love. Once he said it out loud the symptoms began to subside.
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.
Where the Sand Cats Came From
Photo is Jamie with me at WildNet Conference. These Bird of Paradise flowers were out front of a cafe along the street)
Dear Lynn, During Desert Storm the Saudi government sent some Sand Cats to my friend, Pat Quillen at S.O.S. Care in CA. Pat travels the world, working with in situ programs and governments in places where no white woman would have the courage to go. She has been shot at by poachers, exposed to all sorts of challenges, and has done wonderful things to get people in power to see the financial prospects of protecting their wildlife, rather than allowing people to kill the small cats for food or sport. Up until 9/11 I was supporting her breeding facility so that she could afford to travel the world and set up these important alliances. She introduced me to contacts in Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica, Panama and to Dr. Jim Sanderson with the hopes that I could take over for her when she is gone. She is aged and ailing. I rely on tourism to support Big Cat Rescue and after 9/11 things have not been the same. I had to stop providing all of her income and she felt abandoned. She is civil to me, but I have lost the closeness with her that I once enjoyed.
The Saudi government had sent the cats to her because of her great reputation and asked that she protect them until after the war. The soldiers were using them for target practice and they had been wiped out of every other country in the region, except for Saudi Arabia. After the war she offered to send them and all of their offspring back. The Saudi government said they had never been able to breed these cats in captivity and requested that she keep them here, build their numbers, put them into the Species Survival Plan (SSP) that is the only real conservation breeding plan and is administered only in AZA zoos. They did this in case they are ever fully wiped out in the wild, so that they can once again populate areas once they are safer.
Almost all of the Sand Cats in U.S. zoos are from this group that Pat brought in. She sent five of them to us in case anything ever happened to her place. Last year wildfires burned her facility to the ground. Fortunately she was able to get all of the cats to safety and last I heard from her she had rebuilt all of her cages and was looking for a RV to live in next to them. She only breeds small cats and she only breeds cats that are recommended by the Felid Taxon Advisory Group. (Felid TAG).
The Felid TAG looks at the pedigree of the cat to see if it can be traced back to the wild. They look at how many specimens are available in the U.S. or participating zoos around the world to see if there are a viable number to be able to successfully breed the cat in captivity without causing too much inbreeding. I worked with the Felid TAG to help them determine just how many of each cat specie there are in captivity that is viable for breeding and how much cage space is available in the accredited zoos and sanctuaries to allow for the optimum breeding.
Horseshoe Creek claims to have bred 72 Asian leopards for conservation purposes, but the Felid TAG only recommends the breeding of Amur Leopards that can be traced back to the wild by their pedigrees. There is no Asian Leopard conservation breeding program and no SSP for Asian or African Leopards. Leopards are bred and sold for only five reasons: Pets, Circus Acts, Roadside Zoos, Photo Ops/Parties as cubs and Canned Hunts. The bottom line is that they are bred into a miserable life in captivity because people will pay money for them. We had to turn away 49 leopards last year and that number doubles every year.
Tabby Tigers and Ligers are not pure bred cats, and in the case of the Tabbies are highly inbred. It is because the zoos caved into pressure by the public to see white tigers that they were ever bred or displayed in zoos and the result was that there is not one pure bred Bengal tiger in the U.S. left for real conservation purposes. More here: http://www.bigcatrescue.org/white_tigers.htm The only reason these tigers are bred is the same as for all of the big cats. We had to turn away 166 tigers (many of them white) last year and that number doubles every year.
Three of the Sand Cat offspring from Pat have been returned to the wild, but it is rare that returning a top level carnivore to the wild is successful. Pat never had rears kittens. The only chance they have in the wild is to be raised by their mothers on a diet of live prey, which is what she does and what we are currently doing with Faith the bobcat. http://www.bigcatrescue.org/cat_tales_Mar04.htm To succeed in the wild a cat cannot associate humans with food or it will ultimately mean the death of the cat.
My favourite person in the field is Dr. Jim Sanderson and you can see him on most of our pages about saving small cats, such as the Pampas Cat, the Golden Cats and the Andean Mountain Cat. He was the first person to photograph the Andean Mountain Cat which had been thought to have gone extinct many, many years ago. We met up with him and Jane Goodall, Ron and Darla, Laurie Marker and all of our heroes who are really doing things in the wild, like Pat did, to help the small cats, the snow leopards, the Amur Leopards and cheetahs. Jamie and I attended their benefit last year in CA that was hosted by wildnet.org You can read about all of the conservation programs there. We solicit money for these people as well and 100% of what comes in ear marked for each project goes directly to the person in the field for camera traps, and such things as materials for the locals to build pens and corrals that keep their livestock safe from predation and the cats safe from retribution. It is very difficult to raise money for these efforts because people want the warm fuzzy of being able to say they sponsored a particular cat and don’t care about one they haven’t met in a jungle far away. I’d like to do far more in this arena and will someday, but for right now my mission is clear.
There is no excuse for animals languishing in back yard cages and basements, road side zoos and pseudo sanctuaries and I can do something to stop that. Working with The Association of Sanctuaries and the Captive Wild Animal Protection Coalition we were able to get a law passed last December that makes it illegal to sell big cats across state lines as pets. I think this is why there are so many cougar sightings all over the country now in places that haven’t had wild populations in 100 years. Now that people cannot profit off the cats by breeding and selling they are just turning them loose. The sanctuaries are full and under funded. There is no other option but euthanasia and that is expensive to people who never cared about the cats in the first place. The law passed in December and since the first of the year there has been at lease one wild cat sighting every day in the news across the country.
After my experience with Sarabi, I cannot morally breed any cat for conservation purposes, because the cat I breed is not going to be the one to benefit and who am I to bring a spirit into being for a life of confinement. The chances are very slim that we will be able to conserve land for the cats’ return (except deserts) and even if we could there are plenty of cats frozen for test tube reincarnation if we ever do. I believe, with current technology, that even the SSP’s are only to insure that zoos have animals to display to paying patrons and I just can’t justify that. Some of our rescues are SSP rejects, such as the Clouded Leopards, Snow Leopards and Pallas Cats. When faced with more than 300 cats each year who need to be rescued, I have opted to take in these more rare cats who were no longer needed in SSP programs over more common cats. This is always a tough decision because it can’t be based on need. They all need a safe place and there are very few out there that won’t make matters worse by breeding and selling.
The Captive Wild Animal Safety Act that was passed into law was just the first step. The way the breeders are getting around it is to have the pet buyers get a USDA license and call themselves a sanctuary and then they sell the big cats across state lines. This year we are working to close some of those gaps. Carole
Dear Carole, Thanks again for all the wonderful info, which I have briefly scanned, will print, re-read and ingest later. (I've got a binder running that contains copies of all of our emails.) I became aware of SSP & SSC during my brief class time at the zoo.
Now is the appropriate time to tell you this. Last week was a very tough week for me, mind/body/spirit. You are aware of the zoo decision I made, the other tough decision I made was making my exit from logging volunteer time at Horseshoe Creek. Darryl is a major offender of so many things. The welfare of his animals in NOT his #1 priority, but you knew this already. I'm in mourning. My heart is breaking leaving all of the animals I spent many hours befriending. I'm terribly missing the love & nurturance they gave me. Dale does not support his brother on several levels. He's an emotional captive to HC; i.e., he worries so about the animals, he helps Darryl knowing that he is enabling him to continue his ill practices. Dale is in a very tough position. - Lynn
Dear Lynn, I sort of expected that you had left or were leaving HC based upon some of your letters. I wasn’t entirely sure how you would take what I had to say, but thought I should let you know before you drove all the way here.
I can see that this would have been a very tough week for you on many levels. So many people stay and help in these places because they love the animals. It is hard to seemingly turn your back on them in order to take a stand against the abuse. I can assure you that you will have ample opportunity here to right the wrongs that have been done to them and others like them without helping the abuse to continue. Your spirit connection to those animals will let them know that you are working for their liberation even though you are separated by time and space.
I am sure you are no stranger to remote viewing and it is how I connect to my sick cats when I am away. You will always be close to the animals you loved there and they, being much better at this time and space travel than we are, will have the comfort of your love and in knowing what you are doing for them and all who would come after them. - Carole
Dear Carole, Thank you. Through tears, I find comfort in your words. - Lynn
Pat Quillen had invited me to the Felid TAG in the late 90s as she was a member. They wanted to do a survey of all AZA zoos to find out how many cats were at each, what kind, and what cat cage space was available. No one wanted to take on that nightmare of a task. Eager to make myself useful, I volunteered. This is how I got my first peek behind the curtain as to where all these cats were, what kind of cages they were in, and what was being done to breed them via the Species Survival Plans.
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.
Lynn asks why we live off site?
(Photo is Carole and Jamie at one of the Fur Balls probably circa 2009-2010)
I'm curious as to why you have chosen to live off site?
My husband and I always left our doors open and because of the lack of facilities that meant that all of the volunteers and guests used our bathroom and our kitchen and the gift shop was in the dining room. Some of the cats lived in the house, so tours came through to meet them. All hours of the day and night there were people in my home. A year after my husband disappeared I began dating and that was awkward under the conditions. I moved back to a house that was three miles away, that I had refused to sell when Don and I moved to Easy Street, because I had loved it so. This too is a magical place. Jamie was living in a trailer on Easy Street, so she moved into my home and her trailer became the gift shop, restroom and volunteer area. Last year, we needed much more space for the gift shop and volunteers so the volunteers took over the Rustic Cabin and Jamie moved next door to me on the “island” so that we could convert the largest building on the property to offices, gift shop and a media room where we hold meetings and do audio / visual presentations. We just completed that move last month. We still have six people on property to watch out for the cats and Jamie and I can be there in 5 minutes.
I have to run a real estate business and until last year continued to try and do that from Easy Street, but we have 50 volunteers and even though the volunteer committee was designed to alleviate that responsibility for me, volunteers still all wanted to stop into my office and say “hello”. Most were quick about it, but there are always a lot of people who are there because they have no life and desperately want someone to notice them, to care about them, and they would stand in my door way for an hour telling me all the wonderful things they did for the cats. I absolutely LOVE my volunteers, but because of the volume of them, I couldn’t get any work done. When I am there, every decision is deferred to me, but when I am not there they do a wonderful job of making their own decisions and I try to support them, even when it may not have been what I would have done. I supply cell phones to the staff and everyone carries two way radios or radio/phones, so I am never more than a ring away in an emergency.
My daughter found the same problem in living on the property. Guests come from all over the world and are hungry to know everything there is to know about how Big Cat Rescue operates and most people want to talk to the highest ranking person they can find. As President, Jamie was always having to entertain guests and unable to do her job. Her job is to run the administrative side of Easy Street and to raise money through the gift shop and online gift shop. She raises more than 150,000.00 of our half a million dollar budget each year by creating the adoption and membership packets, orchestrating the Fur Ball, and keeping the gift shops stocked and orders filled. She works 5-6 days a week from 9 am till 6 or 7 pm and then at night she works on our videos, ad copy and other graphics needs at home. Living on property she found that after hours, the volunteers all seemed to congregate in her living room, so she never had a moment of privacy. Considering she’s been doing this since she was 12, that means half her life has been like this and she is REALLY happy to be living off the property now.
When we meet on Tuesday, I shall have with me the $35 fee for my V-Shirt, Zookeeper Training & Safari Guide, and information packet. Can I pay for this via check? I'm planning on attending the V-Orientation scheduled for March 27th. I would like to begin my weekly Sunday/Monday schedule at BCR on Sunday April 4. (The seven-year anniversary of my father's death is April 3.) How's this sound to you?
Since the cats will surely benefit from your book, how about we swap it out and call it even? I know the book is not ready yet, but I am sure you are good for it. I talked to Jamie a little today about you staying on the property and she reminded me that Red shirts aren’t allowed to be on site by themselves until they reach Yellow. You could do that pretty quickly, based up minimum hours required, but it takes six months to move from Red to Yellow to make sure that a person is exposed to a broad range of activities and circumstances. The cabins are just outside our back fence, but if we lock you in there when no one is at Easy Street, you can’t get off the property. Frankly, I don’t know when there would ever be a time that no one was on Easy Street, but it could happen on a Sunday afternoon. We have to make allowances for the interns who live there as Red shirts, so I am sure we can work something out. I just need to discuss it with the volunteer committee and make sure everyone feels comfortable. You are right that resentment grows quickly when they think someone is getting special privileges, but you would only be getting the same privilege of an intern by spending the night and would be giving a lot of hours to justify it.
I am wondering how rigid your schedule is? For the first few months, until everyone is comfortable with you being left alone with the cats, it may be better to have you there on two week days because we have cabin guests during the week and have to have someone there to lock them out (back by their cabins) after 10 PM and you could get all of your stuff done and be in the cabin, if empty, or at least behind the fence, by 10 PM. Once every one was comfortable that you weren’t going to get yourself hurt, or hurt the cats, then you could switch to the Sunday/Monday schedule so that there would be more availability of cabin space. Friday and Saturdays are the only nights the cabins are usually fully booked. We have four, but one is being used by an Intern this summer.
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.
Alafia Carole,
I made a tough decision earlier today. I've decided it is in my best interest to back out of the Zoology/Docent Training program I'm enrolled in at the Central Florida Zoo. Why? I actually discovered Big Cat Rescue on the Internet the day before I was scheduled to go through class orientation at the Zoo. My heart instinct told me to scrap the Zoo and get on board with BCR; however, my head said it wasn't logical to scrap my zoo plans considering my knowledge of BCR was only via the Internet.
I spent a good amount of time the other day reading your website. Once again, I am so impressed with you. I respect your love and dedication to serving animals & value an organized leader. (The red, yellow, green traffic light inspired volunteer tee shirt system is brilliant.) I also respect the fact that you have suffered and overcome adversity with courage and perseverance. Overcoming adversity with courage and perseverance means that you are strong and humble; a rare and powerful balance, especially in a leader.
Though I appreciate the role the Central Florida Zoo serves, it's a sterile environment. I can't evolve and flourish in a sterile environment. Based on what I discovered about you the other day and your Sarabi & Mufasa experience, I know you are Spirit conscious, and since you're at the helm of BCR, sight unseen, I know Spirit abounds on the grounds of BCR.
Long story short... I'm asking you to humor me one last time with a 'behind the scenes tour' reschedule. In order to accommodate the Zoo, I arranged my schedule so that I could be free on Wednesdays through April 14. Ergo, I'm available to meet you on any Wednesday of your choosing: March 17, March 24, March 31, April 7, or April 14. I apologize for being a nuisance. I'm not flaky, in order to launch Shaman Safari in 12 months, I must be time and choice conscious. - Lynn (I don’t remember her last name and her websites are now defunct)
If you have time, I'm curious...
Lynn’s questions are in italics.
What species, other than feline, reside at BCR? 6 Binturong, 2 African and 2 Palm Civets, 10 Lemurs(8 ringtailed, 2 blk & wht) , 4 Llamas, a horse that some people refer to as an old soul, (people who you wouldn’t even guess would think such a thing), deer, 3 Patagonian cavies, 2 swans (of course), ducks, a coati and a genet. I won’t take in any animal other than cats, but some of these were before we became as focused and others have been left at our gate. Our operations manager who lives on site has a boxer. I think one of our on site keepers has a skunk.
When you acquired Windsong in 1992, did you have a Class 2 license? If so, how did you obtain said license; i.e., what training granted you this license? From 1980 until 1992 I had Himalayan show cats and we traveled the country getting their grand championships. My cats were raised under foot and I often thought that their success in the show ring had much more to do with their purrsonalities than their genetics. I didn’t like the direction the breed took when they decided that the cats should look like Persians with flat faces and all of the defects that go along with extreme breeding and quit breeding and showing in 1984.
I always was involved with cattery rescues where crazy cat ladies (gosh, do people call me that?) would end up with more cats than they could care for. I was often asked to negotiate their removal and then had lots and lots of trips to the vet to clean the cats up and find proper homes. Because I spent so much time in vets offices with cattery cats that had absolutely no use for people, the vets soon learned that if a bobcat was injured they could set a leg in 30 minutes and turn over the 6 months of rehab care to me. I had to get a rehab permit from the state to do that. I didn’t know that until much later, but that is how I got my initial permit for class 2.
How did you work up to obtaining Class 1 licensing? That was a legal battle. We got a call from a man in PA (I think) who had two baby leopards and no permit. The state gave him a limited time to place the cats or they would have to be euthanized. The state regs said that you have to have experience with an animal of similar size, diet requirements and temperament and I had cougars that weighed nearly 200 pounds and were considered quite dangerous when they had come to us, so I applied for Class 1, based on the years of experience with the cougars. As the days came to an end for the leopard cubs I called FFFWCC and they said my permit for Class I was in the mail and to go ahead and pick up the cats. I did and a couple weeks later, when the permit had not arrived, I contacted FFFWCC again and they said they had erred and it wouldn’t be coming because a cougar wasn’t similar enough to a leopard. I asked what I was supposed to do about the leopards and the state came out and confiscated them.
I asked that they be sent to Delores Newman, a big cat mentor who we often took food to and built cages for so that I could work with the cubs and get my hours there. The state instead sent them to Vernon Yates of Wildlife Rescue in St. Pete, who refused to let me visit, bring our food or work with them. He sold the cubs before the lawsuit ever reached an end. He calls himself a sanctuary and when ever the state wants to confiscate a cat they call him. He then sells the animal and breeds and sells tiger cubs as well which just adds to the problem. We became embroiled in a lawsuit with the state that lasted for years. Meanwhile I was taking care of our cats and then running over to Delores’ almost every day to clean her cages, feed her cats and get the hours I needed to become permitted. I finally got the hours and the permit, but the cats had been sold and suing Vernon Yates was not going to get the cats back, so I dropped it. Delores Newman just recently gave away all of her cats after falling and breaking her hip. She was in her 80’s. I have been paying her property taxes for her for years because her children wouldn’t support her as long as she had cats, but now that the cats are gone, they will take over her care.
If you're interested in learning more about me before me meet, I'm gonna supply you with the links to my two websites. The first site contains information regarding my spiritual counseling, healing & instruction practice: Mirror Image. The second site is a concise, yet in-depth overview of a book I've written & illustrated: Conviction of the Heart. (Currently in quasi, self-published format.)
1st site: www.mi-spirit.com
2nd site: www.convictionoftheheart.com
I read both site through and would love to buy a copy of your book if you will bring one with you. I am so thrilled to have the chance to meet you after learning a little more about you. It is a rare thing to find a person of such inner beauty, clarity and focus.
The man I had broken up with in the Sarabi story was Peter, a Chiropractor and someone who was very well read in subjects of spirituality, healing, radionics, colour therapy, underground currents, magnetic forces, dream interpretation, and the list goes on and on. When he moved in with me he brought 10 floor to ceiling bookcases full of these books. I don’t think he actually read them, so it is unfair to say he was well read, but he possessed them and I spent months reading everything I could. Until then I had always just thought I was some sort of freak. I didn’t know there was anyone else who could touch a person or a wall and know what the person felt or what the wall had seen. I have always felt like there was just this open phone line between God and I and never felt the need to “go to God in prayer”. It was like a constant dialog and had saved my skin many times. I always referred to the warnings as being “that still small voice” although it was often more than still and small.
To say the least, I am very new to all of this. I am new to the realization that there are lots of us. I’ve experienced it forever and tried to encourage it in my own daughter because I think people kill the ability in their children to really know themselves by insisting that certain feelings or perceptions are not normal. (or are downright weird. What do you mean the rock told you about Indians that used to live here?) Our vet often comments that she has never seen anyone perform the miracles of healing with our cats that Jamie does. She can talk to the animals and I have always tried to support her ability to do so.
I agree that we all have this ability to connect with the Divine at some level. One of the things that Easy Street has brought to light for me is how so many people, who have no understanding of spiritual matters, recognize a connection with the animals. This is the connection that is the focus of what I am trying to do. The realization that we are all one. This was in my mission statement, but my advisors tell me that it is just too esoteric and won’t generate the donations we need to do real work, but it is at the heart of my own personal mission. If I can help people come to the conclusion that we are all one, starting with an animal that they want to be one with; an animal that represents strength, beauty and all that is natural, then it only naturally begins to extend to the animals they eat and wear and hopefully, ultimately, to the humans that we share existence with.
We just recently had a zoning application approved, but that process started as the dream of creating a place of physical and emotional healing where people could come to make that connection with the cats and start them on their journey to wellness and peace. With the Moffit Cancer Center so close by, I felt that this would be an obvious first choice of people to reach out to and we have done some PR work there, but much more needs to be done. So many people have come here after a death or divorce or when they were sick and said, “I looked into the cat’s eyes, and I saw God!”
Nothing happens by coincidence and after reading about you I am sure that you were meant to be a part of this awakening.
1997 was the year I lost my husband, who had been my best friend since I was 19, and I lost my grandfather to brain cancer. The women in our family have never died before the age of 100 so cancer was never a consideration to me until it struck so close to home and so quickly in 1997 with my grandfather. A lot of our cats die from cancer and the vet said it is because we feed human grade meat. Scary thought. For 3 months we raised our own chickens, organically with no antibiotics and no hormones, but we couldn’t create a big enough bird to feed the cats without the drugs and had to abandon the project. The back 20 acres of our parcel was renamed, Return To Eden for this project and the organic farming was only the first step toward what I wanted for a healing center that would have included dormitories, a health and fitness center, counseling rooms, and space for massage therapist, a chiropractor and other healers. Our new zoning allows me a 64,000 square foot building and 20 dorm rooms. Only funds and some access issues are in the way. In the Power Point presentation that I originally did for the county one of the slides was entitled: Mind/Body/Spirit.
Girl, my head is swimming! So much to say in response to your words, I'm challenged organizing it all. I predict we're gonna enter a time warp when we get together on Tuesday; meaning, time will seem to stand still while we journey at 1000 mph.
Your proposed Healing Center is spot-on n'sync with my visions & dreams. I feel working in conjunction with you & BCR, regarding Shaman Safari, is the purrfect venue to help you logistically & financially materialize your Healing Center vision. I know, all too well, the difficult balance of fusing business with the spiritual. Your advisors advised you well in suggesting you 'outwardly' modify your mission statement so it not be esoteric. We've got a match made in heaven here, literally. Under the umbrella of Shaman Safari, you and I can build the foundation of the spiritual stuff you envision for BCR. Then, when SS proves its 'magic', you can outwardly profess your BCR spiritual mission claim. This way, Shaman Safari (me), can bear the brunt of trial & error without defamation of BCR's reputation or lost revenue, and in return, you supply me with an animal laboratory (in a manner of speaking) to test and experiment my ideas before taking them public via Shaman Safari. I've already started testing & experimenting (ceremony & energy work) with the Asian Leopard Clan at Horseshoe Creek, and have experienced some amazing things.
My plan is to give you two full days a week, back-to-back, doing chores during the day at BCR, spending the night in between in a tent on site. With your permission of course, the night that I spend on property, I will engage in testing & experimenting (ceremony & energy work) with your animals. As for the weekly, two days I'd like to devote to you & BCR, I'm thinking Sundays & Mondays, so I can attend the monthly volunteer meeting. I assume you have more coverage on weekends vs. during the week, so, if you prefer that I devote Mondays & Tuesdays, that's cool with me, but then I couldn't attend the monthly v-meetings. If this all appeals to you, I'll leave it up to you to decide which days would be the most beneficial to BCR.
I would love for you to read my book. I'm in the process of doing a revision before I print up some more copies. I'd prefer that you wait to read the revised version. In the meantime, I've attached Conviction of the Heart's introduction, epilogue, author's postscript, and a verbal explanation of the illustration that follows the author's postscript. I included the author's postscript and the illustration that follows it in response to your words, "I have always felt like there was just this open phone line between God and I and never felt the need to 'go to God in prayer'. It was like a constant dialog and had saved my skin many times. I always referred to the warning as being 'that still small voice' although it was often more than still and small." Well written! Kenny Loggins is one of my favorite musicians. He wrote something on the jacket of his Leap of Faith CD that is one of my fav quotes...
"Be still and listen to the voice, in truth we do the best we can. We are not man in search of God, but God in search of man."
We suffer physical ailments that parallel our emotional infirmities
Dear Howie, This morning I woke up, luxuriating in the after glow of our intimacy last night, and thinking to myself what a lucky woman I am to have you at my side.
Your words last night rang even more true as I reflected on Cory’s situation. It is so much easier to see what is going on in someone else’s life. I was thinking about how Dr. Brian Weiss had made the conclusion that we suffer physical ailments that parallel our emotional infirmities. Cory was living in the past; remembering a time when she was the center of attention, when she was supported by a group of friends and when she felt the safest and most cared about. Now her aunt, the woman to whom she was most connected had died. She said that she felt her aunt suffered to make the people in her life aware that they had taken her, always being there for them, for granted. This seems to illustrate that Cory felt her aunt was the one last person who supported her. Now, Cory’s body, her feet, cannot support her any more either. She may have to eat herself into obesity to make this a self fulfilling prophecy of being physically unsupported, but she will do that in order for her world to fit her view.
So easy… until I wonder at my own frailties. My biggest fear is to fail. To be unaware or oblivious of your needs and to fail you as a mate is my greatest fear. To fall short of being able to change the situations that cause so many exotic cats to suffer keeps my heart pounding with anxiety. Unconsciousness, fainting, falling, heart pounding anxiety of not being effective enough and strong enough to accomplish these goals… Sound familiar? I wonder if seeing this so clearly this morning will enable me to overcome the physical weaknesses I have created for myself?
His response was brief, yet full: All you have to do for me is be who you are. That is what I love.
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.
Firing Roger Petersen, Esquire
Roger, below is the fax I sent yesterday in response to yours in case you did not receive it. The only thought in hindsight that I did not include was that I had tried in my fax to express to you that I was not reaching a firm conclusion, but just describing what I could tell from my file and asking for an explanation. But I may not have done that well. Regardless, the solution you proposed is probably best. I would like to stress though that agreeing to it assumes you will help bring this to closure quickly so we can move forward, which certainly is also in your interest.
I'd appreciate it if you could fax copies of what you give Arnold so I know he is good to go, and just let me know that you received this or the fax. Also, if you could try just one email to hbaskin@att.net, if it works it would be so much more efficient in concluding the work if we found we were able to email. Thanks very much.
TO: Roger Petersen FROM: Howard Baskin RE: Final Arrangements DATE: 3-10-04
Roger, thank you for the fax that arrived last night. In similar spirit of compromise and bringing the matter to closure, I will accept the proposal you made. Just to make sure we are on the same page, below is a summary I made of the various dollar items. If I made any errors or omissions please let me know.
SUMMARY OF AMOUNTS
Obviously you are suggesting I seek other counsel. Given our communication difficulties both physically and perhaps at times in understanding each other, that is probably best and I will seek to do so in the next few days. Once that is in place, I will appreciate your working with that person to transfer the files and any loose ends they may require once they review the files. I’m not sure if they might want to come by and review the files prior to transfer to make the transfer more complete and efficient, but if so I would appreciate your working with them.
Regarding Arnold, if at all possible I would very much appreciate your getting his authorizations to him in the next day so we can get as much money into the account as we can as quickly as possible. Your fax has a remark about “no mention of our payment”, but please do understand that I did explain to Arnold that all amounts after his fee and minor repairs were to be deposited to the account to go toward your fees. And as you request, any balance not covered by the rents at the time the work is complete and transfer made will be brought current so you are paid in full. If Arnold receives checks, I will appreciate your paying him out of the account. I also understand that work outside the scope will be billed as you have been doing, and I do have a couple questions below that I would appreciate your help with.
Please give Arnold two separate documents. One to show tenants, that just names him as authorized to collect the rents. The other is his authorization to deduct his fee, which the tenants do not need to see. I would appreciate your also including authorization to spend up to $200/month on repairs and a requirement to contact me for approval of any amount over that. Lastly, I would appreciate your giving him a copy of the rent roll sheet you attached to your fax, and the water bill information which is not readable in my fax so we can redirect where that is sent. Thanks, by the way, for paying it out of the account. Arnold’s cell again is 386-2787 good before 3 p.m.
I would appreciate it if you could help me with a couple of quick questions:
1) Do we have copies of the commercial property leases? I recall you were going to try to obtain them but am not clear on if you were able.
2) On Mytruf you mention registering a new Board, and on Witco resignation of the current directors. I’m not sure how we select a new Board. Can Carole initially be sole director? If we need local Board members, do we need the new counsel to provide you with names? Or can the current Board simply resign, and Carole as sole shareholder appoint them after the transfer of the files?
3) From the cover of the Triplex mortgage document, where it says “A FAVOR DE CAROLE LEWIS” I am assuming this mortgage is in Carole’s name and no other action other than delivering the file is needed. Could you just confirm that?
4) Could you provide contact information on the neighbor complaining about the fence? I’m a little confused about whether she is complaining about her cows getting onto our property (I would think it is her responsibility to fence in her own cows) or whether our caretakers have cows that are getting onto the neighbor’s property, if you happen to know.
5) If you have a name and contact info for the person who made the low offer on the farm I would appreciate having that. It may have been in the email I never received. I doubt if it would lead to anything given the amount, but it would be helpful to know who it was.
6) If the water bill itself does not have contact info for the water company and you have any, or if you have any not on the bill, I would appreciate your providing that.
7) Last, could you advise when you think you could have the work in your letter completed? Obviously, I would like to do this as quickly as you are able. I would appreciate your faxing me copies of the documents as things are completed so I know where we are.
I am sorry we were not able to make better progress together, but appreciate your professional handling of the closure and transfer.
Sincerely, Howard Baskin Advisory Board Chairman
Remember the Helicopter Brothers Don Invested With in Costa Rica?
This was translated from Spanish to English using Google Translate so it’s a little hard to read.
The San José Trial Court ordered the payment of $ 20.2 million in favor of dozens of victims of Osvaldo Villalobos Camacho, recently sentenced to 18 years in prison for aggravated fraud and illegal financial intermediation. Villalobos attracted - according to the ruling - dozens of foreign investors, whom he offered to pay high interest rates in exchange for their money. They lost their funds after the sentenced today and his brother, Luis Enrique Villalobos (a fugitive from justice), closed the firms Ofinter and The Brothers after the intervention of the Prosecutor's Office, in July 2002. This caused dozens of people material and moral damage, the Court estimated.
According to Ewald Acuña, legal representative of a group of investors, the money frozen in the Villalobos' accounts, as well as property and assets of their companies, are enough to answer for the economic damage. However, we must wait for the ruling to be final. Corporate lawsuit. Those affected not only sued Villalobos, but also a group of public limited companies and companies related to him. These include Casa de Cambio Bulevar, Corporación Platino, Inmobiliaria Platino, Inversiones Hass, Framagra, Casa de Cambio Ofinter, Tourism Support Services, West Pack Marketing, Dorado Internacional and Compañía Mercantil El Desierto.
Of the reparations for the economic damage, those of Dana Webster and Patricia Fleming stand out, to whom Villalobos must return $ 2.5 million and $ 1.2 million, respectively. “The judgment showed that, under no circumstances, did the State of Costa Rica conspire to leave the people who were defrauded by Mr. Villalobos without money. “The court made public the existence of a group of people outside the process who engaged in interfering, obstructing, demanding and even threatening. I am referring to people who thought that the way to help the Villalobos was to harass, ”said Acuña.
Once the sentence is final, a civil process will be established. In bank accounts $ 12 million are frozen. The rest of the amount would be covered by goods that must be auctioned. Unconventional case. During the sentencing - on May 16 - the judges highlighted that the Villalobos brothers mobilized more than $ 400 million before being discovered. In his defense, Osvaldo Villalobos tried to separate his foreign exchange activities from those of his fugitive brother.
The judges were convinced that the firms were one and that they were dedicated to raising money. "We are facing an unconventional crime," said Judge Carlos Pérez. https://www.nacion.com/sucesos/tribunal-ordena-pago-de-202-millones-a-victimas-de-ofinter/4OJKVWRC6ZE43OMTOQFSXYOPFA/story/
Luis Enrique Villalobos Comacho and his brother were purported to me by Roger Petersen to be the head of the Costa Rican mafia. Who knows if that was true, but it’s obvious they were con men who made millions off people like Don Lewis who were out to get rich quick and who relied on the verbal recommendations of others without doing any real due diligence.
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.
Tribute to Tabitha Ocelot
Female Ocelot born in 1983. Arrived here 6/17/97
Her story is repeated all too often by greedy people looking to make a profit off an animal. She supplied kittens to the pet trade until she was 13 and quit producing. She was unceremoniously dumped at an auction where she was in the company of pigs and goats and people with even less attractive manners. She only brought $100.00 because of her age, but her new owner thought it was worth a shot to get just one more kitten out of her. A year later, when they had been unsuccessful they decided to sell her.
When we arrived, she was living in a small wire crate that would not enable her to get out of her own urine and feces. As a result of living this way for a year, the fur had been burned off her underbelly and the backside of her haunches were burned past the flesh, into the muscle. Untreated ear mites had caused her to scratch her own ears off trying to alleviate the itching. She was bony and listless and looked like she would die any day, but she wasn't going to die in those conditions, so our Co-Founder paid the $1700.00 demanded for her ransom and brought her home to live her last days on Easy Street.
That was in 1997 and now she is fully furred and has a huge cat-a-tat with an underground cave, logs, bushes and flowers and gets special treatment due to her advanced years and incurable heartworm condition. This photo was taken in December of 2000. We no longer buy animals to save them because we now have to turn away more than 300 unwanted exotic "pets" each year. Tabitha was found curled up in a ball where she had been warming in the sun on 2/2/04.
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.
Howie Makes My Coffee
I know Howie loves me. I know every morning when I wake up to the sound of coffee brewing that I am loved. I know when he stays up until midnight working on my books so that I can apply for grants. I know when he can’t sleep nights because he is worrying that some part of my life won’t be absolutely perfect, like the pitch on the tennis court, that he loves me, but he almost never says so. For Howie to say, “I love you.” it has to have just overwhelmed him to the point that he can’t tighten his lips enough to suppress the words. All because his father said them so meaninglessly to his mother. So when Howie says, “I love you so much!” as he did last night, then it is worth writing about.
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.
End Times Dream
(Photo is Jamie and Raindance circa 1997)
Something was bad wrong and had been that way for a long time. Only Jamie and I remained in the ruins of what was once Big Cat Rescue. The sounds of the expressway were silenced. No one drove any more. Gasoline reserves were exhausted and there was nowhere to go anyway. No businesses were in operation any more. People were starving. There wasn’t a single bird in the air, not a single rustle in the grass of a mouse or a snake or anything alive. Even the plants were parched and it seemed the whole world sat in stillness waiting for death.
I had waited too long. There were no vets anymore. There were no magical injections that could bring the peaceful escape into the next life for my cats. They were starving in their barren cells. I couldn’t turn them loose. There was no prey for them. People had eaten everything that moved and I had protected these cats day and night from those intent on eating them too. The place had been ransacked time and again, but I had been able to protect my precious friends, believing that things would change. Things had to change. Things had to get better. I had been wrong.
Now it was obvious that I couldn’t prolong their waiting, their starving, any longer. All I had left was an old .22 rifle that was taped together and a couple dozen bullets. Not even enough to kill every cat if I were able to make each shot count. I had to get face to face with the cats I loved most. I had to pull the trigger and hope they died instantly and if not, then I knew that I had to use one more precious bullet to end their suffering. I wanted to turn away. I didn’t want to have to be the one to do this, but everyone was gone. Every one but Jamie.
She was offering to help, but I couldn’t let her live the nightmare. I could feed some of the cats to her and keep her alive a little longer. Maybe something would change. If salvation came, I didn’t want her living with the nightmare of what I was having to do. I leveled the muzzle onto the back of Sugar’s neck and pulled the trigger. She lunged forward, staggered, turned to look at me and fell. She laid there bleeding from the tiny wound and an eternity seemed to pass. Could she feel the searing hot metal in her flesh or was she paralyzed against the pain? I couldn’t tell. Her breathing was heavy… laboured…I raised the gun once more and she quit breathing. She saved the bullet for her mate.
When I had to shoot Raindance I had shot several other cats already and had lovingly carried them into the now silent freezer. I didn’t cry. I couldn’t cry. I couldn’t let Jamie see what this was doing to me. I walked in with Raindance because she was smaller and it would be too easy for me to miss. As she stood up on her bench plaintive crying in my face, I aimed for the back of her throat and shuddered back the trigger. The bullet passed through the back of her neck, rather than her brain as I intended. At first I thought that she wasn’t going to die. She kept trying to talk to me, but blood gurgled up from the gaping wound, drowning out her last questions about why this had happened. How different her world looked from inside a cage. How could she understand that I had done all that I could and failed? I carried her, still gurgling blood to the freezer.
I couldn’t stand this. It was more than I could take. Would I save a bullet for Jamie? How would I ever be able to do that? I suppose the thought of that was just more than I could take and I woke up.
This had been one of those dreams that seemed so real. Every detail could be heard, seen, felt, smelled and although it seemed like a world gone mad, it seemed perfectly real. I laid there in bed crying for a long time because in a very real sense this is what I face every day. I had to turn away 300 cats last year. I took in six and found homes for 4 more, but I know that when I say no, a cat is going to die, or live a life that is worse than death. I’ve got to find a way to end the insanity.
Later that day, I went out to talk to the black jaguar about why she isn’t getting any better. My father had suggested that maybe there was something the vet hadn’t picked up on that was causing her to be unable to respond to the cipro she should have been responding to. I went out to ask her if she knew.
I felt a piercing pain in the right side of my chest when I asked permission to share a body with her. Every breath hurt. She has had x-rays and no tumors were seen, so I can only guess that is from months (or years) of sneezing from the blood that drains from her infected sinuses. She said the food was vile, bordering on rotten and made her nauseous. I thought she was talking about the basement she had been abandoned in for a year, because she was also letting me feel the coldness, the darkness, the claustrophobia of being trapped and never knowing what was going to happen next.
All of it was out of her control and for an animal that is hardwired to be independent and courageous, this was an existence of incalculable misery. I pictured the food in that dungeon being maggot ridden and smelling almost too bad to eat until the pangs of starvation overruled her other senses. It could be the antibiotics in the food I give her, as they will make the food taste weird and make her nauseous and I explained to her what we were doing, why and that it will make her better. I said she should trust us. She laughed a cynic’s laugh. She’s not afraid to tell me exactly what is on her mind, I thought. I love that about her.
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.
Howie says the relationship with Carole has just been the best thing that has ever happened to me
(Photo is us with Howie’s high school science teacher Skip Degilio and his wife Barbara)
An excerpt from a letter that Howie wrote to an old friend named Vicky that he copied me on: “Life here is very, very good, but has changed a lot. The good is that the relationship with Carole has just been the best thing that has ever happened to me. All the stuff that was supposed to be so hard for someone who had been single for so long and never "done this" before has never arisen. We get along great, we work together well, etc. etc. The closest we have come to a "disagreement" is when one of us is insisting that the other NOT go so much out of their way to be considerate.
Also, I've been working full time on the sanctuary, and part time on the accounting side of Carole's real estate business, and probably working about as hard as I ever have but with a satisfaction that I have never known. The "cause" of saving these cats has really gotten into my bones. So my days of leisure and frequent visits etc. have temporarily disappeared until I can whittle down the "to do" list to a more manageable backlog.
Anyway, how about we try to plan some kind of visit, one direction or the other, in late February after I get through the current crunch of implementing new accounting and gift shop point of sale software that is way behind schedule and driving me nuts and the critical planned development hearing on 24th. Would it work for you to "pencil in" the weekend of 28th?”
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.
Jamie and Daniel returned from a week in the cabin
They brought us a big iron hanging of a romantic looking woman. As soon as Howie walked away, Jamie pulled me into a corner and shyly held out her left hand. On her ring finger was perched a tiny but oh-so-typically-understated-Jamie engagement ring.
I was in shock and didn’t know quite what to say. She and Daniel Capiro have been together for 6 years but she had never wanted to get married. When I asked if they had set a date, Jamie said that they might go to New Zealand for a vacation to celebrate their commitment, but that they didn’t need formal contracts to keep them together. I thought Daniel answered with remarkable insight, “When you tell someone you want to be with her forever, it doesn’t matter when.”
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.
2004 New Year’s Resolutions 1. I am easily maintaining 140 pounds and look great! 2. I am proud to work out at the gym 3 days a week. 3. I am enjoying playing tennis on week days. 4. I feel rewarded by blading or swimming on week days. 5. I have established Big Cat Rescue as self sufficient. 6. I have the best and brightest talent on our board. 7. I look for opportunities to promote Big Cat Rescue’s mission. 8. I am happy and fulfilled and feel like the luckiest person in the world! 9. I meditate daily, envisioning a better and brighter future every day. 10. I visit my grandmother and children at least once a month in a social setting. 11. I am spending quality time with my partner, parents and child each day. 12. I love unconditionally. 13. I do whatever it takes to make Howie happy. 14. I pray with thankfulness in my heart. Howie and I spent New Year’s Eve Quietly at Home We watched a movie at home and found ourselves making love at midnight, even though both of us had said we didn’t want to be up late. This has been the best year of my life!!! I was in my office and Howie came in to hug me. He is very affectionate that way, but rarely says, “I love you.” because his father said it all the time to his mother and obviously didn’t know what it meant. Much to my surprise, and maybe for the 5th time in a year, he was just so overwhelmed that he couldn’t keep from saying, “I love you so much! This is going to be an even better year than last!” It made me cry for joy.
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.
2003 Annual Report
If your charity doesn’t make this information accessible on line, perhaps you should ask why. We are proud of the way we have utilized your donations and think you should know how your money has been spent. The following figures reflect the fiscal and calendar year 2003.
Income
Gifts and Contributions cash: 688,571.
Inventory Sold: 33,942.
Rental Income donated property: 21,298.
Interest & mortgages pledged 29,770.
Events income: 22,908.
Non cash donation of time shares 9,000.
Total income for the year 2003: $796,489.
Expenses
Animal Care and Education: 172,153.
Advertising: 33,948.
Administrative: 12,028.
Salaries: 47,579.
Professional fees: 7,057.
Depreciation: 149,281.
Other: 418.
Total Expense for the year 2003: $402,114.
• Excess for 2003 $ 337,323.00
• Net Assets at the beginning of 2003 $ 896,945.
• Net Assets at the ending of 2003 $ 1,142,039.
While this accounting appears to show a gain, it does not take into consideration money spent on capital improvements. Our complete 990 is available online at Guidestar.org under Big Cat Rescue.
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.
Babylon Re-enters My Life After Thousands of Years
I don’t know the day Babylon turned up in my life for certain, but it was sometime in 2003 -2004. (This photo was more like 2017) We were remodeling the old gift shop by taking the remaining offices and turning them into display space. That meant Babylon couldn’t stay in the office any longer. I didn’t have any office space that wasn’t in the middle of all that chaos, so he needed to find a new home. He made that home with Howie and I on the island. He was about 8 months old when he came into our lives. He had been left at the front gate in a carrier with a baby brush and a note saying his name was Boots. He was dying from crystals blocking his urethra and staff had taken him to the vet for emergency care. He was so near death that he was allowing our keepers to give him IV fluids as he laid motionless on the desk.
He got his name because the first time I saw him I exclaimed, out loud, "I haven't seen you since Babylon!" Everyone in the room turned to look at me, wondering what the hell that outburst was about. I didn’t care. I was just so happy to see my precious soul mate all these eons later. He was laying on the corner of a desk, with an IV hanging from above giving him fluids. We had locked eyes the minute I walked in and in addition to not knowing what I was babbling on about, the people in the room noticed their patient seemed to have emerged from death’s door to raise his head.
I’ve had this print, of a big cat leaning into the blonde since the 90s and it is exactly the way Babylon would always sit with me . Note the cat’s paws wrapped around her hand. Babylon would lean deep into me as if to become one with me. He would often reach up and stroke my face, gently with his polydactyl paws. He did the same with Howie, but no one else.
History: Babylon had its last moment of fame under Nebuchadnezzar II. rule (605 – 562 BC), who aimed to force Egypt out of Palestina and Syria. He broke into Judah several times, seized Jerusalem and dragged local people off. But Nebuchadnezzar II had only weak successors and the empire declined gradually after his death, till Persian Cyrus conquered Babylon without fighting.
Babylonia was only a run-down province of Persia in half of the 4th century BC. When Alexander the Great defeated the Persians and came into the city in 331 BC, he was welcomed as a liberator. Alexander the Great died there on June 13th, 323 BC.
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.
At 08:05 AM 12/5/2003 -0500, I wrote:
Dear Howie: I don t know what I was thinking. I am so accustomed to people asking me what to do and telling them that when you come to me with stuff about Costa Rica I just automatically launch into that mode.
Everything that has happened in Costa Rica since I met you has been the result of your work. I had emotionally written off the investment there a long time ago. I trust your judgment and there is no need for me to be involved in the decisions. If it helps to say things out loud just for you to get a better grasp on them, but don t forget to remind me that I am just a sounding board and it s not necessary for me to call the shots. Thank you for ALL that you do. You are my life s greatest blessing. - Carole
Howie wrote: It really helps to discuss it. When I get to a point where my gut is telling me strongly what to do, which I only did after our discussion, I generally feel pretty confident. But when I don't get that feeling, it particularly helps to discuss, and if I still cannot reach that feeling, to go with someone else's judgment. I think you and I have evolved a very good process for discussing and making decisions. You are so easy to discuss and work with. I think we make a good team in so many ways, albeit somewhat of an "odd couple" in terms of traits and backgrounds. :-) - Howie
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.
Mom Says I Picked a Wonderful Man to Marry
My mother called when she got in from N.C. yesterday and asked if I was still engaged. (3 whole days later) and this was Howie’s emailed response to her:
“Regarding your question "are you still engaged", I need to ask "are you still married?". If you are now available, I can still call this off!”
At 02:25 PM 11/5/2003 -0500, BarJean Stairs wrote:
I called and had your card activated. You may remove the sticker and sign the back. Congratulations on your engagement. You certainly picked a wonderful person! But I'm not prejudiced. I can't think of a better suited person for our daughter. You have a lot in common but yet are very different at the same time - a good complement to each other. Love, BarJean
Howie’s letter to former Governor candidate Bill McBride
Bill, thanks for you note. So glad to hear you are back in the saddle! You asked about Big Cat Rescue. It is part of some pretty dramatic changes in my life since we last talked. Nov. 1 last year I met a wonderful lady. Her name is Carole Lewis and she is the founder of what has been known as WildLife On Easy Street. It is a 42 acre non-profit big cat sanctuary across from Citrus Park Mall. It houses 170 big cats (as in tigers, lions, bobcats, leopards, cougars etc.) that have either been abused, abandoned, retired from performing acts, or saved from being turned into fur coats.
Carole and I started dating and I became totally captivated by both her and by this cause. This past weekend, on the first anniversary of our meeting, Carole and I became engaged. This is a first for me at this advanced age, so even more exciting than it might otherwise have been.
Meantime, my days of relaxed, leisurely semi-retirement have ended big time. I'm now serving as Chairman of the Advisory Board for the sanctuary and working as hard as I ever have. The care of the cats at the sanctuary is absolutely first rate, but there are many aspects of the business end of this that need a lot of work to insure the long term survival. It is turning into a demanding but very fun challenge. One small step is that we are changing the name of the sanctuary to Big Cat Rescue to get better awareness. The website is www.BigCatRescue.org if you care to peek.
I'd love to give you a private tour of the place if you have any interest. It is a totally different experience from a zoo or amusement park. Here you literally get to stand three feet from an 800 pound tiger. Maybe we could do that one day and grab lunch and catch up? Or, for years I have heard the Koenig’s speak so fondly and highly of Alex (Sink), but have never met her. Is this something she might enjoy? If so, what I have done with a number of friends is do a late afternoon tour, like 4:30-6:00, and then grab dinner at Caffe Amaretto. I'd love to have you meet Carole, and if Alex would like to see the sanctuary would very much enjoy meeting her.
Anyway, that's pretty much the news at my end. Below is picture of Carole from our recent annual fund raiser dinner and auction. The attire was rather whimsical, part formal and part safari, hence the shorts. Again, really glad to hear your recovery went well. Look forward to catching up with you whenever you can. - Howie
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.
Howie and I are engaged to be married next Nov. 1. and I am the happiest woman in the world.
He is such a romantic! On May 19 when he went to play golf in Philadelphia, his brother, a jeweler flew down from Raleigh to meet him and educate him about diamonds. He’s known all this time and managed to not only keep a secret, but to fool me entirely. I knew he loved me but figured it would be ten years before he would be able to commit to it.
We met Nov. 1, 2002 at the reception for Ed Sayers at the Florida Aquarium and the reason we got to know each other so well is that we both got there at 5:00 and no one else did until 5:30. To celebrate our anniversary, Howie suggested that we go to Anna Maria Island for the weekend. On Friday night, Halloween, we had gone to a lovely little restaurant called Euphemia Haye and had an intimate, candle lit dinner by the sea.
Saturday, Nov. 1 we met with Phil who was letting us borrow his brother’s house at 116 Maple (just a couple of houses off the beach) and he introduced us to Joe and Patsy who have purple clothes donation boxes all over the place so that we can put our signs out all over town and raise awareness for the cats. Later we had a pic-nic on the beach, read and tanned ourselves and played in the gulf. Back at the cottage, at 5:00 which is when we decided would actually have been a complete year, he hugged me with so much joy that it felt different than any hug before. He is so good to me.
Howie had suggested that we take a bottle of Champaign out to the beach around six to watch the sun go down. As the sun was sinking quickly to the horizon he handed me a big box and asked if I wanted to open my gift. It was wrapped in beautiful, delicate white on white wrapping paper and as I tore away the paper the box said Neiman Marcus. I commented on what an extravagant gift that must be and Howie said, “Nothing but the best for you.”
I was not prepared for what came next. As I lifted the lid and peeled back the tissue paper, I saw, carefully mounted in place, a smaller black box that was open and holding a magnificent engagement ring. In big script above it was a placard that said, “Will you marry me?” and underneath it read, “Hint: The correct answer is Yes”.
As the reality of the moment enveloped me I burst into tears and buried my face into his chest. I tried to say, “Yes, in this lifetime and in all nine”, (thinking of the birthday cards we had bought each other that we identical) but was sobbing too heavily to be understood. Finally Howie asked if this meant, “yes” and I wrote in the sand: Yes!!!
He has made me the happiest woman in the world and I want to make him feel like king. He is so good to me!
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.
Carole Asks Howie to Take a Formal Role at the Sanctuary Carole writes Howie At 03:53 PM 9/3/2003 -0400: This is another very good reason to have you take a more formal position within the sanctuary. You are the one who speaks with such eloquence, who thinks with such clarity and who is so accomplished at conveying the thought through your written word. I can't keep taking credit for all that YOU are doing to help us reach a higher level of professionalism. I need your help, desperately, but I don't need the glory... and frankly, can't live up to the expectation that cultivated by your endeavors. I know this is a rocky time, but when you are dealing with animal people there is never a good time for change. Give it some thought. - Carole Lewis, Founder Howie wrote: The time is not right. If I were to do that now, I would be so overwhelmed I would be unable to do that many tasks that I see that I think I can help with in my current position as somewhat behind the scenes and meeting the outside world as an Advisory Board Member. It would be like putting someone in a role before they fulfilled their training and setting them up to fail. I am learning daily and feel I am accomplishing things. Since I apparently have a standing invitation (which I do appreciate), how about let me tell you when/if I think the time comes to take a more formal role. When that time comes, I think you will find my decision to be a good one. - Howie I am the luckiest woman in the world! Dear Howie, Not a moment goes by that I am not thinking about you and reveling in how wonderful you are. I enjoyed reconnecting with you last night in such a wonderfully intimate way. I treasure the feel of you still. You are such a help to me in so many ways! With each email update of your progress I feel strengthened and renewed and ever more able to take on the challenges ahead. You are one of a kind and I am the luckiest woman in the world to be sharing this time with you! - Carole 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.
We Eternally Come and Go From Each Other’s Lives Howie wrote: Coincidentally, as I was driving back from WOES earlier, I was thinking that if I were told today that I was dying, the happiness you have given me this past year, and the wonderful satisfaction I feel about the way you tell me I have done the same for your life, would allow me to leave with such a wonderful sense of peace and fulfillment. Not planning to exit anytime soon, but it was a wonderful feeling of calm and peace that accompanied this thought. At 11:30 AM 8/26/2003 -0400, Carole wrote Howie: Dear Howie, You write the best letters!!! I forwarded it to Jamie and suggested she modify it into a form letter to use when soliciting. Thank you for all that you do. A man wrote to me about his cat dying this morning and I suggested that I believe we are all eternal and come and go from each others lives to fulfill our purpose. It made me think more deeply about how precious this time with you is for me. I am so grateful for your love. - Carole Nicholas Cage in City of Angels Thank you Howie for putting so much time, effort and thought into this letter! I could never have made the case for us that you did. I am so proud of what we have become and feel so encouraged about what we can do. Thank you for expressing it in such a positive manner. With your assistance I know we can achieve accreditation this time around. I was thinking about how you remind me of Nicholas Cage in City of Angels. You have brought such bliss to my life. You are such a beautiful person and such a blessing to me. You make me so happy and give me the strength I need to keep trying. You could not have come along at a better time. Thank you for being all that you are! - Carole 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
It Feels So Good to Experience Such Tranquility Dear Howie, I awoke this morning feeling so blessed to have such a wonderful man in my life. You make every morning that much more inviting to awake to and have brought such peace to my sleep and dreams. It feels so good to experience such tranquility. I owe it all to you. We Change Our Name to Big Cat Rescue On the day that marked the sixth year after Don’s disappearance we officially changed the name of the sanctuary from Wildlife on Easy Street (WOES) to Big Cat Rescue. The timing was coincidental and I didn’t even realize it until now, when I was updating emails in this diary and realized I’d never told the story of how we changed our name. I had posted an email by Howie earlier where he mentioned The Dutcher Group but here is the rest of the story. Jamie wanted us to put on a formal gala as a fundraiser for the sanctuary. In the course of helping us do that Howie, Jamie and I had met with Devin Dutcher, who at the time was dating an attorney friend of Howie’s named Russ Alba of the Black Swan Legal Group. She set up a pro bono meeting with her staff that included Susan Bass, Michael Schillig, Geoff and another woman or two that I’ve now forgotten. Howie starts by introducing us and saying we need some marketing advice and we’re from Wildlife on Easy Street. Devin says, “Wildlife on Easy Street? That’s unfortunate.” She says it gives the idea that we don’t need help; our cats are on Easy Street. As the team talks it through, they point out that it also doesn’t say what we do, since all we do is rescue exotic cats, not all kinds of wildlife. We came for gala marketing advice and ultimately left with a new name and logo. 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.
How long would you like me to talk about the Big Cat Public Safety Act? Do you prefer and Q & A format, or exactly what are you looking for in the presentation? Praising Howie’s Looks Since It Matters To Him Dear Howie, I cannot express the level of peace that you bring to my life in so many ways! As I was skating I was thinking about how good you looked as you left this morning. You have so many talents and keep them in such a wonderful "wrapper". I felt peace in knowing that you care and that you were headed out to help me do something that I could not do without you. I cannot thank you enough. I cannot thank God enough for allowing our paths to cross. 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.
If I Only Had One Hour to Live
Dear Howie, You asked me how I'd like to spend the last hour before leaving for work and the answer would have been the same if I had only one hour left on this earth. I cannot imagine anything more wonderful than being connected to you in such a loving and intimate embrace.
Howie said: I love you so much.
And I don't think I can find a way to say or have you understand what you have added and done to my life. Sometimes I still get a little nervous, feeling like I have been lifted by a space ship into a different world. But mostly, I am enjoying the excitement of this new world and slowly and steadily, as it becomes more familiar, I expect that ratio to continue to shift.
I tried to write more on this but it did not come out right and I need to leave for your Mom's. Mostly, I just want you to know that you did not have to worry that you might have made me uncomfortable last night when you said "I love you so much." In fact, it brought back to me the wonderful feeling I had when, in a similar moment of passion months ago, I said the same to you.
Dear Howie, Thank you for your kindness this morning. I really needed to hear that. I don’t spend a lot of time crying about the past. That’s wasted energy. My tears last night were largely due to fear of repeating the past. In my life, everything is always about me. It has always been that way and as much as I try to be aware of that tendency and change it, I am ever aware that my choices directly affect those that I love.
Some cases are easy to live with. I am okay with my parents working for me because I pay them better than anyone else ever did and they are getting to do what they want. I am okay with the Easy Street staff and volunteers following my vision because they were drawn to it by its alignment with their own needs. Same goes for the supporters because everyone needs something to believe in and I know that their support won’t be squandered.
Others are harder. The movie, Riding Around in Cars with Boys, could have been written by Jamie. That was her father. That was her life. Having never paid attention to her as a child, I did not see at the time, what that life must have felt like until watching it last night. I have always taken comfort in the fact that she has done so well, but to hear the young man say that he wasn’t “normal” because he couldn’t choose to live his own life if it meant not being there for his mother, struck a chord.
Jamie wanted to go to college. She wanted to join the marines. She wanted to trot around the world as a free lance photographer. I have always said that I would support her, and I would have, but I cannot help but believe that she has chosen to forego her own dreams because she cannot bring herself to “abandon” me, in the way that I have emotionally abandoned her all these years.
The only way I can see to rectify this is to make Easy Street so strong and self sufficient that she can feel free to walk away from it if that is what she chooses, with no feeling of a negative impact on me. I think her love for the animals and her ability to use her creative talents in the way she does are things that she won’t be able to find elsewhere, but I would like for her to feel free to find that out for herself, rather than working from a sense of obligation. These things will eventually happen.
Knowing how to stay present with you is the hardest. You are the most wonderful part of my life and I don’t want to blow it by falling into a too-well-established pattern of self centeredness. You are so supportive of me and my dreams, my needs, my desires… Even the way you make love with me is so giving and so selfless. I know that it is not because I am so deserving, but because that is just the way you are. I see you giving so much of yourself to everyone around you.
I don’t want to wake up one day and find that I was so caught up in what I wanted to accomplish that I had not been sensitive to what you need and want. You are so precious to me. I want so much to make you happy. Your letter this morning helped me to feel like I am not failing you, the way I did Jamie. The greatest thing you can do for me is to let me know what you need, and then to make sure I am aware enough to give it to you ;-). Your love has been the greatest gift I have ever known. Love, Carole
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.
House passed the Captive Animal Protection Act H.R. 1006
Dear Howie, I am listening to a CD called Tuesdays with Morrie. It is about a man who is dying from Lou Gehrig’s disease and his reflection on what was important in life. This morning I awoke thinking about what he said about family. He said the difference between family and friends is that even well meaning friends usually won’t be there for you when you can’t adjust your own pillow or wipe your own behind, but family is there for you without fail.
Family, he said, will never leave you. He was speaking of blood relatives, but he included his wife and the person narrating the CD who had been a former student. Family are those who have an unconditional love for you. It is the way I feel about you. (besides, I love stroking your behind)
Tuesday the House passed the Captive Animal Protection Act H.R. 1006 and Wednesday it went very well in the Senate for the bill S 269. Woo Hoo!
From Howie: Read the book - it is on the shelf. I'd wipe your behind too!
Written from the future (1/24/2021) Up until now in my diary I haven’t been writing about the progression of my efforts to end the abuse of big cats via the legislative process. I saw from the work we did to end pig gestation crates in Florida back in the 90s that legislation was the fastest way to end abuse of animals. In the late 90s a bill Tippi Hedren called The Shambala Act was introduced and it failed year after year until the 2002 introduction which was largely led by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and perhaps the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). That was when I got involved and started rallying our growing mail list from visitors to Wildlife on Easy Street to contact their members of Congress. The large organizations had amazing tools for connecting supporters their legislators, but I couldn’t afford those.
By 2002 I had figured out html code for our website which was originally created in FrontPage and later converted to DreamWeaver. I would study the underlying code in how the big organizations’ online forms worked and then recreated them, to the best of my ability, to function the same way. Not having the underlying engine, I had to insert connections to lawmakers manually, but it was easy for my supporters to take action and I felt it was worth the time and effort on my part to make sure they were heard. The new version of the Shambala Act, this time called the Captive Wildlife Safety Act to distance the bill from Tippi’s version, was re introduced in 2002 and I was all in! Tippi didn’t want the circus exempted, and neither did anyone else, but Kenneth Feld was too politically connected for that version to ever pass back then.
The Captive Wildlife Safety Act passed unanimously in a Republican controlled Congress and under a Republican President and it made it illegal to sell a big cat, across state lines, as a pet. It became law in December of 2003. Ever since then my primary mission has been to close the loopholes in that law to end the cub handling and to phase out private possession of big cats.
House passed the Captive Animal Protection Act H.R. 1006
Dear Howie, I am listening to a CD called Tuesdays with Morrie. It is about a man who is dying from Lou Gehrig’s disease and his reflection on what was important in life. This morning I awoke thinking about what he said about family. He said the difference between family and friends is that even well meaning friends usually won’t be there for you when you can’t adjust your own pillow or wipe your own behind, but family is there for you without fail.
Family, he said, will never leave you. He was speaking of blood relatives, but he included his wife and the person narrating the CD who had been a former student. Family are those who have an unconditional love for you. It is the way I feel about you. (besides, I love stroking your behind)
Tuesday the House passed the Captive Animal Protection Act H.R. 1006 and Wednesday it went very well in the Senate for the bill S 269. Woo Hoo!
From Howie: Read the book - it is on the shelf. I'd wipe your behind too!
Written from the future (1/24/2021) Up until now in my diary I haven’t been writing about the progression of my efforts to end the abuse of big cats via the legislative process. I saw from the work we did to end pig gestation crates in Florida back in the 90s that legislation was the fastest way to end abuse of animals. In the late 90s a bill Tippi Hedren called The Shambala Act was introduced and it failed year after year until the 2002 introduction which was largely led by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and perhaps the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). That was when I got involved and started rallying our growing mail list from visitors to Wildlife on Easy Street to contact their members of Congress. The large organizations had amazing tools for connecting supporters their legislators, but I couldn’t afford those.
By 2002 I had figured out html code for our website which was originally created in FrontPage and later converted to DreamWeaver. I would study the underlying code in how the big organizations’ online forms worked and then recreated them, to the best of my ability, to function the same way. Not having the underlying engine, I had to insert connections to lawmakers manually, but it was easy for my supporters to take action and I felt it was worth the time and effort on my part to make sure they were heard. The new version of the Shambala Act, this time called the Captive Wildlife Safety Act to distance the bill from Tippi’s version, was re introduced in 2002 and I was all in! Tippi didn’t want the circus exempted, and neither did anyone else, but Kenneth Feld was too politically connected for that version to ever pass back then.
The Captive Wildlife Safety Act passed unanimously in a Republican controlled Congress and under a Republican President and it made it illegal to sell a big cat, across state lines, as a pet. It became law in December of 2003. Ever since then my primary mission has been to close the loopholes in that law to end the cub handling and to phase out private possession of big cats.
I Don't Know How To Love Him
Performed by Helen Reddy
I don't know how to love him
What to do, now to move him
I've been changed yes really changed
In these past few days when I see myself
I seem like someone else
I don't know how to take this
I don't see why he moves me
He's a man he's just a man
And I've had so many men before
In very many ways, he's just one more
Should I bring him down
Should I scream and shout
Should I speak of love let my feeling out
I never thought I'd come to this
What's it all about
Don't you think it's rather funny
I should be in this position
I'm the one who's always been
So calm, so cool, no lover's fool
Running every show, he scares me so
Yet, if he said he loved me
I'd be lost, I'd be frightened
I couldn't cope, just couldn't cope
I'd turn my head, I'd back away
I wouldn't want to know, he scares me so
I want him so, I love him so
Howie and I were talking in the car today about our early weeks. I told him how I would sit out front in my truck and make myself sick before going in to see him, because I was so nervous and didn’t want to blow it with him. He said it reminded him of this song and I told him I had thought so at the time and had written the words down, but it was lost in the computer crash, so I looked it up online today and sent it to him.
We took Jamie and Daniel to see Cats last night. I paid for their trip to Chicago to see Dave Matthew’s Band for her birthday and today we are shopping for a Mac for her to work with. I close on my refi of the island tomorrow. I am borrowing 182,350.00 15 years 5% and getting an additional 45,000.00 credit line. I don’t need the money, but couldn’t pass up these low interest rates.
I Don't Know How To Love Him
Performed by Helen Reddy
I don't know how to love him
What to do, now to move him
I've been changed yes really changed
In these past few days when I see myself
I seem like someone else
I don't know how to take this
I don't see why he moves me
He's a man he's just a man
And I've had so many men before
In very many ways, he's just one more
Should I bring him down
Should I scream and shout
Should I speak of love let my feeling out
I never thought I'd come to this
What's it all about
Don't you think it's rather funny
I should be in this position
I'm the one who's always been
So calm, so cool, no lover's fool
Running every show, he scares me so
Yet, if he said he loved me
I'd be lost, I'd be frightened
I couldn't cope, just couldn't cope
I'd turn my head, I'd back away
I wouldn't want to know, he scares me so
I want him so, I love him so
Howie and I were talking in the car today about our early weeks. I told him how I would sit out front in my truck and make myself sick before going in to see him, because I was so nervous and didn’t want to blow it with him. He said it reminded him of this song and I told him I had thought so at the time and had written the words down, but it was lost in the computer crash, so I looked it up online today and sent it to him.
We took Jamie and Daniel to see Cats last night. I paid for their trip to Chicago to see Dave Matthew’s Band for her birthday and today we are shopping for a Mac for her to work with. I close on my refi of the island tomorrow. I am borrowing 182,350.00 15 years 5% and getting an additional 45,000.00 credit line. I don’t need the money, but couldn’t pass up these low interest rates.
Pleasing Howie
Get thin and stay that way
Keep a positive attitude
Be attentive to his needs for love, touch (back rubs) and healing
Show appreciation for all he does for me and for my dreams
Be an asset to him in his web of friendships that make him feel needed and loved
Nurturing Jamie
Praise her accomplishments
Spend time with her
Listen to her non verbal communication and respond
Help her to grow and realise her full potential
Show appreciation for all she does for me and for my dreams
Causing family members to feel needed and cared about
Spend time with them
Applaude their efforts
Discover what they want from life and how I can help them get it
Show appreciation for all they do for me and for my dreams
Encouraging others to be their best
Get to know the volunteers better
Discover what they want from life and how I can help them get it
Show appreciation for all they do for me and for my dreams
Get to know our donors better, what they want and how I can help them get it
Reach out to people other than our volunteers with kindness
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.
Howie Asks Alan Lorber for Tax Advice Howie wrote: Alan Lorber (Howie’s elderly cousin) is very smart and very good at estate planning and tax matters, his specialty. His answer was more complex than my simple question. He would be happy to help if you would like to talk with him. What he does not know, he can readily find out. Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2003 18:54:30 -0400 (EDT). From: ALANL Subject: Re: - Life Insurance, Etc. To: hbaskin Hi Howie: Life insurance is subject to federal estate tax. But since it went to a wife, it qualifies for the marital deduction. Result: no tax. A more important question. Is Carole required to file a federal estate tax return? If her husband's estate exceeded a "certain amount", the answer is "yes" although there would not be a tax because of the marital deduction. The "certain amount" depends on the "gross" value of his estate for estate tax purposes and the particular year in which he died. I do not know if "the year he died" for federal estate tax purposes is the year in which he was declared dead, or the year he first disappeared. So E-mail me both years and also mail me a copy of the court order which determined he died. In determining the "gross" amount of her husband's estate for estate tax purposes, you must include, among other things, bank accounts, annuities, securities, real estate, IRA accounts, pension/profit plan funds, collections, and 1/2 of any property they owned with right of survivorship, such as a residence. I do not know if assets are valued at time or disappearance or at the time the court entered its order. - Alan Dear Howie, Thank you for inquiring about the necessity of a tax return on the estate. My CPA, who is a tax attorney, says that I don't have to pay tax on the estate, because it is calculated as of the day of death and since we had 5 and a 1/2 years to prepare for that, there was nothing left in "the estate" by the time Don was legally declared dead in December of 2002. He disappeared August 18, 1997. I am told that the IRS does not consider you dead until you are legally declared dead. There were a few million in assets still in the conservatorship, as of the end of last year, but those were all in trusts of which I was the beneficiary. The conservatorship froze those assets during the term of the past 5 years in the event Don should show back up and contest my rights. I had trust documents on each property, signed by Don, but our secretary and his kids were accusing me of having undue influence over Don since he couldn't read nor write. They hired a part time, hobbyist, document examiner who said, that the signatures "might not have been authentic." I hired two very large firms who said they definitely were Don's signature, plus I had the notary and the witnesses who all attested to the authenticity, so the only route the kids and Anne could take was to say that I unduly influenced Don to sign them. Had I lost that battle, then I would not have been able to be a co-conservator for the past 5 years and everything I had worked for would have been invested by the other co-conservator into safe things, like stocks, and in retrospect, what a loss that would have been. I consented to subjecting the estate to the co conservatorship and later was able to prove (what I believed to be) his incompetence and was awarded sole conservatorship. At the time of my consent there was over 2 million that was Don's, but I gave 1.2 to his kids and the conservatorship costs and fees and attorney fees ate up the other 1 million, plus. That left "the estate" owing me hundreds of thousands of dollars. We (the kids, the secretary and I) had all agreed to not include the insurance policy in the estate. Their attorney asked to set it up that way and mine said it didn't matter, so I agreed. We have each agreed to pay whatever our own portion of the tax is, if any. By exempting it from the estate, I don't know if there would be tax consequences on it now. My CPA tried to call me at the sanctuary, and I haven't gotten back to her yet. Hopefully tomorrow I will have a few minutes to call. - Carole 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
Howie at Pat’s House
Note from the future. When I met Howie in 2002 he was a 52 year old bachelor who had a lot of rich relationships with women. One of them had been a long standing relationship with Pat who had worked with him at Citibank. Pat had always wanted a child and had one via AI and Howie was Charlotte’s GodFather. There are a number of other women who had been close to his heart including Willow Hobein?, Susan Pearsall, a woman who’s name escapes me but is a horse enthusiast he meets for birthday lunches and Mary Hessler Key who was the person we had in common that resulted in our meeting. All of them feared my relationship with Howie would cost them theirs, but they all learned over the past 18 years that I am not the jealous type and that don’t do or say anything that would interfere with their friendship. Howie arrived with a dozen or more such female friends, but most of them couldn’t stand the idea of him being off the market, so they have dropped away over time. In this set of emails below, Howie is on one of his trips to stay with Pat and Charlotte in Boston.
Howie wrote Carole saying, Good Morning! Woke up thinking of you. Howie
Two minutes later I got his e-mail and sent this to Howie:
Of course, I came in here as soon as I got up to see if there was any word from you. I am so glad you had a nice surprise last night with the concert. I was just getting ready to look up the words to the Camelot tune you said you liked and to see if I could find somewhere on line to hear it. I just can't wait to be near you again. I hope you have a nice morning and a safe flight this evening.
If Ever I Would Leave You
If ever I would leave you
It wouldn't be in summer.
Seeing you in summer I never would go.
Your hair streaked with sun-light,
Your lips red as flame,
Your face with a lustre
that puts gold to shame!
But if I'd ever leave you,
It couldn't be in autumn.
How I'd leave in autumn I never will know.
I've seen how you sparkle
When fall nips the air.
I know you in autumn
And I must be there.
And could I leave you
running merrily through the snow?
Or on a wintry evening
when you catch the fire's glow?
If ever I would leave you,
How could it be in spring-time?
Knowing how in spring I'm bewitched by you so?
Oh, no! not in spring-time!
Summer, winter or fall!
No, never could I leave you at all!
Sometimes Howie breaks into this song in his show tunes voice.
6/18/03 Noon: Howie wrote: Checking email between Pat's "honey do" list of house projects. Craving you!
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.
Jamie About Loses It Over Stuff Breaking Down
Howie wrote: Just can't keep your hands out of my drawers, eh? You're amazing, thanks. I'd kind of like to see the DSL setup, but maybe take you up on offer to assist when I get back. On drawer, I do intend to install, but not sure exactly where til I get everything set in place, so it can go in closet for now. Not sure if I'll get back on line before Tuesday night. Am at public phone - none in rooms here.
Am I going to have to start putting you in a cage when I leave town? Any progress on YOUR list, industrious one? Really not sure what to say about your doing all this, except to thank you for the thought and effort. Enjoyed your card this morning. - Howie
Dear Howie, More than anything, I am just glad to hear that you are okay. Neither of us is accustomed to checking in with anyone, due largely to there not having been someone at home who gave a damn. By this morning I was checking all of the online newspapers to see if your plane had gone down. I kept telling myself that a dude ranch probably wasn't the connectivity capital of the world and wondered if I had called you when I was in Oregon and didn't have a land line. I don't know if it would have occurred to me that you would be concerned and considered that you may not think of it either. I am not a worrier by nature, so it took a couple of days for me to get fully freaked out.
I am getting a lot of stuff off my list, wise guy ;-) Most of it required business hours and will be done over the next 3 days. At night, all of the nesting keeps me occupied. Being surrounded by your cats and your things gives me comfort in the absence of your arms and your kisses.
Jamie and Daniel came over and we moved the workbench to your shed and carried some of my heavy stuff out to the shed to make more room in the house. She was crying hysterically when I came into Easy Street this morning because her workload is overwhelming and her computer wouldn't open any of her programs. Her phones all went down because of the rain. That happens every time it rains. The fax machine was beeping and wouldn't stop. Her cell phone wasn't holding a charge.
All Daniel could do was hold her, which got all three of us bawling, and in walked Anissa to use the copier, which jammed. I thought Jamie would just have a nervous breakdown. Even Anissa got all teary eyed. It was a bad morning. I am off to the gym. Hopefully her morning bears NO resemblance to yours.
I signed the releases today and should have $653,154.81 by late today or tomorrow. I am going to offer to pay Bob a profit and buy back the lots. I have had terrific responses on mine and with this money can complete the development of all or most of them. We are averaging a 30% return on them, so I am a happy cat.
If I don't hear from you again, that's fine. I know what a pain it is to deal with public phones and I don't want to distract from your time there. I was just happy to hear that you made it there okay. I would like for you to carry contact info in your wallet though for me to be contacted if you are ever unable to speak for yourself, or if you are found diving in dumpsters and forget where you live :-) Love, Carole
Reading You, Reading Me
I lift your books from off the shelves
Their yellowed pages lined in red
The writers’ thoughts that spoke to you
Revealed among the words you read
In reverie, sad as the rain
I try to read between the lines
To better know the soul within
The one, for whom, my spirit pines
What happenstance in life shaped you,
And made you who you are today?
What challenges you overcame?
What was the price you had to pay?
And would you think the price was fair
If you can’t see YOU through my eyes?
I’m awestruck by your qualities
That you don’t seem to realize
I wonder if these traits were learned
From written words upon the page
Or from the people that you’ve known
Or from some ancient spirit sage?
For all mankind has access to
The best that authors had to share
And yet in all the things you do
There’s not a man who can compare
You read me like an open book
You brought me pleasure, eased my pain
I’d give the world for one last chance
To have you in my arms again…
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.
Making Room For All of Howie’s Stuff
Dear Howie, I want you to enjoy yourself and not worry about a load of work sitting here waiting for you. I got your shed organized and it looks great. I separated household, tools, toys, and sports.
I also got the house furniture all rearranged so that the pool table can be used inside and the couch and recliners make a little pit group. I set all the books out, by topic, on the completed bookcases and all of the crystal, china and table settings are in the china cabinet. I built a little shelf so that all the Pfatlzgraf (sp?) fits below nicely.
Gotta go to the volunteer meeting. I hope you are having a wonderful time. I woke thinking about you. Love, Carole
Note: It wasn’t too hard because I am a minimalist. The house is Mexican tile that I laid myself throughout. The big room that Howie was making into his office had been completely empty except for a hammock and a mural on the wall of a sandy beach at sunset. I’d been toying with the idea of filling the room with sand to complete the effect, but he won’t be able to roll around on a chair in the sand.
The bedroom had my bed, an intricately carved table that looks like a palm tree, two carved wood, lion handled, embroidered chairs, a hanging swing, and some hanging candles. Peter had built a wrap around command center in my little office, and I had two rolling chairs in there. That’s all the furniture I owned.
Howie Sends Out a Change of Address
Howie said: Sent out my address change today and of course got lot of responses. Thought you might particularly get a chuckle from this one.
From: Howard Baskin Subject: change in my home address and phone
Please note the new contact info below as a result of my recent home move: Street Address:
EMAIL: still works. The new house does not have RoadRunner service, so if you are using please change it to the bigfoot address. The RoadRunner address will be turned off very soon. Cell Phone: No change - Still Thanks! Best regards, Howard Baskin
At 12:50 PM 6/11/03 -0400, Stan Padgett wrote:
Howard, Congrats on the move. I haven't hit a golf ball this year, but am going to play this weekend. Give me a call for lunch soon. stan
From: Howard Baskin To: Stan Padgett
Things are great. Moving in with lady I expect to spend my life with. (knock on wood?). Moving and traveling next week or so, but would love to catch up with you after. Stay in the short grass!
From: Stan Padgett
Howard, Congratulations again! I want to meet the lady who can tie you down. I counted you as the "Last of the Mohicans." In the immortal words of a pop icon, "another one bites the dust." See you soon. Stan
And another:
Howie: Many thanks for your new address co-ordinates. I hope all is well. Plese remember, you have an open invitation to come visit - with temperatures still in the high 60's low 70's it still seems like winter.! Regards Iain
From: "Howard Baskin" To: "Ian Macdonald"
Things are great. Moving in with a lady I expect to spend my life with. Quite an adventure. Maybe we'll make it north some time – would love to have you meet her.
Howie:
Congratulations - strong words from someone who through word, action and deed has always appeared to embrace independence! I really look forward to meeting your lady friend. Why don't you just book a time and we will go up to our cottage in beautiful Muskoka. Seriously, please think about sometime in early August. Kindest regards, Iain
From: Marty Schaffel To: Howard Baskin
If it weren't for the violence in the Middle East, this would have made the headlines. Marty
Dear Howie, I did get a chuckle out of the response. More than that, I was deeply touched by your affirmation that you intend to spend the rest of your life with me. Every day I will do my best to see to it that you never regret that choice.
Geoff has been trying to pin me down at the gym until today I have been able to see him coming and avoid him. I saw him actually chase my truck across the parking lot one day, but I pretended not to see him in my rear view mirror and left him panting in the parking lot. He's already had one heart attack and that time I was afraid I was going to cause the big one. Today I was hanging in a rack when he came up from behind and there was no avoiding a conversation with him this time.
He asked if I was over you yet and I told him that, on the contrary, I had asked you to marry me and that the moving truck was coming tomorrow with the rest of your furniture. He asked what you could give me that he couldn't and I told him "a mate with integrity." I don't think he will be chasing me down for conversation (or anything else) anymore. Despite the content, it wasn't an angry conversation, but hopefully it closed that chapter for good.
I am so in awe of you. I read, "Wisdom is knowing which path to take next... Integrity is taking it." I thought of you. Every day I learn more about who you are on the inside and I find that person more and more beautiful. I am so thankful to have this time with you! Love, Carole
Howie wrote:
This moving in is not a casual thing. I would not be doing this if I did not expect it to be permanent. And now that I see what moving is like, it better be! :-)
Sorry you had to deal with Geoff. His question was a foolish one that could not have had an answer he would have liked. Sounds like you handled it very well, as usual. I guess if I'm going to work out at Bally I better practice my karate. :-)
Today the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted to prohibit Trap, Neuter and Release of feral cats and to eradicate feral cats by killing them.
Dear Howie, I spent the afternoon finishing the editing of the emails you so kindly kept and copied me with. I needed the distraction of your precious words and thoughts to ease the blow of today's events. It's like the first time you realise that life isn't fair or that the good guys don't always win, when your confidence in the "system" is shattered. I wonder how many times you can lose that innocence before becoming cynical? As tragic as this is, I know that life is unfolding as it should.
Afterward, everyone was crying. I had to drive and couldn't afford myself the luxury of breaking down, so I kept focused on you. Everyone kept saying that they wished they were as strong as I am, and as stoic, but I couldn't tell them why I was able to deal with the disappointment. I couldn't tell them that I lean on you for that strength. I couldn't tell them that I would have the comfort of your arms tonight, because they don't have that. 11 of us went to lunch afterward to commiserate. Linda and Frank had each other, but the other 8 women at the table are all aging women who have no mate to comfort them.
This whole issue was a gender based argument, because typically women don't hunt nor delight in shooting defenseless animals. Of course that lead to a lot of discussion about how these women had chosen their mission of protecting feral cats over having relationships with men who didn't care. The last half hour was Pamela who is 54 and who had way too much wine at lunch. She said she had never been able to find a man that was capable of washing his own underwear, much less understanding of how she could spend hours cleaning litter boxes. She said how much she hates being lonely and never having anyone who was there for her, but that she had chosen that over being with a man who had no comprehension of the value of life other than his own. As you saw, she is an attractive woman with a Masters degree, a good job and a kind and nurturing heart, and yet she has never found a person who would be compliment to her life. That is sad. That could have been me.
She said that she was glad to see that there was a man in my house and hoped that you would be supportive of my efforts. Because she asked, I told her that you are my rock, but I would like to have been able to tell her just how wonderful you are. I can't tell them, without making them more miserable, but I can tell you. You are all I ever needed. All I ever wanted. I thank God for you! Love, Carole
Howie replied:
Thanks Carole. I hope you understand that you have brought a peace and purpose to my life that, for me, is every bit as meaningful as the things that I am so glad that I can bring to your life.
(Note from the future. I am pretty sure this was after the FWC meeting where Vernon Yates attacked me and ended up in a fist fight with Lance Ramos, who had jumped in to protect me and Barbara Frank. Vernon Yates had ran up behind me and raised his arm to strike me from behind when Barbara saw it and stepped in between us. His blow landed on tiny little Barbara and Lance Ramos was having none of that. Lance had no affinity for me or my volunteers, but he wasn’t going to let that brute attack a woman and the two of them rolled on the lawn in a fist fight. Lance yelled at us to run, which we did. Lance was all muscle so we had no worries about who was going to win that match.)
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.
Howie Promises to Never Lie to Me
Driving to Chuck’s house for his surprise 36th birthday party, I was talking about Don’s indiscretions that I learned about after his disappearance. I told Howie that I could accept his wandering, because some men are just wired that way, but that I hated being lied to. I know that Howie would not lie to me, but didn’t know if not telling me if I didn’t ask, would be his way of being kind, so I told him that he was free to do whatever he wanted, but that I would ask him to let me know. As much as I hate the idea of sharing him with another woman, I meant it.
He said that is nothing I would ever have to worry about. He said that there was no woman in the world that he ever wanted to be with, but me. He said that even though he has never been in a situation where he was expected to be committed that he has never been that way and couldn’t imagine why men do. He reasoned that some men may just have some overwhelming need for variety, but that he didn’t. Tears came to my eyes as I thanked him for being the wonderful man that he is. I am so happy and so fortunate!
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.
Dear Denny and Susan
Thanks again for a lovely and uplifting evening. So many things are moving in the right direction for WildLife on Easy Street and I am so happy to have the two of you helping to make it happen.
As I have mentioned several times, I had hired the International Commerce Corporation to help us set up a business plan and to initiate an action plan. We have been interviewing key people in Tampa to set up an advisory board that will help us reach our fullest potential. By coincidence (nothing happens by coincidence, in my book) I met Howie at a reception dinner for the kickoff of the No More Homeless Pets campaign back in November. Being incredibly humble, he didn't tell me about his credentials and it has only been through others that I learned the man I love has a law degree and his Masters in Business from Harvard and was Citibank's Director of Strategic Planning for it's 11 billion dollar real estate division for 11 years.
He retired early and just takes on clients occasionally to keep himself busy. He hires out as a business consultant for 150.00 per hour and I knew I couldn't afford him so I was writing out a business proposal asking him to help WildLife on Easy Street, that ended in my asking him to marry me. He's never been married, thus all of his questions about your meeting and marriage. He's given me a definite maybe :-)
Meanwhile, he will be going through the volunteer program at Easy Street so that he can learn every aspect of what is working and what needs improvement. He has agreed to donate his time. I wanted him to meet you two because you are such valuable assets to WildLife on Easy Street and he was certainly impressed with your passion for the mission.
5/23/03 Howie wrote Denny and Susan Mitchell:
I THOROUGHLY enjoyed the dinner. Carole has mentioned you both dozens of times and it was great to start to get acquainted. And the story of how you two met was wonderful. I've never been married, but have been a very interested observer of relationships over the years. As my relationship with Carole has now developed into my now living with her, something I have never done before and am finding wonderfully exciting but with moments of apprehension given it is the first time at my "advanced" age, I am more interested than ever and have been more actively surveying successful couples. Your story was one of the best!
Re golf, I could play Wed, Thurs or Fri next week, 28-30. Carole and I are planning a trip the following week Tues-Sat. The week after that I could do Tues, Thurs or Fri, 10/12/13. The one caveat is that playing is always subject to back not being "out", but recently it has been pretty good. Happy to play any of the courses you mentioned. Or, it might be fun to try that Heritage place that Susan mentioned, which I have never played at. But, totally up to you. Thanks. Am looking forward to the lesson!!!!!!!!
At 08:35 AM 5/23/03 -0400, Denny wrote:
Good morning Howard: We really enjoyed our time together last night. Sorry we ran off at the mouth. We just don't get a chance to talk with Carole very often and we wanted to share many questions and comments we have developed over the last year. We think what she does is just fabulous and we want to make sure we are on the same page with her.
Now to the serious stuff: Mondays are usually bad for me since I do the 3pm tour at WOES. Other than that, I should be able to get out most mornings. I am booked on June 5 and 6, but otherwise my schedule is flexible. Let me know where and when works best for you. My day job's email is
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.
Howie wrote: Thanks for the fun and touching cards.
Played the famous Merion East course today. My golf was nothing to brag about, highest score in a while at 108, but this is a severely hard course and I hit enough good shots to make the day satisfying, including one birdie (one under par, i.e. really really good hole.) Tomorrow we play the West course, which is supposed to be easier. See you manyana!
Carole wrote: Hello Sweetheart!
I hope you had a glorious day. I just got in from dinner with Carol Childs from National Humane. She is a trip! She gave us an anesthesia machine that is working, but not as small as she would like for her purposes. I took it by Easy Street and dropped off some paperwork while I was there.
Today was extremely productive. I did a lot of things that I have been putting off in hopes that I could recover the lost files from my hard drive. I had to reconstruct five cases and have them ready to go to Pasco County courthouse tomorrow. Electricians are coming to give a quote on installing the ceiling fans.
I miss you. I was smiling all the way home thinking of you and how wonderful you are to me. I just can't get over how good my life is with you! Love, Carole
Howie wrote: Glad you had such a good day! I had a lovely, rather erotic dream about you last night. I was so sorry to wake from it. Nothing kinky - a very romantic erotic. I miss you! It is drizzling this morning. But I'm quite sure neither of us will want to wimp out. Should be interesting. Prepare to meet a drowned rat tonight! Howie
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.
Howie went to Philadelphia to play golf with Askar
Dear Howie, I finished cutting and pasting all of the emails you sent me thus far into my reconstructed journal... and fell in love with you all over again. I am the happiest woman in the world!!! Love, Carole
Howie to Carole: Finally got to open your online card. Love it. You better be careful or you'll give me such a swelled head I'll be unbearable to be around! Miss you. Seems weird now to curl up without my hand in yours. Howie
At 09:37 PM 5/19/03 -0400, Carole wrote: Tonight I took Jamie and Daniel to paint pottery in Old Hyde Park. They both asked about you. Daniel asked if you were just being polite when you said he could help you with the shed floor. Jamie chimed in and said that you were the only person they had ever liked and it would make sense if you just hated them. I told her that you enjoyed them and wanted to get to know them better. To get a head start on that "knowing" they asked all kinds of questions down to what kind of instrument you play and if you play chess and if you like dogs. They were infinitely curious about you. I have never seen them this way. Carole
Howie to Carole: I'm very glad. I like dogs and play a little chess. Play the hand ocarina. Howie
Carole wrote back to Howie: I brought up Bob on the way into Amaretto's the other night to say that his call was of such a friendly, yet detached sort that I feel he has emotionally moved on and understands that I will never be there for him. That closure felt good to me and I had wanted to share that with you, but it occurred to me tonight that I got distracted and never finished the thought with you and may have left you wondering why I thought hearing from him was so great.
I will never forget how self-less you were with that entire situation. I have the utmost respect and adoration for you.
I would like to go to the AZA Annual Conference in Columbus, OH Sept. 7-11. Would you like to go with me? It is five days of mini courses that cover every aspect of running a zoo. There are usually quite a few simultaneous offerings, so that we can choose things that interest us. I would like WOES to become AZA accredited and part of it is being known with them and this is the best way to be seen. I always learn a lot at these. I had hoped to be up for consideration for accreditation by the time of this conference, but that would require an awful lot of work between now and then. Kick it around and let me know. I don't have to register until August, but can probably get cheaper airfares the more in advance I book. - Carole
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.
Howie’s letter to the ICC
Well, it's Sunday 10pm and burning out here on WOES property issues, so wanted to give you guys an update on that and also just toss some thoughts re the Board concept.
PROPERTY ISSUES: I have now spent a number of hours trying to sort through the property issues. What at first I thought was just a matter of creating a list and organizing it in a workable format turns out to be much more. As I ask Carole questions, I get into layers of detail and there is also a history of permit attempts and various contacts with the County to understand.
I'm traveling Mon-Wed and will not be able to do more on it until I return. But as I look through it, I'm inclined to suggest being careful about bringing anyone in for advice and particularly onto the property until we really have this sorted out. I know one person I think would be very good to talk to informally who does a huge amount of zoning and permitting work and who might be a good person to get some feedback from once we all have reviewed the details of it together.
BOARD THOTS: One by one I've been introducing Carole to friends and acquaintances of mine so they could meet her, and at the same time have tried to spread the word about WOES in hopes they would tell others. To do this, I've been inviting them to a late afternoon tour and dinner with us. Although my purpose has not been in the context of enlisting help or Board members, a couple situations have arisen. For instance, the girl friend of one of the people I invited happens to be the owner of a pretty good size ad agency (The Dutcher Group) and showed interest in helping. And last night, we did this with a fellow I know casually who used to be an environmental attorney and also, I did not realize, happens to be the immediately retired President of Easter Seals here locally. He showed great interest in helping.
A huge board is unwieldy and I think you made this point in your discussion or document. I have had one experience where, in a for profit situation, an early stage company put on the Board people who were not the most useful and it became VERY awkward later to invite them off the Board.
Am not at all arguing for any particular person to be on Board, and particularly not for either of the two mentioned above. They are just examples of people that have cropped up. And we still have the big issue that you articulated very well and I thought was a great point, i.e. that the level of person that would be appropriate for the Board will depend on what kind of support the organization could give, since higher level people need that support to be helpful, versus mid level who are more 'doers'. Just wondering if we should talk a little about what the process should be for making a decision to invite someone? One thing that occurs to me is that Carole feeling a personal rapport with them should at least be a factor. Therefore, having her meet them first might make sense as part of any process?. Anyway, would enjoy your thoughts.
Meantime, when I get back I intend to plug away diligently on this property issue list/summary and hope to at least have reasonable draft a few days after returning.
Tomorrow morning will be a bit hectic due to mid day plane, but if there any need to talk before I return, cell is . Otherwise, very available Thursday and Friday. Look forward to catching up with you, and to getting your thoughts on this property stuff once I get it better documented.
Thanks! Hope you both have a good week! - Howie
Carole’s note: I don’t remember what ICC stood for, but here’s the back story: Somewhere around November 22 I invited Howie to walk the sanctuary with me. I always take note of how the cats respond to people. Of course they were comfortable with him.
As we got out to the west end of the property, Howie tells it this way: “Carole stopped and was just staring toward the west and I saw tears well up in her eyes. I asked why and she said developers were threatening to cause trouble for her because they wanted her 42 acres so they were saying there was no zoning for what she has here and that if she didn’t sell, they’d make her move. Carole is one of the strongest people I know and yet this really had her scared.”
I didn’t know it at the time, but that’s when Howie decided to fix this for me. It began an interrogation of the history of the sanctuary, zoning laws and everyone he could find in that business to figure out a way to protect the sanctuary. One of my biggest fears was that Shere Khan and China Doll would be tossed out of their Eden because that 2 acre enclosure was in a cypress bay head which are protected from development. That ended up being the thing we were trying to get an expert opinion on before raising any more attention.
Howie found the Genesis Group, Kevin Mineer, Darrel Atkinson and others who became our champions in the very long process to go from an agricultural zoning to a Planned Development.
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.
What Women Want
The day after giving him a laptop for his 53rd birthday. Dell 5100 Inspiron weighs 7.22 pounds, has a 30 gig hard drive, 2.4 GHz, 14.1" XGA TFT Screen, 384 MB, 56K modem, 24X CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive, True Mobile wireless Broadband Router, Office XP, Extended 3 year warranty with free 24/7 tech support, USB200 Advanced port, Mini PCI, MS Money 2002, Jukebox, Office XP and a wireless mouse (because I just hate putting a mouse on a leash).
Dear Howie, I am the one with the ego problem. I have never been able to let others do things for me. I have to disassociate myself from the cats to ask for help there and have to keep telling myself that people are doing it for the animals and to fulfill their own need to do something noble. I know that what you do for the cats, you are doing for me and that your sense of leaving a mark is tied to what you do for people and not so much for the animals.
Knowing that has made me feel uncomfortable because as much as I need and want your help, I cannot let you do that for me, because of my own overdeveloped sense of pride. You have indicated that I can pay you at some time in the future, but meanwhile you have invested an inordinate amount of time and thought into helping me that I have felt powerless to repay. Perhaps I am not as observant as you, but I cannot think of anything that I can do for you to show how much I appreciate what you have already done for me.
I am not going to take ALL of the responsibility for this inequity ;-) You seem to have a very hard time assessing value to your ability. This has been my meager attempt to repay a debt that I consider to be far greater than the price of a computer. This thing wouldn't even cover 10 hours of your time and you have spent that much on helping me in less than 2 days. I don't even know what your shed cleaning rate is, but it's got to be more than sitting at a desk ;-)
I don't mean to diminish any of the feelings you have and I am especially sensitive to you feeling kept. This is probably what it at the core of freaking my family out whenever I am in a relationship. I change to accommodate the person because my sense of self has always been in reflecting those around me. Whatever is your desire in life becomes mine and gives me a sense of joy to be helping you have whatever it is that you want from life. You have told me that your desire is to make me happy and that caught me off balance, because I am still not certain how to help you help me, without me feeling that this is all about me, when it's my nature to want to make it all about you. The more I learn about the reasons I behave the way I do, the more capable I am of being myself, but that person is still a bit of a mystery to me.
I feel bad for you that I am so attached to this place, because I realize how strange that must feel to you to come here. It is made worse by the stigma caused by what others may say or think. The only saving grace is that when your friends see the place they can understand that it is about the uniqueness of the property and not the opulence of the home that makes the island the undeniable best choice of locations. It just can’t be duplicated. Frankly, your address is far more prestigious than Town N Country, which has reputation of being blue collar. Nonetheless, I do realize that you have had to make a considerable concession with your own pride, for a man who is so capable of taking care of himself, to agree to come here just to make me happy. I think that alone speaks volumes about your own inner strength.
I also appreciate the way you just come right out and say what is on your mind. You do it in such a polite way, that I often wonder if I caught all of what you were trying to say. Some of the things you have had to say were probably very hard, or uncomfortable for you, but you have had the wisdom to know when it needed saying and the courage to say it. I admire that. I apologize for tear-ing up on you, because that has to make things so much harder on you, but I cry easily (as you have undoubtedly figured out by now). Jews used to hire professional mourners, and I always thought I would have been in high demand. When Alan’s father died (a man I had met once) I was the most distraught person in the room. No one knew who I was and later it was told that they all assumed I was the mistress.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. Below are the details on the laptop so that you can think about what you want to do. With laplink it is so easy to synchronize computers that you might do well to keep this and buy an extremely small and portable one that you just synchronize before and after trips like a PDA. That way you still have the benefit of the CD burner for back ups, the larger keyboard and screen for home use and the portability of something ridiculously small for the road. Whatever you choose to do is fine with me.
WHAT WOMEN WANT!
Young King Arthur was ambushed and imprisoned by the monarch of a neighboring kingdom. The monarch could have killed him but was moved by Arthur's youth and ideals. So the monarch offered
him freedom, as long as he could answer a very difficult question.
Arthur would have a year to figure out the answer; if after a year, he still had no answer, he would be put to death.
The question: What do women really want?
Such a question would perplex even the most knowledgeable man, and to young Arthur, it seemed an impossible query. But since it was better than death, he accepted the monarch's proposition to have an answer by year's end.
He returned to his kingdom and began to poll everybody: the princess, the priests, the wise men, the court jester.
He spoke with everyone, but no one could give him a satisfactory answer. Many people advised him to consult the old witch, only she would know the answer.
The price would be high; the witch was famous throughout the kingdom for the exorbitant prices she charged.
The last day of the year arrived and Arthur had no alternative but to talk to the witch. She agreed to answer his question, but he'd have to accept her price first:
The old witch wanted to marry Gawain, the most noble of the Knights of the Round Table and Arthur's closest friend!
Young Arthur was horrified. She was hunchbacked and hideous, had only one tooth, smelled like sewage, made obscene noises, etc. He had never encountered such a repugnant creature.
He refused to force his friend to marry her and have to endure such a burden.
Gawain, upon learning of the proposal, spoke with Arthur.
He told him that nothing was too big a sacrifice compared to Arthur's life and the preservation of the Round Table. Hence, their wedding was proclaimed, and the witch answered Arthur's question thus:
What a woman really wants is to be in charge of her own life.
Everyone instantly knew that the witch had uttered a great truth and that Arthur's life would be spared.
And so it was. The neighboring monarch granted Arthur total freedom.
What a wedding Gawain and the witch had!
Arthur was torn between relief and anguish. Gawain was proper as always, gentle and courteous. The old witch put her worst manners on display, and generally made everyone very uncomfortable.
The honeymoon hour approached. Gawain, steeling himself for a horrific experience, entered the bedroom. But what a sight awaited him! The most beautiful woman he'd ever seen lay before him!
The astounded Gawain asked what had happened.
The beauty replied that since he had been so kind to her when she'd appeared as a witch, she would henceforth be her horrible, deformed self half the time, and the other half, she would be her beautiful maiden self.
Which would he want her to be during the day, and which during the night?
What a cruel question!
Gawain pondered his predicament. During the day, a beautiful woman to show off to his friends, but at night, in the privacy of his home, an old witch?
Or would he prefer having by day a hideous witch, but by night a beautiful woman with whom to enjoy many intimate moments?
What would you do?
What Gawain chose follows below, but don't read it until you've made your own choice.
Make YOUR choice BEFORE you read Gawain's answer!
Noble Gawain replied that he would let her choose for herself.
Upon hearing this, she announced that she would be beautiful all the time because he had respected her enough to let her be in charge of her own life.
What is the moral of this story?
The moral is: If your woman doesn't get her own way, things are going to get ugly
Howie writes to Carole 5/14/03 :
For all our joking about "nothing in common", we are alike in many of the most important ways. It should make it easier for us to continue to get to know each other (and ourselves as we see that reflection of ourselves in each other) and to hopefully understand each other.
I talked to Dell for a bit. Did not explain the situation, just inquired as if new purchase. I think the 600m is very good alternative. In addition to lower weight, it has longer battery life and the wireless is built into the centrino chip instead of added (although I have heard some conflict about if this is better). Want to spend a little time on the specs and options before making the switch. I will pay any differences.
Do you know what the process is? The guy I spoke to said they pay shipping on returns, but I did not ask about exchanging.. I wonder if it is simplest to send the other one back and order fresh vs. swap, but maybe they can handle latter. There are also a couple of discounts they say are based only an online order, so not sure if calling to switch affects that. Anyway, we can talk about it later.
Thanks VERY much for this spectacular gift and the wonderful thought and intent behind it! Howie
Carole writes to Howie 5/15/03 :
I found a home for Chester the Chausie Bengal Cat with Don Machen 907-7396 who lives in New Tampa and works for JP Morgan. He is 50, lives alone, has no other pets and loved it when Chester would bite him. They will be good for each other. Now Howie can bring Sydney and Crystal and put them on the back porch so that they are safe from Maya (my other Bengal cat).
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.
Howie Tells Me He Loves Me
This is an email to Alex Petrilak, Jen and ? at ICC and copying me. I had hired them with the last $20k I had after 9/11/2001 had caused the sanctuary funding to crash. I could feed the cats for a week, or I could hire someone to help me figure out how to save us. Obviously we had been working on the results from their SWOT session (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) for a while before I met Howie and their suggestions were that I move and hire a fundraiser (ie: them).
Hi, I had hoped to spend much more time than I have been able to getting familiar with the WOES situation, so am not where I would have liked to be, but suggested meeting tomorrow anyway rather than delay. I may send you some other stuff later today but wanted to get a few thoughts to you in time for you to have a chance to be thinking about them if you can.
The two things I'd like to see addressed tomorrow are the big issues of (1) the move and (2) the staffing.
The Move Decision: On the issue of moving, I mentioned to Jen when we had time after the last meeting that when the three of us had lunch, the list of reasons that Alex was able to articulate so well seemed pretty overwhelming, but when I talk with Carole two things happen. Some of the hurdles seem not as clear or compelling, and the negatives associated with a move appear to become quite overwhelming. Attached is a document in which Carole just tried to write out thoughts and list the issues related to moving. I had hoped to a little bit of organizing and clarifying before we met but am not likely to get to it. But I think as it is it serves the purpose of getting on paper where her head is at and giving us a list of points to go through, so am sending it to you in raw form with her permission.
The biggest concerns I have from what I have read and discussed are (a) whether there really is a financial scenario for moving that is feasible, i.e. is a move really possible even if it were the best decision and (b) the risk associated with tour volume, the main source of income if I understand correctly, dropping in a more remote location.
The Staffing: I think it would be helpful to hash through this a bit. Carole met last week with the existing staff in an effort to work them into roles more like those described in the draft. I sat in as an observer only. I think it would be very helpful to hear your thoughts on how Carole is to deal with the existing personnel, who do not necessarily fit in the proposed roles. I also wonder how one gets an experienced fund raiser and marketer, or even an inexperienced one, who is any good to work for a $15k base. May depend on how you envision bonus being structured, but I'd like to understand this better. Separate is the issue of how to fund an increase in payroll. I think there was conversation about doing this gradually. Not sure if the feeling is that adding one of these could generate incremental revenue that would pay for that person before another was added.
Self Sufficiency: The other thing on my mind is whether you found in your look at the "industry" that there were sanctuaries that are self sufficient and if so if there is anything that characterized those versus ones that are not or who have failed. Not sure if that came up. Forgive me if that is in plan - did read through weeks ago but have not gotten to fully reread.
I think if nothing else tomorrow we need to either reach a decision on the move, or identify exactly what we need to know that we do not currently know in order to make that decision. Carole raises some, maybe all, of these questions in her document. For instance, do we really know she could not build there, or can we work on the hurdles that stand in the way if we could make proper approaches to the right people? Or, under what circumstances, if any, could she actually be forced to leave or shut down against her will, or does she have the right to stay there as a sanctuary by virtue of being grand fathered in, or by other land use principles or law.
Anyway, looking forward to seeing you both tomorrow. I hope this is helpful. I know some of this may be territory that has been already tread on a lot in your work with Carole and I arrive late to the party. But to the extent that there is either not a consensus among the three of you or Carole seems unclear on the path, the issues remain open by definition, and they seem like critical threshold issues to resolve and one cannot write a document without reaching closure on them. I don't mean to be butting in or slowing you down, although I may have had that effect, but rather to help reach that closure if I can. Howie
Note to self at 3:00 am. Copy WUSF CD to VHS (duh!)
Dear Howie, Thank you for all the work and thought you have put into this. You keep second guessing your ability to be of help, but I can tell you that just the fact that you understand and care about the things that I have to deal with is of enormous help and comfort to me.
Your chart of funding needs was so typically concise. I had to smile when I opened it. You have an uncanny ability to bring order from chaos. I really liked the rewording of the mission statement as well. Something that has plagued me in coming up with one is that for it to be effective we all have to be able to remember it. To do that requires reading and re reading it over and over. Whatever we dwell on becomes our reality. For that reason, I have been hesitant to use words like abuse, neglect etc., just because of the negativity. For the person reading it the first time however, it is essential that they see the picture and those words paint it best. By adding the first sentence we create a positive mission that everyone can repeat in a one sentence fashion. The rest of the paragraph spells out what we mean by that.
Wildlife On Easy Street's mission is to promote compassion. We are dedicated to ending the abuse, neglect, abandonment, slaughter and extinction of wild animals by maintaining the largest exotic cat sanctuary in the world for rescuing wild cats from such circumstances and using that facility to educate adults and children about the plight of these animals in a way that will change individual behavior and create general support for the broader efforts that are needed to end practices that lead to these conditions. It is our larger hope that by teaching humans to treat these animals with love, respect and compassion that these traits will carry over to the way we treat each other, making the world a better place for all of its inhabitants. - Carole
9:16 am Howie to Carole:
Sometimes out of nowhere in the middle of doing something I feel this warm wave literally pass through my body and it’s as if you have snuck up behind me and put your arms around me. It happened just now as I hung up the phone from scheduling a tennis game. It is a feeling of absolute and total peace that literally passes through me in a wave and makes my eyes water. I realized just now that the only place I have read of anything that could describe this feeling is in the reports of people who have experienced brief death, like on the operating table, and have returned. It is the description they usually give of what they are feeling the moment they leave their bodies and reconnect with the Universe, or if they are religious with God or Jesus.
I love you very, very much. And each time I think I can't possibly feel more, a day comes that proves me wrong. I better hit send quick. :-)
Dear Howie, I heard that theme from the Twilight Zone when I read your message and scrolled back up to see the time stamp. I finished my tennis lesson at about 10 minutes after 9 and was walking back to the truck. I felt an urgency to connect with you and even went so far as to pick up the phone to call you, because I just had to tell you, "I love you!". I am so filled with love and adoration of you and I have the hardest time trying not to say so. I just stood there, for what could easily have been five minutes, fighting the overwhelming desire to tell you how I feel.
The only way to ease the frustration was to remind myself that showing you love in a way that you can fully enjoy means not giving in to my own selfish needs of verbally expressing myself. I felt so connected to you at that moment and was able to ride that "wave" the rest of the way home. Your aversion to the words has created a challenge for me, but the end result of being able to connect with you on such an intimate level is a reward that I otherwise might never have known. When I connect with you, it feels as though I have connected with ALL that is good.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and feelings with me. My immediate family was not verbally expressive. My grandparents were. Being shuffled back and forth I came to know where it was appropriate to say I cared, and where it was not. I have always experienced feeling more loved in an environment where it was both spoken and shown. As much as I would like to say that I don’t need to hear it from you, I am always touched to the point of tears when you do say that you love me. Today was a special gift in that way from you and I really appreciate it. Besides, it gives me the opportunity to say, “I love you, too!” Love, Carole
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.
Howie to Carole on lovemaking:
I just want to express something I increasingly feel. When we make love, I find to be something different and beyond what I have experienced in the past. In a way that does not all mean to imply anything less about the excitement, it is less what I have always thought of as "sex", and more like some kind of emotional merging. And what is wonderful is that I find that feeling growing slowly and steadily, versus any feeling of lessening that can come with familiarity and repetition. It is a wonderful feeling. - Howie
Carole to Howie:
I came in, rushed and wanting to get the chain of command issue copied for everyone at Easy Street and was greeted by your beautiful letter. Thank you for sharing that with me. I agree that it is an emotional bonding that does increase in intensity with every touch, every kiss, every kindness. I am so happy to be with you.
Attached are my thoughts on the chain of command and where I think you could do us an awful lot of good. I will delete your name from the copy I send to the rest of the board so as not to speak for you, nor to surprise them. When you have time, I would like your thoughts on it. - Carole
Howie invites me to Scientology Center
You are welcome to attend the lecture if you would like, of course. It is at the scientology center though, in case that makes you uncomfortable. Bit of a freaky place. Starts 7:15. I have to go a few
minutes early to sign off or something on this series of "auditing" with Donna. They have concluded I'm done. Not sure if that means I'm hopeless or I passed or what, but I'm glad not to spend more time on it. It was interesting and glad I did it. Got a few very interesting thoughts /insights from it. But I doubt if more hours would yield more. Of course, they will want to suck me into the next whatever it is for some ungodly amount of money. Hold my foot if you see me slipping into the cult! Actually, the only other thing that interests me there is this sauna treatment that is supposed to sweat out all past x-rays and drugs (in my case prescription, but for others, recreational) etc that they say get stuck in our bodies. But that can wait, if ever. Rambling now - back to work. If it happens you want to attend this let me know. Mark is a weird dude, just to prepare you if/when you ever meet him.
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.
Howie Talks About Moving in at the Island
At 05:50 PM 4/30/03 -0400, Carole writes to Howie: Monday and Tuesday the cabinet guy will be here ripping up the kitchen, but any time after that, you are welcome to start moving in. You could start before then, but things are likely to be a mess until he finishes on Tues.
If you think you might like your office in the front room, it would give you a chance to try it for a while to see if the room addition was needed. Since there is no rush for you to be out of your place, you could leave non essential furniture, or furniture that would go in the new room, until it is done. Your place will show better with less furniture as it makes a place look bigger.
Ted's Sheds : Products : Tuffy http://www.tedssheds.com/tuffy.html I spoke with Eric at the Hillsborough Ted's Shed 630-0079 and we can get a 14 x 20 (280 sf) Tuffy metal shed with double doors, five windows and a floor in 2 weeks, set up and delivered for 4000.00 plus tax. That's 14.29 per SF. Roy could build shelves, or I heard that you could, and there used to be power there. I found a cord, but don't know where or if the other end is hooked up at the house. You can get them wider, but there is a big jump in money and more permitting to get it here due to the DOT.
Howie emails Carole:
After kitchen (remodeling) is better. All it really requires for me to be moved in initially is my office, some clothes, and the cats. The office is the only hard part. I want to take a day or two to cull files before moving and want to get a little work done on something before then, so will plan for week or so. The shed sounds good. I think even if we do a garage the shed would make sense. I suggest we order and split cost.
Putting the office initially in the dining room would certainly work temporarily even if not a permanent solution. We can talk about delaying the room. There are a couple things the open office does not accomplish that the enclosed room does, but it occurs to me that I might accomplish those by kind of taking over both the dining room and existing room. Will think more on it. - Howie
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.
I Write Howie from TAOS Meeting
Dear Howie, Sunday: I may not get to send this until I get back to the airport, because pay phones are the only kind they have here in Menucha. My cell phone doesn't ring when you call, and I just figured out how to retrieve messages, long distance on it this morning. I am distressed at the conference attendance thus far. There were only 15 people here last night compared to well over a 100 at last year's conference. Of the ones I talked to, three were not members and had no animals in their care, one had rescued 1 cow, and one had 4 chimps. Jan, who I love dearly and admire for all her years of dedication to domestic animal rescue, informed me that the life was just too tough and after spending 3 weeks in Fiji, she realized that this wasn't worth sacrificing her life for, and was going to throw in the towel. I haven't had time to talk to Craig about his leaving as Director, but I think that has a lot to do with the overwhelming feeling of despair in this group.
I started getting down and feeling pressured at that last thought and looked out the window. My cabin has 3 beds and one is out in a bay window with breathtaking views of majestic trees in every direction. It was clear when the sun came up, but a mist is now rolling in and looks more Hollywood dramatic than real. How strange. How appropriate. This is a magical setting. The countryside is so lush and the landscape is awe inspiring, but this little camp is captivating. If you were here, I might never go home. The road in wound round and round the mountain giving me the feeling that I was being drawn deep inside the womb of Mother Nature. When the cabins came into sight, they were surrounded by trees that were laden with bright pink and white blossoms. The flowers that surrounded them, that dotted the grassy slopes and that clung to the stone steps and ledges could only cry out in weak competition. It reminds me of Costa Rica where everything is so full of life, except that I don't see squirrels nor do I hear birds. It's too freakin' cold.
The shuttle driver for the 30 minute drive from Portland to the wilderness was a tiny little immigrant from Katmandu named Delipe. He told me he is the richest immigrant in America because he lives in the most beautiful place in the world and has seen more of America than most of her native inhabitants. He drives things and people from NY to Seattle and has settled in Portland for the past 4 years giving tours and running shuttle services. Every free moment he spends in search of some beautiful place he has never seen before. His enthusiasm was contagious. He was just astounded at all of the opportunity we Americans let pass us by. I asked if he thought it is because of him being an immigrant that makes him more keenly aware of the possibilities and he said he thinks it is more of an individual thing. He said he was the richest man in Nepal too, because he knew how to enjoy himself every day.
On the plane from Atlanta to Salt Lake City I sat next to Mike Basile who is the CFO for Great Harvest Bread Company. It was interesting to hear his version of what is happening since Nido Qubein took over the company. Mike has been with the company for 7 years and really loved Pete and Laura Wakeman. He and the COO and some of the other 30 employees had tried to buy the company, but were outbid by Qubein and his partner (whose name escapes me at the moment). The COO McMakin quit and the company was stunned initially and fearful that the hippie style management they had come to embrace would be dramatically changed by this "big city, buttoned down, motivational speaker". To Qubein's credit, he didn't try to change something that was already working so well and eventually earned the respect of the management team. Mike really likes him and got a kick out of hearing how fondly Qubein spoke of the company when he spoke to us a few weeks ago. There is a store opening in Tampa in July and he gave me the owner's name so that I can contact them about doing a cross promotion with them. Many of their stores have a Baker's Day where the proceeds are given to charity. If we become their local charity, we can offer them tour passes to give away to their customers. It's not a big thing, but every little relationship counts.
I finished the book "How To Be a Great Communicator" on the plane and wrote two articles for the animal magazines from it. This sort of setting, with no phones, no T.V.s, no radios, no people and NO distractions is wonderful for that kind of creativity. I wish I were better at writing as it is something I could really enjoy doing for a living. Speaking of doing something for a living; thank you for letting me know you found my assets. I woke up thinking that I have slept in parking lots that were more comfortable than this bed. Then I was aware that my feet were on the radiator and were the only part of my body that wasn't frozen stiff. There was no scent of coffee in the air and when I managed to roll over, I hit a wall, not the warmth of your body. Already off to a really bad start, the next thought in my mind was that transferring my mother's Notesmith program into excel and trying to recreate the spread sheet was going to be a task of nightmarish proportions. I use that as a weekly to monthly guide to make sure that I am staying on track and recovering, as I should. I was so relieved to get your message saying that the information had not been lost.
I wrote a poem to you about the proposal and all of the fear and anxiety that went into asking you to marry me. I had not sent it, because I feel the subject is a little weird for both of us still, and now realize that it too was lost. I could probably relive all of those emotions, but don't know that I really want to. I am happy with the way things are and enjoying every moment with you. In stark contrast, I am really NOT enjoying these moments away from you. Enough whining. I am going to do some work on the Business Plan, (if I can get my mind off you for an hour or so).
Sunday evening: I called Jamie to check in and she said our volunteer in Chicago who now runs her own sanctuary for displaced fawns had called about a pet bobcat that had been relinquished to her and had not eaten for two days. Cats really hate being abandoned, despite their bravado, and will not eat for a couple of weeks out of depression. In response to Lynda's asking if the cat was in danger of dying, Jamie, in her typically concise way said, "I told her: Minutes without air, days without water and weeks without food, but that if she emailed you, you would expound upon that" .
I had forgotten that I told Jamie I would leave the alarm off, so when she went to feed the cats she set it off because she doesn't have the code. She said she could just see her and Daniel sitting in prison until I get home on Tuesday because she can't prove she is related to me and the only two people she knows who have the code are both out of town and unreachable. Brinks called the house and she explained the situation to them and much to my amazement, they shut off the alarm remotely and did not send the police. They left a message on my cell and on Jamie's home phone (as it was a listed contact #) saying there had been an alarm. She said her voice was shaking so bad that they must have believed her. In all of the excitement, the cats didn't get wet food, so armed with the code she is going back to the island to feed them tonight.
Today's sessions were worth the trip here. Most of it was stuff I knew or expected, but it was validating to see others who are more financially successful saying that it worked for them. Farm Sanctuary has a 3.2 million dollar annual budget and says the #1 method for reaching that goal is direct mail. We have never done that. The expert everyone uses was one of the speakers today and I had his contact info to call him, but was waiting to develop a more compelling piece of literature before attempting it. There is only about a 1% return on what can run 500.00 @ 1000, but it is deemed by Farm Sanctuary and Wildlife Rescue (they rehab 7000 animals each year) to be the greatest investment they make into growing their membership and resulting funds.
Well, wonders never cease! Lynn Cuny, Founder of Wildlife Rescue in San Antonio came up to me during dinner and said that she would take our single female Lemur. I went into my diatribe over how much I spend on vet bills for those danged Lemurs tearing each other up and she said they are enclosing 5 acres and letting them run wild and that she would be happy to take all of mine if I wanted her to. I asked what I could do for her and she said just get them there. When I explained that she was doing me a HUGE favour, and that I would be happy to take any problem cats she had, she said that if she had a cat call she would ask me to take it. Sending the Lemurs to Texas would be better for them and would free up 6 cages that could take small cats, perhaps even the Sand Cats. That would move them out of the lion and tiger area and allow another big cat-a-tat or two there. That would eliminate 13 omnivores from our feeding route and eliminate the USDA requirements of daily enrichment because of them being primates. It would free up cage space, food requirements, volunteer and staff time and paperwork.
Lynn has always been rather self righteous with me because she doesn't think we should be open to the public so she really caught me off guard when she came up to me privately a little later and said, "I have always wanted to tell you, but never had a moment that was opportune; I think you are just the prettiest woman I have ever met. You are so feminine and so graceful and you always look so, well, just so pretty!"
Monday: Today's topics were most heated around the issue of sending a consistent message. Everyone here agreed that we should not serve dead animals as food to guests at our sanctuary sponsored functions, but that was only because all of the big cat and wolf groups chose not to attend this year after months of heated debate on the subject via email.
The other hot button is whether or not we should allow human interaction with the animals in our care, and if we do, what message that sends. The farm people generally accept that it's okay for people to hug a pig, but that it sends the wrong message for people to pet a bobcat and yet the issue is the same in both worlds: If people touch them and fall in love with them, will they want one as a pet? There is a much bigger problem with people owning potbellied pigs than bobcats. We never did resolve that one and just agreed to disagree for now.
We also discussed how to run a sanctuary and have a life and most of the sanctuary owners are single women with no social life. The few who have mates said how much it helped just to have someone to lean on from time to time who understood their passion, even if they didn't share it. The overall message was that we can be much more creative and productive if we can take time away to regenerate.
I brought up the issue of a run away board getting off track and doing things that were easier, but not the best choices for the animals. It was suggested that the by laws be written well enough to insure the board cannot get too far off track. This is where life gets really weird.
The next portion was closed to only the 4 (of 6) TAOS Board members and the 7 present accredited facilities. The term is up for four of the board members in June and Craig is leaving as President. The economy has hit TAOS hard and they have dropped from 100k per year to 35k per year to support the President and the operation. They asked for our input as to what we felt should be TAOS' focus during this lean time and how we could suggest ways to help it to that end. I said that I appreciated them coming to us with this problem and that perhaps each of the 52 accredited members could promote them better knowing that they are facing hard times. Lynn (the original founder of TAOS and one of the board who is remaining this year) asked if I would sit on the board. I said, "no".
Afterwards I came up to her privately and thanked her for honouring me but reminded her that because we are open to the public and allow interaction, we don't even qualify as accredited members under their new guidelines and that for me to sit on the board just exposes TAOS to attack. I told her I deeply believe in what TAOS is doing and that I will do all I can to see it succeed, because it is very much needed, but that for me to do so in any formal capacity would be a detriment to the cause. Lynn said it is that very attitude that caused her to ask me publicly because I am the only person in the room that isn't looking for how I can benefit, but rather, how I can help. I cried.
Some of these issues are so frustrating. I can't close to the public because that is how our cats get fed. Even if I could, I am not sure I would, because I believe that people are moved to make a difference when they connect to an animal. Lynn obviously is able to feed her animals and educate the public without the exposure, but I have no way to measure the efficacy of our approaches against each other. In jest I told her that the only benefit to me sitting on the board with her would be as an example to all of the factions that any of us can get along if Lynn and Carole can sit at the same table and not pull each other's hair out.
I joined TAOS for both selfish and altruistic reasons. The selfish reason was to help us establish credibility and to align ourselves with an organization capable of changing laws. In it's current state of ill health, TAOS cannot perform either of the functions that I need. The alternative is to seek accreditation by the American Zoological Association AZA because with its 2000 members and multi million-dollar budget, augmented by Disney, it can propose legislation to prevent private ownership of exotic cats. AZA's reason for doing it is to eliminate the competition so that they will be the only breeders and exhibitors in town, but frankly, I don't care how selfish their reasons are if it gets the job done. The only reason AZA is willing to accredit a place like mine is that they need places to dump last year's babies that are AZA accredited so as to fend off the animal rights groups.
They denied us two years ago and stated their reasons as being we didn't have enough paid staff, we allowed unsupervised contact with our cats and they hadn't known us long enough. They have never passed anyone the first time anyway, I am told. They asked me to reapply. The only outstanding issue is the paid vs. volunteer staff. I feel certain they would approve us this time, but don't know how long we could stay within the fold when they realize they can't dump their animals here. I don't know if our annual dues of 1000.00 would be worth enough to them to let us be of no use. I have always wanted to infiltrate them with our message of compassion and respect for all life and persuade them by our good example. Our volunteers have done that through the American Association of Zoo Keepers AAZK and Anissa and Brian are the local chapters President and Secretary.
This seems to me to be a matter of ethics, or perceived ethics. What would you do?
Jamie always has to make tough decisions when I am away. One of our Bengal Cats, Atlas, who runs loose at Easy Street and is a big favourite of the volunteers, was just diagnosed with FIV. The vet biopsied a tumor and told Jamie that if it is cancerous she should euthanize him and if it's not he has to spend the rest of his life in a cage, under quarantine. Atlas came from a breeding facility where he was kept in a very small cage and he hates being caged. Jamie has the luxury of being able to wait until the biopsy comes back in 5 days to make that decision of whether or not to kill an animal rather than cage it. I will be back by then, but it really bums her out when she has to deal with these issues. She had to put Venus the black leopard down the last time I went anywhere. It is more than how she and the cat feels about it, but also includes how she can relate to all of the differing opinions of the volunteers who aren't dedicated enough to take him home with them, but who will insist any life is better than no life. These choices never get any easier.
The conference is definitely over at noon tomorrow and I will head back to the airport to see if I can get on standby. I have to be out of the room by 10:00 am anyway and it is too cold for me to hang out here. I was flying and driving for 10 hours to get here so even under optimal circumstances I couldn't expect to be home before 1:00 am on Wednesday. I only live 5 miles or so from the airport, so I will call a cab.
I have spent more time staring at trees and thinking in the last few days than I have in the last few years. Make that decades. Through it all I just keep lifting prayers of thanks to God for allowing me this luxury of spending time with you. I have to wipe away the tears whenever I stop and think about how happy you make me. Because of your discomfort with the words, I just can't tell you enough how much you mean to me and even if you could stand to hear it, I couldn't say it enough. I don't know how to show it enough either. - Carole
Howie Is My Rock
Tuesday Morning 6:00 am
I awoke from a dream about you and before even rolling out of bed; I wanted to capture every detail. I was a dandelion on the top of a grassy knoll. The wind was cold and blustery and just seemed to come from every direction. My head (ego) was so disproportionately large for my frail little stem (backbone or ability) that the gusts were knocking my big, yellow, flower head into the grass. Every time I managed to lean into the wind and take a look out from my vantage point on the knoll, however, I felt privileged to have this vantage point from which I could see the mountains in the distance, the lakes and the expanse of beauty in every direction.
As I looked down the mountainside I saw clusters of dandelions, daisies, roses, irises, lilies and other beautiful flowers that I couldn't name. Because they were in large, closely knit groups, they were only slightly swaying in the breeze. I still felt it was worth it to stand up here alone, just for the view.
Behind me, as if the wind blew away the dust, a rock arose. The rock (you) came right up behind me. At first, I feared, that the wind would smash my head against the rock and that would be the end of me. Instead the rock blocked the wind and sheltered me. As the wind pressed in on me from the unsheltered side, I could just lean back against the rock until the gale had passed. In moments of stillness, I could stretch out and see the future because I felt deeply rooted beneath the rock and safe from any storm. Thank you for being my rock. With Love, Carole
Howie writes Carole: The dandelion dream is just beautiful. I don't always feel like much of a rock, but loved the story, and very beautifully written. I'm very sorry you lost the poem. I hope you find it. I love your poems. Your the best darn lookin' dandelion I ever saw!
I took the personality test. My highest score was Helper, followed by Achiever, then Loyalist and Challenger. Not sure how this Wing and Integration stuff works. I agonized over a few questions because it can depend so much on how I feel that day. That variation has been a considerable source of aggravation for me. - The rock
Thank you for taking the time to do this. I am so pleased with the results. Part of the variation you mentioned is inherent in the personality types. A 2 will "go to 8" under stress and will "go to 4" when relaxed. The three is your wing. The 3 goes to 6 when relaxed so your score made perfect sense, even if this sentence doesn't.
2s are nurturers and caregivers and pretty easy going unless someone emperils the subject of the 2s nurturing. Then the 2 becomes more like an 8 and can be a frightful opponent. 8s believe in fairness and protecting the underdog. When the 2 is happy and feeling content they become more like 4s and are very creative. Your wing is that of the classic over achieving 3, but when the 3 is at it's best it becomes more like the 6 and is also very loyal. The combination really describes you well.
You are loving and giving, protective, loyal and you do your best for the people in your life. What more could anyone want? I am so happy! - Carole
I just told my mother to ask the tenants in the house up front to move within the next 3 months. I had offered them use of the house for 1 year while they found one to buy (she is a realtor and her mother is a broker) at a reduced rate of 500.00 per mo. because I like their kids. They have been there two years and show no sign of wanting to move. I told Jamie and Daniel they can then move in there and we will use their house at Easy Street for the gift shop, conference center and offices and transform the current gift shop into an office for Anissa and the Education center. Whether we move or stay really doesn't matter as far as moving Jamie and Daniel because they have wanted off the property and shouldn't be putting so much money to make their house livable, when the one up front would more than meet their needs. I am just telling you because they would be our new neighbors. They would have their own pool, so we probably wouldn't see them, except on the tennis court.
Howie’s Friends All Love Him FYI, Betsy enjoyed. You are such a good entertainer! Oscar Feldman writes Howie: Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2003 10:25:16 -0400 From: "Oscar FELDMAN" Subject: Re: Betsy, Lightning Howard, Betsy telephoned us about her visit at the Cat Park, and her having met all of you, and she thoroughly enjoyed it all. Surprised that Alan and Phyllis (Lorber) would have the need to consult a physician on the other side of the state with such a preponderance of medical facilities and doctors in the Miami area. We're delighted with the Lightening's success, but disappointed with our Pistons having lost our opener, but our players and coaches are optimistic about the series. Betsy's driving over to Orlando with her dad to attend the Piston games on Friday and Sunday. All is well here. Dede joins me in sending our best to you and Carole Howard Baskin 04/22/03 06:24PM writes: Met Betsy (Coville) at Wildlife On Easy Street today. It turns out, totally by coincidence, Alan and Phyllis were in town to see a doctor here so they got to meet her too. Since she and Carole were talking shop, I took Al and Phyll on a separate tour and did not get much time with her. But enjoyed the bits and pieces I overheard and hope to get more time in the future. Clearly VERY knowledgeable. And congrats on the Lightning! What a come back!!! Al and Phyll say hi, and Carole thanks you and Didi (sp?) for the introduction to Betsy. Burt (Alimanski), thanks for continuing to think of Carole. From her past experience, they insist that you give them your mailing list of no less than 50,000 names. Carole does have 20,000 and might have negotiated the number, but has promised privacy and that she would not give out the names. When she offered to mail the solicitations for the card companies to keep her names private, they have refused. May be worth inquiring again though, particularly with Discover who seem to struggle for market share. Regardless, thanks for keeping her in mind! Denise Kelly writes Carole 4/11/2003 11:29:49 AM From Dkelly5484 Oh, my god, Carol, thanks for adding the links to Best Friends and AWC to your site. Actually, the people I work with at Best Friends (I work on the advertising for their magazine), have been an inspiration to go forward with the Avian Welfare Coalition. That and my associate, Eileen McCarthy, who also co-founded the Midwest Avian Adoption and Rescue Services (MAARS). MAARS is the largest adoption facility for unwanted birds in the U.S. Right now, we're working on our 3rd Annual Avian Welfare Round Table (which Craig Brestrup is also attending) to take place May 29th-31 in Minneapolis. I'll forward you some information on it. This is our annual meeting of representatives from avian welfare, animal protection & advocacy orgs., and professionals from the avian veterinary, behavior, & conservation community that come together to focus on specific programs and campaigns for the benefit of captive birds. We should be leaving for Florida sometime this weekend and I'll give you a call next week. Hopefully, it will be a bit quieter with the holiday coming. Irwin and I will see if we can arrange to get to see your wonderful facility, which we've heard so much about! Take care, and thanks again for your kind words. p.s. If you haven't seen a copy of Best Friends magazine, I'd be glad to drop a few in the mail to you. It is absolutely the best animal magazine .
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.
“You looked so beautiful this morning”
Letter from Howie: You looked so beautiful this morning that I can continue to picture you almost exactly in my mind in vivid color, glowing. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to play tennis with an...
While I enjoy the activeness of our sex life, I must confess that I also really enjoy the feelings of desire that build up after a few days of abstinence. While I wish for you that you did not have this week of discomfort, there is something of a silver lining in the excitement that builds up and the intensity of reconnecting physically when it passes. - Howie
Dear Howie, Thank you for all of your healing thoughts. I woke up feeling good. Talked to myself and realized I still sound weird. I have a meeting at WOES with the cage donors at 11:00 and then will be back at the island. Thanks for looking up a remedy with the laser. Your letter to the condo owners was very good. I enjoy reading your work as it helps me to learn better communication skills. This letter, jumping from topic to topic, is a prime example of my need for those skills. I hope your game went well and that you enjoyed this glorious morning. I miss you.
Did I tell you that after the volunteer meeting on Sunday in March, Scott gave a private tour to the coaches and team members of the Tampa Bay Lightning? I told Scott you know Ozzie Feldman. He said they loved us and are donating a bunch of things to our silent auction. Scott's email address is
Dennis and Susan (horse fanatics) got the Convention Center to donate a room for our silent auction and he is working on three restaurants to bring food. I would like for you and I to have dinner with them some night. They are yellow shirt volunteers, wanting to do much more, but not well liked by the board. Much of that is because they try to circumvent the board to get my ear, so we need to integrate you with the board first.
I need to call a board meeting. It has to be on a weekend or evening. Let me know when you can spare 2-3 hours to attend. We need to discuss things such as the suggestions the ICC made in that small booklet, how we are going to divide the pay between the people working (job descriptions) and an immediate need of a cat in So. FL that belongs to a police officer who is now in a body cast and can't take care of the cat. Good media opportunity there. Even the best intentioned people can't take care of big cats for their entire lives.
Thank you for your kindness. I was going to write and tell you how surprised I was at the calm way I have responded to all of my web sites being deleted from my hard drive. I have no idea how that happened and my backups are four months old. I was actually taking it in stride until I went to copy your sweet email to my journal and discovered it is missing too. Now, I am upset. All of our letters and my feelings for you over the past four months are lost and a search of the hard drive is not pulling them up. I've heard that even when files have been destroyed there is often a shadow of them that can be retrieved by a professional. I am just not happy about the idea of the computer being down for another several days.
Your letter came at a very opportune moment and made this a lot less stressful. I am so thankful to have you in my life, that not much else matters. Love, Carole
Howie wrote to Carole:
I have copies of all of the emails, so when appropriate, can resend you.
Carole to Howie: Well, this just made my day. This was the only thing I felt irreplaceable and truly sad to have lost. It brings tears to my eyes to know you kept them. I had to stop typing because I couldn't stop crying. You are so sweet. I can duplicate the work I lost. The tech won't be in until afternoon for me to ask if he thinks he can retrieve the information.
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.
10 Principles of Sacred Relationships
I can't believe it is 8:00!!! As late as it is, I won't be there until after 10:00. I am really looking forward to that though! It has been another very productive day. I beat myself into submission and signed the closing docs on the gas station, so that is a done deal and the 32k check is in my hands. Peter had racked up 5200.00 in legal fees that I have to pay from it, but it is money that I never thought I would see.
I bought a DVD burner and want to hook it up tonight and learn to work it. I almost bought a new laptop, but declined when I found out the new DVD burners don't cover both types of DVD's and only the external burner I bought does.
I was wondering today (after talking to you about it last night) if perhaps I had been too judgmental of Alan. As I walked into the closing, who should be there but his partner, Larry Herndon. Larry is a rascal, but a great bird dog and was the only reason Alan ever found a deal after me, because Alan was far too lazy to look for himself. Larry was being his usual talkative self, rambling from one subject to another without so much as a pause for breath, when out of the blue he said, "Alan just bit the hand that feeds one too many times and I finally had to tell him not to call me anymore" He went on to elaborate that Alan had screwed him out of a ton of money and was just constantly lying to him, using him and then finding any way in the world to get the better of him by not paying. It was one of those reminders from the Universe that told me I had taken all I could take before asking him to go. I needed reminding. It is hard for me to hold a grudge. I forget why I got so mad. Catera Bobcat and I have a lot in common. I hope you don't refer to me as your retarded girlfriend ;-)
When you get a chance, I need the name of the cabinet installer. The closet people are coming on the 21st. I am having 28 feet of hanging space installed, plus the shelves above for suitcases, hats and such. I hope you guys had fun today! See you later. You could have written this, you abide by it so well:
10 Principles of Sacred Relationships
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Unselfishness and selflessness--Consciously put your loved one at the center of your heart and cultivate awareness of his/her needs. But don't go overboard; remember to also take care of yourself.
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Generosity--Give of yourself, sharing time, things, and emotions.
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Acceptance--Commit yourself to patience, forbearance, tolerance, and accepting your mate not as a fantasy object--but a real person.
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Respect--Your mate is a gateway to God and so deserves your respect, trust and support.
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Honesty--the hard work of communication, revealing yourself, truth-telling, listening (these are big practices)--all lead to authenticity.
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Empathy--Genuine love involves working hard to understand, and share, the feelings of your loved one. And to offer compassion and caring even for feelings you don't "get."
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Play--Don't take your love or yourself so seriously. Remember to leave room for fun, whimsy, joy and meaninglessness too.
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Passion--True passion is not the romantic fascination we associate with teenage crushes; it's a deep wonderment and interest in the other.
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Mystery--Being open to not knowing, to not having it all worked out, to the discovery of being together.
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Mission--Strengthen your bond by having some shared "mission," purpose, direction.
"Love is the highest form of tolerance." - Richard Burton
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.
I’m Uncomfortable with Cameron Spending the Night
Dear Howie, This is not a big deal, but I have been struggling with how to handle this for weeks, but now the time in upon us and I think it better to tell you what is on my mind than to behave strangely for no apparent reason ;-)
I would be very uncomfortable staying overnight with you while Cameron is here. I think is sets a bad example for an impressionable child to be exposed to people living together. I understand that his (and your) religious upbringing might not find our situation particularly unacceptable, but mine does. I think it sets a poor example for reasons that are much more earthbound than that as well because statistics show that people who live together before marriage are more like to divorce later. I think that is largely because people who opt to do that are less committed to making something work and are perhaps more flippant in their attitude that if it doesn't work out, it's easier to get out of. I know that you have good reasons, based upon your experience that people change after marriage, and that is why you want to be sure that under the test of constant companionship you will find me to be no less than what you think I am.
But Cameron is too young to understand that and doesn't have the same set of experiences that you have had. I know he looks up to you and at some later date might view our living arrangement as having been acceptable because of his respect for you and then even further justified when it works out for us. This could cause him to make a big mistake in his later life if he were to choose a young woman who was willing to take a similarly cavalier attitude toward what should be a permanent relationship. If I were to flaunt our living arrangement before him, I would always be concerned that I was creating an obstacle for him, and if he did end up in a bad relationship would blame myself for having done something that I knew better than to do.
I am not sure how to handle the other kids in your life. It doesn't appear that they spend the night and even though they may see and question a woman's clothes in the closet, it doesn't seem to me to have the same impact as waking up every morning and she's still there. When the time comes that we do share a roof, I can always go to the cabins at Easy Street for a week or so when your nephew is in town.
This isn't easy for me to suggest now, and I suspect that in a week my resolve may have been deeply challenged by your absence ;-) Might I suggest you take a handful of the Active H, so that we can stock up for the drought? I will welcome any opportunity in your schedule over the next week to steal a moment of pleasure with you. My period starts on the 16th, which makes for especially bad timing. The good news is that you will soon discover whether or not I just love you for your body ;-)
Bank of America approved me today for 200,000.00 at 5% fixed, zero points, 15 year on the island, plus an additional credit line of 68,000.00 at .25 over prime. I currently owe them 125,000.00 at 7.5%. 90 days to close. They are offering 5.5 % fixed, no points on my investment properties, so I need to sit down and take a look at the big picture to see how I can comfortably parlay it at this opportune time in history. I am looking forward to seeing you tonight. Love, Carole
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.
WildLife on Easy Street’s Costa Rican and Panama Projects
After just a week in Central America I am reminded how fortunate we are to live in the United States. The things we take for granted, like freedom, availability of goods and the opportunity to shape our own destinies through education, creativity and hard work are luxuries far beyond the grasp of most of this planet’s inhabitants. It’s good to be home.
WildLife on Easy Street’s Global Coordinator
Pat Quillen has spent the past 31 years devoted to intensive study and hands-on experience with the majority of small and medium sized species of wild cats. In 1978 Pat founded S.O.S., Care and still maintains the facility. She has become internationally known for her work and knowledge on housing, husbandry, behaviour, nutrition and infant/neonate nutrition and care of the world's small wild cats. In 1989 Pat was nominated for the Chevron Conservation Award, and she has been featured by CNN Science & Technology. Pat also assisted PBS and 20th Century Fox, BBC 1 and National Geographic on film projects featuring wild cats, and she is a member of the World Conservation Union Species Survival Commission. She and the San Diego Zoo host the Small Felid Workshop each year and she was selected to join the original 12 members of the American Zoological Association’s, Felid Taxon Advisory Group. Her “family” is currently comprised of 30 Margay, Tigrina, Black Footed Cats, Sand Cats and a recently confiscated Serval. U.S. Fish and Wildlife has placed confiscated animals with Pat. She has consulted with zoos when they have problems with behaviour or breeding. Her cats and her work are featured in many publications and her name is widely recognized in the zoo world as a cat specialist. More importantly, there’s not a cat we’ve encountered who didn’t immediately recognize Pat as a kindred spirit.
I met Pat at the Small Felid Workshop in Las Vegas in May 1998 and visited with her again in April 1999 at the AZA Felid Taxon Advisory Group meeting hosted by Disney in Orlando. Shortly thereafter, Pat visited WildLife on Easy Street and we had the chance to talk about our ultimate goals for the wildcats. We are both in the unenviable position of having to dedicate much of our time and resources into putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound. It means the world to the cats we rescue, but it doesn’t cure the problem. Our common goal is to make a difference that will preserve the cats in the wild and preserve the existing gene pool for future integrity of the species.
WildLife on Easy Street & S.O.S., Care Go Worldwide!
Pat shared with me the details of the projects in which she has participated in Brazil and those that she’s been negotiating in other countries of the world. When she was invited by Yolanda de Metamores, President of the Central American Zoological Association, and Director of the Simon Bolivar Zoo in San Jose, to come advise them on housing and husbandry of their cats, she asked WildLife on Easy Street to come and share the concepts and designs that have proven useful, economical and enjoyable to the 146 cats that we house.
Almost all of the 28 cat species are endangered and many are perched right on the edge of destruction. Most of the exotic cats in the U.S. are termed “generic” meaning there is no known purity of the sub species. It has taken the thousands of years that humans have dominated animals for us to realize, only in the very recent past, that we have to plan for the future, or there won’t be one. Only in your lifetime have we started to concern ourselves with preserving our very life support system. The concept of zoos as collections for amusement has only recently begun to evolve into a “Noah’s Ark” for survival of the species and as a forum to educate the masses. In this time zoos have formed national and global alliances and have been instrumental in the formation of laws to protect the animals in the wild. They have begun keeping records and genealogies to encourage the best probable pairings of captive animals. Although the improvements have been vast, they are finding that, without new blood, it may still be too late to ensure the continuation of many of the cat families.
We must maintain pure, sub species if there will ever be any hope of reintroduction to the wild. Pat relayed this simple yet comprehensive example: Margay in Mexico have frequent exposure to rattlesnakes and down through the generations is passed the ability to recognize the rattlesnake as a deadly adversary. Margay in Costa Rica have had practically no experience with these deadly snakes and their curiosity would draw them to the rattling sound. To release sub species from the wrong region can result in a cat who will seek out a snake that will kill him.
We have the tools and techniques to study wild populations in different regions. We need to know what the prey base and potential dangers are for each sub-specie and condition the cats accordingly if this is to succeed. It requires world wide participation to preserve the animals in captivity until enough progress has been made in preserving and protecting habitat to make release a viable reality.
The cats who are native to Central America are the Jaguar, Puma, Ocelot, Margay, Tigrina and Jaguarundi. The problems these cats face is loss of habitat through deforestation, pollution and poaching for their pelts and the pet trade. While all of the Central American countries have enacted laws against illegal trade in these endangered species, they don’t have the money or manpower to effectively combat the loss of precious natural resources. In every country we visited, we were alarmed by the common statement by the Wildlife Ministers, “We think our wild populations are in great danger because fewer and fewer are being found or reported!” They all claim that until recently there were always road kill, confiscations and kittens turned in with no mothers, that let them know the cats were still around. Now it is a rare occurrence.
Think for a moment, what that means… A forest with no carnivores will soon be over run with herbivores. Without balance, the rodents and other plant eating animal populations will explode and they will consume all of the plant matter, including crops meant for human consumption. Without food and without the oxygen provided by the Rain Forest, how long can man survive? This isn’t just another “save the animals” pitch, this is a matter of life and death for all of us.
Developing countries are realizing the importance of sustaining the balance of nature. They have set in motion, the laws to protect the animals and forests and have delegated power to their Ministers and Directors of Wildlife. National Zoos have been established to protect animals who have been confiscated from traffickers, smugglers and citizens who have captured the kittens to raise, only to discover how wild they can be when half grown. The cats come to the zoos, emaciated from being fed meatless diets and with a myriad of problems from self mutilation to a dwarf like appearance from lack of vitamins and minerals.
The Central American zoos are poorly funded and face the same problems. They often cannot afford the quality and quantity of meat, nor the vitamins and supplements. An Ocelot will eat, at one meal, more meat than is used to feed a poor family for a week. It is hard to solicit public support in a region where life is such a hardship. The zoos strive to educate their visitors about conservation but have limited resources to do so. None of the zoos we visited had a web site, nor did the public schools have Internet access to retrieve the information. The zoos could not afford reference books for the keepers. Not even the Veterinarians had access to books, charts or any information other than what they owned themselves.
Imagine being responsible for a typical collection of 300 animals without any information, without the most basic tools and often without drugs, vaccines or supplies. Compound this by the antiquated caging that is rusty, decaying, always damp and impossible to disinfect. The cages were built back in the times when animals were displayed until they died and then replaced. They were not designed to prevent injury and many share common walls. Often times animals die from reaching a paw into the cage of their neighbor. Even if they aren’t ripped to pieces, they can die of infection. It was nothing short of miraculous that these cats were in relatively good condition!
Despite all of the challenges of these circumstances, the Central American people are a race of hard working men and women who are proud of their stable governments and their national heritage. The people involved know that these cats are a precious national treasure to be protected and preserved. The Ministers, Directors, Veterinarians, keepers and staff we met with were all well educated and determined. The Costa Rican Minister of Wildlife previously served two terms as the Minister of Justice and knows well the problems associated with protecting the animals. Annabelle Julio has been the attending Veterinarian for the Summit Zoo in Panama for the past 10 years and was acting Director for the zoo during our stay. She works closely with Panama’s Administrator General, Lucida Kruskayo. These people and the care givers we met all loved their animals as was evidenced by the way the animals responded to them. Despite being 8 months pregnant, Zoo Nutritionist Andrea Brenas weathered the rain and rough terrain to discuss the cat’s diets with us. Veterinarian, Danieo Leandro took time out of his busy schedule to discuss medical equipment and general husbandry practices. Architects, like Franco Alvarenga donate their time to the zoos and sat with us for hours drafting cage designs that would be practical, functional and secure for the cats. It was obvious by the way everyone pitched in and worked together that they would do anything in their power to improve the quality of life for their wards. Everyone we met with was painfully aware of the urgent need to study and preserve the remnants of the last surviving wildcat populations. The Central American people are eager to learn and to implement this knowledge into action. In any project the most costly and time consuming efforts are in creating the infrastructure on which the finished product is erected. In the organizations we are working with, that foundation of land, staff and political support already exists.
The plan is to work hand in hand with each country in which viable wild populations of felids still remain. Rehabilitation facilities will be established to enable the zoos to successfully return as many cats as possible to the wild. We seek to set up conservation breeding programs, in situ, using only the animals who have been confiscated that are not capable of survival if released. We will help in the design of the cages to maximize the animals’ comfort to ensure successful breeding and mother rearing of the progeny. We will assist in all aspects of wildcat husbandry including disease control, eradication of parasites, proper nutrition, safe breeding practices and most importantly, recognizing each animal as an individual and meeting it’s emotional needs accordingly. The offspring of the native cats will be available to replenish and strengthen our U.S. populations. With selective breeding and careful management we intend to perpetuate all of the exotic cat species until such time as there is enough protected habitat to sustain them in the way God intended.
S.O.S., Care and WildLife on Easy Street are excited to be pioneering these bold conservation projects but we can’t do it without your help. You have the opportunity to be involved in projects that will make a global impact. Unlike any other conservation charity, you have the satisfaction of seeing every dollar contributed put into action and not into administrative fees and salaries. Pat and I attended these conferences at our own expense and did not use WildLife on Easy Street donations to do so. We spent $2000.00 of our own, hard earned money, and took time away from our own responsibilities to the 230 animals we are responsible for, to set the wheels in motion. We hope that you will recognize this chance to be a part of history. It is always just a handful of dedicated people who really make a difference. You will be a living example of the motto, "making a difference today to ensure survival tomorrow.”
Big business and corporate America aren’t going to invest in any project until they can see that it is a public priority and that it can’t fail. It’s now or never for the exotic cats of Central America. They can’t hold out without our help. This is more important than just making a charitable donation for tax purposes or to feel good about yourself. This is an investment in a living planet for you, your children and your children’s children. Do the right thing and give generously.
WildLife on Easy Street 12802 Easy Street Tampa, Fl. 33625 (813) 920-4130 E-mail http://www.WildLifeEasySt.com
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.
Learning Ways Howie and I Are Similar
Dear Howie, Thank you for all of your assistance today. I enjoyed having you beside me through much of the day. It is hard to leave you, even when I know I will see you again shortly. We have talked volumes about what I want, what I need and what is helpful to me. You have mentioned that we need to talk about what we both desire and expect from a business aspect, and I have been doing all the talking. I want to know what you want and how you want to approach all of this. We need to devote some time to your feelings, desires and needs. Just let me know when is good for you.
You seemed uncomfortable that I would "defer" to you regarding some of the contract issues. You have no need for concern. If one way is as good as another, I will defer to any preference you have. If there is a reason to take a stand, I will explain why I don't think something is a good idea. I won't just sit back and let you do something that I think compromising, just because you suggest it. I think you may have felt that I was subjecting my will to yours because of my personal beliefs about the necessity of a woman doing that for her man, but I draw the line where I think there could be a negative impact that would effect you. To the best of my ability, I will always protect you, even if from yourself.
I was impressed that you read the contracts. It is in keeping with your good sense and what I perceive as an attitude of responsibility. My feeling is, that if I sign my name to a contract, then I had better be willing to live and die by the terms. I am glad to see that in you. The more I see of your daily attitudes and interactions, the most I realize what a rare and wonderful person you are. I am so happy to have this time with you. Love, Carole
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.
Howie Helps Small Businesses Grow
The summation of this proposal is that I need you to do what you used as your seven-second job description: "You help small businesses to grow by doing the things they don't know how to do, or don't have time to do." My feeble attempt to put the pictures in my head into written form below further illustrates my need for you.
Time Line:
From 1983 till 1993 100% of my attention was focused on growing the real estate business. From 1993-1997 I dropped to 25% attention on the real estate business and 75% attention to the hands-on care of the ever-growing population of cats. From mid 1997 (when Don disappeared) to 1998 I was scrambling to protect the business from an onslaught of people who were suing the estate claiming rights via Don's supposed promises to people claiming to be his illegitimate children wanting a cut. I fired three office staff (leaving no one) and took over the accounts receivable, accounts payable and all other administrative duties. The conservatorship refused to allow more than $125,000.00 to go to the care of the animals and all of my assets had been seized, so I had no way to meet the $399,000.00 budget.
In 1998 my mother agreed to give up her pension and run the daily operation of the real estate business. I slept for three days straight. From 1998 until 2002 I focused 80% of my attention on getting WildLife on Easy Street self sufficient, 10% on the real estate business and 10% on protecting the assets in the estate and trying to free those that had been mine before the marriage.
In the aftermath of 9/11/01 I realized that all I had done to establish financial security for WildLife on Easy Street could literally go up in smoke with the collapse of the twin towers. My real estate business was successful because it was recession proof and WOES needed that same security. I hired the ICC to show me how. I've found the process beneficial because it's caused me to take a more organized look at things, but as yet, it hasn't produced any tangible benefit to WildLife on Easy Street. The only revelation has been that ultimately WildLife on Easy Street depends on my real estate business.
Where I am: I am now in a time of transitioning. I am trying to divide my attention equally between WildLife on Easy Street and the real estate business, but sense that I am only being half effective in either endeavor. That is causing a tremendous amount of stress because I refuse to fail, even if I knock myself out trying.
It took me 20 years to learn the real estate market and I am still learning every day. Evaluating potential deals is what consumes so much of my time and yet is the hardest thing to train someone else to do because it's based largely on experience. Anyone good at it doesn't need to work for me.
The same is true of the refuge. Anyone who has mastered the art of appealing to the public to support animals is probably up to their eyeballs with their own commitments. Anyone who has been exposed to the larger picture has come to realize that sweeping social change will not likely come about by the efforts of one sanctuary, no matter how well intentioned.
My life is not justified by saving 200 animals. It wouldn't be by saving 2000. There isn't a number that quantifies success. I have been too richly blessed (with you, with a loving family and with supportive volunteers) to leave this planet without affecting the greatest shift in perception that I am capable of achieving.
Where I want to be: I want to see an attitude of compassion and responsibility. I want to see people treating each other and all life forms with respect. Everything else will follow. Many may find that desire to be naïve, but I believe it's possible. I'm willing to be patient, because I know it won't happen overnight. I know it means starting locally and it will gain momentum, one community at a time. The biggest problem with animal advocates is that they have turned to animals because they cannot deal with other humans. WildLife on Easy Street stands alone in the animal community as a group that not only works well together, but also assists other "competing" groups. Seeing this shift in attitudes encourages me to take it further.
I can see a world where a vast majority will come to know that we are all ONE.
How I plan to get there: Much like your attitude toward love, I believe that actions speak louder than words. I lead by example. When other people see you take a leap of faith, and come away better for it, they are much more likely to follow suit. They have to see the benefit in doing something outside their comfort zone before they are willing to get involved. I plan to form strong alliances with people and groups that are already moving in the right direction to enhance the work that others have already set in motion.
I want to be certified by the AZA (American Zoological Association) because they are the most powerful group in the animal industry. They don't want to over breed each year, but are financially forced to compete with roadside zoos that offer cute and cuddly cubs. They are driving much of the legislation that is aimed at eliminating private breeders. They are well funded, well respected and are doing a lot to improve the situation. Unfortunately, they are motivated by money and prestige and often sacrifice the animals in order to achieve their goals, so it has been my desire to infiltrate the system with attitudes of compassion. Getting volunteers we trained into their paid positions is a step in that direction.
I want to learn the law making system and use it to promote kindness. The U.K. is an established and effective model of the success achieved through outlawing the ownership of exotic animals. It's not allowed there and they don't have tigers languishing in basements, children being mauled or any of the other horrific scenes that we are exposed to daily by our "freedom".
Ultimately, I would like to see hunting outlawed. There is no excuse for it in today's world and it only encourages a separation of "us" and "them". How can we expect a child, who grows up with such a concept of acceptable killing, not to see himself as superior to others, including his fellow man?
Why I need you:
Name one man who is more loving, giving, nurturing, encouraging or compassionate than you. Name one person less likely to take advantage of me. Add to that your note in your diary where you said that the first time you felt a real purpose in your life was in making me happy. (You told me that. I wasn't peeking) When I asked what you most wanted to do you said that the things you found most fulfilling were in building relationships, mentoring and motivating others to work hard and enjoy it, and organizing and writing in a convincing way. What better opportunity than this to do what you do best?
You are strongest in areas where I am weakest. I could name all of those for you, but you can see it. Besides passion and peace you bring balance to my life. I don't believe anything is coincidental. There is a reason we have come together and I believe it is to enable us to reach our fullest potential.
As I see it, this is pretty risk free for you. I am not expecting you to change the world. I only need someone who is supportive of my efforts. If I fail, I have failed because of my own inability, which is no reflection on you as my choice of partners, because I already realize that there is no one better suited for this task than you. I don't expect to live long enough to see the ultimate fruit of this labor, so success is measured in the little improvements along the way. There is no dead line. There is no fear of failure.
It seems the only issue left is how can you be fairly compensated for your efforts? This proposal started out as being merely a business proposition, but as I worked my way through it, I became increasingly aware that I was ready to make it more. You just came in and "interrupted" me with a wonderful afternoon of delight. I am still aglow and now I cannot resist the urge to speak my heart. I want to marry you and share all that I have with you. I know that you are the man I want to spend the rest of my life with. I have no doubt. No reservation. But I know that you do, and I am willing to wait as long as it takes. There is no need for us to talk about this until you are ready. Eventually you will find me irresistible, so I feel that whatever you cost me in billed hours in the interim is truly building toward our future and thus a good investment on my part. ;-)
I believe you may have sensed how I feel about you, and because of that I hesitated to say it out loud for fear of causing you discomfort. On the other hand, I often assume people know what I'm thinking, and don't say the things I should. It is not my intent to rush you, nor to put any sort of pressure on you. When you are ready, you will know. Love, Carole
Email from Trundy Stairs (my sister in law) to Carole:
Dear Carole: I have an hour before my next PE class, so i usually come up to the library and read or check email, etc. Chuck is doing a hundred errands today so he hasn't seen your email yet. However, I have the librarian asking me if I am ok because I am blubbering after reading your proposal. We too, really like Howie (KIDS included), and felt out of everyone we had met, that this is the first truly kind soul you have brought to meet us.
I wanted to write to you because I have also married a truly kind soul, and I want you to know what you have in store for you. My husband wakes up with a smile on his face, and in his heart. He quietly gets out of bed and starts coffee, while I take the 5 extra minutes to pull myself from his warm spot he has left. We get the kids ready for school, and then we get so excited because we get to be alone for a couple of hours before I go to work. He is patient with me, with my family, with the kids, with mean people, with cruel people, and I am in awe of him. He controls his temper, and no matter who it is, he find something nice to say about that person.
He is a leader, and I have no worries of someone not going to work, or not paying the bills, or looking for a younger model of wife. He treats me with respect, gentleness, passion, and true love like I have never known. He is a man that I would give my life for in a second because he is good. Good. Not alot of people are good. So, when you find a good, kind, gentle, and sincere man, do what I did, marry him, and be happy. Appreciate his gentleness and goodness even if you don't understand it at times. I think the hardest thing for me about living with Chuck is hearing anyone say anything negative about him. I cannot tolerate it. He is too good, generous, kind, loving, and forgiving for anyone to say any thing but that he is a rare find in this world. You are truly blessed, as I am, to find such a man. I am thrilled for you, and pray that Howie realizes the rare jewel he has found in you also. I pray for happy endings, and for appreciative hearts, and for God's great blessings! Congratulations! We are happy! love, c & t
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.
Everyone Loves Howie
Carole writes Howie 3/27/03:
Dear Howie, Unless I can beam myself there, I won't arrive before noon. The USDA conference was only a one day thing and I didn't miss any of it. I just couldn't get an earlier flight back via Orbitz when I scheduled this, without paying 300.00 more. I would either be spending the day in the hotel lobby or the airport lobby, so it isn't a big deal either way.
You are always the source of good minutes for me. You make all of the bad ones that came before you just fade away. I keep thinking of Ana's words when she said that you deserved someone who recognized you for the jewel that you are. Had I not known the darkness of the past, I might not have seen you shining. To have missed knowing you would have been the greatest loss I ever could have suffered. You make everything all right. You make me happier than I ever thought possible. I am so excited to be coming home to you! Love, Carole
Denise Kelly, Burt and Arlene and Craig Brestrup
Carole writes Howie 3 Apr 2003 17:20:04 EST
Dear Howie, Thank you so much for meeting with Alex and Jennifer on my behalf today. You must have made quite an impression. Alex was virtually breathless in his admiration of you. I felt bad that you were working while I was playing tennis and taking the family out to lunch. When I noted that to my mother, she considered it a moment and then remarked that she couldn't ever remember that sort of a situation occurring in my life. How rare you are! I promise not to make a habit of it.
I included the attached photo of you and I in the thank you cards that I sent out to the list you gave me, in case anyone comments on your mustache (or mine). I hope your session went well and your computer is doing better. I may get there before 7PM as Mel said the closing date on the contract was wrong and wants me to change it to 30 days out, and re-fax it.
Email From: Denise Kelly
Hi Carole, I was given your email by our friends, Burt and Arlene Alimansky. They told me all about your wonderful sanctuary, which I've already read about last year.
I am also an animal advocate and am co-founder of a group called the Avian Welfare Coalition (AWC). The AWC is a network representatives from avian and animal welfare groups, as well as professionals in the legal, veterinary and conservation community, who are dedicated to the ethical treatment and protection of captive exotic birds. You can visit our website at avianwelfare.org.
I also work with Best Friends Animal Sanctuary as a representative for their publication, Best Friends magazine, here in New York. Actually, I think we have another friend in common, Dr. Craig Brestrup, of the Association of Sanctuaries. Craig is a member of our coalition and several of our participants are accredited by TAOS. Craig is a wonderful person and has been very supportive of our efforts.
Irwin, my better half, and I do get to Florida quite a few times a year, and would love to visit your facility. We have heard nothing but good things about it! Anyway, I look forward to hearing back from you, as I'm sure we have a lot to talk about. Bye for now, Denise Kelly
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.
The Joy of Being With Howie Makes Up For All The Former Abuse By Men
Carole writes Howie 3/26/03:
Dear Howie, I had to start the USDA meetings at 7:30 and just now broke for lunch and wanted to come spend it with you. John Kirtland is here from Ringling (you met him at the open house) and he asked me to contact Richard Froemming again about allowing John to sit on our advisory board. He said Richard has cancer and is spending most of his time in the hospital these days, but still has a
tremendously strong outlook. I like Richard and wish to make contact with him to see if there is anything I can do to help him. John seemed to think this whole experience has made Richard a better man from a spiritual standpoint and often that is just what illness is meant to do. No sense suffering after you got the message though.
After you had filled out answers to 200 questions earlier in the day, I am sorry that I burdened you with two more (essay types at that). Thank you for your heartfelt answers and for taking the time to further contemplate the one about your business decisions and to clarify your position to me. It takes a lot of courage to admit fear.
My reason for asking that is to try and figure a way that we can help each other reach our fullest potential and to help us find ways that will enable us to experience our greatest satisfaction. I can't even begin to know how to implement something like that if I don't know what you want. Thus the question. As usual, your answer was well thought out, well said and easily understood. I appreciate you sharing it with me.
My question about your desires in a mate stem from not having any idea why you, of all people, aren't one of those ecstatically happy, married to the same woman for thirty years, types. You well could have been a relationship consultant because you understand the dynamics of the golden rule and incorporate them into every one of your relationships. You really are the rake (is that spelled right? I've never read a romance novel). The dark mysterious shroud about you is, "Why is this wonderful man single?" What I am finding, as you described in the novels, is that there is no darkness in the reason. The reason is perfectly justifiable, once the mystery is removed, and it turns out the hero really was a man of honour and integrity. I'm just trying to figure out the mystery.
Also, I am fearful of inadvertently driving you away. You will never hear me yell at you or anyone. You will never hear me say nasty things to you, or anyone. You can talk to my ex-husband and any man from my past to verify that I never yell and I am never mean. I will give you contact info on all of them I can find if you wish to do so. I was absolutely appalled at the way Mary spoke to Lewis on several occasions last Sunday, but particularly in respect to the glasses. There is no thing of more value than your mate and I thought her tone and words were castratingly cruel. There is no one that I have been more harsh with than my own daughter, and I expect far too much from her, but as you come to know her, I think you will find that she would not describe me as someone who has ever yelled or been nasty with her.
I've been told that my weakness in relationships is that I don't need anyone, or at least that I don't act like I do. My second husband was having a hard time deciding between Pam and me. She was ugly, incompetent, needy, spiteful and purposefully caused his divorce from Gladys in hopes that Don would marry her. Later Gladys told me that Don had raped his 15 year old niece and that hadn't
helped matters. When I asked our secretary, who knew Pam and I well, what it was that Don saw in her, Anne said "Pam needs him and you don't". Thus began my career of cars breaking down and getting locked out of things so that Don could feel useful. Fixing cars and breaking into locked houses and cars was Don's greatest talent, so I found a way for him to shine and feel good about himself.
I actually walked in on Don and Pam in bed one day in a trailer that was on the foreclosure list. I was with my “wife” Mary at the time and was deeply humiliated by having her witness the scene. I didn't say a word. I didn't slam the door. Later, I told him that his carelessness of places; knowing that I would be coming to look at the same property, was deeply hurtful, but I didn't ask him to stop running around because he said he felt like she loved him and he couldn't give her up. I did a lot of crying over his infidelity over the years, but not usually in his presence and again there was never any yelling, threatening or hateful words said. I didn't feel he was responsible for my happiness and if knowing how I felt didn't cause him to want to be more careful then nothing else I could say or do would elicit a change. To his credit, I never caught him again after we married in 1991, but I tried real hard not to. The only threat I ever made to him, as I told you before, was to turn him in to the IRS and that was the only thing I thought would scare him enough to not try and smuggle a cat in from Central America. I just didn't want him rotting in some third world prison over something that stupid and didn't know how else to get through. He felt that he was above being caught, so I had to use something he knew could clip his feathers.
Since Don there was Richard Martin for 6 months, Alan Schreier for 2 years and Peter Kent for 8 months although I knew it was over in the first month, but waited until the sixth month to tell him so. Then Jay Baykal for 5 months, but that was only because it took me two months to get him out of the house via a restraining order and tenant eviction. I chose Richard for all the wrong reasons. I didn't love him, but I made him feel loved. He was worth 10 million with no heirs, no family except a sister
and dying mother and in very bad health. His assets were commercial real estate and he wanted me to run everything for him. I couldn't do it. I couldn't sell out for money and broke up with him. He surrounds himself with drunks who are all yes-men that take full advantage of his condition. I might have stayed and run the company for him if I could have divested him of this group of derelicts, but he didn't want to give them up. He still calls and emails and faxes me asking me to give him another chance and telling me he will fire everyone and let me do the hiring, but my motives were not pure and I just don't respond. I don't know a nice way to tell him the truth and haven't.
Alan was 70,000.00 in debt and slept all day from depression when I met him. I bailed him out of debt, gave him 13 houses in Bartow, a 13 unit boarding house in St. Pete, for just the 85,000.00 that was originally owed on it, bought him an assisted living facility when he said that is what he wanted to do and invested 200,000.00 in a parcel of land he said he had presold and didn't. I tried to give him 3 commercial properties in Ybor, but he wouldn't collect the rents and I wasn't allowed to and they were lost in the conservatorship. Don had bought a 600,000.00 mortgage for 60k on those three, because of contamination and it was bringing in 3200.00 per month in rents. The boarding house brought in 3500.00 per month and the 13 houses in Bartow brought in the same. I tried to cut him in on the 3 gas stations in Pinellas and all he had to do there was collect rents, but he wouldn't do it and that is the one I later tried to run through Peter and hope to close on this week.
All I asked of Alan in return was that he pay a percentage of the water and lights, our vacation expenses (because he wanted to go somewhere every 3 months) and at the end of the 5 years that he put in the pool I just did. His days were spent laying on the couch watching golf. He loved to throw outrageous parties at the island, at my expense and wow all his friends with how successful he was in real estate. I figured he knew better and if he wanted them to believe he had done it on his own there was no harm in that. When he tried to convince me he had done it on his own I asked him if he was serious and when he assured me that he was I just said, "I am ready to move on." No drama. No yelling. I was dumbfounded and barely said it above a whisper. When he asked me what I meant, I said I wanted him to move out and gave him the option of me moving out until his new place was ready. I lived in the cabins for the month of October so that he wouldn't be inconvenienced by my presence at the island. I sold the ALF and the 200k parcel on time. He kept the other properties as if he were
somehow entitled to them. I let him, without a word.
I fell in love with Peter's words before I ever met him and explained to you that I was never sure he actually wrote them. He was homeless when I met him, but had 4500.00 a month in debt that I assumed for the entire time we were together. He insisted that our relationship be monogamous, but was still soliciting for sex online two months later. I let it ride for a couple months longer, during which time I watched him, solicited him via match.com and I kept asking if he wouldn't rather have an open relationship. He said he didn't. After intercepting 42 such solicitations for sex, I told him that I couldn't take it anymore and that I wanted him to move out in April. He asked to stay until he got his contractor's license in June and I allowed him to do so, but it was over for me. When he refused to move out, I moved him out while he was out of town, but again, there was no fighting. I couldn't take being lied to.
Jay asked me to marry him within 3 weeks of meeting me and that should have sent up a red flag. I was so impressed that he wanted me to give up everything to my daughter and come be with him. I had come to feel that all any man wanted me for was monetary gain. He quickly became very possessive, abusive and as I said before, the last straw was when he threatened my mother and
daughter. I can tolerate virtually anything aimed at me and have been beaten, shot with pellets, gagged, force fed, sold, traded, humiliated and emotionally ravaged, but I won't allow a threat to the ones I love. I never left Jamie alone with any man other than her father and even that cost her everything. I got the restraining order after he dragged me by the hair with a 9mm Glock pistol to my head. It took that much to get the order. Still, I never yelled, never threatened and never said anything mean to him.
Daniel Capiro and I butt heads more than anyone, but he will tell you that we resolve our differences respectfully. Most of the above are things you already have heard from me and I understand that all you have is my word thus far. You are welcome to inquire with each of these people under whatever guise you chose to see what the other side of the story entails. Richard Martin, III is in the St. Pete phone book but I don't have his #. Alan Schreier 263-8457 al1207@aol.com. Peter Kent psage1@mindspring.com Jay Baykal 407 797-4013 home phone 407-345-9405
I am embarrassed at the number of times I have failed in relationships, but in retrospect I think it is because my only criteria for loving a man has been that I thought them to be tolerable. As you have correctly observed, you have a very easy act to follow. All you have to do is not lie to me, not steal from me and not physically abuse me and you can't possibly go wrong.
You do bring so much happiness to my life that I feel I have been compensated for every evil that ever came my way. You have given me faith in mankind and allowed me to experience trust for the first time in my life. There is nothing in your character that could cause me to give up on loving you.
As for the future; I agree with you. All we have is today and today is marvelous. The meeting has restarted. I will talk to you later. Talk about confessions! Wow. - Carole
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.
Lots of Voices In My Head And Their Voices Are Different
Carole writes Howie 3/25/03:
Dear Howie, Note to self: The hair dryer will defrost a baked potato, but if you turn it on high you will spend the rest of the night scraping the flaky fish off the walls and ceiling of the bathroom.
This morning I woke up startled that you were not there. That lasted about a minute until I fully awakened and remembered why. Then I felt lonely and decided to stay with that a moment and to then take it a step further: What if I had seen you for the last time? How would I feel about that? I thought about how I had felt about that the day after Richard, Alan, Peter and Jay and how relieved I was that it was finally over. I even feel that way, to a certain extent, about Don. It has the weirdness of not being over, but from the standpoint of my life ever being about him, it is over and thankfully so.
There was nothing in me that would celebrate not having you in my life. There was nothing that said to me it would allow an opportunity for something better. That probably sounds strange, but even as much as I have taken on the responsibility for caring for others, and made their needs my needs, I always felt that my life would be easier without them. You make my life easier. You bring an element of security and stability that transcends any earthly issue. You give me a sense of peace.
It is a lasting sense of tranquility that exceeds time and space. As I held the question in my mind of how I would cope without you, I realized that having known you, having just known that you even existed on some ethereal plane, has been enough to make my life infinity better for all time. If I were never to see or touch you again, I would feel sadness at that deprivation, but would still be able to carry on great joy with just the experience of having known a spirit of your caliber. Having joined with your soul, I will always know you as a part of me, and will always find comfort in that union. Don't get me wrong, the bed behind me is looking REALLY empty, but the good news is that I am not freaked out by that.
I was rushed all morning and never did get to properly say good-bye, but I told myself that I would have time tonight to do that. How typical of me to think myself indestructible. The approach to Atlanta was the absolute worst I have ever experienced, including all of my own lousy landings. I was sure the pilot had never landed a plane before and as it lurched and nose dived I thought how
careless I had been in not taking the time to tell you how I felt before getting on that plane. What if I had never been given this opportunity to tell you what a tremendous impact you have made on me? I am always so overwhelmed with love and admiration for you, but I bite my tongue to keep from saying so, because I feel your discomfort when I do. I hear the uncertainty or the lack of ease in your voice when you tell me you love me. I am not sure if it is that you then feel you must reply, or if the words conjure up bad memories and association with actions that did not validate the meaning of the words. I am often torn between the desire to tell you how I feel and the need to make you comfortable; and not really knowing how to do that.
I know you love me. You make that abundantly clear in the way you treat me. I don't know how I got off on this tangent, other than to say that I don't know how to tell you I love you without making you uncomfortable. The inspiration for this letter was actually Wahn Penh, Tom and Ana's housekeeper. I was telling Bob about the meeting that you arranged for us with Stephanie and he commented that it must be great that you have all of these wonderfully well connected people in your sphere of influence. I told him that what impressed me more is how much all of these people love you.
I am not surprised that most of them think the world of you, because you really are a remarkable individual, but Wahn Penh caught me by surprise. I only spoke with her briefly but it struck me that she is not a great conversationalist and probably hadn't had the years of long talks into the night with you about her life and her needs and desires, as many of your relationships seem to have. When Ana told her about my love for the animals Wahn Penh pulled her aside and said that you should not bring any other woman to "her house", implying that I lived up to her standards of the type of woman that was good enough for you. While it was nice to be accepted by her, my deepest impression of this statement was that even the Thai housekeeper of your friends' is so enamoured with you that she takes it upon herself to evaluate your potential mates with concern that they will be good for you.
I'm reading Endless Referrals by Bob Burg. I know his face, but can't place where I met him. I got to practice on the people seated next to me on the plane today. The theory is that in networking you don't tell people what you do. You ask them about what they do and how you can help them and then you do whatever you can to assist them. By doing that, with no expectation of reciprocation, people come to trust you and, if you prove yourself valuable to them, will eventually try to learn how they can help you. I found this interesting because I have always thought that it was considered rude to ask a person, especially one of the opposite sex, what they do for a living or anything about their personal life or beliefs. So many people comment on my candid manner, that I have come to expect that most people are more guarded in their answers and must be that way because they are not comfortable divulging such information.
I often don't ask you things because I feel that if you think it is any of my business you will tell me. Saying that out loud just makes it more apparent how silly that assumption is, given the nature of the things I wonder about. How would you ever guess? Two things, totally unrelated that I wonder about a lot, I am going to ask. If you don't want to respond, just say so, or ignore me. If now is not a good time, that is fine too. I am going to step out on a limb and assume that you won't find it rude.
It seems you have compiled a mental list of traits that you didn't want in a mate. The exchange between you and Mary and Lewis Key the other night indicated that you have well defined ideas of what you want and don't want in a woman. I would expect (because I do this myself) that you are sitting back to see what I would ordinarily do without your input so that you have an unfiltered impression of who I really am. Once you are comfortable with your observation and certain that you know my essence, I would like to know every detail of what you want. You have kindly asked me to just be myself, and that is easy enough, perhaps too easy.
You mentioned that sometimes my tone is different. Some people say I have a different accent or speech pattern. My gut level reaction to that was to think it is because I can be whoever you need me to be. It just sounded a little more bizarre to say it than I wanted to deal with just then. By letter I can deal with bizarre better because I can delete what would, in person, have been incessant rambling to try and verbalize what is in my head. My obligation to God will always guide me to be the best kind of person that I know how to be, but within that parameter, I would like to know how to best please you.
My other question is: What would you do with your business if you knew that it couldn't fail? Is there anything that you wished you could do more of, or that you would like to try, that you haven't done because you weren't sure it was economically the best choice? My greatest curiosity about people is in what motivates them. There are lots of hard ways to try and ascertain such information, but if the direct approach does not offend you then I would really like to know.
I hope your meetings in Orlando went well and that your visit with friends was pleasant. It is way past my bed time, so I will probably sleep well. If I dream of you, then all the better. I hope your dreams are sweet and your sleep is deep and refreshing. I don't know what the hours are for this thing tomorrow, but will check in tomorrow night, if not before. Loving you, Carole
(I’m entering these letters from those I had filed away, but am finding many of the responses by Howie to be missing from my collection. If I ever find them; I’ll include them.)
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.
Momma Jacquie Makes Miraculous Recovery
Carole writes Howie on 3/23/03
Dear Howie, I couldn't be happier! Watching you in the pool this morning, I imagined myself as each raindrop on your face. I wanted to be warm and soothing as I dripped into your hair and ran rivulets down your cheeks. I imagined being the water that you were immersed in and feeling your body moving through me. I swirled in ecstasy around your nakedness wishing I were warmer for you so that the moment would last longer and be as pleasant for you as it was for me. This morning in church I could feel your embrace.
Today my grandmother felt good enough to come to worship. My mother said her doctor had been telling her that her preliminary tests were not good and that he had to send them out to see just how dire the situation was, but that he was suggesting she go ahead and move in with my Aunt and begin to accept that life was not going to be the same for her any more. He was scaring everyone with his anticipation of the worst and that was further aggravated by the fact that he has been her doctor for a very long time and seemed to know the score. Since the episode in the hospital, when she took such a dramatic turn for the better, Momma Jacquie kept insisting that she was going to be "just fine".
Yesterday her doctor called her with the lab results and said he couldn't explain it, but that he just had to call and tell her she was right and that they can't find a single thing wrong with her. My mother said that is something that he never should have told her because she is really riding high on being right. She was weak but looked good.
My mother and I had a chance to visit a little and she said that she knew she liked you from the first time she met you, but that after working with you, she was even a greater fan of yours. She said you are not like anyone I have ever brought into their life. She described you as being "elegantly conservative". She suggested that I try not to be too weird and scare you off. She reiterated that
sentiment about the family in general in this email from her:
"Howie does have an easy-going personality and is very knowledgeable. You can tell he is thinking things through before he speaks - that's good. I hope it is not too stressful for him in getting to know our family. I have the updated report in your box. I am sending new discs to Andrea. I can tell from the report we have duplicated some of her "journal" entries. The mortgage payments and interest still are not showing on the report because they are under "Other Assets" and that does not show as "Income". I will ask her how to show that when we are printing out the report for a grant request. Love, Mom"
She said that after you left the other night, she told my father that I was serious about you and that he sat back and smiled. Having never witnessed his opinion of any man in my life, I didn't know what that meant. I waited for her to explain and she said, "That is a very positive response. Every other time that I said, "Your daughter is getting involved with so-and-so" he would burst out into a tirade of every reason in the world that he didn't like the man and why that was a stupid thing for me to do. This time he just relaxed and smiled." Well, aren't you something special?
The lesson today was about Genesis 2:18 the verse about woman being created for man. Brother Qualls illustrated that further with Gen. 24 which is the story of Abraham having his servant select a bride (Rebekkah) for Isaac from among his kindred back home. The servant prayed that God would show him the right woman by this sign: That when he asked the women at the well for a drink that
the right one would not only give him a drink but water his camels as well, which, of course, Rebekkah did. (Does watering the cats count?) The point was that a mate should be someone sent from God, someone who is loving and giving, one who is committed and one who fills all of the other's needs. I can't think of any better criteria than that, nor anyone who meets it as well as you. I am so happy to be sharing this time with you! Life just couldn't be better! Love, Carole
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.
Don Makes Me the Sole Beneficiary of His Helicopter Brothers Investment Meanwhile, in Costa Rica Don on May 9, 1997 made me the sole executor and beneficiary of his Costa Rican will and if I were already deceased everything went to the cats. Found receipt for airplane fuel dated 7/26/97 for SYY CU 28.70 gallons paid cash by Don Lewis in receipts that were in the office trailer I brought from east Tampa to Easy Street. More evidence that his office staff knew Don was flying illegally.
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.
From the future: 2/25/2021 I emailed the person who sent me these saying, “These are some of the most exciting clips you have sent me because this was right after the amnesia and in my diary I was so fuzzy on when all of this was. Thanks!” She sent three dated 5/25/1989, 6/22/1989 and 6/25/1989 and the June ones had a new trainer, Denise Pace, so I had probably already broken up with Bill Benjamin by that time and were letting the horses go in claiming races.
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.
Peace, Happiness and Joy
Carole writes Howie 3/21/03 Today...I wish you a day of ordinary miracles-
• An unexpected phone call from an old friend.
• Green stoplights on your way to work or shop.
• I wish you a day of little things to rejoice in...
• The fastest line at the grocery store.
• A good sing along song on the radio.
• Your keys right where you look.
• I wish you a day of happiness and perfection-little bite-size pieces of perfection that give you the funny feeling that the Lord is smiling on you, holding you so gently because you are someone special and rare.
• I wish You a day of Peace, Happiness and Joy.
They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them.
Thank you for arranging the meeting with Stephanie. I cannot thank you enough for your support and generosity with your time in these matters that consume so much of my attention. It is so difficult to find things that I can do for you as you are so self sufficient. Paying you is the only way I can think of to keep my problems from being a burden for you. When I am singing the blues about not being able to afford paid help at WOES, I am speaking only of that entity's ability to fund growth. My real estate business is doing fine and now that I have been unleashed from all of the ridiculous expenses of the conservatorship it will recover nicely. It's always easier the second time around because you've learned from the mistakes. Please keep track of the time you spend on my behalf and we can argue later about how I can repay you. ;-). What would you recommend that we bring Stephanie?
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.
If There is a Heaven, I Am Living It Now
Carole writes Howie 3/12/03:
Dear Howie, Sorry to hear of your frustration. I hope the work out does the trick for you. As for being ravished, I will always take my lead from you. My desire is to please you and if that is seven times a week, or once a week, it is your decision and I am happy with whatever you choose. I don't often initiate sex because I know that my desire will eventually be satisfied.
I was writing the following for the past couple of hours:
Dear Howie, It's been one of those days where I wonder if it's real of if I'm making it up as I go along. As I entered the courthouse, the guards all knew my name, even though I didn't recognize most of them. Larry Herndon (the bird-dog I mentioned last night) who I haven't seen in over a year came running up to schmooze me. I sat down in the auditorium and a familiar looking woman came and sat beside me. I asked where I knew her from and she said, "If your name is Carole, we sat next to each other at a tax deed auction." Shyly she asked if Bob was my husband, boyfriend or available. She was wearing an engagement ring but I told her he'd love to hear from her and she said she would call.
Now I remembered her. She'd practically sat in my lap to get closer to Bob that day. She was still was carrying his number but explained that she hadn't called because she couldn't ascertain the nature of our relationship. I went out for coffee and ran into Larry Hodge, the man from church who is being considered as an Elder, that I introduced to you at Red Lobster. He was here for jury duty as well. We talked about the real estate business and crime until I was called.
Standing in the hall a familiar looking man came up to shake my hand. I felt like a mule had kicked me in the kidneys and almost buckled from the impact of his hand in mine. I couldn't place his face yet but I knew his health was severely compromised. He told me his name was Gary Costello and that he had been a volunteer of mine 5 or 6 years ago. He said he'd left because his health had been so bad. He said he wasn't fairing any better these days, but asked if he got to feeling better if he would be welcome, since he had been the side kick to a woman that I dismissed for forcing a cat into a carrier. (Judy Watson) I told him that I didn't hold him responsible for her behaviour and that I would love to have him back. I was trying to consciously shake the physical impact of touching him by reminding myself that I don't have to experience everyone's pain. I reminded myself that to do so was only the Ego validating the experience and I don't need that sort of validation. I was looking out the window and felt the wind in the leaves. Then I became the wind and passed through the trees, through the clouds, through time...
I passed back through time to when you "put out to the Universe" that you were ready for me. I reflected over the immediacy of being summoned to your side. I didn't know what was happening. I remembered ascending the winding incline at the aquarium, just a few steps behind you. I could feel the discomfort in your lower back. I could see pain in your gait. I remember thinking, "If he'd let me
touch him, I could fix that." I know that I have no power, but rather seem to just be a big amplifier between those who need help and the Source that is capable of giving it.
Despite your friendliness and apparently gregarious personality, I sensed a shyness that said, "If you touch him, he'll run like a scared rabbit." Rather than touch you openly as we talked, I opted to move closer into your aura and touch you with mine. When you left abruptly I figured I had intruded on your space by embracing your spirit too aggressively. From what you've said that wasn't' perceived, but what I found interesting about the entire encounter was that I wanted to touch you. I felt that it was my responsibility, my calling, to aid you in whatever way I could. The physical felt like the most obvious. My whole life has been a dance of trying to avoid human contact and here I was reaching out for it with you.
I reflected on the passage from Genesis and your apparent amusement with the idea that I was created for you. Had I been more spontaneously articulate I might have explained that I don't see that concept as suggesting inequality, but rather as a role that I feel particularly well designed to fulfill. If I were to tell you that I feel that my ultimate purpose is reached in doing all that I can to make your life richer, I could expect to hear you ask, "What about you?"
Tears streamed down my cheeks as I silently answered your unasked question: "You give me gentleness. You give me love. You give me respect. In these ways you have already filled my every need." I was trembling all over, much like the way I do when we make love. I didn't feel like I would collapse, but rather as though I was being lifted up. I vacillated between wondering what the other
jurors were thinking about this trembling, crying woman and the way they might do the same if I started levitating there in the hall. I made a conscious effort to keep my feet on the floor as I walked away. (as if I needed to) Moments later a woman passing by exclaimed, "How do you do that?" I looked at her quizzically, and she went on, "How do you walk like that?!?" I looked down to make sure my feet were still on the ground and they were. I can only guess what she meant, so I just smiled and floated on by.
On the way back from lunch I was standing at a cross walk and became aware that my spirit was drifting between the buildings, leaving my body just standing on the corner. Going back to retrieve myself, I saw that the light was in my favour, and I stepped out into the street. A car, turning into my path stopped and I looked up a little startled. When the woman waved at me, I recognized that it
was Carolyne Clendenin, one of my volunteers. She represents something very special to me in our volunteer staff in that she named her first born after one of the other volunteers and has such a love for the whole group. They all get along so well now, and that has been a rough road. She is a stay at home mom, but schedules everyone for the cabins and special tours via the web site and her phone. I never expected to see her downtown.
After lunch all of the cases had been resolved so I was dismissed. I arrived at the hospital as my aunts were trying to hold my grandmother's shivering body still enough for the nurse to change the IV. She was as pale as a ghost, chattering her teeth and looking like death. She had blood all over her and the bed from the difficulty they were having with the IV. They never did get it back in. My Aunt Barbara turned to me and said, "I'm afraid we're going to lose her!" I smiled and walked up to the foot of the bed. Obscurely, I put my hands down at the soles of her feet and said, "Oh, she's going to be just fine." Both aunts looked at me like I was out of my mind.
My Aunt Carole said "She's been shaking like this for hours and her fever just keeps going higher and higher!" as if I didn't understand the severity of the situation. Almost immediately, Momma Jacquie slumped over and I watched her chest to see if she was breathing, although I didn't feel too concerned. She quit shaking, her colour resumed and in five minutes or so my Aunt declared that her forehead was a cool as a cucumber.
On the way there, I was trying to think of a way to overcome all of this depression she's been subject to since my grandfather died in November of 1997. I decided I would ask her what she had always wanted to do with her life, what she would have done for a living if money had not been an object and what she really enjoys. I don't know those things about her and expect she doesn't either. Perhaps with someone else to focus on, she could overcome this upbringing that had caused her to evaluate her worth based upon her value to the man in her life. Most of the afternoon, even after her remarkable recovery, she was delirious, so I didn't bring it up.
My Aunt Barbara asked when she was going to meet you, and my grandmother piped up, saying, "You are going to love that Howie! He is just the kindest man and is so handsome! I especially like his mouth, the way he forms his words, and his teeth. His teeth are one of his best features." I relayed to her that you would agree with the latter part of that statement and told her how you had felt the dentist was surely wrong when you heard about your first cavity. Later she asked what I was going to do tonight and I told her that I was going to church and that I was going to go see you. She asked what we do together and I said that we read a lot. She thought I meant that we read to each other and she sat up in bed and said, "that's what I want to do!"
My Aunts were trying to get her to lay back down, but now she was really animated and began saying how she always wanted to help children learn to read and that as soon as she was feeling better she was going to do that. In that moment her life seemed to hold more promise than it has in the last six years. As if I had done my part she reminded me that I had spent more time with her today than I have in 30 years. (That was sad but true and she couldn't resist) She told me to go home and that she was going to be just fine. They are giving her a couple pints of blood tonight because she is anemic and has had some internal bleeding. I offered to bring tiger blood if she really wants a kick. (Kidding, of course)
I feel such a peacefulness with the whole situation. Whether she lives or dies, I feel that our lives are unfolding as they should, and that is a radical change for me. If she chooses to leave this world, then I know she will have had her reasons. More than 20 years ago, when she was in that near fatal car crash with the semi, I couldn't visit her in the hospital. She was my mother, and I couldn't bear to see her in such pain. She has never let me live that down and to this day will make remarks about my lack of love for her being so vast that I wouldn't even come see her when she was dying. Today there was no apprehension and even when I walked in on what would easily be described as a horrifying scene, I felt perfectly as ease.
I often muse over the fact that I don't "recognize" you from "before". So many people I feel I've shared life times of unresolved issues with. We just keep doing it over and over until we get it right. With you there is a break with the past. I have almost no concern for the future. If there is a Heaven, I am living it now. Love Always, Carole
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.
Four Months of Bliss Carole writes Howie 3/2/03 Dear Howie, I just spent the last couple of hours reading back over our letters and getting a sense of the time line involved. Your celebration of the first got me thinking along those lines I suppose. What a glorious four months! I enjoy you more with every thought, every encounter. It is like the awe you described of watching lava flow or in the way a bud will open. I am so happy to have this time to get to know you and to experience this unfolding. My mother and grandmother asked about you this morning. My father and I worked on the gift shop door today for an hour in the rain. Not that I was any help, but he seems to really enjoy the camaraderie. I hope the weather was better at Disney. They probably have a deal with The Big Guy for Disney styled weather. I am chilled to the bone, but don't want to get in the hot tub with the screen guys here. I will look forward to warming my feet up against you later on. I would rather not spend the night with you while you have company. They have come a long way to be with you and I do not wish to intrude on their time. If they were going to be here a week I'd insist that I didn't want to be away from you that long, but a day or two probably won't kill me. I don't remember if you said they are here Thurs and Fri or Fri and Sat. Just let me know which days. I really should get the trust documents done for the seven properties from last week. I will see you at about 6:45, but will be thinking of you virtually every moment in between. Just for the record, the teal rabbit did its thing in 40 or 45 seconds. I am not sure about the last five seconds as I was falling out of the chair, screaming in ecstasy. What a great toy! Thanks again. Love, Carole I Carry Howie With Me Everywhere Carole writes Howie 3/9/03 Dear Howie, Thank you for last night. I enjoyed the game (much to my surprise) and especially enjoyed seeing you have a good time. Your enthusiasm is contagious. I especially enjoyed reconnecting with you last night. You breathe new life into me. You arouse a wanting in me that is foreign to my nature. There isn't anything that I want for. I am content for the most part with whatever the day may bring, but when I am near you, it is different. Restraining myself from touching you, kissing you, being within your aura; is truly a test of will. When I do have the opportunity to reconnect with you physically, I cannot restrain the passion that makes me want you so badly. Funny, the image that comes to mind: I raised Catera, the retarded bob cat, and for the first year, he couldn't remember how to eat, but he would be so hungry that he would just bury his face in the food and inhale as hard as he could. That is kind of how I feel when I get close to you. I just want to bury my face in you and inhale you through every pore. Feeling your arms around me, much like the feeling of you inside me, is a cellular memory that I carry with me everywhere. Even when you are miles away you are ever present. Life is SO good! With Love, Carole When You Feel Clothes On Your Body You are Wearing Me Carole writes Howie 3/10/03 Dear Howie, Just thinking of you and reaching out to let you know. When you feel the warmth of the sun on your face, know I am there, kissing you softly. When you feel the heat of the Jacuzzi on your skin, know that it is the heat of my desire for you. When you feel the weight of your clothes upon your body, know that you are wearing me. I feel so connected to you and all that is beautiful.
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.
County Attorney Drops ADA Charges
Carole writes Howie At 10:46 AM 2/28/03: The County Attorney called Scott and said they are dropping the ADA charges. I am awaiting confirmation via fax, but it looks like good news.
I will try to be at your place by 7PM tonight, unless I hear different from you. I got all 7 quiet title suits prepared and emailed to my attorney. I think that must be some sort of record for me. Having some of the stress relieved made it easier for me to focus. Having you last night relieved a lot of tension. ;-)
I revisited the figures and comps on Timberlan and countered at 160k. It sold for 190k in 1999 and wasn't in much better condition then.
The printer under the desk is an Epson Stylus C80. I have no idea if that means laser or bubble jet, because it is in my HP box. You are welcome to it if you need it. I bought it for Jamie, but she needed a larger carriage for printing 14 inch photos. My mother bought the exact same printer the same week and as a result this one was used for only a week before being relegated to under my desk. I am one of those people who won't take things back to the store, if they don't fit, don't work or I don't need them. The whole family is like that, so I am guessing it is a genetic defect. - Carole
Howie writes Carole 28 Feb 2003 11:17:14
Outstanding!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you for the nice offer of the printer. The spare I have is probably similar, but I do appreciate the offer. Tom Patke is tpatka@msn.com, 839-0959 if you decide you want to talk to him. Not sure what he is like to work with. When he calls about lunch, I'll see if we can coordinate a tour. If it clears and you feel like roller blading late afternoon I'm game. Interesting in seeing if there are any movies that might be fun this evening? - Howie
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.
Howie Adds Me to His Gym Membership
27 Feb 2003 11:49:40
After the minister jokes, I figure I better give equal time:
A young Jewish man excitedly tells his mother he's fallen in love and that he is going to get married. He says, "Just for fun, Ma, I'm going to bring over 3 women and you try to guess which one I'm going to marry."
The mother agrees.
The next day he brings three beautiful women into the house and seats them on the couch, and they chat for a while. He then says, "Okay, Ma guess which one I'm going to marry."
She immediately replies, "The one on the right."
"That's amazing, Ma. You're right. How did you know?"
The Jewish mother replies "I don't like her."
From: Howard Baskin to Carole Lewis
Tim, per our conversation, I would like to upgrade my membership 3649 from the current Single Gold to Family Gold and add Carole Lewis to my membership. I understand that there is a $99 initial charge and that my monthly charge will now be $166. Please reply so I know you received this email. Thanks very much.
Howie writes Carole 27 Feb 2003 17:10:06
I don't quite understand the transaction but I'm curious about this stuff you do and as we discussed prepared to dabble. Sounds to me like you are being a bit generous though because you are both putting up the money and then doing the work, but I like the general idea so let's discuss. I felt better about the other deal because you seemed to need a financial partner (at least to keep Mom off your
back) so I felt like I would have been making a contribution there, not just being along for a free ride. But happy to look at this.
Meantime, let's not keep a tally, but let's also not forgot that you sprung for a recliner that, regardless of the empty corner, I don't think would be there but for me, so you've already invested in my comfort too. :-)
Thinking further, I may need that lot in Moon Lakes when they repossess this place. Do they allow tents?
In case you have not gotten it yourself from Mel, the roofer is Carlos at DeVito Contracting, cell 310-3576. Only spoke for a few minutes to Mel, but he sounds like a fun character. Thanks. Roofer did call this morning claiming he did not get message from wife and promised to be here tomorrow
morning. Life goes on. Hope you had some success bidding.
You are now a member. Next time you are there, if you ask for Tim or anyone in sales they will take a photo and make a card for you. You might take a copy of this email for easy reference in case it is not Tim.
Dear Howie, Thank you for taking care of that for me. I am happy to reimburse you the 100.00 up front cost and the 50.00 per month (700.00 in the year) in whatever excuse we can find (meals, gas, hotels...) or would propose the following:
None of the regulars showed up for the tax deed sale today and I was the high bidder on 7 of them. That is the most I have ever been able to get at one sale. I let Bob pick and buy four of them from me for cost to keep him busy and because I agreed to show him how and had him along for the ride this time. They are all just little trailer lots in Moon Lakes. I have one on Jungle St. that I paid 679.22
for today. It is tax assessed at 5,929.00 but I typically only sell them for around 2500.00. I have been told that you can't find one in there for under 3500.00 but I haven't verified that. Mine did sell fast.
If you don't want to mess with monthly repayment on the gym, I can draft a trust document on this one making you the owner. I will have to invest 500.00 in the Quiet Title suit and a little under 400.00 for the survey in order to sell it. I would invest those costs and then just deduct them when it sells. We could then split the profit and if you enjoy the process, repeat it. Either way is fine with me.
It is a small world. If you haven't told Carlos who you are to me, you might not want to mention it as one of the men I broke up with to be with you is named DeVito and owns a Contracting firm that bears his name. It may not be the same family, but you might not want to let him know that you were the one who cost him the woman of his dreams. I don't know Carlos, but didn't know all of his sons and son in laws either.
Do you have any idea how wonderful it feels to have such a great day at work and yet still know that I will have a better time with you later? I just hope I don't embarrass us at the party ;-) - Carole
Howie writes Carole 27 Feb 2003 17:04:13
Hmmm. Sounds like my leaky roof problems might just be starting, eh? Have not spoken to Carlos and if all goes well will not need him for this repair, but will try to remember the warning. Thanks.
Maybe I should get a list of these men in case some time I don't tell you before I contact someone? :-)
Howie writes Carole In a message dated 2/27/2003 8:15:29 AM
Just so I have my head in the right place, does "in my arms" mean you are feeling better, or should I plan on continued restraint for another day or so? :-) - Howie
Carole writes Howie At 08:31 AM 2/27/03:
I am ready for you. - Carole
Howie writes Carole 27 Feb 2003 09:02:48
Ah, then as in the joke I told you, "tonight is the night!". See you later. - Howie
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.
Collapsing With a Panic Attack During Tennis
Carole writes Howie At 10:02 AM 2/25/03: Larry Hodge, and Miss Gail, his wife, that I introduced you to at Red Lobster, called this morning. Larry asked who that good looking man was that I had introduced them to and I told him your name. He responded by saying, "We think he might just be the one." When I asked why, he said because you had more class than all the rest of the men I had ever been with put together. Larry and Gail have known me for 15 years. Larry had never made a comment on anyone that I had brought to church before and you know how little time we spent talking to them, and yet they were that taken with you.
I gave Dan a scare this morning when I collapsed on the court with one of my panic attacks. I hadn't thought to warn him that it could happen and that it's no big deal. I wasn't pushing it, just standing there at the time. At least he didn't have time to call 911 before I was back on my feet. Hope you have a lovely day. Mine is looking promising. - Carole
Howie writes Carole: I hope you realize that it was not inexpensive to bribe everyone as they walked into the church. :-) That was very nice of Larry and Gail, and particularly to take the effort to actually call about it. What I observe here, which may not have as much emphasis for you as you focus on their comments about me, is that these comments demonstrate how much so many people care about you and your happiness, and that is a wonderful testimony to who YOU are and how you have touched so many people.
The image of you collapsing just seems so scary, and yet you deal with this and other adversity so well and so positively. I'm just so sorry this happens. Wish I could "fix" it. Maybe adding something to your life will reduce them. I wonder if our discussion about your house may have unsettled something inside you, if not consciously, then subconsciously? It was kind of a choppy discussion, maybe because I felt like it was not time yet to have it, but it will all work out and there are no big obstacles. Anyway, hope you have a great day from this point on. See you later. - Howie
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.
Family ALL Love Howie
Howie writes Carole 23 Feb 2003 17:54:29
Thanks. I think we have already shared our different views on our intimacy, which I view as a blessing, not a sin. But since you believe it is a sin, I'm just thankful that (a) you seem unable to resist the temptation and (b) you picked me to sin with. And for your sake, I'm glad to read that you at least do not believe this keeps you from a positive experience after death. God would certainly be a dolt to have this count for much compared to the way you have followed her [:-)]. most important rule, the golden one.
I'll be curious to hear if you got any questions or feedback at church tonight about your mystery guest? See you soon. - Howie
Carole writes Howie: Dear Howie, The jury reconvened in record time with a unanimous sentence of life for you. The first words out of my mother's mouth were, "the whole family really thinks he is just perfect for you." Now, that could be taken tongue in cheek, except that she went on to say how nice you are and how much everyone liked you. Momma Jacquie was particularly enamoured and that probably meant the most to me because she understands me better than anyone else in the family. I relayed the comment you made about needing my helmet to talk to my father and Mom assured me that all you need to do is talk cages to engage him civilly. He's actually seen you twice now and still not made a negative comment to my mother, which is tantamount to a miracle. - Carole
Feeling Remarkably Connected and Peaceful
Carole writes Howie: Dear Howie, It is rare that I find myself in a position to be not distracted for an extended period of time. While sitting in the hospital all morning, I tried to read The Dead Sea Scrolls, but all I could think about was wanting to reach out to you; to call you, to touch you, to send you a note letting you know that you are in my every thought. Since none of those options were available to me, I decided to "fly" to you, hover over you and through you, like your skin or the blood in your veins... I enjoyed it. Was it good for you? ;-)
Tim Cangliosi’s surgery went pretty well, they could cure the cataract problem and said they will have to clean it up with lasers later, but tomorrow he hopes to have the bandages off and see if it was an improvement. He asked a lot about you and I told him how much I love you and how impressed I am with you as a person. I want to talk to you more about that, but have to go for right now.
I hope your day is full of wonderful moments of tranquility. I woke up feeling remarkably connected and peaceful. Carole
Howie writes Carole: On any of the days you are coming here, I'd like you to feel free to arrive whenever best fits your schedule. If some days arriving early and either roller blading or working here is convenient, that's great. On busy days when you need to work into the night, midnight is fine.
The only reason I ask is that if, for instance, I know you are going to arrive around 7 and it is will be your feeding time [:-)] then rather than eat at 6:30 I'd rather wait and join you, but for instance if you won't be here til 10, then I'll eat as it occurs to me. So if you find that in late afternoon you have some idea of the likely time, it is helpful to let me know, but not essential.
And some days you simply may not know until you are heading this way, which is fine. And as always, any night you for any reason don't feel like coming over, just say so. While I think we are both enjoying being together in the evening and waking together, it is by no means essential that it be every night, so just do what works best for you. Okey dokey?
Howie writes Carole: Not to inundate you with emails (the list you showed me that you had collected the other night kind of shocked me), here is a one that has a classic message about marriage, but not one I would guess you would identify with personally. :-)
A wife arrived home from a shopping trip and was shocked to find her husband in bed with a lovely young woman. Just as she was about to storm out of the house, her husband called out "Perhaps you should hear how all this came about. . .
"I was driving home on the highway when I saw this young woman looking tired and bedraggled. I brought her home and made her a meal from the roast beef you had forgotten about in the fridge.
"She was bare-footed so I gave her your good sandals which you had discarded because they had gone out of style.
"She was cold so I gave her the sweater which I bought for you for your birthday but you never wore because the color didn't suit you.
"Her pants were torn, so I gave her a pair of your jeans, which were perfectly good, but too small for you now.
"Then just as she was about to leave, she asked, 'Is there anything else your wife doesn't use anymore?'"
Howie writes Carole 24 Feb 2003 15:15:32
Was not conscious of a presence, but you were on my mind. That was "good for me".
Having a productive, peaceful day, thanks. Looking forward to seeing you whenever you arrive.
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.
How To Introduce Howie to The Family
Carole writes Howie:
Well you could set a calendar by my body. The next date to watch out for is Mar. 20, which works out perfect as I should be in Ft. Worth for the last of it and over it by the time we leave for NY.
You mentioned that you were booking rooms and flights. Let me know what I owe you and I will bring a check. You agreed early on that I could pay my own way on trips. You also set the rule that if you ask me out somewhere locally you pay and the reverse is necessarily fair, so I put your 40.00 in the front cover of your book downstairs where Crystal sleeps. I can see that this could become a huge test of wills and creativity in trying to find some way to pass the money back and forth, if I didn't remind you of your own rule ;-)
I am uncertain how to proceed with getting you and my family all around a table. I always pay everyone's way when our family gets together. My mother will sometimes try to fight me for the check, but usually concedes unless it is my birthday or something. My father doesn't eat with us unless it is my birthday or his. My extended family has no problem in letting me pay and none of my mates has ever had a problem with it, except Jay, but he made 400k a year and was in the habit of feeding huge troops of people that he called friends.
I don't want to make you uncomfortable, but I don't want you paying the bill either, because just my brother's clan can be 5-8 people, so I am open for suggestions about how to handle this. If you want to split it with me at the time, I can reimburse you in cash privately later. I get a couple hundred in cash per month that I don't have to account to anyone for. (Jamie reimburses me for her insurance in cash each month, not anything weird...). I am late for the gym. - Carole
Howie writes Carole: You have left me quivering this morning. Uncle....I concede on the $40 and will find it.
It has always been my habit to play the traditional male role and pay for dates. And while the women I have dated have generally had careers, in most cases I was better off financially so this made sense. Most occasionally wanted to reciprocate, particularly if there was a reason like treating me for my birthday or as a special thanks for something, or just to participate occasionally. I'm not a fanatic about it, I just don't want you, out of past habit, thinking you have to bear the brunt of our entertainment expense.
Separately, I think it is wonderful that you have been so financially successful, far more than I have. As far as I know, I don't have any big ego issues about that, but I think I would have a problem feeling that you were bearing the brunt of expense. If you were someone who enjoyed expensive things that I felt I could not afford, like exotic trips, there might be a problem because I think I would feel "kept" and be very uncomfortable. But you don't, so it does not appear to be an issue.
Let's chat about family. Some thoughts: Gathering them all around a table is probably not a good way to meet them. One can only chat personally with one person or couple at a time. I'd be more inclined to meet your sister and brother on one occasion, your mom on another. If you dad does not tend to participate, it could be just lunch with your mom some time. And one way to avoid the check issue with your brother is we could do dinner here, which I would be delighted to do. If it is really important to you to pay for part of the food for that you can, but it really is not necessary. A better idea would be to let me do that, and then another time when we might eat out with them you can pay if you like.
There is no rush or urgency either. I'm interested to meet your Mom and brother because they appear to be important parts of your life. But I don't feel left out or have any problem with not having met them or not meeting them, and I certainly don't want it to be something that causes you any stress. When you actively feel like you would enjoy our socializing with them is when we should. If I'm going to spend more time with your dad, can I borrow your skating helmet? :-)
Re trip, when I spoke of splitting expenses I more had in mind a situation where we decided to take a vacation. Here, I've asked you to come to introduce you to friends and attend a function to keep me company and would gladly have paid. However, I have a feeling I'd lose that battle and find the cash tied to Crystal's tail or something. Probably easiest is if I pick up the airfare, and then as bills arise,
like the various hotels and meals, you pick up some to approximate half. That way if you find you can deduct this as a business trip, you have discreet bills on your credit card rather than a check to me to work from. But happy to do whatever works best for you.
I too get a few hundred a month that I don't have to account to anyone for - but only because the cats don't ask. I hope you are not too uncomfortable today. - Howie
Carole writes Howie: Dear Howie, With each thought of you I smile and sigh deeply. Such a wave of peace courses through my veins. It often leaves me feeling there are no words to express the bliss and I am content to just feel you. It is so easy to be with you because you never seem to seek explanation from me and seem to know my heart, but I don't suppose that can always be the case and I wish to clarify something about a question you asked this morning.
There is nothing in the Bible that says you have to "join" a local congregation to go to heaven. On the contrary the Bible states that when people obey God, that He adds them to His church in a universal sense. I obeyed when I was 12. When I say that I have never joined the church, I mean that I have never formally asked to be recognized as a member of the Church of Christ that worships at Citrus Park.
To do so isn't anything terribly formal, but rather just for me to state that I wish to be a part of the group that meets there and they would announce to the congregation that I had asked to do so. There isn't any sort of voting, nor investigation, nor any other qualifying. There is a little directory of member's names and phone numbers that they compile for each other to stay in contact and I would be added to that list, but that is about the extent of it. Everyone there gets Cat Tales, so they all know how to reach me. As a member I would be expected to give financially as I have been blessed, but I have always done so anyway.
The Bible tells us not to keep company with sinners because we are prone to be like the people we associate with. For that reason, even though I am always invited, I rarely ever attend potlucks in the park or anything where the "members" get together outside of worship just to socialize. I don't want young people growing up in the church to think that it is okay to live like I do just because they see that I am otherwise a good person.
This is part of the same reason that I have never asked to be recognized as a part of this group. Anyone who knows me would argue that my sex life outside of an approved marriage shouldn't be enough to keep me from Heaven and I am hoping that God will be as lenient, but it is a bad example that is almost made worse by the fact that I am well loved there. If I could live my life by two words, it would be: No Excuses. I don't make them for myself and I don't want others making them for me. I have chosen the life I live and no one is responsible for it but me.
You do not cause me to fail in my responsibilities to God nor as an example to others. I was failing just fine before I met you. :-) It is sort of a moment by moment failing at that. I don't believe that the ends justify the means. My sin is in my attitude of making my desires more important than doing what I believe to be right. I don't believe that it is okay to have premarital sex with you based upon
the hope that one day it will be post marital sex and thus justified. I know myself well enough to know that if it weren't with you then it would have been with someone else, because I need the intimacy. Now, perhaps, it would be the Teal Rabbit, but he wasn't a player before. Does he count? ;-)
All of this is a lot more verbiage than was probably necessary to let you know that I am not agonizing over this. I am not being kept from anything and there is no pressure on you to change the status quo. "The universe is unfolding, exactly as it should" to quote the song. I am enjoying every moment of that unfolding. - Carole
Howie write Carole: Hmmm - will have to research that.
Actually, I got us what I think is a good deal on a 4 star hotel right at corner of central park. From it we can walk to the Metropolitan Museum of Art through the park Friday afternoon. Was thinking you were going to let me know if you would be visiting tonight? Very happy to have you here, but totally up to you and how you are feeling.
On a marketing note: "It's one thing to go to Busch Gardens, it's another to stand three feet from a tiger!" But if you don't want to negative comparison, we could alter make the Busch Gardens something more generic. - Howie
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.
Your Mother is Always With You
Carole writes Howie At 04:38 PM 2/18/03:
Dear Howie, It was nice meeting your friends Willow, Lynn and Adam. As I was reading the following I was thinking of Willow raising her child and now her child raising Adam alone and was thinking I would forward it to you for you to send to them. Written for Good Housekeeping Magazine in 1933 by Temple Bailey By the time I reached the last couple of paragraphs though, it spoke to me even more of your mother:
The young Mother set her foot on the path of life. "Is this the long way?" she asked. And the guide said: "Yes, and the way is hard. And you will be old before you reach the end of it. But the end will be better than the beginning."
But the young Mother was happy, and she would not believe that anything could be better than these years. So she played with her children, and gathered flowers for them along the way, and bathed them in the clear streams; and the sun shone on them, and the young Mother cried, "Nothing will ever be lovelier than this."
Then the night came, and the storm, and the path was dark, and the children shook with fear and cold, and the mother drew them close and covered them with her mantle, and the children said, "Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near, and no harm can come."
And the morning came, and there was a hill ahead, and the children climbed and grew weary, and the mother was weary. But at all times she said to the children," A little patience and we are there." So the children climbed, and when they reached the top they said, "Mother, we would not have done it without you."
And the Mother, when she lay down at night looked up at the stars and said, "This is a better day than the last, for my children have learned fortitude in the face of hardness. Yesterday I gave them courage. Today, I have given them strength."
And the next day came strange clouds which darkened the earth, clouds of war and hate and evil, and the children groped and stumbled, and the Mother said: "Look up. Lift your eyes to the light." And the children looked and saw above the clouds an everlasting glory, and it guided them beyond the darkness. And that night the Mother said, "This is the best day of all, for I have shown my children God."
And the days went on, and the weeks and the months and the years, and the Mother grew old and she was little and bent. But her children were tall and strong, and walked with courage. And when the way was rough, they lifted her, for she was as light as a feather; and at last they came to a hill, and beyond they could see a shining road and golden gates flung wide. And the Mother said: "I have reached the end of my journey. And now I know the end is better than the beginning, for my children can walk alone, and their children after them."
And the children said, "You will always walk with us, Mother, even when you have gone through the gates." And they stood and watched her as she went on alone, and the gates closed after her. And they said: "We cannot see her, but she is with us still. A mother like ours is more than a memory. She is a living presence."
Your Mother is always with you. She's the whisper of the leaves as you walk down the street; she's the smell of bleach in your freshly laundered socks; she's the cool hand on your brow when you're not well. Your Mother lives inside your laughter. And she's crystallized in every teardrop. She's the place you came from, your first home; and she's the map you follow with every step you take. She's your first love and your first heartbreak, and nothing on earth can separate you.. Not time, not space ...not even death!
Howie writes Carole 18 Feb 2003 20:25:12
I saved reading this until I could do it leisurely. Hard not to get watery eyes. Thanks for the thought. - Howie
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.
Howie and Carole’s First Valentines Day
Howie writes Carole 14 Feb 2003 06:56:31
Hi there. I woke at 4:30 this morning. Rather weird. Could not get back to sleep for an hour, so met my goal of rising at 5:30. I'm suspecting that there is something I find addictive about your company, and that after 20 hours or so I start to have withdrawal symptoms?
Enjoying one of my exotic teas and thinking of you before heading to the club to work out. Since you have commented so favorably on my tiny muscles, I figure the least I should do is try to maintain them. Hope you have a day full of good minutes that I hope I can add to this evening. - Howie
Carole writes Howie 14 Feb 2003 08:44:55 EST
Dear Howie, I agree that spending time with you is addictive. It's like chocolate. Any excuse will do. I kept myself busy after the Spay and Neuter Delegation left by writing up the minutes and copying everyone, and then faxing out press releases to 30+ media contacts who I hadn't been able to reach via email about Alachua Bob, and then puttering around outside refilling the waterfall and then writing a bunch of letters to the CFC, the Sanchez campaign, and on and on until I was too tired to drive. That was the only way I could keep myself from coming to you.
This morning I awoke at 6:00 and thought you were rubbing off on me, with your early morning habits. It was an hour before I could drag myself to the hot tub, but that helped a lot. The wall paper guys got here at 8:00 am and are re-papering the guest bath. Because I had shut the Great Danes in there once while company was here, the walls had been destroyed in there. I picked a paper that made me think of you. When you read the names of the palms you will know why.
Saturday the 22nd my training is over at 4:00 so I could be at WOES by 5:00 if necessary. The walk will feel good after a day of being cooped up inside. Just let me know.
Howie writes Carole 14 Feb 2003 13:31:17
Lovely, as always. And I do have a card for you just in case. :-)
Carole writes Howie At 08:52 AM 2/14/03:
Valentine's Day Every Minute
A Lovers' Day was set aside
So many years ago
A day in which to claim with pride
And let the whole world know
That we had found our one true love
And that we'd ever more
Be giving thanks to God above
For one whom we adore
Valentine cards pass in the mail
With words we love to hear
And chocolates and roses frail
Exchanged with love and cheer
Through all the world this Day's proclaimed
And love just fills the air
"No better holiday is named,"
All Lovers would declare
But every day with you is great
And every night more so
The "minutes" that we've shared, of late
Are all I need to know.
For: Howie Baskin
By: Carole Ann Stairs 2/14/03
Howie writes Carole 14 Feb 2003 13:38:53
Unable to respond in poetry that would match yours, I offer you these insights into men. I think you will enjoy them.
Q. How many honest, intelligent, caring men in the world does it take to do the dishes?
A. Both of them.
Q. Why did the man cross the road?
A. He heard the chicken was a slut.
Q. Why don't women blink during foreplay?
A. They don't have time.
Q. What do men and sperm have in common?
A. They both have a one-in-a-million chance of becoming a human being.
Q. How does a man show that he is planning for the future?
A. He buys two cases of beer.
Q. What is the difference between men and government bonds?
A. The bonds mature.
Q. Why are blonde jokes so short?
A. So men can remember them.
Q. How many men does it take to change a roll of toilet paper?
A. We don't know; it has never happened.
Q. Why is it difficult to find men who are sensitive, caring and good-looking?
A. They already have boyfriends.
Q. What do you call a woman who knows where her husband is every night?
A. A widow.
Q. Why are married women heavier than single women?
A. Single women come home, see what's in the fridge and go to bed. Married women come home, see what's in bed and go to the fridge.
Q. What is the one thing that all men at singles bars have in common?
A. They're married.
Man says to God: "God, why did you make woman so beautiful?"
God says: "So you would love her."
But God," the man says, "why did you make her so dumb?"
God says: "So she would love you."
Bruce emailed that he now recalled (upon being reminded) that Saturday might not work, and said Friday is ok. If you have a preference for Saturday I could switch him back to Saturday, but if not, maybe best to leave you flexible so after the training if you want to visit with anyone you are not rushed? - Howie
Howie Begins to Really Open Up To Me & The Recliner
Howie writes Carole 16 Feb 2003 09:52:47
I don't know this Steven Wright guy, and try to limit what I forward, but just thought you might particularly enjoy these. Note letter "k" in particular.
Words of Wisdom
If you're not familiar with the work of Steven Wright, he's the guy who once said: "I woke up one morning and all of my stuff had been stolen...and replaced by exact duplicates." His mind sees things differently.
Here some of his gems:
a.. I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize.
b.. Borrow money from pessimists - they don't expect it back.
c.. Half the people you know are below average.
d.. 99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name.
e.. 42.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
f.. A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good.
g.. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
h.. If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.
i.. All those who believe in psychokinesis, raise my hand.
j.. The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
k.. I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before we met.
l.. OK, so what's the speed of dark?
m.. How do you tell when you're out of invisible ink?
n.. If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.
o.. Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.
p.. When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
q.. Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy.
r.. Hard work pays off in the future, laziness pays off now.
s.. I intend to live forever - so far, so good.
t.. If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?
u.. Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
v.. What happens if you get scared half to death twice?
w.. My mechanic told me, "I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder."
x.. Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?
y.. If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.
z.. A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.
aa.. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
ab.. The hardness of the butter is proportional to the softness of the bread.
ac.. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.
ad.. The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard.
Howie writes Carole 16 Feb 2003 11:23:19
I still can't get over arriving there to see that chair. That was so thoughtful and caring. And it particularly flabbergasted me because I had just been thinking about asking you if I could put a chair in. It does seem like sometimes we are thinking the same thoughts. Like the day I emailed about roller blading and you had been seeking tennis lessons.
Howie Will Never Hurt Me
Howie writes Carole 13 Feb 2003 11:49:57
Sometimes you just make me sit here and grin. If anyone saw me they'd think I was demented.
The wonderful assortment of tea was a lovely surprise. Thanks very much! - Howie
Dear Howie, I have a new appreciation for the athlete that you are. Dan ran me all over the court this morning and I couldn't believe how breathless that left me. Today I feel it in my back, but can't tell if it is a bad thing, or if it is just an awakening of muscles that I haven't used. I have an 80+ uncle who wants a game with you someday as his cronies can't keep up with him. He is a Chiropractor and his name is John. I haven't spent much time with him, but everyone says we are very much alike in our approach to life. He takes care of my favourite (and crazy) aunt Barbara and provides her with a condo on the beach in New Port Richey. They are my grandmother's brother and sister. 10 or 12 of them all together.
Thank you for your sensitivity and acceptance of my run-in with self-doubt this morning. I keep trying to remember that the wake behind the boat is not what propels it and that to focus on it really does very little for the forward propulsion. I believe that we create our own reality and as I look back on what has been my reality I am sometimes stunned at how I could have done this. Your gentleness this morning allowed me to look at it objectively on the way home and I had something of an epiphany as I turned the second to last turn from the island.
I have never had any doubt about my moral character and you reaffirmed that to me when you said that you trusted your instincts because of the way that you have responded to me. My life has been a wild roller coaster ride because of my choices, and perhaps the most pervasive was in my devotion to Don from the age of 19. For the first year I thought he was a poor boy, named Bob Martin, who worked for this awful person that he called Don Lewis. When I found out the truth, it was too late. I was committed.
I learned over the years that his heart thrived on larceny and he would rather lie than tell the truth, even when the truth would have served him better. I have always been fascinated by the criminal mind and felt that if these geniuses had any moral fiber they could be so much more productive and effective. That was the niche I created for myself with Don. I felt I could guide him into channeling his energy into something positive. Since I had "control" of the paperwork I could insure that things were always done in an equitable manner for him and whoever he was dealing with. If I had to sum up the entire relationship in one sentence it would be that I spent my life getting him out of trouble. Most of our properties were held in The Guardian Angel Land Trust because Don always called me Angel and the rest is obvious. (Mostly, in retrospect, so that he didn't call me Pam, or Dorothy, or Gladys)
Even in his absence, I have found myself dealing with all of the same bizarre issues, which has caused me to internalize a lot of the conflict as if I had some control over it. I created this mess, but did so out of a bad choice of mates and the naivete of believing that I could change him. As I reflect on the
relationships I have had with men since, I can see that I was trying to fill the void in my life with something familiar. It wasn't until learning the definition of insanity that I realized I had to break free of what I knew and understood and felt comfortable dealing with.
I've told you before how anxious I would get before coming over; to the point of making myself sick. You are such a good man that I didn't have any idea how to behave with you. I couldn't see any way that you needed me and that caused me to feel insecure. I would rather have never told you anything about me or my past, but as I have come to know you felt that would have been misleading. Your encouragement to be myself has given me the courage to lay it all out in front of you. I trust your ability to evaluate the situation and my spirit accurately. You have that gift.
For me, all of this is about trust. I have never trusted a man. You have such a history of being trustworthy and your mannerisms toward me make it easy to trust you. I am so grateful for the opportunity to get to know you. In dealing with men up until this point, my attitude has always been: "If they do the worst to me that I could imagine them doing, could I tolerate it?" I can't even imagine you doing something to hurt me, or anyone else for that matter. You make it easy for me to trust you.
I take full responsibility for everything I have done and wouldn't change anything because, as in your book about alternative outcomes, it lead me to where I am today. I appreciate what a leap of faith you have been willing to take in trusting me. I won't let you down.
I needed to say thank you, but also found peace in sorting this out via the writing. No need for a lengthy response from you. Your actions say it all. With Heartfelt Love, Carole
13 Feb 2003 13:13:45
Thanks. No long email, but a couple of comments:
Hmm, Dan left you breathless, eh? And here I thought I was the only one who could leave you breathless.
Would love to play with John. Let's arrange as soon as calf is ready.
I kind of thought I would get an email about our conversation this morning and was worried that thinking about it was going to give you a bad day, totally without cause. I'm taking from your email that this was not the case and that it maybe even helped you reach some positive insights, so I'm relieved.
In a sense, there is a silver lining to your past when it comes to how I feel about you. The fact that you so openly reveal to me information that might cause you to worry would put me off, and could easily hide or color, creates an opportunity to build trust that would not exist otherwise.
I continue to offer the caveat that I cannot predict the future. I cannot be sure that I will never cause you hurt. Either of us could find that our feelings change at some point, and the other is disappointed. Or, either of us can simply be insensitive or make a mistake that hurts the other, since we are not perfect. But what I can promise you is that I would never do anything with the intention of hurting you, I would never intentionally mislead you, and I would never intentionally fail to tell you the truth.
I particularly appreciate your closing comment ("your actions say it all"). As we have discussed with Covey's "verb" quote, I am much more comfortable trying to show you how I feel than tell you, and think it is much more meaningful.
Your biography cannot help but be a best seller. The only issue is that we may have to market it as fiction because no one will believe it is non-fiction? :-)
There is an interesting book review in Business Week this past week about what makes "leaders". It struck me for a number of reasons, but you came to mind. It attributes leadership to having survived life changing challenges or having some kind of life changing events. I cannot find words to tell you how in awe I am of the challenges you have survived and overcome in your life while still maintaining such a positive spirit.
Sent you an email earlier to thank you for the wonderful surprise of the tea selection, but it appears to have bounced back for some reason, so if you did not get it and do get this, thanks VERY much. I have a little something for you that I hope you will enjoy - but you'll have to wait til Valentine's Day.
Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow afternoon! - Howie
Howie writes Carole 13 Feb 2003 23:04:48
Well, you've definitely managed to convert me to your time zone. 10:45 and I can't keep my eyes open, so turning in. Thinking of you (which I guess is obvious since I'm emailing?). Will try to arrive at the island before 4pm ahead of traffic. But if for any reason that ends up not being convenient for you, just let me know and I can adjust.
Bruce Levinson, the attorney in NY who is hoping to visit WOES next week, emailed. We had tentatively set Friday because you have the function on Saturday. I am pretty sure I had mentioned to him that the weekend was not good, but I think in trying to coordinate the schedules of the various relatives with him he forgot and emailed about Saturday evening. I've emailed back reminding him the Saturday is a problem and hoping he can shift back to the Friday slot we had penciled in previously. Will advise.
Anyway, have a great Valentine's Day - I'll be drinking my new teas and looking forward to seeing you and celebrating tomorrow evening. - Howie
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.
To Love Another Person is to See the Face of God
Howie writes Carole 12 Feb 2003 06:33:49
Had to get up early for a 7am appointment. Woke up at 5:30 and found myself wanting you. At one point, as I laid there a few minutes in that half sleep before deciding to get up, I could have sworn you kissed me on the neck. I know you do remote viewing. Is there such a thing as remote kissing?
Sydney spent the entire night on the bed, which is somewhat unusual, almost like she knew she had to fill in for you. Another of my favorite quotes, this one from Les Miz: "To love another person is to see the face of God." Hope you have a wonderful day. See you tonight. - Howie
Carole writes Howie
Dear Howie, My timing for remote kissing was a bit off. 4:12 by my clock and you did the same thing to me, that I did to you. In the early morning hours, when you get up, I always watch your silhouette against the soft light. This morning, when I awoke, I thought it was at the sound of you getting up. When I looked to where you would be rising, I saw your silhouette, but you just stood there with your back to me. It wasn't until I crawled across the bed to nuzzle and kiss your back that I realized you weren't there. As with your apparition, it was such a shock, rather than the obvious, that your physical presence was not there.
I did feel your spirit and wrapping "your" arms around me fell back off to sleep. I am trembly today in the arms, but not in any pain. That's a surprise.
Hope your morning meeting went well. Was the roof fixed? I am REALLY looking forward to tonight. Tell Syd thanks for filling in. The steam rising off the river is captivating. It is barely illuminated by the sun peeking through the trees and even the squirrels seem to be in reverence of the dawn. I hope your day is as beautiful and tranquil. - Carole
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.
Howie Wants Me to Put Jamie First
(Jamie did all of her own cooking and cleaning from the time she could use a stool to reach the counters)
Howie writes Carole 11 Feb 2003 19:19:54
You are welcome to pop in by surprise any time you want. Today at noon you would have found a funny scene. I got myself stuck up on the roof (yes, again). Fortunately I had the hose with me. I tied it to a vent, prayed that the vent and the hose would hold, and lowered myself. What an idiot.
I hope I'm not overburdening your calendar and you can decline any of my invitations with no issue, but I now find I have to be in NY March 30 for the 50th birthday party of the sister of my long time friend Marshall. His parents have been like a second set of parents to me. Would be thinking to make it a 3 day, 2 night trip and see friends in NY and then go upstate to Poughkeepsie for the event and see my one remaining aunt who turns 90 this year and is still wonderfully sharp. Anyway, would love to have you join me and could gear the specific days in front of or behind 30th to your schedule if you are able and would like to go. - Howie
Carole writes Howie At 05:33 PM 2/11/03 :
Dear Howie, Najla sounds like the perfect mate or life partner in her attitudes expressed in the section titled: The Power of Belief. What greater gift can a person give their loved one than that sense of unconditional love and the commitment to champion their cause. You have given that to me. I have no higher calling than to reciprocate in kind.
Strange, I have had the same sensation in missing you. I wanted to drop by this morning, because I was in the area (OK, Dale Marbry north of Waters). I wanted to stop by on the way to the Harbor Island club and then again afterwards, but decided I would appear needy and heaven forbid... How odd.
I really enjoyed the tennis lesson and signed on for six more. I have misplaced the one week card, but Dan said I don't need it to access the courts as long as I am scheduled for classes. Next one is Thursday morning at 8:00 am. What was I thinking? I guess that just about insures that I will spend the night Wednesday. I cannot believe that I found this physically challenging.
I picked up two king feather pillows (that I can live with) for your place, a cookie sheet (bet you didn't know I knew what that was called) and a set of six little fork like things for the snails.
I have to leave in 5 minutes and the electric guys are still here so I haven't had a bath, nor shaved, nor washed my hair, so I am not likely to show up at your door later. I will miss you (even more than I did during the day) and will greatly look forward to tomorrow after church around 9:15 PM. Today was amazingly productive. Hope yours was too. - Carole
Howie writes Carole 11 Feb 2003 19:26:34
Re the purchases, you are so sweet, but I am becoming afraid to mention my shopping list to you. And I have a 20% coupon to Bed,Bath Beyond that I just put by the door so I could stop on the way to you Friday. Somewhat like the Quidam tickets, I really do appreciate it, but l would also urge some restraint? By the way, I'm also thinking of getting myself a new Rolex watch. :-) (That was a joke - honest! It occurs to me you might not think so. :-))
Sorry not to see you tonight. For future reference, you are always welcome to show up disheveled and do your tidying here.
Just to remind you of something I mentioned earlier, I really, really do not want Jamie feeling like you cut short an evening with her and Daniel to get to me. If you guys are having a good time and the evening lingers, don't be looking at your watch or leaving when everyone is having fun. You can arrive here as late as you want, or just call to let me know you won't be here, but please complete the evening with her as if you were not planning to be here. Thanks.
P.S. Bob, of course, you can walk out on as you wish. :-)
Carole writes Howie 11 Feb 2003 09:49:34 EST Subject:
Dear Howie, I will be in Texas for the USDA big cat symposium from March 25th until 9:12 pm on March 27th. I don't have another scheduled appointment until April 5th. I'd love to go with you, if you will let me pay my own airfare and the room rent. I can write it off, if I read the classifieds while I am there.
Thank you for not pressuring me to cut my evening short. Bob has a sinus infection that he's been battling for a week and it's getting worse. A smoky pool hall seems like a foolish thing to do and may get canceled. If it does, I will still use the time to take Jamie and Daniel out.
In extending you the same level of curtesy for time management, I will stay at the island Thursday so that there is no rush for you to conclude your "date". ;-) I have a gay friend that I sometimes travel with, named John Aynes, and we can lay in bed and talk until 3:00 in the morning with no perception of time passing. It is fortunate that we have friends, both straight and gay, that we have such
relationships with. It is even more fortunate that by having them, we understand the nature of them in each other's friendships. So much about you is so rare that I often am just lost in the wonderment at what the odds were against our meeting.
Howie writes Carole 11 Feb 2003 22:29:57
I hope you had an enjoyable evening to cap off the productive day you reported earlier!
It seems strange to leave my PC and walk into the bedroom and not find you either reading or snuggled under the covers and pillows.
I had to show the maid the picture of us in order to avoid her thinking my taste in clothes had become kinky when she cleaned the guest bath.
I'm jealous of the leopard in the picture! Sleep well. For the Minutes. - Howie
Carole writes Howie 11 Feb 2003 23:05:58 EST
Dear Howie, I just got in and am heading to the shower. At the pool hall my "son" recognized us and came over and got reacquainted with the family. Jamie and Daniel stayed after to catch up with him. His name was Mike Wagner and his mother came to me, one day after school and said she was dying and couldn't deal with the teenager any more and that he was my problem from then on out. She wasn't kidding.
I fixed up a travel trailer next to Jamie's trailer and moved him to Easy Street. The kid didn't know how to make toast. Jamie, on the other hand had done all of her own cooking and cleaning from the time she was 10 or 11. She taught him how to take care of himself and "mothered" him through his classes at school.
Later, he found his birth mother and now lives with her, has piercing everywhere you can pierce a body and hair that looks like the headdress for the statue of liberty, but he is a very sweet kid. Sort of in an Eddie Haskell way.
Daniel didn't go to that school, but he and Mike were friends from somewhere else, so they all had a lot to talk about. My proficiency at pool is only slightly worse than my tennis today, which means I should never show my face in a pool hall or on a tennis court again. I would like to watch you play, or a video of you playing, to get a feel for how it should be done.
As for the pillows, I wanted to make you comfortable when I knew that my sensitivities had cost you that luxury. It makes me feel better about being there to know that I am not putting you out in any way. You extend yourself so graciously to me that I cannot do enough to return the favour. My mother always clips the BB&B coupons for me as well. You also ignored my request to pay for the wine and this seemed the only way to repay your generosity.
How could you get stuck on the roof? Did you not have a phone? I would have had a heart attack if I had walked in on the scene of you lowering yourself via a hose to the ground. I am SO tempted to bathe and drive, but I am aching so much now, that I am sure to be pitiful in the morning. I will dream of you and remind myself that absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Speaking of fonder, I awoke last night to the feeling of your hand on my back and almost had to fight back tears because it felt so dear. Good night, my Love. - Carole
Howie writes Carole 12 Feb 2003 12:59:24
Mike is another wonderful example of how you have touched so many lives in such a positive way, both human and feline. - Howie
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.
One White Rose in a Dozen Red Ones
Carole writes Howie 8 Feb 2003 18:37:30 EST
Dear Howie, You are the dearest, sweetest man. I've been on the road all day and before my phone died Jamie called to say a box that looked like flowers had arrived and was driving all the volunteers crazy wondering who sent them to their "mom". They are beautiful and your choice of arrangement touched me deeply. I will be thinking of you all the way to Ruskin and back tonight. Of course, I would have been thinking of you anyway, but this makes the thoughts all the lovelier. Thank
you. I love you (and if you don't believe me, I'll SHOW you when you get home) Love, Carole
Howie writes Carole 08 Feb 2003 20:38:02
Sounds like I better take my vitamins tomorrow morning. Look forward to seeing you whenever you get there. Drive safely with that load! - Howie
Carole writes Howie 8 Feb 2003 22:53:37 EST Subject: Ruskin To: hbaskin@att.net
Dear Howie, I had the choice of driving the spay trailer to Ruskin tonight or being there and unloaded before 6 am, so I went tonight. The ride went well, and I only had a little trouble getting out from under it. I am just thoroughly wiped out though and won't last two minutes once I hit the sack. I just wanted to thank you again for your thoughtfulness. The roses are just gorgeous and the arrangement is absolutely breathtaking. Driving home with them in the front seat of the truck they were quivering the same way you make me shiver in ecstasy. You are the greatest! - Carole
Poem for Howie Inspired by Roses
Carole writes Howie 10:53 PM 2/8/03:
The Gift of Your Love
I miss you when you're far away
Or just across this town
I miss you more, when e'er my day
Has been less up than down
I long for you and cannot wait
To be with you once more!
The roses that came to my gate
From you, whom I adore
Were fragrant sweet and petal soft
Just like your tender kiss
Reminding me how strong and oft
Of you I reminisce
The kindness and the love you show
Mean more than words can tell
I wonder if you truly know
The passion you compel?
Are you so good for your own sake
'Cause you can't help but be?
Or is the goodness I partake
A gift from you to me?
For every kiss and sweet caress
Feels like the World you've giv'n
Not only momentary bliss
But a piece of heaven!
For Howie Baskin
By Carole Ann Stairs 2/9/03
Howie writes Carole 09 Feb 2003 08:21:49
I woke this morning out of a dream in which we were simply standing without clothes and I was gently running my hands over you. It was not even really a sexual dream in a way. I was just enjoying touching you. This dream was so incredibly vivid that I honestly was startled when I awoke and for a moment simply could not believe it was a dream. It was more like it was real and the kind of astonishment I would have if you suddenly vanished into thin air. Which, now that I think about it, it occurs to me you may actually be able to do that and have not yet told me? :-)
I'm glad you like the roses. - Howie
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.
I Introduce Howie to Staff and Volunteers
Carole writes Howie At 12:31 PM 2/7/03 -0500:
Who could have known that beneath that serious facade would dwell such a romantic?! Every time I think of you I take a deep breath and feel at peace.
Should I? Shouldn't I? Should I... what the heck. From my journal this morning:
Last night I introduced Howie to the staff and volunteers at WOES during the Oldsmar Chamber of Commerce mixer. On the way home, in the glow of this new revelation of our mutual feelings, the theme song from Love Story came on the radio. Howie turned it up and we listened; each of us savouring the words and the moment in our own way. The next song to play was the theme song
from The Titanic. Howie's previous reference was to the movie in which a man gives up his life to keep the woman he loves alive after the sinking of the great ship. The tension was broken by both of us recognizing the music and bursting into laughter when I said, "Of course! The sinking ship song! How appropriate!"
In considering his analogy, I know he would never let me give him the last seat on a life boat, but I couldn't take it in his place either. Even thinking of all the people and animals that depend on me, I couldn't save my own life and live it without him. I wouldn't be of any use to anyone ever again if I were to have to face life without him. I have never felt this way before. Could it be that I actually
NEED someone?
Our lovemaking last night was with an even deeper understanding and connection to each other. It seemed that time stood still in the rapture of our embrace. When he wraps his arms around me I feel safe for the first time in my life. I know that this gentle giant is emotionally incapable of hurting me because it would be so foreign to his nature. His touch is so soothing, so healing and so empowering. I just can't get enough of him.
Wave after wave of emotion coursed through our bodies. I am overwhelmed with feeling that I have FINALLY found a good man. A man I can look up to, a man I can be proud of, a man I can love without fear. In that hypnotic way that he gazes straight into my soul, he broke the silent reverie of my thoughts with one sentence, "I love you, so very much!"
I breathed in his words. I let the profound sincerity of his manner soak in through every pore. I don't know if seconds passed, or moments or hours. I had waited a lifetime, or more, to know the bliss of this moment. The welling up of love for him spilled over in my own words, "I love you! I love you SO much!" and was followed by heaving sobs of joy. He held me while I cried and tried to comfort me, I suppose from not knowing the full reason behind my tears. I explained that I was crying because I had never been so happy. I have never known such joy. I am so happy! Thank you God!
Last night was his first night to stay over at the island. I will be going to his place tonight and can't wait to feel his arms around me again.
Should I hit send or delete... If you are reading this, I am more exposed than I ever thought I would allow. - Carole
Howie writes Carole 07 Feb 2003 14:07:27 -0500
Thank you for the bravery of hitting "send".
No, you don't "need" me, and if something happened to me, you would definitely survive like you have survived so much else. But that does not in any way take away from the wonderment of what we are both experiencing. I'm not as good at writing about it, and maybe not as brave at saying it, but I believe I share it equally. What my diary said, a few weeks ago, is that for the first time in my life I feel a sense of purpose. The happiness you have given me in the last few weeks seems to dwarf the happiness I have had in all my prior years. And what is really exciting is that we are just on Chapter 1. I hope it is a very long book. - Howie.
Carole writes Howie At 07:48 AM 2/7/03:
This was my mother's response to the blossoming of our love.
1 Corinthians 13: 1 If I had the gift of being able to speak in other languages without learning them and could speak in every language there is in all of heaven and earth, but didn't love others, I would only be making noise. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy and knew all about what is going to happen in the future, knew everything about everything, but didn't love others, what good would it do? Even if I had the gift of faith so that I could speak to a mountain and make it move, I would still be worth nothing at all without love. 3 If I gave everything I have to poor people, and if I were burned alive for preaching the Gospel but didn't love others, it would be of no value whatever.
4 Love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud, 5 never haughty or selfish or rude. Love does not demand its own way. It is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong. 6 It is never glad about injustice, but rejoices whenever truth wins out. 7 If you love someone, you will be loyal to him no matter what the
cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him.
8 All the special gifts and powers from God will someday come to an end, but love goes on forever. Someday prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge-these gifts will disappear. 9 Now we know so little, even with our special gifts, and the preaching of those most gifted is still so poor. 10 But when we have been made perfect and complete, then the need for these
inadequate special gifts will come to an end, and they will disappear.
11 It's like this: when I was a child I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child does. But when I became a man my thoughts grew far beyond those of my childhood, and now I have put away the childish things. 12 In the same way, we can see and understand only a little about God now, as if we were peering at his reflection in a poor mirror; but someday we are going to see him in his completeness, face to face. Now all that I know is hazy and blurred, but then I will see everything clearly, just as clearly as God sees into my heart right now.
13 There are three things that remain-faith, hope, and love-and the greatest of these is love.
(The Living Bible version)
LOVE
The high esteem which God has for His human children and the high regard which they, in turn, should have for Him and other people. Because of the hundreds of references to love in the Bible, it is certainly the most remarkable book of love in the world. It records the greatest love story ever written-God's unconditional love for us that sent His Son to die on the cross (John 3:16; 1 John
4:10).
Love is not only one of God's attributes; it is also an essential part of His nature. "God is love," the Bible declares (1 John 4:8,16) - the personification of perfect love. Such love surpasses our powers of understanding (Eph 3:19). Love like this is everlasting (Jer 31:3), free (Hos 14:4), sacrificial (John 3:16), and enduring to the end (John 13:1).
Two distinct Greek words for love appear in the Bible. The word phileo means "to have ardent affection and feeling"-a type of impulsive love. The other word agapao means "to have esteem" or "high regard." In the memorable conversation between Jesus and Peter, there is a play upon these two words (John 21:15-17). Jesus asked, "Simon, do you love [esteem] me?" But Peter replied, "You know that I love [have ardent affection for] You." Then Jesus asked, "Simon, do you love [have ardent affection for] Me?" And Peter responded that his love was agape love-a love that held Jesus in high esteem and which was more than a fleeting feeling.
The warm word agape is the characteristic term of Christianity. This word for love is used several different ways in the Bible.
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Agape love indicates the nature of the love of God toward His beloved Son (John 17:26), toward the human race generally (John 3:16; Rom 5:8), and toward those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (John 14:21).
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Agape love conveys God's will to His children about their attitude toward one another. Love for one another was a proof to the world of true discipleship (John 13:34-35).
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Agape love also expresses the essential nature of God (1 John 4:8). Love can be known only from the actions it prompts, as seen in God's love in the gift of His Son (1 John 4:9-10). Love found its perfect expression in the Lord Jesus. Christian love is the fruit of the Spirit of Jesus in the believer (Gal 5:22).
Love is like oil to the wheels of obedience. It enables us to run the way of God's commandments (Ps 119:32). Without such love, we are as nothing (1 Cor 13:3). Such Spirit-inspired love never fails (1 Cor 13:8) but always flourish. from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright (c)1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers
Howie writes Carole 07 Feb 2003 10:52:14
I like her. :-)
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.
Howie Tells Me He Loves Me & That I Am The First
Carole writes Howie:At 10:27 AM 2/6/03 -0500:
Dear Howie, I did not feel that you were prying and you did not come across as being jealous. I don't know how you deal with things yet, and thus don't know how to avoid making you uncomfortable. I guess I am much like an ostrich in that I reason, "What I don't know won't hurt me." When my husband didn't come home at night, I never asked where he had been, because I felt it would force him into a position of lying to me and I hate being lied to. He was probably lying when he would present me with a myriad of wild tales, but I never questioned it, because I really didn't want to know.
That is a large part of why I don't ask you where you are going, or what you are doing, or did. I believe that if you want me to know, you will tell me and if you don't want me to know, my asking probably wouldn't elicit anything I wanted to hear. I asked you about any possible drug addictions because that really is something I cannot live with. People are weird enough without adding the uncertainty of chemical imbalance.
Speaking of weird, I don't find Taurus dull at all. You have such a foreign way of approaching things that I find it infinitely interesting. I did like the tie though ;-)
I want you to be comfortable and communication is the biggest part of any relationship. I just need to know what you prefer. I will answer any question you have about Bob, unless it would be a breach of his trust in some manner. I didn't bring him up or volunteer stuff about how he and I are adjusting to this platonic role we have agreed to, because I feel that at some level it still must be threatening to you. If you felt this strong desire to spend time with a woman who was making it clear she wanted more from you, I would feel jealous (despite my insistence to the contrary).
Bob isn't at all shy about asking why I have chosen you over him. As far as I can, without hurting his feelings, nor breaching any areas of trust with you, I answer his questions, but I never volunteer anything. I have told him that you bring tranquility and stability to my life. He says that is what I bring to his. I've told him that you observe everything about me and respond with such precision that I know you understand me (or can at least accept me). He says that's why he is so drawn to me. I get him, when it seems no one else does. I've told him that I look up to your morals and values and that I share these same beliefs. Bob looks up to mine, and sees them as his own. As I write this, it seems apparent that you are to me, what I am to him.
There is such a synergy there that I really feel I need to get to know him better, to learn whatever lessons are there to be learned. I enjoy being in his space and touching him because I feel connected to a life force and spirituality that is stronger than my own, but I don't desire him sexually. There is a tremendous passion there, but for me it is not something that reaches its culmination in sex. For him it does and he is finding this to be more difficult than he had originally thought. I fully expect to be given an ultimatum at which time the choice seems even easier to make, because then there is no doubt about the depth of his love.
Your love for me as a person superseded your needs and there is no greater love than that. (Yes, I said the L word first, but I won't make a habit of it until we come to a consensus on its meaning) My longing for you increases. My passion for you keeps growing stronger. My admiration for you grows deeper with every conversation. I appreciate the freedom you have given me to sort all of this out. Please help me to know how to best show you that appreciation. - Carole
Howie writes Carole 06 Feb 2003 15:04:34 -0500 Subject: Love
If I don't come home to you at night, you can be sure that with my sense of direction, I am simply lost.
The only thing I need to know about Bob you have told me, and that is that he is important to you and that your contact with him creates good minutes for you. While part of me may be a bit jealous, another part thanks him for giving you some happiness. I wish it were likely that he could continue to do that without an "ultimatum". However, his sexual attraction and frustration are likely to grow. If you ever for some reason want my thoughts regarding Bob you can bring him up, but other than that, there is no need for you to keep me abreast of your relationship with him unless it serves some purpose for you.
You can ask me where I am going or what I am doing any time you want. You are so open with me, in such a wonderfully childlike manner, that I am happy to respond as best I can. And unlike the past situations where you did not ask because you did not want to be lied to, I will never, ever lie to you about anything. And if I ever do anything that I think is a breach of trust with you, I certainly hope that I will be brave enough to follow the wonderful example you set and be as honest as you were with me.
Hey, stop telling Bob all my secrets about how I've won your heart. I charge a coaching fee for that stuff and for him the fee will be pretty darn steep! Just refer him to me.
Uh oh, that four letter word (love) is out of its box. You have, of course, very correctly observed that I am very much in love with you. So, I'd like to give you some more thoughts on that.
I grew up watching my father say "I love you" to my mother, then causing her such pain. She was so strong and such an amazing woman. But I can still visualize the one time when she was in the living room and got a call from yet one more of his creditors. I think she did not realize I had been coming down the stairs and could see her. She put the phone down, put her face down into her hands, and burst into tears. My father was not an ill intentioned man. He was actually kind and caring. Unfortunately, he was just flawed in critical ways, and despite his best intentions, created this pain.
My mother was very wise. She has left me with a couple of wonderful gems, not necessary original, but very valuable. One I told you last night, i.e. to keep your mouth shut and people will think you are smarter than you are. There are two others that come to mind.
One is not to listen to what people say, but rather to observe what they do. And that thought on top of the experience growing up causes me to place little value on the words "I love you" and great value on whether I observe people treating their alleged loved ones in a manner that says they love them. You have treated me that way, and I have tried to treat you that way.
The other thing my mother left me with is one I know you will like. During the last months of her lingering illness from cancer, her moments of clear thinking were limited by the pain medication. On one of them, she said something like this: I hope that you are successful in whatever way you choose to define it, whether it is financially, or in the position you attain in your career, or whatever you
choose. But remember one thing. No matter how successful you are, some one or some set of circumstances beyond your control can take it away. But, there is one thing that no one else can take from you. Only YOU can take it away from yourself. And that is your honor.
That is how I have tried to live. I don't claim to be perfect, but try to live by that advice.
In all these years, I have only once said "I love you" to a woman, and it was in response to her saying it to me. I have had in mind that, since I did say it once before, that what I wanted to do with you was say it first, before you did, so that you would have the distinction of being the only woman to whom I had said it first, not as a response. Since your reference to it in the email was actually with regard to my love for you, not yours for me, it appears that I still have that opportunity.
Part of me has felt like the short time I have known you made it inappropriate to even think this thought. And, you make a very good point about definition. It does not sound very romantic to define it before you say it, but it is almost a meaningless phrase because it means different things to different people. To some it means they want to marry. To some, it refers to the feelings of desire or passion that they have. And to some it seems to mean nothing.
It has long been my feeling that the best definition comes from watching our animal friends, a subject you know far better than I do. Mothers in the animal kingdom will face certain death in the face of a more powerful predator in an effort to protect their offspring. They value the lives of their offspring more than their own. To me, that is the purist form of love. If the ship is going down and there is only room for one in the lifeboat, and without question you would select another person over yourself, that seems like love to me.
In a less dramatic way, I think when you really enjoy making someone else happy there is love involved. That does not mean always being on the giving end and having a one sided relationship, it just means really enjoying the happiness of the other.
And that is why, in spite of my petty tinge of jealousy, I can genuinely be happy that you have found in Bob this unique connection that makes you feel not alone in your connection to the universe and perhaps through your contact with him even more connected to it. You have an unusual gift that, simply because others do not have it, can very naturally make you feel like there is something "wrong" with you in a way, or that you are a "nut". Kind of like in the comic books when people with superpowers find other such people, and at least feel like they are not the only one. More generally, whenever we find people with whom we share something, I think we feel more connected. And given that you had never found someone who experienced the kinds of thoughts or messages you feel and hear, I can only imagine that it must be a wonderful thing to have found at least one other person who does.
Anyway, back to the dictionary, as best as I can put in words on the spur of the moment, these are the kinds of things I mean when I say, or write I guess, that I love you. I do not mean that I want to "own" you or limit you or have you feel trapped, and I have no current intentions for our future together other than to see where the path leads. I don't "want more too early in the relationship" to paraphrase the Taurus horoscope. I just very, very much want you to enjoy the time you spend with me and I want to reward the wonderful peace and happiness your company gives me by trying to reciprocate as best I can.
This is one of those emails that will get deleted if I don't hit send fast, so I'd better move. It does occur to me though, that given the boat metaphor, I'd better not go sailing with you in case I end up having to live up to my grand words??!! :-)
And boy is this a long email about feelings. Hmmm, am I turning into you? :-)
I love you.
Carole writes Howie:
Dear Howie, I just got home and read your letter. It is a letter that on my death bed I will probably be able to recite, word for word. I feel so honoured to be loved by you. It means so much more to me that you have been so discerning in your use of the phrase. I am too overwhelmed with tears of joy to respond right now. I will soon though. - Carole
Howie writes Carole 06 Feb 2003 16:11:41 -0500
My eyes watered writing it, and reading this. How about enough mushy stuff for today, ok? I think this is all I can handle. Not knowing traffic, I may arrive to you early in order to be sure not to be late, if that is ok. - Howie
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.
"I knew you before, in a previous life"
Carole writes Howie 5 Feb 2003 01:06:35 EST
Dear Howie, I look forward to your return. I will be attending the Animal Advisory Board at 6:30 downtown and then come straight to your place. I don't know how long the meeting is likely to last.
I had to go to the D.O.T. today to take a look at their plans for the road widening project on 301 in Z-hills. I had called and spoke with a woman named Gordana Jovanovic, who acted like she just couldn't let me off the line. I went to her office at 5PM and as soon as we were in the hall alone, she said she knew me. I told her she had probably seen one of the T.V. pieces on WOES and she said that
she knew my voice on the phone. I never forget a voice (names yes, voices no) and again reiterated that she probably heard me in an interview. She took me by the arm, stopping me and looked me straight in the eye and said, "I knew you before, in a previous life". She seemed to have no fear that I would take offense of such an unusual assumption by a public servant.
I asked if we spoke in her tongue before ( a heavy Slovak accent) because I didn't remember anyone from before having such an accent. She smiled knowingly, as if I remembered her. Actually, I don't. I felt very comfortable with her on the phone and in standing there staring into her eyes, but I cannot say I remember her.
The only thing that was really outstanding to me, in her office, was a photo on the wall that looked like she had blown up from a vacation. It looked like my idea of the perfect vacation spot, but lots of people are drawn to palms and sand and clear blue water.
I finished the driving course and passed the final exam. I have NO idea why I am still awake. I've had milk and oatmeal and a glass of wine and feel like I could run a marathon. I signed on for another year as the Big Cat writer for Animals, Exotic and Small. It is my third year writing for them. They let me publish whatever I want, so most of it is aimed at encouraging a higher standard of care and responsibility to the animals and each other. I probably should actually write something about big cats.
The bobcat looks good, but Jamie thinks he is in shock and won't make it. She has a good sense for such things, but I am not ready to give up on him. I spent a considerable amount of time in his field of vision, but at a distance, so that he could see how the bobcats near him respond to me. He will either know it is safe to trust me, or that he is surrounded by idiots, depending on his perspective. He ate yesterday and that is a very good sign. I am still hoping that he will be a candidate for release.
Frank Sanchez wrote back and said: Dear Ms. Lewis, I just cannot offer myself up at this time for fear I would disappoint - unless it is truly only my name you need? Email my campaign manager, Maryann Blitz (mblitz@franksanchez.com) Also, Marianne Williamson is coming in an event to support me! Staff should be in touch. All the best, Frank
I wrote his campaign manager and asked for her advice on how to proceed, and let Frank know that his name would help me to attract the like-minds I am looking for and would give my supporters more of a reason to get involved in his campaign. I assured him that I wouldn't waste his time. I feel I am being pushy, but his question allowed me to stick my foot back in the door. Persistence is omnipotent...
The county attorney called me today to say that despite her spending four months trying to clear us, the Human Rights people, at the insistence of our fired volunteer Patricia Fry, were going to take us to hearing. The county attorney said that no such case has ever gone to hearing in all the time she has been there, as she can usually resolve them. I agreed to all of the county's terms, but the former volunteer insists on having her day in court, so we are on for March 3. I asked if there were formal charges being filed and the attorney said that the case is very vague.
The only issues were that our ADA bathroom was too far from the check in area, so I rented an ADA portolet several months ago and am in the process of remodeling one of the stationary bathrooms up front. The other issue is the accessibility of the gift shop, but the county said that I can just bring items out, which we always do for those in chairs, until our new gift shop is built next year. Still, I am trying to have a larger door installed so that it will be a moot point. I'll win the case. I always do, but it is a drain of energy and time that I resent. I'm sure I can find some way to turn this to my benefit. I have already become very close with Loreign Smith-Johnson, the assistant county attorney, so it's not been entirely a waste.
I am going to try to go to sleep now. Just envisioning you sleeping next to me has sent a wave of stillness over me that promises sleep. If my dreams are sweet, it will be because they were of you.
Gemini and Taurus
When Taurus and Gemini come together in a love affair, they must both take the time to learn what the dynamics of the relationship are and how they can best get along. They both have much to offer one another and much to learn in this relationship, but it will take a bit of adjustment and effort on both sides. Gemini's Symbol is the Twins; this Sign can often be of two minds about things. If possessive Taurus is able to let go and give one Twin the relationship security and intimacy it wants while allowing the other Twin its freedom, things will go well between these two. Taurus may want too much for Gemini's taste early in the relationship, but Gemini can become dependable and steady -- Taurus must simply be patient. Taurus's sedate, practical approach to life differs greatly from
Gemini's more light, intellectual approach. This can be a difficult dynamic, since Gemini may see Taurus as a bit dull while Taurus may see Gemini as flighty and lacking in substance. They have much to teach one another, however: Taurus can help Gemini become more deeply involved in life; Gemini can help Taurus add variety, fun and excitement to their life.
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.
Howie Thinks of Me Showering
Howie writes Carole: 28 Jan 2003 07:06:38 -0500
Sometimes I feel like you are just invading my mind. I was just standing over the sink running the water to shave, and I guess the running water triggered this wonderful image of watching you shower through glass blocks. Of course, the image was interrupted when part of me suddenly smacked into the vanity. See you soon. - Howie
Howie Loves My Love Letters
Carole writes Howie At 08:32 AM 1/30/03:
Dear Howie, I hope you know that I have much more than just a thought of you at the end of the day. I think about you all day. You are like an ever-present guardian that I consult and lean on throughout the day. I try to look at things as I think that you might to give myself a different perspective. When I talk about you, people always comment that they think I need someone like you who is "rock solid." I never used that term when referring to you, but there must be something in the way I portray you that infers that strength of character. (That, or anyone who doesn't run around barefoot, with flowers in his hair and talking to himself has got to be better anchored than I am.)
My back is well enough today I think I can skate. I just pulled it Monday and aggravated it worse in the next couple days. I would like to try the laser for that sometime though. It sure helped with my other problems.
I read this quote and thought of the way in which you always seem to get to the heart of a matter. Madame de Sevigny (La Marquise de Sevigne) remarked to GB Shaw in one of those famous letters, "Forgive me for writing at such length, but I hadn't the time to be brief." Always thinking of you. - Carole
Howie writes to Carole: I love your emails. Sometimes I read the 3 or 4 times. You have a wonderful way of articulating feelings. Probably best if I never meet any of these people. You are so credible, they'll believe your glowing description and I'll never be able to live up to it! :-). The couple of hours tonight waiting for you to appear in my doorway seems like the longest couple hours I've ever spent. - Howie
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.
Getting Past Don and That Chapter of My Life
Howie writes Carole 04 Feb 2003 07:40:55 -0500
Last night after shutting down my computer I continued to see an image of you sitting with the certificate in your hand drifting. I wondered if maybe you were seeking Don to say goodbye. But mostly, I was sorry not to be there just to hold you while you drifted. I continue to be amazed at the way you have overcome so many challenges in your life. I hope today is a very good day for you. - Howie
Carole wrote Howie: You inspire me:
The Next Chapter
A piece of paper says it all
In one hand now I hold the past
And when I file the chapter closed
My spirit will be free at last
Now the time has finally come
To know the lessons that were learned
Were worth the price I had to pay
Instead of lost through bridges burned
Life keeps unfolding, page by page
With twists and turns throughout its plot
A never-ending story line
Of memories and things forgot
No sense re-reading chapters closed
Or pondering on what seemed strange
When reading it a million times
Cannot the final outcome change
The future's pages still are blank
And yet await the author's hand
So on the saga will ensue
Until the earth time here is spanned
I have the chance to change its course
And write it as I'd have it be
My dear, sweet friend, I'd like to ask
If you would write this book with me?
Carole Ann Stairs 2/4/03
Dear Howie, I woke up crying and can't seem to stop. I think it is a good thing. A letting go. Your words touched me deeply and I feel you holding me now as I toss about on this sea of emotion. Even at a distance I feel that you are here for me. Your analogy to a book was perfect.
Your friends sound like people I would like to know better. My mother sent the following this morning and I thought you might enjoy some of these although most have been around a long time.
21 Wise Sayings
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The best way to get even is to forget...
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Feed your faith and your doubts will starve to death.
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God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts...
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Some folks wear their halos much too tight...
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Some marriages are made in heaven, but they ALL have to be maintained on earth...
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Unless you can create the WHOLE universe in 5 days, then perhaps giving "advice" to God, isn't such a good idea.
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Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, and faith looks up...
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Standing in the middle of the road is dangerous. The traffic from both ways will knock you down.
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Words are windows to the heart.
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A skeptic is a person who when he sees the handwriting on the wall, claims it's a forgery.
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It isn't difficult to make a mountain out of a molehill, just add a little dirt.
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A successful marriage isn't finding the right person-it's being the right person.
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The mighty oak tree was once a little nut that held its ground.
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Too many people offer God prayers with claw marks all over them.
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The tongue must be heavy indeed, because so few people can hold it.
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To forgive is to set the prisoner free, and then discover the prisoner was you.
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You have to wonder about humans, they think God is dead and Elvis is alive.
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It's all right to sit on your pity pot every now and again. Just be sure to flush when you are done.
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You'll notice that a turtle only makes progress when it sticks out its neck...
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If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, you can bet the water bill is higher.
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And last but not least -- God gave the angels Wings, and He gave humans CHOCOLATE!!!!!
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.
Don’s Death Certificate Arrives
Carole writes Howie At 09:42 PM 2/3/03 -0500:
Dear Howie, I am glad you are there and safe. I just got through judging the WOES photo contest and am getting ready to post the winners. The contest raised 640.00 at 5.00 per entry and it was a hard decision.
Ch. 20 says they will send out a crew and film a one hour program on us and several PSA's.
A bobcat (Alachua Bob) was hit by a car in Gainesville and referred to us. His pelvis was crushed and he is an older cat, so the vet doesn't think he will ever be able to go back to the wild. One of the vet techs there is a big fan of ours from the web site and wants to see the facility, so she is driving him down tomorrow.
Don's death certificate arrived today. I read it and looked out the window. Some time later I realized the sun had gone down. I don't know where I went. It left me in a really weird mood. This may be the closest thing I get to closure but many of the blanks were filled in with the word UNKNOWN so it didn't help much.
I bladed on the beach today. That was nice. I haven't done that in over a year. The access road is a lot bumpier than Bayshore, but the view was wonderful.
All the stuff I was interested in redeemed today before the sale. Turns out that trailer didn't have a septic and couldn't get one. Learning that before the sale was very fortuitous. I almost bid on a 2000.00 lot, but found out while researching the files this morning that there was a 44,500.00 lien on it that was held by the county, meaning it wouldn't go away.
I am exhausted, so I am going to wash my hair and go to bed. I hope you manage to stay warm. - Carole
Howie writes Carole 03 Feb 2003 22:55:08 -0500
Sorry it was a bad day for real estate, but glad it was a good one for WOES.
I can picture you in a trance with the certificate. Seems like a natural and appropriate reaction, and I hope you do at least get some level of closure. Whether that book is as fully closed as you would like or not, I hope I have opened another one that you can look forward to reading.
I had dinner with Salim tonight in a wonderful French restaurant, seated at the window seat looking out at NY at night. Not a place I'd want to live, as much as Salim would like me to move up to work with him, but it really can be an interesting place. Was sipping Cabernet and wishing you were here. Perhaps sometime we could visit together?
I had totally forgotten that years ago Salim had visited WOES on my recommendation after I had been there. So when I started to talk about it, he reminded me that he had been there. And his reaction was much like Cameron's. He remembered how awesome it was to be just a few feet from the tigers. Salim is a very spiritual unusual person and quite a philosopher. I think you will enjoy meeting him. His sister is sort of a psychic coach who is able to diagnose illnesses and advise people. Kind of runs in the family.
Anyway, time to turn in. Since you won't read this until morning, I hope you had a good night with good dreams. For the Minutes. - Howie
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.
Networking with Big Wigs
Carole writes Howie At 08:52 AM 1/29/03 -0500:
Have fun at golf. I had a great time last night. I went to volunteer for the Frank Sanchez campaign and ended up at the Mayoral debates sponsored by The Organization of Black Affairs. In a room of about 200 people, I was one of only maybe 5 white people. Blacks are not traditionally crazy about big cats and I can honestly say I only have one die hard supporter in the black community and who should I walk up and sit next to but him? I now have tons of friends in the black community, including key contacts at the St. Pete Times and WMNF who says they will do a program on us.
James Ransom, my friend, serves the county as sort of the ethics police and from what I saw in the room is loved by everyone. Frank Sanchez came over to hug him and James reintroduced me with a glowing rendition of my life's accomplishments to date. When James told Frank that I had just signed up as a volunteer on his behalf he hugged me with such emotion that I thought he was crying when he said "Bless you!" I took advantage of the moment this morning by asking Frank to sit on my Advisory Board because we have 4276 families in Tampa that support us. In H.C. there are 390,000 households and over 500,000 dogs and cats, so the pet vote is a big one and his association with us could only help.
They took a straw vote last night and Frank had 40% of the vote with the next highest being Pam Iorio at 27%. I liked her and she seems to be a highly ethical person, but she doesn't have the business skills and experience that he has. Did you know he was from Harvard? I don't live in the City limits, so I can't vote, but I think he is just what Tampa needs and will be a great advocate for us whether he is willing to serve on the board or not. It is warming up here. I have to give a tour this morning, then lunch with Mom, Jamie and Daniel. I miss you and look forward to your return.
Carole writes Howie: 29 Jan 2003 22:16:50 EST
Dear Howie, Today was a great day. Scott gave a tour to a guy who turned out to be worth 160 million and who is the Nascar driver you see on the cola machines all over the place. He supports a road side zoo and the greyhound rescue groups and we are his new favourite place. (He never did donate) I met with Alexandria and Beth today for a 3 hour tour. Alex helps raise funds for Shambala and Exotic Cat Breeding Facility and says she's never seen anyplace run as well as ours and wants to help us from Michigan. I am meeting with her tomorrow as well. Beth is the significant other to one of the Detroit Tigers and is trying to get them to do something public with or for us. It was her second time here. She came last year when the Tigers were here for training and did the Big Cat Expedition.
Tomorrow I meet with Catherine from MOSI who has the hot air balloon company. She wants to show me plans she wants to develop into a joint venture in which she picks people up for a balloon ride and then delivers them to us for the safari (our Big Cat Expedition) and then back to her for the evening ride. She says she has plans to advertise it on the balloon which would give us a lot more exposure. Scott has been working on that lead and just invited me to see what she is presenting tomorrow.
The guy from James Auto Body, who wants to do the billboard for us, has been missing me all day in telephone tag, but that should be resolved soon.
I made a 100k offer on a house in Carrollwood but haven't heard from the bank. I think I could make a quick 20k on it. The bank has two offers of 115k each, but the people have to get financing and I can't imagine a bank financing it in it's current condition. The bank that owns it says they won't. Probably the best news in all of that is that I reconnected with Mel Bermudez of 3Palaces Realty. He used to be a competitor of mine, and told me he was injured badly a couple years ago and couldn't do the fix up on foreclosures any more, so he would toss them my way as he ran things that need a lot of work. He is very active as a Realtor in Tampa, so that was very fortuitous.
Jamie is just too swamped to deal with the web site, so I decided to move it back to my computer. That took several hours and just about had me beat, but I finally was able to open it and all 2100 pages are not only there, but in the right order. Yahoo! Now, I can go to bed and dream of you. - Carole
Howie writes to Carole: 29 Jan 2003 16:34:20 -0500
Sounds like VERY successful networking to me! Wow! Played a fantastic front 9 holes today, after which Alan turned to me and said "It looks Carole and I bring out the best in you." Thought that was cute. I sucked on the back 9, which had the silver lining of letting him win although I would never do it intentionally.
Frank sounds like a great candidate and I'd enjoy knowing more. I am pretty ignorant about local politics and have never gotten involved at all, and only know of Pam from the press about the voting job and had a good overall impression, versus no impression of Frank. But he sounds great. Of course anybody smart enough to bless you is bound to be good!
Odds are I won't be arriving in Tampa until 9pm or so tomorrow, but if happen to get on the road early to arrive before 8, do you have plans or should I call to see if you'd like to have late dinner? Don't change anything - odds are against. Just a thot.
Wow. Not only did you pack so much into your day, but every part of it seemed to have major positive implications. Wonderful! And I'm flattered that after all that, you still had a thought of me at the end. Thanks. Really look forward to seeing you.
Your earlier email said you weren't feeling well - very stiff. I hope that eased up. Jacuzzi help? If I can help with that laser thing let me know. - Howie
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.
Howie Invites Met to Bring Over Some of My Stuff
Carole writes Howie: 25 Jan 2003 17:12:14
Dear Howie, I am equally amazed that we were as comfortable together as we were. Several times through the night I would look over at you and dreamily gaze at your silhouette against the nightlight from the hall. I couldn't tell if you were asleep, because you were so quiet, so I resisted the almost irresistible urge to reach out and touch you each time. I only gave in to that desire when it seemed apparent from your level of activity that you were already awake. Once I know you are getting plenty of sleep in a night, I probably won't be so self-controlled. You can let me know if I get out of hand.
I will take you up on leaving a few items there. I would like for you to do the same here. Thanks for the offer. I know that is an emotionally charged area for both of us and I will try to be sensitive to your feelings. If I am not, let me know. The best part of being good friends first is that unwavering honesty in speaking our minds and knowing the other person accepts us for who we are. You are making this so easy and comfortable for me.
I have church in the morning from 9-11. I could come to you around noon, and then back to church at 4:30 for the 5:00 service. I have a 9:00 and a 1:00 tour at WOES Monday for a large donor and a media contact, so I should spend the night at the island. If you would like to spend the night here, you are welcome to, if you aren't uncomfortable being left here while I am at church. I will be back home around 6:30. You are always welcome to join me at any service. All you have to do is say you want to go, or just show up. I am proud to have you by my side. I will never ask you to go though, because your attendance is not a condition of my feelings for you, and I don't ever wish to impose my choices on you.
Tuesday night at 6PM I am going to check out volunteering for the Frank Sanchez campaign. That will be at 3418 W. Kennedy. You are welcome to come, but don't do it for my sake. I would like to see him elected, but I am doing this just as much for WOES sake. I am disillusioned to learn that the old cliché is true that it isn't what you know, but who you know. I've denied it for years, but that has been foolhardy. The No More Homeless Pets conference today is a testament to that. It went very well overall today. We picked up 6 new members for the Spay Neuter subcommittee that meets twice monthly at my home. They are all from Polk and Pinellas Counties but say they will work with us to see how it can be done before going home to start their own coalitions.
In general, I don't mind driving, especially now that I don't have to meet my mother at 8:30 every morning. I do an awful lot of my work from the car, which is probably just lost time for you. If I had Internet access in the car and a rack for clothes, I wouldn't need a home. I used to live in my truck, as I am sure I told you. It had racks across the camper for clothes to hang over the mattress I slept on. That was 1976-1978 and the Internet hadn't gone public yet. Driving at night is the only difficult time for me. I got a ticket on my way home from church Wednesday for the first time in 10 or 12 years. I was hungry and trying to get home. I was not in the present. Got clocked doing 60 in a 25, but the cop said he realized too late who I was and said he downgraded it to disobeying a traffic device (the speed limit sign) which reduced my fine from 280.00 to 90.00 and he said I can make the whole thing go away on line, which I am going to do next.
I hope you had fun catching up with your high school buddy. I often wonder what ever became of the people I knew. Since I never graduated, there was never a class that would have reunions. I went to same private school, Florida College Academy for the first grade and then 6th through 9th. Every year I was voted the smartest girl, the girl most likely to succeed and most importantly to me, the girl you would most like to have as your friend. There were boys and girls selected for each of those categories, and my "twin" cousin Scott always won the one about being the boy you would most like as a friend. Robert Konichek sp? was frequently selected the smartest and most likely to succeed of the boys. He went to a private, all male, Jewish High School (Jesuit) here in Tampa. He isn't in the phone book, but I always wondered how he did with his talents. His father looked just like Kissinger. I was also, always class president except for the 8th or 9th grade, when I was beat out by a beautiful and promising girl named Jennifer. A few years ago she was a check out girl for Kash N Karry. I wondered how her dreams got so far off course.
I hope the insurance issue has finally been resolved. It sounds like you did an awful lot of work on something that proved to be rather unsettling for all involved. My mother handles ALL of that stuff for me and the employees. I would surely go insane trying to figure it all out. In 1996 I took it on myself to learn the new tax laws. I didn't understand the old ones and never did get a handle on the new ones either. Speaking of that, I need to renew the corporations online today too.
Thank you for a lovely evening and a wonderful morning. I put oatmeal in the cupboard and buffalo chicken strips in the freezer and orange juice in the fridge here for you. I wish to make you as welcome in my life as you have made me in yours. - Carole
Howie writes Carole: 27 Jan 2003 23:14:59 -0500
You've sent me to sleep with lovely thoughts. Thanks. If you get to tour Marty, be sure to point out that you host company functions. Look forward to seeing you Friday. Will be thinking of you in the meantime. - Howie
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.
Groovy kind of love
Carole writes Howie:
When I'm feeling blue, all I have to do...
Thank you for that.
Howie writes Carole: 22 Jan 2003 00:05:14 -0500
Thanks. I sort of regretted possibly creating the impression that tomorrow was some big confession or something. You are so unusual in not asking questions and just waiting for me to bring up something. But on the other hand, from this point on if there ever is something you are curious about or would like to ask, I'd like you to feel free to ask and I'll try to answer.
I feel like writing tonight.
One thing I would like you to be aware of is my religious background. By birth I'm Jewish. I have not practiced since I left home, and my family was never very religious. I have no negative feelings about Judaism and have not "officially" ever abandoned it. It just seemed to me that the whole thing was pretty well summed up in the Golden Rule and the rest was ritual. Being Jewish is a little different from most religions in that it is to some extent not just a religion but also an ethnic background, like being Italian. To my Jewish friends and my family, I'm Jewish, and occasionally get invited to a holiday meal. My beliefs, as I think you have seen, run much more along spiritual lines, believing firmly in some life force in the Universe that is part of all living things, and a "soul" or "spirit" in each of us that is the portion of that life force that resides in us. And I think that some form of reincarnation is very likely.
I would like to know your church because it is such an important part of your life and, for me, part of knowing and understanding you. And even if I can never share some of the beliefs, I may well learn some things that I will benefit from. And at a minimum, may simply find some peaceful minutes. I went to Mary's church the day my old friend Dell died just to be able to be in a "house of God" as the right place for the feelings I had that day.
Switching topics, it tends to be human nature to find most desirable what we cannot have, and take for granted what we do have. Aside from the awkwardness of saying or writing something that feels "mushy" to me, I think a part of me feels like if I share thoughts that show too much interest in you, I become part of the pack of admirers and less desirable. Not saying this is the case - rather, it is another little insight I find as I look inside for reasons for my own behavior.
My favorite relative after my brother is my cousin Alan in Miami. He is about 74, the guy who "talked" me into going to law school. He is not just a brilliant trusts and estates lawyer, but someone who I admire for just having pure wisdom. He was my mother's favorite younger cousin, and now I think he and I have the same relationship. He had a long unhappy first marriage, then late in life married his current wife. I don't think I know of a better marriage.
When I was in Miami in December I told him about you. I hope you won't mind, but I showed him your poem, because I thought he was one of the few people who would appreciate it. I have to confess and hope you'll understand that at the time, to me you were sort of new and interesting but had not really gotten past my barriers. (And speaking of "bulldozing", where did you put them?) Anyway, he became President of your fan club by the end of the poem. I sent him a little update recently and he sent me the email below. I thought it was wonderful, and wanted to share it with you when I got it but felt that "wince" that I get so I didn't. Tonight I'm ignoring the wince. Here is what he sent me:
When you are not with her, would you like to be? Would you like to wake up next to her in the morning and go to sleep with her at night? Do you often think about her when you are not with her? If you were able to change her, what changes (IF ANY) would you make? Do you admire what she has done with her life up to this point? Do you think she is intelligent out-of-bed? When the party is over, do you want to go home or have her go home? Are you concerned that she have a nice day? If she concerned that you have a nice day? Do you really listen when she is talking about what her day was like or will be like? Does she listen when you talk? Does she know that you really can't afford the lifestyle that goes with a $60,000 - $65,000 Mercedes? I assume she knows you are Jewish. Is she religious? Then turn the questions around from her point of view, such as: How would she change you if she could? I once dated a woman who thought I should dress differently. That was the straw that broke the camel's back quick!!! - Alan
Maybe someday I'll even show you my answers! :-)
Do you think I should dress differently? :-) Like maybe always just wear the tool belt?
Incidentally, Alan is one of those people who still can't believe I wrote the check for the car. When I pulled up in his driveway with it the first time, he stared at it in disbelief. He looked at me oddly and said, "You know, in recent years when you told me what you were doing, I always wondered if you were actually making a living. I guess you were." What he does not understand is that the gas costs the same for this as the other cars.
This psychic thing is getting out of hand now. Last night it was the fleeting vision floating by me. The remarkable part of that, by the way, is that it was not in a dream. I was awake, or maybe half way between awake and asleep. But now, disk jockeys are starting to read my mind. On the ride home tonight, as I was thinking of you, they played "Groovy kind of love". I had never paid attention to the words before. They mean something now.
Boy, in the morning if I read this I'm gonna really be embarrassed. I think I better stop and try to go to sleep. Have a nice day today (I assume it is now morning when you read this.) Looking forward to seeing you in the afternoon.
Carole writes Howie: 22 Jan 2003 08:41:18 EST
You may recall that Jesus was a Jew as were all of the apostles and most of the disciples. The Old Testament has been proven to be an extremely accurate book of history and geography and was almost entirely about the Jews. As I said in an earlier email, the Dead Sea Scrolls have shown that in all the thousands of years of translations, nothing was lost from the texts of the period. There is no living proof that Jesus did the miracles that the New Testament claims, except for the fact that a disproportionate percentage of the population was so convinced at the time that they were willing to suffer brutal persecution. The most compelling evidence of Jesus Deity, in my mind, is the hundreds of prophecies he fulfilled from the Old Testament. In just a three hour period, just before his crucifixion, he fulfilled over a hundred of them and he was doing it from a situation that he could not control.
To have any belief in Christ, a Christian has to have a very good understanding of the Jewish law and their history. I lived with Alan Schreier for two years who was a practicing Jew and he got a big kick out of having his Christian girlfriend explain to all of his Jewish friends their own rituals and what they meant. My attorney is Jewish. My alias in the real estate world for the past 20 years is Gilda Goldman. Bob's last name is Solomon. One of my closest volunteers was Susan Aronoff. She and her father spent countless hours discussing modern Judaism with me and it only vaguely resembles Judaism of the Bible. I don't know much about Jewish practices today, but I have a very strong background in the origins of the faith and the people. You are, by all rights, one of God's chosen people. How could I find any fault with that?
If you could see the wonderful way that your letter affected me this morning you would not be at all embarrassed for having sent it. I am honoured that you shared our feelings with Alan. There is nothing that I wish to hide, and if there ever should be, I would let you know when I tell you. I think you would know the difference without me having to say anything anyway.
I haven't seen anything in you that I even think needs changing, but I have been around enough to know that even if I did, it wouldn't happen. If you don't like a person just exactly like they are, you are never going to like them. People change but they do it for their own reasons. My friend Bill is 51 and says that people in our age range, who are single, are almost always rehab projects. To use your term, we can't live this long without baggage, but what I like about myself is that I expect to take care of those things myself and am not looking for someone to fix nor rescue me. You seem even more self sufficient. I am going to send this while I write the rest. I write very slowly as I started this letter an hour ago. My typing is not bad. I just try to think through every word so that I do not cause misconception. It was good to hear your voice this morning. I am even worse on the phone than in person when it comes to communication. - Carole
Later that night Carole writes Howie,
Dear Howie, I just got through with the Spay Neuter group and am about to do the dishes and hit the sack. I hope your meeting and acupuncture went well.
As I read (and re-read) your last notes I wondered if I am pushing you too fast? I have a tendency to bulldoze my way through life and while it serves me well to do so in business and fundraising it could feel less than gentle to your spirit. We have our whole lives to get to know each other and I want you to feel comfortable in every aspect of the process.
Unlike your suggestion to me of mentally committing to a certain time frame, I don't typically set dead lines, and in our getting to know each other, I am much more apt to just let things unfold as they will. My opposition to dead lines usually means do it now and it will be done when it's called for later, but that doesn't seem like a reasonable way to approach an affair of the heart. This whole paragraph illustrates the fact that I am in uncharted water and don't know what to do, but the good news is that there is no rush. I have to laugh out loud, because this has been your advice to me from the beginning. Guess it was pretty good advice after all, eh?
I still want to know every thing about you. I just want it to be in your time and as your comfort level allows.
Who Is He?
What man is this, who knows my heart?
How does he know the way I feel?
Is this a dream I'll soon wake from
And find that this was never real?
He knows, with eloquence, precise
All that I fear and cannot say
Accepting and not judging in
His own kind, gentle, loving way
His spirit reaches out with light
That heals me like the summer sun
And leaves me awestruck, wondering
Who is this very special One?
Is he a dream I've conjured up
A fantasy of flesh and bone
That makes the perfect vessel for
A spirit like I've never known?
Is he the other half of me?
The one I've long been searching for?
If this is true, if this is real
How could I ever want for more?
Time will tell, as it always does
The reason we have come to be
Both standing on the crossroads at
This point along eternity.
For Howie Baskin
By Carole Ann Stairs
1/22/03
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.
Howie Sees and Hears Me In His Dreams
This was actually 1/21/2003 and labeled wrong.
Howie writes to Carole
I had the strangest experience last night. I have had trouble sleeping lately and last night was worse. Sometimes when this happens I go downstairs into the recliner and can sleep there better. Somewhere around 3am, still awake but perhaps in an interim state, I felt like you were next to the recliner, in the kind of position one uses to sit on the floor with both legs curled under to one side, but elevated as if you were sitting on a stool next to the recliner except there is none, and I could have sworn I heard your voice. I turned and was startled that you were not there, and then startled at having expected you to be. I knew what you said very clearly, a short sentence, when I "heard" it, but was so startled that I could not remember it when I recovered from the sensation of being startled. I hope you have a great day. For starters, one that does not send you racing for guns!
Carole writes Howie:
Dear Howie, I am honoured that you dream of me. The seated position you describe is so typical of how I feel around you. I wish to be close, yet I am always looking up to you in admiration. The elevation would represent the way your kindness lifts me up and draws me in, ever closer to you. What I said wouldn’t matter because words are soon forgotten. It is how you felt that matters. This is where I hope it went well because most people say I scare them half to death in their dreams.
I spend so much time on the road, looking at property, that I am always thrilled when I turn down a road I have never been before. It is so rare. Being so close to you is like discovering a new path. I am really enjoying the scenery. I am increasingly in awe of your humble attitude considering the scope of your knowledge, understanding, education and talent. The poem was great. I'd really like a digital copy if you don't feel it was too personal between you and Kit and Jeff. Your delivery of it last night was excellent and I enjoyed seeing how you work a crowd with your charm.
It seems I have had to pry your education and career history out of you and I wonder if you hold back for fear of embarrassing me because I was a high school drop out and waitress? Like everything else in my life, I am happy with the end result and can only credit the path even where it seemed off course.
I especially want to know who you are inside and how you came to be. Being able to feel your goodness is not the same as being able to comprehend the complexity. Perhaps it is your essence I feel. That is a far more simple aspect that permeates all of the rest of who you are. When you felt so vulnerable in my arms I described it from my perspective, as in letting go of that last breath, but I don't know how you experienced that, or if you can even put it in words.
I know, from the way I feel when we are making love, that it feels to me like passing from a troubled earthly life, to the spirit realm, because I have experienced that release in past life regression. When I am one with you I feel that transition to tranquility. You hinted at the same sensation when you said the world ceases to matter. I never really thought about sexual intimacy as being a foretaste, or a remembrance of, a more spiritual existence to this degree. It is a beautiful morning! Carole
Howie writes Carole:
I don't hesitate to reveal things because of your background. I am genuinely in awe of what you have dealt with in your life and how much you have overcome to become who you are. I could never have done it. And in fact, I personally feel that without any of the advantages I have had of these diplomas you have accomplished far, far more than I have.
I did not realize we had not talked about that part of my background. Sometimes I avoid mentioning the infamous "Hahvad" Business School because I feel a little embarrassed because I feel like mentioning it could be taken as being pompous. Also, despite doing well at these schools and generally being well perceived in my work, many times I do not feel as positively about myself as that history would suggest that I should.
There is a growing list of things I want to talk to you about. Some to get closer. Some to make sure that I have not hidden anything from you. Some not as easy as others for me to talk about, but it is increasingly easy with you. Maybe we can fit in some talking time Wednesday. - Howie
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.
Howie Gets “Mushy”
(Photo of me is on our wedding day 11/2/2004)
Howie writes Carole: 20 Jan 2003 07:58:32 -0500
Carole, occasionally I write in a sort of diary or journal. I wrote something last night that I'll repeat below and hit send quickly before I delete it.
I honestly do not think, throughout the entire history of the world, that any man has enjoyed sexually being with a woman more than I enjoyed being with this woman today. I cannot imagine how it could be better.
Carole writes Howie:
Dear Howie, Timing is everything. My heart was racing at reading your words. I was trying to bring feelings into something that could be read. I thought I saw a shadowy figure disappear around the back of the house, but couldn't tear myself from the keyboard to check it out. Then the alarm went off because someone had entered the house, so I had to go check and since that has never happened, as you might imagine, my heart was now in my throat. I rounded the corner to see the door ajar was the one right next to where my gun is and I didn't see anyway to get past the shadow of the intruder to the weapon. Just as I turned to grab the keys to my truck where my other gun is located, I see a woman's hand stick a vacuum cleaner through the open door. New maid. Didn't know which door to use. She is from Lithuania so I may never be able to explain which door and the alarm system. Cute kid though.
Now, with trembling hands, I wish to thank you for sharing your heart with me this morning and even more so for the way you shared your soul with me yesterday afternoon. I agree with your description of lovemaking being a way to join two spirits that are dwelling in separate chambers. When you said I seemed to disappear yesterday I didn't know quite how to respond to that, because my feeling was of being intensely present. Perhaps, at my most intense, I disappeared into you. There was a glorious sensation of being one with you. For me, that feeling lingers. Once I have been a part of someone, I never feel fully separate from them again. Because I admire your values and share many of your core beliefs, this is a rare opportunity for me to enjoy that connection.
You are welcome to join me at church any time. There is no awkwardness to overcome. I have known these people my entire life and they are very loving and accepting of me and they are always happy to see someone show an interest in his Creator. I have never been one to stand around afterwards shaking hands and talking. My father and I usually race each other to the parking lot, but a few people have made a career out of trying to snag us for just a moment. One of my favourites is Charlie Bailey. He is 92 and can still recite the Bible word for word. He always kisses me. His wife died from cancer last week and he is just lost without her.
The better classes (about evidences) right now are at the later services (7:30-8:30) in Carrollwood. The "church" doesn't take a stand on approving or disapproving any practice. It uses the Bible as the ultimate authority and believe me, I have been over it with a fine toothed comb looking for a loophole regarding my sex life and marriage options. There is nothing in the Bible nor in the general beliefs of our members that indicates sex is bad. On the contrary, the Bible urges men to marry so that they can satisfy their needs and concentrate their minds on spiritual matters. If people knew how to be good partners to their mates, I think this mindset would probably prevail in any society. I think people stray looking for fulfillment because we mistakenly think it is something you can find, rather than something we can create.
I didn't know about the Urban Legends web site. That's great. I don't pass on most of the nonsense that comes across my desk, but the hydroplaning just made sense and was something I had never thought about. I saved the main site for future reference.
I will see you tonight and come by for shower and dinner on Wednesday after blading. Jamie and I are usually at the gym from 2:00 to 3:00 and then I will drive to Bayshore to blade for about 45 minutes to an hour and then to your place around 4:30 to 5:00 is my best guess. I will need to leave by 6:45. I look forward to seeing you tonight. - Carole
Later in the day Carole writes Howie 20 Jan 2003 22:52:02 EST Subject: got milk?
Dear Howie, I just got in as I stopped for milk (soy milk) on my way home and remembered I have to feed the Spay Neuter group tomorrow and they asked for wine, so I got cheese and crackers and fruit... and any time I go into a grocery store it is an all night event. I am lost in there. When I got home I tried to sign on under xx, but Jamie is logged in on that account under xxx.
I smiled all the way home. I smiled through all the aisles and aisles of things that surely no one eats. I smiled at the checkout girl who would much rather have been any where than there. I smiled in the darkness as I stumbled in these shoes over the rocky terrain. I smiled at the cat who was doing her best to get through the door by tripping the strangely smiling lady with all the grocery bags. I am smiling now. I will probably smile in my sleep. Thank you for giving me so much to smile about. - Carole
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.
“Love is a verb” - Howie
Howie writes Carole: 19 Jan 2003 21:01:50 -0500
We are having a little going away party next door tomorrow at 6pm for Kit and Jeff who you'll recall are moving to Hawaii. Would love to have you join us if you can.
In Orlando Tuesday afternoon and evening. The rest of my week is wide open right now - have a bunch of stuff to do but no set schedule. Would enjoy seeing you as often as you would like this week for whatever activity you like - walk Bayshore, see or rent a movie, meal(s), read, day or evening, your place or mine. Am simply at your service. You name it.
You know you're getting old when you have no clue who the half time performers are at the football games, and are not sure what you are hearing is music.
Carole writes Howie At 07:45 PM 1/19/03 -0500:
Tuesday night at 6PM I host the Spay and Neuter meeting at the island. Wednesdays at 7:00-8:00 or 7:30-8:30 depending on where I go, I have church. Saturday my period is due to start and I have the No More Homeless Pets thing at the University from 9:30 till 2:00 and just for future reference, I have church on Sundays from 9:00 - 10:00 class and 10:00-11:00 worship and in the afternoon
either from 5-6 or 6-7 depending on which congregation I attend.
Howie writes Carole: 19 Jan 2003 22:15:31 -0500
Well, if I'm to pick, we've got Monday evening set (nothing to bring - all taken care of) and Tuesday we're both busy. Since you are busy Wednesday in evening with church, would you like to do your roller blading that afternoon and come by for a shower, visit and early dinner before church? And from there we could plan the remaining days before your discomfort time?
I'm happy to try this laser thing for you as long as you are sure I can do no harm if I do not do something right. Will check the laser site tomorrow but perhaps when we visit you can tell me more. Planning to have Dr. Dong look at leg Tuesday. I'll see if I can "remote view" into those dreams.
Carole writes Howie At 09:44 PM 1/19/03 -0500:
Dear Howie, I would be happy to meet with you and Kit and Jeff Monday at 6PM. What should I bring?
Thank you for the info on Dr. Yang. I have laser acupuncture that I wish to try, but would like to know what you think of her if you go. I can reach all of the spots that need doing, I think, and I have done regular acupuncture enough to have a good feel for it. If I can't relax and hold the laser in place, would you be willing to do it for me? It is just light, so you can't do any harm. I bought it for the cats, but there is a book for people too. If the laser doesn't work, I will be wanting to see her next month.
If I am ever going to do anything but embarrass you with my ineptitude on the court, I will need your best reference and lots of practice. Jamie is very athletic and hates to skate, so she can help bring me up to speed for you. I used to play when I was a teenager. My father had a powerful swing. The ball would cut you in half if it made contact. I am good at chasing cats, in ever changing directions,
while swinging those big wrought iron nets that you can catch a cougar in. How hard could this be? ;-)
I am sorry to hear that you are expecting a long recovery on your calf, but not too surprised given your description of the incident. Want to try the laser? McLaren Photonic Therapy ® (405) 767-0800 http://www.photonictherapy.com/
As for the rest of the week, I would like to make the most of it, since I will be likely not be good company for a week starting Saturday. I love blading Bay Shore and could drop by before (less smelly, sweaty and "high") or afterward when I am already euphoric and on top of the world. I ALWAYS enjoy a walk, but don't want to aggravate your leg. I spend an inordinate amount of time eating so any time that works into your schedule I am much happier to have your company. I don't wish to make a pest of myself. I need to know how you prefer to structure your days, or if you prefer structure to spontaneity. Left to my own devices, I will work from 7:30 am until 9:30 PM and it makes no difference to me what time of day I break free to do something else. I am adaptable.
Lately I have spent an awful lot of time in writing, but I do it to sort out my thoughts. Recently I have needed this time to write, more than usual and I am pleased with the clarity that it has helped bring to the situation. Please do not feel compelled to write, just because I go on and on. I am off to bed. With any luck, I will dream of you.
Carole writes Howie At 08:49 PM 1/19/03 -0500:
Dear Howie, When I said we are studying Christian Evidences and alluded to scientific evidence of the existence of God and the Bible being His inspired Word, I did not wish to leave the impression that the evidence is so indisputable that one could come to no other conclusion. Far from it. What I have learned is that regardless of one's beliefs, from Atheism to Fundamentalist Christian, nothing about the origin of man, our reason for being here and where we go when we die, can be proven beyond a doubt. When a man says, "There is no God" or "We are all god" he is stating his belief, his faith and in the end our faith is all that any of us have.
I find the evidence of God to be as compelling as the evidence against it so the only issue, in my mind is, "Which is the safest bet?" If there is no God and I live my life as if there were, there is no down side for me. I will have lived a good life and treated others the way I wanted to be treated. I will have spent three hours a week studying something that led me to be kinder, more compassionate and helped others to realize meaning in their lives.
On the other hand, if I bet there is no God and do not spend any time looking into the matter, then I am more apt to be guided by man's changing attitudes and values and it takes a considerable amount of meaning from my existence. If the Bible is God's Word, and I choose to ignore it, the repercussions of eternal separation from all that is good is a greater price than I wish to pay for a few extra hours in this life time.
I have witnessed great blessings and a closeness to God that causes me to have much greater faith than the last two paragraphs would seem to indicate, but I came to those conclusions when I was far less convinced. I recently read the Nag Hamadi Library because it was a collection of writing by the Essenes who were walking the earth in the days of Christ. I am still reading the Dead Sea Scrolls and have been fascinated to learn that as recently as 1942 ancient scrolls were found that evidenced the fact that the Old Testament had been meticulously copied without changes for thousands of years. That seems nothing short of miraculous to me. There are no such documents that evidence the accuracy of the New Testament's first 150 years, but there is also nothing in the NT that contradicts the OT.
I am not a member of either church that I attend, because I live a life that is not condoned by the Bible. Even when I was married, I did not ask to be affiliated with the church because we do not believe in divorce for any reason other than infidelity and my husband was the unfaithful one in his previous marriage, so our marriage would never have been approved. For the past three years, I have been with men who were not my husband and who would not have been approved marriage partners according to the Scriptures. I do not wish to be an embarrassment to those members who are doing God's Will, because for me to ask to be a member would be to put them in the untenable position of either having to deny me or defend me. Everyone in both congregations and several others, loves me and is so kind to me. I would never want to put them in that awkward position. The Bible doesn't require me to "be a member" of a local church, but it does state that I am to come to worship whenever the group meets, so I do.
I will never be perfect, but I really only have one big temptation and that is my sexual need. The Bible tells us that we do need a mate to make our lives complete in this regard, so it is not as if sex were bad, but rather the situations in which we satisfy those needs. I would feel I was doing all that was asked of me if I could just forego that one desire or if I could fulfill it within the context approved by God. For a woman my age, that is not likely to happen.
This leads me to something you brought up a couple of times. You have teased me, as you did today, that I should make the most of your youth and virility while it is still yours to share. You seemed concerned as I was leaving that I did not recognize the fullness of this relationship for what it is and that perhaps I was limiting it to a sexual attraction. I'm not sure if you thought that I was doing that, or if you wanted to be sure I knew that you were not, but either way, there seemed to be an issue of sorts.
The lovemaking with you today was the most wonderful I have ever experienced. I am still glowing. As I said earlier, I was seeing you through different eyes and was much more appreciative of what I saw and felt. I wouldn't choose someone based physical attraction alone. Today, when I mentioned the body builder, what I didn't say was that he holds 7 titles, one of which was Mr. America within the past 10 years and he still competes and wins regularly. He takes testosterone injections and HGH and was pushing me to do the same, just so I could keep up with him sexually. He owns thousands of acres of groves in the area and wanted to help me with the land issues I face for the cats. He's been crazy about me for the past 5 years although I only started sleeping with him in November. His wife died 14 years ago and all he has talked about is that I am the only woman he has wanted to be with since then. I just broke up with him last week, without a tear and without a single thought that I may have made a mistake. Beauty, sexuality, and financial resources are all nice, but they are not the most important attributes a person can have.
For me, the most attractive part of any person is their attitude and their heart. How is that person making the world a little bit better place? Of course I am attracted to your physical beauty and your sensuality, but I am only beginning to see what a lovely person you are on the inside. The more I learn about you, the more I want to know. I am enjoying every minute!!! - Carole
Howie writes Carole: 19 Jan 2003 22:04:35 -0500
I think your philosophy is wonderful. I am convinced there is a spiritual force in the universe that we are part of, whether we call it "God" or not, and that one of your sentences captures the most important thing this force would ask of us: "I will have lived a good life and treated others the way I wanted to be treated."
I disagree with your Church on sex. I think our sexual desire is a blessing from God that allows us a way bond with another soul despite the fact that our souls are stuck in separate bodies. But, most people cannot use this gift responsibly and before birth control there was a powerful social reason (unwanted children) that made the rules very valuable. Maybe the church would say they agree, but only if married and approved by the church, so maybe all I disagree with is the latter.
But while I disagree with the views of your church on this, I heartily agree that we should respect each person's right to adopt the beliefs that come to him or her and that hopefully serve them well. I'm just sorry it seems to make you feel bad to a degree about something I think is so good.
If believing makes someone treat other people better, then I'm for that belief. Unfortunately I have found that some of the people who are most active in professing their religion are the most intolerant and behave toward others very poorly.
I think we already mentioned one or both of the two Covey quotes that I love, but they both come to mind. I may not have them exact:
"Love is a verb"
"We should not think of ourselves as humans having a spiritual experience. We should think of ourselves as spirits having a human experience."
My favorite all time pin button (not sure what you call them - the kind with words on them that you can pin on your shirt) is in my office. It says:
"God is coming......and She is pissed!"
My comment about sex being the "least reason" was to let you know how I feel. This is not in any way to diminish the wonderment of the sexual part. I believe the reason the sex is so good is because of other things we are feeling. I think we share something that is the single most important thing to me, and very rare: values.
It is harder for me to express certain things than I think it is for you. I can say them to myself, but saying or writing them to you feels like I am being "mushy". (Sorry - I had to delete the following two sentences. Another time. Not trying to be cute or coy.)
Someday, if it would not be a problem, I would enjoy attending one of the sermon's and/or classes. But if my presence would in any way be awkward or unwelcome, just say so.
Your friend only won those Mr. America titles because I chose not to compete.
I'm concerned that you may go to sleep so mellow tonight that you will not hear your alarm and miss some appointment tomorrow. Should I knock on your door at the time you want to get up to be sure? :-) (you are probably already asleep and won't read this until morning - see what you missed by turning in early?!) Let me know if you want to join us tomorrow evening (per other email re calendar). For the Minutes. - Howie
“Love is a verb” - Howie
Howie writes Carole: 19 Jan 2003 21:01:50 -0500
We are having a little going away party next door tomorrow at 6pm for Kit and Jeff who you'll recall are moving to Hawaii. Would love to have you join us if you can.
In Orlando Tuesday afternoon and evening. The rest of my week is wide open right now - have a bunch of stuff to do but no set schedule. Would enjoy seeing you as often as you would like this week for whatever activity you like - walk Bayshore, see or rent a movie, meal(s), read, day or evening, your place or mine. Am simply at your service. You name it.
You know you're getting old when you have no clue who the half time performers are at the football games, and are not sure what you are hearing is music.
Carole writes Howie At 07:45 PM 1/19/03 -0500:
Tuesday night at 6PM I host the Spay and Neuter meeting at the island. Wednesdays at 7:00-8:00 or 7:30-8:30 depending on where I go, I have church. Saturday my period is due to start and I have the No More Homeless Pets thing at the University from 9:30 till 2:00 and just for future reference, I have church on Sundays from 9:00 - 10:00 class and 10:00-11:00 worship and in the afternoon either from 5-6 or 6-7 depending on which congregation I attend.
Howie writes Carole: 19 Jan 2003 22:15:31 -0500
Well, if I'm to pick, we've got Monday evening set (nothing to bring - all taken care of) and Tuesday we're both busy. Since you are busy Wednesday in evening with church, would you like to do your roller blading that afternoon and come by for a shower, visit and early dinner before church? And from there we could plan the remaining days before your discomfort time?
I'm happy to try this laser thing for you as long as you are sure I can do no harm if I do not do something right. Will check the laser site tomorrow but perhaps when we visit you can tell me more. Planning to have Dr. Dong look at leg Tuesday. I'll see if I can "remote view" into those dreams.
Carole writes Howie At 09:44 PM 1/19/03 -0500:
Dear Howie, I would be happy to meet with you and Kit and Jeff Monday at 6PM. What should I bring?
Thank you for the info on Dr. Yang. I have laser acupuncture that I wish to try, but would like to know what you think of her if you go. I can reach all of the spots that need doing, I think, and I have done regular acupuncture enough to have a good feel for it. If I can't relax and hold the laser in place, would you be willing to do it for me? It is just light, so you can't do any harm. I bought it for the cats, but there is a book for people too. If the laser doesn't work, I will be wanting to see her next month.
If I am ever going to do anything but embarrass you with my ineptitude on the court, I will need your best reference and lots of practice. Jamie is very athletic and hates to skate, so she can help bring me up to speed for you. I used to play when I was a teenager. My father had a powerful swing. The ball would cut you in half if it made contact. I am good at chasing cats, in ever changing directions, while swinging those big wrought iron nets that you can catch a cougar in. How hard could this be? ;-)
I am sorry to hear that you are expecting a long recovery on your calf, but not too surprised given your description of the incident. Want to try the laser? McLaren Photonic Therapy ® (405) 767-0800 http://www.photonictherapy.com/
As for the rest of the week, I would like to make the most of it, since I will be likely not be good company for a week starting Saturday. I love blading Bay Shore and could drop by before (less smelly, sweaty and "high") or afterward when I am already euphoric and on top of the world. I ALWAYS enjoy a walk, but don't want to aggravate your leg. I spend an inordinate amount of time eating so any time that works into your schedule I am much happier to have your company. I don't wish to make a pest of myself. I need to know how you prefer to structure your days, or if you prefer structure to spontaneity. Left to my own devices, I will work from 7:30 am until 9:30 PM and it makes no difference to me what time of day I break free to do something else. I am adaptable.
Lately I have spent an awful lot of time in writing, but I do it to sort out my thoughts. Recently I have needed this time to write, more than usual and I am pleased with the clarity that it has helped bring to the situation. Please do not feel compelled to write, just because I go on and on. I am off to bed. With any luck, I will dream of you.
Carole writes Howie At 08:49 PM 1/19/03 -0500:
Dear Howie, When I said we are studying Christian Evidences and alluded to scientific evidence of the existence of God and the Bible being His inspired Word, I did not wish to leave the impression that the evidence is so indisputable that one could come to no other conclusion. Far from it. What I have learned is that regardless of one's beliefs, from Atheism to Fundamentalist Christian, nothing about the origin of man, our reason for being here and where we go when we die, can be proven beyond a doubt. When a man says, "There is no God" or "We are all god" he is stating his belief, his faith and in the end our faith is all that any of us have.
I find the evidence of God to be as compelling as the evidence against it so the only issue, in my mind is, "Which is the safest bet?" If there is no God and I live my life as if there were, there is no down side for me. I will have lived a good life and treated others the way I wanted to be treated. I will have spent three hours a week studying something that led me to be kinder, more compassionate and helped others to realize meaning in their lives.
On the other hand, if I bet there is no God and do not spend any time looking into the matter, then I am more apt to be guided by man's changing attitudes and values and it takes a considerable amount of meaning from my existence. If the Bible is God's Word, and I choose to ignore it, the repercussions of eternal separation from all that is good is a greater price than I wish to pay for a few extra hours in this life time.
I have witnessed great blessings and a closeness to God that causes me to have much greater faith than the last two paragraphs would seem to indicate, but I came to those conclusions when I was far less convinced. I recently read the Nag Hamadi Library because it was a collection of writing by the Essenes who were walking the earth in the days of Christ. I am still reading the Dead Sea Scrolls and have been fascinated to learn that as recently as 1942 ancient scrolls were found that evidenced the fact that the Old Testament had been meticulously copied without changes for thousands of years. That seems nothing short of miraculous to me. There are no such documents that evidence the accuracy of the New Testament's first 150 years, but there is also nothing in the NT that contradicts the OT.
I am not a member of either church that I attend, because I live a life that is not condoned by the Bible. Even when I was married, I did not ask to be affiliated with the church because we do not believe in divorce for any reason other than infidelity and my husband was the unfaithful one in his previous marriage, so our marriage would never have been approved. For the past three years, I have been with men who were not my husband and who would not have been approved marriage partners according to the Scriptures. I do not wish to be an embarrassment to those members who are doing God's Will, because for me to ask to be a member would be to put them in the untenable position of either having to deny me or defend me. Everyone in both congregations and several others, loves me and is so kind to me. I would never want to put them in that awkward position. The Bible doesn't require me to "be a member" of a local church, but it does state that I am to come to worship whenever the group meets, so I do.
I will never be perfect, but I really only have one big temptation and that is my sexual need. The Bible tells us that we do need a mate to make our lives complete in this regard, so it is not as if sex were bad, but rather the situations in which we satisfy those needs. I would feel I was doing all that was asked of me if I could just forego that one desire or if I could fulfill it within the context approved by God. For a woman my age, that is not likely to happen.
This leads me to something you brought up a couple of times. You have teased me, as you did today, that I should make the most of your youth and virility while it is still yours to share. You seemed concerned as I was leaving that I did not recognize the fullness of this relationship for what it is and that perhaps I was limiting it to a sexual attraction. I'm not sure if you thought that I was doing that, or if you wanted to be sure I knew that you were not, but either way, there seemed to be an issue of sorts.
The lovemaking with you today was the most wonderful I have ever experienced. I am still glowing. As I said earlier, I was seeing you through different eyes and was much more appreciative of what I saw and felt. I wouldn't choose someone based physical attraction alone. Today, when I mentioned the body builder, what I didn't say was that he holds 7 titles, one of which was Mr. America within the past 10 years and he still competes and wins regularly. He takes testosterone injections and HGH and was pushing me to do the same, just so I could keep up with him sexually. He owns thousands of acres of groves in the area and wanted to help me with the land issues I face for the cats. He's been crazy about me for the past 5 years although I only started sleeping with him in November. His wife died 14 years ago and all he has talked about is that I am the only woman he has wanted to be with since then. I just broke up with him last week, without a tear and without a single thought that I may have made a mistake. Beauty, sexuality, and financial resources are all nice, but they are not the most important attributes a person can have.
For me, the most attractive part of any person is their attitude and their heart. How is that person making the world a little bit better place? Of course I am attracted to your physical beauty and your sensuality, but I am only beginning to see what a lovely person you are on the inside. The more I learn about you, the more I want to know. I am enjoying every minute!!! - Carole
Howie writes Carole: 19 Jan 2003 22:04:35 -0500
I think your philosophy is wonderful. I am convinced there is a spiritual force in the universe that we are part of, whether we call it "God" or not, and that one of your sentences captures the most important thing this force would ask of us: "I will have lived a good life and treated others the way I wanted to be treated."
I disagree with your Church on sex. I think our sexual desire is a blessing from God that allows us a way bond with another soul despite the fact that our souls are stuck in separate bodies. But, most people cannot use this gift responsibly and before birth control there was a powerful social reason (unwanted children) that made the rules very valuable. Maybe the church would say they agree, but only if married and approved by the church, so maybe all I disagree with is the latter.
But while I disagree with the views of your church on this, I heartily agree that we should respect each person's right to adopt the beliefs that come to him or her and that hopefully serve them well. I'm just sorry it seems to make you feel bad to a degree about something I think is so good.
If believing makes someone treat other people better, then I'm for that belief. Unfortunately I have found that some of the people who are most active in professing their religion are the most intolerant and behave toward others very poorly.
I think we already mentioned one or both of the two Covey quotes that I love, but they both come to mind. I may not have them exact:
"Love is a verb"
"We should not think of ourselves as humans having a spiritual experience. We should think of ourselves as spirits having a human experience."
My favorite all time pin button (not sure what you call them - the kind with words on them that you can pin on your shirt) is in my office. It says:
"God is coming......and She is pissed!"
My comment about sex being the "least reason" was to let you know how I feel. This is not in any way to diminish the wonderment of the sexual part. I believe the reason the sex is so good is because of other things we are feeling. I think we share something that is the single most important thing to me, and very rare: values.
It is harder for me to express certain things than I think it is for you. I can say them to myself, but saying or writing them to you feels like I am being "mushy". (Sorry - I had to delete the following two sentences. Another time. Not trying to be cute or coy.)
Someday, if it would not be a problem, I would enjoy attending one of the sermon's and/or classes. But if my presence would in any way be awkward or unwelcome, just say so.
Your friend only won those Mr. America titles because I chose not to compete.
I'm concerned that you may go to sleep so mellow tonight that you will not hear your alarm and miss some appointment tomorrow. Should I knock on your door at the time you want to get up to be sure? :-) (you are probably already asleep and won't read this until morning - see what you missed by turning in early?!) Let me know if you want to join us tomorrow evening (per other email re calendar). For the Minutes. - Howie
Returning to My Monogamous Nature
Carole writes Howie: 18 Jan 2003 09:20:07 EST Subject: I can do Honesty
Dear Howie, If you are not turned off by pink hair, I'd love to come by Sunday and check out every department of the Howie Hug Shop. I have church until 11:30 and then my monthly Volunteer Meeting until 1:30, so it would be after 2PM. I have heard there is a ball game on that most of Tampa will be watching. When does that start, so that I don't keep you from it?
I was born blonde, but when I got pregnant with my daughter it turned brown, like hers, and never did lighten back up. I have tried to wear it dark, but it freaked me out every time I went past a mirror. I love grey hair and have tried my entire life to find the colour closest to grey that I can dye mine. Funny, they make all kinds of products to eliminate grey and none to cause it. This stuff didn't look red on the box, nor in the description, but it definitely has a pink caste to it. What is really funny about that is I always end up painting houses pink. I like the adobe, cream colours and yet no matter what I pick, when I am done with the house, people refer to it as "the pink house". Since most of my properties have been in low rent neighborhoods, that has actually been an advantage, but it was never my intention. You don't want my help when you go to pick paint.
Today is a VERY happy day for me. As soon as I woke up, to the sound of someone wanting in my gate, I came to see if there was any word from you. As always, I am just in awe of your spirit. Maybe you don't hear the rest of the universe audibly, like I do, but you certainly do at an intellectual level. You get it. It kind of reminds me of horses and masters. When a horse knows you and understands you it anticipates your moves and seems to flow as one with you. When a horse has just been exposed to a new rider, the new rider has to tell the horse and push the horse into what the rider wants. We are both "horses". I just have to be kicked and yelled at by the Master to get my attention. You are already flowing with anticipation and understanding.
The people at the gate were the gunnite crew for the pool. They ran over my water line and now I have a pool in the front yard AND the back yard. No one speaks English (or French), so I just got in from pantomiming how to shut off the water. It could have been worse. I could have been in the middle of colouring my hair and been forced to go out in public to find a shower. Or, worse yet, to
you. Talk about seeing someone at their worst!
I never asked you about your past because it seems most people are very private. As someone who has been alone a while, I know the underlying insinuation of "what is wrong with you?" when people ask why you are not married. People always want to know why my husband would have left me and
not knowing if that was even the case I can never answer that. As someone with a wild imagination, I have always found that the truth is far easier to take than not knowing. I will always lay my cards on the table and if you find it offensive just tell me and I will play silently.
Before I hit send last night, "big Bob" called and apologized for "little Bob" acting out his emotions. He said that to just walk away was to cut his nose off to spite his face. He realized that his reason for coming to me initially was for guidance in the foreclosure market and he feels that together we can make a lot of money. Our talents do compliment each other in such a manner that I believe that could be true. He said that the sexual tension between us almost had to be handled the way it was in order to get it out of the way so that we can concentrate on business and not on wondering what the other would be like in bed.
He believes that in time I will be so enamoured with him that I wouldn't be able to be with anyone else, and that until that is true, he doesn't want to have a sexual relationship with me. He went on to say that he didn't consider oral sex, as sex, but I told him I am a Republican. I don't know if he is sincere or if this is just a ploy. In either event, I don't know if I am strong enough to resist, but I am going to try.
There are several reasons for that. The first is because you are so important to me. I had told him from the beginning that I could not give you up. That wasn't from any sense of obligation to you, because you never asked for a commitment from me. It is because of how good it is to be with you. I want to get to know you better and I have never had a better sexual partner than you. If I am going to revert to my monogamous nature, it is going to be with someone that I care about and enjoy. I want that to be you.
Perhaps I am being naïve but it appears this could be the best of both worlds for me. The connection that I feel with Bob is similar to that with my daughter, with Mary, with Radar (a secretary who anticipated my every move) and Bill. Over the past 17 years Bill has been to me, what you are to the women in your life that you are just friends with. That objective male perspective. He and I have been together sexually perhaps four times in 17 years in between husbands and lovers. Working with Bob may be all that I "need" from that relationship. As I think about what I want, that seems possible.
If Bob decides he wants more than that and pulls out all the stops and comes for me with the same passion and enthusiasm he did initially, I don't know if I am strong enough to deflect his attention. He describes himself as relentless and I can see why. Sort of like your incident with the red head; he has shown me enough of his dark side that I don't trust him. I will cross that bridge when, and if, I come to it. At least you have the assurance that I will be honest about it.
Until then I look forward to a lot of great minutes with you. I don't want you to feel like I am just trying you on in a process of elimination toward someone else. Marriage or living together is not at the end of my agenda. There is no pressure for you to "work out" as you said, because what I like with you is what I already have with you. As long as we have that, life is good and when and if we don't have it, then life will have been better for having had it while we did.
As for the clinical issues, tell me what you prefer. Bob is going in on the 4th for extensive medical evaluation for his lungs. His blood tests will reveal if I have been exposed to anything that none of us were aware of. Based upon his sexual history I doubt seriously that there is a problem. I can schedule to have blood tests run again, but it would probably fall into about the same time line, because it is so hard to get an appointment via my HMO. Until we know for sure, you can make the call of protection or not. Do they make condoms that big? Until I tell you differently, it is not my intention to have sex with anyone else, but if I do, it will be protected, or again, I will tell you otherwise.
While I am on embarrassing subjects, since you are the only one likely to see it, do you prefer * hair or clean-shaven? I have no preference, other than to please my lover, so whatever you prefer is fine. I saw a woman once who shaved it into the shape of the playboy bunny, but I am not that handy with a razor. - Carole
Howie writes Carole:
Some friends who have a townhouse that looks out on Bayshore by Bay to Bay have invited us to spend a little time there Feb 1 in the early afternoon to watch the parade go by. Not something we have to spend the whole afternoon doing. Would you like to join me?
Carole writes Howie At 02:10 PM 1/18/03 -0500:
WOES is celebrating Ground Hog Day that day from 1-3. I need to be there for about 30 minutes, but can do it at 1 or at 2:30, just for moral support to the troops. Every year we end up competing with Gasparilla and always say we are going to plan differently the next year. I don't know who decided on Feb. 1, but I have been printing up tickets for it all morning.
I would like to join you with your friends, if the time crunch doesn't interfere with what you want to do. I would be happy to have you accompany me to WOES before, or after.
I have been using the SAFEinTheWild address while Jamie was out of town, but will be able to access this one more easily after today.
Howie writes Carole 18 Jan 2003 21:37:05 -0500
I'm supposed to go to Davis Island to see the ship go by, which I've never seen, in the morning with Marianne and probably won't get back until about 1:30. How about if you do WOES at 1:00 and we meet at my house around 2pm. Remember you cannot come down Bayshore though. Westshore to Gandy best I think. Then we can either get some exercise and walk up to Bay to Bay if we're ambitious or drive, but parking anywhere near there will be a nightmare so unless we're really not up to it the walk may be better. And don't fret about being here right at 2. And thanks for invite to WOES - would have if not for the morning deal.
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.
Only Howie Cares For Me as a Person
Carole writes Howie:
You just never cease to amaze me. Even though I didn't sleep well, I didn't think well either. I told Bob Solomon that I was coming to see you last night, and afterwards I called to tell him that I was undecided on what to do. He couldn't believe that I could be on the fence about this and said he wanted to withdraw from our relationship. This seems like a very strong reaction for a relationship that is only a week old, and feels for all the world as if I am being "played". (Just tell someone they can't have something and they will knock themselves out to get it, whether they wanted it or not, sort of thing).
He went on and on about how I have deceived and hurt him and perhaps I am being arrogant, or am in self denial, but I don't think either is true. Much of his appeal is in his passion and that could be all this is. Regardless of what his next move is, I still feel confused and without direction. This whole exercise has led me to know some of the things I don't want and has given me deeper insight into some of the qualities that are important to me in myself and others. It has been humbling and I needed that. Gotta be careful what you pray for.
This is just such a foreign state for me, I don't know how to deal with it. I wish to let the dust settle around me, so that I can see clearly. I cannot thank you enough for the way you have been. You are so self-less and kind. Your ability to step outside your own needs for me is truly remarkable.
Later that day to Howie:
Dear Howie, Don't worry about my tears, or agonizing, for that matter. I cry easily, because I am easily touched. When I don't cry in a situation that would usually warrant it (in my book) then I step back and wonder why. I cried with you Tuesday night. I broke up with everyone else I was seeing Wednesday, without a single tear. Thursday I woke up crying over you and cried for 2 and 1/2 hours while writing to you. I cried in your arms last night. When Bob told me I had hurt him and mislead him, I was sad that he felt that way, but I didn't cry. I thought maybe I was just cried out. That happens.
This morning I needed to get some of my stuff out of his car. (No, not earrings, paperwork) He was much more calm and reasoned that God sent him to me with a message, the message was delivered, and that I shouldn't worry about having hurt him because it has only been a week and a good one at that. He said that he had just gotten carried away with his emotions when he thought he had found what he has been looking for, but that he didn't need me enough to share me. While I still feel a little of that reverse psychology in the air, it still should have touched me enough to make me cry, but didn't. Incidentally, I did not feel that you were doing that when you asked me to go the other night. Your rejection felt sincere. That doesn't sound like a compliment, as I read it, but it is.
Later, I read your email and cried again, but now when I go deep inside I don't feel pain. I feel a stillness, a peacefulness. I believe that every thing happens for a reason and that everything is unfolding as it should. Bob said he didn't know what that message was that he was involved in delivering, but I do. My "plan" for protecting my heart didn't work. The temporary sensation of not feeling was not fulfilling. I cannot distract myself enough to stop feeling. I can be swept off my feet, but not have any real depth of emotion, which causes me to wonder what the swept-off-my-feet thing is all about. It's that thing that causes me to jump into their lives, rescue them and bring them home. What IS that all about? I will be on the road alone most of the day and perhaps the significance of these revelations will become clear.
I never think that what-might-have-been would have been better than what is. I sometimes wonder how it might have been different, but don't recall ever thinking it would have been better. The perfect case in point was that first turning point in my life. I was in love with a boy at Florida College who was studying to be a preacher. I was only 14 and a virgin and he was willing to wait until I was old enough to marry to take me back to Bowling Green, KY to be a farmer/preacher's wife. When I was raped, I felt unworthy of him and broke up with him, without ever explaining why. I was too ashamed. Sometimes I wonder, if I hadn't been raped, and IF you could predict a life long involvement with a person, what would my life be like. I'd probably be some fat old lady now, sitting in a rocking chair, knitting doilies and thinking that I had never LIVED. That's about as romantic as I get over what might have been.
I am still uncertain of what to do next, but feel relieved in the belief that whatever it is, it was meant to be. I think you should contact the newspapers with the idea of a Dear Howie column. Women adore men like you. We need someone who is sensitive to the way we are and yet who has a man's perspective to draw from. It is far more valuable advice than any woman can get from another of her own gender. I will certainly give you a glowing recommendation.
Later that day to Howie:
Dear Howie, Today was a good day. I managed to deliver summons to Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough counties today. That may be a record for me. I sang in the car. Old tunes in an ancient language about buffalo, elk and rain, but songs all the same. I came home to Fall. The sky was grey and darkening and the remaining leaves on the hickory trees were blazing in yellows and oranges. The lawn is blanketed in colours from red to russet brown. I am fortunate to have the changing of the seasons here without the hills and snow. (My daughter just called from N.C. and is suffering from cabin fever from all the snow. She is making a sled from her dog's carriers to get the luggage to the car at the foot of the mountain)
I am even more blessed to have good friends like you. I pondered your insight and your advice today. It seems you never know a person until there is a difficulty. Anyone can be pleasant when things are going smoothly, but when their world is rocked, even slightly, you start to see what is in their heart. I like what I see in yours.
I thought about your advice of making a secret promise to myself and wondered why I have trouble doing that. I make promises to others, but rarely to myself. This year was the first year I ever made a New Year's Resolution i.e. Promise to myself. I don't know if I don't feel worthy of the promise, or if I feel incapable of keeping one that is only made to me, but that needs to change. I can't change what I don't see, so I appreciate you pointing that out to me.
Next comes, What to promise? I don't want to hurt anyone and I don't want to disappoint anyone, so how do I do that? It seems logical that if I don't promise anything to anyone, then I can't disappoint them by breaking a promise. The more I think about it, the more sound I find your concept of "good minutes". If I can stay in-the-moment and not get ahead of it, perhaps I and the person I am with can find enough happiness in that to not worry about the future.
It seems that sex is the difference between friendship and fiasco. I haven't had many people that I considered friends, but of the ones I have had, there doesn't seem to be the jealousy of other friends, nor the expectation of exclusivity to prove friendship. I wonder why sex changes things?
My immediate reaction to all of this is to want to crawl back in my cave, pull the rocks in around the entrance and hide here while I lick my wounds and try to figure out how to interact with the world in a less harmful manner. Rather than hurt anyone, that may be the kindest thing to do, but I am not built for idling long. When you offered to continue seeing me sexually while I worked this out, I felt it was because of your attitude toward just making the most of time we do have, and not because you needed me. I perceive that as strength and wonder if you would feel safe with me?
I wonder if you would BE safe with me? Or am I stupid enough to hurt you twice? All day long I have resisted the urge to call and ask you for 5 minutes of your time. I wanted a kiss, a hug and the reassurance that you didn't hate me for being such a fool, but I resisted because that is selfish and pointless. You would be kind, no matter what you really thought. The real issue here is not about my
happiness. I can find happiness in the simplest of things, like making the rounds in three counties in a day or watching the sunset as I drive home, or seeing my volunteers working well together.
I wonder what drives us to be part of a pair?
How can I be a part of your life without hurting you? What do you need or want, that I am capable of giving without causing harm? What can I do to repair the damage I have done to your trust?
I am going to go colour my hair. My hairdresser is sick and my hair looks awful. To leave you smiling, I will leave you with a pretty funny image, if not a funny story. Mary, my "wife" used to colour my hair. I don't have clothes that you can just toss after the messy dyes, so her teenage daughter gave me a t-shirt, about 6 sizes too small that barely covered my tits. It said Femme Fatale on the front.
Mary had way too much fun with the sticky, smelly hair colourant and had created a sculpture of my hair to rival the headdress on the statue of liberty. It has to set 20 minutes, but my mother called in a panic saying that she wanted me to go to her house in Avista (a walled and security patrolled neighborhood) and check to be sure she had turned off the stove.
Mary and I get there and realize the only way in is if someone buzzes you through the gate, or through the garage, to which I had no opener. She backed the car up to the wall and I scaled it. When I came back over the wall, Mary was very flustered and trying to explain to the security guard why her car was backed up to the fence. In my typical, I-can-handle-any-man attitude, I start trying to charm our way out of it because it was before the days of cell phones and there was no way to contact my parents. The guy is looking at me in this Femme Fatale rag top shirt, stinky hair all sculpted out in points and mounds and is looking more horrified than enamored. I'm wondering if I have lost my touch.
Mary takes in the scene and starts laughing so hard, I thought she would pass out. It wasn't until then that I remembered how I looked. Every time I colour my hair I think of that night.
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.
I Broke Up With Six Men & Don’t Know What To Do About Howie
Dear Howie, It's 5:30 a.m. and I have been praying for the last half hour about what to do regarding you and Bob Solomon and God isn't answering. Not in any way that I can comprehend. I keep hearing this primordial scream in my head; the kind that you never hope to hear nor express in a lifetime. A scream of pain and fear, that doesn't seem to be mine. I'm not sure what that is all about. At any rate, that little voice kept telling me to come write you, so perhaps inspiration or at least a little clarity will ensue.
Honesty is so important to me and that is true whether the subject be complimentary or not. The things I need to tell you may sound flattering or consolatory but that is not my intent. If our roles had been reversed, I would want to know, "Why?"
You are more accomplished, more sincere, more intelligent, more gentle, more reliable, more peaceful, more giving, more settled, more secure, more realistic, more independent, better looking, taller, more fit, funnier, and a far superior lover to him. (You are not allergic to cats) You are making your life count in ways that I admire deeply. You have a way with people that is nothing short of miraculous. You make me feel comfortable, loved, and accepted and I see that in the way you interact with those around you. We have discussed the tranquility that you project, whether it feels foreign to you or not. It feels so good to be near you.
I met Bob years ago, when he was referred to me by my live in lover Alan, regarding waterfalls and ponds for the cats. The first time our eyes met, there was a recognition that exceeded anything I could understand at the time. Later I performed a wedding for their mutual best friend Steve, and saw him again at the wedding. I spent the afternoon hiding from him because I was still in a relationship with Alan and I didn't know how to deal with the feelings that overwhelmed me when our eyes met. I broke up with Alan in October of 2001.
It was 2002 before I began to wake up to the world around me and began reading about things I had felt, but not understood, for years. Just last month Bob came to the gate at Easy Street asking for me and the volunteer who met him told him to leave his name, number and the nature of his request. The note said that he wanted to talk to me about a business opportunity and I put off calling him until last Thursday. I figured he would be wanting me to invest in some harebrained scheme, or because he knew Alan had made several hundred thousand dollars from his time with me, so I wasn't in any hurry to see him.
Seeing him may have been the biggest mistake I will make this year, because that immediate connection was so apparent that neither of us could focus on the reason that he came, which was to ask me to help him with a client who wants to invest in commercial real estate. Every word that falls from his lips sounds like it originated in my head. A person could study me for 20 years and not understand me at the level that he does after only a hand full of brief encounters. He hears voices and responds to them the same way I do. He has an open line of communication with God that is heartfelt to the point of tears and laughter, just like mine. He is empathetic, the same way I am, in that we "feel" people and take on their emotions as if they were our own. His way of dealing with that is far healthier than mine. We even share the same speech pattern of tone, enunciation and inflection. I look at him and see me. We are opposites in ways that will either compliment each other, or drive each other crazy. That remains to be seen.
I had almost forced myself to date a lot of other men, so that I wouldn't fall for any one of them, including you. I have never done that before and it felt horrible, cheap and unfulfilling but I didn't know how else to break the pattern of committing to one person and living to regret it. I appreciate the fact that you didn't use your understanding of my frailties to your advantage. You were the only one who didn't ask me to commit and it was because of your respect, your genuine concern and your self-confidence that I said I couldn't give you up.
Bob didn't ask for commitment from me, but I recognized the fact that seeing a lot of men didn't protect me from getting my heart involved, so it seemed pointless to carry on something that made me so uncomfortable. I have contacted all of the others and told them that I do not wish to see them again. I was even able to break ties with Peter Kent who has had considerable sway over my heart for the past year. In the past two days I have ended six other relationships, (including Mr. America, my sailing partner, Nick DeVito I recall later) or at the least taken them back to being non sexual, without a single tear or regret.
There are a multitude of reasons that I cried over losing you. I felt your dread when I asked you to lay next to me and let me tell you what was in my heart. You have heard it before, knew what was coming and still it hurt. I did not want to be someone who could hurt you. I love the gentle person you are and wanted to protect you from ever feeling unappreciated. I thought my heart was too hard for anyone to penetrate and that I could offer you devotion and security, if not unbridled love. You deserve better than what I had to offer.
I felt shame at having broken a promise to you. Had I promised fidelity I would not have broken it because I have a lifetime of practice at that and am very good at denying myself. Until meeting you I never used condoms though and in the passion of the moment forgot all about it. After crossing that point, I couldn't go back. I feel great sorrow for the breach of trust that I have caused. I think it would be very hard for you to ever trust me again and perhaps even make it hard for you to trust any woman. You have been most gracious in extending your friendship to me, but I believe that at your core you must feel some sense of indignation that I could be so selfish. It would have been easier for me to kill a cat with a hammer than to have done this to you.
I don't know how to proceed from here. I will follow your lead. If the networking event at the zoo tonight is something that will benefit you and you feel comfortable with me so soon we can go together. If you were just going for my sake, then it is probably best that we cancel as I am just likely to cry all night every time I look at you and think about the pain I have caused. Love, Carole
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.
Howie Writes After I’ve Told Him About Bob Solomon
Howie writes Carole: 15 Jan 2003 16:23:00 -0500 To: Carole
From: Howard Baskin Subject: a few thoughts and wishes for you
I'm so used to getting an email from you the morning after our evenings that it was strange, albeit understandable, not to have one. But I guess our situations are somewhat different today as you pursue an exciting new road while I regroup. This is probably one of those emails that you hit send and then later wince and wonder why you sent it, but these thoughts have been circling though my mind today incessantly and very selfishly maybe the only way to make them stop is to send them to you. I hope you don't mind.
With the many challenges you have faced and overcome, and the wonderful contribution you have made to the world in devoting yourself to the cats and the kindness you have shown other people that you have cared for, you more than anyone I can think of deserve happiness. I really hope the man you described can do that for you. I mean that very sincerely. It sounds like there is something very unique there and I think it makes sense for you to follow your instincts and heart.
I believe one of my early emails to you pointed out that we had no way to predict the future and all we could really do was commit to be honest with each other. You cannot imagine how much I value and respect the fact that you honored that. It is very rare. I must confess to feeling a bit silly, because I wrote it out of concern that you were getting too enthusiastic too quickly, not imagining that I would get upstaged by a rival. (I'm actually smiling here for the first time today - I think this prediction matches my ability to predict stocks, eh?)
I'm sorry to have made you cry. I don't know with the wine and the emotion I was feeling if I expressed myself very well. I hope you understand that it is the very good feelings I have for you that make the change in the situation not work for me.
You made many wonderful "minutes" for me in the last 10 weeks and nothing can ever take that away. I was and continue to be in awe of the remarkable peace I found in your company and in your arms. When I said "be friends" I meant it, assuming you would like that. May need a little time first though. And finally, .... I've owned that tool belt since 1972, wise guy! Borrow it, indeed! (Another smile).
With wonderful feelings for you that will outlast the sadness I feel now, Howie
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.
I Take the Symptoms of Those I Touch
At 04:10 PM 1/8/03 -0500, Carole wrote Howie:
I just got in, and due to one appointment (the one with the Starkey's) running two hours over, it has thrown my entire schedule two hours late. Just the stress of worrying that you will give me your cold is more than a weakened body needs to be dealing with. The added effort of "entertaining" me seems self defeating. I haven't had a cold in over 6 years, (I know because Don was still around) maybe longer, but I do take on the weakness and sometimes even the symptoms, of people that I touch. It is gone in a few hours, but depending on their level of suffering can leave me quite debilitated until I have time to meditate and shake it off. Since you are not last on my list of things to do today, there isn't much sense in me taking that chance, when it isn't good for either of us.
Tuesday sounds like fun. I put it on my calendar. Update me with when and what to wear. I love lesbians. Every one that I have known was smart, beautiful, hard working and devoted. I might have been one if not for my public awareness for how that could negatively impact my family, Jamie especially, and WOES. One of my most satisfying relationships was with my "wife" Mary. That is what she called herself, although we weren't lovers. In retrospect, I don't know why we weren't. She did my cooking, cleaning, shopping and took care of the kids, the house and the office.
Let me know when you are feeling better and if there is anything I can do for you in the meanwhile.
08 Jan 2003 16:40:32 -0500 To: Carole
From: Howard Baskin Subject: Re: tonight
Fortunately I've continued to feel nothing more than a scratchy swollen throat and low energy, maybe because I've thrown most of Nature's Harvest Market into my body in the last 24 hours and made a point to nap a bunch. I was just about to get my tool belt on in preparation of your visit :-). However, for your health as well as your scheduling stress it is better to do a rain check.
You continue to come with such fascinating new wrinkles to your thinking and past. And that within the context of a level of openness that I don't think I have ever seen anyone match. It occurred to me today that one of the reasons you think I'm so peaceful is that your company seems to make me that way.
My friends were talking about a new Mediterranean restaurant on Westshore. Not sure of time yet, but try to resolve so you can plan. Please do not feel you have to violate the diet. If you like, you could eat here first and then nibble from my plate or not eat at all at the restaurant. Totally up to you. No one will think about it. - Howie
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.
If Only We Were 18!
At 09:11 PM 1/7/03 Carole wrote Howie:
Dear Howie, I am curious how you will do on a two day recharge. I used to have sex every day, three weeks out of the month. When I was married, sometimes two or three times a day. I didn't think I could live without it. I think I like it better this way, because it gives me time to really look forward to it and then fully enjoy the moment (as you may have gathered).
I hope your leg is better and your cold evaded. I would prefer to eat last. If I could only do one, it would not involve broccoli and cauliflower. I can always eat in the car later. Thanks for the offer to keep frozen meals at your place. I am so accustomed to dragging food around with me that it is no bother. I might keep one there, just in case I forget some day or stay later than planned.
I started walking today and must have completely become entranced with the experience as I looked at my watch three and a half hours later and "woke up". Does this count as meditation? I used to be so passionate. My feelings were so intense that I felt almost manic-depressive. The lows were worth it because the highs were so euphoric.
Somewhere along the line I said to myself that I wasn't going to feel any more. I reasoned that it wasn't safe to feel any more and that if I allowed myself to do so, it would surely kill me. Amazing, the stupid stuff I tell myself and then believe! There was no huge epiphany today but seeing what I have done and how bizarre it is to believe it was eye opening.
Using the line of thought from the book you loaned me, I said, "If I allow myself to feel and get hurt, what harm will that really do? What is the worst thing that could happen?" I know I won't die. I won't be permanently impaired. I won't be in any worse condition than I am now, (and I am doing fine now) so what is to fear? I couldn't answer that.
I couldn't "feel" my former intensity either. Maybe that is a good thing. Perhaps I am mellowing in my old age, or perhaps it was a product of an addictive life style or food addiction that has finally been broken. I feel contentment. I am happy with my life and the people in it. I am particularly thankful for you and your friendship and the pleasure we share.
Donna sent me this today: "We meet ourselves time and time again in a thousand disguises on the path of life, meaning people are mirrors for us, and how we see and think of them, we are always seeing and speaking of ourselves in one form or another." Carl Jung
I thought of you when I read that. I am always so impressed with the way you speak of others and do believe that your words reflect a reverence and respect for those you speak of. It is a beautiful reflection on you and an inspiration to me.
I apologize for rambling on. I seriously considered just erasing everything back to the second paragraph because most of this was just me thinking out loud. Putting thoughts into written form is how I process information; slowly; tediously. I am off to bed. Sweet dreams. - Carole
07 Jan 2003 21:54:13 -0500 To: Carole
From: Howard Baskin Subject: Re: mirrors
Sounds like a wonderful walk. I'd be interested to hear more about some of this. Regarding your past sexual frequency, when I was 18 I might have kept up with you. I guess I'll have to hope I can produce quality that will make up for lack of quantity?
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.
Pleasure Pleasure Pleasure Pleasure
At 10:29 PM 1/6/03 -0500, Carole wrote Howie:
That was a sigh of relief and contentment for those of us who do not have email sound. Thanks for a wonderful evening. I am pretending to write this to ask the name of the book on the four personality types. I really do want to know, but the real reason is to tell you that Wednesday is now up to you. I didn't wish to go another week without the pleasure of your body in mine, but now that you have given me such an exquisite, sensual experience, I will let you decide if you want to do that again so soon. I personally would never turn down the opportunity to do the wild thing with you, but I do not wish to impose.
This email should have been entitled pleasure as I used the word four times in one paragraph and had to go back with a Thesaurus and exchange it for words of similar meaning, just so I wouldn't sound like someone with a one track mind.
I enjoyed the movie. It made me think. Any time you can get a blonde to do that, it is probably a good thing. Someone who recently came to me for money (and not under the guise of love) was rattling on about dating, the voices in his head and his failed marriage of 22 years. It was the first time I had heard anyone say out loud that they heard voices, (since Joan of Arc) so what had been a monologue that had about put me to sleep finally had my attention when he said, "I will know I have met a good person when that little voice inside my head isn't screaming at me, over my infatuation, "stop! look at all these warning signals! pay attention!". He went on to reason that you always hear the voice, but you tell your self you can fix them, change them, put up with them or whatever and in the end, you can't. That made me think about you.
My little voice hasn't warned me once about you. There isn't one thing about you that I think needs fixing nor changing. For someone who makes a career out of fixing and changing things, I find that a remarkable feeling. What a delightful experience this has been and continues to be! -Carole
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.
No wonder we are both single. Who has time for a life?
Howie writes Carole: Tomorrow would be good if it works for you. I'm going to be restricted to a quiet day tomorrow - did something to my calf on one of my wild charges to the net in tennis this morning in the cold. Nothing serious, but limping a bit. So getting out to a movie later in day would be nice. But if your day gets busy and you find you can't, you can just let me know. I'll check theaters and times. Happy to meet up your way if that is best for your schedule. What time frame works best for you? Shall we plan to dine too? All of above totally up to you.
I forgot that I have my friend Bruce and his daughter coming to stay Thursday and Friday evening. How about we tentatively plan for Monday afternoon and firm up time as we get closer? - Howie
Carole wrote Howie: I just got out of the Spay Neuter meeting and we had set our next meeting for next Monday night (13th) at 6:00 PM. I could do tomorrow night if you are eager to see it, or shoot for Tuesday the 14th, but keep in mind we are already set for the 16th at the zoo. I could still do the Sunday afternoon thing as well...
No wonder we are both single. Who has time for a life?
Today's meeting went well. We are making some pretty huge strides toward the goal of no more homeless pets. Hope your day was equally fulfilling. - Carole
Unprotected Sex 01 Jan 2003 07:08:27 -0500 To: Carole From: Howard Baskin Subject: Good thoughts Thanks Carole, The unfiltered openness that you consistently show in your conversation is something I really enjoy and value. The bar comment did sort of turn my head for a moment, but I didn't think any more about it. The issue of unprotected other sex is something I've wanted to bring up but was not sure how. You operate at such a high level of integrity that I've accepted your initial comment of being "certified" disease free and have assumed you would act with concern for my health. But, frankly, I'm glad to have that understanding be explicit. Given your history, I'm not sure how you can believe commitments any man makes to you in return on these matters, but all I can do is assure you I would honor it as well. I suspect in my case it will not even come up, but that is a whole different discussion we do not need to have right now. I would like you to feel free to do whatever is right for you. Re the guidance, it was a little experiment based on something I had experienced once. But more generally, I would like to continue to learn what you enjoy and am happy to provide feedback as well. And while I don't have any particularly kinky inclinations, if at any time any suggestion were uncomfortable for you in any way I would want you to voice that rather than feel you were obligated. Meanwhile, it was really wonderful of you to focus on my pleasure despite the limitations on your own. Very rare. I think all of this is just part of the fun journey of getting to know each other over time. Thanks for the offer to stay. With the early breakfast and a long day of driving ahead, and not being used to sleeping with company, I felt that it was not the best time to possibly not sleep well. But I look forward to exercising the rain check. Happy New Year to you! Shall we plan something for Saturday night to kick it off? 01 Jan 2003 22:16:18 -0500 To: Carole From: Howard Baskin Subject: Re: Check out Dictionary Information: Definition Equanimous Looks like it is, indeed, a word. I think the sound of it as you say it, verbally or mentally, is very consistent with its meaning. Just has a peaceful ring to me. (Reading this 16 years later, it’s the only time I knew a word Howie didn’t) 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.
Picking Men Up in Bars
12/31/02 Carole wrote:
Dear Howie, I had just gone to bed, when I realized you asked me if I frequent bars and pick up men, (because of my comment about the Playboy channel) and I just said, "no, not anymore" and got distracted with something else. I didn't explain myself, and despite all of the recent assertive training, feel that I should: I have only done that four times, perhaps, in my entire life and not in the last 12 years or more. Oddly enough, two of those people turned out to be life long friends. My morals are not as high as I would like, but they are not as low as my comment would suggest.
I feel awkward saying this because of the negative implications of doing so, but also want you to know that I have not and will not engage in unprotected sex outside of our relationship as your continued good health is of utmost importance to me. While I may have had a rather nonchalant attitude toward my own health, based on the fact that I never even catch a cold, I would not risk your well being by association. As long as I am on uncomfortable subjects, I want to say that I really appreciate you telling me what you want sexually. I am not a mind reader, despite my claims to the contrary, and truly wish to please you. I can only be effective if you let me know what you like and what you don't. As someone who has a hard time saying what I want, I can appreciate what an imposition that is for me to ask of you, but in the long run we will both benefit. Of the two of us, you are stronger, so you can lead by example. ;-) - Carole
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.
Howie Anticipates the “Jamie Test”
At 07:11 PM 12/30/02 -0500, Carole wrote:
Dear Howie, I am in awe. I feel like I am moving in slow motion through a dream and it feels
marvelous! I often think, when reading books, that the author felt a need to flesh out a predetermined number of pages and that if they just kept it to the important stuff if would be much more helpful. Your summary of the book gave me a feeling of insight into you that I found very comforting. It also gave me the heart of the message in a very condensed form. Interestedly, it took me all day to read it, because I had to sit and reflect on virtually each sentence to fully experience the idea. Perhaps that is the reason for all the seemingly unnecessary verbiage in books; so that we have time between the thoughts that challenge us for our minds to think they are doing something?
I really appreciate you sharing that with me. I am increasingly amazed at your depth of understanding and your ability to focus. What impresses me most is the way you have incorporated your learning into your everyday life. You make it appear effortless and, while I am sure it is anything but easy, that is the mark of any expert. I hear it in your speech and the way you talk about others and life's experiences. There seems to be a constant awareness of, and acceptance of, your inner essence and that of others. I see it in the tranquility that you exude whether you are driving, talking, amusing me and even in the heat of passion.
Perhaps especially in the heat of passion. Sometimes I get so caught up in the moment that I lose touch with everything outside of my physical pleasure. (Your body has that effect) It is only when I start to reconnect to the room that I notice how peaceful your expression is. It draws me in and enfolds me in your serenity. It is like sharing a warm fuzzy blanket with you.
There is an innocence and gentle strength about you that brings tears to my eyes. They are the kind of tears that you would shed at the sight of a glorious sunrise, or at the sound of the wind in the trees, or in the feel of sand between your toes, or the interaction of a doe and her fawn. It is the overflowing of gratitude for having witnessed something truly beautiful. You are such an inspiration and your friendship is such a blessing.
Movie and dinner sounds great. I "started" this morning and am not in a tremendous amount of pain, so I don't anticipate being any worse by tomorrow. Apparently the acupuncture from last month is still effective. I have heard there is a good Chinese Acupuncturist in St. Pete. I need to get over to see him before next month. I have been a little cranky and emotional, but not nearly as bad as usual (without the treatment). I stood in the kitchen and balled my eyes out yesterday at a poem that one of my volunteers wrote about the life of a stray cat. Rosie always makes me cry though. She is just the dearest, most sensitive little Native American Indian. She cried the day she graduated from red shirt to yellow shirt and had ALL of us crying with her.
Glad to hear you can make it on the 3rd. Jamie and Daniel rescheduled their vacation so that they could go, so you will meet some of my blood kin. Daniel is one of the funniest people you will ever meet and Jamie is sure to like you because she has an uncanny ability to see through to the heart of a person.
30 Dec 2002 13:30:15 -0500 From: Howard Baskin
I'm sorry you are one of those for whom this time of month is so difficult. Hope it will not be too bad, and again, if you find yourself not up to it tomorrow just let me know.
Look forward to meeting your troops Friday and Jamie and Daniel in particular. I guess we'll see if I pass the "Jamie test".
There is also a pair of Chinese female acupuncture doctors here in Tampa who have a good reputation if you ever want to try. Dr. Leyun Shao is the one I saw some years ago. On Virginia Ave. by St. Josephs. 877-9626.
30 Dec 2002 20:42:18 -0500 From: Howard Baskin
You really write beautifully.
I agree that some non-fiction books seem to either have a lot of filler or be repetitive because to publish a book is expected to have a minimum number of pages. But even when that is not the case, i.e. when the explanations and examples are good, I still find that summarizing it down to the key points is the only way I will remember it. I envy people like Mary. She can reel off from memory the 10 key points of some book she read 20 years ago. If the devil showed up and offered me that ability, I'd really have to work to hang onto my soul I think.
On applying this stuff, we each have our mountains to climb. For me, the search for tranquility has been driven by historically feeling the opposite, in quantity and intensity, that exceeds what most people experience and is unpleasant and unhealthy, usually tied to "performance" and "acceptance". Finally in later years I've managed to have many more minutes of peace, and lower the frequency and intensity of the unsettled times. But believe me, it is hardly effortless despite appearances. Pain can be a very effective motivator. We have discussed this relative to our backs, but it applies to many kinds of discomfort.
The awareness of the present, the concept of "minutes" etc. I think are great tools. They don't work automatically (or maybe I have not gotten good enough at them yet). But I do find they can help a lot. Today I felt kind of down about some things that were bothering me. It would have been easy to wallow in it. Once those feelings start, they tend to feed on themselves. It took repeated effort pull out of that feeling. Like pulling your leg almost out of quicksand and then finding that as soon as you get distracted from your effort it starts to slide back in. But, by repeatedly reminding myself of the power we have to influence our mental state, by repeatedly focusing on the "precious present moment", taking stock of blessings, asking why I was allowing myself to rack up bad minutes, and doing that repeatedly even when it did not seem to be working, with the confidence that if I persisted it would, by this evening I was much closer to being back to what Vipassana (the meditation seminar) beautifully refers to as being "equanimous". The point being that these thoughts are not magical instant cures, but I think they can help us create more times of peace, and with belief and persistence they can be valuable tools when we find ourselves unable to maintain our peace.
People generally take for granted things they have always had and are never deprived of. I think it is easier for me to value moments of peace and put effort into achieving it because I have often not had it. It is funny sometimes how this works on little things. When I grew up, because our means were limited on my mother's secretary salary, there were some little things that we watched carefully. Orange juice was expensive, so we each got one small glass. The first time I saw someone slug down a huge glass of orange juice, to me it was like watching them set fire to a $100 bill. To this day, when I order a large orange juice, I feel rich and extravagant. In fact, I think I will go pour myself a big glass right after this email.
Changing subjects, I hope you are still feeling only the lower end of your discomfort, if any. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow (but again, if you are in discomfort please let me know and we can change or cancel as needed). Assuming you feel ok, would you like to plan for an early movie, like 5 ish, so we can eat by 8 ish? If so, I'd plan to come by around 4 or so with a meal to reheat later. But if other time frame works better for you, I'm flexible.
On movie choice, there are a couple that have caught my eye. The one I had in mind, About Schmidt with Jack Nicholson, I just realized does not open until Friday, so is not an option . Analyze That, the comedy sequel to Analyze This with Billy Crystal and Robert De Niro, could be nice light entertainment. I enjoyed the original. I like 007 even though this one got mixed reviews, but that may not be your first choice. Previews of Catch Me if You Can with Dicaprio and Hanks look like fun. Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings would be next choices. All are playing at Citrus Park if that is closest to your place? But the times vary a lot, which may affect our pick:
Analyze That 4:25; 9:45 Catch Me 4:30; 7:10 007 7:25 Potter 3:40; 7:15 Rings 5:30; 6:30; 7:00
Open to other suggestions of course. And we could also eat early and do one of the 7-7:30 shows instead of the early show.
Sooooo, your thoughts? Any leanings toward one or the other, or some other one you see playing?
Dear Howie, I am sorry that today was a challenge for you, but it was good to hear that you were able to work your way through it with the skills you have learned. It's like hearing someone's diet success in the way that it inspires me to pay attention. Your notes from the book have helped me to separate myself from the pain today and to remember that the pain is not me and that I don't have to experience it. I even completed a taxing workout without succumbing to self pity, when I will typically beg off.
I am not as enamored with the writing style of the fellow who wrote, "How To Be Happy..." but I agree with his philosophy whole heartedly, in that we create our experience. If I only had one "tattoo" it would be that reminder.
As for movies and times. I like the idea of an early movie. Veteran's is actually a little closer, if their times are better for you. Either place works for me, since you will probably be driving. As for movies; I saw Catch Me with Jamie and Daniel and it was good. If it is your top choice, I barely remember it and could watch it again. I also liked the original Analyze This and would suspect the sequel to be good. I fell in love with Sean Connery and I fear there will never be another "Bond" for me. (The first time I got drunk was while baby-sitting and watching one of his Bond flicks. The kids told me the stuff in the fridge was punch. We drank the whole pitcher. I had never tasted alcohol and didn't know any better. I was snockered, and quite "in lust" with Connery by the time their parents came home and told me it was Tequila.) I do like the toys in the 007 movies! though. My dream car is still the Batmobile from the 60's. I could hardly stay awake through the first Lord of the Rings. So, based on all that, the ball is back in your court. - Carole
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.
Jamie Dresses Like a Clown to Talk About the Circus
Dear Howie, I am running late for church and was too tired to do anything but fall into the sack last night, so I didn't write. Thanks for the notes, the ideas on the email and especially for "Little" Howie and a WONDERFUL evening. The circus raised 5700.00 for us last night and 7200.00 for their own elephant sanctuary. They did a great presentation about us and their affiliation with us and Jamie expects some antics, that she pulled in their costumes in front of the St. Pete Times journalist last night, will get us some press today. I cannot believe the way she has changed from not being able to speak to a person to dressing up like a clown and cornering the press with her version of how Ringling is supporting WOES. Who is this kid?
I am meeting with the Spay and Neuter committee that evolved from the meeting where you and I first met. I am hosting their meeting at the sanctuary and may not be able to write until late, but wanted to thank you for being your wonderful self. I enjoy the "minutes" with you. They are all great. - Carole
29 Dec 2002 09:28:16 -0500 To: Carole
From: Howard Baskin
The minutes we share are a wonderful mutual gift. I'm glad you enjoy them too.
Have not seen anything advertised that I thought would be of particular interest for Tuesday evening. But I really do not want you out driving in the later evening that night with the roads full of drinkers, so I suggest whatever we do end at your house if ok with you. I look forward to welcoming in the New Year with you, even if we don't quite make it to midnight.
29 Dec 2002 12:24:09 EST Subject: Friday the 3rd To: Howie
Dear Howie, Now I am running late for the Spay / Neuter people but wanted to get on your calendar for 6PM Jan. 3rd to do the circus thing, if you are not booked. John Kirkland just sent me an email asking if he could give me and the board and whomever I wanted to bring a back stage tour of their animal housing (which wasn't done last night) and then the show. Jamie and Daniel are going on vacation the 1st and won't be here, but Scott, Cathy and Jen and maybe Anissa, Brian and Christy will probably be there. They are wonderful people and I would be proud to introduce you to some of my "family".
Thank you for your concern about driving on New Year's Eve. I really don't want you out there driving either. I am due to start my "cycle" on the 31st or else I would suggest spending the night with you. The first four days are hell, so not only would I be not much fun to sleep with, but even worse to wake up next to. If you don't have a "better offer" for the 31st, I'd still like to see you and we can work out the details and driving later. - Carole
29 Dec 2002 19:24:02 -0500 To: Carole
From: Howard Baskin
I cannot imagine a better offer. I'm fine driving that night, and sounds like we won't make it that late anyway. If it turns out you are really not feeling well and would not enjoy getting together please feel free to tell me on short notice that day. Not a big deal. Assuming we do get together, maybe just a movie and then eat at your house. There are bunch of good ones out and I have not been in a long time, so if that is ok with you, would be fine with me. 3rd for circus is good. - Howie
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.
The Power of Now
28 Dec 2002 09:08:39 -0500 To: Carole
From: Howard Baskin
Notes are great. Simple, key points. I had not read this book in years so it was a nice refresher for me. The book was a gift - no need to return unless you really feel you would never refer to it, in which case I'll pass it one to another disciple.
Fair's fair, so attached are notes I made 18 months ago on The Power of Now. Have a copy here if you would ever like to borrow. I tend to read in spurts with long periods between that I always regret allowing. You seem much more diligent. Sometimes my notes are too cryptic and later
even I cannot determine what they mean. And Power of Now was pretty ethereal, not an easy read, so not sure if these notes will have meaning. But you have reminded me that I should reread them. I'll plan to be here from 3pm on, so whenever you arrive is fine. If you feel like arriving early feel free.
I'm not an email guru, but in many cases when you set up a website the provider offers at least a forwarding email with the website name in it. You use that email address, and the emails that come in are forwarded to whatever email you use. One big advantage is that when you change ISPs or email providers, you do not have to tell all of your correspondents to change the address they use for you. You simply forward to your new email. The bigfoot account I use works that way. It forwards to my tampabay account. For years it was free, now they charge, and recently they had a glitch and were down for a few days which was annoying, so I have tended to use the roadrunner address more. But back to the website, as an example, a while back I set up ww.HowardBaskin.com with Verisign. (Never did much with it after setting it up, but had fun with it briefly.). They offer an email service. So, I have an email address @howardbaskin.com. It forwards to my roadrunner email. If I drop roadrunner and change to some other provider, I just go in and change who it forwards to. So you might have SaveTheCats @WildlifeOnEasyStreet.com forwarding to AOL or hawk or whatever.
Not sure I understand how hawk offers email without being an ISP and simply having a phone number to dial into. You might also check with ATT. I use their service when I travel and have found it reliable. Not sure if their cheaper plans have usage limits though.
I'm a little surprised that with the amount you seem to use the internet that you would not use the roadrunner broadband, despite the added cost. Unless it is not available to your house or easy st?
Not sure why I am rambling on about all this typing when I'll see you in a few hours and it would be much faster to do in conversation. Duh!
Still debating what to give up. Am almost bathing in cappuccinos to enjoy my last few days in case that is the choice. And alcohol is a growing candidate. I decided you are so intoxicating that the liquid kind is probably easy to drop.
See you later. If you think of it, call as you head this way. What is attire for this evening? - Howie
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.
If you are going to meet me in nothing but a tool belt...
27 Dec 2002 11:59:20 EST Subject: Re: tomorrow Carole writes To: Howie
I am glad you are home safely. I would love to get together with you tomorrow evening, (even if I was second choice to a kid and his grandmother). If the weather is good I am going sailing with Nelson and Bryan and some of the other people from the club, but should be back by 5PM. We are heading out at 10AM so we should be back well before then.
I was impressed with your handiwork in the photo. You know, if you can wield a hammer and swing from the rafters like that, (in a thong and tool belt), you would have the Chippendale boys running scared and worried about their job security... When I was a kid my parents bought a two bedroom house and convinced me that it was really cool that I lived on a similar looking platform in our garage. Mine did have stairs though. Until recently, I bought that.
I have really enjoyed the book on assertive training and just got the opportunity to practice saying no (like a broken record) until the other person gave up. I have to deal with the county on an issue that I have been avoiding because I knew I would cave, but now I can't wait to go give them a hard time... Are you sure you want me to come over tomorrow? ... I promise not to practice on you.
27 Dec 2002 16:31:27 EST Subject: circus Carole writes To Howie
Would you like to go to the circus tomorrow at 6PM? Ringling wanted to impress me and my board and persuade us that our association with them is not perpetuating the exploitation of performing animals. They sent 10 tickets to their pre season premiere tomorrow that includes going back stage, seeing how the animals are cared for between shows and the show itself at 7PM. I have an extra ticket if you would like to go. It would be an opportunity to meet my "family" as well. Jamie and her boyfriend Daniel will be going, as will my operations manager, Scott, and Cathy who handles everything on weekends. Jen is coming and is also a key person although I haven't put her on the board, only because I cannot risk losing a majority of the vote. All of these people are kids, so if we go, should I introduce you as Uncle Howie?
If you would rather not go, I can skip it and go another time, under cover, which may be a better idea any way. Either way is fine with me. Just let me know.
27 Dec 2002 20:41:46 EST Subject: tool belt Carole writes To: Howie
If you are going to meet me in nothing but a tool belt, I should probably come to you rather than have you drive cross town that way. What did you decide about the circus? I apologize for the late suggestion, but didn't know myself that the date Ringling had chosen was tomorrow until an hour before I emailed you. I don't even know for sure where it is, but will know tomorrow after talking to Jamie.
As for the food issue, that is a lifetime commitment for me. I will always be toting around Tupperware. When I travel I exist mostly on canned tuna and rice cakes. I hope it does not exasperate you. It is the only effective way I have ever found for managing my weight. I want to lose another pound or so per month for the next year and a half and then maintain 135 to 140. I currently weigh 155 and have maintained that for about 7 months. I haven't been seriously trying to lose more, but decided to make that one of my New Year's Resolutions. I don't remember ever making one before, ( a NYR) but you were an inspiration to do it and do it right.
Thanks for the inspiration... and the dancing carpenter imagery.
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.
First Christmas for Howie and Carole
Carole writes Howie: Dear Howie, As soon as I read “battery needed for the corkscrew" I laughed out loud. The wine butler is the perfect compliment to my CoCo Chanel incense burner that shares the same counter top in the kitchen, but you knew it would be. You don't miss a thing! Thank you for such thoughtful and useful gifts. You really know how to touch me. Speaking of which, I am looking forward to your touch New Year's Eve. Hope you are having a wonderful time. - Carole
Howie writes Carole: Glad you liked them!
Having fun here. Yesterday I helped my brother build an elevated storage area in his garage. I really enjoy these projects with him and he is very appreciative. Aside from the fact that it is easier and more fun when he has help, the opportunity to take advantage of my being here means a project gets done that might be delayed indefinitely until he can make time. This one was fairly ambitious and when we started I was concerned it might consume the entire visit. But to my surprise we got both 4x8 platforms up in about 6 hours. Not a highly engineered cat-a-tat, but still very satisfying. And more physical work than I've done in awhile. Can still wield the hammer from my old aluminum siding days though.
Today I got to see the kids put together the picture puzzle, which was fun. My teenage niece is playing her American Idol CD over and over, and my nephew is struggling to build the airplane Sue suggested I get him so we can fly it. Just got back from an hour walk in crisp 50 degrees, which makes it feel more Christmasy. Anyway, that's the news here. Thanks for the e-card. Talk to you end of week. - Howie
Carole writes Howie: The cat is certainly out of the bag now that I know you can wield a hammer and actually use the word "enjoy" in the same paragraph. That sort of brotherly camaraderie sounds pleasurable. The closest my brother and I have ever been has been when he has helped me with the cats. He cleans cages and he and his wife helped my father extensively when we were trying to grow all of our own organic chicken. I am glad that you have this good relationship with your brother and his family. Blessings like these are just too precious for words.
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.
Howie Says We Should Just Enjoy the Ride
At the risk of sounding like I am trying to justify my existence (forgive me, but I am only a few pages into your book) I want to clarify something I said last night. The desire to do so comes more from my need to treat others as I would want to be treated and as I thought of your response I was left thinking that I would hate to believe that I was merely a "toy" to you.
When I said "you are so much fun to play with" I meant that as in such a fun play mate. I often say, "I was never a child" and what I mean is that I didn't play and did not enjoy the company of children. I preferred to be out mowing lawns, washing trailers and later working in family businesses. (In retrospect, justifying my existence) Being with you is the closest thing to playing I have experienced because you are so easy and enjoyable to be with.
Perhaps this has a great deal to do with the anxiety that I associate with our visits. I am doing something that I have never done and don't know how to do. I have to do everything that I embark on better than it's ever been done before or I won't attempt it. I am totally out of my element in the presence of a man that doesn't need me to fix him, support him or otherwise cure him of his emotional trauma.
If I had ever learned to play, this might be like a second childhood to me and come back as proverbially easily as riding a bike, but it's my first time around and I don't know what I am doing. When you took my statement to refer to you as a toy, it was easier to agree and roll with it, than to try and verbalize all of this. You are much more than a toy... although from a merely sexual standpoint, I couldn't have designed one better.
22 Dec 2002 16:02:05 -0500
The "toy" comment was just humor - gotta watch out sometimes for my dry wit.
And as far as you being "merely a toy" to me, I hope and think you know from our discussion of similar values that I would not treat you or anyone else as a "toy". But as I've urged previously that we keep in mind, we also cannot predict the future. I've tried to recommend just enjoying the process of getting to know each other, treasuring the moments we find enjoyable with each other because that is something no one can ever take away, and not creating expectations about the future, at least at this point. I think the latter just does no good, and creates stress and interferes with enjoying the moment.
Re your comfort level visiting, ok, ok, you win - I'll come up with something you can fix so you can feel at ease and stop stressing about visiting. I'll develop a nervous tick or something.
Seriously, I don't think any of us gets to this point without baggage, and I certainly have mine. I just don't expect you to fix any of it. I think people who care about us can provide comfort at times, maybe advice at others, but ultimately we each need to face our own demons. Can be scary. But I think anyone who thinks someone else can do it for them is kidding themselves.
Not sure yet if I'll lug the laptop and be on email, but either way will talk to you end of week and we'll decide on our quiet, relaxing New Year's plan. Meantime, have a nice holiday week!
And thanks again for the clever website. Totally cool surprise.
And to put you through the same intrigue that your "project" did me, I have a mystery for you. It is easy to find items that capture a particular interest someone has. But, when someone has multiple passionate interests, it is very difficult to find an item that can represent them all. But, with diligence, I have done it. Unfortunately it did not arrive in the mail by yesterday. But be aware that I have, indeed, found it and should have it soon. No acknowledgement will be made of any guesses.
Chow (redneck for ciao).
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.
Howie First Looks at the Business To See How He Can Help
Thank you for a most memorable evening. I will never look at "cat toys" the same again.
At 07:59 AM 12/16/02 -0500, Carole wrote:
I was really pleased with the following figures. I had to compile them for the Combined Federal Campaign renewal that I just did and thought they may be of interest to your friend, as it shows tremendous growth during a time when many non profits and for profits have failed. The year is obvious. The next number is the number of families that have actually visited WOES. We only fill out one release form per family, and often if we recognize a person, we don't have them fill one out if they come back within 4 years. Some people are there every month. The dollar amount is the amount donated by the general public in each of those years. For the years 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 there was one 10,000.00 donor in each year. The next highest, one year was 7500.00 with everyone else below 2000.00. That averages out to 89.00 per family.
1996 34 $32,280.99
1997 159 $97,848.20
1998 1683 $176,258.15
1999 3565 $189,456.21
2000 4271 $314,738.00
2001 4982 $322,249.00 due to 9/11
2002 4382 $400,012.00
We are in the black by about 800.00 for 2002 for the very first time. Each figure below represents how deep in the red we were for each corresponding year.
1995 164,290.09 loss
1996 154,254.01 loss
1997 149,094.80 loss
1998 222,373.80 loss
1999 101,556.50 loss
2000 281,524.00 loss
2001 34,778.00 loss
2002 800.00 profit
As you can imagine, I am just ecstatic. I have to donate 125,000 to 150,000 every year for tax purposes, but now that means that the money I put in can go into expanding our programs and doing so much more good than just supporting the animals that I have already taken responsibility for. I expect 2003 to be a terrific year for promoting compassion in our community.
Our supporters come from all over.
Total number of families 19,076
From Tampa 4276
From FL, but outside Tampa 9268
U.S. outside FL 5286
Outside U.S. 246
The more I learn about your life the more in awe I am of the struggles you have endured. Like your cats, you are a survivor, maybe against the odds given what you have had to handle.
This is excellent! Do you happen to have a way to easily know how much of the donations were from attendance, i.e. people donating when they visit, versus ones like the $10k that people send in unrelated to a visit?
No. We have a cash box that gets counted down every week, but no breakdown between tours, gift shop items, etc. We began keeping inventory records this year, so that we can go backwards to calculate the value of things "sold" (we call it a donation, so the prices vary). This still doesn't help with knowing much about where the income is from. Jamie was able to track 90k this year from gift shops "sales" and adoptions and memberships. Jess is working on creating some software for us to help. Blackbaud charges 10k for their program. Tracking this information would help us and is on the short list of things to do.
I had the impression the sanctuary started 10 years ago? Did it start in 96, or was there no visitor program or no records from before then?
We started in 1992 with the rescue mission, but didn't allow visitors until 1996. Don was always dragging home people and showing off his collection and then one day someone said, "you know, you could charge for this"...
We were writing it off our taxes each year and the IRS said we had to make it profitable or else become a legitimate non profit, so I applied in 1994 and was accepted in 1995. It took me three times because I didn't know what I was doing. We had virtually no volunteers prior to 1995. Don, Jamie and I took care of feeding, cleaning and vet care for over 200 animals by ourselves. Don called it being semi retired, but I found it cause for a nervous break down every two years. That is when I would drive to the Keys, and lay in a hammock crying for 3 days straight before coming home to face another two years. I haven't done that since 1997.
In 1992 we began in November and only rescued the one bobcat at a cost of 680.00
In 1993 and 1994 my secretary kept track of the receipts which meant she kept them in a bag, called "animals". When I totaled them up they came to 101,555.97 and since there was no income, that was our expense. It was in 1997 that I compiled these and didn't break them down by the year nor category.
In 1995 I began tracking categories, such as vet bills, food and shelter, etc.
Do you have a breakdown of how this past year's funds were spent?
Yes. Do you have a fax number? My mother tracks this with a program that I don't have on my computer (NoteSmith) so I can only get the report by fax. It is only one page, but a lot of detail.
Dear Howie
My reason for sending you Concentration Camp was two fold. One, you expressed an interest in the phenomenon and the other was to justify my existence. The latter, of course, being the more compelling. The line from Deserata, that I most associate with the song, is "you have a right to be here." I have never felt that and always believed that I had to justify my right to be here. Thus the classic overachiever attitude.
My nature is to bond with one person and be the power behind the throne. The greatest compliment that I ever received was from a fellow investor who told me that she saw Don as being "larger than life". A newscaster recently used that term about me, but it wasn't as meaningful to me as the compliment that the investor had given. I love the challenge of rescuing someone, or something (WOES) and turning that into something that people look up to and want to emulate.
My choices in men have been such that I can perpetuate this illusion of being loved, when in fact, I was merely needed. I could live out this fantasy and turn a blind eye to much of what was real unless inescapably confronted with the truth. When I hired the bounty hunter to find my husband, and all he found was a long list of Don's lovers, I couldn't ignore the truth. It took me four months and the mysterious disappearance of my husband to fire my friend and secretary, Anne. I didn't want to believe that people I loved could do this to me.
When I met Peter, in November of last year, he was living in a garage, had no job and I thought I had met my soul mate. I had never used that term and never believed in the concept until the first letter I read from him. I met him via Match.com on AOL. From the first night we were together, he moved in. He was a Chiropractor and Acupuncturist but had licensing problems, as I explained before. He was able to cure some life long problems that I have had with pain and he introduced me to books that I found to validate so much of what I knew to be true about the power of the mind, but didn't know other people had experienced. He had dreams of what he wanted to do change the world and seemed like the perfect person for me to get behind.
I took over all of his bills, sent him to contractor's school because he couldn't fix his licensing problems, and supported him entirely. He asked me to devote myself to him alone and I did from the first day. Three months later, I walked into the office in our home, and he was writing a letter to a woman who had sent him a nude photo of herself from Match.com. I recognized the logo on the screen as I walked into the room. He is as deaf as they come, so I stood there, read the letter over his shoulder, and then walked out without saying anything to him. He didn't know I had been there.
A few days later I asked if he was still using his dating subscription and he denied it. A few days later, I confronted him with what I had witnessed and he said that it would never happen again. I didn't believe him, so I created an account, using a photo I pulled off the Internet of an attractive woman, and a profile that I knew would appeal to him and immediately got a response asking me to see him. I continued corresponding with him to see how far he would take it and in no time he was trying to arrange a motel rendezvous. I created several such "people" to be sure that he was not just in love with this one I had made to order for him and by April I had intercepted 32 solicitations for sex from him.
I am surely not that stupid; I was just that much in love (or codependent) with him and wanted some evidence that he loved me. From January to April, I often asked him if he felt that we had moved in together too quickly and suggested if he wasn't sure about us, that I was patient and would be willing to have an open relationship. He insisted that he wanted our relationship to be monogamous. In April I told him what I had done and that I had intercepted 32 of his emails asking other women for sex. I told him the free ride was over and that I wanted him to move out.
He wouldn't go. He asked me to allow him to take his contractor's exam first so that he would have a trade to support himself and that was in June. I agreed. He called me from Miami when he was taking the 3 day exam to tell me he would not be moving out, so while he was gone, I packed up his things, put them in storage and paid up the bill for the next two months. I put his personal effects in an RV that I had, set it up in a park and paid the rent for the next couple of months, so that he would have a roof over his head. I even paid for a phone line so that he could continue looking for a woman online who would take over supporting him.
I had involved him in a real estate deal and even after moving him out, continued to correspond with him because there is 117,000.00 at stake there. Jay Baykal didn't want me to have any contact with any man from my past and insisted that I walk away from the real estate deal. Peter's "help" with the deal had resulted in him being sued, and I had been protecting him with legal counsel, so I told him to use the real estate proceeds to protect himself because I would not be able to continue helping him. When Jay Baykal and I broke up, Jay called Peter and told him. I wouldn't have.
Peter had found a woman in Sanford, whose husband was in jail and he was living with her. The husband was soon to be released, and Peter was looking for a place to live. He never said, but my guess is that he sold the RV. He had discounted the 117k deal to 35k to get out of the legal mess he had caused, but couldn't get the deal to close and asked me to step in and make it happen for him. I have been paying him to come take care of my pain issues with acupuncture, once a week, but have done it more because he needs the money than because I need the relief.
As his time draws to a close where he is, he has been putting increased pressure on me to let him move back in. I was seeing him once a week or once every other week, but believed that if it were not for the money he wouldn't be coming here, and told him so. He is afraid now that I won't give him the money from the real estate deal and I have been wrestling with that, since the only contribution he has made was to screw things up, but that is an entirely different matter, regarding ethics. I would like your input on that, because of your high standards, but fear I wouldn't trust your advice because you will probably tell me what I expect to hear.
Friday he asked me why I was content to be so far from him, which loosely translated to, "why can't I move back in?" This was the question that precipitated the meditation. The vision illustrated that I give of myself to others, to the point of starvation (for love) and that I entrap myself in these situations where I feel like a victim. The escape from the concentration camp depicts my feeling of freedom for the first time in my life. It is scary out here on my own. I don't know where I am going. It is cold and lonely. But I am ecstatic at being free from this self destructive pattern.
I don't know how to be single and worse how to maintain it. In the past I would commit to the first man that crossed my path and asked me to, and that has never been good. The reason I feel the need to justify my existence is because you are different. You are strong and self-sufficient. You are capable of taking care of yourself and it spills over to the way you take care of those around you. If any man ever deserved the devotion of a good woman, it is you. Being with you is such a pleasure. There is no down side, no trade off or nor compromise. It is just wonderful.
You haven't asked me for a thing and are such a departure from what I have come to expect as the norm, that I don't know how to behave around you. It would do no good to tell me to be myself, because my "self" has always been merely the reflection of what the man in my life needed me to be. I don't know how to remain free of the patterns of the past, other than to not do what I have done, repeatedly without success, before. If I continue to date others and resist becoming too emotionally involved with you, then it is different from what I have done before. Who knows if that is better, but at least it is different.
When you say that these are not tough acts to follow, at some point you are bound to wonder why, with all that you are and all that you do, aren't you the center of my universe? If any man in my life was worthy of such adoration it is you. The only thing that holds me back from that is the past and not wanting to repeat it. It hurts to feel that what you are and what you give is not appreciated and I wanted to let you know that I do recognize what a unique individual you are. I felt compelled to justify what must seem like my profound blindness in not acknowledging your value.
On another note, I have been musing all morning about your view of yourself at a distance and how that can put things in perspective. I have always been egotistical and prideful, and think those to be negative attributes, but never thought about how detrimental they are to the spirit until you commented how issues of acceptance and rejection are tied to the ego. You are right and that is very insightful. As I practice the exercise I am painfully aware of how insignificant anything I am trying to do really is. I don't find that comforting, but I can see how it could make specific problems seem inconsequential. The most valuable lesson I am learning from your words is that there is great benefit in doing the right thing for the right reasons, without concern for how it affects me or the way I am perceived. There is a lot more to it than that, but I can't quite articulate it yet.
Interesting that Sydney was living out my fantasy, but at a different time than when I was thinking it. On the way home last night I was thinking about your offer to let me sleep over. I was thinking what a nice gesture that was on your part; but that to do so would involve me crawling all over you all night and not letting you sleep. I didn't want you to think that your offer was not appreciated, since I seemed to blow it off with an observation on traffic patterns. I know that I would be laying on you or hovering over you watching you sleep and that come morning I wouldn't be able to leave you alone. (While that may be nice on occasion, you could find it a little obsessive.) Spending the night is how all of my cohabitation nightmares have started and I really want this relationship with you to remain good. For now it is best if Sydney live out my fantasy for me. Perhaps she and I could exchange some remote viewing and sensing! ? I will chase squirrels here for her.
I sense that you are understanding and patient and I am thankful to have this opportunity to come to know you. I am fully enjoying the experience. Carole
16 Dec 2002 08:10:09
You asked: "If you were able to raise additional money, what would you do with it? Is there room to build more cat-a-tats so you could house more cats, or would it go for other purposes, and if so, what would they be?"
The problem of surplus exotic cats cannot be cured by building more cages. As long as the public will pay to see a cute new cub at the zoo, or will pay to see animals perform, or will pay to have someone drag a cat on a leash into a school or civic hall, or will pay to buy one as a status symbol, or will pay to have their fur, there will always be more cats needing refuge than all the sanctuaries in the world can handle. Changing the world's perception of the value of an animals' life is the only way to end the abuse. If we can do that, then all life will be perceived as precious and therein is the answer to all our woes.
This is where most people interject, "You can't change the world!" To which I want to know, "Why not?" Is there anybody out there who doesn't want to live in a world where people respect each other and care for each other? Even the most evil of humankind responds positively to kindness when it is lavished upon them. Changing perception is a big challenge, but not insurmountable because the end result is something that everyone wants.
Any money we can raise over and above the needs of the existing animals on Easy Street should go toward education. Public perception is often molded by peer pressure. Smoking used to be portrayed as cool and to reverse the trends in children the campaigns were launched to portray the kids who didn't smoke or use drugs as being the ones who were cool. It worked. The same approach works for the fur industry and the groups who are against it. The side with the most influential media campaign sets the standard. Groups such as Cirque De Soleil show us that we can be mesmerized and entertained without calling for the suffering of non human animals. I was mightily impressed with Land Rover's ad depicting the owners of an expensive Range Rover on their way to the opera stopping to rescue a stray dog in the rain.
Anything we can do to promote responsibility toward animals and each other leads us to our goal. The cats on Easy Street reach people with the message more effectively than any other medium I know. So many times I have heard men, who had been dragged there by their wives, say that they had been hunters and that after having petted a bobcat they could never pull the trigger and end the life of such an incredible animal again. I cry saying that, because it is that sort of awakening in man, that touches me so deeply. We are all one.
So many people think they want them as a pet, but they come out there and see cage after cage of animals that didn't work out and they hear the stories about the owners selfishness that resulted in the animals being abandoned. I have received countless letters and calls from people who said they always wanted a tiger as a pet, but after learning what it is really like and how the animal usually ends up, they were glad they didn't buy one. In truth, I think they realize that they don't want to change their lives for an animal and that they would be the ones perceived as selfish if they dumped the cat, so it no longer appeals. Whatever the motivation, I am always happy to hear that they changed their minds.
At the beginning of the tours people are always yapping about the performance they saw some big cat do in Las Vegas until they see the results of the animals that wouldn't perform. With just one visit, perceptions start to change. 98% of the people who answer the question on the release forms, say that they heard about us through word of mouth. The money best spent in changing perception is in getting more people in front of the cats, with qualified guides, who can help tell their story. We are, first and foremost, for the animals in our care, a sanctuary. With that in mind, the increase in traffic will always have to be done in such a way that the animals see it as beneficial.
Our Big Cat Expedition accomplishes that. It is an experience people cannot get anywhere else. It generates 1/3 of our income and most importantly, the cats love it. Sitting in a cell all day for a crime you didn't commit would make any animal crazy. The interaction the cats get with guests and with keepers and the stimulation to learn new behaviours is the high light of many of the cats' days. Participation in this activity is limited only by our ability to make people aware of its existence. We have begun plans to incorporate the local hotels in bus trips for their guests to WOES for this "keeper for a day" program. We cannot house more than 4 families overnight (1200.00 per day at full capacity), so we are hoping to utilize the local hotels bedrooms to increase visitation. We have 200 animals in need of enrichment and typically, at full capacity we have two tour groups handling no more than 6-8 cats each. There is a huge opportunity for expansion here.
With 200 animals, that is 25 sets of 8 animals each. Without the cabin portion, each visitor is paying 100.00 per person. If the tour groups were limited to four guests and one handler, that generates 400.00 per set of 25 or the potential of 10,000.00 per day. Current expenses are under 1000.00 per day. We are spending all day with these people, as opposed to a two-hour tour, so we can fully indoctrinate them with the issues the animals face and what they can do to help.
I rather like the concept of using the problem to cure it. This sort of exposure and income then starts to be capable of making a much bigger impact. We can lead by example and help other sanctuaries do the same thing. As long as we stay pure to our goals, and put the animals needs first, we can reach a much broader cross section of the country. We belong to an accreditation group called, The Association of Sanctuaries. It is a regulatory group that only gives its stamp of approval to refuges who do not breed, sell nor exploit the animals. There are less than 50 such qualified facilities in the U.S. and we are the only one in Florida and the only one nationally that specializes in cats. I would propose that any group instituting such a program subject themselves to the policing of TAOS to insure the quality of life for the animals and the conformity of the message we are trying to convey.
I would like to see a lot more money go into outreach programs, including schools, colleges, library programs, summer camps, and video productions for the increasing television market that now has entire stations dedicated to animal issues. Our school system is not equipped to teach anything about conservation, responsibility nor making intelligent choices. I wish to infiltrate that system with programs that we can provide for free because all the knowledge in the world is useless if we can't breath the air nor drink the water because no one ever taught us that we can make that difference.
When I ask my volunteers why they work in the bitter cold, washing out water dishes with their bare hands or in the sweltering heat, shoveling poo they invariably say it is because they are making a difference. We all have that need, at varying levels, and it is money well spent to show people that we all have that ability by making responsible choices in how we spend our money and our time.
As public perception begins to shift, we can drag the Neanderthals of our society along for the ride, by encouraging laws that protect the animals from cruelty, canned hunts, fur farming and the like. We need better laws, stricter penalties and more money devoted to enforcement. No More Homeless Pets is another project that is a self curing promotion. As we reach people with Why it is necessary to spay and neuter their pets and Why they should adopt from shelters, rather than support breeders, we are instilling the fundamentals about respect for life that will ultimately heal the situation.
SAFEinTheWild (Saving Animals From Extinction In The Wild) is near and dear to my heart, and is what the name implies, but it is pretty far down on the list of important things to do. I support several projects on a limited basis and would love to make a huge impact in time.
I am so happy with the progress that I have seen in our society over the past few years that I have been aware. The changes for the better are more dramatic with every passing year. I apologize for inundating you with far more information that you have time to read. I want to thank you for asking because it has been helpful for me to take stock in where we are and where we are heading.
Have your earrings and we forgot the Lion donations. Will hold for next rendezvous.
Subconsciously am I always leaving something to have an excuse to come back? Hmmmm.
I just got a note from Anissa, our Educational Director saying that someone from Raymond James is donating 10,000.00 to our educational program. They have never even seen our facility, but are coming out on the 29th. They said they found us on the Internet.
Food for thought: With all the work you are putting into presenting us to the friend of your friend, can you duplicate it and make a living from it? I have heard that grant writers can make a very good income and that is, I believe, based on performance, which naturally would mean that WOES would benefit tremendously, thus relieving an enormous burden from my shoulders... Something to think about before you commit to a 9 to 5 somewhere.
Jamie told me today that Ringling asked her to prepare a letter about WOES that they are sending to 1,000 people who will be attending their pre-show by invitation only. The letters gives them the option of letting their 10.00 ticket price be donated to us, or just go the circus. I thought this was pretty clever on Feld Entertainment's part as it will let them know what the percentage of their invitees think of as being important. If they had any doubt about the benefit to them of promoting us, this should show them it is a great move.
MOSI is coming out for their second tour in the past month and they say they are excited about the opportunity of joining forces with us. They wanted to do an IMAX movie here, with a crew of 600, and I said that isn't going to happen just yet, so they want to come out and run something else by us. So many exciting things are happening!
There are 16 parcels that I am going to bid on tomorrow, so hopefully I can pick up a few. It is very rare that there are so many good ones. All of them are vacant lots though and nothing too terribly exciting. I hope your "short project" is challenging and rewarding for you. Kiss the cats for me.
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.
20 Questions of Howie and His Answers
I sent a list of questions and below are the questions and the answers.
This seems to be the first email back from Howie that I have found.
I think it is clear that we are both good people. I think that is less surprising to me than to you because, based on what you tell me, I have been more fortunate in finding good people over the years than you have. If there has been one blessing above all others in my life, it has been the extraordinary number of wonderful people I count as friends. And for the most part the women I have had romantic relationships with have also been good people. You appear, unfortunately, to have less good fortune in this respect. Like I said last night, it appears I have some very easy acts to follow.
Not sure what flutter is. But it sure is nice to know that if I ever get stuck in a dumpster I can count on you to pull me out!
What both of us being good people means to me is that I think we can count on each other to deal with the other honestly. That is really all we can promise each other at this point. The rest of getting to know someone simply takes time and there is no way to rush it. We all tend to be on our best behavior with someone new. I suggest not even thinking about "the stakes". Just enjoy the process, count the happy minutes we give each other as something no one can ever take away, and we'll see where it leads.
At 06:25 PM 12/12/02 -0500, you wrote:
Thank you for taking the time to answer those for me. It is almost done. I was duly impressed with your answer to the question that I wanted to know.
The question I would like most to know is: What is there about you that you think is your best, and yet least understood, quality?
In terms of a "quality", I'd like to think honesty, integrity, doing the "right thing". And to the extent it seems rather a rare thing, particularly in the business world, I guess it is not well understood by many people.
As I read it, I felt that same little flutter that I felt in anticipation of seeing you recently. That is such a rare feeling for me, that it has stopped me cold in my tracks to contemplate it. I think it is because it matters.
When I saw you superficially, as just another good looking man, I could take it or leave it and the outcome of any interaction with you didn't matter. The more I discover about you, the more special and unique, I see you to be. This raises the stakes and makes me more nervous. It's not a bad thing, just new to me. I am so glad to have this opportunity to get to know you.
If a child were to ask you:
What is your favourite thing to do?
Tennis. (Not a very exciting or romantic answer, like walk on the beach in moonlight, but it really is the thing I would most choose to do most of the time.) Certain answers, of course, would not have been appropriate if asked "by a child".
What was your favourite movie?
LadyHawke. (Now there IS a romantic answer)
What was your favourite book?
Tough contest between Shogun, Taipan (both James Clavell) and Atlas Shrugged. If I had to choose one, probably Shogun.
What is your favourite food?
There is one dish at Cafe Amaretto that is my favorite, It is a Veal Canneloni. Normally I don't like veal, but this is a minced inside a canneloni. Let's go there for dinner and I'll show you. Not far from you, on Memorial just south of Hillsborough.
What is your favourite colour?
Teal, like that raincoat.
The question I would like most to know is: What is there about you that you think
is your best, and yet least understood, quality?
In terms of a "quality", I'd like to think honesty, integrity, doing the "right thing". And to the extent it seems rather a rare thing, particularly in the business world, I guess it is not well understood by many people.
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.
At the risk of sounding paranoid, what's the catch?
10 Dec 2002 07:49:39 EST Subject: Finances To: Howie
You continue to amaze me. I feel as if I have walked into someone else's life. My life hasn't had men in it who could buy their own lunch. I have two other emails I am answering right now, from others I am/was dating. One I am, one I was. One wants to know if I will give him 117,000.00 for no reason other than he wants it and the other wants a "loan" of 160,000.00 with no collateral.
I don't know how to behave around you.
You have a wonderful spirit, a beautiful and well endowed body (and you know how to use it), a great sense of humour and sensitivity, the ability to not only take care of yourself, but also the two "little people" who live with you, and a sharp business mind. At the risk of sounding paranoid, what's the catch?
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.
Jamie Advises to Date Someone I Like
8 Dec 2002 12:28:21 EST Subject: remote viewing To: hbaskin@bigfoot.com
I don't mind you sharing this. I only keep it to myself to protect others around me from embarrassment.
The first recollection I have of remote viewing was as about a 4 year old child. My uncle was burning trash and caught the woods behind our house on fire. It looked like the blaze was all around me and I can remember going above it, seeing it confined to just the wooded area, leaving plenty of room for escape, and thus not feeling panicked over it. Years later I heard my mother describing the event and remembered thinking that I had a bird's eye view of it, but I was still young then and didn't think that strange.
When I was raped at 14 by two men at knife point, I purposely traveled outside of my body and hovered at the ceiling. I did it to escape the fear, the pain and the feeling of not being able to breathe. From that vantage point is where I first saw the third man, lurking in the shadows of the doorway that I couldn't see from where my body was on the floor. In retrospect, who knows if my non verbal pleas to him to rescue me, were heard and acted upon, or if he just was afraid they would all be charged with murder if he didn't do something, but if he hadn't stepped in when he did, I would have bled to death. He was much bigger, taller and stronger than the other two and I have always had a hero image connected to taller men, such as you. My secret is out...
I still never thought of it as unusual and the phrase, "out of body experience" was common in the 70's so I just figured everyone did that. I could often "see" things that were about to happen or around the corner or from a different perspective, but didn't see it as anything note worthy. I left home at 15 and worked as many as three jobs at the same time to provide for myself and what ever jobless man I was supporting, so I never had time to read, never had friends to talk to and never gave it much consideration.
Some things you just know. I knew the moment I conceived my daughter. I knew her before she was born, and tried to prevent the birth, but some things are just meant to happen. I believe that everyone is born with that sixth sense, but we have the notion beaten out of us by a society that thinks it "weird". From the beginning I have tried to instill in her a belief in herself and in her ability to sense the truth. She is far more capable than I and once picked all 10 or 12 horses in Hialeah. Unfortunately, no one paid any attention to her until about the third race from the end, when she casually commented that 3 more and she would have picked them all. When I looked at her program, she had already marked all of the winners. I don't gamble, but was with a man who made a lot of money on those last three races. She quickly became a favourite of all the old timers at the track.
Her ability to communicate with the cats is even more phenomenal than mine. You can see it in her photography. The day the serval escaped, her first words to me were, "I went to feed Pharaoh, and I couldn't feel him there."
I didn't tell you the whole story of viewing him, because I didn't want to freak you out, but this is from my journal: It began from something that I have been doing with the cats when I am out driving around. I visualize them, approach and hold them. I stroke their fur and mentally talk to them about what their life experience is like. I found it very helpful with some of the sick cats and it comforted me, if nothing else. When trying to locate Pharaoh, I polled the cats around his cage, from a distance of about 1.5 miles. Scratch, the cougar and Zza Zza, the ocelot have the best view of his cage and I started with them. Scratch wasn't talking and Zza Zza said she knew and wasn't telling. I tried Jumanji, the leopard and as he was excitedly telling me that Pharaoh had climbed out and the path he had taken, it was like Catera, the bobcat, got on the party line and in his typically excited way was gibbering away about how Pharaoh had gone right by the both of them toward the Pallas Cat, who wouldn't "pick up the line". That line of cats was enough to tell me the cat was in Jason's yard and heading north through the woods.
I am positive that the communication with the cats and the remote viewing was accurate and not just a likely path for the cat to take, because cats, when loose, tend to go see others of their own species. He could have gone east or west and done that, but chose to go north where there are none of his kind and mostly leopards, which are predators to him.
I even thought that since Jamie and I often can finish each other's sentences, that perhaps she had already located the cat when I "saw" him and that I was picking up on her senses, but later when she was surmising the route he took, it was different from the one the cats "reported". We discovered later, that the route the cats said he took was the open one during that phase of feeding and not the route that she had originally suspected. Even though it is nothing for Servals to leap a fence, they tend to walk and follow the path of least resistance, which varies as the feeders move through the property opening and shutting gates.
The hard thing to remember, in a moment of stress, such as the above, is that there are other alternatives to the obvious.
I told you about my husband's dumpster diving and how in the last year or two he was showing signs of dementia and forgetting where he was, getting stuck in dumpsters and such. I would ask him to describe to me what he could see, but from down inside a dumpster, sometimes all he could see was sky. I always had a connection to Don and from the time I was 19 could usually go right to him, wherever he was, just by feel. I would drive until I felt I should turn, and was always amazed at how direct the line to him typically was. This only got better with time, but sometimes I would see his surroundings and know where he was, and other times it was like the game you play as a kid when you guide someone by saying you're getting warm, you're getting hot... I could actually sense this feeling as warmth, in a dark house or in complete darkness on 40 acres at Easy Street, and feel my way to him. That was one of the things that has lead me to believe that he is dead. Since his disappearance, I haven't been able to feel him. Of all the people who should be able to go straight to him, I can't. I have come to be obsessive about being near the water and wonder if, at least in part, that is why. I know that part has to do with healing and regeneration for me.
The breathwork session that I attended in May is what really propelled me to practice remote viewing and sensing. I have read some books and will get a list to you, but a quick read for the 15 and 19 year old might be, Only Love Is Real by Brian Weiss, the author of Many Lives, Many Masters. The concept that I find compelling is that we have purposely come into this life and chosen our parents, siblings and special people we will "meet" along the way in order to learn the lessons we need to be more perfect. If you take that approach, then even people who annoy you come to have a special purpose and it makes knowing them exciting. Instead of asking the age old question of "why am I here?" you start to look around and say, "why are you here and why did I invite you here?"
My daughter asked me, "why don't you date someone you like?' and then you came along. I know, at least from my perspective, why you are here.
This is my book list. I started to edit it to only the spiritual related books, but all of them have contributed in some way, so I just sent the whole list.
Books Read Date Read Author
Psychocybernetics 1/1/1971 Aina O. Nucho
Think and Grow Rich 1/1/1972 Napolean Hill
Gone With The Wind 6/1/1972 Margaret Mitchell
How to Win Friends and Influence People 1/1/1973 Dale Carnegie
Up A Road Slowly 1/1/1973 Irene Hunt
Trump- The Art of the Deal 5/1/1985 Donald Trump
The Road Less Travelled 1/1/1988 M. Scott Peck
This Present Darkness 7/3/1989 Frank E. Peretti
Swim With the Sharks w/o Being Eaten Alive 5/1/1996 Harvey MacKay
The Bible 3/1/1997 God
The Millionaire Next Door 9/1/1997 Thomas J. Stanley
Land Trust Ownership and Conveyance Made Safe 11/1/1997 Florida Bar
Mere Christianity 11/1/1997 C. S. Lewis
Buying Right 1/15/1998 John Schaub
Positive Landlording in a Negative World 2/1/1998 John Schaub
How To Profit From Tax Breaks in R.E. 3/1/1998 John Schaub
One Step Beyond 4/1/1998 Peter Fortunato
The Richest Man in Babylon 5/1/1998 George S. Clason
Don't Sweat The Small Stuff 2/1/1999 Richard Carlson
10 Habits of Highly Successful People 3/1/1999 Stephen L. Covey
Built To Last 4/1/2000 James c. Collins
Practical Miracles for Mars and Venus 9/1/2000 John Gray, PhD
Footprints on the Path 10/1/2000 Eileen Caddy
AZA Manual of Federal Wildlife Regulations 10/15/2000 AZA
A Guide For The Advanced Soul 11/1/2000 Susan Hayward
Losing Paradise 12/30/2000 Paul G. Irwin
The Emerging Mind 1/1/2001 Karen Nesbitt Shanor
Undeniable Evidences 2/1/2001 Farrell Jenkins
Dream Weaver web page bldr 3/1/2001 Joseph W. Lowery
The Entrepreneurial Cat 4/1/2001 Mary Hessler Key
FrontPage 2000 for Dummies 5/1/2001 Asha Dornfest
Control Your Destiny, or someone else will 6/1/2001 Noel M. Tichy
Self Hypnosis, Plain and Simple 7/1/2001 C. Alexander Simpkins
Body For Life 7/15/2001 Bill Phillips
Life Strategies 8/1/2001 Phil McGraw?
Marketing Without Advertising 8/13/2001 Michael Phillips and Salli Rasberry
Cause Related Marketing 10/2/2001 Sue Adkins
Dear Mum 11/1/2001 Bradley Trevor Greive
Disposable Pets 11/6/2001 Craig Brestrup
Animal Underworld 12/1/2001 Alan Green
Art of Tantric Sex 12/1/2001 Nitya Lacroix
What Animals Teach Us 12/15/2001 Mary Hessler Key
203 Ways to Drive a Man Wild in Bed 1/1/2002 Olivia St. Claire
Vibrations 2/20/2002
Report on Radionics 3/5/2002 Edward W. Russell
Photonic Therapy 3/12/2002 Dr. Brian McLaren
Earth's Radiation 3/13/2002 Kathe Bachler
Auras 3/14/2002 Edgar Cayce
Holographic Universe 3/22/2002 Michael Talbot
Radionics and the Subtle Anatomy of Man 3/24/2002 David V. Tansley
Hands of Light 4/10/2002 Barbara Ann Brennen
The Meaning of the Enneagram 4/15/2002 Don Richard Riso & Russ Hudson
The Enneagram Understanding Yourself & Others 4/27/2002 Helen Palmer
The Breathwork Experience 5/25/2002 Kylea Taylor
Through Time Into Healing 9/13/2002 Brian L. Weiss, M.D.
Personality Types Using the Enneagram for Discovery Don Richard Riso & Russ
Hudson
Only Love Is Real 4/28/2002 Brian L. Weiss, M.D.
Messages From the Masters 5/8/2002 Brian L. Weiss, M.D.
The Legend of the Eagle Clan 6/9/2002 Clemonts?
Conversations With God book 3
Everyday Immortality 6/15/2002 Deepak Chopra
An Ancient Magical Prayer 6/1/2002 Deepak Chopra
The 7 Spiritual Laws of Success 6/20/2002 Deepak Chopra
Many Lives, Many Masters 9/5/2002 Brian L. Weiss, M.D.
Through Cougar's Eyes David Raber
Wisdom of the Enneagram 6/3/2002 Don Richard Riso & Russ Hudson
Love 8/30/2002 Leo Buscaglia
He Chose Nails Max Lucado
The Issaih Effect 9/11/2002 Bradley
Bay Sailors First Mate Program Sept 2002 12/5/2002 Jim Sexton
The Dead Sea Scolls
The Nag Hamadi Library
Endless Referrals Bob Burg
Masters of Networking Misener and Morgan
The Reconnection by Dr. Eric Pearl
The Celestine Prophecy #1
8 Dec 2002 08:11:37 EST Subject: Monday To: hbaskin@att.net
Would you like to see my home on Monday?
The freakish cat Maya is on the screened porch, and I haven't seen how she is with people yet, so you should probably come to the back door which is to the right as you approach the house. Knock loudly as the house is very well insulated.
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.
I Promise Not To Say Anything Weird
7 Dec 2002 10:17:05 EST Subject: A Normal Day To: hbaskin@att.net
Got the clothing advisory. Thanks. I hope it's warmer where you are.
I put a heating pad in the box for the cat and she won't come out. My daughter and her boyfriend, Daniel, are always saying that I should be the subject of real T.V. because I am always doing something weird. In hanging a carrier from the ceiling for Maya, I was up on a ladder and couldn't get the door off. Using strength over wit, I jerked the door loose and smacked myself in the mouth with it hard enough to knock myself off the ladder. I cut my lip, but it's healing fast. The cat laughed so hard, I thought she'd bust a gut. Never a dull moment.
Thursday night I got one of those calls from my daughter that made me want to tell you how much grey hair, or loss of hair, you have spared yourself in never siring offspring. I could never fathom the horror that is felt by a parent if not for her and her equally stressful life. I see from the caller ID that it's her, which always stops my heart mid beat in anticipation of some disaster. Her shaking voice, just screams Mom! (like it is her dying cry for help) then sobbing wildly she is trying to tell me something, but because she is crying so hard, I can't understand a word. I am out the door and in the truck without even knowing where I am going or why.
I finally catch enough words to know that one of the cats she raised (Pharaoh, the white Serval) didn't show up for dinner and she can't find him in his cage. We had been offered 75,000.00 for him because he is one of only 3 in the world, and all three live with us. I told her to gather the troops and comb the cage, which was already being done, and that I would be there in 5 minutes. I had learned
remote viewing in the breathwork session and as I was turning off Sheldon onto Citrus Park Blvd., I could "see" the cat heading toward the North wall from Jason's yard. By the time I was clear on his location, I was flying down Easy Street and called Jamie to tell her to move the human comb to the North wall and head South through the brush. She answered the phone and said they had him
surrounded in exactly the location I had "seen" him in. We closed the circle of volunteers, staff and family around him and Jamie and Daniel went in with a blanket. We stood in the freezing, pouring rain until the cat decided it would be better to be under the blanket, than free and wet.
Like most of our recoveries it was pretty anti climatic. People always ask me, "What is a normal day like for you?" Jamie's answer to that is, "All I want is just ONE NORMAL day."
8 Dec 2002 08:00:10 EST Subject: Re: A Normal Day To: hbaskin@att.net
I have a VIP tour Monday afternoon with a woman I am wooing from MOSI, but should be done by 5PM. After that, I would love to see you.
The holographic theory states that when something "ironic" happens three times in quick succession, it is a rip in the fabric that allows you to see that there are several realities happening at the same time and you are choosing between them. Cats are a great medium for remote viewing and they will enjoy the interaction. Go out on your porch and mentally talk to one of your cats. Tell
them what you are doing and that you want to look around the room they are in, through their eyes. Then go find them and see if you were seeing the same room. With practice you can even walk around inside them and feel what it is like to be a cat. This has helped me to diagnose mine who were sick. I am new to this in just the past year. If it is all just a matter of coincidence (a word I don't
believe in) then it is at least a creative exercise that leaves you feeling a little more connected.
I promise I won't talk weird in front of people I don't know, unless they broach the subject and I can tell that they understand.
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.
Gentle Giant
Carole writes Howie: The horse's name is Made To Order but everyone calls HER buttercup because of her butterscotch colour. I would be happy to introduce you. She will probably be thrilled to meet a horse person, since she is surrounded by cat people.
I am sorry, for your sake, to hear the tour was so full. I called ahead and asked them to give you a private tour if possible so that Erik would have more attention focused on him, and to impress you, of course. Jamie said it would be done, but I am sure they had no expectation of 30 people for that tour. Usually holidays are slow. Any time you want a private tour, even if it is for your friends or the kids you help, just let me know. I am happy to do it and there is no substitute for touring with me because of the reaction of the cats. Many of those cats I rescued myself, or I was the first person who ever cared for them and they show it. Whenever I am blue, all I have to do is walk around the refuge and my heart is just filled to the brim with all of the love they share.
Gentle Giant
A giant man in heart and soul
A bigger man you'd never find
Than this one that I've come to know
This one so rare and truly kind
His company's a joy to share
His speech is thoughtful in its scope
And causes me to dare believe
That in the human kind, there's hope
His life has been an uphill climb
That started in his tender youth
And yet it was these challenges
That led him to his inner truth
He knows the value of a life
Is measured in the love we give
And shared with many we don't know
In the example that we live
He makes a point to touch the hearts
Of those who pass along his way
Expecting nothing in return
An attitude of, Come what may?
His warm embrace enfolds me close
Before the glowing embers died
I've not a care outside his arms
And feel so fully satisfied
For Howie Baskin By Carole Stairs Lewis 11/30/02
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.
Repeat Performance
Carole writes Howie: Any chance of a repeat performance the 2nd or 3rd? I really enjoyed getting to know you a little better and much more intimately. I feel that even with as much as you shared with me that there is so much more depth to you left to discover. I look forward to the expedition. Life is so full of unexpected joys and you are one of the nicest ones I have experienced.
The dinner on the 11th sounds very interesting. I am fascinated by the way people face adversity and overcome the odds. Everyone has their own success story to share, but it is particularly inspiring to me to witness a turn around based on marketing as this is something I can put to practical use. I put you on my calendar for the 11th. Let me know about the 2nd or 3rd. The next email will have our grant request done by the International Commerce Center in Word format.
I had a wonderful evening. I can still feel you inside me. It feels good. - Carole
We had first made love on the floor in front of the fire and then carried the lovemaking upstairs to his bedroom. Howie was living in an townhouse on Gandy Boulevard called Hawthorn Pond. There was a beautiful little pond, surrounding a magnificent Banyan tree just off his wooden deck.
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.
Howie’s First Email to Me
I can’t seem to find the email, but the gist of it was that Howie explained that he didn’t really cook the food (he bought it and put it in his pans to make it look like he did) and that he had decided his kitchen counter was so ugly he’d bought a new counter top, but that made the rest of the kitchen look even worse, so he’d given Mary Key his credit card and asked her to fix it. She did the whole room in pink. Howie swears it’s mauve.
He rocked back laughing about the assertion he was gay because for years he’d tell people that he had purposely trashed the house so people wouldn’t think he was gay, and it just so happened that the maid, Ning, was there the day before, so that’s why it was so clean. The line that cracked me up was that he said one day it might be appropriate for him to demonstrate his sexual preference with me, but that he wasn’t going to do the same for my mother.
I responded: 23 Nov 2002 09:28:42 EST Subject: email humour To: hbaskin1@tampabay.rr.com
Actually the humour came across loud and clear in the email. I almost sprayed coffee out my nose, I laughed so hard. I would like to get to know you better. You seem such a rarity. No performance pressure here, just be yourself.
Despite my financial arrangement with Ringling, they know that I am actively against animals being used for entertainment. We promote the concept of a circus without animals as being more humane and just as much fun, but I have never attended either. Ringling has invited me to their opening show next year, so I really should see Quidam so that I have some point of reference.
Cirque du Soleil: As nice as that would be, it is hard to get to know someone in a theater. My diet won't allow many extravagances such as last night ( I gained 3 pounds ) as I eat 5 meals a day, but no salt, sugar nor fat, just to maintain a body that is still 20 pounds overweight. Maybe I'll try that cake and ice cream diet you did so well on. ;-) What I enjoy, more than anything else, is walking. To walk with you on Bayshore, or the beach or virtually anywhere, while getting to know you, is my idea of the perfect date. I hope your tennis match was fun today.
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!
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You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org
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Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.
First Email to Howie
22 Nov 2002 23:53:01 EST Subject: Thank you for a wonderful evening To: hbaskin@bigfoot.com
Dear Howie (is that how you call yourself?)
Thank you for a wonderful evening. After you arranged the private, candle lit dinner in the Florida Aquarium, I did not think it possible that you could improve on such a gesture. I was wrong. Tonight exceeded the backdrop of the rare tropical fish. The setting, the food and especially the company were incomparable. Chez Baskin's is the finest in elegance and ambiance the city has to offer. There is nothing more calming than the water.
I feel like I bolted out of your home and wanted you to know that I just don't know anything about dating. I've been married since I was 17 and this is the first time in my life that I have been going out with men socially. My mother was even musing over it this morning and saying that she had never experienced me having fun and couldn't believe how old I was before getting around to it. She
also persuaded me not to take tonight seriously, because I had described you as being good looking, funny, single, a cat owner and that you were cooking a meal tonight. She said if I walked in and saw that your home was clean and well decorated then I could be sure that you were gay and that I was just there to convince your friends that you were not. All evening, I had a wonderful time, even based upon the supposition that she must be right because your home was impeccably furnished and spotlessly clean. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable with wondering how on earth you were going to get this woman out of your house, so I bolted.
Three things I noticed in your conversation that really impressed me and when your eulogy is being written, I want to be sure they are added to the Mary-and-her-cat-in-the-middle-of-the-night story. The first was that even after you had invested so much of your time and energy into renaming the street, that you chose not to take advantage of the majority being in your favour, so as to not upset the few who opposed. Most people could have reasoned that away any number of ways, but you put others ahead of your own desires.
The second was that you sold your home to satisfy a debt after an investment didn't pan out. In my business and in the work I do for WOES I see so much irresponsibility and it is encouraged by society rather than exposed for the self centeredness it represents. You had lots of options at your command that required no sacrifice on your part, and yet, you chose to do the right thing.
The third was the kindness that you show to your elderly neighbors, from listening to them to escorting them. I could tell from all the details that you shared with us tonight that you had really listened to these people and had given them a part of you that I am sure they hold very dear. There were many other nuances such as the way you described the horse's hesitation or the cat's aversion to fur in the water, that tell me you are very observant of the world around you and that you are moving with it in a manner that causes no harm and brings much joy.
You truly are a special person and I am glad to have met you. - Carole
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.
Howie Invites Me to Dinner
(Photo was a little later on, taken by his elderly neighbor MaryAnn, after a dinner with her in her apartment next door to where Howie lived on Hawthorne Pond in the Gandy area)
I was so taken with Howie the night we met that I came home the night after meeting him at the aquarium and wrote Mary Hessler Key an email under the guise of thanking her for a lovely event, but my real reason was in the final line, “I enjoyed meeting your friend Howard, and if he asks, here’s my number...”
Howie was 52 and had never been married so Mary was all over him to call me right away. Some women just can’t see a perfectly good bachelor go to waste, and she probably figured it would make him more interested in helping with her pet cause. Howie had broken up a year prior from a woman he had thought was “the one.” He’d been so broken by the ending of that relationship that he stopped dating. Right before Mary’s event Howie says he sat at his desk, looked out the window and asked the Universe to bring him the right woman.
He often tells this story and says that with the first couple of days three people had called setting him up with blind dates. Two of the people were people he never dreamed would do such a thing, but he credited the Universe with giving him some options. The night we had met we had talked until about 7PM and then rather abruptly he announced he was going home. I thought it was going pretty well, but he didn’t ask for my number, so I didn’t know what to make of him. Later he would tell me that as he was walking to his car he thought to himself that I was an attractive and interesting person and he probably should have asked me to dinner, or at least gotten my number, but then decided he just wanted to go home and read.
After giving Mary my number to pass on, I didn’t hear from him for 3 weeks. To hear Howie tell it, he’d invited his neighbors over for dinner Friday and realized the Monday prior, after dating and not much liking any of the blind dates, that he didn’t have a date for that night. He said, “I remember that blonde at the aquarium that Mary was all over me to call, but it’s been weeks without hearing from me, so she’ll probably hang up on me for calling her on such late notice. He said he was holding the phone away from his ear because he was so sure I’d slam it down. He had no idea how breathless I’d been for this call.
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.
I Met Howie And My Life Changed Forever
(Photo is Howie on our Wedding Day 11/1/2004)
After the scary ordeal with Jay Baykal, I’d dated a number of men including Bob Solomon, another guy with a foot fetish I met at a Sailing Club, a contractor who was selling a house on Pelican Island, Mr. America (Collins), and others I’ve totally forgotten, but I didn’t let any of them to move in.
Howard Eugene Baskin and I met met at the kick off party for a new concept that Mary Hessler Key was introducing to Tampa Bay called No More Homeless Pets. The coalition was being formed to end euthanasia of healthy dogs and cats in shelters by implementing an aggressive spay and neuter program. Big Cat Rescue is one of the founding members of No More Homeless Pets of Hillsborough County.
At that party, Howie won my adoration immediately because he had actually visited WildLife on Easy Street and knew who we were when it seemed that no one in the area had ever heard of us. Mary Key had suggested he visit us with his little foster brother, Eric years before. Mary had invited her best friend, Howie, to the kick off party because she wanted to get him involved.
At dinner parties Howie is always the one who tells our “meeting story” but this time I get to tell it. Mary had sent out paper invitations to the kick off party at the Florida Aquarium for 5:00 PM, but she later sent out an email, changing the time to 5:30. Of all the people who got invitations, Howie and I were the only ones who didn’t read the email because we already had the paper invites. At 5PM when I arrived at the aquarium there was just one person going up the ramp ahead of me. He was tall, thin, wearing a grey suit and had a spine that bent him slightly to the left. His gate was stiff and I thought to myself, “I could sure loosen him up!”
He heard me behind him, as we were the only people in the area, and turned to ask if I was going to this “pet function.” I moved up beside him and we chatted as we walked the ramp to the room where the event was to take place. Arriving there was one whole wall of glass and the beautiful fish on the other side. The room was full of candle lit tables and there was a bar tender in the corner of the room. Howie said it was pretty odd that NO ONE, not even the host, Mary, was here suggesting that maybe they were in another room. He went up to the bartender and asked.
Coming back to where I was sitting at a table he said, “Turns out the whole thing was a sham that Mary set up so you and I would meet!” He’s always been good at delivering a straight faced one liner and I was speechless. Once he saw that his statement had its desired effect he confessed that the event wasn’t supposed to start until 5:30 and we later learned from Mary about the content of the email correcting that.
I was smitten immediately. I’d been seeing a hypnotherapist about my weight, my shame and my horrible choices in men. I’d decided that the next guy I’d date would be someone I’d never be attracted to ordinarily. Howie certainly fit that description. I’ve never cared about a man’s physical appearance. I think that’s shallow. My previous predilection was for the “bad boys” and this guy was like meeting Mr. Rogers, right down to the closet full of sweater vests. It’s how I first described him to Jamie and my mom too. Turns out to be the best decision I ever made.
The following is Howie’s bio:
Mr. Baskin is a semi-retired management consultant who works with early stage and fast growing companies in the areas of strategic planning, finance and operations. He conducts strategic planning sessions, creates financial forecasts and monitors performance against them, assists in developing financial presentations, marketing materials, and management reports to monitor both financial and non-financial metrics. In some cases he actively negotiates transactions on behalf of clients.
Mr. Baskin is a graduate of Union College in Schenectady, NY. He earned a law degree from the University of Miami in 1978 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1980.
Mr. Baskin spent 11 years at Citicorp in various assignments, most recently as Director of Strategic Planning for the Commercial Real Estate Division whose assets exceeded $20 Billion. Since leaving Citicorp in 1991 he has been an equity participant and general manager in three companies, one of which he co-founded.
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.
Jay Cihangir Baykal Affair Ends with an Eviction & Restraining Order
This photo was from his LinkedIn profile in 2018 because I have no photos of Jay from 2002.
After breaking up with Peter Kent I met Jay Baykal on Match.com. He lived in Orlando so it was a long drive for me once or twice a week to be with him and he rarely drove over to Tampa. I was living at the Island. He was Turkish and called himself the “Cotton King” saying his father owned Sanko and had sent him to the U.S. to be his primary buyer. Jay had asked me to marry him within 3 weeks of meeting me and that should have sent up a red flag. I was so impressed that he wanted me to turn the sanctuary over to my daughter and come be with him. I had come to feel that all any man wanted me for was monetary gain. He lavished me in gold and jewels and became increasingly paranoid and jealous.
I wouldn’t leave the sanctuary so he moved in with me and brought all of his furniture within a month or so of our meeting so he would know where I was at night. It got worse and he started insisting that I not go to work at the sanctuary and began worrying that my daughter and family were going to come between us. He was very rough with me sexually, and just kept getting weirder and weirder, by not letting me leave the house. When he said he’d kill my daughter and family so they wouldn’t be a threat to his relationship with me, I knew I had to end it. The only way to make him move out was to file a tenant eviction, even though he paid no rent.
He didn’t take that well. I got a restraining order after he dragged me by the hair with a 9mm Glock pistol to my head. (It took that much violence to get the order!)
I waited until he was out of the house and had the locks on the house and gate changed. When he called me screaming, I told him I’d ship his furniture back to his house in Orlando on my own tab, but I never wanted to see him again. I told him that threatening to kill my family was the last straw. I’d put up with a lot, but I wasn’t going to be with someone who would hurt them. I hoped that letting him know that would protect them from any retaliation.
I shipped his stuff back to him, including every piece of jewelry he’d ever given me; which was considerable. I filed a tenant eviction against him on 10/16/02 in case number 02-CC-025052 and the next day had to get a restraining order against him due to his violence on 10/17/02 in case number 02-DR-017308.
The court records have been destroyed and I don’t know how, or if it is even possible to get a copy now, but the end result was he was out and couldn’t come back anywhere near me.
I didn’t know it until years later, but in retaliation on 10/18/02 he filed falsely for a restraining order against me. It was denied the same day because the judge said there was no threat, and I never actually saw a copy of it until 2020 when I pulled it off one of my critic’s websites. I guess he figured it would be a lasting way to cast doubt on my integrity and innocence.
Hillsborough County Official Records Book 12139 page 167 on 10/18/02
Jay Baykal cell phone home phone
A 2006 background search showed he had been arrested May 5, 1993 D753712 in Horry, S.C. on felony charges which were dropped in 1995. No further info is available on the report. On May 10, 2006 he was arrested for stalking in Sanford, FL case number 2006MM004516A while still living at xxxx Crystal View Dr, Orlando, FL. He had some charges for drug possession and traffic violations since then as well.
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.
Don’s daughters had been all over me to declare Don dead, presumably so they could get their hands on the life insurance money. If you check out the Death Certificate you will see that it is Don’s daughter, Donna Pettis, who apparently provided the info for Don’s Death Certificate declaring him dead 5 years and 1 day from the date of his disappearance 8/18/1997. Looks like the Order signed by Judge Sexton was 11/14/2002 and I first saw the Death Certificate on February 3, 2003.
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.
Timeline of Anne Holding Up Conservatorship and Insurance
(I copied this from the file folder I have called Anne McQueen Contempt in preparation for our upcoming 2020 lawsuit with her. I pasted it here as the last date in the file was July 30, 2002. It shows that I had to fight her in court for 3.5 years as of 7/30/2002 to get her to comply with what we had all agreed to on 12/4/1998. As of 7/30/2002 she still had not complied.)
12/4/98 Stipulations (on how to divide the assets) agreed to by all
12/8/98 Anne's attorney Leroy Merkle faxes my attorney Craig Rothburd saying he's paid Anne 50k and paid himself but that they are holding up our documents and remaining funds because Anne won't authorize him to comply.
12/17/98 Stipulation ratified by the judge in 97-2001
1/20/99 I filed a motion for contempt against Anne for failure to comply
10/1/99 I state that I believe Anne has caused $22,626.40 in attorney fees just since 3/99
10/27/99 Anne is disputing only the charges against Gaschler & Thomas Cir. and hasn't even come up with the A/P (accounts payable) idea yet
12/2/99 We sent the deeds and assignments of mortgage to Anne for the 3rd time. By this time she is asking for a hearing on the A/P
2/29/2000 Judge Sexton sustained our Objections to Merkle's erroneous report
5/19/2000 Order recorded on the above
7/26/2000 Case Management Conference
12/22/2000 The court granted my Motion for Turnover of Disputed Property
1/10/2001 My attorney, Rothburd wrote Anne's attorney Merkle, asking them to comply.
1/11/2001 Merkle turns over $10,790.83 but no deeds or assignments of mortgage from Anne. He's no longer her lawyer. Joseph Fritz now is her attorney in the Wendy Williams suit against us.
3/19/2001 Anne's attorney quit and we had a hearing before Judge Sexton
6/13/2001 had to set a hearing on Motion to Compel Anne to comply and for sanctions against Merkle.
8/29/2001 had to set a hearing on Anne's objections to the General Master's Report
9/24/2001 Letter from my attorney Rothburd saying the girls' attorney Clifford Opp was still trying to craft the Irrevocable Trust for the Insurance proceeds that Anne would agree to.
10/22/2001 My attorney writes to Anne saying it's been a month since we wrote you last and we still need to deal with the Insurance Trust.
2/26/2002 Letter from my attorney, Rothburd to girls' attorney Opp asking if they were having any luck getting Anne to sign the Insurance Trust agreement.
4/30/2002 Anne's attorney Joseph Fritz writes my attorney Rothburd and says Anne's not happy with the Insurance Trust agreement
5/1/2002 My attorney Rothburd writes me saying Anne was still not signing.
7/30/2002 My attorney Rothburd writes me saying Anne was still not signing but he thinks she will soon.
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.
Mom and Dad’s Personality Test
I was interested in the Enneagram and asked my parents to take the test. I am an 8. The following is my mother’s email to me with her findings.
The tests were very interesting and not at all what you might expect. I noticed I chose more "not relate" than your dad - he seemed to relate to everything. Below are the results:
Vern : This seems like he is Helper and Peacemaker - ?????
Barb : This seems to put me at Challenger and Helper - which I would agree with. I do want peace and feel people should do the best they can to get along so maybe we could combine 7, 8 and 9. I note I had zero for 4 which is investigator. I am always looking for things to "match" and keep facts in my mind at all times to see if anything does not make sense.
I wrote: You are right. I was surprised. I think you might have the number on the wheel in the wrong place though, because you had highest scores for 7 and 1, and 7 is the Enthusiast and 1 is the Reformer. 8 is the Challenger and 2 is the Helper.
All personalities have a main number, with a wing. If you are a 7, your wing could be the 6 or 8 because you have equal scores for them.
The really neat thing is that under stress, the 7 goes to 5 which is the Investigator. If you look at the diagram, look at the line going backward from the 7 and it will land on 5.
When you are most in touch with yourself, you go forward the same way to 1 and you will exhibit the finer qualities of the 1.
She writes: I am a 2, with a 3 wing. It means I use other people to help me succeed, but I do it in such a way that they are empowered along the way. Under stress I go to 8 and become controlling and bossy. When I am relaxed I go to 4, which is the creative side of me.
Dad is even more of an enigma to me and I can't quite figure out his pattern. I said from the beginning that I could quite figure him out. His highest scores were 1, the Reformer (perfectionist) and 8 which is the Challenger. 8's are always self employed because they cannot stand for anyone to tell them what to do. 8's go back to 5, just like 7's do and that fits. When 8's are relaxed, they go to the higher qualities of the 2, which is in Helping and often being the power behind the throne, so that fits.
1's go backward, under stress to the unhealthy side of 7 and become scattered in their approach, and that doesn't fit. 7's go forward to the higher creativity of the 4 when they are relaxed, and that does fit.
I responded: Actually, the ultimate goal is to incorporate only the highest level of every personality type so it sounds like you two are well on your way there.
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.
Dilemma of Dons Disappearance
In my upcoming dilemma it is the unknown that I fear. If Don didn't die in an accident, involving his own poor judgment and a plane, then the alternative could be that he was killed. There was enough media coverage and investigation by me and the police that if he were still walking around, someone would have turned him in for the 100k reward I offer.
I didn't kill Don. I have loved him since I was 19 and he taught me everything I know about business. If I had killed Don, I would know what the pitfalls were. I would know what to cover and what to do to be prepared for his discovery. I would have some sort of control over the situation and some comfort level.
If Don was killed by someone else, then my fear is that when it starts getting close to crunch time, the person responsible will plant something at Easy Street that would indicate me. Too many people have access to what was our home at the time. Right after his disappearance someone was planting bones in strange places, such as the back seat of my daughter's car. The bones turned out to be excavated from the grave site of one of our llamas, which would implicate one of our workers. It seemed to me to be a message that someone knew what happened and intended to blame me for it when the time was right (like after the insurance pays off). Anyone with such intimate knowledge of our lives, our compound and who either still has access, or could influence someone who could gain access (like an overnight cabin guest) could plant anything, any time, any where and I would have no idea.
If I dwell on it, I can get pretty freaked out. Anne has the most to lose, since she is the one who was involved in changing Don's life insurance policy 4 months before he disappeared, she is the one who Don said convinced him that he didn't need to see a specialist about his dementia, she is the one who tried to take over my business with the conservatorship and she is the one who seems to keep trying to stir Don's children up against me. If I were convicted, she walks away with 1,125,000.00 and no cloud of suspicion on her actions, because she will then be perceived as having tried to protect Don.
The only thing that keeps me from going stark raving mad, knowing that this is heating up, and worse that if Don is never found, then it will always hang over my head, is that jail would be bliss compared to my current stress. I could read and write and probably manage my business better without all the daily interruptions, as long as I had access to the Internet.
That came out of no where this morning and I find myself shaking as I write, so I must feel this more deeply than I usually let myself know.
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.
I dreamed that it was dark, here on the island (7106 Riverwood Boulevard, Tampa, FL 33615) and I was walking from the canal side up to the house, when I saw the outline of something unfamiliar in the place where my unused hammock sways. A very loud boat came down the canal, and turned north on the creek. I watched the silhouette pass by and thought he must be going out to fish in the pre dawn glow. Turning my attention back to the angled forms under the trees, I saw that it was a huge model of a house, cut into fragments and half buried in the dirt. The windows were all empty, and black and burned from the inside out. There was nothing of any value left in the doll house. It seemed to be cut in half, or half buried in the dirt and the rooms were all disconnected and set at angles that would make if very difficult to bring them all back together into a usable structure.
I saw the silhouette of my first husband, Mike Murdock, on the ridge of the creek bank and followed him into the real house. Inside, my house didn’t look the same at all. It was a mess of clutter and totally disorganized. Mike never said a word to me, but led me to some papers in plastic envelopes on the table. The sleeves were like the ones that all of the documents that were disputed by Don’s children were kept in. I couldn’t make out the texts on the pages, but notice that my wedding date to Don was scribbled on the outer edge of one and they all had a thin green border.
There were other notes, like someone would take if they had me under surveillance around the time of my wedding, which was 10/10/91. All of the notes were in Mike’s handwriting and I found it odd, even in the dream, that I would remember Mike’s penmanship so clearly, some 16 years after having been around him. I took a pen and drew a line around the outside edge of the green border, but even at the time, didn’t know why.
Everywhere I went in the house, I was being stalked by Mike, but felt he was pretty harmless, so I felt more annoyed than fearful.
The meaning? I am not sure. It was a lucid dream and stayed with me this morning, but it still doesn’t make much sense. I felt like the contents of the plastic sleeves was probably important, but I couldn’t see them then and couldn’t even guess now what was in them or why I drew a line on the sleeve.
The burned out house where my sanctuary (hammock) is supposed to be is pretty obvious. Under this current stress, I feel burned out and empty and lacking value, because it is hard for me to fight for my own peace of mind. It is hard to ask Peter to leave and give me the space I need to rebuild, because I feel like no person of any real value could be so selfish.
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.
Dream of Dodging Bullets While Protecting Baby
Monday night, my dreams reminded me of a Bruce Willis action film and I haven’t figured out the symbolism yet. I exit an elevator into a busy downtown district. Cars and people are whizzing past. There is a sense of urgency in the air as I run to fire up my old, rust coloured pick up truck. I laid my sleeping infant on the front, bucket seat and put my toddler in the back seat of the cab. The seats are thread bare and dirty, and the inside of the truck is covered in dust and littered with debris.
Someone is shooting at me and the bullets are striking the body of the truck and some have pierced the glass. Bullets strike the dash and seats but the children and I are not hit. I am driving at breakneck speeds and when I make the turns, I have to reach out with one hand to keep the sleeping baby from sliding off the seat. The toddler vacillates from terror to ecstasy at the wild ride. Screeching to a halt in a gas station, the baby slides to the floor. I run around to the passenger side and lift the sleeping child back onto the seat. I am absolutely amazed that the little one has managed to sleep through this entire, hair-raising experience.
It was a couple of days before I could take the time to write this and I lost a lot of the details between then and now. As I write these words, it strikes me that I have been racing through life. I have been dodging bullets. I have been running from unseen tormentors. I have been running for my life. I have been carrying the inner child with me.
Part of me has been sleep walking and unaware of the drama I have called my life. Part of me has oscillated between enjoying the ride and being terrified of what comes next. Perhaps the message is that even if I stop to refuel, I will not die.
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.
Sunday night after breath work session. I am looking at the ocean and it is divided. In the far distance it is calm, like glass. In the foreground it is raging and treacherous. There is a dock, dividing the two sides. I have been on planes and trains and shuttles to get to this guide, who has been waiting patiently on the dock. I feel apologetic and frantic, but the guide is warm and welcoming and makes me feel at ease. He is beautiful, strong and capable and I trust him to lead me from here.
He says that another boat will be along soon and that others are completing their journey. I am waiting what seems to be forever to start this journey. It feels like I have waited my whole life to find my way on this ocean and I am becoming increasingly impatient with those who are taking so long to bring the boat back to the dock.
In my impatience, I wade out into the stormy waters. I know the undertow is strong, but feel like, if I am careful, I won’t get pulled under. A young girl calls to me from behind and says that I have her story in my hands. I think she is being foolish, but then, looking at my right hand, I see I am carrying a piece of tattered notebook paper. On it is a handwriting that I do not recognize and I am embarrassed to have taken something that was not mine. Sheepishly, I give the girl the page and she is gone.
Finally the boat comes back and I am eager to get in. I see that the rivets are loose and have some ambivalence, but I have waited too long, and ignoring the potential for danger, I set out to find myself.
Some of this is easy to understand. The waters always look calmer on the other side. I have always taken care of and waited on others and spending all of my energy this way has delayed my own needs. Currently I am waiting for Peter to get his act together and leave before I can feel fully alone. I feel the need to deal with this fear and over come it if I am to ever find true peace.
The life I am carrying that belongs to someone else is puzzling. Perhaps, I am the young girl, asking for my life back. I am not sure why I am so embarrassed at having taken her life. Remorse I could understand, but not embarrassment. Perhaps it is because the inner otter, who gets the whole cosmic joke, has chided me for being so caught up in the illusions I create that didn’t see what I was doing.
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.
Holotropic Breathwork May 25 2002
Jane Hollister has found a piece of paradise on earth in Spirit Springs, Homosassa, FL. It is a 30 acre tract owned by Jane Shaw that is surrounded, now, by a national park. This is my first experience with Holotropic Breathwork and although I have read a book about it, I was not prepared for the insight that would come. The setting is very important to this sort of work and Jamie and I are fortunate to be here at a time when astrologers are saying that the planets are particularly well positioned for this sort of transformational work. Tonight is a full moon and tomorrow is a solar eclipse. If ever anyone needed a sign, they would surely find one in all of this.
The cabins were the perfect transition into what is important in life. They were duplexes, approximately 20 feet deep and 40 feet wide, with two sets of bunk beds on each side and a closet that separates the two halves. The area from the top of the 8 foot closet wall to the high pitched ceiling was open, so you felt connected to the people on the other side as well. Each cabin sleeps eight and they share a screened in porch in front. The walls are mostly windows and even the doors are glass on the top half. There is a ceiling fan on both sides and electrical outlets, but no phones, water or bathrooms. No T.V., nor radio. All focus here is on the self and the beauty surrounding self.
The cabins and the bath house with toilets are constructed of rough cut cedar and are set on poles with a cat walk connecting them at odd angles through out the swamp. The feeling here is of making as little impact on nature as possible and yet being able to fully enjoy her sights, sounds and the creatures that call her home. The roofs are made of tin, but are camouflaged, so that they disappear in the canopy. Even during the hottest time of day it is cool here with just the breeze from the fan and the clean air through the windows. This is the highest quality air in the world and it feels wonderful to fill my lungs with this holistic breath.
I knew my dreams this first night would be important because I have been led to this ancient Indian play ground. There are two burial mounds here and the spring here is where the braves would dive through a very narrow passageway as part of their right of passage. The underground cavern is not very long, but is dark, narrow and underwater. How well is typifies life, and I can see how the Indians would have acknowledged the facing of the fears we all have; of being stuck, of not being able to breath, when they would accept this physical challenge. At the spring, which is 35 feet deep, is reported the spirit of Harora. She speaks to the shamans.
Jamie and I had stood on the docks last night looking at our entertainment options. We could canoe or kayak and I have always had a fear of kayaking. In my dream I again stood there making the same choice of how to traverse the river. I feared that the kayak would over turn. It was old and had leaks in it and looked even smaller as I stood there making my decision. The canoe, by comparison, looked big, comfortable and sound, and I could take someone with me, but I was drawn to the experience of the kayak. I decided I would take it just a few yards down current and turn around to see how hard is would be to come back to the dock. The water was shallow and I could always bail out if I saw that I couldn’t paddle upstream to get back to where I started.
I strapped myself in and, almost holding my breath, launched free of the mooring. The river was moving faster than I had thought, but I calmed as a huge hand descended over me. The hand was much like the boughs of the sweat lodge I had visited last night, and it was covered with bougainvillea. As the “hand” covered me I felt safe, protected and capable of accomplishing anything. The hand moved over the water in a beautiful, peaceful dance, and I was swept along in an elation of circling, gliding movement. I could hear the Native American song fill the air, with the words, “When you find a golden feather, it means you’ll never lose your way back home…” I was not limited to the feel of gliding on the water, but lifted from the water and dipped beneath it’s surface, all illustrating the inner connectivity of all things. I was able to take in all the beauty that surrounded me and to feel joy at the marvelous and miraculous journey we call life.
I am thankful to the spirits of Spirit Springs for sharing their wisdom and bravery with me. I will leave this place a braver soul and take with me the wisdom of the ages.
The workshop was rich with rituals. We sat in a circle, on the floor, and each of us introduced ourselves, but we were not allowed to do so in a typical, surface only, manner. We were to state our names and what our intent was for being here. I said that my intent was to be able to feel what I want. Jamie said she was there to do something nice for and with me and that she had no other intent. We then drew from a deck of Animal Medicine Cards. I drew the Raccoon and Jamie drew the Swan. The Raccoon is always for the underdog, but it can see the difference between someone who truly deserves help and those who would take advantage of his true nature. The bandit is portrayed as stealing a little time for his own needs. I resonated with that. Jamie drew the Swan and the wisdom of the swan is to welcome transformation. Then we drew rocks from a bowl and were told that we would have to carry these rocks all weekend and then leave them on the alter for the next workshop’s participants to learn from. We were told to choose a rock that would illustrate the work we hoped to accomplish. I closed my eyes and felt over the bowl for heat, and reaching down picked up a rock that perfectly fit the shape of my closed hand. Jamie did the same thing, with the same result. She chose it by feel and not by it’s appearance.
For the breath work session everyone chose a partner and one would be a sitter while the other one breathed. After a quick relaxation technique and instructions on breathing deep into the stomach and then completely exhaling, in a cyclic manner, with no pauses between breaths, the music was cranked up. For two and a half hours Jamie laid there, breathing just like she was told and not moving a muscle. Three times I thought I saw her lip quiver, but afterwards she said that she had not experienced anything other than a fleeting image. The image looked like the flicker of an old projector screen and was a woman, transforming into a swan. She was disappointed and seemed to fear that I would think she hadn’t tried hard enough. I told her that some people don’t have wild visions, but that she should take note of how her life might start changing in the next few weeks. She acted like I was just placating her.
Lunch was served on the terraces that cascade from the main house to the edge of the spring. Each table sat four, which is perfect for group sharing and every meal was gourmet quality and served with fresh flowers. Many people said the food was better than any they had ever experienced on cruise ships. After a wonderful meal and great conversation, it was my turn to breathe.
Jamie was my sitter, and as in many lives past, I knew her as the mother figure, and knew I was safe. It freed me to experience this phenomenon fully and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. From time to time I was somewhat concerned that Jamie might be freaked out by my crying, dancing and flying, but I rationalized that seeing her mother set free might free her of some of her inhibition. She is always in control of herself and the outward display of her emotions and I know from experience what a heavy burden that is to bear.
I was already in somewhat of an altered state from this morning’s session and feeling all of the emotions of the other 16 participants. I had cried as much as most of them that were breathing. I had danced around the campfires in Africa, and sang to the distant mountain in the desert of Australia while watching Jamie’s slow, rhythmic breathing. While sitting for her, I did all those things with my eyes open and silently. In my own session, I went under quickly and fully. In hypnosis I often feel that some of my personalities are standing in the doorway, refusing to come along, but all of us got on this pony and rode it like the wind.
By the third song, the drums had carried me away. I felt the tingling in my arms and legs, the muscles in my left leg spasmed wildly, but without pain. My breaths tingled the same way and I felt surrounded by the kindred spirits from this place, long ago. I breathed them into my being. I was comforted and welcomed home by those I knew before. I was dark myself, and male, and as I grew stronger, feeling all of the tribal love, I became larger and larger. I became much bigger than my friends, but I was not more important. My growth was merely a product of the love they were investing in me. The room is two stories high in its center and I rose up to fill it. At first the room confined me, but then it became transparent and I rose through it. I looked like the same Indian who had brought the rocks into the sweat lodge in my former vision. I had a helmet of fur, horns and feathers, and a mask of owl feathers over my eyes. I was so strong and so powerful back amongst my kin. I saw Herb Hamilton there as another brave and felt close to him, like one would to a brother or best friend. He was foremost in welcoming me back and it felt good to know he hadn’t changed.
There was much dancing and celebration as all of the tribe sang around the campfire and shared the abundance of our wonderful life in this sacred place. I cried for joy at being reunited and even as my breaths came faster, I breathed in more of the spirit of the group. Throughout the breath work I transformed many times. My power animal is the shape shifter and I had no problem shifting from my current body to the Native American bodies here in Florida, and the Anasazi in the Southwest, and then becoming the coyote, the bobcat, the puma, the owl, the hawk, the laughing otter, the lizard, the kangaroo, the dingo, the alligator, the prairie dog, the panther and most interestingly, the snake.
In the snakes form I crawled on my back and could feel every scale on my body move as it propelled me across the ground. I enjoyed the sensation so much that I tried it on the water and was even more amazed at how I was able to glide on the surface of the water. I then took to the trees and climbed higher and higher, circling the branches with my slithering, scaly body. I loved the sensation of being the snake, of being in transformation.
In the tree, I became the bobcat and I clawed at the branch. I felt unshakable, unmovable, and able to face any danger without backing down, even from the limbs of the tree. I thought about what Jane had said to us in the relaxation therapy before the music began. She said that we could relax our backs and not think about any support issues we may have placed on it. Of course, that made me think about it. I support everyone else and help them achieve their dreams, but no man in my relationships has ever supported me. I am carrying the whole load. I feel too weak to carry the burden and my back gives out in a last ditch effort to let me know that I am making myself co dependent on men who take and take, but never give the support I need.
As the bobcat, I felt supported in this tree and my back didn’t hurt. I thought of the lessons Andrea said she is learning from her hunting dogs. They dig holes in the soft, cool earth and feel grounded and safe. As the bobcat, I leaped down to earth, mother earth, and kneaded the ground beneath my paws. As I dug into the soil, I felt connected with the earth and all that are in it, and on it and the One Who created it. I became the puma and continued with the pawing of the ground. I didn’t need to find support in a mate. I had the support of all infinity within my own grasp. Realizing this, I became the otter, who understands the whole cosmic joke.
We are all running around down here trying to figure out why we are so unhappy when we are the ones who have set ourselves up to learn from the very lessons and pain that we try to escape. How silly we are to lose sight of our Divinity and the plan that we have set in motion. We would be such a sad race if not for the humor of it all. Knowing this set me free and I soared like an eagle. My wingspan shadowed over all the places I flew and I alternated from flying face into the sun, like the Phoenix, to gliding down at breath taking speeds. I flew past snow-capped mountains and wondered if there was any significance to the coldness there, but decided not to dwell on it. Snow is cold; I hate to be cold; end of story, for now any way.
I became the cats on Easy Street and cried for their captivity. As I became each of them, I transformed into a bird that took them upward, through the cage roof and set them free. As they flew free, I cried (Jamie said wailed) for joy that they were finally free to be themselves. I cried for all the wrongs they have suffered at the hands of man. I cried for all the wrongs I have suffered at the hands of men. I cried with great gladness at our newfound freedom.
After each breath work session, the breather was to draw a Mandala that represented the theme of the journey. Jamie drew the swan woman and the back ground looked like an explosion of light, radiating out like lightening in every direction. Little did I know what was starting to happen inside her.
Afterwards we sat around in a circle, and passing the “talking stick” (microphone) we each shared our Madalas and our experience. I could feel Jamie wanting to bolt for the door. It had been murder on her to say so briefly before that she was here because she was coerced, but now, to have to share how she felt would be too much. Surprisingly, she shakingly admitted that she didn’t have a vivid experience like everyone else did, and that the swan woman was the only image or thought she had. Jane tried to get Jamie to say what the image meant to her, and crying, Jamie handed me the mike and said she couldn’t do it.
I explained that in Jane’s relaxation session before my breath work she said we should relax the back and not harbour any support issues. During my vision it became clear that my back hurts because I believe that I support others, and their dreams, but that the mates in my life do not support me. My Mandala was me, with arms stretched upward to heaven in thanks. I was sitting on the surface of the water naked, so I cloaked my body with my hair and then used a screen of flowers that I had seen in the last song of my vision in the foreground. On the left was the snake I had become and on the right, the otter. I filled the sky with golden birds, half symbolizing the thought of the golden feather meaning I would never lose my way back home and half representing how surrounded I felt by the kindred spirits of those in the room and those in the ground. At the bottom of the circle I drew the puma feet to illustrate that I am grounded in the earth and in my own abilities. Lifting the circle up, were the wings on which I took flight and became free of old patterns and fears. At the top of the circle was the eye of the owl that cannot be deceived, by neither me nor anyone else. Over the top of the circle was the sweat lodge bough; covered in bougainvillea that I had seen as a guiding hand in the dream I had the first night there.
Jamie and I went canoeing down crab creek and in typical conservationist fashion, Jamie dredged up every piece of discarded fishing tackle that might injure some animal and carried it back to camp. It was approaching dusk and we saw a barred owl in the tree above us. Lisa, one of the most animated and yet suffering people in the group, ran for her camera and as she was photographing the owl she said that it was good luck to find and owl feather. As if on queue, the owl flew to another close branch, dropping a soft gray feather. Before I left, Jamie had told Lisa that she knew the value of the fallen feather and so it should be Lisa’s token. I went inside and much to my amazement, Jamie stayed with Lisa. I watched with wonder as they interacted with each other. Lisa took Jamie by the sleeve, as if knowing that to touch her arm would send her running, and made Jamie take the feather for herself. The transformation had begun with one feather.
The next day we rejoined the circle to share what the animal card had taught us, what the rock had taught us and how we intended to put that information to use. I shared the story of my amnesia and how I have relied on my daybook to remember everything including people’s names. I said that I had learned that although the raccoon was truly a champion of the underdog that it knows the difference between one who needs help and one who is using the raccoon for their own purposes. What I learned from the rock was that if I trust my intuition, the decision I make would fit the need. What I learned from the group was that when I felt people, in the way that they had trusted the group with all of their inner fears, I remembered all 20 of their names. What I intend to do is to trust my higher self and trust my ability to remember. Of course, it took a lot of verbal wrestling with myself to say that because I am always more concise in writing than in speaking. That sort of deep feeling for me always results in lots of tears and I felt bad about handing the microphone to Jamie next, as my tears always make her cry.
She cried as she spoke and said that the swan had taught her that she could transform. The rock had not meant anything to her, originally, but now the rock had become the burden of her self-consciousness and she wasn’t going to carry it around with her anymore. All of us had been asked to ritually return our rocks to the center of the circle, but Jamie did with gusto, saying “You can have this rock back!” I thought she would quickly pass the talking stick, but she went on to say that the experience had been important to her and that she had learned so much from everyone there who was baring their souls. She said that she had always worried too much about her duties on Easy Street and that this was the first time that she had taken time to get in touch with her own heart. Then she asked if anyone had any questions they would like to ask her, because it felt good to have their attention and after laughing they all concluded her sharing with applause. Even thought they were laughing, many of them were crying, because they were watching the beautiful transformation happen right in front of them. She reminded me of Jumanji, the black leopard she raised, during his big performance in Chicago where he didn’t want to leave the stage.
It was very late by the time we finished that night so we opted not to drum to the full moon. Jamie and I had played with the drums briefly during one of our breaks and I think that would have been great fun, but we were all exhausted after such a miraculous day. We slept to the sounds of owls, coyotes and armadillos.
The next morning, I thought we were done, but there was one last exercise and the most uncomfortable of all. Jane suggested that we select a different partner and repeatedly ask that partner, “What is your soul seizing you to do?” Diane asked me to be her partner and we went out to the water to ask each other the question. I had already said that my intent was to trust myself and didn’t have any idea what I would say if asked to say more. I thought Diane was supposed to ask me three times and I said two more similarly veined things, but she asked me again. Now I really didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t prepared, but my soul was. I answered, “My soul is seizing me to trust that I can remember what happened before the amnesia because I will be able to handle it.” I wept openly in Diane’s arms at this revelation. I go around thinking that I know the bad things, the major things that happened in my child hood and young life, but as Diane’s life reminded me, I only know what I have been able to handle thus far. Whatever is still hidden to me, has to be worse, or else I would have recalled and dealt with it already. I have already faced horror and what is left to face can only be worse. The agony in dealing with it is the underlying belief that I create my own reality, so what kind of person must I be to cause myself such emotional pain?
I learned a lot about Diane and it is as if we lived nearly the same life. We have been within a couple miles of each other most of our lives, yet never met because I was in private schools. I felt like at any time I could have just reached out and learned that I wasn’t the only person in the world facing the demons I feared, because her story was so near identical to mine. My life was easier because I had great parents. We rejoined the circle and I didn’t have time to ask Jamie about her revelation, other than to hear that it had made her cry. My turn to talk came first and I shared what I had discovered about my soul’s real agenda and cried to the point that I didn’t think anyone could understand me, and then I handed the microphone to Jamie.
She jumped to her feet and said, “I can’t believe she’s done this to me again. She cries and hands me the mike…” Everyone burst out laughing. Jamie thanked them for humoring her and said she appreciated the way they laughed at her even though she wasn’t really that funny. She said what her soul seized her to do was to be brave and reach inside herself to face her fears and inhibitions and to overcome them. I was so astounded at the way she spoke with authority and power about her feelings and her transformation into the swan that I cannot remember the exact words, but everyone applauded her even much more than before. Instead of stopping there, she thanked them all again for the fact that they had applauded her and given her the encouragement to do something so profoundly frightening. She just kept on talking about finding her own sense of grace and ended with even more applause. My little duckling has become the Swan.
Later Jamie shared with me that she had stood when it was her turn because it gave her the sense of power that she needed to be able to say what she was going to say. She said that when Yvonne asked her over and over what her soul’s intent was, that she looked her straight in the eye and told her. She was so proud of herself for being strong enough to do so. Jamie has never been able to establish eye contact with people and here she was talking too! On the way home Jamie said the volunteers were in for a huge surprise because she wasn’t pussy footing around any more.
The last ritual was to each take home a stone from the experience to remind us of what we had learned. My stone was selected by Jane, from a velvet bag and just happened to be a soft pink. Jamie’s was her favourite shade of green. Nothing happens by accident. We all joined in a circle and kissed each other and sang together. Many people came up to me during the workshop saying what an inspiration Jamie and I were because of the depth of my feelings and because of Jamie’s youth and ability to immediately utilize what she had learned to make a change that we could all see and feel. One girl in the group was in her mid twenties and had hidden under the blankets throughout her entire breath work, and had refused to speak at all in the circles, hiding almost literally behind her boyfriend. I watched the way she watched Jamie and in the last pairing she had come to me asking to be my partner, but Diane had already asked me. In the last two circles she had started sharing her feelings and in the very end asked to lead us in a song together. The words were that I will always remember you, I will always cherish you and that I will never forget you.
I will never forget this fork in the road and the paths that we both chose. Thank you Jane Hollister for making this possible.
Looking down at my feet, I saw that I was wearing boots that were too tight and that were buttoned up. My drab red skirt and petticoats told me the time and place. I was standing in the doorway to the saloon, hanging on the swinging doors, and looking wistfully down the dirt street. A man on a horse rode by, kicking up an obnoxious cloud of dust, and I wondered what it would be like to live on “the other side”. I’d never had a husband or a family and knew I never would. I felt content with the path I had chosen, but from time to time I wondered what it would feel like to be respectable. I usually dismissed the romantic notion of a husband loving me, because I knew almost every husband in this town, in the Biblical sense of the word.
I was a frightfully ugly woman. I was short and had thick stocky legs. My hair was long, but poor nutrition and lack of attention caused it to be brittle and dull. My face was absolutely nothing to write home about and I wondered how a woman this unattractive could support herself as a bar whore. I guess the frontier was a harsh place and lots of men were separated from their women for long periods of time. I had offered the same thing in this lifetime as I did in the one I am writing from, in that I made the men feel special. I paid attention to them and really cared about them as people, not just as a means to support myself. It showed. They knew, and even though they couldn’t publicly pay me any mind, I could feel their hearts go out to me when they saw the way the women in town treated me.
Hanging on this door, on this uneventful day, seemed a strange place to enter this life, so I prompted myself to go forward to the next substantial event in her life. I was older and in the same saloon, but the world was a different place. I heard the men folk talk about all the new inventions man was making for himself and thought how good it was to be alive in such a progressive age. We had come so far and I took a sense of pride in the way we were moving into a future full of promising possibilities.
I owned the bar now. Since I never had any bad habits or kin to support, I was able to stash away a good sum of money. When the owner was nearing death he made me a good deal on this old place so I wouldn’t have to be friendly to men I didn’t like. I told myself I was a good person, with a respectable job and life style, but once the town whore, always the town whore, and the rest of the town folk were not as convinced of my goodness as I was. It didn’t matter much though because I was happy and I had a roof over my head and no one else to answer to. This was a good business to be in. No matter how many others tried and failed to make a living in this desert town, the bar was always profitable.
I had been disturbed earlier when I was trying to relax into this non ordinary state and decided I better move this picture show along to its final scene before I was interrupted again.
It was 1876 and I was laying in a bed in the upstairs of the saloon and the sunlight was flooding in the window. It was a beautiful day outside, but I wasn’t going to be here for it. I was really old and wrinkled now, but I felt no pain. I just felt like I was easing away, almost sneaking, out the window. Doc was there, with a young filly of a nurse. She was reading something in her lap and sitting pretty close. Doc stood behind her because he didn’t want his emotions to show. She might detect that he and I were better friends than anybody in this town needed to know. I wanted to tell him not to feel bad for my sake. I was at peace. I was going home.
I couldn’t speak and I couldn’t move anything but my eyes. I fixed them on the young nurse. I could feel that she was purposefully trying to avoid my gaze. When she did look me in the eye, it was with the unmistakable disdain for my life style, that helped me to immediately recognize my daughter Jamie.
She didn’t have to be there. No one expected a person of her breeding and education to waste her time with the death of an old bar maid, but she was there. Her look was not of anger, but I more got the feeling that she was saying, “How could you have wasted your whole life this way?”
I am not apologetic. I learned a great deal about loving people in all their imperfections and about being responsible for your own happiness.
I wondered how many life times Jamie and I have danced this mysterious, half veiled choreography of life? In this life she keeps saying that she feels our roles have been strangely reversed. Perhaps it is the first time that I am the mother figure.
I thought about the way Jamie perceives life now. It is very black and white. There is good and bad and very little grey in between. She has a hard time loving people, with all their imperfections, because they will let her down. She is missing out on feeling the total abandon of loving others without any requirements that they meet certain criteria.
She held herself back in 1876 and she is still holding back her ability to feel in 2002. We both still have lots of lessons to learn and probably won’t learn them all in this life time, but I am glad to have reunited with this special soul mate and look forward to our adventures in this life and the next.
Photo circa 1990’s of Jamie and Lakota Bobcat. We do not display photos of people touching cats after 2004.
Warning Graphic!
I Will Be Recognized For Who I Am
I dreamt that I was on a long, winding road and did not know where I was or where I was going. Some would call this lost, but I never feel lost; only like I don’t know where I am, but certain that I will find my way.
Sometimes I was traveling on foot, sometimes faster as though by rail or car. The road was rocky and that describes life pretty well.
I had binoculars and looked into the crowds in bleachers, people at a distance and then in a remote area, where there seemed to be few others around me, I watched a horrifying scene unfold. There was a narrator, such as you would expect on a tour, describing the scene in front of me with total detachment. I do not remember his words but I was aware of his monotone monologue.
There was a white sandy beach, pristine in its beauty before me. There were two small boys, maybe three years old, with dark, Indian features. They were playing in the sand and a man was approaching them. He too, was Indian and handsome in a fierce and rugged way. He was dressed in animal skins and was carrying a club. Hovering over the children, he bashed them senseless with the club. Before the first one died, he cradled the boy in his arms in what looked to be a loving gesture at first. He then ripped the child’s throat open with his beautiful, straight, white teeth and began lapping the child’s blood up with eerie delight. The child’s body was convulsing as his life’s blood was being sucked out of him. I could not continue to watch.
The tour continued to a large building, such as an airport or extremely large gymnasium. There were lots of people there, including Robert Mitchem. Didn’t he play in “The Fugitive”? Maybe that is why it was him. I had to be about 4 when that show was popular and couldn’t tell you anything about it.
A lot of women were vying for his attention, but I knew that I would stand out above the rest and approached him. We seemed to get along very well, and I thought I was reading all of his sexual cues, but when the time came to make a commitment, he said that I was not his type. What surprised me was my reaction. I did not feel rejected. I felt such love and compassion for him that I was able to let him go and wish him well. There was no emptiness in my heart. No feeling of inadequacy. It felt fine.
He seemed so shocked that I reacted the way I did that he began to retract and say that perhaps he would like to continue this relationship, because there was something undeniably special about me. I woke up.
The moral of this dream? I will be recognized for who I am and the love I am capable of, by the right person. I don’t have to take the emotional clubbing and blood letting that I subject myself to in order to feel loved (cradled). It is when I love, with no need to control the situation, that I will be the happiest.
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.
Twenty minutes and a 175 page book changed my life tonight. I broke up with Peter Kent yesterday and chose to avoid him until he had some time to cool down and collect his thoughts. I came home today after morning services hoping that we could talk reasonably and settle the matter of his moving out, but he still has not come home, called or emailed. I felt compelled to read a book I just bought called “Only Love Is Real” by Brian L. Weiss, M.D. even though it was not next on my list.
Weiss spoke of how soul mates recognize each other when they look into each other’s eyes and sometimes even before that. I thought of my boyfriend’s words from his profile, “My spirit will know her when we meet”. I loved him from that day and was sure he was my soul mate. Meeting him threw me off, because his eyes seemed veiled to me, like he was hiding something. His words struck chords that my soul had longed to hear again, but his eyes were always distant somehow. Only recently have I felt that I could see him, or that he was seeing me, when our eyes met, but by then the damage had been done to my trust and it was too late.
The book mentioned chronic pain and without my boyfriend in my life I have found myself fearful of reverting to the bone crushing headaches, the agonizing menstrual pain and the paralyzing pain in my lower, middle back. How would I cope with this pain without my boyfriend’s skills as a Chiropractor and Acupuncturist to relieve it? Dr. Weiss suggested that chronic pain is often the result of a previous life injury and is sort of a reminder to remember who we were and why we are here now.
I looked around the room at the Icart’s on the wall and the flair for the 1920’s and 1930’s that pervades my life in choices of clothing, art, furniture and cars. I remembered the reoccurring dream of committing suicide by driving my convertible at top speed into the rock face at the top of a mountain road. I remember the impact, feeling the steering column crush into my abdomen and through me. I remember the bone crushing impact of my head with the dash and collapsing windshield. I remember the anger of having been jilted and swearing that no man would ever do that to me again. I was arrogant, superficial, wealthy and full of anger at having been betrayed. I couldn’t cope with the feelings and took my own life with a sense of indignant revenge. The dream ends with me floating above my body, incredulous at my self destruction. I have had the dream many times and since my amnesia even wondered if it happened in this life and I had survived.
That could explain volumes. It would probably be my most recent death and would explain all of my pain. The car I loved most in the world was a 1937 Mercedes Gazelle convertible that Don bought for me. Don was born the year that type of car was new. I loved that car like I have never loved any possession. I drove it so carefully and loved the feel of the wind in my hair. I had a similar one before, but it didn’t “feel” right and I sold it in only a month or two. After Don’s disappearance, I was selling off the equipment and cars and one of the dealers kept pestering me to sell him my little roadster. I finally did and rationalized to myself that I would have killed myself in it anyway. It was a kit car on a Taurus frame, with a VW engine. I drove it like a little old lady. What would have possessed me to think such a thing or to part with the car I loved so much?
The author went on to tell how he regressed patients through past lives using a hall with doors on either side and he would tell his client that each door represented a life or an important memory. He would instruct them to wait until a door opened and then go through it and look at their shoes. From there they would describe themselves and then the relevant scene that was unfolding.
I have been told that you can’t meditate with an agenda and that whatever is most important will happen of its own accord, but thinking myself more disciplined, I figured I could go back to the moments before the crash and figure out where the rage came from and what I could learn from the scene. I went out to the hot tub hoping the warmth of the water would enhance that in utero passage, but the filter motor was on and annoying me. I couldn’t concentrate. I walked myself down the familiar 15 steps, but this time they were much broader than they have been while I was in hypnotherapy with Herb Hamilton. I stood in the hall, waiting for a door to open for what seemed eons, but the filter was drawing my attention away and I was about to give up when the last door on the right opened. I ran for it and looked at my feet.
I still had ugly feet but these were dirtier and more tan. They were more even toed than mine and they were bound in twine like sandals. My hair was black and long and I wore a white dress that looked like a sheet tied with a rope at the waist. I looked up and saw the coliseum full of drunken spectators. They were blood thirsty and screaming. My hands were bound and my feet were shackled such that I could walk, but not freely. I was tied to several others who were garbed like me. There were men, women and children of all ages.
We were Christians and these Romans hated us. They didn’t understand us. One on one, we could reach them with the Truth, but in howling masses like this there was no hope for them. I knew we were here to be killed by lions, but I was at peace. I knew what was on the other side and this moment would be brief and painless. My loved ones were not with me and I had no thought about those I would be leaving behind. Perhaps there were none. The others were afraid and tried to run, pulling each other down. The children were the first to fall and the lions dove in for them first, ripping them apart. My heart went out to the children in their fear but also to the cats that had been starved and tortured to insure that they would do their job this day. I saw others in the group being mauled and ripped limb from limb. Although I was attached to them, I was not pulled down. I knew to stay face to face with the great cats and to not let them get behind me. (How did I know that?) A huge male was snarling menacingly just inches from my face, but I did not back away. I dropped my gaze in submission to let him know that I was not his aggressor. The lionesses and another male circled me. I heard Susan Aronoff’s words, “Look into her eyes…she’s an old soul.” I looked up and saw Sarabi looking back at me with all of the love that she looks at me with now. She was there to let me know that I was not alone.
I looked for Mufasa. I knew he would be here too, and he was. His eyes spoke the same comfort to me. I had done my job, this life was over and they were here to see me to the other side. I turned my back on the aggressive lion and stared back with recognition and appreciation at Sarabi. The angry lion took my neck into his great jowls and with one quick and painless thrust of his canines through my neck and spinal cord my spirit was released. (I broke my neck in an auto accident when I was 16).
I began to cry, gently at first for the loving spirits that they were to see me through, but then I thought of Mufasa’s death. I had ridden in the back of my pick up in his cage with him all the way from Tampa to Gainesville. I held him closely, my face buried in his mane. I told him I would be there for him. I knew I was going to lose him, even though he was only supposed to be going in for X-rays. I stayed with him until he was asleep, under anesthesia. The vets made me leave him there that night and I got the call the next morning that he was dead. My tears now became more violent as I cursed myself for not staying with him like he had done for me. I knew before the call that he was dead. He had come to me to let me know, just minutes before.
Susan might be the most unenlightened person I have ever met, but her words ring in my ears every time I see a photo of Sarabi and Mufasa and every time I look into Sarabi’s eyes. The lesson in that is that even the dullest person has reason for his or her existence and that no one should be discounted. It is ironic to note that Sarabi was chosen as the cat most closely resembling the extinct Barbary Lion when the King of Morocco sent Wildlink to the U.S. to look at 327 lions in zoos across the nation. They only selected two for the reintroduction program and Sarabi was the female. I thought it strange that the rarest cat in the world would be living here on Easy Street. The Barbary Lions were the cats used to kill Christians in Rome.
I remembered the grief that Sarabi went through when Mufasa did not return. She had strength and will beyond description to break free of her half-acre cage to go to him. I could not console her. We grieved together, but maybe her more so, because I think she was the more enlightened soul. I remembered how both of them always hugged my neck so tightly, as if they never wanted to let go. I thought back to the day Sarabi nearly killed me by accident when she hugged me around the chest, instead of my neck, and I couldn’t breathe. That was the last time I went in with her and I have missed her hugs more than any human touch that I have ever encountered. My tears then came as great heaving sobs. I hardly recognized my own voice as I wailed. How I love them both!
How horrible that this beautiful spirit is confined to a prison cell her entire life, separated from her soul mate and only able to make contact with me at my discretion. I thought of all the wondrous spirits of all the cats that I have felt such a strong connection with. I wondered if we have been lovers, parent and child or siblings over the eons and now they are confined to live out their majesty in the confines of a prison with no hope of release and no hope of ever being able to connect with the others that they too have loved. And those are just the cats I know. What about all of the cats that I look at, and love, but do not recognize? What lives have they given up to teach us the importance of love, compassion, respect and responsibility?
I am confined to only seeing cats with this ability. What of all the animals? All of them here at our pleasure, some to be eaten, others to be worn, others to be killed for sport, others to be gawked at in zoos and entertainment, some to endure the misery of research, others to be abandoned as pets… The list of ways that we are cruel are endless.
All of this happened in 20 minutes, but it forever changed the way I see these animals and it strengthened my resolve to see to it that the lesson they have to teach is heard.
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.
I Am Exploring And Searching for Beauty and Meaning
I dreamt last night that I was walking down a road, pulling a little red wagon. The skies were overcast and the feel of rain was heavy in the air. I wanted to dig up some Firecracker plants to take home to my garden, but most of them seemed scraggly and frail. I heard a voice that suggested I take a couple of the healthier ones and also take along the soil that the plants would need to survive.
I scooped up huge handfuls of dark red soil that was soft and moist and put it in the wagon. I felt that other nutrients would be needed and started looking closely at the surrounding landscape for other colours that I could add. As I gathered the handfuls of soft clay, of various colours, I noticed that the soil was getting harder and harder to scoop up.
My attention was diverted to the fact that the sun was coming out and everything was taking on a more concrete form. The sun was so radiant that I felt lost in basking in the glory of it and no longer was concerned about the garden, the plants nor the soil.
The dream was so real and so easily remembered, even later in the day, that I thought is must be a message. My interpretation was that I am seeking the beautiful light, the celebration of life and this was symbolized by the Firecracker flower. To reach this level of beauty required searching for the components that would make it possible, such as the knowledge from all of the differing sources that I am currently exploring. The coming of the sun, was the end of the search, and was far more glorious than the light of fireworks against a blackened sky.
The search did not lead to the sunshine but rather it came unexpectedly while I was on the quest. Only time will tell if this be prophecy or fantasy.
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.
Strength and Courage
It takes strength to be certain
It takes courage to have doubts
It takes strength to fit in,
It takes courage to stand out.
It takes strength to share a friend's pain,
It takes courage to feel your own pain.
It takes strength to hide your own pain,
It takes courage to show it and deal with it.
It takes strength to stand guard,
It takes courage to let down your guard.
It takes strength to conquer,
It takes courage to surrender.
It takes strength to endure abuses,
It takes courage to stop them.
It takes strength to stand alone,
It takes courage to lean on a friend.
It takes strength to love,
It takes courage to be loved.
It takes strength to survive,
It takes courage to live.
May you find strength and courage
in everything you do,
And may your life be filled with
Friendship and Love!
Sylvia Kelly
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.
Carole the Ox
The Ox of Chinese Astrology is no bull in a china shop. Steadfast and solid, this powerful Sign is a born leader, being quite dependable and possessing an innate ability to achieve great things. Oxen tend to be plodding and methodical; they approach projects in the step-by-step manner that serves them best, and they never lose sight of their goal. They are tireless workers who are detail-oriented and believe in doing things right the first time.
The world may perceive Oxen as being far too serious or incapable of loosening up. This sturdy sort is less than social by nature and tends to become introverted in a crowd. To make things worse, they can't be bothered with what other people think and prefer to do what makes them feel best. Behind that calm facade, though, lives an Ox who can feel hurt, lonely and unable to connect with others. Friends and family are a great source of comfort to this beast, even if they don't always understand what makes the Ox tick. As a lover, friend, family member or housemate, the Ox makes a wonderfully strong, tender and affectionate companion who is protective and always reliable.
Out in the world, though, Oxen tend to be stubborn, dogmatic, my-way-or-the-highway kind of people who have no concept of when to back down. Oxen don't care to be pushed, especially since they think they're the good guys of the Chinese Zodiac. There is some truth to that theory, since the Ox is smart, trustworthy, caring and honorable. If you need honest, steady and unbiased advice, call on the Ox.
A good lesson for mighty Oxen is to strive to overcome a judgmental nature that keeps them from getting close to others. If they can learn to value their own good qualities, they'll have more room in their hearts to invite others in.
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.
You can call the shots anytime
Dear Peter Kent, You can call the shots anytime. I am always the beneficiary of your loving ways. I agree that the prolonged glow was because we were in between sessions, but I feel that we are always in between sessions. Loving you is a 24/7 experience for me. No beginning and no end. It permeates all of my life and that makes is so unique and so special. I want to spend every moment with you and find it very hard to pull away and do the things we each have to do outside of our bond.
You asked today if we would feel different if we were married. I know from loving Don for the 11 years prior to our marriage and the 11 years after, that I feel the same, in or out of marriage. The only real difference for me is the legitimacy of my relationship before man and God. I know that the life I live now is not acceptable before God and that I set a very bad example to all who know me by living with a man who is not my husband. I don't know if God would approve our marriage, since we were married before and our divorces were not for the only scripturally approved reason of infidelity. My husband was unfaithful, but I divorced him because I hated him, not for the "right" reasons. I can only pray that should we choose that path, the Lord will be forgiving of our past mistakes and judge us on who we have become, not who we were.
I am not a member at the church I attend, because I live in a manner that is not acceptable. I would not wish to bring shame on the others who are members by my lifestyle being cause for criticism. I was asked, by a woman who has known me from child hood, to give my contact info for the church directory for the first time Sunday. The directory is not a membership roll, but just a way that we can all contact each other and know each others birthdays. I filled it in, but reminded her that my marital status precludes me from asking to be a member. I thought that perhaps she had forgotten and was trying to give her a graceful way to not include my information. No one there looks down on me, because they know me, but I choose to not publicly affiliate myself with them because others, looking on from outside, could well say that our church is full of hypocrites, because one of them lives with a man who is not her husband, and the others have accepted her into their membership. Marriage doesn't cure the issue, but it is more acceptable than my current situation.
That became a very long explanation of something only on the fringe of the subject and that wasn't my intent. What I want to know is how it would change your feelings. You brought it up, but you didn't give me any indication of what marriage means to you and how you feel about the difference. I would like to know your heart on the matter. Tell me what you feel, though, and not what you think I want to hear. I would hope that you always feel safe enough to do that. Love, Carole
From Peter A. Kent:
Marriage is something I have had a bad attitude about all my life, until you. I do not say that because I want to get married; I say that because I know what you are, what you believe and what your family is like. I will marry you if you bring home someone else once each quarter, it has to be a female, sorry. (that was a joke). You are an incredible creature, in every way imaginable. I have no problem wishing to be the best that I can for you and wanting to be with you always. What do I feel about marriage?... I do not think that being married to you would change any thing about the way I feel about us and that is strange for me to say, I have always thought that marriage was giving up my freedom but you are quite all I would ever want. I honestly put it on for the feel of it at times, and, it does not feel bad.
You are the biggest person I have ever met; your heart and your incredible love for me are soooo filling. I was thinking about you lying beside me as I watched the game for a long time before I said anything. It just could not have felt better and I wanted to let you know how good it felt. It is like our energies mesh, you are so consistent a person, so consistent a lover, so consistent a deep feeling and deep giving woman. What else can I say other than I love having you beside me each night, and love waking up next to you each morning. If there is anything deeper that I could feel for anyone I do not know what it might be. I marvel at you doing so well what I started doing when I stopped flying. My life has been exciting, but not productive in a material way. I do not wish to trade anything I have done for material things, but it seems I surely lack in that area. It would seem to me that with our mutual goals of making a better world for humanity you and I will do something of and with the love we have for each other. I only ask that you begin to enjoy sex with me. - Pk
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.
Yo, Doctor Carole My arms are much better. I do have a bad attitude this morning, what can you do about that? I am waiting for energy to show up; it would have to be Divine Energy this morning. I'm tired and crabby. Pk
1/24/02
Dear Peter Kent,
Please go take your meds and then come back and read this. Alan Schreier emailed me yesterday and asked if I had found someone special yet. I wrote him back this morning and said this about you:
Dear Alan Schreier
I am forwarding the bill to you, with the Chase statement that is still coming to the house. I am glad to hear that Zorro and Zoe are settling in and hope that you are finding peace and happiness as well. I am so glad that my Aunt is a help to you. The news on Todd is great. Does he live with you now? It sounds like he just needed to be the foremost person in your life for him to blossom. All the rest was probably just trying to get your attention. I am glad that your business is going well for you too. You deserve and will find much happiness.
I will tell you about mine, but expect to hear about yours as well. I found a Doctor on Match.com who brings me great comfort. He is a very spiritual man and prays with me and for me often. He has 8 degrees and 3 of them are doctorate, so he is stimulating mentally. He is a healer and has eliminated pain from my life. You know how much I dealt with back and neck pain, head aches and my menstrual period was enough to just about do me in every month. With his abilities as a Chiropractor, Acupuncturist, and doctor of Chinese Medicine he has brought my body peace, such as I have never known.
It feels so good to be able to greet each day without pain. I am on a bit of a euphoric high from feeling so good. He is an expert in fitness and health and this will help me to reach my goals. I am still losing a pound a week on the Body For Life Program and have lost 30 pounds since we started in June. This has improved the way I feel a great deal as well. Because of the all over healing experience that we can offer people by his medical abilities and by the bonding with nature that WildLife on Easy Street offers we hope to create a place where people can come to heal body and spirit. I have set up a web page, linking to his web site, until we can do the ground work here to make that happen. Return_To_Eden http://www.wildlifeeasyst.com/return%20to%20eden.htm
Daniel Capiro just walked through and said to say hello to you too. "
Dear Peter,
Alan is a gentle person, but curiosity may get the better of him and it wouldn't surprise me at all if he were to call you or email you from your web site. He's not a bad person, he just wasn't the right person.
On this other matter, I had wished to talk with you about it last night, but you fell asleep. Again, this morning, I woke up at six and thought it better to say this to you in person, but you had a hard time waking up after working so hard. I did not wish to talk about anything unpleasant while sticking needles in you and certainly don't want to discuss it tonight while you are sticking them in me. It is small thing, and probably just a lack of understanding between us. I know that your heart is in the right place and that it is not your intention to impose, and more than that, I recognize that you want to help someone else.
I would not pay someone 30.00 and hour to work in my yard. I would not pay two people 40.00 per hour to do it either. I invest in things that will earn a return on the investment.
As long as I can get my truck from the gate to the carport, I will pretty much ignore the yard. Alan Schreier was paying someone 125.00 per month to keep it mowed and I thought that was a lot. I had planned to pay one of my volunteers minimum wage to keep it mowed. My dad does it for free.
I offered the work to you, at your 29.00 per hour rate, because I love you and wanted you to be able to earn a living without having to deal with people like Jeff and the woman in St. Pete. Whenever I do have hourly type work to do, I always offer it to my volunteers first because many of them are just barely getting by and yet are devoting so much time and energy to my success with the refuge. These people have earned my respect and the right to be able to feed themselves. You have earned it in the wonderful way that you are to me. There is nothing about Bud that would have inspired me to pay him to hang around and be a bad influence on you.
It bothers me that you have asked me to help support him, when it would have been my preference to help someone who deserves it. It bothers me that you desire the company of someone so lacking in morals. You have read the Bible enough to know that no good can come of keeping bad company. It bothers me worse that you have warned him not to say such stupid things, that reveal his true nature, when I am around. I feel that you are hoping I will forget who and what he really stands for and all of the self defeating things you used to do together. I feel used and potentially mislead.
My hope is that you did not intentionally bring this into our relationship, and that you are just acting out of love for a fellow man, who you recognize to be down on his luck. As someone who just came from such a place, I can understand the need to feel that you are giving back. I know you must get lonely working by yourself all day. I suspect that you may even feel you are benefiting me because two of you can do more for me at 40.00 per hour, than just you can at 30.00 per hour. I don't need the work done faster, because the availability of the work is for your benefit more than mine. I need to know and understand your motives so that we can work something out that we can both be happy with.
I know there are a lot of bigger projects that you are eager to move on to, but I need to see you estimate a job, and bring it in near that estimate, before tackling something as expensive as a house. The deck cost more than twice the estimate you gave. The canopies look like they are going to come in around $400.00- $500.00 each and all I needed was something to keep the rain off. Four posts and a slant of sheet metal was what I had in mind, but I didn't make myself clear.
I think you wanted to impress me with your ability to do something different and dramatic, but you didn't check it out first. The deal with Jeff showed me that you will say you can do a project, even if you don't know what you are doing. I appreciate the fact that you try to teach yourself and that you are willing to lose money to try and rectify a problem, but if you get knee deep in a house and can't finish it for what you estimated, I have no recourse and you don't have the cushion to carry it. I don't want to lose the marvelous aspects of our relationship over financial matters.
That is not to say that I don't want to work with you. I do. I just need to see evidence of your ability to cost out a job, see it through to the end and come in on budget. The food prep plans have all been costed out and you should be able to build it for $20,000.00 since the freezers are done. Anything under that shows me your ability to save us money.
I hesitate to hit send. It would be easier to keep my feelings to myself and let you do whatever you want. Much inside me would prefer to handle it this way, but I know that it just builds up and then one day without warning I decide to move on. I guess the letter from Alan Schreier yesterday was a reminder of that. If you are reading this, it is because I love you too deeply to let this happen.
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.
Writing From the Future With Evidence From 1996-1997
I am writing this on 12/18/2020 because I have been researching all of the files from 1996-1997 involving Don Lewis. I have placed it here, on the day of his disappearance, because all of it transpired prior to this day, and in some cases, where documents are not dated, I don’t have a better guess. I think this will explain the last thing Don Lewis apparently said to Kenny Farr, which was, “If I pull this off, it will be the slickest thing I ever did!”
This story goes a long way back, but it’s pretty interesting and gives great insight as to the kind of persons that Don and Joe were and what was happening right as Don disappeared. To the best of what I can find in my files and online, Don and I bought 11509 Sligh Avenue, Tampa, FL on 7/18/90 at a foreclosure or tax deed sale. It had been a cock fighting ring and Don wanted me to convert it to a women’s mud wrastlin’ [sic] pit. I refused and Don sold it on a lease option to Joe Ryan. (Joseph George Ryan SS# 436) On 5/31/1994 Lazy Days RV Center, Inc., brought suit against Don and Joe for specific performance in case 94-CA-003672 for the sale of this property.
The following is based on what Don told me and some of the evidence I have found, including Joe Ryan’s deposition in 98-7799-F where he sued the Conservatorship for more money after already having been paid $70,000 for a property he never owned, to settle the Lazy Days case. Don sold the property to Joe Ryan on a lease option whereby Joe would pay $5000. of the taxes on the property and a monthly lease fee and if he made 12 on time we would deed the property to him and take back a mortgage. Joe Ryan’s depo says he was buying it from us for $50,600.00 on time.
We already knew Joe Ryan wasn’t good for his word because he had a similar agreement with Don on the “Seffner farm” property where Don had carved out a parcel and on the lake and Joe was building his dream home, but fell on hard times financially and never got past the inner studs of the house inside its shell. We took that property back and the house was later demolished in 2006 by the new owners who turned the Seffner farm into a subdivision.
Lazy Days wanted to build their huge RV center in the area and sent out scouts to buy up the little lots without letting anyone know who the real buyer was to keep the prices low. They offered Joe more money than he owed us so he signed an agreement to sell to them at a price of $60k, I believe, based on Joe Ryan’s deposition. After agreeing to the sale amount by contract, Joe Ryan discovered the buyer was Lazy Days and Joe thought he could get a lot more for the property if he could get Don Lewis to nix the deal by showing what was true: Joe Ryan didn’t own the property yet because he had not been making his payments and was in default.
Don then apparently went to Lazy Days and offered to sell it to them for $225,000.00 but he told Joe Ryan that he only got $131,000.00 from it so he wouldn’t have to honor his agreement (which the deposition implies was signed by Anne McQueen, not Don, but Joe Ryan said Anne signed Don’s name all the time on things) to give Joe Ryan everything above $60,000.00 that he would get from the sale. The way Don was scheming to do this without Joe Ryan knowing what the real sales price had been was to sell the property to WITCO which was a corporation Don set up in Costa Rica. Then WITCO would do the transaction with Lazy Days after Joe Ryan thought the property had changed hands and he was getting the excess proceeds based on what he said Don had told him and Anne had signed with him.
The way Don was getting $94,000.00 more than what Joe Ryan knew about was that Don had written into the agreement with Lazy Days that in addition to the $131,000.00 they would have to make a payment of 94k to Wildlife on Easy Street, Inc., as his “charity of choice” and they agreed. I can’t find how much we paid for the property in 1990 but I think it’s fair to estimate that it was about half of what we sold it to Joe Ryan for and now Don was closing in on a sale for 10 times what he’d paid for it. Don had not made a good business decision or property sale in the past four or five years before his disappearance, so if Don had pulled this off, it truly would have been the “slickest thing” he ever did. Of all the properties we had ever bought and sold, I think this would have been in the top 5 based on the amount and equity.
This sounds pretty simple, but it was raging on in court from 1994 until 11/5/1997 (3 months AFTER Don disappeared) when I settled with Lazy Days and sold the property to them. At the time of Don’s disappearance he had been over paying for properties in Costa Rica and his only income had been in a few hundred, here or there, on selling cars, motorcycles, guns and such. Also at this time Don was having Anne run ads in the Tico Times advertising to buy endangered species of exotic cats for his new sanctuary that he planned to set up on the 200 ac farm in Bagaces, Costa Rica. I don’t know if he planned to give me the $94k for our Tampa location, or because he was an officer of Wildlife on Easy Street, Inc., maybe he figured he could just cash the check and not tell me anything about what he’d been doing in the Lazy Days deal. Regardless, this truly would have been the biggest deal Don had ever done other than selling the 600 acres in Pasco county out from under me to Mr. Sultanfuss. That was a mortgage though and not cash in hand like this one, so I think that’s why Don was so thrilled with himself.
On July 16, 1997 Don faxed Roger Petersen, Esq. saying, “I also have signed the contract with Lazy Days RV, you can do whatever is necessary to complete this, but under no circumstances reveal who the shareholder is. Please fax any contracts to my office for approval prior to faxing to Ms. Bennett. Once every thing is done you can fax to her but the originals are to be overnighted to me and I will take them to closing. Nothing else is to be discussed with Ms. Bennett. Should you have any questions, please call my office and Anne will get me on the phone.” In the court case summary sheet there is mention of a Terryn H Bennett, but I am not sure who she was.
On 8/12/1997 (just 6 days before he went missing) Don had Anne fax Roger Petersen, Esquire saying, “Please call me collect when you get into your office, I need to talk to you about the WITCO papers. The call will not be accepted, but my office will get me to the phone and I will call you right back.” This is included in the dated faxes above. In the Lazy Days lawsuit there were motions to dismiss by the defendants and hearings coming up where documents were to be produced. Don was saying he had lost his WITCO paperwork and was likely stalling.
The fax below is the last fax I have found from Don to Roger Petersen and it is dated 8/15/1997 and is talking about what he was going to ship to Costa Rica inside the Iveco box truck.
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.
I turned my profile back on with Match.com
and am getting a lot of interesting responses. I have been slow to answer and not able to get excited about the prospects because I love Peter Kent so much. I want so much to believe in him. I hate having lost the trust I had felt. I am trying to not let Peter Kent see how he has hurt me and on the contrary have been trying to make him feel more loved and cared about in hopes that it will be enough for him.
1/16/02 Dear Peter Kent
Coming home, to my gorgeous lover, and finding him doing the dishes, was the sexiest thing I have ever seen. That moment captured the romance of living with a partner who cares enough to do the mundane in an effort to make his woman's life just a little easier. I was touched to my very soul and thought about it all day. To come home and find you had gone further and washed all of the dishes, when I had not even been thoughtful enough to thank you earlier, left me near tears. You are so good to me in so many ways. You take such good care of me, physically, emotionally and spiritually. I am truly blessed and love you deeply. - Love, Carole
From Peter A. Kent:
Carole, I relate exactly the same in all the things you do for me. You may shed tears on my legs at any time, any place. Our life is rather wonderful. I am happy and we are just beginning. We shall be together til death. - Pk
You are a great lady.
You may or may not be correct in this matter, I can easily say that you are much more on the correct side. After you left this morning I dreamed a rotten dream about my son; about my conception of his feelings for me. Knowing what you have been through in your life gives me the justification to take this interpretation and use it as you have. You are such a lovely person to me, for me. You are 100% there for me and I need to clean up my life with things that have value only, things like you. I felt myself yell out in my dream when you were gone this morning (8:15); I woke up and smiled because you must have tiptoed around here to let me sleep. Since my last acupuncture treatment, I have been saying that I need another for liver Qi rising. That will cause bad dreams. I love your tenderness for me and your strength of goodness in general. I hate to keep retreating to that same safe place, but I like to make you shake and lie in you afterwards. You, again, have helped me this morning. You were such a comfort to have with me last night. I wonder what I would feel like now without having had you with me last night. I must be going through some changes because, I don't remember going through such dreaming since I was a child. - pk
From: Savethecats@aol.com To: psage1@mindspring.com Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2002 7:47 AM
Subject: Listen to your heart
The sub conscious is a direct line to God. Yours spoke to you last night and neither of us heard it. You were upset after a day of dealing with Bud and contemplating selling your soul for an easy way out. You woke up thinking about Jeff and how he had sold his soul for an easy way out. You knew when you got involved with Jeff that he was not someone you could trust, but you did it anyway because you needed the money and the price of 2400.00 for just 6 days of work looked like a quick fix to your financial problems. Jeff used you to get what he wanted. You had hoped to use Jeff to get what you wanted, just like you hope to use Bud to get what you want. Your sub conscious was linking the two situations, because they are very similar and, I believe, as a warning to you that you have already done this sort of thing and it didn't work out. The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing hoping for a different outcome.
Take some time as you are working to define your vision. Mine is to lead by example. I run everything I do through that filter and if the choice I am contemplating does not align with my core value of leading by example, then I have to make another choice. I would not associate myself with a partner who takes advantage of others, because to do so, is not leading by example, unless I would like to see a whole world of people like Bud. People can always justify their selfish motives, but the fact of the matter is that Bud is looking for an easy ride and he can justify his laziness by saying that he is the equivalent of malpractice suit to the insurance companies. We live in a sue happy world because of dead beats who don't feel the need to contribute to society. This has caused a need for insurance for those of us who do work hard. It is not the insurance companies fault that people will take advantage of this system and raise all of our rates. There is no free ride.
You know this. That is what kept you awake and agitated. Listen to your heart. I am currently listening to my heart. I am having a cup of coffee, thinking of you; how lucky I am.
Dear Peter Kent
I don't know where to get liquid garlic, but a few calls to local health food stores should locate a bottle for you. Remind me tonight to help you with the liver Qi rising. My aunt Mary, wants to know if you could do acupuncture on her for her back pain. A big chandelier fell on her head years ago and she has never been the same. She is my "twin" cousin, Scott Smith's mom. My mother wants acupuncture this week for her tinnitus and I will pay you for that, but didn't know what I should quote to family members?
I am sorry to hear about the bad dreams, especially when they touch such a sensitive area as your feelings about your worth as a father. I wish I had been there for you to talk to. I stood over you for the longest time, wanting to kiss you good bye, but feeling that was selfish since you were sleeping peacefully for the first time all night. I am here for you, if you need to hear yourself, out loud.
I told mom this morning that you are really wanting to get back into practice, but that you don't want to be at the mercy of another physician calling the shots. She said that Dr. Lori was just telling her that business has dropped to nothing since 9/11. She couldn't believe that it would affect her business, because most of her clients have been coming to her for years and she only charges 40.00, so it's not like it is a huge investment. I guess the economy has been hurt in ways that I never imagined.
Take your vitamins and call the health food stores. There is lots of work to be done here at Easy Street by both of us. I love you. - Carole
I will be most happy to help anyone you wish for me to help. I would only ask that I have a few of what I will be doing first, so that I can read up on the TCM approach. I don't do it enough to remember each time.
Relative to the charges, it would be most appropriate to charge $29/hr since state law prevents me from doing anything without my chiropractic or my acupuncture license current. I could change that with activating my chiropractic license and passing my acupuncture points exam, however that is the way it is now. I do not wish for anyone else to know about the $29 per hour deal.
When I think of all the pain and suffering I have been through, I know that you are the answer to my prayers. You have SUCH strength of character. It is me that should be on my knees before you.
My prayer:
Father God, loving Spirit of the Universe I ask that you bless me this day, indeed I ask that you expand my territories. May your hand be with me, keep me from evil, let me cause no pain and protect all that I love so dearly. - Pk
I turned my profile off this morning, and it was immediately hidden. I found that yours is still on. You didn't get the same acknowledgment screen that I did this morning, so there must be something weird with your account, on their side. I took the liberty of sending match.com an email telling them that we had tried to hide your profile last night and that it did not work. I asked them to respond directly to you. I appreciate the loving way that you handled this uncomfortable situation last night. I hope to grow stronger in my love for you and in my trust in you. - Carole
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.
I discover Peter Kent is a liar and a cheat.
I was disappointed to discover that Peter Kent is still actively searching for that, bigger better deal. We had driven to Ormand Beach Friday night and spent Saturday looking at houses he built in Holly Hill, Ormand Beach and we met Jim (Uncle Jimmy) and Naboku Walls and had lunch with them at the inlet. I was feeling so in love with him and awestruck by the quality of the work in the houses he built and how people remembered and liked him.
We got home late on Saturday and both of us went to check our email. Thinking lovingly of him, I looked up in the mirror that faces my desk to see his reflection, just to savor the moment, and noticed on his screen was Love@aol.com or Match.com as we know it. It has a bold, ugly, unmistakable look to it, that was far too familiar for me to ignore.
He was reading a woman’s profile and I surmised that she had contacted him and he was just curious. Earlier in the day, I had asked how upset he would be if I asked him to sign a prenuptial agreement and he said he would hate it, that he hated the very thought of it and didn’t want to even think about it. He went on further to say, he would do what ever I asked, so I dropped it. I have to protect the cats and my family, not so much from him as from anyone who could lay claim through him, but to say that only insults his family and his ability to stay out of trouble, so I kept the words to myself.
I lay in bed, from 2:00 am on, unable to sleep, wondering why Peter Kent, who claims to be so happy, would still be showing his profile. It only took one click to hide mine from the world, which I had done on November 20. I decided not to make myself sick over it and just read the letter he responded to her with. There was none, but he kept her address as new, as if to revisit it later. In looking for this, I found other similar letters from women to Peter Kent and his responses.
What I read, kept me up the rest of the night, thinking I should take him to some very exotic, foreign country and abandon him there. By the time he could get back I would have his stuff packed into his storage shed and my locks and numbers changed. The day after his birthday, when I was so good to him and gave him 1000.00 and more, he had responded to a woman’s inquiry with photos of himself and said that he had to be careful in responding to people because of the sensitive nature of his life.
I would like to think that he just needs a lot of reassurance that he is still handsome and desirable, but I am sick. My stomach feels hollow and my heart aches. I hate this feeling. Even worse, is the fact that I no longer trust him. I had enjoyed feeling love and trust in our relationship and that can’t be resurrected after such carelessness for my feelings. I am deeply saddened.
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.
Peter Kent Letter to Carole
I am having a real tough time with my memory for the past two days; today was a terrible day for me. I was very unproductive, and very forgetful. While I got the work done it could have been finished by now, and, I kept forgetting things all day. I felt 'low' all day. I am embittered by this Jew in Sarasota that refuses to pay me thus far, and, some times I am not real proud of myself for being a handyman. Today I could not get 'off' that position. I think I had about two good hours, after, 4:00 the rest of the day was spent thinking how tired I was and that I will not be able to do this kind of stuff too much longer. I need to feel good about who I am again. While YOU make me extremely happy, YOU are all I want in a mate and that is more than 50% of my requirements to be complete; there is still the fact that I need to be content with myself, to be proud of where I am in life. Surely I could put this in better words, at the moment I cannot. Love, PK
The apartment is going to look great. I am changing the color of the verticals in front and the grill work, it will make a big difference. I like doing that kind of stuff, however, it is petty compared to the knowledge I have and intensity to do bigger things; things that have rewards other than monetary. While I agreed with your stance a few days ago regarding direction, it left out the leading of my spirit. Truly you are the first female in my life that I have ever listened to; you were right, however, I need the fulfillment of a bigger picture, a contribution to mankind sort of. Today I am hurting; not physically, just hurting in my being, wanting to be more. I am frustrated without having any power at all. I am talking to you and thinking about all this at the same time. I do not know what else to say right now. Please know that I love you, what I suffer from today is not fatal. Love, PK
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.
Hillsborough County Architects, Engineers and Contractors
Dear Peter Kent,
Harry Heuman (813-307-4503) called me back and said that he is not only the President of the Hillsborough Association of Retarded Citizens, but that he is also on the Board of the Holocaust Museum in St. Pete and President elect of the Tampa Rotary Club. He said keeping busy keeps him out of trouble. I have known him for at least ten years and never knew any of that. He said the expert on my question was Scott Pailthorpe (813-757-3808) who is the manager of the Plant City branch of the Hillsborough County Planning and Growth Department and Harry made the introduction for me via three way calling.
Scott was very knowledgeable, if not arrogant, and said that due to a glitch in the law architects and engineers are not required to be certified or even knowledgeable of the Building Code and that they just keep submitting plans until they pass the Building Department’s standard. He said that licensed contractors, on the other hand, must also be certified in SSTD 1099 by the Southern Building Code Congress International, which is located in Birmingham, AL and by the American Wood Products Association, who he had no idea where to find, but suggested the Internet. The Certification is obtained by attending their classes on high wind construction and wood construction in high wind conditions. That certification then has to be brought in to the Contractor’s Licensing Board and it will be noted in your file that you are certified to draw up house plans. He said your plans would then have to comply with the high wind manual and the rest of the Building Code before your plans would be approved by the Building Department. He said that because it is such a royal pain and outside the scope of what most contractors get paid to do, no one is doing it. He couldn’t think of anyone who had ever tried.
While this would make you the only person doing such a thing, I am not sure that jumping through so many hurdles is really taking you in the direction you want to go. I am not sure what that direction is, and until you know, I think this could be a lot of expense and “busy work” that really isn’t productive. It could be beneficial for the specialized sort of building you ultimately want to do, but first you need to get your certification with the German finalized, and you need your contractor’s license, which may be much more difficult to obtain than you suspect. Things have changed a lot in Florida since Hurricane Andrew. My brother had his contractor’s license in N.C. but never got one here and there is probably a good reason for it. The drawing program and the classes will only get better with time and it makes more sense to be ready for both when you do devote the time and money.
I asked what would be involved in converting the barn to a house and Scott said that if the barn was permitted and I would have to take the parcel ID# to Sarah Jimenez (813-635-7300) on the 19th floor of the County Building downtown to find out, then I could ask for a building permit for Occupancy Change. If it was not permitted before, then I would have to start from scratch as a new building permit and could not call it a remodel job because it would be changing from a barn to a house and while barns are exempt from certain standards, houses are not. One of the things that I will also have to check at the 19th floor is the flood zone. Barns can be built at grade, but the floor of the house has to be above the 100 year flood plain and most places around here are not. He said if I start from scratch I have to have an engineer sign off on every existing part of the structure saying that it meets the code and that even if my contractor had the certifications for SSTD 1099, he could not sign off on the existing structure. I said that didn’t make sense, but he said that is the way it is. I forgot to ask if they would accept an out of state engineer. It doesn’t seem that they would, but before your friend does any work on this, we need to know.
Feel free to call any of these people and get a feel for it yourself. I know you are capable of passing whatever courses are required of you, but want you to take some time to think about what your master plan in life is and how you want to get there. I don’t think that one person can compete with the building companies when it comes to building homes at a profit because, like everything, it takes loads of connections, cheap labour and the discounts that are only available in volume. I know you are looking at doing something no one else is doing, but it is a risk, given the general public’s lack of understanding of science. I think it also carries a considerable risk of liability from someone who pays more for the benefit of having an earth friendly home who later can’t afford it, or wants to move, who decides to attack the builder for having sold them a defective or ‘unprovable’ product. That would be a hard one to defend.
I believe in the idea and believe in the necessity of it, but I don’t think it should be your first move out of the gate. You were attracted to me for my good judgment and at the risk of offering unsolicited advice, which is usually despised, and thus rarely given, I would suggest the following plan of action:
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Get out of debt by doing what you can without further training and expense.
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Get yourself on solid footing by doing what you can without further training and expense.
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Decide if you want to build houses, open a clinic, operate an Internet site and all of the workshops and speaking engagements that would take to succeed, or whatever the ultimate goal of your next 30 years will be. I am pretty talented, but I can only do ONE thing well.
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Never spend more than 10% of what you make.
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When you have set aside enough discretionary cash to start making some exciting things happen in your life, then leap out into the unknown. If there are set backs then, it doesn’t matter, because you are already comfortable and secure.
Follow those simple steps and you will have the comfortable old age the fortune predicted. I want you to realize every dream you could ever imagine. This is the best way I can help you make that happen. I love you, - Carole
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.
Nicest Christmas I ever had, and had, and had. You are a dream come true. What I life I have in front of me. I feel a tremendous energy starting with the New Year, this year. I love you. Peter Kent Sex in the truck Over the weekend I had made a comment to Peter Kent that we had not had sex in my truck yet and tonight he asked me to help him find something under the carport. He opened the door of the cab, cleared the seat and told me to jump in. ...He is such a delight. "A Beautiful Mind" reminded me what a beautiful life I have. There was one place in the movie wherein she looked at his face with an undying love on her face, she looked just like you at that moment. I was so pleased that she could act that well. It was an extraordinary experience, just like you are to me each day I wake up with you. Happy New Year, Carole. Could we do something intimate tonight, please? It may well be raining this evening when you get off work. - I love you, Peter Kent 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.
Dear Peter Kent
I don't have a doctor. I never get sick. The only one I know is a friend of Alan Schreier's and I don't want him anywhere near your dick. I get ads for Viagra online, without a prescription all the time, but have never checked it out. It could well just be a come on. Have you checked?
My biggest concern is for your health. You know how I feel about things that are un natural, even if they are naturally occurring in the body, I am wary of anything that is manipulative of a perfectly designed system. My understanding of the body's functions and limitations pales in comparison to yours, so in this matter I would be foolish to impose my beliefs on you. What I do want you to take into consideration is that I love the man you are inside. If I could never feel the sensation of your penis inside my vagina, I wouldn't love you any less and I wouldn't seek satisfaction outside our bed, because I love you, the man, the spirit, the sensitive soul.
Our sex life has been most rewarding and you have done more for me in the past month than has been done in all my life before you. I want to grow old with you. Because of the natural way of man, and the fact that you are older than me, that puts a heavier burden on you to take care of yourself, if you are to give me what I want most.
While we are on the subject of gifts, I understand that giving is more important to the giver, than receiving is to the receiver. I apologize that I have been insensitive to that need in you. Just like we spoke of in being able to show love in a way that a person understands, I have that problem with gifts. I tend to give cash and say that I am unimaginative, but the truth is that I give what I like to receive. Not cash, but what it represents. When I give cash it is so that the person receiving can make something happen for themselves that I do not have the time or skill to do.
The gifts I like to receive are not things that can be unwrapped and then left to clutter my life, they are the gifts of things that I cannot do for myself. I really hate the whole idea of gift giving being tied to a date, such as a holiday or birthday. I was this way as a small child. I dreaded Christmas because my parents would buy all this stuff, that we couldn't afford, and what I really wanted was a childhood.
I am crying, so I must have hit that nail on the head.
The greatest gifts you give me are moments like this of self discovery, the gift of no pain, the gift of improved health and form, the gift of a happy home, the gift of a loving partner, the gift of tenderness and compassion, the gift of renewed strength to face another day. I am getting your keyboard all wet with the tears of joy that you cause, so maybe writing was a better idea after all. You might not be able to understand what a wonderful impact you have on my life through all of the sobbing.
AOL tried to shut me off and I have been searching for the letter that I wrote and just got back on track. I left some cash on your desk and I will pick up more tomorrow. I am always cash poor, so advance notice helps.
I don't know how you feel on the subject of gifts and would like to know. I tend to assume that others share my opinions, despite amazing evidence to the contrary. When I give you something, I want it to be what you desire, just like the way you give so intuitively to me. You always seem to anticipate what I need before I can ever find the words to tell you. The removal of the equipment under the carport was just a small example. I love you, - Carole
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.
From Peter A. Kent
As God is my witness, I love you more than anything else. Thank you for the beautiful note. As I understand it, there will be no sailboat this year.
There are times when I feel like I am living in a dream state; times when I fear this might end. There are times when I just wish to let out my doubts, that this relationship I have with you is surreal, imaginary, too good to be true. I do not think that you realize how good you are, how accomplished, how much input and contribution you have in this world.
Never in my life has anyone cared or done so much for me; never before have I had the confidence in a relationship or another human, both in the receiving and the giving. Both my wanting to be with you to be seen and to help, and wanting you to help me with your input. No one has ever aggravated me less with their input to any situation or circumstance that has come up. I used to get mad at anyone for contributing or commenting on my doings; I do not do that with you, but you hardly do that anyway.
It is an absolute delight to read your words. You are the most consistent female, the most consistent person I have ever known, AND, your life is centered around ME. I cannot believe the feelings I have for you and considering a lifetime....., we have only begun to do the things we will do together. Carole, I absolutely cherish you, nothing has ever meant as much to me as you do; I am so grateful to the Universe that we met and when I think back (after saying that), I feel kind of guilty realizing that I used to pray daily, hourly, and I hardly pray now. WE must pray more together; you came to me from the prayer of Jabez. I felt a filling each time I prayed it.
Father God, I thank you for Carole, and I ask your blessings upon us, our relationship, our health, our passion. Bless us Heavenly Spirit, bless us abundantly; may your hand be with us always, keep us from Evil and let us do no harm. Forgive our selfishness Spirit of the Universe for not praying more frequently. Forgive my self-love for not thanking you hourly for the gifts you have given me. I ask that you bless Carole, that you keep her safe, healthy and happy. Amen. - Peter Kent
From Peter A. Kent:
I am putting the Med-x machine together at present, and, a few things are on my mind:
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You wish it were not in your living room
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I feel my first patient should be your extravagant former volunteer. I feel this is important, BEFORE she makes up her mind to go in a different direction, one that is not reversible. Perhaps I could work out something with her, not to charge her the rest of her life, if she would pay the rental on a space that would be productive to me. This would benefit us both greatly, but, perhaps it would be an unfair proposal.
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The third thing on my mind is YOU. I cannot believe how perfect we are sexually, and, I cannot wait to get together again. ( I must admit , having the TV on the Playboy channel helps to lead me in that direction, although I need little help).
YOU are the most perfect sexual animal I have ever met. Your needs are precisely what I need. I love all of you, you are such a remarkable person. Just thinking of where you are, volunteering, after dealing with the fucken Indian last evening, over 150+K, is such a hoot. Carole, we better not, ever, change. Do you know that what you do on my penis is perfect. You get me so excited I cannot wait to get it inside you, then, afterwards, in about 2 hours, I think about doing it again for the rest of the day or night. Boy I love your skin next to me. - pk
Dear Peter Kent
I wouldn’t' describe Stephanie as extravagant. Quite on the contrary, she is very reserved and you would never guess she had money. I don't know what her financial status is, but I will approach her about the Med X and feel her out.
My mother asked if she should approach our family Chiropractor about letting you set up there. They are a husband and wife team and he is very much into alternative ideas and wrote a book that I will try to get a copy of about water. They vacation a lot and it is just the two of them in the building. She is the daughter of the man who saved my life (from paralysis), but who is now dead (Dr. Kellogg). If you want to drive by and take a look, the address is 700 W. Waters Av.
You touched my heart in a way that you could not have planned this morning and I have pondered it all day. I am often compelled to reach out and touch you, because I cannot keep from doing so. This morning, after we made love, after you knew that there was nothing further in it for you, because I had to get up, you started to leave the room and returned, ever so briefly to stroke my back. I knew at that moment, that you had felt the same desire for me, that I so often feel for you, and it felt good. Thanks for making my life so wonderful. I am catching up mail and will be home soon.
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.
Dear Peter Kent, Something you said yesterday troubled me, but I was in a rush most of the day and didn't take time to think it through until the drive to church this morning. You said that your past concerns were of little consequence compared to my trials and I believe that your reason for saying that was your way of telling me that you acknowledged the nightmare I have lived through and were telling me that you are sympathetic to my pain. I appreciate that.
I don't want you to feel like what you have been through was any less traumatic. When you lose something you love, whether it be a person or a way of life, it changes you, the way fire changes gold. It makes no difference what the temperature of the fire if we are melted in the process. You and I have both been purified by the experience and are made capable of blending into a more perfect creation. There is so much beauty in this life we are creating and I am so happy to be a part of you.
I was also thinking about how we express our love for each other in our love-making. I was thinking about how your mother expressed her love for her family by cleaning and how Don understood love if it came in the form of someone cooking for him and how we give what we want to get. We are so fortunate that both of us seek intimacy as the feed back that says we are loved. I never really thought about this before. It seems pretty important. If I gave you gifts to show my love, but you only understood that love was being shown if I were cleaning house for you, we would both feel that we were not getting the love we were worthy of, when in fact, the person may love us greatly and just not know how to effectively show us. If the stars have set our paths, there are lots of things we may not agree on, but I think our agreement on this issue of what demonstrates our love is crucial. As long as we know we are loved, safe and secure, how difficult could anything else be? - Love, Carole
From Peter A. Kent:
Carole, that was so beautifully said. All of it. I agree 200%. We have been molded for each other, I thank God for that. More importantly, your understanding and appreciation are as much a gift as is the flesh and tangibles we share so often. Everything I do these days I do with joy because of us. A big part of US is you. As I repeatedly say, it takes a receiver tuned to the correct frequency to receive the energy put out by the transmitter. You miss nothing; you are beyond my biggest prayers for a partner: what you are, what you do, how you relate to others, how you express yourself, how you receive me. My request is that I have two breaks with you, each about 30 minutes long before the sun goes down so that we can be one up on Cruise and contain it in this ongoing day which ends at sunset. You have all my love, however, I love to express and receive it in that manner. - Peter Kent
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.
I love my life. My life is so extraordinary now, thanks to you. I wonder if you know what a woman you are. I sooooo love what we do together we meet for our twice a day union. It is special beyond words. Feelings expressed and deeply felt emotion is so beautiful; I think you are so beautiful. Your face is hard to forget at those moments. I will be thinking about you all day. I love you. - Peter Kent
Dear Peter Kent
Thank you for taking the time to make my morning. I do love this union we share and can't wait to be back at your side. Thank you for sharing in such an intimate experience last night. Despite my outwardly, cavalier attitude, I am very uncomfortable with my body and want so much to truly be perfect, in your eyes. I know I am on that path, and that helps, but the way you express such acceptance of me, in my current overweight state, is more comforting than you know. I have always been beautiful and often breathtakingly so. Men loved me because of what I looked like and not for what was important to me. My self-destructive behaviour resulted as much from this need to be loved for who I was as it was stress and not taking care of myself.
You came into my life 5 months after I had decided that I didn't need a man in my life and that I would be beautiful to please only myself. I didn't like what I saw in the mirror. I felt stronger, from all of the trials of the past 5 years. I wanted to be the best that I could be, for my own gratification. If my appearance attracted the wrong kind of lover, it didn't matter much because I didn't really think any man could capture my heart, so I was at no risk of it being broken. Then you came along...
I was in awe of you, the moment I set eyes on you. I thought you were the sexiest, most stunning creature I had ever seen. I could have stood in the gate way and looked at you forever, just to memorize every feature of your face, your build and your hair. I did the same thing to you, that I hated having done to me. I prejudged who you were, by what you looked like. I assumed that you could not be loyal and that you could not love me, because you were so handsome. I assumed your character could not possibly be as strong as your sex appeal and I had nothing to base that on, but an image of you.
I have loved getting to know you, because the more I learn about you, the more in awe of you, as a whole person, I am. Your outward appearance, appealing as it is, does not even begin to compare with the beauty of your spirit. I have been so deeply touched by your giving and loving nature. As much as I long to be beautiful in your sight, I realize that if I had already attained that goal before meeting you, I probably would not trust your motives. I believe you, when you say I am beautiful, because I know that you can see me on a deeper level. I am so happy and optimistic that our lives will only continue to be made better by the way we express our love and affection for each other. - Love, Carole
From Peter A. Kent:
Have I ever told you what wonderful notes you write? You touch me there as well. I understand the depth of what you express there, and, while I believe that is true, I also wonder what you would look like on top of me while I watch you in passion; you are so perfect looking now.
Honestly, I am first attracted to who you are; I go over this in my mind on a moment by moment basis. I am in admiration and respect for who you are after what has, thus far, shown up in your life in the mate department. Regarding the timing of 'us', I go back to one of my favorite words, serendipity. It involves the word fortune, providence, fortuity, luck. If I were to have a vessel that we both loved, a boat or a plane, I believe I would have to call it serendipity, no matter how many others were there with the same name.
I love the exhaustion we get to twice daily. While it is probably not good for our physical health, it is so nourishing to our spiritual health. I demonstrated the power of prayer to myself again this morning. To me, when many things are right in ones life, the power of prayer is stronger. I prayed something regarding my work outside and the answer, an important one, came within moments. You are an answer to prayer too, many years of it. Carole you are so important to me. I love being with you, each and every moment. I long to stay strong and hard for you.
On a grand scale, regarding that statement, I wish to go to Delray soon to pick up my equipment. It will make a temporary mess of this home, however, it will improve the way I feel a great deal. Parts of me are weak, I feel it climbing the ladder. It would help me to stop what I am doing outside for a short while and jump on the tile floor and then return to that. I long to return to your insides. You are such a pleasure to me. No one has ever been more pleasurable; thank you for divulging yourself to me as you do. I do sooooo love that. - Peter Kent
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.
Astrology Carole
6 Jun 1961 AD Tue 19 22 00 6 00 W 29 25 N 98 30 W
The Birthchart Introduction
On the following pages you will find an in-depth look at your own individual character and life. At birth the chart represents a set of potentials, with the contents being added through the experiences of life. As this birth chart represents a map of the solar system for the time and place of your birth...it's a blueprint of your personality - unique to you and only you.
Most people are aware of the Sun sign that they were born under, that is, the sign read in a magazine or newspaper relevant to a birthday. However, it's not only the Sun sign that exerts a powerful influence over a birth chart and character. The Moon, the planets, their aspects, zodiac and house positions also play an important role.
But one of the strongest influences of all will be that exerted by the rising sign, also known as the Ascendant. The ascending sign shows the way in which you approach life and helps to shape your self image, general outlook, childhood and to some degree... your health. It also suggests the way in which you are seen by others, or at least their first impressions of you.
As you read through this analysis, you will occasionally notice that contradictory information may be given. This is to be expected, as each individual's character is extremely complex. For example, at times we can be aggressive and confident, and at other times withdrawn and moody. And if planetary patterns seem to be repeated time and time again, that's because the analysis is focusing on a particular and very important strength or weakness within your character.
Personal Interpretation
Ascendant
The ascendant is the beginning of the first house and represents the area of life concerned with our sense of self-identity.
• Sagittarius Ascendant
Possessing the courage of your convictions, other people's opinions won't matter. Believing in yourself, you tend to attract good fortune and unusual opportunities. Ambitions are geared to large scale goals but beware the tendency to take things for granted and assume that everything will go your way.
• Ascendant Opposition Sun
The Sun opposite your ascendant, shows that you have a need to seek approval from others in order to feel good about yourself. The Sun is our self, what we essentially are, with the Sun on the 7th house cusp you need constant feedback from the world in order to feel that you are alright in the eyes of others, and so maintain your self confidence and sense of self worth. You may tend to look up to and admire people who are really no better than yourself, you find it difficult to admire and respect yourself, so you project this on to other people. As a result of this, you may attract people with strong egos who attempt to dominate or control you. You need to be yourself and do your own thing, whatever other people may think you have to live your life for yourself as well as for them.
• Ascendant Trine Mars
The trine between Mars and your Ascendant indicates that you have a great deal of physical energy and drive. You can assert yourself aggressively when the need arises, challenges and competition stimulate you and rouse you into action. While this aspect gives you the stamina and energy to achieve your goals, it does not, of itself, provide the motivation or incentive to do so. As a result, a lot of energy can be wasted in useless activity if you cannot find some purpose or direction in your life. You have strong opinions which you are not afraid to express, but there is a tendency to take over and dominate in conversation.
The Sun
The Sun is your essential self, the centre of your being. It indicates what you are striving to become as an individual.
*Sun In Gemini
With the Sun in the air sign of Gemini, you're usually on the go, and have a natural ability to do two or more things at once. You're forever being accused of being two-faced and having a split personality. Nonsense! It's just that you're faster and more versatile than most, and other people resent this.
However, there is a tendency to change your tack in mid-course; then back again, then back. You'll therefore need to develop the willpower to see a particular course of action through to its conclusion.
There's a restlessness and a need for variety of different contacts and relationships. You also have a need for constant intellectual stimulation, and welcome the opportunity to express your opinions, which you can do very well on a number of different subjects.
*Sun In 7th House
The Sun is in the 7th house of your chart, which represents your self-identity. In this house, there's a need to define who you are through your relationships with others. Occasionally, you'll need feedback and reassurance from others to develop your own self worth. There may also be a tendency to expect too much from relationships, resulting in disappointment when the others don't live up to the image that you project on to them.
*Sun Sextile Mars
This sextile between the Sun and Mars indicates that you have tremendous energy and are eager to get ahead in life. You have the courage of your convictions and will not rest until you achieve your goals.
You can be forceful and direct in expressing your ideas. If you feel you're winning an argument you'll hammer the point home, but you're also willing to admit that you're not always right. Indeed ..if you can see that you're wrong, you'll admit defeat gracefully.
The Moon
The Moon represents the emotional and compassionate side of your nature and your immediate emotional reaction to life's pleasures and problems. It also indicates attitudes instilled in early childhood.
*Moon In Aries
With the Moon in the fire sign of Aries, you're naturally persuasive and can easily attract others to you. You react very quickly to situation around you, but remember to look before you leap!
You're potentially volatile and overpowering, but sincere and loving as well. You have an enthusiasm for life, and a naturally direct approach, but you may occasionally need to develop patience. Other chart factors may show you to be patient and understanding, but if you're caught unexpectedly, or your feelings are hurt, you can surprise yourself and others with the strength of your anger and aggression.
*Moon In 4th House
The Moon is in the 4th house of your chart, the house over which it rules. Both the Moon and the 4th house are concerned with our home life and childhood. With the Moon in this house you'll have a need to establish a secure home life, to which you can retreat from the cares and worries of the world.
Good relations with your family will also be important to you, but you may tend to depend too much on your family for emotional support and comfort. As a parent yourself, you'll want to provide a safe and secure home life for your own children, but must control the urge to be over protective.
*Moon Square Mercury
The square between the Moon and Mercury creates a tension between your emotions and logical common sense. At times, one may be sacrificed at the expense of the other. Also...whilst you're sensitive yourself, you may occasionally express criticism of other people - saying things that cause hurt or offence ..often without you realising it. Try not to be so overly critical of others. Perhaps this stems from past experiences where your own deeper feelings were hurt by unfair or unduly harsh criticism.
*Moon Sextile Saturn
The Moon in sextile to Saturn indicates that you can be reserved and cautious in your feelings for others. You need to understand the people you are close to before you're prepared to reveal your deepest emotions.
Nevertheless, you're dependable and are good at listening to other people's problems...and are willing to help practically, or simply by understanding. You have a common sense approach to practical matters, and can usually organise things to get by even in times of trouble.
Mercury
Mercury represents communication skills and how we think and receive information from others.
*Mercury In Cancer
With Mercury in the water sign of Cancer your mind is both intuitive and receptive. Your innate psychic receptivity enables you to pick up intuitively on what people are thinking and feeling. However, at times, you may tend to think too much about your own feelings, constantly analysing how and why you feel the way you do.
At best, this can give an unusually deep understanding of your own emotional needs. At worst, your rational judgement can be too strongly influenced by your emotions. Nevertheless, you'll make a good listener as you're able to sympathise with and understand the problems of others, followed by advice given from the heart.
*Mercury In 7th House
Mercury, the planet of communication is in your house of relationships and close partnerships. You'll therefore have a need to find a partner who you find physically attractive but an equal priority will be that they're also interesting and intellectually stimulating. You enjoy discussing other people's thoughts and beliefs, as well as expressing your own as you have a genuine desire for mutual communication and understanding.
Mercury, however, can never settle down to one thing, and as different people are interesting in different ways, so you may have difficulty in finding one person to whom you can make a permanent commitment. On the other hand, if you are looking for commitment you may find yourself constantly attracting partners who are unreliable and difficult to pin down. Now, whilst you may be hurt by such actions, deep inside you know that this is really keeping you free.
*Mercury Trine Neptune
Your rational thinking processes, symbolised by Mercury, are in a positive aspect to the imaginative planet Neptune. With this contact you'll therefore have a strong creative imagination, and a highly developed intuition that enables you to jump beyond logic to grasp the basic meaning behind ideas or concepts ..and then to verbalise this meaning in terms that others can understand.
Your thinking is often inspired, with ideas seeming to just come to you without the need for long and concentrated study....in fact even you may be surprised at how well you understand things for which you've had little or no formal preparation.
You would make a good actor, teacher, writer, politician or public speaker since you understand intuitively what your audience needs or can understand...so you're then able to deliver what you have to say accordingly.
You're also generally tolerant of other people's imperfections, and you can inspire others and help them to become aware of a deeper meaning in their lives.
*Mercury Sextile Pluto
With the positive sextile aspect between Mercury and Pluto, you have a deeply analytical mind, and a psychic ability that you're probably not always fully conscious of. Possessing an urge to understand the mysteries of life and death you need, more than most, to find some meaning in life and in your experiences. You seek the truth in all things.
You would therefore be suited to any form of investigation or research, since you're never satisfied with the obvious or superficial solution...you're always looking for some deeper and more inclusive connection between the facts. You will find that people will respect your opinions and your solutions to their problems, since your words will carry an authority and conviction based on a deep and instinctive understanding of the real issues.
Venus
Venus represents how you express your emotions within love, marriage and other personal relationships. It also indicates your attitude towards money, possessions and your aesthetic values.
*Venus In Taurus
Venus in Taurus in your chart indicates a loyal and steady approach to relationships. You'll want to feel stable and secure, and will be happy to reciprocate these needs to your partner. Although at times you can appear quite reserved, this masks a deep and passionate nature. You can be strongly jealous of any situation or person that you feel is a threat to your emotional security.
*Venus In 5th House
With Venus in the 5th house of your chart, you're incredibly creative and romantic. You're the sort of person who's in love with love...and you enjoy the fun side of life. You enjoy the very best in life and feel that if something is worth doing, it's worth doing well. As a parent, children can be a source of pleasure and fulfilment.
*Venus Square Jupiter
With the square between Venus and Jupiter, you may at times give in to self-indulgence, especially when difficulties give you the excuse to neglect duties and responsibilities. In any case, you don't like to be hemmed in by responsibilities. You'll expect a partner to allow you personal freedom, but you may not be too generous in extending the same rights to them.
*Venus Square Saturn
The square between Venus and Saturn indicates some difficulty in the handling of your personal relationships. You may have difficulty in finding a partner who lives up to your rather exacting expectations. Judging the other's faults harshly, you'll not allow anyone to get too close until you feel that they're safe and can be trusted. You don't express affection easily, withholding your feelings out of the fear that they will be rejected.
This feeling may result from experiences as a child as one of your parents, possibly your father, may have been indifferent or difficult to get close to. The rejection you felt then has carried through to the present and you'll therefore approach present relationships warily. On the other hand, the father may not have been around at all.
The way around this conflict is to establish this missing sense of security by achieving something through your own efforts. When you realise that you don't need the support of anyone to make something of your life, you'll feel happier and more secure about yourself.
*Venus Opposition Neptune
With the opposition between Venus and Neptune you'll have to take care not to place unrealistic expectations on your relationships. There's also the danger of attracting partners who are elusive and difficult to pin down. You might see qualities in your partner that aren't really there and fail to see qualities that are there. With this aspect it's therefore advisable to take some time to get to know your partner before any firm commitment is made. Glamour will attract you.
*Venus Trine Pluto
Venus and Pluto in a trine aspect gives a deep intensity to your emotions. The powerful and energy of Pluto charges your personal magnetism with a charismatic quality that makes others attracted to the hidden depths beneath the surface. This same magnetism will easily attract lovers to you...and with this aspect there's every chance that you'll eventually find the right kind of partner with whom you can experience a deeply spiritual and fulfilling relationship.
Mars
Mars represents your sex drive, stamina and how aggressively you assert yourself and express your desires.
*Mars In Leo
Mars is in the fixed fire sign of Leo in your chart, indicating that you can be direct and forceful when it comes to going out and getting what you want. You have a passionate belief in the power of one - yourself - and will often fight for anyone in need. Charities often benefit from your generosity.
You'll tackle difficult situations head on and won't be easily dissuaded from a particular course of action once you have decided on it. However, at times, you may have to make a conscious effort to balance your own needs with the needs of others.
*Mars In 8th House
Fiery Mars in the 8th house indicates a deeply passionate nature. A great deal of energy is put into relationships, but there may also be the occasional tendency to try to be boss...resulting in emotional battles.
In business partnerships, this rather hard-hitting and determined approach can be an asset; but take care not to go too far...as being overly aggressive in business could again lead to unproductive disputes with colleagues, employees or business partners. One more word of warning...if things go wrong ..and you know they were your fault ..don't try to shift the blame.
*Mars Conjunct Uranus
Mars in conjunction with rebellious Uranus makes a pretty dynamic combination. You're fiercely independent, impulsive and self-motivated and when you know what you want, you'll go for it with a tireless energy and determination that will find a way around all obstacles...or crash straight through them! Your emotions can explode at a moment's notice.
You're also not very good at taking advice as more often than not, you have to do things your way or not at all. Others may therefore occasionally regard you as arrogant and reckless, but you need excitement and stimulation, and if your life becomes too routine and boring you are likely to stir things up just for the hell of it.
Your physical desires are strong, and you don't need emotional closeness or involvement in order to satisfy these desires.
You also don't like any restrictions placed on your actions, preferring to be free to act on your own initiative, and in any way you choose. Therefore your insistence on this right will probably end up causing you some conflict with others during your life.
This combination makes your life a constant fight for freedom and independence on one level or another but if you can use this tremendous energy to fight for the freedom and independence of others who, for some reason, cannot fight for themselves, you will be expressing this aspect in its purest form.
Jupiter
Jupiter represents expansion, your sense of fun, optimism and generosity. It also gives information concerning your religious and philosophical beliefs.
*Jupiter In Aquarius
Jupiter in the air sign of Aquarius shows a strong sense of justice and an attraction to various causes. Your philosophical or religious outlook will be humanitarian, and probably different from the established and conventional views. There can, however, be a tendency to overdo the importance of such activities in your own life, leading to an intolerance of anyone or anything that tries to prevent you from expanding in the directions that you want.
*Jupiter In 2nd House
With Jupiter in the 2nd house of your chart you'll enjoy accumulating life's little luxuries. Although the acquisition of money and possessions will not be too much of a problem through your life, it could be a matter of easy come easy go. You're generous and what you earn could be spent just as quickly...so occasionally you'll have to be somewhat discriminating in your generosity and spending.
*Jupiter Conjunct Saturn
The effect of Jupiter and Saturn in conjunction can be summed up as tremendous possibilities ...achieved through hard work. These two planets are, in a sense, opposite influences, Jupiter represents optimism, expansion and good luck...and Saturn is more pessimistic and restricting work.
However...with this combination each balances the excesses of the other. Therefore you're generally able to balance optimism with realism...enthusiasm with caution and extravagance with discipline. You aim to make an impact on the world...but you're also able to plan the next step before you take it.
*Jupiter Square Neptune
With the square between Jupiter and Neptune, you have high ideals...but you may lack the discipline required to make these ideals a reality in your own life. Understanding and sympathetic to others, you may at times unknowingly allow others to take advantage of your good nature.
If you can discipline your imaginative mind, perhaps through meditation or self-analysis, you could gain a great deal more understanding about yourself.
Saturn
Saturn represents your sense of responsibility and limitations. It shows how you react to setbacks and the areas in which you are most fearful and insecure. Nevertheless, it's also the planet that teaches the important lessons of life and can become your greatest strength.
*Saturn In Capricorn
With Saturn in the earth sign of Capricorn you'll have a strong ambition, and a need to achieve something tangible and of lasting worth in your life. Even if other aspects of your personality suggest unconventional behaviour, your attitude toward security may actually be more conventional than you'll care to admit.
You'll also probably have a powerful ambition and drive to achieve, which may not surface fully until your first Saturn return, about the age of 28-30. Indeed, if you can overcome any obstructive personal fears, you have the ability to reach the summit of your chosen career or life's work.
*Saturn In 2nd House
With Saturn in the 2nd house of your chart, you have a powerful need and ability to earn your keep through your own efforts. Even if you come into money through luck or inheritance, you'll still feel a greater sense of satisfaction from what you make through hard work. On the other hand, financial security may at times be hard to come by and only gained through considerable effort.
Uranus
Uranus represents the expression of your need for freedom and independence and the way you choose to experiment with life. Uranus is the motivation behind your future dreams.
*Uranus In 9th House
The planet Uranus stimulates the search for truth, and in the 9th house this search will be in the realm of philosophical and religious thought. You will need to find a philosophical or religious belief system by which to order your life. You'll not, however, be content to accept the beliefs of the past.
You're able to bring new concepts and ideas into whatever field you're working or studying in, although your eager search for knowledge may cause you to suddenly abandon the work you're doing before it's completed.
Travel in foreign lands, and meeting people of other cultures would be particularly beneficial to you, deepening your level of understanding and revealing possibilities that you've been previously unaware of.
Neptune
Neptune represents your spiritual self, dreams, imagination and creative abilities.
*Neptune In 11th House
Neptune in the 11th house of your chart indicates a need to help others less fortunate than yourself. However, there may occasionally be some confusion and uncertainty surrounding friendships. You can attract, and be attracted by friends who seek a deeper meaning in life and an awareness of deeper levels of reality. On the other hand, you may be attracted to friends who seek to escape from dealing with reality through drink and drugs. Most likely your friends will be a mixture of both.
*Neptune Sextile Pluto
This aspect between the two outermost planets first occurred in 1942 and will remain in effect for the next hundred years, although the sign positions of the planets will change, so everyone born during this time will have it in their charts. This contact will therefore affect everyone for the next hundred years and represents changes taking place in the world's collective psyche. The keynote of this entire period will be the complete transformation of our existing scientific, religious and political belief systems.
Pluto
Represents the secretive side of your nature, your obsessions and shows us how to come to terms with and deal with our deepest insecurities.
*Pluto In 9th House
The 9th house of the birth chart is concerned with our search for meaning in life, either through a religion or through travel. Your belief system may at times undergo dramatic changes, where all that you previously held to be true is destroyed, to be reborn on a different level. On the other hand you may react by denying any meaning or purpose to life altogether, taking the view that there is no point to anything since it all ends in death anyway. One way or the other, there's a strong urge to examine these issues and what you find or discover may force you to go through inner changes. Learning from different cultures and traditions could also be of tremendous benefit to you.
Carole
6 Jun 1961 AD Tue 19 22 00 6 00 W 29 25 N 98 30 W
Sexuality
The interpretation of the Sun's sign and the other planets i.e. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn can help you to a greater understanding of your capacity for sex, the way you make love, how you think and feel about it. The planets Uranus, Neptune and Pluto reveal our attitudes as a generation, towards sexuality.
The Sun describes what making love means to you.
• Sun In Gemini
You can easily become bored and therefore need lots of variety, actively liking to try new techniques both oral and manual. Sex is not to be taken seriously, it's a fun way to communicate and should be just as mentally stimulating as physically pleasurable. Delicate flights of fancy are preferable to heavy hot passionate scenes. Real love comes through friendship not just sex. You are not happy with the heavy demands of partners and should avoid jealous lovers. You yearn to be free and are very easy going.
Mercury represents the way you think when making love.
• Mercury In Cancer
You are a person who shares sexual secrets and inner desires only with a very special lover. You can tease and sexually arouse your lover, by slowly exposing to them your innermost desires. You can be over serious, reading more into to situations than really exist. You also like emotional privacy, and quiet.
Venus indicates what you value and need most in your lovemaking.
• Venus In Taurus
You need a lover who can satisfy those burning desires, who has the staying power to match your own. Patience and expertise as well as sensuous surroundings are what is needed to take you to that point of ecstasy where you can respond directly to the loaded passions of your partner's endeavours.
Mars represents the driving force of your sexuality.
• Mars In Leo
You are a lover who once aroused is full of exotic energy and vigour for sex, and then it's anything goes and all the way! You make love passionately, in a grand manner offering the delights of your most treasured parts for the total consumption of your adored and deserving lover. Your bountiful energy may overwhelm the more timid of your lovers but they cannot fault your generosity once you've made up your mind to give them your all. You are stylish when in your luxuriant and extravagant mode, but may tend to repeat your love-making once too often, just for your own pleasure!
Jupiter represents your overall capacity for love making.
• Jupiter In Aquarius
You are a lover who can play many roles. These various parts or characters are most beneficial to any sexual relationship that you are involved in. When making love these ways of expression build inextricably and somehow come together in an explosion of electric energy seemingly from nowhere. Each tantalising embrace or manoeuvre may seem strange, but the final coupling can be perfect, all-surrounding.
Saturn represents times when you might feel awkward or inhibited with your lover.
• Saturn In Capricorn
You will begin to feel happier about your love-life when you understand that what is conventional and accepted is relative to a particular time and culture. An achiever, you pride yourself on your ability to focus your attention totally on some worthy goal and then attain it.
Family Dinners
My family is getting together for dinner on Friday the 28th from 7-9:30 and asked us to come. It is entirely up to you. I don't usually attend family functions, but have for the past couple years because Alan Schreier loved any excuse to attend a party. Whatever you want to do is fine with me. Carole
From Peter A. Kent:
Actually, I had planned to spend that night making love to you. However, we could go first and then do that afterwards. I wish to practice some tonight if you do not mind (the love making, I know how to eat). Had a great time with you last night and this morning by the way. Getting some work done today, but I do not have the drive I wish I had. Perhaps some coffee would help. My feeling is that WE SHOULD go to your family function. By the way, I love you and I am very fortunate to have you in my life. Pk
My ever observant, thoughtful Peter Kent;
You are right in that we SHOULD act civilized and SHOULD invest time into family. I recognize that this would not be how either of us would prefer to spend an evening and greatly appreciate your perception of the matter. I know that they are all curious about this man who has made their family member so happy and appreciate that you are comfortable enough in social situations to be there. You are such a gift.
I wanted you so badly yesterday (and the day before, and the day before...) Thank you for giving yourself in such a loving manner. You are such a turn on for me, physically, emotionally and spiritually. When you reach out to me, with your arms, with your eyes, I feel so secure. I feel your life force running through my veins and it is a powerful force. Your embrace both strengthens me and makes me weak in the knees (all the better for kneeling before you). When you take my hands in prayer, I feel the warmth of God's breath upon us. It brings tears to my eyes just trying to tell you the depth of my feelings for you. To say "I love you" seems not enough. Love, Carole
From Peter A. Kent
I love that. We are both so lucky to have found such peace; the connection we have is storybook stuff. So seldom found, but now so understandable and necessary to feel complete on this planet. Peter Kent
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.
The Search
I sent Peter Kent a little thing that came via email, called “What women want” and the essence of the statement is that they want to control their own lives, to which Peter Kent answered, “You, my beauty, shall always have your way with me.” I went with him to post bond today for the no motorcycle endorsement issue and wrote the following while waiting for him to be processed:
The Search
The Earth stands still when we embrace
Enfolds me in such rapturous state
It stills my racing heart to know
That loving you has been my fate.
Eternity has come and past
That spanned my search for you in time
And brought me to this moment when
I’d find this peace with you sublime.
A thousand yesterdays are gone
They matter not in what they were
And though with trials and tears were fraught
In your love I have found the cure.
This moment makes them all worthwhile
For just the touch of your sweet kiss
That warms my lips and heart and soul
Engulfing me with passion’s bliss.
I drink you in with hungry eyes
To memorize your face and frame
And know without a single doubt
That life will never be the same.
From this day forward all is blessed
The world is ours, the future bright
And all the shadows chased away
As we shine forth with Lover’s light!
For: Peter Kent A. Kent
By: Carole Stairs Lewis
We also went to enter him in the Misdemeanor Intervention Program over the shoplifting issue with Publix. They had not heard that he had just turned himself in on his outstanding warrant and had two officers come to take him into custody. This whole series of events has been nightmarish for him and it’s been hard to see him trying to free himself of his past in favour of our future.
In the car, on the way home, he said how much he appreciates me being there for him and I could tell he was fighting back tears. I am deeply touched that my love means so much to him. In response to the poem he wrote “A thousand yesterdays are gone They matter not in what they were. That is the best truth. Each day gets more glorious. “ Peter Kent
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.
Dear Peter Kent
Waking up with you is the only way I ever want to wake up again. I love to see the sun come splashing through the open doors onto the bed where you lay. I love to see the peaceful look on your sleeping face and the way you look at me with so much love and joy in your eyes. I feel warm and safe in your morning embrace and there is no challenge that awaits me outside our home that I can't handle after a morning of passionate lovemaking with you. The thrill of your body filling mine is my first cup of emotional coffee. You are so giving and so loving and I am fortunate to have you at my side, in our bed, and in my heart. With Love and Thankfulness - Carole
We watched Wolf last night. I was so impressed that Peter Kent was able to hook up the DVD and the VCR and then operate them. He is so capable.
12/5/01 I thought about you all day today; it's nice to have something good to focus on when I am doing physical work. This morning I was listening to some of the songs on the CD 'Message in a Bottle', there was one song that I am sure would have made me cry a few months back, but I felt the emotion and did not. I wondered why for a few moments, then realized that your love for me is taking away the pain in my past. Do you have any idea how much you mean to me? You make me happy below my skin. Thank you for the things you say to me and do to me; the things you think about, the things you do for me. I have never felt so loved in my entire life. We will always share these feelings for each other, I know it in my knower. - Peter Kent
No, I don't mean THAT experience... I mean I was sleeping soundly and a loud and gentle voice (a female voice, yours) woke me up at 8:35 by calling my name. Exactly the time that I wanted to get up, I feel refreshed (ready to do you again this evening; can you handle that?).
I have never been happier in my life, thank you for your love of me. I will be like this the rest of my life, and better. - Peter Kent
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.
Hungry For You
YOU, make me so happy. YOU are the most complete woman I have ever met. There is nothing I will not be able to do with the rest of my life; I love you more than I thought was in me; I carry you with me which each moment of the day. I am truly pleased with my life at this moment in time; we will have numerous moments in time from this point on. - Pk
Hungry For You
My life will never be the same
After the fires of passion fanned
By you, the only man whose name
Is etched in stone, in no man’s land
You touch me deep, on every plain;
From deep within my hungry thighs
With rapture that I could not feign
Reaching unprecedented highs
To how you fill my hungry soul
With loving-kindness that you give
That heals my heart and makes me whole
And makes this life so great to live!
My appetite is whetted by
The very, single, thought of you
And satisfied when you draw nigh
And we are one, where once was two.
For: Peter Kent A. Kent
By: Carole Stairs Lewis
12/2/01
Dear Peter Kent, I rarely ask for anything (I won’t even ask for directions) but I am asking something of you now, for two reasons. I wouldn’t bring it up, because it hasn’t happened and perhaps never would, but you have brought it up twice and it seems that you are trying to feel me out on the subject without causing offense. You have said that in the past you have used marijuana to calm yourself and to expand your vision.
The favour that I ask is that you allow me the opportunity to assist you in both, before resorting to drugs. The two reasons are both selfish, but you will benefit by them as well. In every abusive relationship I have been in (and left) there has been a man who used grass or alcohol to relax or to help him think more broadly. I can tell you from lots of personal experience that they were never easier to be with when they were high and in every case were much less intellectual.
The second reason is that with every abuse, you change who you are and I love the man I know now. I don’t want you to be diminished by dying brain cells when it is something that can be avoided. I know that old habits die hard, but I can be all you will ever need to cope with any situation. I am not as well educated or as perceptive as you, but I can challenge you to think deeper, to feel more fully and to experience life more abundantly. I want to be the only drug you need. - Carole
Peter wrote: I would do anything for you; that as well... You are a blessing to me; you are changing me, broadening me. I have never known the love I am getting from you. - pk
One song can spark a moment,
One flower can wake the dream.
One tree can start a forest,
One bird can herald spring.
One smile begins a friendship,
One handclasp lifts a soul.
One star can guide a ship at sea,
One word can frame the goal.
One vote can change a nation,
One sunbeam lights a room.
One candle wipes out darkness,
One laugh will conquer gloom.
One step must start each journey,
One word must start each prayer.
One hope will raise our spirits,
One touch can show you care.
One voice can speak with wisdom,
One heart can know what's true.
One life can make the difference,
One utterance of I love you.
Love, Peter Kent
Dear Peter Kent, I am so touched. No one has ever sent me poetry before. I was greatly moved by your response to the favour that I asked. I believe you when you say you would do anything for me and that is so empowering. I feel strengthened by your love.
Note from the future: 10/29/2020 I searched Peter’s poem to me online and found that he had plagiarized it. Why am I not surprised that even his poetic words of affection for me were stolen?
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.
Dear Peter Kent
I am so sorry that my journal entry caused you distress. I meant for it to do just the opposite. I wanted you to feel comfortable with my family and to know that if they were stand-offish to you that it had nothing to do with who you are, but only with their own fears. Their distrust is in my ability to love them and to love someone else. They can't come out and say that it is me they do not trust or that they fear they will not be needed if I find all I could ever want in someone else. They probably can't even say it to themselves. How selfish would it be to admit that you wanted someone to need you so badly that you would wish them a life of dependency on you? This is the sickness that I meant I didn't even want to think about.
I have spent a life time with these people and I know how they react to anyone who it seems I could be happy with. I didn't want you to think that they did not accept you for any reason other than the fact that they could see you as making me very happy. Jamie always felt like I loved Don more than her and I can see why she wouldn't want to feel that way again, but it's part of growing up and moving on, and she will come to know that you can love more than one person and that it is a different sort of love. It will be an important lesson for her.
I must have made it very clear that I was deeply in love with you and that my happiness was not going to be decided by popular vote. I told them both that I was involved with you because it is what I want and that it is high time I get what I want out of life. Even though I was firm on that stance, I went further to let them know that if I am happier, they will find their lives much more enhanced. Attitudes were far different today. I suspect they will still be dealing with their fears, at some level, for a while, but time will alleviate those. I just need you to know that their adjustment to the situation is scary for them and that there is nothing lacking in you. Love, Carole
From Peter A. Kent: Thank you for that beautiful explanation. You are so filling. I hope that I can fill any doubts you have about what I may feel as well as you just did. - Peter Kent
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.
Jamie says she doesn’t trust Peter Kent
and my mother has been unusually vocal about her similar feelings.
Jamie says the other volunteers and Daniel Capiro feel the same way. Jamie broke down in tears today when I told her that I had asked Peter Kent to move in with me. Everyone thinks he is just using me for my money and that he cares nothing for me personally. I think my mother pretty much summed it up today when she said, “I wouldn’t worry so much if you were flush right now, but things are really tight and you already have Jamie and your dad and I to support, so I don’t think it is a good idea for you to take on one more mouth to feed.”
Funny that she didn’t mention the cats. I work the way I do and provide jobs to the family and staff for the benefit of the cats, not for the people. I pointed out to Jamie that Peter Kent and I have been inseparable since meeting a month ago and her paychecks still come in on time and there is no concern that she is about to lose her job or her security.
She says it isn’t about her, but that she thinks Peter Kent is a fraud and dangerous to me. I asked how she could say something so definitive about someone she doesn’t even know and she says that any man who would move in with me, two weeks after meeting me, must be a con artist.
I really resent that my closest family finds me so undesirable that they believe a man would only love me for what I could buy him. I found it hard to accept that they thought that Don was trying to kill me rather than divorce me because of the cost. We never even spoke seriously of divorce, or in being less than in love for life, but it was so easy for my family to believe that Don could care so little about me as to want me dead.
On occasion they have nearly convinced me. It is my own family and staff who are concerned that an “intruder” will somehow diminish their income or job stability. Who is using whom? This troubles me more than I want to think about it.
Am I so self-centered as to believe that I have more to offer a man than just the fruits of my labour? Is my value all in my bank account? Am I so egocentric as to believe Peter Kent when he says that I am good for him in so many emotional ways? I know I am good for him financially. He doesn’t say it, but I am sure he feels the lack of pressure to support a woman. Why should that always be the man’s burden? Was I so blind that I could not see how Don really felt when I took care of him? Did Don’s cheating on me mean that I was somehow not enough? I believe that people can be selfish and empty and incapable of being filled, but I am not willing to believe that it is because I am in some way lacking, that every man who crosses my path is that pitifully lost.
I create my own reality and I don’t want a life of being used, betrayed and unappreciated. I am not willing to create that life for myself by attracting or nurturing a relationship that is bound to end in misery. Yet I am unwilling to set up a barricade about myself to keep all potential heartbreak at bay. It would be less of a risk for me to love Peter Kent at a distance, but I won’t construct a wall between us. (I originally said, “can’t” but that is incorrect. I can do anything, it ‘s just a matter of what I will or won’t choose to do) I am healed by his loving touch. I am relieved by his ability to ease my pain; whether it be his hand on the small of my back, his ability to be strong and let me cry, his incomparable capability as a lover or his knowledge of what my body needs to be strong and healthy. To distance myself from him emotionally is to lose much of what makes all of these sensations so powerful. I see no good reason to deprive myself that way.
As for my family, they don’t know Peter Kent, so their reservations about him are without basis. All they know are their own fears and I can’t hold that against them. If I were dependent on someone else for my security I might act the same way. Hard to imagine, but who knows? As for me, I have been wrong before, but one thing is always true: What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.
Re: Above
Dear Peter Kent, One of my volunteers covered me for the gift wrapping today, so I had some time to collect my thoughts and record them. I hesitated to copy you, because I don't want to make you feel unwelcome in any way, but I thought, on further reflection, that it may help for you to know what is going on outside of our bedroom and what I think about it.
I ask myself a lot of questions, and the answers have to come from God or from within, so I am not asking for reassurance from you. My hope is that my family will soon see how good you are for me and that you really are no threat to their security. That will make my life, outside the island, easier. Either way, the last line says it all. - Carole
I am nearly overcome with emotion listening to that song "I Could Not Ask for More". While that is probably a lie, I always ask for more, it speaks about us. You are so dear to me, I love you more than I have loved anything for many years. Thank you for showing up. Peter Kent
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.
I am about to leave to get a bite to eat, however, I wanted to tell you:
You looked so pretty at the gate this morning as you left. Everything about you inspires me to do good, to do right, to go for my dream of helping many with health care problems. This may well be started in this coming month, at least with a trip to Jacksonville with you to visit with my computer guru person. I need your feedback there since you have more experience there than do I. I believe with what he has in mind, what you have in mind and with what I have it will be perfect and effective and fun.
I wish to tell you that I am perfectly at peace right now other than being hungry. This location on the earth with you is a powerful one for me because of it's privacy and the things that surround my pee-pee twice daily.
You Carole are the most important thing in my life, I hope you understand. No one could be sweeter or more perfect than you. I enjoyed last night listening to music a great deal.
Dear Peter Kent, I am so touched by your sweetness, your gentleness and your abounding love. I am beyond words with the emotions you fill me with. You are the center of my universe and I look forward to exploring more of it with you. Last night was magical... I am deeply indebted to you.
This morning I told my mother about the alligator dream and she thinks it represents the fact that I would not accept Don back into my life if he were to show up on the door step tomorrow. That has been a huge fear of mine; that despite what I know now about him, I would take him back because I was so in love with him. I have hated myself for even thinking that I would, and yet, at some level fearing that I would. I told her she may be right because no man could ever compare to you and no man would ever be enough for me after loving you. Love, Carole
Please think about sex once in a while today. I am getting into a routine of putting you to sleep and waking you up. If it is too much ever, just say so. It's a loving thing. Love, Peter Kent
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.
My Love in the Morning
Peter Kent wanted me to tow his truck 53 miles to have the transmission replaced, but I insisted he find some other way, as my truck is not capable of that sort of abuse. I came home to help him find a way and bring phone books because he didn’t want to spend the 1.00 directory assistance. While waiting for him I cleaned up the mess from making the desk on Thanksgiving and the porches. I sent him the following poem, then Jamie and I went to work out, and shopped for towels and some clothes at the new Burlington. Peter Kent went out and bought us some CD’s to play on his system as a celebration of our moving in together. This was the poem and his response to the poem:
My Love in the Morning
Dawn makes its presence known complete
Though comes in quiet on cat feet
The sunlight filters through the shade
Upon the bed wherein we laid
It's gentle rays, so soft and meek
Steal their kisses upon your cheek
And I'm inclined to do the same
With passion for you I can't tame
I gently touch your supple skin
And yearn to feel you deep within
I think of pleasures that you store
With fond remembrance, more and more
I feel this overwhelming need
To straddle you, my virile steed
And ride you till I feel the rush
That causes me to outward blush
And then collapse upon your chest
Full knowing that I've had the best
Content in every single way
Till morn shall bring another day
For: Peter Kent A. Kent
By: Carole Stairs Lewis
If ever, anyone had more than they deserve, it is I. Thank you my poetess, my rider of the steed, my roommate, my love. You are a blessing each day that I spend with you. I am amazed at the things you get done even when you are not getting anything done. Truly we will have a great life. Thanks. -
Peter Kent
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.
A Strong Foundation
I am in awe of you, my love
In starstruck wonder, I stand still
And thank my Lord and God above
For making you; a dream turned real
I marvel at the Craftsman’s skill
That you possess in all you do
Reflective of Creative Will
That God put into making you
You shape the world in which you live
Whether it be decks, desks or chairs
Or in the healing love you give
That makes me to forget all cares
A strong foundation you have laid
And though the roses fade away
The impact on my heart you’ve made
Stays with me, forward, from this day!
For Peter Kent Kent
By Carole Stairs Lewis
Peter Kent’s response the same day.
Truly, if you consider who we are individually, how we met and the speed at which we knit together, it is truly an answer to prayer, a creation of ours that we have wished for for much of our lives. You, the lady of great character, make me very happy, appreciated, useful and with a power to get onto the future in a meaningful and worthwhile way. I am VERY grateful for who you are, there is nothing that gets past you. We will share sooo much in the years to come.
I got a very nice note from my son this morning. That just makes all that I feel about where I have landed even better. It is a wonderful feeling to know that my kids are doing the best and are happy with themselves. Love, Peter Kent
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.
Meeting Peter Kent - Recounting Nov. 3, 2001
Today was one of those turns in the road that shapes the future. I met a wonderful man and want to tell you all about him:
Dr. Peter A. Kent figment43@talkmatch.com (727) 823-4814 no address is listed for this # cell # (727) 742-1574 age: 58
Location: Saint Petersburg, Florida, United-States
Hair: Salt and pepper gray
Eyes: Hazel
Height: 6 feet 0 inches / 182.9 cm
Body Type: Athletic
Languages: I'll tell you later
Ethnicity: White / Caucasian
Religion: Christian - Other
Education: PhD / Post Doctoral
Occupation: I'll tell you later
Income: I'll tell you later
Smoker: Don't Smoke
Drinker: Drink Socially / Occasionally
Status: Divorced
Have Children: Yes, not living at home
Want Children: Undecided
I'm looking for someone to spend time with on a frequent basis. My spirit will know her when we meet. I wish to be captivated by her face and frame; I want to be comforted by her judgment; I want to feel electricity when we touch; I wish to see depth in her eyes. I wish for her parents to have blessed her with a good upbringing; I wish that she love them very much and have a history of warmth from them. I want that she have joy in her heart, confidence on her face, sexuality in her movement, elegance in her serenity. I wish to feel power from her femininity, strength from her reverence. I want that she be capable of great love and I hope to be a blend of her character.
Me, I have a child's heart but the strength of many men. I have the character of experience and faith from many endeavors. I have ability to see the 'big picture'; I am a deep thinker. I have cried when reciting the Pledge of Allegiance yet I can muster courage in an instant. I pursue growth on a daily basis, I have a renaissance outlook. I wish to leave a mark that will benefit humanity; in this I am in development. I have been blessed by God with the power to help. I love the very young, the very old and the ill. I have great joy, kindness and sensitivity within; I wish to know love again.
Dear Peter Kent, You make time for what is important. I was so impressed with your profile that I wondered, if you wrote it yourself, or if you hired a marketing guru. I liked that you spoke of things that are important, such as the relationships we have with our family. I have been exceedingly blessed with a wonderful family. My father was self employed most of his life and when he retired he came here to Easy Street to help me out by building the most incredible cages, complete with waterfalls, ponds and lots of things for busy cats to do. He's been working here since 1996. My mother was a legal secretary and then personnel manager for a large company for 19 years. I kept trying to hire her away, but her loyalty was to her company until there was a huge split in the company that left her working for the wrong boss. She then agreed to come work in my real estate business in 1998 and she makes my life so much easier now. I can count on her good judgment and she treats the business like it was her own, so that gives me peace of mind that I didn't have for the first 15 years of my business.
Your description of your desire to make a difference and the knowledge that it is God who guides us through gives me confidence that you are the kind of man I would like very much to know. For the cats, Carole
From Peter: Carole, I wish to spend some time answering your considerate note. Somehow, after having moved here three days ago, I thought today was Wednesday. I am not that intense that I loose days, but I have been busy and juggling ideas in my head. It is somewhat of a surprise to me that I could/would do that; I am laughing at myself somewhat.
Your description tells a little about you, mine is somewhat void of who I am, more of what I want. I feel that who we are comes out in being together; I do not mean to say that I will be saying who I am, more of where I am.
Yes, I wrote that little bio. I am a rather good writer at times. One of the things I wish to do is write something worthwhile regarding health it will be in one of two areas regarding health, maybe both in separate works.
I am about three things professionally, a builder, a physician, I have been a professional pilot. I did that first in my life, since I was a small child I wanted to fly airplanes, I love the extravagance of travel in a moments notice. I have owned nine aircraft, I do not own one now, but I still think about building one or two or the more extravagant homebuilts, an industry that has taken over the small aircraft field, there are some exceptional ones. Flying and aircraft were the fire in my life from when I was a small boy. I have two degrees in aerospace engineering, 8760 hours of flight experience and an aircraft mechanics license. Flying is something I have placed on the back burner in my to-do book. While it used to be very exciting for me it pales compared to other more important projects.
What truly propels me in recent years is something Nelson Mandela stated some time back: "It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are we not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world"
I had been a doer and shaker much of my life, some years back something happened that made me go inward, to look hard and long at who I was, vs who I thought I was. I played small during this time. I'll tell you more about things I want to do and how I will serve in a moment. First I wish to tell you something else that is a big part of me, "the rest of the story" as the man says....
I have spent a great deal of passionate thinking over God, and what God is. I have felt a tragedy that shook my very foundation and made me wonder more then, about the subject, and what I should do about it. I stopped my productive life and went to Bible school in Ohio. This was not a work of God, by any means. I turned out to be a disaster, however, a tremendous learning experience in retrospect. What I have learned is one must come to terms about God and what it is on his own. It is not a matter of follow the leader, following the most charismatic preacher and his interpretation of the bible, rather strongly come to terms on what you believe and read the bible for the joy and truth within. I have been a chiropractor for two of the most charismatic preachers in the Central and Southeastern US; I have come to know spirit, not from them, but on my own. I know spirit and spirit has certain laws, one is truth the second is faith. Faith is our direct link to universal wisdom, reminding us that we know more that we know more that we have heard or read or studied - that we have only to look, listen, and trust the love and wisdom of the Universal Spirit working through is all. Faith dares to go further than it can see.
Faith is the recognition that Spirit works in, as, and through each and all of us - through every person and every circumstance. Faith is also and attitude that whatever happens serves a higher good, despite the appearances to the contrary. What if you suddenly knew, with certainty, that a higher intelligence was working through you and everyone else for the highest good of humanity - that there is indeed a purpose for every pleasure and hardship. As you live in the light of this law, it will transform your perception and experience on the world. You'll begin to see every difficulty as a test in order to instruct you; you'll find lessons and opportunities in every challenge. Faith is the opposite of reason.
Applying the Law of Faith is one of the most practical, reasonable, constructive things you can do to live an inspired life. As one of nature's most delicate and vulnerable life forms, a flower's life is short and tenuous. A careless footfall, a dry winter, or pounding rain can make a life-and-death difference to a delicate blossom. And, yet, each morning it opens wide. Flowers have much to teach us about faith. When you cultivate the garden of faith in your own life, you will, like this flower, come alive in a new way. Faith is not a commodity that you own or possess; it's the divine order that pervades all things, the light behind your eyes, the loving and mysterious intelligence that emanates from the center of creation. Listen to the intuitive wisdom of your heart, where Spirit speaks. So many people rely on books, teachers, scientists, psychics, oracles, or others to advise of direct them, or to validate their views.
Teachers and books have their value, and sources of guidance and inspiration may enter your life in different forms. But never forget that the treasure is already inside you; others cannot give you anything you don't already have; they can only provide keys to your own inner wealth. So listen well to those who speak from experience and embrace wisdom where you find it, but always weigh external guidance against the wisdom of your own heart. Faith is assuming that you always make the right choice. Self-trust develops naturally, from your own direct experience; you learn to trust your body's instincts, your heart's intuition, and your mind's ability to access universal intelligence. Like water, higher wisdom doesn't come as much from your brain as through it. You aren't a vessel to be filled with facts; you're more like a radio receiver attuned to the universal intelligence operating throughout creation. All you have to do is to listen and trust.
Faith means living with uncertainty - feeling your way through life, letting your heart guide you like a lantern in the dark. There is no absolute security except in absolute faith. This doesn't mean that all circumstances will go your way or that divine justice is operating every time you injure or heal yourself. All sorts of events, both beautiful and terrible, can happen in this world. Our small mind cannot always see the bigger picture or know what is for our highest good. So despite the confusion and insecurity of life, when you can learn to live on faith, like the flower, trusting Spirit working according to a higher will beyond the reach of your mind, you'll see Spirit operating everywhere, in everyone and everything.
Faith involves the willingness to stretch yourself, make mistakes, and learn from them - in other words, to trust the process of your life. The more you trust Spirit in this way, the more you will work with it directly as a living force in your life.
If you combine these strong truths with what Mandela stated you have the confidence to do something worthwhile. I have seven college degrees, not because I wished to be a perpetual student, rather because I searched for knowledge, knowledge to change me for the better. I worked full time each time I was in college, this last time as a builder, I built a church and a school in New Mexico over the past few years while going through a master's program in Oriental Medicine. Why I did that is "another story", however, I am glad that I did. I once was at a place where money and 'things" where what I wanted for my family and myself. I was making $50K per month in a personal injury practice as an orthopedist in Orlando, and then my daughter shot herself. Let me say that was a life changing event, one I am just now getting over; one does a lot of soul searching over something like that. I gave up everything and I looked for God, but God is not in most men; most men are actors. I am at a place now in life where I am back on course; willing to begin again and make a difference. I have three very large things to do. One is huge, two are very necessary. I have high compassion, lots of courage and high intelligence. I wish to change a couple of things done as wrong as they could be, currently, in medicine. One is breast screening; mammography is flat wrong, unhealthy.
The second is the concept of the common cold, people are taught that we get ill from something external and that we need to counteract it with something to kill the foreign invader. Some years ago, about 190 years I think, we adopted the germ theory of disease. There was another theory at the same time, that germs were not the cause of disease, rather the result of disease. I wish to show how with proper guidance this is the way small disease should be handled. I can do that with the common cold, for which I will have to write a book and have a website with the armamentum to cure.
The book is in my head, there are four stages of the common cold, none of which should be handled with antibiotics. Lastly, I have been working on an idea for the lay person to handle small dis-ease, the kind where the doctor says wait for it to get worse before we can do something about it. I wish to make non-prescription herbal products from around the world (mostly from China) available on a website that is run by software that quantifies energetic changes in the body before the germ shows up. I am currently doing this and have met with the FDA to know how to do it. It needs only a slight bit more money infusion; it will not be long now. This is the biggest deal I am working on. It steps into the medical/legal arena; I have done my homework here.
Currently, I work as a building contractor. I have an ad in the paper as (believe it or not) THE HOUSE DOCTOR, I take only smaller gravy jobs. (I have three doctorate degrees). Between being a professional pilot and going to chiropractic school in '78, I was a builder (of homes mostly). I got one in Better Homes and Gardens in '78, in Ormond Beach. (My biggest commercial project was the UPS building in Daytona Beach) I built over 130 homes in years past and am re-qualifying with the state of Florida in December.
Like you I am busy, unlike you, I am re-settling. I am on fire with the things above, passionate to leave something worthwhile behind. I appreciate who you are and compliment you on your success and your upbringing. My best regards to your mom and dad. One of my favorite words is serendipity. I am glad to have made your acquaintance. It would be nice to walk quietly with you. - Peter Kent
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.
Dear Peter Kent, You asked me a question that I didn’t know how to answer, “If you had not been raped, who would you be now?” There is no way to say with certainty, because a quarter of a century of other things have happened that brought me to where I am today, but if I could turn back time and pick up the night before that happened, I can imagine how my life would have progressed based upon the trajectory it was on. I was in love with a man that made me feel like I was in the presence of God. Mike Belcher was in college, studying to be a preacher in the Church of Christ, and was from Bowling Green, KY. He was not an attractive person, but people flocked to him and you could just see his aura from all the way across the college campus. I didn’t know what an aura was then, but to me it was like seeing a man surrounded by angels.
The college girls all just loved him, but I was the one he asked to marry him. When he found out how young I was, (I was 13 or 14) he was willing to wait. I knew that being a preacher’s wife would be hard because, as I explained to you earlier, we don’t pay our preachers much of anything so that we can be sure that their motives are pure. I would likely need to learn a trade so that I could support the both of us and I wanted to be a Veterinarian. It was my plan to finish school early and get into a good college on a scholarship. I was a straight A student and in the 6th grade had taken the entrance exam to Florida College and passed with the highest score on record. This was also true on my Real Estate and Mortgage License exams. I am great at tests.
My grandmother had polished me for public speaking from the time I was six, so I was comfortable with people and felt like I would be the perfect preacher’s wife. I was teaching myself the Grand Diplomat School of Cooking course at home and did all of my family’s cooking and cleaning and was raising my brother, because my parents were working all the time. After school I worked in a gift shop (on N. Florida Ave in Tampa) that my grandfather set up for me when I was nine and later for my father’s lawn care business every day after work. I was also responsible for keeping our 10 acre yard up for my family and for my grandmother next door. I was loving and trusting and felt like the sky was the limit because all my life, my mother and grandmother had told me so.
I loved Mike Belcher and was in awe of his knowledge of the Bible and his ability to share that knowledge. I loved that he was so comfortable in his relationship with God. I had always been that way, but even at that young age noticed that most people didn’t feel that intimate connection to their Creator. When he was in college here I was with him whenever I wasn’t working and I felt safe at his side. When he was home in KY I wrote him love letters and poems and I longed for the school year to resume.
After I was raped, I quit writing him and wouldn’t take his calls. I couldn’t tell him why. I was so ashamed, I couldn’t tell anyone. Later, after I had left home, my mother said he came looking for me, but she didn’t know where I was. I became an alcoholic and a chain smoker and even though my work ethic stayed strong, I was only a shadow of who I had been until I got pregnant with Jamie at the age of 19. My husband locked me in a room of our house, for what seemed like weeks, but was probably only days, until I dried out. I never drank again, except for the occasional glass of wine.
I wouldn’t allow a Bible in the same house and I didn’t talk to God for 13 years. My first husband, also named Mike, who I hated, discovered that my parents really loved him for dragging me to church and I did it while we were married, but I was unfaithful to him and to God for the eight years we were married. It was in the mid to late 80’s, after my divorce, that Wally nagged me back to church. Wally just kept telling me he was praying for me and that God loved me and that one day I would come to know the Lord. He didn’t know how close God and I were before I screwed up. I couldn’t deter Wally despite having the foulest mouth and mannerism toward his unwelcome suggestions that I pray. Wally belongs to a liberal religious group that doesn’t follow the Bible as closely as we do and now our arguments are all over whether or not you have to be baptized to be saved and that sort of thing. He has been a great friend and I would spend more time with him, except that it makes his wife uncomfortable and she is a good person.
During this time, Don had taken on a girlfriend while I was dating the psychologist. We were still working together, and Don was still married to his first wife, so things were strained. In the late 80’s Don’s wife divorced him and I had to choose between him and the swinging psychologist, Dr.R. I stood out in the sun, raised my face to God and prayed. He told me to leave them both and I tried, but Don was persistent and in time I gave in. This turning point of praying, however, was the beginning of my journey back to who I was before. I came to trust in God’s guidance ( I really should have run from them both) and tried with renewed dedication to learn all that He had written for me.
I knew my weakness for Don was not in keeping with what was expected of me, but I vowed to do everything else right and pray for forgiveness and mercy. I was faithful to both Don and God until Don’s disappearance. This tragedy has brought me even closer to God and I had hoped that perhaps now, thinking that my best sexual years were behind me, I would be able to abstain and focus entirely on serving my Lord. After a year of celibacy, I couldn’t take it any longer and began seeking a mate that would see me through this period of time that I could not remarry.
When that mate asked me to marry him (the week before the WTC bombings) I re evaluated all that I had settled for and found that I was unwilling to commit the rest of my life to something that I really didn’t want. What I really wanted was to be back at the place in my life when I was happy and content with where my life was going. I broke up with him, citing religious differences as my reason, because he did not know God and had no desire to seek Him. I placed the ad with match.com looking for a man who was committed to making a difference and who knew, or at least was searching, for God.
You were the third response that I met with. You were the only one that fit what I was looking for. The Bible says that God will not tempt us and that He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able to withstand, so I don’t know why you are in my life. I can’t say that I believe God would bring to me such an undeniable temptation to disobey His Law. I know that my choice to be with you is contrary to God’s Word, but again I can only hope that He will forgive this transgression and be understanding of my desire to build toward an acceptable relationship.
The healing I am able to impart to the cats in my care far exceeds any satisfaction that I would have thought possible in a Veterinary career. I have lived a life that makes me an unacceptable candidate as a preacher’s wife and no longer see that as being a goal. I do appreciate my ability to have overcome the obstacles in my life and I feel good about who I am, but I believe that even the appearance of impropriety can be a stumbling block to others who don’t know the whole story and I would not want to cause anyone to distrust God’s Word because they thought me to be a hypocrite.
My mother said something insightful about people who say they won’t go to church because of the hypocrisy of some of the members, “I’d rather spend this short life time in church next to a hypocrite than all of eternity in hell with them.” That being said, a lot of people are not as understanding or forgiving and for that reason, I have never even asked to join the local church that I attend. I don’t want to put anyone in the position of having to explain how Carole Lewis could be a member of a Church of Christ.
I see great hope in pursuing this relationship with you. You are loving, giving and healing to me in so many ways. I was most touched last night when I began crying and you held me close and told me to let it out. I have been asked to stuff it inside, my whole life, because people don’t typically know how to deal with the pain of another and try to make it stop before they become too uncomfortable. I have seen three people to their deaths with cancer and they all said the same thing; that no one else knew how to just be there for them. You know how to accept me as I am and how to be supportive of what I need, without my having to ask. I was up all night thinking about your response to me at such a vulnerable moment in my life and was deeply moved. Having recounted the event made it as real as if it had happened yesterday and the only way I could force those awful images from my mind was to keep reminding myself of how kind you were to me in hearing me out and not judging me on the naiveté of a 14 year old. I felt unconditional love from you and that is new to me. I have often given it, but never received it.
I have cried through this whole letter and have to go lead a staff meeting. You have just called me from Costco and unlike my usual way of being, I wanted to keep you on the line. I didn’t want to hang up. I appreciate all that you shared with me yesterday about your family and your feelings. I love you more with every new thing that I learn about you. I love that you have taken a leadership role in my spiritual life on something as simple as praying with me. I thank God silently that we have found each other, but do not express it aloud, as you have, because I do not believe it is right for a woman to lead a man in prayer or any other form of worship. Your ease in addressing God is encouraging to me and tells me a lot about the kind of man you are. I am in awe of you, Peter Kent Kent. With Heartfelt Love, Carole
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.
I have only known Peter Kent for 2 weeks and last night I asked him to move in with me. I was with Don for 8 years before we moved in together. I was with Alan Schreier for 5 months before making such a suggestion and that had just ended rather badly. I had no intention of getting involved in a monogamous relationship when I met Peter Kent and told him so the first night. I had began to remake the island into my own private sanctuary, far from anything that resembled responsibility. I was looking forward to just meeting some great people and enjoying them on a casual basis. It is against God’s law that I have a man, who is not my husband and since I have no intention of getting married, it makes little difference if I sleep with a man because I love him or if I even know his name. It is wrong, either way and neither is less of an infraction of the commandments. I was instantly attracted to Peter Kent and wanted to know him sexually and maybe even get to know him better.
When I offered to drive him to Jacksonville, I felt sure that by the end of the weekend, we would have known the excitement of two strongly sexual beings have come together in a passion that would far exceed any later encounters. The first time is always the best. Sometimes it is the only good time. On the drive up, Peter Kent was quite entertaining and talkative. He surely told me every bad thing he ever did or thought and I was puzzled why anyone who was hoping to get laid would bare his failures so shamelessly. I can only speculate as to his reasoning. Perhaps, in time, I will understand.
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.
Un Answered Prayers
Carole, what a beautiful note. I am enamored (sp?) in the gift God has given us both. You would not believe the level to which you please me. I love your ways, your demeanor, your words, your voice, your noises (that is sooo important, your passion noises), your mother, your love for family, your daughter and her feelings for you. I am so lucky that you passed my way and that we are together the way and the depth that we are. I have one regret; that my tongue is not long enough to caress the
inside of your naval from that place that you gave me two orgasms from last evening. I wish to be intimate with you like that until I can no longer function. You are so important and so right to me.
I love you, Peter Kent
11/15/01 12:12:19 PM
Un Answered Prayers
A dark, deserted, dreary place
Was, once upon a time, this heart
Where sorrow lived without a trace
That joy had ever been a part
My soul was cold and froze the tears
That otherwise would choke me sure
Engulfed was I with all my fears
And no longer could I endure
I prayed that God would send for me
And tend to those I'd leave behind
No longer did I want to be
In contact with the human kind
But thank God for un-answered prayer
Or answering and saying "No."
But rather sending one to share
The greatest love I'd ever know
He sent an Angel, kind and strong
A gentle man with laughing eyes
Who'd cause me to forget the wrong
Done unto me through other's lies
His warmth would reach my very soul
And spark in me eternal flame
Without him I was never whole
But with him I can Live again!
For Peter Kent A. Kent
By Carole Stairs Lewis
Thursday was the first night of one of my typically horrific periods and my head felt like it would just blow off my shoulders as Peter Kent was eating dinner. He asked if I would be willing to try acupuncture and figured I wouldn’t notice any extra pain and said sure. He set up, what he calls the pleasure alter, a collapsible adjustment table in the living room and he began to work his magic.
When he was through, the jet engines in my ears had been silenced, and I felt like I was drifting in and out of my body. When I drifted in the abominable cramps were so bad, I would almost jump out-of-body to escape it and that was working for me. I told Peter Kent what I was doing and he asked me to lay on the floor. He manipulated my abdomen and some pressure points on my feet and ankles and in seconds the cramps were gone. I haven’t had one since and yet I am bleeding profusely, as always and passing clots that usually make me want to scream in pain.
He showed me how to do the acupuncture for his back and how to burn Moxa on the needles. It was an incredible evening of giving relief and caring for each other. It was unlike any love making I have ever known before. He is a beautiful spirit and I want to be engulfed by him.
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.
Peter Kent's Angel Arms You are the greatest thing that has ever happened to me in my life. I say this as you are in the next room playing with the washing machine, and I am about to undress to hit the hot tub to hold you near again. You have my total attention and I yours these days, it is wonderful - Peter Kent Peter Kent's Angel Arms Awaked with him, my heart does sing My lover reaches out to me His big, strong arms, enveloping Like wings of Angels, Heavenly. I'm safe within his warm embrace No fear of him, nor outside harm Can reach me in this happy place That he provides, so safe, and warm. He holds me close, and yet I know His Love's not the possessive kind And when it's time that I must go He'll let me out, my day to find Because he knows my Love is true And knows my heart, to him is reined These precious hours will carry through Until I'm in his arms again. By: Carole Lewis Carole, you cannot imagine how perfect you are for me. I am awestruck by what we have and what you done for me, what you think of me. I love you like I did not think it would be possible to love anyone, simply because NO ONE has ever filled me the way you fill me. You are a person like no one I have ever met; you are a miracle and I am very happy to be sharing all that we share. I love what we do each evening, and I know that it will not change. Last night was a one in a million and it will repeat itself over and over. It will be sooo terrific sharing the holidays with you, tasting you each evening. Thank you for this great poem, now get to work. Love, Peter Kent 11/14/01 Peter Kent had put in 12 hours of back breaking work and I came in late after church to join him in the hot tub. Sitting in his lap, and facing him, he was tender and oddly quiet for the longest time. When he spoke, he said, “I think I love you, Carole Lewis”, to which I responded, “In time you will know for sure.” He thought about that for a moment and said that he was sure, but he still didn’t sound sure. I was touched by his vulnerability and believed that the words truly came from his heart. I know with the love that I have to offer him, he will one day look back on this moment and be glad he took a chance.
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.
I am so sorry that I was not able to get back to you.
I got your message but could not call and have not been home to write a note. You do not know how much I cherish you already. You gestures and your thoughts are seemingly from another planet due to your gracious mannerism. I long to know you much better. Would you call me whenever you get up. I do not want to wake you too early, AND, I know your 10:00 appointment that you must be preparing for. I would think that calling me on my cell would be best, I may well be on my way to you when you do call. God bless you abundantly, - Peter Kent
He didn’t get home until 1:00 am because he was in jail for shoplifting a $3.00 kitchen knife. A pastor-friend down the street came and bailed him out.
I didn’t get the message because I didn’t have AOL at home.
8:45 am My intention at the moment, is to make contact with you earlier today. I am off to get a drivers license address change and then I will be going the long way around to pick up some meds at Costco in Brandon on my way to you somehow.
I am excited about us launching something together, a relationship. You seem to feel about me as I would wish my special person to feel. I do not take that lightly, it is very filling and I could not ever say enough good about it. What I wish to learn is to 'act' or 'be' as though it means the world to me, rather than playing safe and untrustworthy of relationship. I think that going slow and talking about it a lot, as knowledgeable adults, is the way to go. I have many worthy things to do. - Peter Kent
Dear Peter Kent, I did not have access to a computer last night. The old lap top that I carried to the island was having modem trouble. I got it up and running, but it was too slow to bother with this morning. I am glad you called. As much as I dislike talking on the phone, it is still the most effective for two people on the move. It is different when it is you anyway. Perhaps you will help me to overcome this little problem.
I just got in to Easy Street and read your notes. I do care about you and think about you throughout the day. Being a woman, it is always easy to start over, because there is always someone who will take you in, make you strong and wish you well on your way. I think it must be much harder for a man. You would know.
I don't want you to try and argue with me about this trip. I will pay all of the costs involved and don't want you to reach for your wallet in any part of the travel or food expense this weekend. The only thing that I want from you is that you are well rested and prepared for your exam. In some ways I think even the distraction of a woman is bad timing for this, but I don't know quite what to do about that. Just know that I am patient (you will not believe how patient until you know me better) and I, too, want to go at this relationship slowly. As much as I love the thrill of infatuation, I want something more lasting and ultimately, more satisfying.
We are having a chicken crisis right now, so I can't devote the time to that thought that I would like. Brandon is very congested, so be careful. If you get lost trying to get back to Easy St. most people know where the Citrus Park mall is and we are across the street. I will send another letter momentarily that has the work list. For the cats, Carole Lewis, Founder
RE: The only thing that I want from you is that you are well rested and prepared for your exam.
This exam is fairly simple, I already passed the hard part. I had taken the exam in March at the University of Miami Law School, AND, arrived 93 minutes late. The exam is two parts, point location (easy, and should take about 35 minutes of the three hours they a lot) and comprehensive. They let me sit for the exam anyway but I missed the instructions for the point location procedure. I thought I got them all correct because they were commonly used points. I got a 35% on that part and passed the difficult part. All I really need to do is look through the book on the way there and tomorrow morning, when I can really cook (I usually study 300 times faster in the early morning).
RE: In some ways I think even the distraction of a woman is bad timing for this, Nah.....
RE: but I don't know quite what to do about that.
There are only two requirements:
1) Do what I say, 2) do it immediately.......... (lol)
I am leaving in about 20 minutes.
Truly you are a gift I must pray about. - Peter Kent
Carole, the unpleasant part is the money end. In the past I had done all fix-up stuff by bid or by time and materials. I have a lot of tools to make things go faster and generally charge $29/hr for my time. (I worked as a sub-contractor for a big fix-up firm in Albuquerque for a while and they bid me at $55/hour, until I got a school and a church to build I went off on my own while in school). I am fast and work hard. I usually do not like working more than 6-7 hours per day depending on my energy levels and the work entailed.
I am wishing for this to be fair a profitable for you. I thank you for your loving ways, I wish not to be any burden.
11/9/01 I drove with Peter Kent in the 98 Dodge van to Jacksonville. We pulled into the parking lot of the Ramada Inn at dusk and as we drove around back, I realized that this was the same hotel that Judy Watson, Hercules (the Snow Leopard) and I stayed in back on August 7-11, 1997 for the LIOC meeting. I began thinking about what that signified.
That was the last “normal” week of my life. Seven days later, Don was gone and my world was shaken upside down. I told Peter Kent what was going on in my head and wondered aloud if this was God’s way of saying that things would now get back to “normal” for me. I could love again. I could be happy again. I could see the future again.
I wore my gown to bed because I did not wish to seem presumptuous and at some level really thought he should forego sex before this big exam. I would leave that choice up to him. He would know his needs and weaknesses better than I. We continued exploring each other and then he kissed me.
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.
No problem on the license, and, I am a great driver for after hours.
I will be getting my license renewed with current address tomorrow.
It appears to me that instead of looking into pre-fab sheds, we can build exactly what you need. I have all the tools and know-how. The permit should be no problem. - pk
After sending first poem: Nothing can compare
Father God, I thank you for Carole Lewis. I ask that you bless us both, expand our territories. May your hand be with us in all things, lead us from evil, may we never cause pain. - Peter Kent
Saltillo tile is easy to cut.... thicker but softer (like me).
I want to stay busy. I finished the job in Clearwater this morning and the woman decided to deduct $50 for a chip I put in her formica when replacing her d/w. I asked if I could fix it for her and she wants to call the man who did it in the first place, so that she can back charge me. That $50 is sorely missed this morning. (Looking back, this should have been my first hint)
I am ready to come up there whenever you say go.
I will be driving my truck there with my motorcycle/utility trailer and leaving it with your permission, to travel back and forth when necessary on the bike.
I do not feel the engineering drawings will be much of a problem. I can communicate via e-mail to a draftsman person in Albuquerque, and he can send drawings via e-mail. As long as it is drawn to code, there should be no problem other than I do not get my license until December after taking an exam. -
Peter Kent
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.
Why I Don’t Like to Touch People
Dear Peter Kent, Thank you for the best night of human interaction I have had in several years. I appreciate the way you shared yourself with me, and I look forward to knowing you more fully. If we find that we are not suited for each other, let me photograph you for your profile. The one you have online is so obscure that I thought you weighed at least three times what you do and does not show off your gorgeous face. If your photo did you justice, and I am an excellent photographer, you would have to empty your email box several times a day from all the women who would be clamoring for your attention. In fact, I will do this for you even if we do seem to be going somewhere. I am confidant in my ability to satisfy a man and if that were not enough for you, then you deserve to find someone who could. It's not flowers, but I have a problem with cutting a perfectly good rose off of the bush that created it.
I would like to hear about Susan. I would also like to know how you came up with your screen name. There would appear to be a story there, or is that a figment of my imagination?
I couldn’t find any reference of David seeking the assistance of a fortune teller, but the following verse prevents me from utilizing one:
Mal:3:5: And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.
I don't doubt their ability. I have a certain ability myself and I think all children are born with it, but we crush it out of them by ignoring it, or criticizing them or discounting it as fantasy. When I was racing horses, Jamie was very popular at the track with all the old men as she was very good at picking the winners. When I saw it in her I tried to nurture that ability because it can serve one very well. I find nothing in the Bible that precludes one from having and exercising the ability, but rather the issue seems to be when people choose to seek out a spiritist rather than seeking out God. Jamie and I are very different and yet almost always on the same wave length to the point where it is a common joke between us to ask, "Did I say that out loud?" Sometimes we honestly can't tell.
I am particularly good at finding people and empathizing with them. I could almost always get in the car and go straight to where ever Don was. That became increasingly handy when he started getting lost. I could just feel him. I have even found him as he was driving down the Interstate; a moving target! I have had similar experiences with other people who were in grave danger, such as my brother who was lost in a snow storm and a former boyfriend who tired to commit suicide. It was strongest with Don and that is why not finding him has been so hard for me. It's what I do best and I can't do it. I can't feel him. For a couple of days after his disappearance I thought I could, but every where I looked was wrong and then I couldn't feel him any more.
The empathy comes in waves. Sometimes when I touch someone, or even just get too close, I feel a surge of emotion that doesn't seem to be mine. That is why I was so intrigued with what you felt when Marsa introduced you to Roseanne. You are obviously receptive to this sort of unexpected input. I can't usually make any sense of it. I passed close to a woman once and was compelled to tell her to stay away from ladders and as you can imagine people don't take that kind of unsolicited advice well. I didn't know why, but I could see a ladder and I could see her weeping, so it seems like the appropriate thing to say at the time. It is not usually even that well defined. It is just a gust of emotion that leaves me gasping for air.
The worst experience was one of my volunteers brought his room mate out to Easy Street and introduced us. I politely shook his hand, doubled over and began sobbing uncontrollably. I could not regain my composure and excused myself saying that I was dealing with my own problems, but I knew it was not my life that was causing such turmoil. The volunteer was such an oddball that I figured his room mate was probably some axe murderer or something and I didn't want to know why I felt that way, so I didn't say anything. The next day the room mate was found dead by his own hand; a shot gun blast in the mouth. I just about swore off ever touching anyone again.
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
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From Peter:
Carole, I have something to say that I wish for you to hear. I say it with a beingness of mine, somewhat of a loneliness and a searching. I love your words, and I have an attitude about notes. People put the amount of work in them that they are willing to give to a mate, a counterpart. I thank you for your contribution for your making me feel hope that their is a considerate, intelligent being out there for me that makes sense and has the capacity to love. Thank you for the passion, for your love of purpose and cause that you live your life with. I pray the prayer of Jabez several times daily; it's a small, rather popular name to a book at the present time. I usually do not like books by preachers, but I like the simplicity of the prayer of Jabez, it is a hidden passage from (I think) Exodus.
Paraphrased: "Heavenly Father, Creator of all love, Power of the Universe, I ask you to bless me this day; expand my territories, may your hand be with me in all that I do, keep me from evil and let me cause no pain."
I ask you that you, Carole, see the wonder in that prayer, what else could one ask for. In no area does it guide God or assist him in a direction that you feel your own "infinite wisdom" (tongue in cheek) knows. I love that prayer, it allows for blessings without a request that your own input would screw up.
Three things please:
-
I know nothing about your husband's disappearance. Because the English language does not differentiate between present tense 'read' and past tense 'read' (red), I do not no what you are saying when you say "If you read about my husband's disappearance...." I have no knowledge of that.
-
I am re-settling because I have come to the end of my sojourn of introspection. It has been a journey and now I am on my way to doing something worthwhile. My intention was to be without things for a while. To play, to look, to watch, to learn. Initially, I went to Colorado with my car and motorcycle to tour the mountains, to feel the majesty and simplicity of every small town in Colorado. It was joyful living in a tent in various places but in only lasted for seven weeks. I almost feel guilty saying this but YOU would probably suffer similarly: I have such a strong work ethic that I could not do that task without feeling I was accomplishing something.
I also have this thing about learning something. After seven weeks of playing, I enrolled in a master's program of Oriental Medicine in Albuquerque, where I spent the past 3,5 years. I am now freshly out of school, taking my National Board Acupuncture exam in Jacksonville next Saturday. My trusty car, which got me through those years out west, caught on fire the first of August and I am reduced to an old work-truck and my motorcycle. I am broke beyond being broke, but filled with love and dedication to do something worth while. I am working today, to finish a small tile job in Clearwater, to buy a bed, to prepare for my son's visit in two weeks. I have learned so much in the past 10 years. Re-settling is a gentle word, there is more to it than that, What I was and what I am is not the same.
- My daughter did not die, what she was died, and a large piece of me died but she lives with two children in Ohio. There was lots of expense to save her life, to have her institutionalized, to heal her body and mind. She is not to same, but she is good and strong in her own new self. She is adopted, her mom is the mother of my son who is 11 years younger than she.
There is some mental illness on my wife's side; I cannot and don't wish to decide if my ex is of dual personality or the strongest woman on earth. She took my son from me after this ordeal with my daughter and he and I are just now getting back together in life. He is the strongest and most successful, best judgment young man I have ever known. Much of his character was formed through these happenings; he is a cadet at VMI, in pre-med and doing very well at age 21. A chunk of me was lost when all this happened, if was the same ordeal as though she had died, she is not the same person. All that being said, ALL is better now, including me. There were some miracles that happened through this, I will tell you sometime, but not now. I did not, not tell you of her life on purpose; it just came out that way in the narrative I wrote.
I have to go to work this morning; I have to finish this tile job in Clearwater. I would like to visit with you this afternoon if you will write me a note as to the specifics when I get back. I have to leave now. -
Peter Kent
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.
Jorge Fernandez left word on my cell phone that he received my faxes and that they have determined that Danny could not have been involved because he was in a high security rehab, in Avon Park, with guards until the end of September in 1997 when he was transferred to jail for outstanding charges that were against him here. I couldn’t find any arrest record for a Michael Spitz, but there was a Michael R. Spitzer.
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.
Michael Spitz (or Stip?) tells police that he and Danny Lewis killed and buried Don Lewis
Detective Jorge Fernandez called me this morning and said that he had a new lead in Don’s disappearance. He asked if the name Michael Spitz meant anything to me and it didn’t. He said that the guy claimed to work for Don and that he was short, chubby and alcoholic. I asked if he was balding and he said no, that he had a full head of hair. Dad said it sounded like a guy that sometimes worked at WOES who Dad called the Samoan, because of his Polynesian looks.
Michael Spitz claimed that he was working out at the Hwy 92 farm in Seffner, on the front end loader, on the Saturday before Don disappeared and heard two gun shots. When he went to investigate he saw Don’s son, Danny Lewis, standing about 15 feet away with a gun in his hand. Don was dead on the ground, with two bullet holes in his head. Danny threatened Michael and his family if he were to ever tell.
They loaded Don into the bucket of the loader and covered him with palm leaves. They buried him in a pit that was 60 feet by 200 feet and maybe 30 feet deep under concrete that they were filling the hole with. Michael says he is dying of AIDS and only has a couple months left to live and wanted to come clean before he dies. Jorge asked if they could go dig around and I told him that I had sold the property, but that I would try to locate the new owners for him. I pulled it up on the computer and faxed it in with this note:
“Danny Lewis must be in his mid 30’s. I can’t find anything that had any more than just the name: Danny Lewis. He should have a pretty extensive rap sheet. Last time I saw him he was about 6 feet tall, blonde hair, bald on top. Don said he was adopted, but he looked so much like Don that I always suspected he was an illegitimate son that had been unwittingly adopted by Gladys Lewis Cross. Gladys Lewis Cross was last known to me as Gladys Lewis Cross at 1603 Lakewood Drive Brandon, FL. 33510. She was always very protective of Danny, so I don’t know if she would help. Seems like Danny was in prison or rehab at the time that Don disappeared because when his sisters and the secretary all came in and tried to take over our business, Danny wasn’t available to sign for himself, so Gladys Lewis Cross was representing him and using her address for his mail.
(Found this booking 6/14/2020)
These dates may help you fill in some of the pieces. Don fired Danny March 30, 1994, but Don fired Danny a lot, so I am not sure that was the last time. Don told me that his insurance policy draft in April of 1997 eliminated Danny and Don’s Daughter, Lynda Sanchez as beneficiaries.
The person I couldn’t think of was Alvin Coulter and I remember that he and Joe Ryan were the first people to call me asking about Don after he disappeared. When Don was robbed and beaten by the masked intruder in the late 1980’s he said that it was either Danny or Alvin Coulter and that either way they were in on it together. Joe Ryan is the person who originally built the house that you said is falling down at the old “farm” on Hwy. 92. Joe borrowed money to finish the home, didn’t make his payments and we foreclosed on him, taking the property and his home. Don and Joe were involved in litigation with Lazy Days at the time of his disappearance.
I asked my Dad if he remembered Michael Spitz and the closest he came to the description was someone that he called the Samoan, due to his Polynesian looks. I don’t know if this could have been the same person. You said that Michael Spitz is dying and that is why he has come clean, but you also said that he feared for his family’s lives, so I am wondering why that doesn’t matter now.
As for the property, I sold it in August of 1999 to Promised Land Fund, who sold it in November of 1999 to David R. and James M. Chadwell. Following is the Court record. I don’t have any contact info for the current owners. I know there was a shallow pit that was excavated and refilled with concrete, just NE of the house, but that pit was only about 60 feet round. I never saw how deep. Don had buried a lot of stuff that he was being made to dig out by the EPA. Don talked about a much bigger pit, more to the east of the house, closer to the water, that was the main source of the EPA complaint. Perhaps the EPA has a site map? I don’t have anything in my file that shows it. I do remember Don complaining about what the clean up was costing, so I would think it was a large amount of stuff being removed.
The dates Michael Spitz gave you were obviously wrong, and I am wondering if it happened later, how it was that Michael was still out there working? Who was paying him? The only person I remember living on that property, at that time, was Kenny Farr and Trish Farr. No one came to me asking to be paid, or asking if they should keep working out there. Please let me know if you discover any credible evidence.
Faxed the above to Jorge Fernandez 247-0537 reg. Ph. # 247-8663 10/18/01”
Jamie and Daniel Capiro left on the 17th for Australia. I asked Alan Schreier if he would be more comfortable if I stay at their house until the 24th when they get back and he said yes. He said he was moving to 804 Lakewood by the first week in November.
5/20/2020 Christopher Spata tells me that Mike Spitz was actually Mike Stip. The photos above came from Spata too. 6/13/2020 Ripper Jack interviews Kenny Farr’s ex-wire Trish who says this guy is “Mexican Mike” Garcia (I think. I’d have to listen again) and claims that he and Kenny had brought Don’s van, full of guns, to her marital home the day before Don disappeared. She makes a lot of false claims, but Kenny did often drive our vehicles and could have been getting the guns ready for the barge trip to Costa Rica. I think there was some news of this “Mexican Mike” being a contract killer. The police later told me his story couldn’t be true because Danny Lewis was locked up at the time.
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.
I prepared the following letter to break up with Alan Schreier. When I came home from church this night, he asked me to tell him what was bothering me. The night before he had asked if I would count him in on a deal that not only did he put no work into, but his interference had almost blown it for me. I told him most of the non religious reasons that appear in the following letter. Upon advice from my mother, I now made the focus of my leaving him the religious aspects, so that he could save face and not try to “do better”. I was much kinder in what I said, but all of these thoughts were expressed to some degree in the past two days.
Dear Alan Schreier
When we first met, I told you that I did not believe it was right to have sex outside of marriage, but I was so crazy about you that I compromised my belief and did what my body yearned to do with you. I have always felt the burden of my sins in this relationship with you, but would brush those thoughts aside in favour of recalling how much joy you brought to my life. I have been in constant turmoil since our first night together, but thought that perhaps, in time, we would marry and God would forgive me. I prayed about it all the time. Staying in this relationship was wrong, but I am weak and my heart overpowered my soul. I couldn’t leave you while I was so in love with you.
Our relationship ended the day you came in complaining that Vince and Sheila had told Todd that you never accomplished anything on your own, but rather had relied on handouts from me, to get where you are. I wanted to believe your anger was based upon the fact that they said that to your son, rather than to your face, so I asked, “Why do you think they said that?” While I am still sure that you were upset that Todd heard it, your tirade about the issue was focused entirely on how they did not recognize the fact that you achieved your success entirely on your own.
You have never acknowledged what I have done for you and the hundreds of thousands of dollars that I have invested in getting you out of debt and on your feet. You have never said that you appreciated that I put my own career on hold for nearly three years to get yours going. Even when I have felt most put out in listening to you brag to others about all that you have achieved, I didn’t attempt to set the record straight, because I was sure, that on some level, you knew. Your pride and your dignity have been more important to me than the need for me to remind you how you got to where you are. When you asked me, for the third time tonight to give you a handout, I couldn’t make excuses for you any more. My voice sounded distant, angry and shaking as I recounted just a few of the more costly sacrifices I have made for you. I stopped short of mentioning most of the accounts because there is nothing to be gained in venting my frustration with you.
This is a lot more than just about money. I fell in love with your looks and your sex appeal. In retrospect, I think we just hadn’t been laid in a while when we met, because in just a few months our sex had gone from great to “hop on”, being the extent of your participation. You have made a couple attempts to be more involved in the past few weeks, but it comes a bit late. I couldn’t really ask you to put more effort into sex, when I knew it was wrong for me to be engaged in it anyway. I let my body go, as bad as you did, but when I finally found something that worked, I cared enough to try and look my best. You have made it clear that filling your stomach is more important to you that maintaining what attracted me to you. It is never a good thing to fall in love with a person’s looks. That is shallow and I knew better.
Initially I liked that we could talk, but I soon learned that I couldn’t tell you anything of any real importance because you would repeat it to anyone who would listen. It is not that nothing ever happens in the course of my day, it is that I don’t feel safe in sharing it with you. Sometimes I really need to talk out loud, but I can never give you the whole story, because I never know whom you will blurt it out to. Your need for confrontation in your life, makes me wary of what I say. I see you do it to your friends and watch in horror as they exclaim that they can’t believe you repeated this or that. If there is anything that I don’t need in my life, it is that kind of stress. The fact that you can repeat what I say to you tells me that when you choose to overlook what I have done for you, it is a conscious choice and not one of senility, and that hurts.
Finally, and most importantly, what kind of a future can I expect with you? I take marriage very seriously and I see it as two people pulling toward a common goal. My goal is to make my life count and to use every minute here trying to leave the world a better place, so that when I die, I can take satisfaction in knowing that I made a difference. I see this world as just a momentary diversion that prepares us for eternity and although I make my share of mistakes, and have my load of shortcomings, I really try to learn what God has asked of me and to do it. Not only do you have no passion for this life, you have no concern for your Creator or what He expects from you. We need a bigger goal than a fat bank account to be pulling toward if there is any future for us.
I don’t think you are a bad person, but I think you are too lazy to make any lasting change. I need a person that I can look up to; someone that I can be in awe of. I tried to create that in you, but at your core, you are still looking for the easy way out. You talk a great game, and even fooled me for a while, but not only do you lack the skills to ever succeed on your own, you lack the desire to learn, and that is something that I just can’t fix. You asked to come along with me when I look at Tax Deed properties, but driving around, looking at property is not the hard part. It is the years of experience and the countless hours of research that I spend in the court records that makes a deal and that is not something you want to do.
So, what now? I am typing this at 1:30 in the morning, like I do a lot of my work, because your snoring has run me out of the room. I will set up a bed in the guest room so that I can sleep. I would like you to start looking for your own place. I don’t want you to live somewhere that you are unhappy and I don’t want you to make a bad financial choice of homes because you feel rushed. I want you to find a place with a big yard so that the dogs can get some exercise. If it means you need to find a new woman to move it with, then you should start advertising. I’ll give you a good reference.
There was no way for me to be honest with you, without hurting your feelings, and I am sorry for this. I need to move on, but there is no rush. I’m not seeing anyone, obviously, and have no plans to start. People will want to know why and I would suggest “religious differences” as the best reason to tell them. Meanwhile, we can be as close or as distant as you feel comfortable with. I will try not to act any different than I have for the past year. I would like to remain your friend, but realize that you may need time to adjust first.
Carole
1 I have always been fat. I began dieting at age 10 and at the time I started the Body For Life program I was a vegetarian, living on salads and eating like a bird. Being hypoglycemic I didn’t eat sweets. I fainted a lot. I went roller-blading 5 days a week and swam once or twice a week. I belonged to the gym and had been doing all of the above for years, but every year I just got fatter and fatter. At age 40 I decided that I just had bad genes and the best I could hope for was to just try and keep my weight from going over 200 pounds, but that hope died too.
2 My daughter, Jamie Veronica, had just lost 65 pounds in the past year and, when I asked her how, she introduced me to the Body For Life program. Surely her genes were as bad as mine and it worked for her. I was now 210 pounds and still gaining, so I figured the worst thing that could happen would be that I would continue to gain. Eating six meals a day and less exercise than I was already doing seemed like a huge mistake, but Jamie looked great and I decided to give it a 12 week try. The hardest part of this past 12 weeks was to eat all the food that was required. My last meal of the day was often skipped because I fell asleep before I could make myself eat again.
3 The shakes and bars were great and accommodated my busy life style. I travel a lot and am a work-a-holic so I did not think I could make time for all this eating and structured exercise. I work 12 hour days, 7 days a week, running a multi million dollar real estate company and attending to the needs of the 172 large, exotic cats that we have rescued from fur farms, circuses and ill prepared pet owners. The big cat sanctuary is called WildLife on Easy Street and it costs $1,100.00 a day to keep it going. I have been a single mom, keeping this pace for the past 9 years. Five months before starting the program I ruptured a disc and was flat on my back for weeks. Being so obese made healing that much harder. I couldn’t give up. There are too many people and animals counting on me. Due to the uncertain economy I wasn’t sure how we would make it through the slow summer months. The tragedy of the terrorist attacks on America caused the public support for the animals to drop to almost zero. The $100,000.00 challenge gave me the strength to do everything in my power to win.
4 I went from a size 22 to a 16 and have never felt so good. The diet is simple, healthy and attainable, even to a vegetarian.
5 The Beta Lean and Betagen supplements and EAS products are well balanced and effective.
6 My blood sugar levels have stabilized so that even on my free day, I can eat anything I want. I don’t pass out anymore and in my line of work that is really important. The exercise program allows me to continue to improve while giving me a sense of accomplishment in each set.
7 The book and Muscle Media magazine have given me the education about diet and exercise that I needed to succeed. Body For Life has become my new lifestyle and I can’t even imagine going back to the way I was before. I still have 40 pounds to lose but on this program I expect to be in a size 10 in no time.
If there is one phrase that guides me in everything that I do, it is to lead by example. My daughter’s example led me to Body For Life. Our Volunteer’s examples had led her to the Body For Life program.
8 I hope that my example will reach those women over 40 who think that they have tried everything to lose weight. You don’t have to be fat. You don’t have to go hungry. You don’t have to suffer. You can have the body you want and you can start shaping it right now.
9/11 I walked next door to pay Pat Quillen’s hotel stay at the Adam’s Mark hotel, before the conference meetings were to start. The young man at the desk asked if I was expecting to catch a flight. I told him that I wasn’t due to leave until the next day. He asked if I knew that the airports had been closed. I didn’t. He went on to explain that a plane had accidentally crashed into the World Trade Center and that a second plane had been hijacked and purposely crashed into the same buildings.
I stood there wondering, where the World Trade Center was and how anyone could think that the first plane was an accident, if the second one was hijacked. Obviously worked up over the situation the young black man went on to say that another plane had crashed into the Pentagon. Now I was incredulous, but now it made sense.
Before leaving Tampa for St. Louis I felt such a sense of end-of-the-world dread. I had wanted to go see Momma Jacquie before leaving town. I felt like I needed to personally say good-bye to everyone. I dismissed it as just being my dread of dealing with the pompous AZA people. That still small Voice had said, “It is the end, but not for your and yours.”
I went to the conference room where the announcement was made that due to the national crisis all of the meetings were being cancelled. The normally boisterous crowd was oddly silent. I walked back to the Radisson and took the windowed elevator back to room 1808. Looking out as the elevator climbed I saw the word SECURITY engraved into the face of the bank building erected in 1890.
Today was the end of Security. It was the end of innocence. It was the end of feeling that our borders were impenetrable. For all I knew at the time, it could have been the end of the world.
I stood, motionless, breathless, in front of the T.V. in my room. The reporter was saying that one of the twin towers of the World Trade Center had collapsed and that there was a fear that the second tower would collapse as well. It looked like the top 1/10th of the 110-story building was engulfed in flames, but I didn’t see why anyone thought that would cause it to collapse.
Within moments I saw something that was beyond description. The building imploded, and it seemed to come down, one floor at a time, in slow motion. There was a plume of smoke and cinders that looked like an atomic explosion. From cameras on the street, the smoke boiled through downtown Manhattan, and engulfed everything and everyone in its path. Later, eyewitnesses said that there were huge balls of fire rolling through the smoke spurred on by gas pipes bursting.
I have spent these last two days in front of the T.V. No one will ever forget this day, in their lifetime, nor will we ever be able to forget the images of the two 757 jets crashing into the World Trade Center. No one will forget the icon of our country’s military power, the Pentagon, being ripped open and engulfed in flames.
For the first time ever, the Stock Market was closed indefinitely. I tried to get back to the conference attendees and wanted to discuss Pat’s work in Brazil last week, but by now everyone was in a frenzy. They were all upset and panic stricken and struggling to make arrangements to get home despite the trains being shut down, the air ports all being “ground stopped” and all of the buses and cars rented already. As much as I soak up other people’s stress, I thought my heart would burst from my chest; it was beating so hard, so I barricaded myself in the hotel room for the next two days.
Eleven
The date of the attack: 9/11 - 9 + 1 + 1 = 11
September 11th is the 254th day of the year: 2 + 5 + 4 = 11
After September 11th there are 111 days left to the end of the year.
119 is the area code to Iraq/Iran. 1 + 1 + 9 = 11
Twin Towers - standing side by side, looks like the number 11
The first plane to hit the towers was Flight 11 State of New York - The 11th State added to the Union
New York City - 11 Letters
Afghanistan - 11 Letters
The Pentagon - 11 Letters
Ramzi Yousef - 11 Letters (convicted or orchestrating the attack on the
WTC in 1993)
Flight 11 - 92 on board - 9 + 2 = 11
Flight 77 - 65 on board - 6 + 5 = 11
Incidentally, Disney World has 11 letters and as does Kissimmee, FL Today's date adds up to 11. My mother, Jamie, Daniel, Mary Ann and Scott are all in Orlando today. How many people there could be exposed to a virus in a single day?
Ten Laws of Life
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You either “get it” or you don’t. Strategy: Become one of those who “gets it”.
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You create your own experience. Strategy: Acknowledge and accept accountability for your life.
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People do what works. Strategy: Identify the payoffs that drive your behaviour and that of others.
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You cannot change what you do not acknowledge. Strategy: Get real with yourself about life and everybody in it.
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Life rewards action. Strategy: Make careful decisions and then act on them.
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There is no reality; only perception. Strategy: Identify the filters through which you view the world.
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Life is managed; it is not cured. Strategy: Learn to take charge of your life.
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We teach people how to treat us. Strategy: Own, rather than complain about, how people treat you.
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There is power in forgiveness. Strategy: Open your eyes to what anger and resentment are doing to you.
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You have to name it before you can claim it. Strategy: Get clear about what you want and take your turn.
Life Strategies by Phillip c. McGraw, Ph.D.
Dear Carole:
Renee mentions every day that we need to come visit you and deliver the KISS-COTE Products for you and the cats. Loads has been happening, both personally and with the business. I have others interested in the funding of our dental project and have a dental distributor wanting to bring in investment to help him secure an exclusive distribution license for dental. If we work with him, we no longer have all the marketing, packaging, and distribution headaches. Also have a KISS-COTE shopping cart that we hope to have on line in the next 2-3 weeks. I still need to spend a few minutes with you answering your several questions, too. You continue to get great press with Jamie about the Cats on Easy Street. Congratulations. Tomorrow is kind of crazy for me. Are you available at all Friday or this weekend? Let us know what would work best for you.
See you soon,
Keith
Dear Carole,
Everything seems pretty normal here. The Honeymoon cabin needs a new water heater also and the toilet needs repair. Your dad is working on that today. Hope the Nakoma Day goes well. I got my van back; they said to try running the rear A/C all the time in hopes the "memory" will think it needs to keep cooling rather than cut off - computers! Rose called to check on Maya; said she would probably do a routine visit next week. Scott said the new gate code is the year of birth for your dad and I. I'm getting me a new washer today. Thursday my old one was making so much noise that your dad said to replace it before any damage was done to the clothes, floor, etc. Vern is also putting the finishing touches to the "impossible" cage extension on the huge mound of dirt. Sounds like it will make a fun playground for some cat.
We miss you, too. I don't know if I could have bladed this week anyway. I painted the garage walls and my back has been having muscle spasms every now and then. I go to Lori Capria (chiropractor) Monday AM. Momma Jacquie wants to come home. Hopefully, some people from Tampa will be coming back next week and she can ride with them. I got the impression that as a last resort she was going to ask me to drive up and get her. It would be easier on her to fly from Asheville to Tampa. It is a 3-hr. drive from Cherokee to Asheville so my sister would have a 6-hr. round trip but Mother could be home faster and easier on her.
She wants some extensive testing done - complete head and chest check with an MRI. She doesn't want anyone to know but you don't talk to anyone anyway so I am telling you. She's been acting secretive and a little stranger than usual so I guess she has some suspicions about her health. I know she had a bad fall down the mountain side. Carole had a hard time pulling her back up. I don't understand why she doesn't want Carole to know about the testing - they always seem so close. I know Carole tells her everything - she has from a child.
I was on my way to Home Depot to pick up fence extensions for the perimeter fence at Easy Street. It was a Saturday and I had spent two hours trying to catch Auroara to move her back to her recently remodeled pen. I was hot, sun burned and tired and saw ahead of me that the entire 3 Northbound lanes of Dale Mabry, at Handy Road, were shut off to traffic by three fire trucks, and seven police cars.
I was startled as a helicopter rose up from the middle of Dale Mabry behind the fire trucks and I realized they must have used the trucks to block traffic so that the chopper could evacuate the victims. I was sitting there in awe of the moment, and watched with interest as the fire trucks pulled out of the way and the police started guiding traffic through the intersection. What happened next was the most bizarre experience of my life.
A wave moved slowly through me.
Every hair on my body stood straight up and my flesh was covered in goose bumps. I was freezing through every inch of my body and the feeling of such great despair and helplessness to change the situation caused me to slump over the steering wheel and weep. The wave continued through my body and just as quickly passed.
I sat up, completely over the sensation, and thought to myself, “Wow! That was weird!” It didn’t feel like the despair was my own, but rather that of someone else moving through me. It wasn’t a traumatic wreck scene.
All I saw was a car that had hit a sign pole, but even the car was not badly damaged. I have been reading the Emerging Mind and have always been open to the idea of feeling other’s thoughts. This made it much more tangible in this brief and strange moment.
This is my take on raising girls. I obviously don’t know it all, or Jamie would be in church. More about that at the end. All or most of these things you are already doing.
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Build the child’s self esteem. How a child feels about herself and thus how she will interact with others is largely dependent on how she feels about herself. Express your belief in her virtues, and her abilities and she will see herself in the mirror that you create. You and I were so far apart in age, that I didn’t see much of how you were raised, but I know that Mom always told me I was capable of doing anything and I believed it. Dad and I didn’t talk much, but when he did say something to me, it was usually positive or at the very least seen as constructive. I felt like my parents, and grandparents believed in me and they were the smartest people I knew, so I thought they couldn’t be wrong.
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Encourage primary greatness. There are two kinds of greatness; Primary greatness which comes from a principle centered character and Secondary greatness which is the greatness the world acknowledges. Primary greatness comes from the Bible principals you are teaching the girls. The challenge is to not let secondary greatness (looks, brains, talent, popularity etc.) be relied on in place of primary greatness. Secondary greatness is the result of primary greatness and cannot replace it. You both know all you need to know about teaching God’s principals.
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Develop their interests. When you detect real talent in your girls, encourage them to develop it and give them a lot of positive feed back along the way. Momma Jacquie always thought I could be a movie star and she encouraged poise and flamboyant style. She would make a huge fuss over me being able to walk with books on my head and when I wasn’t under them, she made sure my nose was in them. She encouraged me to read books about developing social skills, like How To Win Friends and Influence People, Psycho Cybernetics, The Richest Man in Babylon, Think and Grow Rich, The Power of Positive Thinking… At first, at the age of 8 or 9, I complained that the books were too hard, but she kept assuring me that I had the ability to read and learn at that level and I believed her and did. My ability to guide WildLife on Easy Street and be in the public eye is a result of all that early positive reinforcement.
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Create an enjoyable family life. Try to make your home more fun, more relaxing and more satisfying than anything else your daughters may be influenced by. This is not a call for laziness. When I look back on my childhood, the best things I remember were us all working together in the lawn care business. There was a sense of camaraderie in working together that exceeded anything I was involved in outside our family. I remember Mom always had some kind of craft project going and in retrospect I think she did it to stimulate our creativity. I don’t see her doing those things now for her own pleasure. Coming home was always a good thing. We never had to worry about what kind of mood our parents would be in, or had any reason to dread. We were expected to clean our rooms (although I was awful at that) and to take care of the animals and the yard, but we were encouraged to do so rather than forced. We pitched in because we didn’t want to let the “team” down.
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Plan things together. I don’t remember us doing this as a family, but Jamie and I do and it is a great source of excitement. We get together at least once a week, and often more, to plan for the growth of WildLife on Easy Street, to plan events, conference trips, newsletters and to brainstorm over lunch with our “idea books”. It tells her, “I think your ideas matter and that you have something worthwhile to contribute.” Three years ago, Jamie was too shy to order for herself off a menu, but now she gives interviews to the press and goes out soliciting donations and reporters. She believes she has something valuable to say and says it right out loud. She believed the person that she thought was the smartest person she knew. When you plan something fun for the whole family, everyone should be heard and acknowledged. Often the planning is more fun than the actual doing. On this note, however, keep in mind that your influence with the girls is based upon trust and if you ever lead them to believe you will do something and don’t follow through, you lose that trust.
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Set an example of excellence. Our Vision Statement includes the idea that we are going to lead by example. What you are shouts louder by what you do than what you say. I can’t think of two people who are better role models than you two. My own character flaws that I have to watch are that I am often critical of people and expect them to fail. I have to stay on constant guard against showing this negativity. If you are always trying to improve yourself as a person, your children will do the same. Too many people equate improving yourself, with improving your net worth and the two have little to do with each other. I think we spend far too much time in front of the TV and not enough time out doing good for others. When you think about the horrible influence of what we watch on TV, you might consider Alexander Pope’s statement: “Vice is a monster of so frightful mean, As to be hated, needs but to be seen; Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, We first endure, then pity, then embrace.” Most TV programming is a subtle yet powerful weapon of Satan’s. Be careful of what you say. Your children are listening.
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Teach your girls to visualize to reach their potential. Momma Jacquie would tell me to close my eyes and see myself being successful at whatever it was I was contemplating. Everything we do occurs twice, once in the mind and then in reality. I use this technique every day. Dad always used to tell me to think about what I was going to say, before I said it. Even today, if I am speaking to a volunteer, or a potential $10,000.00 donor, I see the conversation in my head and work out all the kinks before I am actually in the presence of the person. I think about everything that could go wrong, but go a step further in my mind, to come up with the appropriate solution. I don’t stop visualizing until I see myself succeeding.
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Adopt their friends. When family, friends, school and church are all aligned it makes a powerful training system. When there is a problem with a peer, adopt that peer. You guys seem to do real well at this too. My friends were my down fall, despite Mom’s ability to adopt all of my friends. All the kids loved to hang out at our place because our mom was the “coolest”. Even in my marriages, she has “adopted” my husband’s and made them to feel at home. I think that she was able to keep me out of much more trouble than most of my peers were in by keeping me and my friends close by.
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Teach them to serve. Our society promotes the ME FIRST concept to our ultimate disillusionment. It is only in service to God, to others and to animals that we get a true sense of accomplishment and satisfaction in life. Many people don’t “have time” for volunteer work until they retire. By then, much of their life is spent and they haven’t had the opportunity to experience how rewarding it is to give of their time and energy. Fact is, all of us are allotted the same amount of time and it is just in how we manage it that will allow us a more rich life, full of loving and giving. The most money I ever made in a single deal was $135,000.00 but the elation was not near as memorable as breathing life into a dead cub (Sundari Leopard). I almost never think about that business deal, but I am reminded daily of the precious gift that life is to us.
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Provide support. It is not enough to think about how much we support our children, THEY need to hear it often. By constantly affirming them, they will become the strong support to others. Everything you give comes back ten fold. They learn, through you, that they can change the world.
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Talk to them frankly about sex and drugs. It may be embarrassing for you now, but the problems that can occur from relying on just teaching them the phrase, “Just say, No!” are devastating.
Kenneth Harold Smith has been jailed three times for grand theft, drug possession, firing a gun in a home invasion and assault and battery on a former employer over $10.00.
10/2/00 When Carole Lewis served Lysa Smith with her three day notice, for non payment of rent, Lysa commanded her Siberian Husky to attack Carole Lewis. The dog refused and Smith’s anger was turned to cursing out the dog.
10/3/00 Kenneth Smith came over Lewis’s electronic gate with a shovel and cut her power lines. Lysa Smith then called Lewis and told her they had cut off the power. Later in person, Lysa Smith said it was so that they could get a “clear shot” at Lewis when she would get out of her car to open and close the gate manually. This was reported to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office and Deputy Vidal investigated the report but said that a Trespass Warrant would not do Lewis any good. Vidal did not write up a report, but said that there would be an “incident report” on file with the Sheriff’s office.
1/12/01 after being served with a Writ of Eviction, earlier in the day, Kenneth Smith, Jr. chased Carole Lewis to the gate to her home, cursing at her and throwing lumber from the fence of hers that he has been tearing down. He said, “Hey bh, hey ct, I’m going to kill you!”
1/17/01 The eviction was cancelled due to Kenneth Smith, Sr. filing Bankruptcy. Although the Deputy knew that the eviction had been cancelled several days prior, he did not bother to call Carole Lewis and inform her. It was on record that Carole Lewis’ life had been threatened, yet no precaution was taken to prevent her from being attacked while waiting over an hour for the deputy to show up. It was not until Carole Lewis called the Sheriff’s dispatch looking for the deputy that she was informed of the cancellation.
That same day, Carole Lewis went to speak to the deputy in person and he said it was not his problem and that he was under no obligation to call Carole Lewis and let Carole Lewis know that he had cancelled the eviction. His cancellation was based upon the Bankruptcy of someone who was not even on the lease.
Sgt. Roland Corrales, Sr. was summoned when Carole Lewis asked to speak to the Sheriff’s Department’s legal counsel. Sgt. Corrales said that he could have put the Smith’s out of the property, since the bankrupt father was not on the lease but that it was a waste of his time to do so, because the Smith’s would just then move back in after he left. Carole Lewis told both he and the serving Deputy (Miller?) that the Smith’s were constantly threatening her and harassing her and that they had put her life in serious danger by not advising her that they would not be there at the date and time on the Service of Writ. Sgt. Corrales said it wasn’t his responsibility to call Carole Lewis.
1/24/01 Kenneth Smith, Jr. chased Carole Lewis as she was leaving her home. He chased her truck out into the street screaming obscenities and waving a hand that was wrapped in a large white cloth. It was later discovered that he had ordered a John Wayne Commemorative Rifle from the Franklin Mint. (His trash blew into Lewis’ yard and there was a collection notice on the gun in the debris). Carole Lewis wrote the Franklin Mint to ask if the gun were lethal and was advised that it would blow up if someone tried to shoot it, because it was not meant for firing. Did Smith injure his hand while trying to shoot Carole Lewis with this rifle?
1/27/01 11:45 am or so, Kenneth Smith, Jr. again chased Carole Lewis out into the street as she exited her home. This time his hand had a large bandage on it. Until Carole Lewis was completely out of sight, Smith stood in the street, with his hands cupped around his mouth, shouting obscenities.
2/4/01 Carole Lewis came home Sunday night, around 6:30 pm and saw a pipe shaped object, jammed behind her mail box flag handle and wrapped in plastic.
This was a report given to the bomb squad who came out to diffuse the mailbox.
Babycakes the Genet Arrives
November 1, 2000 the SPCA in Largo called and said, "We have a coati here." I asked how they came by the creature and they said that he was found wandering around a posh neighborhood and no one had claimed him. I wondered silently to myself if these people had ever seen a Raccoon up close? There was no way that a coatimundi was wandering around Largo. I asked them to describe the critter and it didn't sound like a coati nor a raccoon. This was before the days when you could just snap a picture with your cell phone and beam it across the bay.
I was intrigued, even though I was pretty sure that what I would find would be some Bengal Cat gone feral, so I drove 40 minutes to Largo.
When I arrived the caretaker was frantically saying that she thought the poor “coati" would die because it wouldn't eat cat food or dog food and had been days without a meal while they had tried to find the owner. As I walked down the corridors I shuddered at what kind of experience these last chance shelters must be for anyone who isn't a dog. The barking was deafening and it was no wonder that whatever was in the cage back there had shut down and refused to eat.
We came to a small, stainless steel cage, like the vets have for small animal recovery, and there, scared out of his mind, was an African genet. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genet_(animal) I told them what they had and explained why pet food wasn't on his menu but that snakes and rodents would be. He was fast and wild and there was no way they were going to find a pet home for him, so I agreed to take him to the sanctuary. We guessed his age at the time to be around 5.
Leaders
A LEADER is a great servant. The master of Man expressed the ideal of leadership in a democracy when he said, "And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant."
A LEADER sees through the eyes of followers. A leader puts herself in their shoes, and helps them make their own dreams come true.
A LEADER does not say, "Get going!" Instead, a leader says, "Let's go!" and leads the way. A leader does not walk behind with a whip, but is out front with a banner.
A LEADER assumes that followers are working with her, not for her. A leader considers them partners in the work and sees to it that they share in the rewards. A leader glorifies the team spirit.
A LEADER does not hold people down, but lifts them up. A leader reaches out her hand to help her followers scale the peaks.
A LEADER uses heart as well as head. After the facts have been seen, she lets her heart take a look too. A leader is not just a boss--but a friend.
A LEADER has a sense of humor. She is not a stuffed shirt. She can laugh at herself--has a humble spirit.
A LEADER can be led, and is not interested in having her own way, but in finding the best way. A leader has an open mind.
This may have been our position in 2000 but we've since learned that captive breeding actually harms conservation efforts, rather than helps them. Find out more at CubTruth.com and BigCatRescue.org/breedingkills
My grandmother, Sara Maude Fisher, died in a nursing home today. I always felt guilty that we didn’t keep her at home. We tried, but she was crazy as they come, and would run off in the middle of the night. She needed someone to watch her constantly.
My dad really tried to keep her out of a home. He ran a furniture sales business out of the Oldsmar Flea Market and employed her to help. She lost more money than they made each week, by giving wrong change and forgetting to charge people at all, but for as long as he could make her feel useful and keep her out of danger, he did.
My father visited her every week until she died and I felt bad for him because she would rant and rave about how he never visited her, whereas her baby, Terry always did. She was wrong. Her other children didn’t visit her much if at all.
Dad said she would frequently pull out a magazine and who ever the cover model was that month, she would proudly proclaim to anyone who would listen that it was me. She would tell them how rich and famous I was and just seemed to revel in it.
She had potential to be rich and famous. She was a young, beautiful and talented French opera singer but she gave up her career to marry a poor, hard working German and raise four children in the 1940s.
I finally got the proof I was looking for. From the beginning, everyone has accused me of marrying a wealthy man (and worse) but the Social Security office just proved what I’ve known all along. I made the man wealthy. From Don’s first paycheck until we began working together in 1984, he never made more than $18,500.00 per year. When we began buying distressed mortgages in 1984 his income doubled. It continued to grow until his divorce in 1989 and in giving away one million dollars as a divorce settlement, his income dropped. When Don & I married, his girlfriend, Pam (who I believe had caused the divorce by sending notes home in Don’s lunchbox and wiping her lipstick on his hankies) went into a rage. Don had trusted her with 3 million dollars with of property in her name and she gave back only 2 million, according to Don. I believed I had her dead to rights on racketeering and forced her to give back the money that she did. They were all deals that I had negotiated for Don, but he didn’t want me to know he was profiting on them and not paying me so he had put them in Pam’s name. As you may remember me telling you before, it was when I asked Don to settle up with me that he decided to marry me instead. I had done all of our deals in his name, using his bank accounts and never took out anything for myself, because Don kept telling me it was important to invest it all back into the business. It was a business owned entirely by him but I loved him and always believed that he would be fair with me. Because of his wife’s insecurity from Don’s past history with women, I was never allowed to come in the office, see the books or tell anyone who I worked for. Anne was the only person in Don’s world who knew who I was and what I did for Don. We were audited by the IRS every year from 1984 till 1997 so even though he may have been able to hide some income, the IRS was in our office almost every day for the first seven years. In 1992 we began rescuing cats by buying 56 of them all at one time at a fur farm. Don spent a fortune buying cats and rescuing cats that year. You can see the drop in income accordingly. Once I became his wife and “legitimate” business partner in 1991 you can see that his income increased to 14 times what he made before me. Critics would say that I just forced him into legitimacy and thus the increased “reported” revenues, but as I said, he was under constant IRS audit before. All of this is just to explain to you how it is that so many of these properties were mine via the Trust documents. By the court releasing these 17 properties, it is not giving away Don’s assets, but rather releasing what was mine all along. I often feel that no one has any conception of what a travesty of justice this whole judicial interference has been. I worked hard to get us where we are. I didn’t kill my husband and yet I’ve been punished for not being able to keep track of him every waking moment. 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.
Hungry For You
YOU, make me so happy. YOU are the most complete woman I have ever met. There is nothing I will not be able to do with the rest of my life; I love you more than I thought was in me; I carry you with me which each moment of the day. I am truly pleased with my life at this moment in time; we will have numerous moments in time from this point on. - Pk
Hungry For You
My life will never be the same
After the fires of passion fanned
By you, the only man whose name
Is etched in stone, in no man’s land
You touch me deep, on every plain;
From deep within my hungry thighs
With rapture that I could not feign
Reaching unprecedented highs
To how you fill my hungry soul
With loving-kindness that you give
That heals my heart and makes me whole
And makes this life so great to live!
My appetite is whetted by
The very, single, thought of you
And satisfied when you draw nigh
And we are one, where once was two.
For: Peter Kent A. Kent
By: Carole Stairs Lewis
12/2/01
Dear Peter Kent, I rarely ask for anything (I won’t even ask for directions) but I am asking something of you now, for two reasons. I wouldn’t bring it up, because it hasn’t happened and perhaps never would, but you have brought it up twice and it seems that you are trying to feel me out on the subject without causing offense. You have said that in the past you have used marijuana to calm yourself and to expand your vision.
The favour that I ask is that you allow me the opportunity to assist you in both, before resorting to drugs. The two reasons are both selfish, but you will benefit by them as well. In every abusive relationship I have been in (and left) there has been a man who used grass or alcohol to relax or to help him think more broadly. I can tell you from lots of personal experience that they were never easier to be with when they were high and in every case were much less intellectual.
The second reason is that with every abuse, you change who you are and I love the man I know now. I don’t want you to be diminished by dying brain cells when it is something that can be avoided. I know that old habits die hard, but I can be all you will ever need to cope with any situation. I am not as well educated or as perceptive as you, but I can challenge you to think deeper, to feel more fully and to experience life more abundantly. I want to be the only drug you need. - Carole
Peter wrote: I would do anything for you; that as well... You are a blessing to me; you are changing me, broadening me. I have never known the love I am getting from you. - pk
One song can spark a moment,
One flower can wake the dream.
One tree can start a forest,
One bird can herald spring.
One smile begins a friendship,
One handclasp lifts a soul.
One star can guide a ship at sea,
One word can frame the goal.
One vote can change a nation,
One sunbeam lights a room.
One candle wipes out darkness,
One laugh will conquer gloom.
One step must start each journey,
One word must start each prayer.
One hope will raise our spirits,
One touch can show you care.
One voice can speak with wisdom,
One heart can know what's true.
One life can make the difference,
One utterance of I love you.
Love, Peter Kent
Dear Peter Kent, I am so touched. No one has ever sent me poetry before. I was greatly moved by your response to the favour that I asked. I believe you when you say you would do anything for me and that is so empowering. I feel strengthened by your love.
Note from the future: 10/29/2020 I searched Peter’s poem to me online and found that he had plagiarized it. Why am I not surprised that even his poetic words of affection for me were stolen?
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.
Rambo the Jungle Cat. There is a notorious breeder of servals, jungle cats and hybrids in Okeechobee, FL known as Sue Arnold. Former volunteers complained that you could smell her urine soaked home and cattery the minute you opened your car door at the street. Despite her reputation she still breeds and sells more of these smaller cats than anyone else I know of and from all accounts is never willing to refund or take a cat back. It was 12 years ago, but I am pretty sure that Rambo was born there.
He was sold to another woman who gave him to her daughter who planned to breed hybrid Chausie cats. When this breeder / dealer died she had a tiny chain link enclosure on concrete in her back yard with two Jungle Cats and two domestic cats, cordoned off into even tinier cells. The daughter of the woman who died was only 12 years old and the Internet had only been around for about 3 years when she found us online and called. She told me that she loved Rambo and Cha Cha and that she was afraid that they would end up back in some awful hybrid breeding scheme. She asked if we would come rescue Rambo and Cha Cha from such a fate.
Who could turn down such an incredible young woman? When we arrived catching Cha Cha was no easy feat. She about wore me out. I put the carrier in the van and turned to go back to the jail cell they had called home. If I live to be 100, I don’t think I’ll ever forget what I saw next:
This little girl was clutching Rambo to her chest, tears streaming down her cheeks and she hurriedly carried him down the driveway toward me. You could just tell that she couldn’t get these cats to safety fast enough. It made me cry. I opened the carrier for her to gently put Rambo in, she said her quick good byes and Rambo and Cha Cha were finally on their way to a place where they would never be exploited again.
A few months later the little girl talked her family into driving up from South Florida to see Rambo and Cha Cha. I was so proud to be able to show her the wonderful life her precious friends had now thanks to all of the wonderful volunteers here. That little girl is 24 now and I don’t remember her name, but if she were to come visit again, she would be even more happy to know that Rambo has had such a long, happy, healthy life here at Big Cat Rescue.
This story was actually written in 2011 to the volunteers, but was placed here because it is the day Rambo arrived.
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.
Jamie and I Go to Las Vegas for International Small Felid Workshop
Jamie and I are in Las Vegas at the Fifth International Small Felid Workshop. We arrived on 11/29 and are departing late tonight, arriving back in Tampa tomorrow morning. It is our second visit here together to bond.
Tuesday I went to the conference and Jamie shopped the “strip” and then that night we ate at Paris and had a five course meal that was beyond compare and then went to see the traveling Titanic Exhibition. Standing at the base of the re-created stairway of the ship, Jamie said she thought she would cry. The whole thing was very moving.
Yesterday I went to the conference while Jamie shopped more of the malls along the strip and then we had room service deliver a terrific meal, and then we took a helicopter ride over the brilliantly lighted, Las Vegas hotels and casinos. It was the first time either of us had been in a helicopter and it was a thrilling experience.
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.
My Love in the Morning
Dawn makes its presence known complete
Though comes in quiet on cat feet
The sunlight filters through the shade
Upon the bed wherein we laid
It’s gentle rays, so soft and meek
Steal their kisses upon your cheek
And I’m inclined to do the same
With passion for you I can’t tame
I gently touch your supple skin
And yearn to feel you deep within
I think of pleasures that you store
With fond remembrance, more and more
I feel this overwhelming need
To straddle you, my virile steed
And ride you till I feel the rush
That causes me to outward blush
And then collapse upon your chest
Full knowing that I’ve had the best
Content in every single way
Till morn shall bring another day
Found My Place
From any where I care to roam
Your easy manner calls me home
And welcomes me with open arms
Bewitching me with all your charms
No matter what the hectic day
Or devil’s dues I’ve had to pay
You make our home a haven sure
Where faith and hope and love endure
The sight of your car in the yard
After a day that’s long and hard
Is soothing as an angel’s touch
And what I’ve needed, Oh, so much!
Your voice I hear, when at the door
Does calm my soul down to the core
I melt into your warm embrace
And by your side have found my place
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.
Even when the wolf is at the door...
I’m dreaming that I am walking through the moonlight a few steps behind Zorro and Zoe our four month old Great Dane puppies. I am wary, but not overly concerned as we walk on in the mid summer night’s heat. Unexpectedly, from up out of a hole in the ground, a huge black wolf bolts out and bites Zorro nearly in two. The 70 pound puppy yelps and falls to the ground. Zoe is darting around nervously, not knowing what to do.
Using a technique that has worked with tigers, I am only vaguely aware of how much I fear dogs as I face the wolf and take a huge, black ear in each hand. I pin the temples of his skull between my forearms and hold on to his ears as tight as I can. On the rare occasion I have had to defend myself or someone else with a big cat, this posture was only until the cat understood that I would prevail and the cat would intuitively give up. I have no such communication with a canine and continued to hold on to save my life and that of my charges.
The wolf seemed rabid and was lunging with all of his weight against me, teeth snapping and shining in the moonlight. His breath was vaporous even in this heat because of the fever that burned within him to kill. His claws were tearing at me, but I was oblivious to the pain and focused on keeping him from getting away and keeping him from killing me in the meanwhile. I could still see Zoe dancing around us, too timid to step in. I could hear Zorro whimper and knew he was still alive. I tried hard to calculate the situation around me. I couldn’t protect both dogs if the wolf escaped my grasp. I couldn’t carry Zorro to safety while defending Zoe.
I kicked myself for not being better prepared. I knew the dangers involved in taking the animals out through uncharted territory. I could have carried a weapon or done something that would have kept them safe. I couldn’t think about that now. I was getting weak. The sweat and blood dripped from my body as I was being thrashed about hanging onto the head of this beast who seemed to grow larger and stronger by the minute. My hands were wet and the ears were getting harder and harder to hold. The teeth lashed closer and closer to my throat.
I looked into the blazing, demonic eyes of the wolf and saw nothing but evil glaring back at me. If I gave up, this “thing” would kill me and the pups for no reason. I wasn’t going to let that happen. Hearing Zorro whimper again, I was filled with determination. I would hold onto this thing until it dropped dead from exhaustion, because what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger…
I heard Alan Schreier and the dogs come inside. I had overslept and Alan Schreier had taken them out for a walk. I guess the moral of the story is: Even when the wolf is at the door, hang in there until you prevail.
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.
Mickey Murdock Dies
Mickey Murdock, Jamie’s half brother, died on 8/24/99 at 2:30 am. His 29th birthday was the day before. Photo L-R is Mary Murdock (Montenegro), Mickey Murdock and Jamie Murdock.
I’d been a step mother to Mickey and Mary when Mike and I first married. Mike alleged in a custody battle that their birth mother, Cindy Sessions, had poured boiling water on Mary’s face and had broken Mickey’s neck. We were granted custody for a while. It was when they were both about this age and younger. Jamie was a newborn and Mickey was 10 years her senior so I’m thinking we had them from about 1980-1982.
The day Mickey was in the hospital with a broken neck we flew to the hospital and I was nine months pregnant. I remember getting into a fight with Mike and rather than stress Mickey out by having both his Mom, Dad and the new pregnant step mom in the room, I decided to hitchhike back to our hotel. It was cold and I didn’t have a coat. I was wearing a light, short sleeved cotton frock I’d sewn to deal with my huge belly.
As I started heading toward the hotel and noticed a high, narrow bridge ahead, (Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, I think) I panicked and went in the opposite direction. I am scared to death of bridges. I’ll avoid them if at all possible. I kept heading north and then south to avoid bridges and after a while decided I was just going back to Tampa, so I hitched ride after ride with truckers all the way home. They were pretty sensitive to my condition.
When I arrived back in Tampa, a couple days later, I didn’t have keys to get in. Tired, hungry and filthy, I had to work a window by jimmying it for quite a while before I was able to get inside.
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.
I Copy Detectives w/ Court Orders and Insurance
This was faxed to Detectives in the Jack Donald Lewis missing person case #97-069358 on 8/23/99
Dear Detectives Lingo and Fernandez:
After reviewing the original documents, some of my original questions have been answered somewhat:
There follows a copy of the original Court order naming Anne McQueen as Conservator, signed by Judge Alvarez. It shows that one of the daughters, Donna Pettis, initiated that action. At the time, I was confused about why I was being treated so by Anne and the daughters. I saw no reason for my being suspicious of them or them of me. I could not understand why Anne was so panicky at noon about Don not calling her that morning, the day he disappeared. Very often he would change his plans, do things as they came to mind, and go off weeks at a time, buying, selling and trading his way to an auction somewhere across the country. This was his personality and I thought nothing of it.
When she told me I couldn’t have access to my own office, I had my dad and Kenny Farr watch the office. That evening Anne’s relatives were seen carrying out boxes. At that point, I feared something was going on that I didn’t understand. The next day we took out files and I made copies of everything before returning them to Anne’s possession. At that point, I realized I needed legal assistance and hired an attorney for my protection. I still feel Anne convinced the daughters to do the the Conservatorship and that they would not have done that without her insistence.
The Attorney’s Certification signed by Russell K. Peavyhouse states that he attempted to contact me. I never received a call or message from him requesting that I call. When I asked them about this, they said they didn’t know where I was living or how to reach me. I had been living in the same house with the same phone number for six years. In the past Anne had called there many times. There was no excuse for my not being informed as to what was going on.
Here is the Prudential Insurance Company information you will need to confirm that Anne McQueen was the original beneficiary of the Don Lewis life insurance policy: Prudential Life Insurance Policy #62702361 on Jack Donald Lewis, phone 800/778-2255, fax 904/313-1119, Central Collections Division, P.O. Box 45121, Jacksonville, FL 32232. Only through legal counsel were we able to change the Conservators and beneficiaries.
In December 1998 Anne McQueen, the daughters and I signed an agreement on the properties. Now I am being served other papers from Wendy Williams making allegations on things that have already been settled. Wendy Williams is the daughter of Wendell Williams and they work in the same office at 4815 N. Westshore Blvd., Tampa, FL, with Anne McQueen and have four corporations together as shown by the Internet inquiries attached. Your police records will show that Wendell Williams stole a dump truck from me and tried to say Don gave it to him.
I feel Don Lewis is alive and Anne McQueen and Wendell Williams know where he is. They have both gone on TV and insinuated that I killed him but both of them have had the same smirk on their faces when they made the statements. If you have the videos and review them, you will see what I am talking about. If you don’t have the videos, I do and will be happy to supply them to you. If a friend of mine were assumed dead and I thought I knew who killed him, I would not smirk. For the animals, Carole Lewis
On the same day I faxed a letter to Lloyd Sowers at Channel 13 News 3213 W. Kennedy Boulevard, Tampa, FL 33609 Re: Jack Donald Lewis
Dear Lloyd,
Enclosed are copies of the recent faxes I have sent to Detectives Lingo and Fernandez. I don’t know if they will be of interest to you but you seem to want to learn the truth as much as I.
The things I learned on this trip to Costa Rica have surprised and baffled me even more than ever. Somewhere there has to be an answer. I don’t believe Don is dead and the only explanation seems to be that he is trying to push me out and control the business himself through Anne McQueen.
I apologize for being so evasive to some of your questions but if things don’t make sense to me, how are they going to make sense to someone else? For the animals, Carole Lewis
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.
Roger Petersen Opens Up About Don’s Behavior
On 8/21/1999 I wrote and faxed a letter to Detectives Lingo and Fernandez re Case #97-069358:
Dear Detectives Lingo and Fernandez:
I have just returned from Costa Rica and feel that Don Lewis is not there but I did have an interesting conversation with our attorney, Roger Petersen, Esquire, fax 011-506-233-2841, phone 011-506-233-5219, of Vargas, Petersen and Odio. Now that he has not seen Don Lewis for a couple of years he was more demonstrative in his opinions about Don on this trip. I think in the past he felt a certain client-attorney privilege and was hesitant to speak his mind, for fear Don would come back and sue him. He said it required ten police officers to remove all of Don’s homosexual, drug-trafficking, animal-smuggling friends and prostitutes from the triplex in Rohrmoser that we own. He said that had it not been for his protection of Don’s business dealings that Don would have lost every cent he brought into Costa Rica because while he was there he surrounded himself with liars and thieves and seemed to have no business sense at all.
Not only was I in Costa Rica to find out for myself if Don were in the area but I was there partly to try and stop the animal smugglers, who are, of course, all Don’s friends. Don had even bought an Ultralight for them to help with their activities. We can’t go public about that yet because there are 120 endangered species that would be pelted out if the smugglers catch wind of it. The Costa Rican government hopes in the next few month to raid their camp and rescue the cats and then prosecute Don’s friends.
Don is excellent at maintaining the image of an animal lover and successful businessman. Many people think I did him in to get all his money and to take over the sanctuary. But as time goes on and more information comes out about his true character, I am finding out what kind of person I am really married to and I think other people will realize who is the real villain. It may be timely for the police to ask Roger Petersen what sort of business savvy Don actually possesses. It might also shed some light on the kind of people with which Don does business here and in the States while keeping up a facade.
One thing that needs to be determined is who told Judge Alvarez to start the Conservatorship naming Anne McQueen as Conservator. We need to know the exact date it was first petitioned to Judge Alvarez. If it was before August 18, 1997, then there is proof the scheme was being put into play for Don to disappear. If Don Lewis requested that it be started, there is grounds to show that he instigated a fraudulent plot to have me removed from our properties so that he could take over all our properties, have me put on the street and run the business through his secretary as Conservator, plus defraud the insurance company as Anne McQueen was the original beneficiary before the Conservatorship changed the policy. Possibly Don did not do it himself but through his attorney, Sheldon Wind, or Anne’s attorney, LeRoy Merkle, Jr. If it was dated after August 18, 1997, why didn’t Judge Alvarez ask if there were family, such as a wife, children, etc., who would be more qualified to manage Don’s business rather than an unrelated secretary? This was not handled according to Guardianship laws which are the same for a Conservatorship.
In all of Anne McQueen’s TV interviews, she mentions that Don told me he wanted a divorce. Don never mentioned that to me and I thought our marriage was sound. Now that pieces are starting to fall into place, I can see where the possibility exists that he wants to get rid of me but doesn’t want to go through a divorce and have to pay alimony or some sort of divorce settlement. The original Conservatorship with Anne in charge did not give me any funds and left everything in her control.
Is there a way you can find out if the above theory has any validity? Don giggled and made the following statement to two of our workers (Dad and Kenny Farr) a few days before he disappeared, “This will be the slickest thing I’ve ever done!” But he would not give any more information when pressed to continue with an explanation of what he was planning.
For the animals, Carole Lewis
Later I noted: When I said Don never discussed divorcing me, I mean that he never followed up with any such plans to do so, even though he would sometimes say it during one of his rages, because five minutes later he’d be right back to happy with our life together.
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.
Auroara Tiger Nearly Drowns Us Both
I’d taken Auroara out into the lake for a photographer named Stone, I think, to get shots of her swimming and splashing around. Auroara loved to swim and splash around in her cage, and I’d frequently take her out on a leash so she could bound around the lake bank. I remember taking her to a donor’s party one time, and when she saw the pool, she darn near dragged us both in, as she bolted across the manicured lawn. I had to dig my heels in, like I was skiing, to pull her to a halt.
From the lake surface it is hard to tell sometimes if a tiger is really swimming or if they are walking on their back legs and just going through the motions with their front paws. On this day with the photographer, Aurora was having a blast the the photographer was getting those once in a lifetime shots. We were doing photo tours to compete with the horrible things done at game farms. If we could give photographers what they wanted, without abusing exotic cats, it was a win, win that I hoped would put the game farms out of business.
Auroara stepped backward and fell into a hole we didn’t know was there and went under. Panic ensued and I could see she was going to drown, so I dove in but she wrapped her paws around my arms so tight, I couldn’t swim, so we sunk to the bottom.
I kicked hard against the bottom of the lake to push out heads above the surface where we both gasped for air, and then we’d sink again. I couldn’t break free of her panic-stricken grip so we had to just try to bounce a little closer back to the shore each time until we were in shallow enough water that I could stand up and Auroara could feel the ground under her feet again. I don’t know how many times we went under because I couldn’t get a good enough kick on the steep side slope of the underwater hole with Auroara thrashing about.
Later I noted: It was the last time I took her out in the lake. She had lake access in her cage, but the water wasn’t deep there back then.
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.
Looking for Don Still in Costa Rica
I’m still looking for Don and I’ve been invited to present at a Small Cat Conference in Costa Rica, so Jamie and I gathered all the veterinary books we could get and flew down. I paid for a woman from some other country (I forget where now) to attend because of the great work she was doing in another Latin American country and I pay for Pat Quillen to attend as well. It’s a huge expense, but the small cats really need a champion.
I met Dr. Jim Sanderson at this event who was doing important work for small exotic cats and I helped with his presentation tech issues.
Later I noted: It would be the beginning of a long term professional relationship with him where Big Cat Rescue would become the largest funder of his work, other than the Prince of Saudi Arabia.
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.
China Doll Tries to Kill Auroara Tiger
(Auroara’s ball is 48 in diameter and weighs 90 lbs. )
Standing between two adult tigers as they were reared up on their back legs and roaring at each other turned out to be one of the dumbest things I ever did. But, I fear I’d do it again for love.
China Doll and Shere Khan have about 2-3 acres of mostly swamp, with access to the lake. Next door was Auroara Tiger who has about an acre of lakefront property. There is a shared wall in the lake, but we’ve covered it with shade cloth to keep the cats from getting a tail, ear or paw through to the other side. China Doll and Auroara are about 300 and 280 pounds respectively, but Shere Khan weighs well over 700 pounds due to his high percentage of Amur blood. He’s neutered but loves both girls and decided to tear down the water wall so he could be near Auroara.
He’s also the most timid of the three, so after tearing down the wall, he didn’t venture into Auroara’s side, so she went to him. That meant having to get past the very jealous China Doll, who was having none of this ménage à trois. The roaring is what called us all to the scene and it was a bone chilling sight to me. My “baby” was about to be killed by China Doll.
Neither of them were hearing my screams of “NOOOOO!” and there was no drawing their attention away from each other. We have a number of tricks to divert a cat’s attention, like food, or even an empty bucket, like the kind that brings food, or an air horn, or a fire extinguisher, but nothing was breaking up their rearing up, face to face, paws flailing toward each other and snarled teeth snapping at the air between.
I yelled for our van to be pulled up as close as possible to the side of the cage, with the side door open. My plan...my stupid plan...was to cut a hole in the cage right behind Auroara and try to get her out of there. I told the volunteers to line up in two rows from the cage wall to the open door of the van, to create a walkway for Auroara to use as a guide. All I had to do now was figure out how to get her out the door, without turning her back on China Doll, which would certainly encourage her to make a lunge for the back of Auroara’s neck.
I took a chain, to throw around Auroara’s neck, but it was distracting her from keeping up the pretense of being big and bad enough to keep China Doll at bay. I tried getting in between her and China Doll, flailing my paws at China Doll and roaring “NOOOO!” at her. China Doll would have laughed if she weren’t so incensed about Auroara in her space.
The last resort would probably land China Doll on my neck and be the end of me, but I didn’t know what else to do. I grabbed Auroara by the scruff of the neck, pulling her off balance as she was up on her back feet again. I threw her and my body weight sideways and over toward the hole in the fence and pushed her out into the “welcome line” of volunteers. Auroara leaped from the side of the cage into the van in what appeared to be a single leap, and the door was slammed shut.
One tiger contained. Two to go.
So far so good. China Doll was not on my back, so I scrambled out the hole I cut and used my body to block the hole as a patch was being secured in place. Now that China Doll couldn’t see Auroara she wasn’t as intent on going after her, so that was good. Shere Khan was just watching the whole thing from the sidelines and I wondered if he’d protect me? Would he have stepped in if he saw that China Doll was turning her rage toward me, or would he be too fearful of her wrath? Even if he were to help, I’d probably been torn limb from limb in the process. Cats just don’t let go once they set their mind on something.
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.
Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You
Todd asked me to search the internet for the words to The Four Season’s hit “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You”. I found it and emailed it and the sound clip to him. Tonight, on my way to church, he and Alan Schreier called and they sang the whole song to me. Alan Schreier has such a wonderful voice and the words were so sweet, I thought I would cry. He is so good to me.
The phone rang the other day and when he got up to answer it, his elbow lightly brushed my chin. His automatic reaction was to reach out with his big, strong hands and take my face gently in them as he asked if he had hurt me. There was such concern in his voice and such warmth and tenderness in his touch that I thought to myself, “If he had broken my jaw, it would have been healed just through the magic of his touch.” I love him so much!
Judy Watson is the Educational Director here at WildLife on Easy Street and is hosting our first summer camp. She is also rehabilitating a Bobcat who was hit by a car and as soon as his fractures heal we will release him back to the wild. She had been keeping the bobcat in the Classroom while it was vacant because it was close to her place and she could check on him frequently. I wanted her to move the cat to our hospital so that he wouldn’t be disturbed by the children. Our summer camp had boasted that the children would be able to feed farm animals and we didn’t have any goats, so I had asked Kenny Farr to bring some of his goats over for the week of camp. We didn’t have anything but an empty lion pen to keep them in, but it would be sufficient for a few days. For this to be funny, you have to know that baby goats are called kids; just in case you didn’t grow up on a farm.
In a hurry as always and in my usual brief fashion I called Judy and left a message on an automated phone secretary service. After hanging up I pondered the generic automated voice that had answered and wondered why Judy didn’t have her usual, chirpy message to greet callers. Thinking I may have dialed wrong the first time, I called back and discovered that I had in fact left this message on who knows who’s machine: “Judy, I told Kenny Farr to throw the baby goats in the lion pen. Take the bobcat to the hospital so that he doesn’t have to listen to kids screaming bloody murder.”
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.
I awoke this morning to the sound of gunfire.
Alan Schreier had gone to Miami to spend Father’s Day with his dad, who has been doing very poorly as of late and I stayed in Tampa. Last Sunday we had adopted two adorable Great Dane puppies, Zorro and Zoe under the auspices of acquiring protection, but fully knowing that we were succumbing to that instinctive need to raise a family with your mate of choice. They were nine weeks old then and already weighed 25 pounds and were gangly and difficult to move from house to house.
I have moved all of my things to the island but Alan Schreier is trying to sell his condo and things often show better when furnished, so he still resides in Carrollwood. I spend my days dragging the puppies between Easy Street and Riverwood and then at night take them “home” to Alan Schreier’s. With him out of town there was no reason to load them up in the overcrowded cab of my truck and drive across town again. I had paved the walkway from the carport to the house with 3500 pounds of huge stones and was too tired to care that I was sleeping alone. I went to bed around 10:30 and slept soundly until I awoke at midnight from the rush of adrenaline that was produced by being awakened by the sound of gunfire cutting through the night.
I awoke from what I thought at first must have been a dream. I dreamed that I had been awakened by the sound of a rifle exploding and that I heard the bullet go whizzing by the house, under the west porch which would be right behind the headboard of my bed. My heart was racing and I was short of breath as consciousness took hold. As I opened my eyes I thought to myself that it must have been just a bad dream. My overworked imagination had gotten the better of me and I was a victim of my own creativity.
Then I heard the second shot. In a motion that later amazed even me, I swept off the bed, to the floor, scooping up my handgun along the way. I was aware of the fish tank light that illuminated my form to anyone looking through the west porch door (which still had no curtain) and I dropped out of sight to the floor using the bed to disguise my form. The shot had come from the south side of the house and there were wooden shutters over all of the other windows in the room, including that one.
My only vulnerable position was behind me so staying low against the floor and in the shadows I quickly made my way to the south window. I wanted to open the shutters and look out, but knew the light behind me would reveal my presence at the window. If it were Don or Crazy Gary aiming at me, they would have a clear shot. I decided instead to barely crack the slats in a corner of the window and see if I could see anyone in the yard.
As I peered desperately into the darkness, heart pounding out of my chest, I saw the flash of light and heard the blast of the third shot being fired. It was directly across from me on the other side of the creek. I ducked, but even as I did, chided myself for thinking I could dodge a bullet. It’s funny how things happen in slow motion when you think you are going to die.
I wondered if God would give me the speed to dodge certain death? I wondered if He didn’t, why He had ever protected me so fiercely for so long, just to let me die alone here? I wondered if it was Don, would he then kill my daughter or had he already? I wondered if He would forgive me for the sin I live in, or if this was just a warning to me that you never know when you will meet your maker and I may not have the opportunity to make things right with Him? The first bullet could have killed me in my sleep if the person had been brave enough to step up onto the porch. I wondered now if the first impression I had, of a bullet whizzing by, had actually happened and if so, was it on the porch or through the room? I wondered if I would be able to kill my attacker and revenge my own death?
I remembered that Jamie had told me earlier that Crazy Gary didn’t come to Easy Street today because he knew I didn’t want him there and I wondered if his “fatal attraction” to me was going to be fatal to me? I wondered if he would get off as easy as when his room mate “committed suicide” with Crazy Gary’s shotgun? I wondered why his room mate had to die the day after he met me? What had he said that set Crazy Gary off? I wondered what kind of gun it was and what it would feel like to bleed to death? If it was Crazy Gary, why didn’t he use one of his silencers? I wondered if I had been hit and maybe just didn’t feel it yet? I wondered how I could turn off that blasted light in the fish tank so that I could have the cover of darkness on my side?
I slithered back to the bed and reached up and turned on the outside porch light, but knew it would not be enough light to see across Rocky Creek. I hoped the person would see that I was awake and alert and would run. Staying low on the cold tile floor I worked my way around the house, staying in the shadows until I got to the living room and the fish tank that seemed so weirdly bright. I closed the blinds on one side so that I could get closer to turn it off. I tried to close the blinds on the other side, but they were jammed. I couldn’t stay out in the open in front of these sliding glass doors. I couldn’t safely get to the light to turn it off and thinking it safer to stay hidden, again flipped on more outside lights, hoping to create more light outside than inside.
I had tinted the windows with a new product by 3M that will stop anything but a bullet and which is nearly impossible to see through in the daytime. I had also installed Brink’s security system, but hadn’t listened to the video yet and, not knowing how to use it yet, had not set the alarm. Was this a lesson in procrastination? I made my way back to the most secluded room, the master bedroom and hoped to see at least as far as the river to see if anyone was making their way to me. I picked up the portable phone along the way to call the police and to rally reinforcements. Who would I call into the line of fire? If I called the sheriff’s department would they send in my brother? Would he die tonight too?
My line of thought was broken by the sound of a helicopter hovering over my house. Peeking through the slats again, I could see that a huge police spot light was combing the area where I had seen the gun blast originate from. It would sweep away and down the creek a ways and then back. I didn’t know if they knew what was going on or how it was that they were here within just minutes of the first blast. Maybe this had been going on a long time and I was so tired that it just didn’t wake me until now? Maybe this had nothing to do with me? Could I be that lucky? Could this be that coincidental?
In my panic I dialed 411 (directory assistance) and the operator came on the line and said “City and listing please?” I was shell shocked and still didn’t realize what I had done. I said, “I live in Tampa… are you asking for my number?” The operator must have thought she had some drunk on the line as she spoke very slowly and condescendingly, “No. I need you to tell me whose number you want”. Then I realized my stupidity, apologized, hung up and dialed 911 emergency. When the operator came on the line I told her my name and address in case I would be shot here tonight and then said that shots had been fired and that the search helicopter was right over where I had seen the blast from. She asked if I was near Bay Court. I didn’t know. I described the location of our home, the supposed trajectory of the shots from across the creek, the location of the churches on Sheldon Road, and the fact that they were looking in the right place.
No more shots were fired and the helicopter gave up after 30 minutes or so of searching the area. I didn’t go outside in search of the prowler for fear of being mistaken as the shooter by the police. Without the searchlight illuminating the island, it was far too dark for me to see. I knew Crazy Gary had night vision goggles and that Don could have afforded them. I felt vulnerable, tired, and confused, like an animal that is being hunted by the unpredictable predator, man. I didn’t sleep any more that night.
The next morning I called my mother to ask her to be on the lookout for any article that might mention what had happened here last night. It would give me great peace of mind to know that it was some robbery gone bad, or a domestic violence issue or even someone getting busted for killing that 11 foot alligator. Any excuse for the shots would be better than my imagination gone wild. There was nothing in the papers, so she asked my brother, who said that there had been a complaint called in from Bay Street about the sound of shots being fired and it just so happened that the sheriff’s department had a chopper in the area. Only God’s good providence could arrange for a police chopper to be hovering over me at the same time that someone started shooting.
I couldn’t find a bullet hole any where in the house and wondered how anyone could miss at such close range. They must not have been aiming for me. I felt good about that theory, but my parents believed that the shots were fired only to lead me out into the open to investigate. I would have been a much easier target out on the deck. Had the police helicopter not been right there I may well have done that. I wouldn’t have been able to sit back and do nothing. As it was, I felt the police did much more than I ever could have done and surely they had scared the person off if nothing else.
Sunday my father spent the day checking out the land on the other side of the creek and found a trampled down area, deer tracks and not much else. My daughter discovered Sardine can tins that were fairly new in the shed at the Sheldon Road house we own, which is on this same creek. Don and I have lived in both of these homes and Don’s favorite staple was Sardines in oil and mustard. She found the lids from both, a few dirty blankets, a master lock (locked shut) and human feces in the shed. I’ll ask my brother if he can finger print the items.
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!
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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.
Island Wildlife
The dappled sunlight paints our lawn
As squirrels go scurrying about
And buck and doe and baby fawn
Approach as overcome their doubt.
Raccoons were here at morning light
To see what hand-outs they’d receive
And bunny eyes all shining bright
Peer back at us from under leaves.
The peacock calls to let us know
That bobcat’s stalking birds again
While bearcat’s putting on a show
For baby chicks and mother hen.
The gator suns himself all day
Amid the lilies on the shore
While great fish come, their eggs to lay
Just steps away from our front door.
Cardinals and Purple Martin
Compete in colour with the Jays
Butterflies flit through the garden…
In paradise we’ll spend our days.
Your Struggle
I lay beside you in the night
And watch you, restlessly, not sleep
You struggle in your night time fight
As fears and doubts in your dreams creep.
I hear you gasp for breath and sigh
As if to live another’s pain
And all I can do is sit by
And wonder what goes through your brain.
Have you become your father now
And feeling every breath he takes?
Or are you wrestling with how
You’ll deal with everyone’s heartbreaks?
On your shoulders the load is borne
That would, a lesser person, crush
And though you may feel lost, forlorn
You keep it to yourself… a hush.
You always try to make things good
And worry more for others dear
While I’m trying to learn what would
Save you, the one, I hold so near.
Return from Cancun
I awoke to his soft embrace, cuddling me from behind. I could feel him so hard and yet so tender. I love waking up next to him! I want to wake up next to him every morning of my life!
It was 5:00 am but we were so rested that we were wide awake. His love making is so passionate and yet so gentle. I’ve never experienced anything so wonderful as sex with Alan Schreier. He is so giving, so thoughtful and so concerned that I enjoy myself. No one has ever cared if I were enjoying myself. No one ever took the time to see that I was pleased before ensuring their own pleasure. I have come to learn how to satisfy myself quickly so that intercourse would be good for me as well, but with Alan Schreier I am reminded to take it slow and enjoy the ride.
I enjoy him so much, on so many levels. He’s my friend and confidant. He’s smart and persistent, making him an excellent business partner. He’s a loving and nurturing father to his son and is kind and caring toward Jamie and Daniel Capiro. I would love him immensely for any ONE of these qualities and am overjoyed to have all of them in this one gorgeous man.
We have now boarded American Flight #2190 for Miami and are sitting on the runway ready to depart Cancun. It has been a wonderful four days, but I am not sad to leave, as my adventure has only yet begun.
It was interesting to observe both of us under stress. The Cancun Airport was hot and packed. The attendants were slow and generally inefficient. We stood in line for an hour under circumstances that would otherwise have driven me screaming outside to “breathe”. Alan Schreier is always fidgeting, so although he didn’t complain, I sensed it was difficult for him to wait and I know the heat bothers him. Despite this I felt safe with him and remained calm. He maintained a smile and didn’t complain or give any sense of feeling agitated. The more I see of his exquisite nature, the more I love him.
I love how patient and considerate he is. I never have to worry about him taking advantage of any one. He doesn’t cut in line, steal or do any of the things my other mates have done to mortify me.
During our trip, while sitting on the rocks and watching the tide come in, I tried to learn more about him. Wanting to know more how to please him I asked what he loved most about Carol and Sheila. He said, without hesitation that he loved Carol’s great beauty. He said that she had been somewhat nurturing. He said he loved Sheila’s spirit and tenacity. Later he told me she was a great cook and I know they have been great friends. He went a step further and said he loves my soul and that I shouldn’t change a thing. I still want to be more beautiful (thinner) for him. He said he thought I was beautiful for the first time on this trip, but it was a reflex response to my telling him how handsome he is. (My constant babbling about it must have made him uncomfortable.) I have found that sort of weird. It is usually what I hear most from men, but not from Alan Schreier, which leads me to wonder if by comparison he just never really thought of me that way, or if perhaps he sees me for who and what I really am?
I have no doubt that the vast majority of people see the image I project and not what I truly am. I am beautiful on the inside, but my exterior needs a lot of shaping up. Could Alan Schreier be so perceptive as to see through the mirage? He has always been attracted to beautiful women and I feel he has had to compromise to accept me in my current shape.
Fear. Hard to believe someone who is the poster child for strength and resilience could be so riddled with fear. He speaks of his friend’s relationships and says of the ones that didn’t work out that the woman was manipulative or that she wasn’t a challenge. I am manipulative in virtually every sense of the word, but justify it to myself by believing the people being orchestrated aren’t aware of it and that it’s for the greater good. Not my own gain. Is that true, or is it a lie I tell myself?
Have I, or would I manipulate Alan Schreier? I have made a lot advances toward him and pushed our relationship forward at full tilt because I believed Alan Schreier would be hesitant to suggest living together or marriage because he wants me to know that he loves me for who I am and not for what I have. In conversations around us we hear others talking of prenuptial agreements and we both fall silent, not knowing what to say.
I thought that by suggesting the awkward myself I would relieve him of any fear of rejection. Were my motives really so pure, or was I anxious to “close the deal”? When recapturing an escaped cat, you only get one chance to take it by surprise. After that, if you fail, the cat will remain wary and impossible to catch. Could I be insuring that I “net” him on the first try? I wonder about it a lot.
At any rate, I then fall into Alan Schreier’s second category of reasons relationships don’t work out. I am NO challenge. Not anymore. At first it may have seemed (and it was) quite a feat to capture the attention of the untouchable Carole Lewis. Once I succumbed to his charms I could not turn back. I could not escape and the tables were quickly turned. I am no longer a challenge. I’ve read all the books about all the silly mind games women are supposed to play to keep their man in pursuit; like sending themselves flowers or pretending to be attracted to other men, but I just hate games. I would not want to be tormented that way and can’t do that to Alan Schreier. God will show me what to do. He is a kind and loving God and would not give me this taste of paradise and then snatch it away. So much for fear.
We had a nice breakfast this morning at the Kukulkan mall. We talked about placement of furniture, cooking we can do, family outings and all of the nuances of family life. He said he wants to keep the lines of communication open and that we should express any discontentment we have and work toward its solutions before it becomes a problem. He says he has no complaints and keeps saying how strange it is that we haven’t had an argument. I keep telling him, I don’t argue, (in earnest, other than playfully battling wits) but I don’t think he believes me. Time will tell.
Todd will be living with us and both he and his father seem ambivalent about it. I can understand why, when I think about how nervous I would be in bringing Jamie into our home. Teenagers are unpredictable and explosive for about 8 years. No one could be as bad as I was so I don’t perceive any problem. Todd has strong Christian morals from what I’ve seen and that makes his teen years much less of the crisis than non believers experience. Alan Schreier strikes me as a perfectionist and it’s only normal that he would want this transition to be flawless.
I am enjoying every moment of every day. Love is such a miraculous thing! When we are together I want to soak him up like a cat soaking up the sun rays that flood through an open window. When we’re apart I’m reminded of how much I love and miss him. When I sleep it’s either cuddled up to him or dreaming sweet dreams about him.
We are descending into Miami now after 1 hour and 9 minutes in the air. The glades have been burning for weeks but the fires seem to be out now. I love to travel but I always return feeling that “there’s no place like home”.
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.
Deep Sea Fishing
We got up at 6:00 am and had a wonderful breakfast of fruits and breads at Spices. We took a cab to Aqua World Tours to go out for a four hour, deep sea, fishing expedition. Alan Schreier had suggested Dramamine for motion sickness and I was glad he had. The boat was about a 35 foot cabin cruiser and there was only one other guest; a man from Argentina on board. He and Alan Schreier made conversation although neither of them was fluent in the other’s language. I loved the rocking and swaying of the boat and would have paid the $70.00 per person just for the ride.
I had a thought, as we were rocking about on those five foot swells, ten miles off the eastern shore of Mexico. I don’t want to live in sin but as yet am unwilling to give up half of all I worked for in order to obtain a divorce from Don. Alan Schreier has made it clear that the money doesn’t matter, but that neither does the marriage certificate. As to the money he has said, “It’s just money. We’ll make more”. As to the legalization of our bond he has said “I don’t need a piece of paper to be in a committed relationship.” It’s my understanding that Maritime Law exceeds ALL local laws and that you can be married by the captain of a ship. If I married Alan Schreier at sea, would it then be an accepted marriage anywhere? I can’t marry him in the US until Don is found dead or I divorce him. That could be another three years and I don’t want to be in violation of God’s Law on adultry or (fornication, whichever it happens to be) for that long. The Bible does not set forth any prescribed ceremony for marriage, and recognizes common law marriage, but it does require that the Christian abide by the law of the land. US law prohibits me from marrying while still legally married to another.
I know Alan Schreier is the last man I will ever love. I could never be with another after knowing this wondrous, reciprocal love. Before Alan Schreier, I could’ve been happy with any man. I can be happy no matter what hand I’m dealt, but the happiness he has brought me, through his kindness and loving nature is more than I ever bargained for. Nothing else could ever compare. Without Alan Schreier there could never again be true love.
I find myself in the middle of the ocean wishing I had my laptop computer so I could pull up Maritime Law and see if it addresses the problem of one person in the marriage possibly being already married. Looking for a loop hole. I asked Alan Schreier where the line is that separates local law and Maritime Law and he says it is 16-20 miles and cites the cruise ships and the gambling laws. Would he jump ship and swim for shore if he knew why I was asking? He’s already told me he is committed and I know his history has been to be loyal even when he wasn’t in love, so what am I wrestling with?
He is Jewish and does not believe that divorce is a sin. To marry me would not, in his mind, forevermore bind him to me. I would only be binding myself, as the Christian believes there is no excuse for divorce other than adultery (and I don’t believe he would ever give me that reason).
My rush to marry him is two fold. To make my life right with God and to protect him financially in the event of my death. I would want Alan Schreier to find love again and want to be sure he never suffers another set back in whatever areas I can protect him. I can assure him of my continued love and admiration for the course of my life, but want to take care of his every need.
We read, watched movies and then dined at Spices. The food was great, the ambiance romantic and the company terrific.
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.
Yielding
The music, sensuous and low
Surrounds me like the velvet night
Beneath celestial starry glow
It bathes me in the faint moon light.
Your kiss, a memory on my lips
A yesterday has come and gone
Back to that time my mem’ry slips
Escape from being all alone…
In every thought, you are a part
So much so, I don’t even know
Where my world ends and yours does start
As more entwined our two lives grow.
I feared my sense of self, I’d lose
If I should yield to any man
Allowing him to help me choose
A part of how my life is ran.
And yet to you I freely give
Carte Blanche to choose for both of us
The way that we’ll select to live
Because in you I fully trust.
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.
Life is wonderful. I am in love. My family is healthy. My daughter is making her own new life and is doing a great job of it. The refuge is nearly paying for itself. I don’t owe any back taxes. Life just couldn’t be sweeter!
I am moving back to “the island” and Jamie is moving into my home here at Easy Street. Two days ago Nairobi gave birth to a huge, lovely, snow white kitten, much to our surprise, as we thought they had been fixed, and the saga continues. Jamie is going to raise him in between tiling her new home, painting, wall papering and all the other skills she has taught herself. I have been working for the past three weeks to get “the island” cleaned up of all Don’s old sheds, trash and debris. I asked Alan Schreier to move in with me there and he accepted.
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.
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
Mom Thinks She Sees Don Lewis
On April 14, 1999 my mother faxed this to the detectives in the Jack Donald Lewis missing person case #97-069358
Dear Detectives Lingo and Fernandez:
Although I make an extremely poor eye-witness, I feel I need to report that on Friday, April 9, 1999, around 6:30 p.m., while driving south on I-75 about 1/2 mile north of the exit for Dade City, I thought I saw Don Lewis in an old faded vehicle with dealer plates.
My son, Vernon Stairs, Jr., age 31, did not see the driver but was looking at the vehicle. He says it was an old faded light blue Chevy Astro van or Ford Aerostar. I remembered it as a full-size faded dark gray station wagon.
I do not know if he turned at the Date City exit as he was doing about 60 mph and I was doing 70. He was born and raised in Dade City.
I must admit there have been many times that I thought I saw him but was mistaken as I got closer. This time I did not slow down to get a better look as my sister had taken an extremely bad fall and was in a tremendous amount of pain so I was trying to get her back to Tampa to her doctor.
Possibly the Pasco Sheriff’s Department might be able to contact some of his old neighbors in the area in which he was raised to see if he is back.
I am sorry I didn’t go back to check but was pressured at the time for concern for my sister. Regards, Mary N. Stairs.
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.
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
The Warning
Fate nearly took the breath from you
Without a warning you’d be gone
My lingering days would be so blue
If you had left me here alone.
I thought so first, the day we met
That you one day my heart would break
And that sad day may still come yet…
My heart has so much here at stake
It tells me “run” and save the pain
That only loving one so much
Could turn my sunshine into rain
By ever losing your kind touch
But I’m so smitten by your love
I couldn’t leave to save my soul
So tearful prayers to God above
Pray for deliverance from the roll
I pray that in His mercy sweet
He’s changed the vision that I’d seen
And let this warning make complete
This awful fate that could have been
And grant to us the time to know
A greater love than gone before
To nurture it and watch it grow
A wondrous thing, forevermore!
The night before Alan Schreier had called me to ask me to dinner, but the Tigers had busted loose and Jamie and I were frantically trying to separate them, so needless to say, I didn’t get the call.
He went to Dominick’s Deli at the corner of Ehrlich and Hutcheson and was eating a sandwich, when he choked on a piece. A nurse saw what was happening and tried to administer the Heimlich Maneuver but she was too small and Alan Schreier was turning blue. She called over the biggest guy she could find and after several thrusts, Alan Schreier’s windpipe was cleared.
A couple weeks later his ribs are still hurting, but he is alive. Thank You God!!!!
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.
Tampa Bay alternative newspaper, Weekly Planet, ran lengthy cover story about Don Lewis, a.k.a. the Cat Man. Published March 25-31, 1999
Into Thin Air
On August 19, 1997, an enigmatic millionaire vanished — leaving behind a tangled web of lies, and an estate over which his heirs and associates are still snarling like the wild cats he collected. But most of all, he left behind a mystery that deepens with each strange new revelation. By Lynn Waddell
Down a bumpy shaded dirt road called Easy Street, past a half dozen trailers, behind an eight-foot chain- link fence, lurks the legacy of Don Lewis. More than 200 tigers, lynx, bobcats, panthers, caracals and leopards slink around in shaded mesh pens, looking as cuddly as house cats and eating 10 times as much. Occasionally, one will dine inside the adjacent small ranch-style home of their master, Carole Lewis, Don’s wife.
Dressed in a sheer leopard print blouse with matching tank and knee-length leggings, the tall blonde Carole Lewis talks about the disappearance of her husband as she glides among the kitty compounds. His story is frequently interrupted with introductions to the big cats she sweetly addresses as “baby” and “my boy.” She gives the cats’ history, and occasionally pets one. She does it keeping her hands flat to the mesh fence, warning that they will bite.
Carole and Don Lewis started this refuge in 1992 after buying 56 bobcats to save them from a furrier’s scalpel. Today, Wildlife on Easy Street is a nonprofit attraction with more than 100 volunteers. All that’s missing is Don Lewis, who still finances most of it.
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
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Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only.
Who Was the Little Boy Traveling with Don?
I spoke with Susan Ranella Lawson this morning who relayed a strange story to me. She was calling to have me ship her a lynx or lynx hybrid kitten that Don promised her in the winter of 1996. She said he had arrived at her house in an old, beat up greyish blue van and had a very spotted female bobcat, the hugest cougar she had ever seen in her life and a 12 or 13 year old boy.
She said it had been obvious that they had been on the road a long time and they had been sleeping on a foam, egg crate pad in the van. She said Don took the cougar out of its wire crate and the boy was scared to death of it and climbed up into the front of the van to avoid it. She said the little boy was very quiet.
Don traded her the bobcat for a small, three year old male Canadian Lynx and told her he was going to breed it to a Bobcat and give her a kitten back, or a Canadian kitten if that didn’t work. She said Don was on his way to the Woods and Waters Auction in Ohio. I rechecked my diaries from 1996 and 1997 and found no reference of Don going to the auction, but I was pretty happy when he was gone and therefore not as compelled to write.
My concern is, who was the little boy and what happened to him? Debbie Sampson could have been mistaken for a boy, but she was never afraid of the cats, so it didn’t sound like her. I told Susan that the cats had never arrived here and that Don was notorious for picking up cats along the way to auctions and then selling them there so that I wouldn’t know about it. I asked what she thought I should do and she said the best I could.
She said she doesn’t want money, but rather an animal and I told her that I would not send one of our animals to her but that I would consider diverting an animal her way if a rescue call came in.
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.
Ode to Alan Schreier
What rapture is this that you bring?
What made this lonely heart to sing?
What pleasure could dare take the place
And all the memories erase?
What gentleness that soothes my soul?
Your healing touch has made me whole!
In not so long, I realize
I melt into your tender eyes
And lose myself in thoughts of you
Something I thought I’d never do.
Be tough and strong was ‘fore the plan
Convinced I’d go on with no man
I was too strong to e’er give in
And feel the pain of love again
So what raised you above the rest?
What magic is it you possess?
Why couldn’t I just walk away
And call it just another day?
What makes you my heart’s desire
Ignites in me this passion’s fire?
If it be lust, then I will know
That one day I can onward go
With fond recount and no regrets
For feeling what I had not yet.
But if it be the dread word- Love
Defining what I’m writing of
Then help me not, of this to boast
But rather be, what you need most.
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.
Coming to you from 2018 with memories of Alan Schreier
From the future: Looking at journal entries, I obviously broke up with Richard Martin last year and in a couple of days I’ll be going all poetic on Alan Schreier. Maybe I say later how I met him, but at this moment, I can’t remember. What I did wake up remembering was Alan’s ex-wife, Sheila D. Goggins. She was tall, voluptuous, had long blonde hair and had been a model. She had a most beautiful face from the photos I had seen of her.
The reason I thought it noteworthy to mention her here is in the “small world” category. At some point in our early get-to-know-you stage, Alan had talked about how he was utterly taken by surprise when Sheila had asked for a divorce because she was going to run off with a real estate investor she’d come to know through her father, Clay Dean Goggans. The real estate investor was leaving his wife for her. I knew that name because Don had frequently gone to the used equipment auctions with Mr. Goggans and I remember some real estate deal between the two for a large commercial parcel where Clay Dean parked a bunch of the vehicles.
I listened as Alan rambled on and the more he talked about this mystery man named Don (he didn’t know the man’s last name) I was sure it was Don Lewis. I believe their divorce was in Dec. 1989 which is also when Don was divorcing Gladys. It made me wonder if Don’s story to me was true, that Gladys had asked for the divorce so she could marry Mr. Cross from her church, or if Don was so enamored by Sheila that he initiated the divorce?
I’d heard Don mention her name before, in connection with her father’s interests, but had no idea that she was anything to him. Don loved to play those games though, where he was at high risk of being caught, but not just quite.
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.
Hercules Snow Leopard Slips His Harness
We had been out at an event and I was walking Hercules on a harness from the parking lot down the north side of the house when he slipped his harness. I decided not to act like I noticed, since he didn’t and we continued walking back to his cage and he walked in. I just let the leash touch him from time to time from behind his head so he thought he was still tethered.
The last thing I wanted to do was chase this happy go lucky snow leopard all over Hell’s half acre. He could easily leap 20 feet at a pounce, so I was fortunate that he didn’t recognize his momentary freedom.
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.
Too Purrfect - People Magazine Story About Don’s Disappearance
By Pam Lambert December 07, 1998 12:00 PM
Following a trail beneath the cypresses and water oaks shading her Florida wildlife refuge, Carole Lewis stops to coo over one of her babies—a 300-pound Siberian Bengal tiger named Auroara. Looking more than passably feline herself in a leopard-print blouse, Lewis mimics a throaty purr. The tiger playfully prances close to the 12-foot fence. It paws at her long blond locks. “Mommy loves you,” murmurs Lewis, 37. “Yes, I do.”
By Pam Lambert and Tim Roche in Tampa. https://people.com/archive/too-purrfect-vol-50-no-21/?fbclid=IwAR2Su2pEDp3BZ53Xz1kwCgCIwTJXlTK27Hmilhr-8VWEr-bAOZ0jy9HAQt0
I was out running errands at 5:30 tonight because Scott Lope and Cathy Mayeski were here to feed the cats on my route. As I was headed home I noticed the sky was ablaze and, almost like a Candian Goose on internal radar for home, I turned for the causeway beach. Drawn, like a hatchling turtle, to the ocean I discarded my sandals as my feet hit the ankle deep sand. Always painfully aware of my surroundings, I summed up the people on the beach: A young family, doing the only thing they could afford; A couple in love, kissing and laughing; A woman deep in meditation who was fixated on the setting sun; Further down were older couples and half a dozen tourists who were trying desperately to capture this sunset on film.
As I watched the mother gathering her brood back toward the station wagon I reminisced bringing my own small child here and realized that had been some 15 years ago. I remember her being so excited about gathering shells and building those castles in the sand. A tear wells up as I look back on her innocence. I live 15 minutes from this fabulous place where the sand meets the sea and I haven’t been out of my car here in 15 years. What was so important that I skipped this?
Where did my life go?
The beach has changed and where there once was a huge expanse of sand for miles, there is now a very narrow strip of sand that is broken for long portions by piles of rocks and a concrete sea wall that holds up the paved parking lot that has obviously been washed away by some brush with a hurricane. So much of the beach, just like my youth is gone. Most of the people on this beach tonight probably don’t even remember what a glorious sandy shore this once was. No one here remembers how vibrant and enthusiastic about life I once was.
The sun looks surrealistic like something from the twisted mind of Dali. It is far too big and far too orange to be a part of the darkening sky line. The glow is so brilliant that even the gathering storm clouds are illuminated with colours that cannot be replicated on any earthly palette. I am aglow, the tourists are glowing and it seems the whole world is a better place for a few moments. The tourists and one young artist are clicking away their cameras at the setting sun. They want to capture and remember this moment in time forever.
I’ve done it and I know that their attempts are futile. This is too spiritual to capture on film. You can enlarge the image to poster size, but you will never re create the feel of this precious moment in time. Have they never tried and learned, or if I had a camera would I make another hopeless attempt at it?
As the ball of fire touches the steely blue water one would almost expect to hear the sizzle even this far away. It sinks too quickly and seems to melt into glowing, fiery, lava gushing from it’s impact with the gulf of Mexico. Momentarily I am frozen in my tracks, until the sun has disappeared from sight. Was I even breathing? The roar of planes overhead and the endless drone of cars on the causeway was muted in this instance.
I am shocked back to reality by the slamming of car doors. The beach goers have seen it and are off to what ever it is they do. Only seven of us remain. An elderly couple bask in the setting of the sun and the last days of their lives together. The artist is still trying to photograph me candidly, but I am aware of him shadowing me and I can hear his shutter snapping every time I turn. The meditating woman in the lawn chair is writing her take on this event and another elderly couple sit back to back as if they share nothing in common but the ride that brought them here. Amongst the rocks are small dark crabs that act like roaches, scurrying to hide, as I walk near.
How much this reminds me of life. Nearly everyone is born with the capacity to be the sun or to be a roach. They can shine on all around them, providing warmth, illumination and inspiration. They can do great things and be great things and leave the world a better place for having been here. They can be admired by the few who are perceptive enough to recognize them and yet will be ignored by the masses who are so caught up in themselves in their hurry to get home.
Yet no matter how glorious their presence, they are too soon gone and so quickly forgotten. Within moments of the sun’s passing the dark clouds have swept in removing all trace that ever there was a sun. A few will have admired them. A few will try to hold on to that memory of what they were. But even those memories, no matter how painstakingly etched, will fade. Then what?
Most people will choose to be the roach-like crabs. They will store up their goods in their cave, darting out only long enough to gather more and then darting back to the safety of the their rock. They will all look alike and act alike and be alike because it is less dangerous than to stand out from the crowd when there are always great herons patrolling the beach. They will never have the pleasure of standing transfixed on the sand and watching the magnificence of something outside their small dark world. When they pass no one outside their immediate family will even notice. It will be no great loss. No moment in time that the people on the shore will try to preserve.
I’ve been attacked and nearly drowned at this beach before, so I have to determine how much farther I can walk before turning and heading for home. I want to walk all night, but know that I can’t so I am trying to calculate exactly how much daylight I will have left and eventually reaching the critical point, I turn back toward the East. I had been focused on the sky and reaching for goals and now in the mid-life of light, I begin to look at things differently. I notice the shells and the rocks and walk through the water; something I couldn’t do safely while I was looking at the sun.
I feel relaxed and can enjoy and think about the little lessons this walk has taught me. I am alone, but not lonely. I feel embraced by nature as her soft breeze caresses my hair. I feel her softness on my feet as my toes sift the sugar like sand with each step. I feel her radiating from the earth and the sky, enveloping me in warmth. I am less hurried as I near my destination. The end is in sight, and I have just enough light left to finish the course.
As I walk the last few feet to my truck I am, once again, halted by the comparison of this stroll and death. I am at the end of my time here. I am out of light. I am tired, but I have so much more inside that I want to give.
Will I one day face death and say “I’m not ready. I didn’t do all that I wanted to get done!”?
Why does this thought cause tears to stream down my face? I am so young, why do I even think about this with such a feeling of urgency?
I don’t know what this letter was for, but it’s a good summary of 1998
Dear Fellow Christian, I am a 37 year old member of the Church of Christ and have one 18 year old daughter, who lives on the property (40 acres) but not with me. My husband has been missing since August 18, 1997 and is presumed dead. We founded a wildlife sanctuary in 1992 dedicated to the care of over 200 animals, including 148 big cats. I live and work on the refuge.
I have a full time housekeeper who I love dearly and who has been my right arm for many years now. She does all of the cooking, cleaning, laundry, shopping, errands and takes care of the primates. My daughter, Jamie, is 18, going on 40, and she graduated 2 years early as Valedictorian of her school. She doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke, never did drugs, goes to church on occasion and she works from sun up to sun down for me at the refuge. She has lived in her own home on the site here since she was 13 and does all of her own cooking, cleaning and has a perfect driving record. She is very accomplished as a photographer and has won several contests, been published in books of art, and had her own exhibit for six months in the Courthouse. I am very blessed.
I own my own business and have worked at growing it since 1984. I make my living in buying delinquent mortgages, foreclosing them and then re selling the properties in a buy here, pay here manner. I buy a lot of tax deed properties as well. I am a mortgage broker, but never broker other’s money. It makes me sleepless worrying about protecting another’s interest. My father and one other employee does all of the maintenance. My mother keeps the books and pays the bills. My father has worked for me since 1996 and my mother has been with me a year now. They are great at what they do and I couldn’t ask for anyone more loyal. For the Animals, Carole
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.
I Broke Up with Richard Martin
I’m writing this from the future. 8/2/2020 to be exact, and I just got off an hour long call with Richard Martin. I found his website online and the only photo I have for him was the one associated with the website, so I called and emailed until I reached him. I’m video recording my diary entries and just came to August 1998 when I met him and wanted to know if he’d be okay with me talking about our love life online, or if he’d prefer I give him a code name. He said I could use his real name and that he didn’t need to vet the entries because he’d only ever loved two people in his life, and I was one of them. He recounted so many memories and then told me about our break up.
I’d apparently never recorded what happened, so I was glad to hear him tell me his recollection of it. He said I sent him a fax saying I’d just lost a tiger (he had to be wrong on what kind of cat, because that didn’t happen) and I gave him an ultimatum. Sell his derelict properties and get rid of his drunken work crew and that he shouldn’t call me again until he did. Richard had a mixed bag of properties. Some were great and others took all of the time, all of the profit and caused all of his stress because they were in such bad areas. His crew were taking full advantage of it and I was doing, with one maintenance man, far more with my own properties than he was able to do with six or so of the leeches in his life.
He said at the time he was heartbroken, but knew there was no point in calling me again because he wasn’t willing to get rid of the slum lord parcels nor the drunks. Now, 22 years later, he says he’s divested himself of most of the slums, but kept the drunks. He said we met after the fax and talked all night at Denny’s at the corner of Sheldon and Hillsborough. He said we kissed, held each other and talked until dawn, but neither of us would relent on our position and that was the end.
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.
Today was such a typical day. I woke up at Richard Martin’s mother’s house and drove him to work at 7:30 a.m. I made my face while I read the classified and finished up the paperwork I had taken to his mother’s last night. Richard Martin cooked breakfast and I drew up some ads for him, reviewed a contract for him and listened to Donna (his ex-secretary who hangs out in the office all day) tell me all about how her arm got sucked up into the drive through shuttle at Walgreen’s. If I were that stupid, I sure wouldn’t brag about it.
Richard Martin had a hearing to go to at 10:30 and I left for home. Entering Easy Street, Don’s van stops in front of me and it’s Jon telling me that someone let the lemur out of his utility room and they found blood all over Shatia’s mouth and her cage, but no remains.
He’s taking Shatia the Canada Lynx to the vet, only he doesn’t know who she is, only that she’s a Lynx. I send him on, fearing that it is Shatia and that her cardio myopathy has resulted in a bursting heart. I go back to her pen and discover that it is her on the way to the vet and I look the cage over myself for traces of the lemur. I go inside to call the vet and tell her it is Shatia and remind her of her heart condition only to find out that Jon has left the cat there in a carrier and no squeeze cage or net so the vet can’t sedate the cat.
She is foaming blood from the mouth and the vet says it is probably her heart and asks me to send the squeeze cage and net up to her so she can examine the cat without causing enough stress to kill her. I send Jon back up with the needed supplies. I go looking for Dad and Kenny Farr who repeat the whole thing over to me and give me more details.
They have fixed the place in the fence where the Tiger had climbed over and nearly out the day before. Richard Martin calls to gloat saying someone has offered him 12,000 for a building I thought he would be lucky to get 4k for. He wants me to pay up the $100.00 I bet him. I told him I’d pay it when he had the money in hand. He asked if I was having a good day and I broke down crying over Shatia. I’ve had her for five years and raised her from just a few days of age. I always knew this day would come.
The computer has crashed taking with it all of my cat’s health records for the past six years. I call around for help and am told it will run me $100.00 per hour, so I decide to fix it myself. Weirdly enough, the first thing I did (reinstall the program itself) worked and I was able to save all of the information I thought was lost.
A reporter calls and says a story he is doing about me makes me sounds a really bad and he asked if I could rebut the claims by Don’s kids and Anne McQueen that I fed Don to the Tigers and that I ground him up in the Butcher Boy. That’s ridiculous because the throat of the grinder is about the size of a half dollar, if that. I tell him the cats would have killed Don, but that they wouldn’t have eaten him, because they’re fussy, like that. Not a great answer, but I am sick of stupid people.
This isn’t the original meat grinder, because I never took a photo of it, but it is the same shape and size.
I search for the lemur and then check on the serval who decided to give himself a stroke over having new bobcat neighbors yesterday. He was shaking so bad a day later that I had locked him in the house so he couldn’t see another cat. I coaxed him into eating for the first time in two days and felt better about his condition.
I’ve just gotten Nirvana through her illness that nearly took her life a week ago. Susan Aronoff calls, elated that she got the job with Richard Martin and she talks forever. I get off the phone with her and my attorney calls and can’t get anyone to show up for depositions. He says the kids have changed their mind again and now they want to finish the deal we agreed to but they want accountings for all quarters since Doug Stalley never has gotten any of them signed and submitted to the court. Mom was gracious enough to drop everything and to re-copy all of it.
I spend the day booking the cabins, answering questions, ordering supplies, sending out volunteer and photo tour info. In between, I work on evictions and foreclosures and prepare a satisfaction of a mortgage I never could find a file on and make copies of the documents I hope will save me from a battle with the EPA on a contaminated site Don got involved in.
I call the vet and expect to hear that Shatia has died, but instead the vet says she has a laceration on her tongue and that she can come home now. (a cut on her tongue? I’ve been agonizing over her biting her tongue?) I send Jon after her in Don’s van because I don’t want her riding in the back of his pick up truck. The vet says the problem is that it will hurt to eat and she will probably try to starve herself to death and how was I going to get her meds in her if not in her food?
Feeding time arrives and no one but Crazy Gary and Susan Aronoff show up. We are racing against time to get the cats fed before dark and smoke is blowing in. Two female bobcats get into a cat fight over who is going to eat first and the hose is shut off. I yell at the cats, and bang on the wire to no avail. Shanda is down on her back and Cherokee has that look that says she’s going for the kill, so I duck down and attempt to storm into the cage, but I stop short.
I look at the gaping gash in my leg, that has been impaled on the wire and wonder if I will bleed to death and worse yet, can I get un-impaled and get the door shut before all three of the cats get loose. I run for the other end of the hose and turn it on, but by now the cats have forgotten what they were fighting about, so I flush out the wound and decide I can still get the cats fed before I am going to think about how much this hurts.
It’ s dark as we are feeding the last of the cats and as I’m cleaning buckets my Dad and Jon come in and tell me the van has broken down on the way home from the vet again and that they had to toss Shatia in the back of Dad’s pick up truck to get her home, but that they covered her with a tarp. They tell me that the smoke is from the pig farm next door and that the flames were leaping above the tree tops. The fire department has dug a trench around the fire to stop it from spreading. I’m wondering if the lemur set it.
Crazy Gary comes back in from feeding and has been scratched by the serval, Dakota. He’s carrying on over how much it hurts and I turn around to face him in my blood soaked clothes and he shuts up about this nick on his hand.
Exhausted, I check on Shatia and try to get her to eat her medicated meal, but she’s not interested. No one fed the cat in the bathroom so I go back out to fix him a plate. I am so tired and hungry. The baby bear cat is dirtier and hungrier, so I clean her cage and cut her meal up into 1/8 inch squares.
I warm up left overs from yesterday’s Volunteer bar-b-que and Jim Moore comes flying through the back door yelling that he needs a flashlight. I really want to just hand him one and not ask why, but can’t. He tells me that two females and two male leopards are all in the same pen and one of them is Simba. I grab two lights and we dash out to the cage.
Some stupid, deaf, volunteer is about to drive us both insane as we race against time to get the cats into separate lock outs before they engage in a bloody battle that will surely leave someone dead. We finally succeed in correcting the problem and getting everyone safely tucked away and I go and check on Shatia again.
Richard Martin calls in the middle of all this and I ask him to check on the progress of the fire. There have been news helicopters buzzing around our heads and it has been the least of my worries. Richard Martin calls me back to say that no one from the fire department or the Sheriff’ s office knows anything about the blaze, but he has asked them to dispatch another fire truck. He wants me to come spend the night at his mother’s with him, but I am afraid I’ll get blood all over her bed and would rather stay home and let this wound air out.
I get dressed and go out to check on the fire myself. The smoke is cleared and I don’t see any smoldering embers so I pour a glass of red wine and discover the 35 gallon fish tank in the kitchen is leaking all over the floor. Too tired to deal with it, I put a bowl under it to catch the water and hope it doesn’t fall apart before morning. It was just another day.
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.
I have tried for several weeks to help Richard sell his South St. Pete properties. He is ridiculous in his expectation of their values and can’t explain, nor can any of his staff explain, what a Lease Option is. I have had him put my mother’s phone number instead in order to make sure that someone intelligent is answering the ads. I think she stands a much better chance of selling them even at his stupid prices.
Nirvana has spent the last two nights at the Vet with a uterine infection. I miss her and worry about her all the time. The baby Bearcat is doing great. Jamie is such a wonderful mom to the cubs. Jamie has taken over the office and has things more caught up to date than they have been in months. She is very good on the phone with people and will be WildLife on Easy Street’s saving grace. She is leaving for a show in New York next Tues.
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.
At least once a day someone will tell me how lucky I am to get to work with big cats. I’m writing this at 9:30 PM in a restaurant because if I were at home there would be too many interruptions to write. It’s late because it’s ALWAYS this late before I get fed. I eat out because I am too easily called away from the stove and there’s not a room in my house that I don’t have to fight a Bobcat, Caracal, Cougar or Fishing Cat for my food.
When I get home I’ll check on the youngsters, the sick, the injured and the recovering before showering. Taking a bath in a room that’s always temporary quarters for some big cat, is, in and of itself, a challenge.
I’ll work at the computer until midnight because these are the precious few hours I’m not bombarded by employees, volunteers, guests and a couple dozen people calling long distance to “talk cats”. When I can’t focus on the screen any more, I’ll shake the kitty litter out of my sheets, find a pillow the Bobcat hasn’t been eating his raw chicken on, and turn off the lights.
Cats, being the nocturnal beasts they are, will now come to life. The rest of the night Catera will be jumping from the cat tree to the bed and back like a 15 pound ping pong ball. He gets extra points for landing on my face. Every toy and any left over dinner he has will end up on the bed before dawn. Fetch is his favourite game and he’s learned that if “mom’s” too tired to throw jingle bell mouse, she’s never too tired to throw the gizzards he drops on my face.
Eventually day break will send him off to sweet dreams, but now the pager’s buzzing, the phones are ringing, the faxes are spitting papers all over the floor, someone’s pounding on my bedroom door wanting to know if I’ve seen so and so and another glorious day is begun.
A typical day consists of a never ending parade of people through my home. All the visitors want to meet the person responsible for this “wonderful establishment”. All the employees want to complain about the volunteers being lazy and all the volunteers want to tell me how they’d run things. Through it all, I’m filing answers to complaints against me by the government and warding off lawsuits from every dead beat who thought a cat bite would make a great retirement. I try to actually get a little business done as well.
I always awake with the intent of eating breakfast, but I’ll be putting out fires until 1:00 or 2:00 PM. My body will signal that it’s going to crash if I don’t drop everything and refuel. I usually eat lunch while I’m driving to the court house, the feed store or the Vet’s office. The greatest day of my life was the day my daughter was able to drive herself.
I’ll come racing home just in time to start preparing the cats’ evening meal. Even with six of us working at it, this is still a two hour ordeal. While normal people have had dinner and are settling down in front of the T.V. for the evening, I am up to my elbows in dead animal parts that are so cold I lose all feeling in my hands within a few minutes after the burning sensation ceases. While the cats are happily munching away it’s a good time to treat wounds, give vaccines and treat for fleas. When I’m out of light, I’ll quit taking care of the cats for the day.
Filthy, smelly and exhausted I ignore the strange looks from the people I encounter in the diner and slump down at this table and reflect over how lucky I am.
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.
Richard Martin and I went to New Orleans Thursday via a gambling junket. It is a pretty neat package and very inexpensive. For $99.00 we each got a round trip ticket to Biloxi Mississippi, two nights in a very nice hotel. Also included is transportation to and from the hotel Casino Magic and the airport, and meal tickets for their fabulous buffets for three meals. Any time you are in the casino you are waited on hand and foot with complimentary drinks ( I wonder why) and Bay St. Louis is only an hour’s drive from New Orleans. We rented a Dodge Stratus for $20.00 per day and drove to New Orleans on Friday.
We drove around the streets and I admired all of the French iron work decorating the battered balconies of the overcrowded upstairs housing. It looked like something from a movie set. It is hard to believe people can live so closely crowded together and under such poor conditions.
Parking was just non existent as were things like plants and flowers. The trees were much like our grandfather oaks here with their gnarled and twisted branches. The drive from Bay Saint Louis to New Orleans was worth making the whole trip for. An hour of driving along pristine beaches complete with sand dunes and sea oats on the south side and beautiful homes of every sort of design, but mostly the Victorian I love so much on the north side.
The weather was the kind you would custom order and yet only two people were taking advantage of a nice brisk walk on that entire length of beach. The shrimp and oyster boats were lined up on the horizon and the sun was like diamonds on the lapping tide. There were numerous docks, some leading far out into the Gulf, but most were deserted except for the occasional fisherman. This is the sort of place I could pull off the road and run as far as I could run, gulping in the salty sea air; running until all I could do is walk and then I would walk until I could walk no more. What greater reward then but to flop down in the sugar white sand and take in the beauty all around me until the moon would rise up over the water and the stars would pierce through the black velvet sky?
Richard Martin wanted to go shopping at Goodwill and Hudson’s (a little discount store) and as always we argued over dressing to look like every other yuppie or showing some sense of individualism. Fortunately we were able to carry this argument further than before and Richard Martin said that he recognized that he is argumentative and that he really enjoys a battle of wits, provided “it reaches some sort of resolution.”
I take that to mean, as long as I always tell him he is right and he gets the feeling that he won. He claims that he could be wrong, but I really find that to be no more than lip service based upon past discussions. I do enjoy arguing and don’t take his approach as hard as I did initially. I admitted to him that I will argue just for fun as long as I am not stressing him out, but that I am not inclined to believe that all issues will have a resolution as many things are just a matter of personal opinion.
We talked about the heavy stuff that we often do whenever we are alone together. I told him that I believe I am the best thing that will ever happen to him, but if he isn’t capable of recognizing that and seizing the opportunity, then perhaps he is not the best thing that has ever happened to me. He said that he wanted to be cautious because he wants to be sure before jumping into a relationship that could really hurt him. He said that because he chose to be with me this weekend, his relationship with Zena was pretty much over with.
I don’t believe it, but I didn’t tell him so. He’ll prove me right or wrong. When we got back to the room there was a message from the desk saying “Meir Lansky will take care of this” and a message on the phone that sounded like a woman impersonating a male gangster saying” Meir Lansky will get you for this”. I thought the person was saying Myra and didn’t know what to make of it, but Richard Martin says that Zena has some low life gangster relative named Meir, who is supposed to be as unconscionable as Capone. It bothers me the way people make Mafia out to be some glamorous society for protecting the ways of their people. They are nothing but criminals with enough stolen money to stay out of jail.
Richard Martin says he shouldn’t have told Donna where he was going and seems to think it was Larry that called and not Zena. I would like to know why Larry would feel compelled to threaten for Zena’s sake when he is the one who keeps telling Richard Martin he should tell her about me rather than continue to lead her on into thinking that she is in a monogamous relationship. This bothers me too. If he would lie to her, then what would keep him from lying to me? I have had it with lying, cheating men.
I’ve told him twice now, there are only two things that I can’t live with. One is infidelity and the other is him trying to control my family. I’ll tolerate his impositions because most of the things that are a big deal to him are of no consequence either way to me. I can be the chameleon if that makes him happy, but no one is going to demand that from my family. He says he would not cheat on me, once committed, which he warily has not, and that he would not impose himself on my family. I don’t think I am asking a lot, but I do think that for him to do so is giving a lot because it is so in his nature to try and manipulate and control everything and every one around him.
I asked him about what it was like to be a bachelor for as long as he was. He said it was great and that he never would have changed it of his own volition because it was so nice to call up a woman and have her come spend the night and then he may not see her for a few weeks and he would call someone else who hadn’t seen him for a while and they would be so happy to see him that they would have a great time.
This sounds like the life so many men want and I asked what changed his mind to marriage. He loved Susan but she wouldn’t live with him without marriage because of the influence on her daughter. He didn’t want to lose her entirely and agreed to get married because he felt she had left her husband to be with him. I wonder how much of this was her planning and how much of it was coincidental? I also don’t understand, if this was planned, then why did she bail out? What was so lacking or so awful that she would go through the last two years in court to divorce him? I hope to find out before it is too late. I really want this to work and I can make most anything work, but I don’t think I have all of the information yet.
I met Ian Anderson, the lead singer with Jethrow Tull a rock group from my era a couple weeks ago. He was playing at Ruth Eckerd Hall and is an avid cat person. He has traveled all over the globe visiting cat refuges and sanctuaries. He really liked our operation based on a global comparison and I felt good about that. His favourite cat is the Tigrina and he knows Pat Quillan and her work with those little guys. He liked Nirvana and had several pictures made with her, and Enya the Cougar and Takoma the Bobcat. He said we can use his image and his endorsement of us in our advertising if that would help.
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.
Richard Martin got me a copy of the Multiple Listing Service diskette so that I can do comparable searches without so much hassle. The last week has been very full and last night, I fell asleep on him for the first time. He was upset about how his sister was treating him and needed to talk, and I tried my best to stay with him, but kept fading out. He thinks she hates him and that she thinks he abused his relationship with his mother by making her work for him and then firing her after she lost close to half a million dollars in poor management of some convenience stores he started.
She is apparently very wealthy by marriage and looks down on Richard Martin because of his failure at marriage, his involvement with a stolen boat and the condition of his office and his staff, according to Richard Martin. I suggested that she is the little sister who could never be as popular, nor as successful as her big brother and that her hostilities are merely a defense mechanism for dealing with her own failures to ever accomplish anything for herself. I hope I am right. I would hate to find out that she is right and that Richard Martin took advantage of his mother and treated her poorly. She has been diagnosed with cancer and is already so frail that I fear I won’t get to know her well enough in time to learn what their relationship was. I believe that mother and son relationship is vital to a man’s perception of himself and how he relates to women from then on.
Richard Martin has asked that I personally do a presentation for Tom Butler’s rotary club, because his ex-wife, Susan is its president. I took Jamie, Daniel Capiro, Fleetwood Cougar and Windstar Bobcat and did a 30 minute slide show and petting forum. I had seen Susan the day she signed the release when I paid off Richard Martin’s alimony, but I did not know if she had seen me. She welcomed me as if she did not know who I was and was cordial throughout. She is an animal lover and asked me some difficult questions about the dangers these animals face in captivity, but her questions did not seem aggressive toward me. I found her likable and motivated to do good in her community and wondered where it all went wrong between her and Richard Martin.
I would like to speak with her in another place at another time to find out what she can tell me about their situation, so that he and I do not fall into that same quicksand that sucked the life out of their marriage. Richard Martin keeps saying they couldn’t communicate and that she was unreasonable in her opinions. I’ll bet he has said at least two dozen times, “If I said the sky was blue, she would still argue that it was green.” My fear is, and I’ve told him, that he believes that no matter what he says, he is right and anyone who differs with him is wrong.
This is the way our conversations usually go. If I agree we are okay. If I disagree, he becomes hateful, accusatory, and will continue to badger me into agreeing with him just to bring his tirade to an end. Then he’s mad, because he knows I still don’t agree and that I have only conceded to shut him up. He keeps saying he doesn’t want me to just agree with him, he wants me to actually believe the same way he does.
While I understand this desire to share common beliefs, I don’t know that it is entirely feasible. I wonder if this was the cause of the lack of communication between he and Susan. Did she learn after a while to keep her opinions to herself so as not to incite him to rage? Or did she retreat into silence once she accidentally ventured out onto a shelf of opinionism? As always, I believe that I can take a bad situation and turn it into good. I pray for strength and guidance.
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.
Photo circa June 1998. We do not display photos of people touching cats after 2004. Windstar had been a surprise birth to Windsong Bobcat and a hybrid father on 5/11/98. First generation hybrids are supposed to be sterile, so we hadn’t worried about neutering him until Windstar happened. Last night Richard Martin, Jamie, Daniel Capiro and I went to the Matchbox 20 concert at the Ice Palace. Richard Martin gassed up his limo, stocked it with piazza, colas and wine and we headed off for the concert. A few miles from our destination, the limo stalled and died. Richard Martin called AAA and I called a cab. The kids and I went to the show, leaving Richard Martin behind to deal with the car. An hour later he arrived and we went in. We were probably the oldest people in the place, but Richard Martin made a point of making sure everyone danced, and had fun. That is hard enough for Jamie as she is so straight laced that it would be beyond her to ever feel the music. I remember Jamie always telling me that all her life she has wanted to go to a concert and hold up a lighter, like her generation is so famous for, just to say she did it. Richard Martin loaned her his lighter. After the show Richard Martin was able to get them both souvenir jackets for half price because he knew the girl behind the counter. We went out for cokes, Richard Martin for gin and then back to the office. The kids went home and Richard Martin and I spent the night together. 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.
GOALS 9/27/1998
I. RELIGION:
-
Get my life right with God.
-
Join the Church and become active in classes or cleaning.
-
Bring more people to Christ through more than just my example.
-
Get Jamie back in church. II. REAL ESTATE:
-
Get the business back on its feet. a. Cleaning up properties and titles. b. Obtaining good, long term tenants on all parcels. c. Pay back taxes and organize a better way to stay on top.
-
Protecting the assets. a. Settling Conservatorship with Don’s kids and Anne b. Get my properties out of Conservatorship’s control c. Re-titling my assets to shield my identity. d. Re-titling Conservatorship properties to protect assets. e. Insuring for Liability f. Insuring for Hazard and Flood
-
Better tax strategies. a. Learn more about exchanging and tax implications. b. Get books onto a reliable and easily applied program. c. Move tax records from Ferlita to Dave Burton. d. Plan for Don’s estate to minimize taxation. e. Plan for Carole’s estate to minimize taxation.
-
Grow the business through careful selection to maximize profits.
-
Teach Jamie how to take over when I’m gone.
-
Set Mom up with her own management company so that she is independent and can be her own boss.
-
Set Dad up with his own property improvement company so that he can be independent and be his own boss. III. WILD LIFE ON EASY STREET
-
Set up Board of Directors who can act in my absence & who can shield me from liability claims.
-
Get all of the animals into comfortable cages. There are 24 cats, 2 B&W Lemurs and 10 Ringtailed Lemurs & civit waiting for permanent pens.
-
Make WOES self sufficient a. Political support via supporting candidates who are likely to be leaders. b. Public support through public appearances. c. Strengthen volunteer program and empower its leaders. d. Advertise more wisely, locally and abroad. e. Improve Web Site for global recognition of name and mission. f. Improve cabin facilities to include rest rooms, cable T.V.’s, phones, and to be more safe for the overnight cat. g. Team up with large businesses that need the publicity of supporting a wildlife cause.
-
Install barricades to bring refuge into State compliance by the year 2000 and to allow more freedom of movement of guests without increasing liability. This will increase our ability to tour groups with children.
-
Public Restroom facilities for toilets, sinks and showers.
-
Change all pens that are required to be changed by the year 2000 ie: All Leopard cages (14) must have roofs, Tiger pens and Lion pens (5 ac) must have a 4 foot 45 degree overhangs around the outside walls and Cougars (14) must have one or the other.
-
Install hot wire around perimeter fence to insure cats stay in.
-
Secure perimeter fences to decrease possibility of poachers coming in.
-
Secure parking lot from the rest of the facility so as to keep guests from driving in and wandering off un-escorted. Install a more heavy duty electronic gate and put old one on parcel next door.
-
Secure gift shop items so that they can be seen and purchased but not stolen. Check auctions and classifieds for locking glass cabinets.
-
Secure front gate with T.V. Monitors so that from inside we can tell who is at the gate and if anyone is helping them.
-
Improve access road and internal roads.
-
Stage lighting for the Wild Eyes At Night Tours which would double to help in emergency.
-
Install an audio system capable of playing music, announcements and paging staff.
-
Build Visitor Center resembling a huge Tiki hut on beach with rustic palm shaded dock and deck overlooking the lake. This will be where Caracals are now, so we will need eight more cages. a. It can serve as an auditorium and meeting hall for us and for rent. b. It can be used as a dining hall (with permanent kitchen for guests, staff & volunteers). c. It can be a museum that can be rented out. The museum would house the mounted animals who have died here and feature skins, skulls etc. as a learning aid about these animals that are so near extinction. d. It could be used as a wedding hall and reception area. This is a huge business in the Tampa Bay area and I don’t know anywhere you can be “married in Paradise”.
GOALS 9/27/1998
I. RELIGION:
-
Get my life right with God.
-
Join the Church and become active in classes or cleaning.
-
Bring more people to Christ through more than just my example.
-
Get Jamie back in church. II. REAL ESTATE:
-
Get the business back on its feet. a. Cleaning up properties and titles. b. Obtaining good, long term tenants on all parcels. c. Pay back taxes and organize a better way to stay on top.
-
Protecting the assets. a. Settling Conservatorship with Don’s kids and Anne b. Get my properties out of Conservatorship’s control c. Re-titling my assets to shield my identity. d. Re-titling Conservatorship properties to protect assets. e. Insuring for Liability f. Insuring for Hazard and Flood
-
Better tax strategies. a. Learn more about exchanging and tax implications. b. Get books onto a reliable and easily applied program. c. Move tax records from Ferlita to Dave Burton. d. Plan for Don’s estate to minimize taxation. e. Plan for Carole’s estate to minimize taxation.
-
Grow the business through careful selection to maximize profits.
-
Teach Jamie how to take over when I’m gone.
-
Set Mom up with her own management company so that she is independent and can be her own boss.
-
Set Dad up with his own property improvement company so that he can be independent and be his own boss. III. WILD LIFE ON EASY STREET
-
Set up Board of Directors who can act in my absence & who can shield me from liability claims.
-
Get all of the animals into comfortable cages. There are 24 cats, 2 B&W Lemurs and 10 Ringtailed Lemurs & civit waiting for permanent pens.
-
Make WOES self sufficient a. Political support via supporting candidates who are likely to be leaders. b. Public support through public appearances. c. Strengthen volunteer program and empower its leaders. d. Advertise more wisely, locally and abroad. e. Improve Web Site for global recognition of name and mission. f. Improve cabin facilities to include rest rooms, cable T.V.’s, phones, and to be more safe for the overnight cat. g. Team up with large businesses that need the publicity of supporting a wildlife cause.
-
Install barricades to bring refuge into State compliance by the year 2000 and to allow more freedom of movement of guests without increasing liability. This will increase our ability to tour groups with children.
-
Public Restroom facilities for toilets, sinks and showers.
-
Change all pens that are required to be changed by the year 2000 ie: All Leopard cages (14) must have roofs, Tiger pens and Lion pens (5 ac) must have a 4 foot 45 degree overhangs around the outside walls and Cougars (14) must have one or the other.
-
Install hot wire around perimeter fence to insure cats stay in.
-
Secure perimeter fences to decrease possibility of poachers coming in.
-
Secure parking lot from the rest of the facility so as to keep guests from driving in and wandering off un-escorted. Install a more heavy duty electronic gate and put old one on parcel next door.
-
Secure gift shop items so that they can be seen and purchased but not stolen. Check auctions and classifieds for locking glass cabinets.
-
Secure front gate with T.V. Monitors so that from inside we can tell who is at the gate and if anyone is helping them.
-
Improve access road and internal roads.
-
Stage lighting for the Wild Eyes At Night Tours which would double to help in emergency.
-
Install an audio system capable of playing music, announcements and paging staff.
-
Build Visitor Center resembling a huge Tiki hut on beach with rustic palm shaded dock and deck overlooking the lake. This will be where Caracals are now, so we will need eight more cages. a. It can serve as an auditorium and meeting hall for us and for rent. b. It can be used as a dining hall (with permanent kitchen for guests, staff & volunteers). c. It can be a museum that can be rented out. The museum would house the mounted animals who have died here and feature skins, skulls etc. as a learning aid about these animals that are so near extinction. d. It could be used as a wedding hall and reception area. This is a huge business in the Tampa Bay area and I don’t know anywhere you can be “married in Paradise”.
Hurricane Georges is passing over the Keys today and 250 lay dead in its wake. We have battened down the hatches here but I expect to be up through the night checking for trees blown over from the high winds.
He was late to work and his secretary didn’t show up, so he was agitated, but he took a few minutes to walk around the yard briefly and look the situation over. He’s very bright and immediately recognized the need for more and better cabins, better facilities to attract the money people and the political powers I need. As usual he got hung up on doing a survey first. I don’t know what it is with him and surveys. I know where my property lines are and I know where my buildings are and paying someone $3000.00 to tell me what I already know seems like a waste of time and money.
Maybe he has some reason he just hasn’t made clear to me yet. His next two priorities seemed to be lighting the place up and roads. These are needed, but, in my opinion, not as important as getting the cats comfortable. I felt myself getting defensive because I have all of the unresolved issues with Don trying to sabotage my every effort and I don’t want to get into that again. He noticed my left eye twitching as it does when I get upset and I brought to his attention the fact that he has the same problem with his left eye which is just too weird. The last person I ever knew who had such a condition was Mary Mero my Jr. High English teacher. He and I have so much in common. I hope this is good but mostly it just feels weird.
Hurricane Georges was a powerful and long-lived Cape Verde-type Category 4 hurricane which caused severe destruction as it traversed the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico in September 1998, making seven landfalls along its path. Georges was the seventh tropical storm, fourth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 1998 Atlantic hurricane season. It became the second most destructive storm of the season after Hurricane Mitch and the costliest Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
Georges killed 604 people, mainly on the island of Hispaniola, and caused extensive damage resulting at just under $10 billion (1998 US dollars, $14.1 billion 2015 USD) in damages mostly in St. Kitts and Nevis, Puerto Rico and Hispaniola.
The hurricane made landfall in at least seven different countries (Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and the United States) and Puerto Rico, a Commonwealth of the United States — more than any other hurricane since Hurricane Inez of the 1966 season.
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!
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I had spent all day yesterday checking out the Pasco County Tax Deeds sales for today. I had agonized alone all day, knowing that Richard Martin would be with Zena tonight. I just barely got through in time for church and still couldn’t get the thought of them out of my mind. I went to the Fox telling myself I would check out Richard Martin’s theory about the miniature liquors and then I would have something to talk to him about the next day. Who was I kidding?
I felt abandoned and unwanted and needed to have some stranger fawn over me to reassert my self esteem. I walked in and except for one other couple was the only person at the bar. I guess I’d be buying my own drink tonight. Could I drown my sorrows in my one glass limit of house red wine? Two men came in with an obviously drunk blonde bimbo and a third came in at about the same time. He went into the kitchen and spoke with the bartender as if perhaps they were fellow employees. He told Tommy to send me another drink if I’d just smile.
I waited a few moments to say anything to him. He was my age, full of himself and no one I thought a challenge, but there was no one else there. I walked over and assured him I was not having a bad day and I deliberately placed my hand on his back as I leaned close and spoke. I didn’t know him 15 minutes before he was telling me and everyone else who would listen how much he loved me. I just hate that. He doesn’t know a thing about me. He wants to come be a volunteer with the Tigers. I hope he forgets.
A tall slender, balding man came in and obviously knew Michael Saylor. He was with a striking blonde who was virtually wrapped around him. He took my hand to shake it and introduce himself as Jim Harringer? I don’t let people touch me and I never touch them without considering the effect that usually has. He was so quick to grab my hand that now as he stood there, my hand in his, I felt to pull away would be rude.
He seemed to take on that familiar lost in time look. He just kept holding my hand and staring deep into my eyes. His date reached up and literally turned his face to hers and said something inaudible. Ignoring her, he turned back to me as if he were just speechless. This gives me such a sense of power. I don’t know what it is, but this was the boost my bruised ego needed. I could leave now. And did.
When I got home Richard Martin paged and my heart leapt. Could this mean that he was not going to be wrapped in her arms tonight? Or had she just excused herself to take a shower and he was now using the opportunity to make sure I was home alone like I should be? He was agitated that he had been unable to reach me and said he had left an angry message on my cell phone. I don’t know how to use the thing yet, so I couldn’t play the message back. I talked to him until late in the night.
All of these things were replaying in my mind as I drove all over Pasco County today. I got the mobile home lot I wanted, managed to raise enough cash in town to pay for it without having to drive back to Tampa, and was on my way to do some research on a judgment for Richard Martin in Brooksville. I stopped back by the lot to put up a For Sale sign and to photograph the lot for my files. I was thinking about the little Voice in my head that was assuring me that I could live with anyone, but the one I should choose is the one I could not live without. As I was trampling down killer sand spurs and talking on the cell phone to Richard Martin he said, “Tell me something good” and everything inside me wanted to say, “I love you, Richard Martin. That’s something good”. Instead I told him I was going to have to bite my tongue to keep from telling him what was on my mind. I hung up so frustrated.
On the way home from Spring Hill I argued with the little Voice, as I am prone to do. It kept telling me to call him up and proclaim my love. It kept insisting that I may never have the opportunity again. I know this Voice well enough to know it as the Voice of God and I was concerned He was trying to tell me something. I argued that Richard Martin’s friendship was too important to me to take a risk of running him off by making such a brash statement, but the Voice kept telling me that there was no reason to hide the love I feel.
I tried to call but Hurricane George is approaching over Cuba and the line cracked and died. I tried two more times before finally getting him on the line. I asked, “You’ re a realist , right?” He affirmed. “Then as the master of logic and reason, tell me one reason why I should bite my tongue and not tell you what is on my mind?” His response was, “Go ahead. I was expecting bad news.” Bad news? This could be real bad news, I thought, if he takes it the wrong way. I tried to sound cheerful, despite my fear. “This isn’t bad news. At least I hope it’s not bad news to you. I know this isn’t the appropriate time nor place but I can’t bite my tongue any longer.”
I waited and then said, much more subdued, “Richard, I Love You!” There was what seemed an endless gap in time and then exuberantly he said, “That’s great news!” What a relief!
Later he asked me to dinner at Skipper’s Smokehouse which is where this all started. I thought that was romantic. We met at the church parking lot to take just his car. We told everyone it was our Anniversary. It had been a glorious 5 and ½ weeks. We resolved to come here at least once a year.
He asked me what brought me to the realization that I loved him and I detailed for him the chain of events that had led to the realization that he was the one I didn’t want to live without. We went back to the Church for my truck and there, listening to “Our Love Will Go On” by Celine Deon we kissed and I told him in person that I love him. We thought it appropriate that this should all happen here on the church grounds since God was behind the whole thing.
On the way back to his condo we went through the toll booth. He pulled into the lane for change, and not wanting to hold him up (he drives so fast) I pulled through a change only lane, so that we could pull out together. I waited for as long as I could but when someone pulled in behind me, I had to pull through and wait up ahead on the shoulder. I thought he might need change and was contemplating pulling back down the ramp to help, when he came on through and pulled up along side of me. He said he thought I was the truck behind him and that he had paid her toll and had the attendant pass a note to her saying, “I Love You”. We’ll be laughing about that for a long time.
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.
Yesterday Jamie came into my room crying that Jim Moore was being hateful to her. Because of Daniel Capiro she and Jim Moore have been at each other’s throats since last year. I am usually there at feeding time to referee, but since I have been spending my evenings with Richard Martin, they have been going at each other pretty steadily.
Jamie said I never defend her and that she has to work so hard for me and these animals and then put up with being called names by volunteers and getting no respect from them. I cried with her. I do ask way too much of her. I wrote Jim Moore a letter telling him to knock it off or get out. I was depressed when I met with Richard Martin and as I came through his office door, he handed me two bouquets of soft peach coloured roses. One was for me and the other for Jamie. I almost cried.
In his helpful, if not overbearing way, he commenced to telling me everything I should say to her. He asked why I laughed and I explained; because that was exactly, almost verbatim, what I had said to her. It is so weird how we respond so similarly to situations. I had bought Air Purifiers for his office and the lake house and the condo, because the dust is so bad I can’t breathe in these places.
He kept saying he wanted to pay for them but I told him he could pay for the electricity to run them and I would pay for the units, since I was the only one benefitting from them. He got really adamant about paying for it so I told him he could donate the amount to the cats and he did on one unit.
We went to the California Club where he told the valet that he usually parked right by the door and was allowed to do so. He insists that he rarely comes here and that he pulls that sort of thing just to see if he can get away with it. The people there were older and just as “plastic” as the younger set we watched at Stormin’s. All these people looking for love in all the wrong places. He pointed out to me the sort of women he would be attracted to and it made me wonder what on earth he saw in me.
They were petite and conservative to the point of boring. Petite, I understand. Every man I have ever known wanted a woman he could carry under one arm. (It must go back to the cave man mentality.) Conservative is another issue altogether. He likes to be high profile, noticed and remembered. He said when he dies there will be a provision in his will that pays mourners to wail for his passing so that it will be the biggest funeral of all time. As someone who is often in the spotlight, I am thankful that when I am with him, it is on him. I can relax when I don’t feel like every word out of my mouth is subject to end up on the front page of the Metro section of the St. Pete Times.
Speaking of which, at the Brown Dog later that evening I ordered the lamb, which happened to be the same thing the man at the table next to me had ordered. Richard Martin, always quick to converse with people he doesn’t know, asked the man what fine dining experience he would compare the Brown Dog to. They went from there to a discussion about real estate developing and politics and they came to find out they knew each other by name although not by sight.
The guy’s name was George ? and he is the attorney for the St. Pete Times and a developer of commercial real estate in downtown St. Pete. He owns the building next to my Anderson House, the Kress building and apparently quite a few renovated old buildings. We went from there to have a drink at Bennigan’s. I had already had my one wine limit so Richard Martin ordered a double Gin and Tonic.
We finished the discussion on swinging that we had started last week and I believe he understands how I feel about it. He said that, of course, he would not offer me a smoke or a drink or anything else that would cause me to fall. He said that he was only making an observation about the gay woman from the Farm Store and that in no way did he mean it as a suggestion that I should do anything. I am glad that we can talk things out like this.
He asked me if Don were to show back up tomorrow, would I go back to him as his wife. I hadn’t thought too much about “what if….” and found myself talking about it and thinking it through out loud. He seemed agitated that I couldn’t give him a quick and definite answer but he conceded that I should think it through before answering. He asked if given what I know about Don now to be true, if I still love him, and I couldn’t answer that very well either.
After much thought and discussion I answered him truthfully and with conviction that I would take care of Don financially, but that given his indiscretions, I was under no obligation to give him my love, nor myself in marriage. As to if I love him; I loved him, and for that reason alone would I continue to provide for him, but no more would I sacrifice myself. He asked for all of these answers based upon my life not including Richard Martin and these were the answers I would give whether Richard Martin were in my life or not.
I know that it is because of knowing Richard Martin though, that I could come to these conclusions, because before him I did not believe that a good man was something that actually existed. I might have settled for being married to Don because I would not have looked outside of our relationship for anyone who would love me without hurting me.
Today Richard Martin is going with Zena Lansky to the Rolls Royce Club which is meeting at the Aquarium. She asked him to drive because she is afraid of scratching the Rolls. She won’t even visit him at the lake house because of the dust and everything he tells me about her is negative. She is Jewish, head strong, self righteous, prissy and volatile. Then he tells me that she has planned the month of October for the two of them and that every time they go out, all he can think about is when he’ll be able to call me. This sounds an awful lot like Don’s excuses with Pam Enriquez.
For four years Don kept telling me that he really didn’t love her, that their relationship was soon to end, but it dragged on for four years because Don said he didn’t want to hurt her feelings. Hindsight being 20/20 I guess that goes to show that he cared more about not hurting her, than hurting me.
I have encouraged Richard Martin to see this thing through because when I do ask him for a commitment, I don’t want him to have any regrets. I wondered last night if I was being honest with myself. Richard Martin observed that I have been masochistic in my relationships and have always sacrificed self for the other party’s desires. He said it is human nature to take advantage of any given situation and that he doesn’t want to take advantage of me just because I will let him. Am I encouraging him to continue to hurt me because this continues my pattern, or do I really believe it is the best thing for us in the long run?
What is the alternative? I cannot seek other partners because of my beliefs. If I demand his exclusive attention then won’t I be asking too much, too soon?
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.
Today was my big day in court!
Twenty one of my Guardian Angel properties were released from the Conservatorship. The Stipulations entered into between the children and Anne McQueen and I were all ratified and the long and short of it was that the kids get to manage the PRSL Trust and I manage the GALTA Trusts and the Don Lewis accounts and only have to provide the quarterly accountings now to the Co-Conservator and the kids. Anne McQueen gives back everything that wasn’t hers and I give her $65,000.00 including her Attorney’s fees. Such a huge burden has been lifted from me.
This morning after talking with Richard Martin on his way to work at 6:00 am I thought back to the prayer I had prayed last month. I was going forward to trial and was expecting the conflict of my life to try and protect the business I had worked so hard to nurture. I was lonesome, frightened and absolutely exhausted. I prayed that God would give me relief and comfort on my way home from church and that little voice said, “Pick up the paper. That will make you feel better.”
I doubted it would make me feel better, but I did want to research the ad section, so rather than argue, I picked up a copy. Here it is Sunday, the day Don and I used to lay in bed and read the paper and really enjoy each other and I felt more lonesome than ever. The little voice told me the Personals would comfort me and I argued that seeing how desperate and lonely everyone else is wouldn’t help me to feel better about myself.
The little voice was persistent and I finally gave in just to quiet the noise in my head, when Richard Martin’s ad jumped off the page at me. That prayer was uttered on August 9 and on August 18 I first spoke to Richard Martin, and on August 28 Don’s kids and I settled our great battle and then on September 9 Anne McQueen and I settled our huge war and now, just 5 and ½ weeks later, I have been fully blessed with the relief and comfort I prayed for. God is so good to me! I think I’ll probably sleep for three days straight!
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.
Richard Martin asked me to be screened again for HIV and sexually transmitted diseases. I had done so after Don left and should be tested every six months. He offered to pay for it, but it is something I need to do anyway. I bought the sound track from the Titanic, “Love Will Go On” sung by Celine Dion because he says he loves it so much. I was thinking on the way home, listening to the tape that I think of him in every love song. One in particular, “The Reason” should be dedicated to him.
I’ve thought a lot about our discussion regarding the swinging lifestyle and concluded that if he wants to experience it in his lifetime, it should be now, but not with me. As a recovering alcoholic what kind of person would he be to coax me into a drink? As an ex-smoker what kind of person would blow smoke in my face and tell me just a time or two won’t hurt? As a Christian woman with strong homosexual desires what kind of person would encourage me to violate God’s law and my own conscience? If satisfying a fantasy is more important than my soul then there isn’t much value to my soul.
He called me tonight to tell me that his tenant who rents the Farm Store is a very beautiful bi-sexual swinger. Why call and tell me that other than in an attempt to pique my curiosity and hopefully arrange for himself a threesome? As if to try and run me off he canceled our dinner tonight, saying I was probably too busy and that he had to spend time with Patty. He said he wants to see me Thursday because he has a date with Zena, the doctor, Wednesday as well.
I was crushed. This is what I asked for but it hurts nonetheless. Jamie came in and jammed my copier and I snapped at her. She asked why the sudden moodiness and I realized I was behaving toward her the same way I did when Don had me on edge. I am not going to put her through that hell again. No man’s affection is worth this roller coaster ride.
I fed the cats and cooled off. Maybe he just doesn’t know God’s Word, although I thought everyone knew the story of Sodom and Gomorra. 1 Corinthians Chapter 6: Verse 9 says “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders, nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” The inspired writer goes on in verse 18 to say “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, who you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”
It gets even worse in Revelations Chapter 21 Verse 8 when God says “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars- their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.” Proverbs 30: 5 says “Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.” Surely I cannot have been so wrong about what a loving man he is. He wouldn’t purposely hurt me.
As much as I study the Word, I couldn’t find until last night with Mommajack at church the passage that commands my attendance in church three times a week. The scripture actually says we are not to forsake the assembly of brethren and that is subject to the days and times the brethren choose, which is at our convenience, with the exception of the commandment to meet on the Lord’s Day and take communion. It is in Hebrews Chapter 10 verse 25 and I looked it up in my Greek translation to make sure the wording was correct: “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but encouraging one another; and so much more, as ye see the Day is approaching. For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for our sins, but a certain fearful looking for judgment and fiery indignation.”
Wednesday he asked if I would meet him for lunch at the Brown Dog. He had one of his tenant hair stylist cut my hair, then we went to Radio Shack to pick up a mini recorder and then to Salvation Army where we bought clothes, for him, me, Jamie and Les, and then to the Brown Dog for an awesome lunch. David the ex-attorney who works for him joined us and they both gave opposing advice as to how to handle the Mindy Harrell bite.
He asked me if his dating made me jealous and I told him it does. He asked why I don’t say so, and I told him I am in no position to say anything about it. Not being able to be with him last night and knowing that I wouldn’t be able to be with him tonight, I was so happy that he suggested this afternoon meeting. As I was leaving he said he wished we had time to go to the condo but that we both had work to do. I was impressed that he didn’t invite me over for that reason alone and skip all the fun we had instead. I wanted him sexually, but feared that my reason was tainted by wanting to control (eliminate) his sexuality with his date tonight.
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.
Photo was me shortly before I left home at age 15 in 1977. We are on the porch of Goldie’s home in Anderson, Indiana.
I went with Richard to the Lake house after work at 7:00 p.m. He grilled lamb chops and Delmonico steaks on the grill. As much as I detest cooking, I enjoyed doing this with him. His house keeper seems to have jumped ship and he was disturbed at her lack of consideration. I wish I knew someone for him. He needs someone trustworthy and I need someone conscientious enough to keep the place clean. I am sitting on his floor at 2 in the morning waiting for some expired Benadryl tablets to take effect so that I can breathe. Being allergic to fur, feathers, dust and mold, I can’t breathe within a couple hours of being here and that’s a shame. This is the most romantic place I know and I just love being here and in Richard’s arms. What more is there to life than this?
My eyes swell shut, my nose starts running and I have the overwhelming desire to claw my face off. This isn’t very attractive.
We laid on the couch, facing each other, and with lotion, rubbed each other’s feet and legs and hands. We got into some touchy topics tonight. He asked about my first sexual encounter and I told I was raped at knife point by three men (Steve & Jim? Crabtree and George Minogue) when I was 14 (1976) and then I left home at 15 (1977) with my skate dancing partner, Jim Jones.
He started to ask about the rape and I went into the kitchen and trembling washed the dishes, hoping he would not ask again, when I returned. I was surprised to have such a strong reaction to the memory. It felt like yesterday. It seemed to have been the catalyst that launched a myriad of discovery questions about my sexuality. I told him about Roy Persons and the swinging and he asked how I would feel about going up to Paradise Lakes for their Friday night dance. I thought back to the night that he took me to hear the Jazz band and when I was dancing he had said that he thought I had exhibitionist qualities. Was he looking for that extroverted sense of my sensuality in hopes to seeing me dance naked someday at Paradise Lakes? My blood ran cold.
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.
Richard Martin called me on his way to the office. He said that they had talked a lot and that he had fallen asleep while she was still talking. I envisioned the meat knife in the food prep room; the one that can cut through a chunk of beef with just one effortless stroke. I felt the knife sink deep into my heart. It’s strange that such a physical pain in the organ of the heart can be felt when the thought process is in the brain. Why didn’t it feel like the blade was crashing through my brain?
I knew this was going to hurt, but I wasn’t prepared for the intensity. I was choking on the “blood” gushing from my severed heart and into my lungs. I couldn’t speak. When I finally did, I had to change the subject. I didn’t want to cry and give away to him how much this hurt. He is too kind to inflict such injury and I fear he would forego doing the things he needs to do, or worse yet lie to me about it. I hope that I can cope better with this as time goes on. Today was going to be an test of that endurance because he had told me weeks ago that another woman, he used to work with, had asked him to go to the Janet Jackson concert with him tonight, and then Patty was acting out her fatal attraction for him and wanted his attention tonight as well.
Around mid day he told me that he’d like to have an early dinner with me and then he would go with Patty and Tom Butler to the game and then he’d go to the concert. I met him for dinner at 5:45 and we ate at the Brown Dog. They were fully reserved so we ate before anyone was due to arrive and the Mahi Mahi was just wonderful. Afterwards we returned to his office and were reading over Trust documents and Insurance policies and trusts. I had been there for a couple hours and asked when I should be out of there so that I didn’t upset Patty and Richard said he had canceled everything. I felt touched and yet guilty. Had I let him know somehow how I felt? Had he denied himself for my sake? How am I ever going to be able to convince him that I am okay with his dating? It’s hard to sell something you don’t believe in.
Later on he introduced me to his long time friend, Tom Butler. We met at Hooters and they ate chicken wings and watched the ball game. Tom brought me up to speed on Richard’s past life. The only woman who Richard had ever said had broken his heart was Mary. Mary’s best friend was Becky, who was Tom’s great love as well. Tom talked at length about all the good times the four of them had together and what wonderful women they were. This was more than 10 years ago, but the affection was still very strong.
When we left there Richard and I went to Storman’s to watch the people. We sat outside and sharing our observations about the people who were coming and going at midnight. I am so grateful that I don’t have to go through the silly pretenses that the general public does in search of love. Are any of these people happy? All the pretty girls, showing off their best features, hoping to lure “Mr. Right” and all the males sniffing around for a bitch in heat. There’s not much in store for either party.
This was a great opportunity to get to know Richard better. His casual observations about people and events tell me a lot about his thought process. Even though we were sitting there taking inventory of all of the mini skirts, skin tight dresses and miracle bras, there was nothing lewd in his manner. Rather than seeing this as a sensual fashion show, he seemed to approach it more like I do. I see the outward presentation as a reflection of the person and I try to discover the whys that brought them to this place and time. That’s not to say you can judge a book by its cover, but I think there are valid clues there.
We witnessed the tail end of a bar room brawl that ended up in the parking lot and had an interesting "argument” over how it should have been handled. In typical fashion, I waited for him to give me a clue of what his stance would be and then I launched into the opposing point of view. We debated this pretty adamantly before I felt like I had pushed him far enough and conceded.
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.
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Richard call at 8:15 am singing:
It’s off to work we go
It’s morning, don’t you know
We’ve got to go to work
Till we find another jerk...
He was in a happy mood and driving out to an eviction. I love his attitude. I drove to his condo that evening and he put a card on the windshield of my truck and told me I couldn’t read it until the following morning. He’s a great listener and is so open and honest with his own thoughts. I cherish his honesty. As he drove off to work the next morning I read the card that said, “With Loving Thoughts. The times we’ve shared, the way you’ve cared, The loving things you do… All these are reasons why there’s love In every thought of you.”
When I came over last night, I brought him vitamin packets for the home and office because he had said that he wasn’t taking the vitamins as regularly as when he was dating the doctor. This isn’t as well formulated for him, but I reasoned that taking some vitamins is better than not taking better vitamins. When he bought the card, he didn’t know that I had bought the vitamins for him. I haven’t even begun to show him how loving I can be and he sent this card thanking me? I wanted to chase him down, pull him over in traffic and tell him I love him too. I started fast out of the parking lot, but remembering that I had already made him late for work, figured I would wait until I saw him in person tonight. I didn’t want to tell him by phone and I didn’t want to burst into his office and embarrass him in front of his staff. I would wait until tonight and try to make it as memorable for him as for he had made his first admission of love to me.
He called me later in the day and said that he was going out with his friend, the doctor. He asked how I felt about him doing that. I couldn’t verbalize it well and faxed over the first nine pages of this journal. He said she had called him wanting to rekindle the fire that had been smoldering for the last three weeks. I have been telling him that I can make no claims on him due to my own marital status and that I want him to “play the field” so that when I can commit, he will know that he has made the best choice in me.
I want a monogamous relationship and I am willing to forego it now to insure it later. There are no guarantees that dating other women now, would preclude him from dating other women later, but I don’t want him to have any regrets. I can immediately recognize this relationship as being of great value, but I probably have had more offers and temptations just because I am a woman.
I tried to sound like it wouldn’t bother me and assured him that I thought his dating her, and others, was the best things for us in the long run. He said he’d call me later that night. I tried to amuse myself so that I wouldn’t think about how their evening was progressing, but midnight came and sleep did not. The phone didn’t ring and I knew why.
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.
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I finally settled with Anne McQueen in the conservatorship case. After two days, by 3:45 we were signing on the dotted line of our agreement. Afterwards Anne McQueen said “I just want you to know you were right.” Her attorney told her not to get into that. I asked, “Right about what?”
Her attorney began to try and drag her out the door, telling her not to say any more. Struggling against him and yelling over him she said, “I want you to know that every intuition you ever had, proved true!” I still didn’t know what she meant and by now she was arguing with her attorney telling him to let her go and saying “she has the right to know! If I were right about something this important I would hope she would care enough to tell me!”
I had argued most with her about Don’s mental ability. I said he needed help. I told her that Don’s kids would stab her in the back. I told her that I thought Wendell Williams had killed Don. Were all of these proven true to her?
2019: I research Anne McQueen’s name in SunBiz and find all of Wendell’s kid’s names, as corporations list her as their registered agent. As late as 2019 Anne is still involved using the 800 Baker Street Address and the 56th Street address that Wendell used to use. Looks like she and Wendell were also using a variation on my Trip-Vest Investments, Inc. corporation, called it Tri-Vest, Inc., which meant they couldn’t have been paying taxes or signing documents without faking the notary.
6/17/2020 As part of our settlement Anne insisted on an apology letter. It was the only way she would agree to the settlement which she never did honor. She had to be compelled by the court during the conservatorship to release all of the money and properties she was holding that did not belong to her. I felt like signing this only hurt me and no one else, so even though I resisted, I gave in. Now she uses it to discredit me even though she never held up her part of the deal that caused me to give her this signed note. I saw this for the first time today in Chris Spata’s Tampabay Times article. https://www.tampabay.com/news/2020/06/17/tiger-king-turned-don-lewis-into-a-household-name-will-he-ever-be-found/
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!
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You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org
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Richard worked with his crew up at the lake house today. That evening, after church I met him at his office and then we went out to eat at El Toro’s. He introduced me to his tenants there and I had soup because I have been fasting for a week. Richard had a grape chicken dish that was out of this world.
There was a pianist and a singer that I liked a lot. The singer was an older woman, dressed like a gypsy in sequins and headband and the pianist seemed to really enjoy his work. We had been working on a lease revision and took it with us, but the ambiance was so terrific that the paperwork was set aside. I am so impressed that not only can he read a lease but that he can actually think one through well enough to modify it. When we went to the condo, I took the papers again, but still didn’t’ work on them. One thing led to another and in the heat of our pleasing each other, he asked me to get on top of him. I knew I shouldn’t but wild horses couldn’t have pulled me off of him.
Now what? So much for all of our will power. So much for my proving that I could be faithful to a man a year after he left me. I hate that I am such a sinner, but know that God will forgive, but would Richard? I agonize that he will always look back on this moment of weakness with disdain. He says that he doesn’t believe I should put my life on hold for five years, just because it is an arbitrary number accepted by law, but can he help but wonder, what if it were he who was missing?
We have talked about this a lot. He would make someone such a good mate, but I can’t fully consummate such a relationship for many years. Even though I could obviously violate all that I believe in to have a physical relationship with him, I cannot openly declare my love for him. For fear of losing my business and the public support from people who have now glamorized Don’s involvement in WildLife on Easy Street I cannot tell these people the truth about Don or how I feel.
My family and those at church know what Hell I went through being married to Don and I would feel comfortable proclaiming my feelings for Richard to them. These are the people who matter most to me, but the masses, who know only the image of Don that I painted for them, are the ones who would be most critical of him. Is it fair for me to want him to love me when I cannot openly proclaim my love for him? I want to shout from the roof tops that I have met a decent man! I want the world to know that there is one left. I want to bore everyone to tears with every detail of every moment I spend with him. I want him to know how proud I am to be the one he’s with.
I can’t tell everyone, so I haven’t told him either. Why is this? When everything inside me wants to say “I love you” a thousand times a day, why do I bite my tongue? I wouldn’t have made love with him if I didn’t love him, but I didn’t tell him so. Why not?
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.
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Wendell Williams says “before Don exp...”
I noted the following in an email:
In Wendell’s deposition Friday he slipped and said, “...before Don exp...Disappeared”. The only thing I can think of that he would have been about to say was “expired”. I believe that if there was foul play in Don’s disappearance that Anne and Wendell are behind it. The court reporter may or may not have picked up his slip of the tongue. I want to be sure that the tapes are preserved and listened to by the Sheriff’s department as to this one sentence. I believe he was answering the question of the time frame in which the Brockway first arrived at Westshore. What can I do to protect this tape and perhaps even get a copy?
I never got a copy and don’t know if the Sheriff’s did either.
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!
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You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org
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Fishing and Thinking of Big Daddy
I went fishing with Richard Martin, Larry and his son Joey. Richard Martin introduced me to his friends at the bait shop who all recognized me from the St. Pete Times article where I was pictured kissing Simba on the nose. Richard Martin baited our hooks and told me to keep the bait active looking.
It was drizzling rain and I was thinking about BigDaddy. The last time I stood on the Gandy bridge and fished was with him and I was maybe four or five years old. I caught a fish that day and was so proud. All the other men on the dock congratulated this little kid for reeling in such a big fish and my grandfather just beamed. I thought back to our 5 am fishing expeditions on Lake Keystone when I was nine or so. He never said much and what he did was always funny. He had such a dry wit, that I had to stay on my toes to catch what he said. I knew he loved me and I cry now even thinking about it. I told him I loved him, but not near often enough.
He died last November after struggling since the previous August with brain cancer. I can’t even think about him with bursting into tears.
I was glad it was raining and that Richard Martin wouldn’t notice me crying on the bridge. I felt a pull on the line and gave the pole to Richard Martin to reel in. It was a pretty little trout and he put it in the bait bucket until we all agreed to set it free. I was glad he wanted to do that. He had said that he didn’t’ like to kill any animal and this proved it to me. Why am I always looking for evidence? It would be nice to just accept something a person says at face value.
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!
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Mindy Harrell Bitten by Jumanji Leopard
September 2, 1998 Citrus Park, FL: Black leopard bites volunteer attempting to pet animal through cage at Wildlife on Easy Street. Wounds to arm required 451 stitches to close. The volunteer, Mindy Harrell, admitted she was breaking the rules and was not allowed to return to the property.
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!
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I wanted to call Richard and say something stupid, like “Happy September!” I never call men, so I finally got over the urge, but thought I must be crazy to even want to say such a thing. I have never had any desire to call “Mr. America” with all of his good looks and money and his admitted obsession with me. One call is all it would take to have him wrapped around my little finger and yet I run from him. He told me that only once before had he fallen so hard and she had died 10 years ago. Unsolved Mysteries returned my call and said they may still want to do a story on Don. I’d like to know what happened to him, but I don’t want him back.
From the future: I’m trying to remember Mr America’s first name. His last name was Collins and I think his first name was Tom, but not sure now (20 years later) Collins Ranch Road was named after his family’s orange grove business. He used to peel oranges for me and took great pride in the fact that he could remove the peel in one long loop. Weirdly, Don used to do that too.
I think I may have met Collins via Lance Ponton, but am not sure. He’d call me up in the middle of the night and always seemed so lost and forlorn.
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
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Keith Gaynor called and told me he thought Easy Street was worth well over 6,000,000.00 and said that he would be in town in a few weeks. I had only met him once, but his attraction to me was obvious. The fact that he didn’t act on it had kept him higher in my esteem than most men I meet. I had met him several Sundays ago when I went to the Hyatt for dinner at Armani’s and it was closed. I went down to the bar in the lobby to ask about another place to eat and he was sitting there alone. He made some dinner suggestions and we had gotten to talking. We talked for hours about real estate, sharks, politics, zoning and bad investments. His worst was a 5 mil loss, which by far exceeds my $150,000 race horse losses.
Re: Racehorses. When Pam Enriquez was making it unbearable for me to show my face at the Courthouse for the auctions, I had tried to make a go of it claiming, training and racing horses. That was certainly not my idea, but rather was to assist Bill Benjamin, who had nearly lost his legs helping me. My car had stalled in the middle of the night on the 1-4 exit ramp to Clearwater. He and another man were pushing, as I was steering, when a woman, asleep at the wheel of her Mercedes, plowed into the back of my 1983 blood red Volkswagen Rabbit, pinning his legs. I think that would have been around 1987 or so. I ended up with amnesia from hitting my head on the frame of the windshield during the impact, so I am not very clear on the time frame.
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.
We Stipulate to the Asset Distribution and Management 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.
Richard’s Lakehouse on Lake Island Ford
Chuck, Momma Jacquie and Carole on the boat in Lake Keystone circa 1970
Richard Martin asked me to come see his place at Lake Island Ford on Crescent Road. He showed me the road he built with wash out from a rock mine, the orange grove and the tenant who isn’t paying. The house and grounds were like out of my most comfortable memories of living near my grand mother and grand father on Lake Keystone. The house was wood and brick and sprawling to take full advantage of the glorious view.
The house was in disrepair as if it had been abandoned for several years. The dust was an inch deep on the player piano, the memorabilia and the slot machines. It looked like a place that used to hold so many happy memories but had been long forgotten. On the boat docks the wood was rotting from neglect, the screens were torn and blowing mournfully in the evening breeze.
Richard has stopped on the way there and picked up shrimp, muscles, bean salad and potato salad for us to eat in the Jacuzzi while we watched the game. He pealed them and fed me. I pealed them and fed him. It just felt so “normal”, like we had always been this way. He kissed me, but differently this time. This time his kisses were passionate and I felt so carried away. My heart was pounding and my breathing accelerated and he asked me why it was I wasn’t turned on. Was he kidding?
That weekend I was scheduled to be at Peter Fortunato’s seminar: One Step Beyond in Orlando. Wally and Barbara Wolcott were there and I met John Schaub and his wife. The seminar was great. I learned a lot. You have no other choice when in Pete’s company, but I couldn’t get Richard out of my mind!
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.
This was my letter to David Karp at the St. Pete Times (813) 226-3352
You asked what was still being done to find Don and probably the most notable, I didn’t even mention because I see it every day. The poster of Don and Nyla (leopard) that we distributed for months following his disappearance was also circulated in Costa Rica and is still in the windows of my car, our house keeper’s car, my daughter’s car and many of our volunteers. After you left, I looked around the parking lot at all of the signs and couldn’t believe I didn’t think to mention them.
It has been a year ago today that Don’ disappeared without a trace. Not a single clue has surfaced that can even answer the question “Is he dead or alive?” I believe if he could be home, he would be here. Were he homeless or in a facility, we would have found him by now. He wouldn’t be sitting idly by and letting attorneys eat up everything he worked for, so he can’t be hiding. I miss him so much.
Radar compiled a list of my phone messages and one was from Richard Martin. Could this be THE Richard? I was breathless. All the message said was that he was returning my call. That could be anybody about any thing. Was it him? The message had come almost a week ago and not given to me until today. Would he think I was rude, or worse yet, fickle? I couldn’t wait to call him and yet was nearly paralyzed with fear. I cleared my office, locked the door, took a few deep breaths and dialed.
Talking to Richard was like talking to an old friend. I liked everything about him. He reminded me of me. Not only his interests and experiences, but his attitudes and beliefs mirrored my own. I wanted to meet him because I wanted to talk to him, face to face. It didn’t matter what he looked like although he assured me that he had his own teeth and hair, as if it mattered. I didn’t ask him how old he was because I liked him so much that it didn’t matter. I have never liked being around young men, but even if he had been a young person, I don’t think I would’ve cared. He could’ve had two heads, but by the time I actually met him, I liked him so much I figured I could get used to it. He suggested we meet on Thursday, August 20.
On Thursday he called and suggested we meet at Dagwood’s but I misunderstood and drove to Dog Water’s. I went in and waited, but he didn’t show. Fifteen minutes went by and I had asked every man in the bar if his name was Richard and all of them said they wished it were, or they’d change it if that’s what I wanted. When the page came through, I couldn’t find a phone. My cell phone was dead, the one down the block had been ripped out of the wall and I finally asked to borrow the merchant’s phone. We retraced our steps to see how we could have been mistaken and finally agreed to meet at Skipper’s Smokehouse. When I drove up I saw a man standing out front, but immediately dismissed this as possibly being Richard, because I was expecting the two headed guy that was going to make this attraction such a challenge for me. As I walked up I could tell by the way he looked at me that it was him. This was too good to be true!
It was late and we virtually had the place to ourselves. The more I learned about him, the more I liked him. Being somewhat compulsive by nature and not too shy, I struggled with the overpowering desire to kiss him on the lips and ask where he had been all my life. We asked all of the “get to know you questions” and I learned that he is the older of two children. He described his sister as “beautiful”. He said his father died too soon at 51 and that his mother was still alive and living in St. Pete.
He said that he had been a Councilman for St. Pete for two consecutive terms, but that he was usually the one who was against the politicians and for the people when it came time to vote. His vote was not for sale to the wining and dining upper crust, which made him pretty unpopular among the political crowd, but wildly popular with the people who elected him. He told me that he had been a bachelor until he was 40 or so before he married but that after ten years he caught her in bed with his friend and divorced her. He said that even though their marriage lacked “TLC” that he had never strayed and that he would’ve worked things out with her, had she tried, but she was in love with his friend and love was something that they had never really shared. He said the sex was good, but that there just wasn’t any tenderness. No kissing or stroking, none of the important stuff.
Everything inside me wanted to say “I will give you the tender loving kindness that you need!” “I would be everything your heart desires, to have a man who was faithful to me!” “I would never let you down or run around on you!”, but I kept my mouth shut. One of the things I hate most about men is how within moments of meeting me they are telling me this sort of stuff and trying to get me in bed. I couldn’t say the things that were racing through my mind without making him wonder what kind of desperate nut case I am. Besides, I am not free to say such things. I am still a married woman and could be for at least another four years.
He was in a hurry to meet his new housekeeper who was going to be up at the lake house. I thought about Don’s interviews. I felt jealous. A live in housekeeper would have the benefit of being around him all the time. She would be someone who could give him what he needed. She would be easily accessible and very enamored by this wonderful man. With all my money and obligations, I couldn’t request the position. He walked me around back to my truck, but stopped short. He wasn’t going to try and kiss me? Now I really liked him! As I drove away, I wondered, “Is he being respectful of me as a person, or did he not want to kiss me?” He seemed to like me well enough, but he had such an easy temperament that maybe he was just being nice. I wondered if he would ever call again.
The next day, Friday Aug. 21 he did and asked if I’d like to meet him at Bleachers to hear a comedian. When I got there I walked past a gold Mercedes convertible coup and thought to myself that I wished I could bring myself to spend money on such a cute little “toy”. I work so hard, but can’t bring myself to splurge on luxury. We listened to the comedian and were painfully observant of each other. He was concerned that the comedian was too crude and I was concerned that he would think I wasn’t enjoying myself because I don’t get hysterical. We were supposed to meet some friends of his that night, but I was glad to have the time alone with him. I just couldn’t learn enough about him. After the show he asked if I’d like to go hear some jazz. Lucky guess that it’s my favourite sort of music? He walked me out to that cute little Mercedes and I was just beside myself over the fact that it was his. Cars don’t’ impress me much, but it was the idea "I have worked hard and I’m going to enjoy the fruits of my labours”. The very attitude that I would like to embrace but have been too frugal to accept. When he later walked me to my car, he kissed me. It was a tender, friendly, almost timid kiss that said to me, “I like you and want to let you know, but I don’t expect anything more”.
Saturday and Sunday I was tied up all day with Dateline NBC filming a piece about the Bed and Breakfast we offer with the cats. Sunday the St. Pete Times ran a story on Don’s one year anniversary of his disappearance. Aug. 25, Tuesday Richard asked me to come eat at The Brown Dog in the building next to his. It was so late by the time I got there that we had Sushi instead. I was determined to never put raw fish in my mouth, but he made me want to try it. I liked it actually. I had a generator in the back of my pick up to deliver to my Dad the following day for his birthday, so Richard asked his tenant at the Save A Step convenience store to keep an eye on it. When we came back for my truck he asked if I’d like to go see his condo, and before I could answer, he retracted and said, “Never mind. It’s late and you need to go.” It was late and I did need to go, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to be welcomed into his home but I also feared that he would ask more of me than was mine to give and I feared worse that I wouldn’t be able to resist him.
This full page ad is run gratis by Fred Timby, owner of the Hillsborough County Hot Sheet and the Pasco County Hotsheet, twice a month in both of his publications. These publications go out to a lot of investors and people who know Don and with whom Don would likely be in contact.
If you go to our web site the first page you will see is a family portrait of Don, Jamie and I, along with Perfection (ocelot) and Sundari (leopard) and a notice about Don’s disappearance and a plea for information. Thank you for taking the time to try and help us find him. I remember think gin during the investigation that if the police had been as thorough as you were in following up leads we should have found him. For the Animals, Carole Lewis
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.
I had heard that a lot of people in Tampa read the St. Pete Times and that it is a more liberal paper than the Tampa Tribune. The St. Pete Times has always been kinder to me that the Tribune and I need to run some real estate ads, so I picked up a copy after church. I read the real estate ads, the comics and auctions, thinking that I needed to get out and do something. I have always been amused by the Personal Ads and find it interesting to see what people are looking for in relationships. Ninety percent of the ads of women looking for men seem to be looking for someone rich and ninety percent of the ads men place seem to be looking for someone pretty. These people deserve each other.
One ad leapt off the page at me. I want to find a copy of it again, but in essence the person advertised himself as being: Christian, ex-politician, (seems like oxymoron to me), likes animals, real estate investor, likes scuba diving, … It was written better than this and had a catchy heading, so I knew the guy was good at marketing and had some self confidence. I had never called on one of these sort of ads before, but felt compelled to call him and tell him I thought he sounded great. I picked up the phone and dialed, but was reminded by my carrier that I had put a block on this line for calls that incur a fee such as this. I tried another line. Same problem. I tried another line. Same problem. I pulled out my cell phone and tried. Same problem. I was determined now to call this guy and drove a half mile up the dirt road to call from a pay phone. Same problem. I drove half way across town to the condo and called from there. I got through.
I listened to the pre-recorded message he left about himself and liked him immensely. I played it again just to make sure. No doubt about it. I really liked him. I thought to myself “What an answer to a prayer!” He said his name was Richard and his message said to leave a number or to call him, but he didn’t leave his number. I told him a little about myself as it related to his interest. I told him I weighed 178 pounds on a 5’8” frame, but that he would like the way I was proportioned. I figured if he was just another shallow male and heard how heavy I was, then he would not waste my time, nor his by returning my call. I left the sanctuary number.
All day, I kept checking my answering machine, but he didn’t call. The next day, I did the same. I left on August 11 with my mom, Jamie and Katie and Emily for our family reunion in Indiana. I worried that he would call and get no answer and I would have missed this great opportunity to meet a wonderful person. I called in for my messages every day, but no word from him. I got home from vacation on Monday August 17 and still he hadn’t called. I wondered how I could have been so wrong in my first impression of him.
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.
I Want Wendell and Anne to Pay for Don’s Disappearance
I wrote this to Rob Eddy, Esquire
Dear Bob and Craig; Re: Wendell Williams
We located and recovered the dump truck Wendell stole last night in Clair Mel City at a house titled to his daughter where he was doing some remodeling. The Sheriff’s Departments sent out two cars, including Deputy Hart, to keep Wendell off of Kenny and the wrecker driver from Stepps. Wendell told the police that Don’s secretary (Anne McQueen) had issued him a ten day tag to drive it on and that she had the signed documents where Don sold it to Wendell and Wendell said he was still paying for it. When I arrived on the scene at 9:00 p.m. with the original title signed over to United Trailer Sales, the Letters of Conservatorship and the Corporate documents showing that I am the President of United Trailer Sales, then Wendell all of a sudden couldn’t produce any paperwork that backed up his claim. I know it doesn’t exist and I can just hope that he produces some phony document, involving Anne McQueen and I’ll nail them both.
Because he alleges to be in the process of buying the truck, the County Police would not take him to jail but they said they would forward their report to the City Police, where the claim was filed and that he could be imprisoned through the Tampa City Police. When I filed the case with Tampa PD, I told them Wendell had stolen the truck and they did go interview him, but I don’t know what he told them. Obviously he did not tell them where the truck was or that he had it. I am not typically a vindictive person, but this may be the only jail time this man ever does for what he did to my husband.
That is why I want to see Anne in jail for embezzlement. She and Wendell may have gotten away with doing harm to Don but they haven’t escaped all of their treacherous deeds. I want what little justice Don and I may ever see from this whole ordeal. The tow cost me $350.00, the reward $500.00 and the truck is now not running and has several flat tires. For the Animals, Carole Lewis
In handwriting at the bottom of the letter it says: TPD 7/27/98 A. Salcado said case was never “referred” and should been because there was a known suspect name. Expl to Mr. Bert Terilliger
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.
Ty Serval Escapes
Ty Serval arrived today and promptly escaped. His previous owners had become worried that Ty, who has all of his claws, would harm their young children. The breeder had told them that if they raised Ty with their infant son they would bond forever. By the time Ty was three, the boy was still a toddler and Ty went after him.
The parents had visited Wildlife on Easy Street before and felt that Ty would have a comfortable and happy home here. His owners caught him up in a crab trap and transported him to the sanctuary in the back of their pick up truck. After spending days in the heat, on the open road, he finally arrived.
In the course of trying to release him from the crab trap into his new enclosure he got past us and spent days on the lamb. Daniel Capiro and Jamie tracked Ty back to the furthermost NW corner of the property. Night after night they were tracking in the dark and one night looked up to see Ty just watching them.
Now that they had narrowed down the capture area, they set up live traps with food, thinking he just has to be hungry or thirsty. Nothing tasted as good as his freedom, so that wasn’t working.
We tried chasing and netting Ty but servals are fast, great jumpers and that proved unfruitful. We chased him under one of the semi trailer bodies, up on wheels, that littered the area. I decided I wasn’t going to chase this cat every day forever across 40 acres so we brought cage panels to the area and built a cage around the bottom to confine him. We created a smaller space, with food and water, so we could lure him into that area and close him in. It was our longest recapture effort but worth it as we got him in the end.
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.
Letter to Attorney detailing Don’s recent history and mine
When I was originally looking for counsel last September I had spoken with Mr. Hearn but never met with him personally. I wish I had. Instead I chose a firm where I knew someone and eight months later I was in worse shape than when it all began. Enclosed are the letters that resulted in my Attorney quitting, so that you will know what I want in representation up front. I went back to interview Steve Hearn, Esq. last week and he said that my opposition had come to him and that as a result, he could not represent either of us.
I have already consulted with Al Cazin (the second husband to Debbie Ponton. Her previous husband was Gene Holloway who owned the Sea Wolf restaurant and faked his own death for the insurance. Debbie is an exotic cat owner with a pet black leopard. Her brother, Lance Ponton, later became a substantial donor to our sanctuary in his business name of Cordoba) and Fletcher Belcher who both said that they think this case would be too difficult and time consuming for them to take on.
I want dedication. I want someone who is interested in doing what is right and not just lining their pockets. I want someone who knows the law and knows what they are doing. In this present case I am involved in, the children of my missing husband, by a former marriage were afraid that their dad was spending all of their inheritance on caring for the 200 animals that we have here at WildLife on Easy Street. They sided with their mother to accuse their dad of dealing dishonestly with his wife during their divorce in 1989.
In court, the girls, who were all book keepers for Don until our marriage, said that their father had hidden assets from their mother and that he was worth much more than he represented to her and that therefore she was entitled to another million dollars. She had asked for the divorce when she fell in love with another man and she had told Don she wanted a million dollars and no contest and Don complied. We waited over a year to be sure she would be happy in her new marriage before Don and I were wed 10/10/91. When we married I set up a Trust for Don’s children for all of his assets that were his alone. Four years later Don’s ex-wife had run out of money and with the help of her daughters sued Don for more.
Don has an adopted son who spends most of his time in jail and drug rehab and Don had disowned him in 1992. When his daughters did this to him he disowned them and had barely spoken to them in two years. Don and I have been working in real estate together since 1981 and I have done his evictions, foreclosures, quiet title suits and replevins since 1987.
I’ve completed 84 Circuit Civil cases in Hillsborough County alone. I am not an attorney. In fact I only have a tenth grade education, but I study other people’s work and then piece together from the best work I find. Don and I began WildLife on Easy Street in 1992 because we wanted to give back something for all that God has given us. When we modified our Trusts in 1995 we added to the successor beneficiaries WildLife on Easy Street so that when we both died the sanctuary would always be well funded. By this time Don didn’t want anything to do with any of his children nor his ex-wife so he removed them as successor beneficiaries from all of the trusts, except for the PSRL Trust that I had originally set up for them in 1992.
In September 1996 Don asked me to dissolve the children’s trust because he didn’t want anything going to the people who had lied about him for money. I did not dissolve their trust, nor amend it, because I was raised with strong family values and believed that Don would get over it one day. He asked me several times to write them out of his Will. Because he was so against lawyers he didn’t want any part of his money going to probate attorneys so his Will was a very simple document that basically shifted all assets to the Trusts. Each of us executed identical Wills and Power of Attorney in the others favour.
In April 1997 I noticed that Don was acting peculiar. I thought he was just getting older and a little senile (his father died early and quite insane). I started watching him more closely and discovered he was secretly doing a lot of things that were really out of character for him. He could barely read and write and any deal he made, he would bring to me to check out first. I would do the title searches, prepare the assignments or deeds and advise Don as to whether or not the deal was secure.
Don was the wheeler dealer and could negotiate like nothing I’ve ever seen. We made a great team. Now he was being conned by people he knew were thieves to give them large sums of money ($60,000.00 to $100,000.00) with no collateral and instructions not to tell me or I would blow the big score he was going to make.
Someone commented to me one day that it must be a huge burden to operate a refuge as large as WildLife on Easy Street and have to provide full time care for an Alzheimer husband. I read every book I could find on the subject and was mortified to see my husband and my best friend since I was 19 to fit every symptom. By June I was trying to have him see a specialist. The first week of June Don was in Costa Rica and I was having some scrap dealers haul off some of the junk in the yard.
Wendell Williams, is one of the people who was taking advantage of Don and saw this as the perfect opportunity to get Don upset with me (Don was a pack rat and I can’t even tell you how many tons of scrap he had accumulated). They called Don in Costa Rica and Don called me infuriated and said when he came home he was going to turn all of the cats loose. These are Tigers, Leopards, Lions etc. Don was having these outbursts more and more frequently, so I just talked calmly with him until he seemed rational again.
Nice thing about Don. He gets really mad and in five minutes he’s over it. I went down to the Courthouse and requested a restraining order, just in case he should come home and blow up again, I wanted to be able to have him removed from the refuge before he could turn too many cats loose. The intake clerk asked if Don had threatened me and he never had, so I told them “no” and they said they could not issue a restraining order unless he had said he was going to kill me.
When Don came home he was fine one day and just boiling mad for no apparent reason the next. This went on for a few days and I was still trying to get him to go see a doctor. One day after one of his unpredictable explosions as I was trying to calm him back down, he asked me why I thought he was crazy. I told him that his saying he would turn his precious cats loose I knew something was not right with him. I told him that I had gone to see about getting a restraining order but that because he had not threatened to kill me they wouldn't even take my application. I told him I just thought that he needed help and that there are drugs available now to make him think clearly like he did before.
At first he said he could cure himself, with his mind, but then once he was completely calmed down he asked me to set an appointment for him. I did and our secretary, Anne McQueen had a fit. She told Don I was trying to rail road him into a nursing home so that I could steal all of his money. This was Don’s story to me and I didn’t know whether to believe him or not. They must have argued about it a while, because finally Don said that Anne said he had to see her Doctor first and that if her doctor said there was nothing wrong with Don, then he would see the Alzheimer specialist, Dr. Gold, to appease me. Her physician, Dr. Blasini was a general practitioner, who had a nurse who had been in the U.S. for only 2 weeks and still couldn’t speak English. She told me that she had never given one of these tests before and that it took a very long time because she had to read the instructions that she complained were not in Russian her native tongue.
I doubt that Don understood a word she said. Dr. Blasini diagnosed Don with Bi-Polar Disorder and sent him to have a MRI at St. Joseph’s. He also recommended a psychologist in his building. Don and I went to the MRI and the psychologist together. Don had an appointment to return to the psychologist a week or so later. By now we were into August 1997.
Don was taking a truck full of hospital beds and clothing to Costa Rica to sell and was going to drive it to Miami to the port on August 19. On Monday morning, August 18, 1997, right around daybreak, Don called my name from the bedroom door and said “Be sure they get that box truck running, because I’ve got to leave early, early, early in the morning to get it to the port on time”.
We had 26 lots for sale and had spent Friday, and Saturday getting signs ready to send with one of Don’s friends to post them. Monday morning I was at the courthouse filing papers until around noon. When I returned home our secretary was on the phone with Kenny Farr one of our workers asking where Don was. Kenny Farr said Anne was really acting freaked out, so I talked to her. She was shaking and asking where Don was and I told her I didn’t know. She kept saying how worried she was about him and I reminded her that Don often disappears all day without a word to anyone, but that he always show up to help feed the cats at night. I told her I’d have him call her as soon as he got home.
Feeding time came and went but Don didn’t come home. After dark I started to get worried but remembered he often went to the Bayside Auto Auction and wouldn’t get home until after 10 pm. When that came and went, I started looking for him.
Don was always crawling in dumpsters and had recently fallen in one and couldn’t get out until enough trash was thrown in for him to climb out on. He was too embarrassed to yell for help. I checked his regular route and every place else I could think of. He had been shopping for an ultra light so I checked the airport where my plane was hangared and Tampa International. I couldn’t find him anywhere.
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.
Now that you have had a little time to familiarize yourself with this case, I’d like to ask your opinion on a few things.
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Clifford Opp gave us ten days to file the accounting that was due the end of December. I believe it expires this week. I didn’t get a copy. I had everything done and in the accountant’s hand (chosen by Stalley, the other conservator) by the second week of January for our year end tax returns. I learned mid April that he hadn’t done anything with it and in fact, still has not filed a return for me. I have had several meetings with Debra Boje, Doug Stalley, Ben Morris and my mother, Barbara Stairs to try and put together an accounting for the court. It is a nightmare. We gave up on Boje, Stalley and Morris and hired an accountant who is familiar with real estate of the type in which I deal and they have been working on if for two weeks. Mary Wutschel asked that I get an extension good through June 10 at which time she says she can have the early accounting done and the first quarter of 1998. It wouldn’t be such a mess, except for the fact that the estate is divided into five entities and each one has to be accounted for separately, but as more information is gathered, things get moved from one entity to another and the money trail that went with it then has to be transferred, in order to correct the inventory. Stalley suggest filing it wrong and amending, but I see that as an opportunity to spend a lot of time defending the changes in court and that is an unnecessary expense. I don’t want to get the court upset thinking that I am just ignoring the original Order, so I was wondering if we should file for an extension based on these unusual circumstances? What do you need from me in order to do that?
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The mall developer up the road from me offered to give Wildlife on Easy Street, Inc., a pile of dirt that has a retail value of 5 million, but I have to pay trucks to haul it at a cost of $250,000.00. Wendell Williams, a former “partner” of my husband’s stole our dump truck last January. I gave him several opportunities to return in and then threatened to turn it over to the police. He told me he took the truck and was using it in Gibsonton, but that he would not give it back because it was a gift from Don to him. It was an 8,000.00 1978 Brockway and my husband wouldn’t give someone change for the phone, much less a truck we use all the time. I filed a police report, but never found the truck. Wendell told me “it wouldn’t be good for my health” to try and recover any of the equipment he took in Don’s absence. I don’t even know what else he has other than a pressure washer and a concrete saw. I have had two people in addition to myself, scouring Gibsonton to no avail. Do I have any legal recourse? If he says, as he did to me, that it was a gift, then where did he claim it on his tax return? If he says he doesn’t know anything about it, then I don’t suppose there is anything I can do. It was parked in a lot I own next door to his office when it disappeared. He has both his building and mine fenced, with guard dogs. I can’t even get into my building at 4813 N. Westshore Boulevard.
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As for Anne McQueen: She has been the most costly party in this suit to me, as she is continuously filing demands to which my attorneys have had to respond. Her latest is to call up for a hearing my Motion in Objection to her attorney’s fees being awarded. It is set to be heard on June 29. As we discussed, I wish to pull my assets out of the conservatorship and will get some fight from the kids, but expect the majority of the litigation to come from Anne’s protests. I would like to remove her from the conservatorship first, so that I don’t have to pay you and her attorney to battle out something that is none of her business. I will lose more by trying to pull out while Anne can still give me so much grief. As you may recall, getting Anne out of the picture may be a little complicated.
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She holds $500,000.00 in real property and mortgages title to E.A. Riggs, Trustee (her maiden name from 30 years ago). There are no trust documents. She claims there never were. She also holds over $50,000.00 in tax certificates as E.A. Riggs. She had originally told me that Don had asked her to put these in her maiden name just for holding purposes because they were properties that he bought with Wendell Williams, but then she went back and said Wendell had no right to any of the properties, so I asked Wendell, who said, in front of Anne, that he was entitled to half of the profits and then Anne quit that night. As they have sold, at Anne’s insistence, the conservatorship has paid Wendell half of the profits, because now she claims that some were Wendell’s and the rest Don gave to her. Anne and her secretary, Madaline Gavinni who both worked for my husband and I until his disappearance, now work for Wendell Williams, who incidentally, never had enough money for an office, much less two secretaries, before Don disappeared. I suspect Wendell and Anne of being responsible for my husband’s absence, I just haven’t been able to prove it yet.
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Four month before Don left, he changed his life insurance policy. It had always provided 160k, to Anne, 650k, to me and our bills, and the rest to his kids (except Danny). The new policy made Anne the “owner” and put the proceeds in the C&A Trust, of which she and I were listed and Beneficiaries. The C&A Trust gave Anne 200k, me the same 650k and then gave Anne the discretion to decide which, if any, of Don’s daughters and grandchildren would receive the balance of the $1,250,000.00 policy. The C&A Trust was defined and a copy attached to the policy, however, it was never actually signed. I didn’t even know it existed until after Don’s disappearance. Anne claims she got Don to do this so that she could guarantee that he wouldn’t disinherit any more of his children. The premiums have always been paid from our business account. Tax wise it would be smart to have an outside owner (someone other than Don), but I don’t think it should be Anne. I am sending copies of all of the letters back and forth regarding this policy. I have no objection to Anne receiving as much as $200,000.00 and the children can split 400k anyway they want, but I want to know that I am not paying premiums on a policy that may be deemed “faulty” because of the lack of a trust agreement or the weird changes effected by our secretary just four months before his disappearance.
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Anne has filed some nonsense about me funding a retirement fund for her, and I don’t know what sort of response has to be made to that. She quit; she didn’t retire. She is claiming that all of the property still titled to her is what Don gave her as her retirement, but early in 1997 when I discovered a property titled to her and brought it to Don’s attention, he made her sign it back to us, so I don’t believe he knew she was doing this. I had also been trying to get her a $5.00 per week raise and Don wouldn’t hear of it, so I find a 700,000.00 retirement fund, of Don’s approval, a little unbelievable.
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She’s also made a lot of noise about seeking a libel suit against me because in our WildLife newsletter I asked anyone with knowledge about Don’s feeling towards the kids or Anne to come forward and said that our secretary (never named or otherwise identified) had transferred about 600k of our assets to her name. She’s been seeking an injunction to keep me from talking about her. This was the extent of my “talking about her” and nothing compared to the stories that have come back to me from her saying that I killed my husband and fed him to the cats. You never did ask, but I’m sure you wondered and the answer is “No. I did not kill my husband. I did not have him killed and if he has been killed I don’t know who may have done it, other than my suspicions about Anne and Wendell.”
Let me know if there is anything I can provide you with to make this transition go smoothly. My mother, Barbara Stairs handles the collections and book keeping and is usually by the phone at 920-6534 fax 926-3255 or you can page me at 878-8425 or fax to my desk at 920-5927. Thank you for your time in this matter. For the animals, Carole Lewis.
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
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I was really under fire now as the inventory was due and so was the accounting not to mention all of our state and federal tax reporting obligations. For the first time in the history of our company reports were made on time to the IRS. Before February all year end reports were delivered to the Accountant for the 1997 tax return. He had just completed the 1996 return. Never before (14 years) had we been able to file on time but this year if the Co-Conservator’s Accountant did his job, our taxes would be filed on time. 5/13 : He didn’t get his part done and it is still on his desk. Gave Sheriff’s Access to Don’s Medical Records I responded to a request from the Sheriff’s office to give them access to Don’s medical and dental records in case #97-069358 MP#97m01800 I was told the information would be included in the Florida Crime Information Center’s computer records for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Note from 7/26/2020 I just assumed the police already had access to all of Don’s medical records because they were the police. On 9/6/1997 I had faxed them all of the info about Don going to medical and psychiatric doctors in June 1997. Here we were, 8 months after I gave them that, and they were just now asking for authority to access the records? Maybe it was because of the guy found floating in the gulf more than 2 weeks ago that made them think of it? Now I’m wondering if they ever spoke to the doctors, and if they did, then did they follow up on the MRI that had been prescribed? Or the results? I never knew the results and would sure like to. 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.
There was a hearing before Judge Nick Ficarrotta on Freeman and Boje’s fees and on the Co-Conservator’s fees and his attorney’s fees, all of which I consented to and no one came in opposition to the hearing, so they were granted. When I got home today there was a Notice of Taking Deposition scheduling me for May 28 by LeRoy Merkle. I called his office to reschedule as I will be at a cat care seminar in Nevada from May 26 until the 31st, but LeRoy Merkle says it cannot be rescheduled. I have already paid for the seminar and the airfare and hotel accommodations and cannot cancel.
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.
Body Sounds Like Don in Manatee County
Letter written by my mother and faxed to Detectives Lingo and Fernandez on 4/27/1998.
RE: Jack Donald Lewis Case #97-069358
Dear Detectives:
Carole Lewis has asked that I send you a copy of the article in today’s Tampa Tribune. I called the Manatee Sheriff’s Office and they said that although all missing-person cases are checked by computer, it would be best to have you confirm that this case was also included.
I don’t know if you were told or not, but Jack Donald Lewis has two 6” steel or titanium pins holding his jaws together from surgery done from a previous plane accident. The evidence to us looks as though Don Lewis was trying to fly a cat from Tampa to Texas. We know the man in Texas called several days later and asked why Don wasn’t there with the cat he had promised to bring him. Since Don disappeared in mid-August, this is not likely to be him but we would appreciate your checking out the below article and letting Carole Lewis know.
Also she has requested a copy of the missing-person report. She has never received one. Please let us know if you need any additional information.
Sincerely, Barbara Stairs, Secretary Phone 920-6534 fax 926-3255
MANATEE Coast Guard Recovers Body Bradenton:
Manatee County sheriff’s deputies are trying to identify a body found floating more than 30 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico. A sport fishing boat captain radioed the Coast Guard shortly before 3 p.m. Saturday that he had come upon a body floating 32 miles west of Longboat Pass.
The Coast Guard sent a boat to the location and recovered the body of a white male. Anyone with information is asked to call the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office at (941) 747-3011 or CrimeStoppers at (941) 77-COPS.
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.
Infra Red Laser Scope Light
Jamie told me tonight, that last night she and Daniel Capiro were driving home and she saw a red light flicker across the dash board. About five minutes later, out of the corner of her eye, she saw it again, but just assumed they were passing something that was reflecting red. The third time, Daniel Capiro asked Jamie if she saw the red light flicker on the dash board.
Looking around they could see nothing that would cause the red light, so they both stared intently at the dash for another five minutes or so and then they saw the light, moving erratically and then fixed, a single pinpoint of light. Jamie wasn’t driving and spun around to see an older man, with a beard and glasses, driving a dark expensive sedan, “like a Lincoln” who was smirking at her.
Immediately she ducked and stayed down while she told Daniel Capiro to floor it. She said they thought better of it and decided to pull over and see if he would pass them so they could get his tag number, but he must have turned after they took off, because he never did pass where they had pulled off. If the car had been driven by youngsters I would have thought it to be a pointer pen light gag, but an older person in an expensive car could better afford an infrared scope.
I told her to be extra careful but not paranoid, because I would most likely be next in line. I explained to her that if someone is trying to upset her they could easily push her into hurting herself, as in trying to escape on a dark road at night, and not put themselves in any danger. There’s no law against having a pen light in your pocket. I urged her to keep her wits about her. As long as I’m breathing she would be a risk, not worth taking. I did tell her if anything happens to me to get out of town.
As for Richard Dery, I don’t know quite what to make of that. Gary (everyone calls him Crazy Gary) was telling me tonight about some silly listening device he’s working on made from a batman toy and a salad dish whereby he insists I could stand at food prep and count the breaths the lion takes across the lake. I may ask to borrow the thing and see if Dad can set up somewhere in the yard to effectively listen in to Dery and I if he insists on dragging me out into the middle of the parking lot to talk.
When Richard Dery left us he went to work for Don’s ex-girlfriend Pamela Enriquez, who boasts of being a witch. I have never trusted him due to his close association with her. Even Crazy Gary I don’t trust (not just because he looks like Don) but because he has been here every day since the week Don left and he’s always saying stuff that sounds like he knows more than what he pretends. This listening thing for instance: How did he know I would have any use in such a thing?
A few weeks ago he was telling me about these infra red scopes and silencers so quiet that he says you could kill somebody in an elevator full of people and no one would know until the crowd disbursed and the body fell. I vacillate between thinking he’s very ingenious and very weird. He’ll go from talking about all of his own little house cats and their favorite pastimes and launch into an excited explanation of the theory of relativity and converting atoms into who knows what, complete with diagrams on the food prep chalk board to constructing models out of chicken pieces. I asked Jamie if there was any way the man who they saw that night could have been Crazy Gary in disguise but she was sure it wasn’t.
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.
Handwriting Experts Agree Don Signed POA, Will & Trusts
J. J. Berrie & Associates examined:
Q-1 Original Guardian Angel Land Trust dated 6/12/1992
Q-2 Original Will and Testament dated 11/21/1996
Q-3 Original Power of Attorney dated 11/21/1996
Using these documents for comparison:
S-1 Don’s original driver’s license dated 3/25/1988
S-2 Original settlement statement dated 4/6/1989
S-3 Marriage license dated 10/10/1991
S-4 Previous Durable Power of Attorney dated 10/1/1992
S-5 FWC inspection form dated 1/13/1992
S-6 Original living will dated 10/1/1992
S-7 Citation / Summons dated 1/13/1993
S-8 Official warning from FWC dated 1/13/1993
S-9 Florida driver’s license copy dated 4/27/1994
S-10 Original bank check #947-11674-2
S-11 Original List of Articles form dated 6/2/1996
S-12 Original passport dated 7/5/1996 #Z7726018
S-13 Copy of check dated 7/5/1996 for $10,000
S-14 Copy of checking account 97726018
S-15 Original agreement dated 8/15/1996
S-16 Copy of Beneficiary statement dated 9/23/1996
S-17 Copy of English translation of Don’s Costa Rica will
S-18 Copy of Domestic Violence cover sheet dated 6/12/1997
S-19 Copy of Import - Export FWS Permit dated 6/30/1997
S-20 Original Passport dated 7/8/1997 #Z7707983
S-21 Original Customs Declaration with no date
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS:
Laboratory equipment including steroids microscope, light table, lighted magnifiers, LeeTEK machine, grids and gauges were used to examine the documents. A stroke and letter comparison was made. Based upon reasonable scientific certainty, it is my opinion that:
The handwritten Jack Donald Lewis signatures identified in Q-1 through Q-3 and the Jack Donald Lewis / Don Lewis signatures identified on S-1 through S-21 were written by the same person.
Previously on 11/1/1997 Peter Candler, FACFE of Mark Write, Inc., also stated after examining the same documents that:
It is our unqualified opinion that the questioned signatures of Jack Donald Lewis as they appear on the Questioned Documents Number 1, 2 and 3 above are genuine.
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.
Don at Albertson’s 11 Days After Disappearance
Letter faxed to Detectives Lingo and Fernandez:
I was eating breakfast at Denny’s (corner of Hillsborough and Memorial Hwy. in Town N Country) and the waitress, Lisa Stoll (884-9359) told me she saw my husband on August 29, 1997 which would have been eleven days after his disappearance. She said she was sure of the date because she had moved to her new home then. She claims to have seen him at the Albertson’s across from this same Denny’s and that he was picking up photographs he had developed there and was showing her pictures of his cats. He gave her a brochure and told her to come visit him there. She said she recognized him at Albertson’s because she had been his waitress at Denny’s but Don and I ate there together frequently and it seems a little weird that although I still eat there all the time, she just now has recognized me as his wife.
I had given Don several of the little disposable cameras to use in Costa Rica, but never knew him to develop his own photos. He would always bring the camera to me and I would take it to K Mart. He was showing Lisa the pictures and they were cats (not prostitutes) so I don’t know why he might be hiding these particular photos from me.
The brochure that Don would’ve given her to Easy Street had a map to here and our phone number. If Don knew who he was while he was speaking to her and had a map to his house, and was coherent enough to be developing photos, he should have been able to find his way home. If he was hiding it would have been pretty stupid to tell someone his name, give them directions to his house and invite them over. Lisa said she lost the brochure and that she did not know who she should tell about her encounter. It seems a little flawed but it is the only “positive” siting of which I have been told.
Goodness knows I’ve nearly wrecked the car countless times because I thought I saw Don somewhere and was trying to get a better look. I am sure that she would be happy to tell you all about her encounter. I wish she had called you or recognized me last August. P.S. She said the photos were cats out in the wild. No cages. - Carole Lewis
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.
Sometime this month. Not sure of the date this was written. My mother, Barbara Stairs, took over the daily management of the accounts and I slept for two days straight. I awoke to two more months of my Attorney’s fussing over how the inventory report should be formatted. I had completed the inventory on time, but it was held up for months while cosmetic changes were made by the professionals. Squeaker Cougar came to Big Cat Rescue as a 6-month boarder on 1/9/98. His owner was relocating and did not yet have an enclosure for him. He said the cat was ruining his sex life because the cat doesn't like women. He is neutered and declawed and has made new friends here in the volunteers and staff who built him this great new fort in his 2000 square foot Cat-A-Tat. The white patches of fur on his side were apparently from previous wounds that had white hair growth when they healed. His owner never returned for him. After making a formal inventory available to the courts and all interested parties, I had fulfilled my moral obligation to the children to allow them to evaluate the “estate”. I made several proposals to them to release to their control the trust assets Don and I had set aside for them in their Trust but this was now less than 1/7th of the entire estate and they decided it would be more profitable to try and convince the court that Don “died” intestate. I was hit with an IRS audit for 1995, the only year for which no records can be found, and again I am scrambling to re-construct a years worth of transactions totaling ½ million in income with only the sketchiest details to go on. Through out all of this I have pleaded with my Attorneys to resolve the following issues: 1. Anne McQueen is named as the owner of a life insurance policy on my husband in the amount of $1,250,000.00 and the beneficiaries are she and I as Trustee of the C & A Trust Agreement, which was never signed. The premiums are paid from our (Don & I) business account. I need a constructive trust approved by the court. 2. Anne has over 50,000.00 in tax certificates in her maiden name on our properties and these need to be assigned back to us, since we paid for them. 3. Anne has 500,000.00 in real estate held in her maiden name as Trustee and no trust documents protecting my husband and I as beneficiaries. Constructive Trusts should be devised or the properties transferred back to us in some way, since we paid for them. 4. The removal of all of the assets from the Conservatorship based upon the Power of Attorney and trust documents, except for the children’s trust, which I would not oppose being monitored by the court, via Doug Stalley, to insure that I would not waste their inheritance and perhaps more importantly so they couldn’t keep accusing me of doing so. 5. The return of the 80,000.00 that Anne Mc Queen has wrongfully diverted from the Conservatorship to her own Attorney’s bank account. We have filed Civil Theft charges already. 6. The denial of Attorney’s fees to Leroy Merkle and Clifford Opp as there is nothing they have done to benefit the estate of my husband and I would like to see them (the kids and Anne) pay the $28,000.00 this whole charade has set me back already just in fees to my lawyers. The children are unhappy that I wouldn’t just sign over 3,488,000.00 to them (they are entitled to around 900,000.00 in their trust) and they have said that they want to go back before the judge and have me removed as conservator and to eliminate the support to WildLife on Easy Street, which is $150,000.00 per year. That is about $30,000.00 less than the actual costs to run the place. We are a non profit 501 c 3 Organization and raise the difference from public support. When I got forceful with Jim Freeman, demanding that he do something, he quit. I know this has been a lengthy accounting, but I don’t want any misunderstandings. You know what I want and only you know if you are capable of achieving these goals. I expect a long hard fight and if Don doesn’t come back, there will be another long hard fight in four more years, but to sit back and do nothing is costing me a fortune (68k so far) in legal and conservator fees and there is no reason for it. I cannot effectively run this business when I cannot buy or sell over a certain price and cannot sign a check for expenses without tracking down and paying my 75.00 per hour Co-Conservator. I look forward to meeting you and hope you are the one I’ve been looking for. Anne Mc Queen’s attorney, Leroy Merkle applied to the court to be awarded attorney fees from the estate and it was the recommendation of the General Master that he receive the 7,000.00 he was asking for. I can’t believe that Freeman and Boje couldn’t (or didn’t) produce a valid argument against such an award to someone who is clearly not working for the estate. Since Freeman and Boje had sent me a copy of their Motion To Withdraw, and had ignored my correspondence of late, I filed a Motion In Objection to the Award of fees to Merkle, pro se, but have not yet scheduled this for hearing. I’d rather have someone who knows what they are doing amend and do so, but I didn’t know if there was a time limit and I didn’t want to let it expire. 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.
Don’s daughters asked if I would find an estate planner to help them decide what to do to minimize the estate tax bite on their portion of his estate, if he is found to be dead. I had set up a Land Trust for them when Don & I got married and we had added to the trust as things sold and paid off until two years ago. Don’s ex-wife, who had asked for the divorce because she was in love and wanted to remarry, had received a million dollar settlement back in 1990. She had said that she knew Don was worth more, but that she didn’t want to fight, she just wanted a million and her freedom.
Don agreed and told Anne McQueen, the secretary who (I believed) embezzled so much from us, and Gale Rathbone and Lynda Sanchez his daughters who were at that time our book keepers to sit down with their mother and the books and let her pick out 1 million of his best stuff because he thought she was being fair with him. After the divorce, Don and his Ex got along better than they ever did while they were married for the next five years. That’s about how long it took Gladys Lewis Cross, Don’s ex-wife to lose most of what she got by letting their eldest daughter, Donna Pettis, invest it in the stock market for her (according to Don).
Donna Pettis moved back home with her mother, while building her dream home, and Gladys Lewis Cross filed a lawsuit against Don saying that he had always kept her in the dark and that he wouldn’t let her have her own attorney in the divorce and that she was treated unfairly in the divorce and wanted another million. She got the daughters, Donna Pettis, Gale Rathbone and Lynda Sanchez to testify that they were threatened by their dad if they revealed to their mother how much he was really worth (which was at that time about 3 million) and Anne refused to admit that she was there when Don told them to let Gladys Lewis Cross pick out the best of his investments.
I was there but Don did not want to hurt Gladys Lewis Cross’ feelings by letting her know that I was privy to their private settlement, and he would not allow me to come forward with the truth. He thought up until the very end that surely at least one of his children would tell the truth, but they all lied about it under oath and when the last of them did, Don told me to dissolve their Trust, remove them from his will (they never were in his will to my knowledge) and that he wanted to move to Costa Rica to get away from the whole lot of them.
I didn’t want to move to Costa Rica, but did agree to let Don try it out, hoping he would tire of the idea. I agreed to let him transfer 1 million of our assets to Costa Rica, knowing full well that he would lose it because he would not take the necessary steps to protect himself. I felt that in time he would get over his anger and disappointment with his daughters (he had disowned his son years ago because of the stealing and drug abuse). I never did dissolve their trust because no matter how upset Don was with them, they were his children and should be provided for. As I said before, I am the one who set up the trust for them because Don wouldn’t bother.
Don’s insurance policy came up for renewal and by this time the secretary, Anne had formed an alliance with a dirt bag Don did business with. The dirt bag, Wendell Williams knew that he couldn’t get to Don from here, because he would have to come through me and I had caught him stealing from Don on several occasions and brought it to Don’s attention. Wendell Williams has IRS problems and couldn’t have Don put properties in his name, so he had Don put them in Anne’s name, as Trustee.
After being our secretary for 18 years, Anne knew full well that if there was no trust agreement then the property would be considered hers personally if anything happened to Don. Anne became the owner of Don’s life insurance policy, as Trustee under another non existent trust. The policy was for 1,250,000.00 and the disbursement she told Don was in effect was that she would get $200,000.00, I would get $250,000.00, $400,000.00 would go to pay off four loans that we owe and if they had already been paid, then the money would go to our wildlife sanctuary and the balance of $400,000.00 would be split between Don’s daughters and his grandchildren, but he reserved the right for Anne to decide which child got how much. This is the breakdown that Anne claims and is the same one Don told me about when his policy came up for renewal in April of 1997.
What Don didn’t tell me, and I assume he didn’t know, was that Anne was the owner of the policy and that there was a trust document involved. The clause about the children would guarantee their alliance to Anne.
At any rate, the daughters are afraid to make Anne mad if she holds the key to how much each of them will get. The children’s trust is worth $823,520.26 now.
PSRL 12/31/97
Bank Account as of 12/31/97 69,729.
Mortgages current face value 338,152.
Real Estate Owned tax value 510,912.
Personal Property price paid 0.00
Property Tax Liability -45,971.
Mortgages Paid Out face value -49,302.
Total: $823,520.
Plus the $400,000.00 from the insurance proceeds. They have hired an attorney to say that Don’s Will and our Trust Agreements are forgeries, so that they can say Don died intestate and therefore entitling them to half of a 7,000,000.00 estate. I hired handwriting professionals and so did they and of course the results were entirely opposite. I have the benefit of the testimony of the witnesses and notary and the fact that Don’s will, prepared in Costa Rica by his attorney left everything there to me, as of May 1997.
The daughter’s main concern is that they won’t be able to each get enough after taxes to live on. None of them work, nor do any of them have any skill to fall back on because they were always waiting for their mother and father to die and make them rich. Now it’s looking like the breadwinner is gone and they aren’t going to be rich.
This is where this whole long narrative ends with you. I have proposed that they “steal” their Trust. I will look the other way and they can manage it as they please, but in exchange, I want to be relieved of this Guardianship as well. I don’t mind making reports to the Court (as long as they are confidential) but I oppose paying someone $70.00 an hour to look over my shoulder. I have proposed that I will give them one half of everything that is in their father’s name at the end of the five year period, if he doesn’t show.
Don Lewis
Bank Account as of 12/31/97 43,525.62
Notes & Personal Loans 95,935.26
Mortgages 819,988.01
Real Estate Owned tax value 584,593.00
Personal Property price paid 16,250.00
Property Tax Liability -71,783.79
Mortgages Paid Out face value -570,984.03
917,524.07
In the meanwhile, I get all of the income, but must reinvest the principal. I can make enough through careful management to make it feel like I didn’t give anything up and they would get more than they probably could in court. They are still very concerned that they won’t get much after taxes. I told them I was going to go to an estate planner and they asked if they could come along too. Despite the history we are all very civil with each other, surprisingly kind in fact, so you don’t have to worry about a display of emotion.
If they claim ownership to their Trust as beneficiaries, without objection, then would the estate tax apply? In preparation for this I have asked for separate ID numbers for the Trusts for tax purposes beginning with the 1998 tax year which may be the first year any of these properties have been identified. It seems to me that as long as taxes are being paid on the Trusts, the IRS shouldn’t care who the parties are. J.D. Lewis (Don) is the Trustee of their trust, but if they elect another trustee, then would I be liable for any tax evasion on their part? If this can be done it will increase the amount they get to keep by over $400,000.00.
As for property held in Don’s name, I don’t know of any way this can escape gift or estate taxes and am hoping you will have some ideas on how to minimize the tax bite, while still allowing me to keep the income during the next five years. When this is transferred to them, who is liable for the payment of the estate tax?
I was told by my attorney that as the spouse, I pay no estate tax: is that true? If so, is there any way to transfer assets to them after the five years without causing a taxable event? Something like the $600,000.00 per year thing? There are 16 of them to divide it amongst counting the grandchildren.
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
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Costa Rica Bill Board and Reward for Finding Don
Letter to Roger Petersen, Esquire
I suppose since I haven’t heard from you, that you haven’t heard from Don. What would it cost me to hire a bill board with a picture of Don on it and the $100,000.00 reward we discussed?
Thank you for sending the power of attorney so that I can conclude the Lazy Days transaction.
I have the five checks from the Villa Lobos in the amount of $20,000.00 each back from the bank. My bank would not honor them because they were drawn on a foreign account and they were not dated. Since the Brothers have already indicated that they have stopped payment on them, there is no use in spending $100.00 or better to run them through my bank for foreign transactions. What can you do to collect on these and what do you need from me in order to do it?
Did you tell Fernando Garro that I will take $86,000.00 for the Trip-Plex and if not, would you go ahead and do so? That is my actual cost in it. Can your father sell it for that?
The mortgage that is in default has been in default a very long time by my standards. What can be done to collect on the note? I want to get this taken care of just as soon as possible. Let me know what you need from me. Thank you for all you have done. - Carole Lewis
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!
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You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org
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The worst escape in our history was Tobi Cougar and I’m pretty sure she had very little to do with it. Tim Evans had been a volunteer, but when it was reported that he was in the cage with Tobi Cougar and kicking her, I ran to the scene and grabbed that huge brute of a man by one ear. I was digging my fingernails into his ear so deeply that blood began gushing from the ear and he was sure I was going to tear it completely off.
It felt pretty secure to me, but he was wailing like a baby, so I dragged him into the kitchen to spray it off. Seeing there was no real damage done, I offered to let him walk to his car or I’d drag him the rest of the way. He chose to walk out on his own, but I stayed within striking distance all the way to the gate, screaming at him that he was to never step foot on this property again.
Since he couldn’t come play with the cougars here any more, he started going to Sherrie Frost’s house because she had a pet cougar and a pet caracal and a monkey, I think. The cougar bit Tim’s hand good enough to leave a scar, so on 12/3/1997 after Don disappeared and I had fired Sherrie (who stole my diary and offered it to highest bidder) they concocted a plan to say the bite happened here. Tim alleged that Tobi had bitten him but she was about as docile a cat as they come. Case #97-08896 B Hillsborough County, FL.
During one of the early hearings, I walked her into the courthouse on a leash to show that she wasn’t the vicious menace he was claiming. Everyone at the courthouse knew me because I was down there all the time in connection with real estate matters. I think that Sherrie and Tim came onto the sanctuary grounds and took Tobi outside our gates to turn her loose, in an effort to make it look like she was a dangerous animal. The reason I believe that is that I got a call from law enforcement saying my cougar was loose, but her cage gate and the front gate were closed, so there’s no way she did that on her own. Sherrie still had keys, so we ended up changing the locks after that.
Before I knew it there were helicopters circling, police sirens wailing and things had gotten totally out of control. How did law enforcement know before we or our neighbors did? We sent search parties out into the surrounding area and a call came in from the owner of the Circle K convenience store a quarter of a mile from us, where Easy Street meets the pavement. He said, “Your cougar is at our door and she’s asking for a Slurpee.”
Don and I jumped in the car and raced up the road. I saw Tobi sitting at the front door to the store, and she was completely surrounded by police cars and officers with guns drawn and pointed at her. I jumped out of the car and ran into the melee screaming, “Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!” Don opened the hatch back on the car and I ran alongside Tobi as she leaped toward something familiar and a way away from all of this madness. I figured no one would shoot if I was in the way.
Tobi hopped into the back of the car and I shut the hatch. It was a pretty anticlimactic end to a very stressful day.
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!
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My mother arrived here at 9:15 am and I knew she came to tell me my Grandfather was dead. He died at 1:00 this morning while my brother, Chuck was sitting with him. He said BigDaddy was breathing slower and slower, yet still able to talk somewhat as he passed on. I cry even typing this because I will miss him. I am glad his suffering with this brain cancer is over, for his sake, and I have felt helpless to relieve his suffering for the past four months.
His favourite song was the Tennessee Waltz and I don’t know the words so I went out and bought every version of it I could find on CD and a CD player in a feeble attempt to make his last few weeks more bearable. I tried to go sit with him two Sundays ago, and when he saw it was me he turned his head and made those funny eyes at me he always does and said “Well Hello Babydoll!”. The next words out of his mouth, for as far back as I can remember, would always be “you are so beautiful!” but this time he said “you are so….so….so something, I can’t remember the words anymore”.
The cancer had taken his mobility, his ability to communicate and his memory in just a few short months. I was there for several hours, but I was no help to anyone, because all I could do was cry and cry and cry. I tried not to let him see or hear me cry and spent most of my time there holed up in the bathroom. I’ve never had to deal with the death of anyone I knew and I wasn’t handling it well at all.
As much as this hurts, I know that it was for the best and I will be able to close this chapter of my life, albeit sorrowfully. I can’t lay the book down where Don is concerned. I still wonder every day if he is alive, if he is in prison, if he is in some mental ward, if he is rotting in a swamp or laying at the bottom of the gulf.
On Thanksgiving I had guests in the cabin. (Norma’s sister from Ft. Lauderdale and her husband). They are quite wealthy and seemed like wonderful people, but I had forgotten to ask Dad to bring in the coffee and doughnuts, so I made cinnamon rolls and coffee for them and delivered it to the cabin. They were sitting outside at 7:30 in the morning in their pajamas, and looking a little wild eyed.
The husband asked the history on the cabin and when I told him he said he was expecting something a little more dramatic and when I asked why he said, “because it’s haunted”. He claims that last night he heard loud shoes, like boots come up the steps, the gush of air as though the door had opened and as he turned to see who it was, he and his wife both felt the bed sink as though someone had climbed in to go to sleep. The next evening I noticed the trail lights were out and the switch was flipped off and the box left open, just like Don did almost every night since I bought those things.
I am going over to hug Momma Jacquie this morning although I know that she, like me would rather be alone. I will take Jamie with me. Jamie didn’t want to see BigDaddy last Sunday after church, but I dragged her anyway to at least say hello to Momma Jack. Jamie said she wanted to remember BigDaddy the way he was, strong and funny. I know that is how he would have wanted us to remember him.
My dad is taking this worse than just about anyone, other than my mom, who is BigDaddy reincarnate. Dad and BigDaddy built the cabins together, did the flea markets and auctions and a lot of traveling together. Dad couldn’t even come tell me about the death because he was so overwhelmed by it. I have to catch four cats, 2 Lynx and 2 Western Cougars, today so I hope he will be able to help me with that, without getting himself hurt.
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!
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You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org
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Tonga the White Serval Escapes One of Jamie’s many jobs was to deliver the “interaction” cats to the cabins at night when the guests were getting tucked in for the night. Even though he was really big at six months or so of age, she’d still carry Tonga the white serval. One night he kicked free but she caught him with a net in the palmettos near the cabins. That’s when we stopped carrying the cats to the cabins unless they were in a carrier. 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.
I Hire a Criminal Attorney Ronald K. Cacciatore
On November 10, 1997 I paid a $5,000 retainer fee to Ron Cacciatore, P.A. He billed at a rate of $250 an hour. Up until now I’d had real estate attorney’s representing me but they suggested that I hire a criminal attorney as that wasn’t their expertise.
I don’t have a date on this and don’t remember who Rick was. (I’m writing from 2020 while going through the Conservatorship files)
Dear Rick,
As you can probably tell from the attached papers (none were still attached) Anne quit on the Thursday after Don disappeared and told me to pick up the keys from her Friday morning. When I got there, Donna (one of Don’s daughters) met me there and said that they were having Anne appointed as conservator of Don’s estate and that they did not want me to go in the office. Since it was my office, I broke in and loaded all of the file cabinets into three trucks and took them home with me. Saturday I was served with an injunction preventing me from going to the office. Monday was Labor Day and on Tuesday I filed the Motion to Set aside the Injunction. We had a hearing on my motion and just before the hearing the children’s attorney, Cliff Opp showed me this Application for a Restraining Order that Don had filed against me in June of this year. (Discovered later it was attested to on 6/12/1997) Because I didn’t know anything about it, I didn’t feel that I could address the issue in front of the Judge, Susan Sexton, without some time to research the matter. I consented to being appointed as Co-Conservator, along with an outside party, Douglas Stalley, rather than take the risk of having no control over our business. That was in September 1997.
I kept thinking Don would come back and this would all be over, but he hasn’t and this thing just keeps getting more and more expensive. I have three civil attorneys and a criminal attorney; Anne has an attorney (LeRoy Merkle), the children have an Attorney, I have to pay the Co-Conservator $75.00 per hour and he is making a career out of getting in the middle of everting to keep those billable hours going and I have to pay for him to have his own attorney. He has also hired his friend as my new court ordered CPA and in 3 months that fool hasn’t been able to put together my 1996 tax return. But I am having to pay him too. All of these people want to see this Conservatorship go on forever, because it’s such an easy ride, but there is no reason for any of these people to be involved. With Don’s power of attorney I have the ability to manage our affairs without the expense of all these onlookers. A handwriting expert, from Mark Write in Sarasota gave his written report after examination of the original Will, Trust and Power of Attorney and says that they are Don’s signatures without a doubt. I also have affidavits from the Notary and witnesses to all of these documents attesting to their validity.
My criminal attorney spoke with the Judge who said that Don was not present when she reviewed documents. He didn’t get anything in writing from her. I need a written statement from the people involved at Domestic Violence who can say why Don’s request for a restraining order was denied. The Order simply said that Don was not in any immediate danger. If affidavits cannot be gotten from the people themselves then perhaps your statement after you investigate these issues would be the next best thing. I would feel 100% confidant going before Judge Sexton and asking for release from this whole mess, if I could present to her with indisputable evidence that Don was just “blowing smoke” and said all of those things just to get what he wanted. (What he wanted was to keep me from getting rid of all his junk when he was out of town). The worst thing I ever threatened to do to Don was to turn him in to the IRS. I am supposed to make an accounting to the Court of our entire estate in December and I want to shut this case down before then because I don’t want the whole world to have access to my financial statement.
Everything I have found, I have turned over to the accountant and will have to pay tax on, but I object to just anyone walking in and seeing this report at the local courthouse. It puts me in a dangerous position to anyone who would woo my daughter and kill me for her inheritance. It puts us both in a precarious position to anyone who would desire to take over WildLife on Easy Street, because if we both die, all the money goes there. Let me know what you can do. Thanks. Carole
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!
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I was trying to re-create our 1996 tax return because Anne had destroyed the one I signed in August of 1997. My Attorneys and the Co-Conservator were pressing me to get liability coverage to protect their interest. Anne was complaining that I was neglecting my fiduciary duty because many of the accounts were behind. There was no viable book keeping system and the Accountant the Co-Conservator had chosen did not have access to any sort of real estate based software so I was researching programs and testing software while still trying to inventory 6 million dollars in assets. All of this was being done while I actually handled the accounts payable, accounts receivable and property management for 215 properties and 200 vehicles spread all over five counties and two countries. I had no time to research the law library. 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.
Who could know my sadness
Or detect this lonesome sorrow?
What shields from all this madness
And the dreading of tomorrow?
People ask me how I’m doing?
And I say I’m doing fine
So they don’t know I’m construing
A way to leave it all behind
My life may never be the same
Without the love I’m missing
Not knowing brings both fear and shame
And from rivals; evil hissing
I’ve never felt so lost before
Never felt such pain and fear
Helpless to return once more
The one I held so dear.
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.
Did Don Crash Into the Gulf?
Letter to Detective Lingo and Fernandez:
Doug Edwards said that he tried to run this theory of his past me when Don first disappeared but apparently I didn’t pay close enough attention to him because it makes a lot of sense. This is his scenario:
Don finds an experimental airplane for sale and the non local person selling it has built it in their garage so it’s not properly licensed or equipped, or perhaps the owner is not licensed and he decides to meet Don somewhere close to our home so Don can try it out. Don or maybe the seller doesn’t want anyone to see him leaving the airport, so they make it for early light. Don likes the plane and decides to buy it, so he pays the guy and flies the seller home.
Don wouldn’t care about a title search, or paperwork and a bill of sale could have been with him. If the guy lived in the panhandle Don would fly straight across the gulf just like we always did to avoid that weather balloon in Cross City. We were completely out of fuel on the last trip we made across the gulf, but just kept flying and praying until we landed. Maybe Don wasn’t this lucky this time. Depending on how far he went and the tank capacity of what he was flying, and the accuracy of the gauges, this is pretty feasible.
I’ve thought something similar out time and time again, but I was always thinking that if Don crashed over the gulf, he was practicing with the plane because the air is so much more stable there. I hadn’t thought about him flying low because the plane itself might be illegal and I hadn’t thought about a water crash being due to low fuel. Doug Edwards’s twist on my theories is this: Three days after the sale, the plane’s creator/owner hears that Don Lewis is missing and his van is found at the airport where this person met Don.
Fearing the worst, the guy keeps quiet and stays glued to the news to find out if his plane is ever connected to Don in any way. This guy can’t come forward because he can’t explain to the authorities something about himself or the plane. Since he’s already been paid, even if the connection is somehow made to him, he is far enough away that he can claim ignorance of Don’s disappearance. Meanwhile he finds out that Don was worth a fortune. Now he’s really scared because he can just see the liability mounting up and he gets real quiet about what ever became of that plane.
This is the first theory that I haven’t been able to see holes in. My dad has had a similar theory but that the seller was connected to the airport, maybe even Dewey Gallop himself, since he was thrown out of Tampa International for keeping such flying junk heaps in the air. This would explain Dewey changing his story about when the van arrived and what tag was on it. Had the van been left in the parking lot, right in front of the door, then Gallop couldn’t have said they didn’t know when it was left, being a tall guy he may have moved the seat to move the van to the grass behind the FBO so that it would be less obvious that the van had been left unattended. To keep from being too obvious, when Don didn’t come back as planned, he then would have called and reported an abandoned vehicle.
(Added 2019 Screenshot above is the last time I saw Doug Edwards. I was looking for his contact info and can’t find anything for him.)
Tim Bengston arrived in Tampa today to help look for Don. He’s a bounty hunter. He has checked the prisons in Costa Rica and had an associate begin checking in Nicaragua. I offered him 100,000.00 to find Don alive or in the worst case to convict Don’s killer(s). I asked him to come up with an hourly figure in the event that Don is found dead by his own doing.
(Photo of Tim Bengston found online and added 8/2/2019)
A question you asked me, that I don’t feel I answered, was whether I would benefit by Don’s disappearance. From a personal standpoint, the answer is an obvious “no”. He’s my lover and my best friend and has been all of my adult life. From a religious standpoint he is my husband and the only sexual partner I have had for eight or nine years and the only one I can have while I am legally married to him, which could be another 5-7 years. If I wanted a new partner I would not have elected to be held in limbo for 5-7 years.
From a financial standpoint, if Don were to die, then I stood to gain all that we had together. Again, for Don to be simply missing, I stood the risk of being in exactly the position I am in, which is to be under suspicion, and not in control of our affairs, and to watch greed and malice destroy through the ensuing legal battles all that we worked for. If I had done something to Don for my own gain, I would have to leave a body in plain sight, and an ironclad trail to anything or any one but myself, for me to gain anything
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I have so much work to do, but I feel that it is important to log these coincidences now in case they amount to something later. I got home last night from a week in Chicago for the Friends of Conservation hosted by Ruetie Butler Kent and Jim Fowler. Judy Watson and Jamie had left last Wednesday in an extended van, but said it overheated in Bushnell and that the mechanic said it would be $650.00 to repair.
I took Dad, Kenny Farr and Tom Watson up there with my Jeep and Don’s Dodge van with the intention of moving everything out of the bigger van down into the smaller van and my jeep and taking two cars to Chicago. We were able to cram everything in to the one van and I sent my jeep back. The water pump which was only a few months old, failed on the jeep’s return to Tampa. Dad and Kenny Farr worked on the jeep and began to make some frightening discoveries.
When the jeep first started overheating this summer, I asked Don to fix it and he told me and Kenny Farr that it couldn’t be fixed and kept asking me to drive the silver station wagon (The 600.00 car with no title). The kids like to drive the wagon, because it has more seats for more kids, and Don said that the brakes were bad and he was repairing them one day as I walked past the shed. The brakes had never been bad before, but they felt different than my brakes so I did not question it any further, like to ask why he was doing the repair, when he always pays the old man next door (James Jennings) to do this kind of stuff. When he got through, Don went looking for Jamie and told her that he had fixed the wagon and that it was safe now and they could ride it any time they wanted. She and her friends were a little leery of the car after that because Don had not wanted them driving it before and he would never have cared about their safety.
I remember the night before Don disappeared how anxious he was to bring that car home at four in the morning when it had overheated on me. There was no reason why it could not have set there until the following morning when Kenny Farr could have wreckered it in on his way to work. If Don knew he was going somewhere very early Monday, why did he bother with the car so late? Monday morning when I blew the engine up on interstate in the silver wagon, I called Kenny Farr to wrecker it in. It was then that he discovered Don had completely removed two of the brakes and had sabotaged the remaining brake assembly.
In the meanwhile, I had asked Kenny Farr for a second opinion on my jeep and he had told me he could fix it for $24.00 with a water pump. I had bought the pump and had him install it, and when Don found out he went into a rage and kept telling Kenny Farr that my jeep could not be fixed and that he didn’t want Kenny Farr to touch the car. I paid Kenny Farr on the side to do it anyway while Don was gone. The water pump fixed the overheating problem and I had started to use the jeep again.
Before the water pump scene, Jamie had noticed while following me home from church, that I had no brake lights and I asked Don to fix them. He told me that he had Kenny Farr do it. I did not check behind him. Again, before the water pump scene, one of the volunteers told me I had no brake lights. I asked Don about it and he started blaming Kenny Farr and saying that he had specifically told Kenny Farr to fix the lights and that he would take care of it. He never did, but he lied to me again and told me they were operating just fine when we checked them out. I stepped on the brakes and Don said he could see them light up.
When Kenny Farr worked on the water pump, I meant to ask him to check out the brake lights, but forgot to. Just recently, someone said that I didn’t have brake lights, so I asked Kenny Farr to fix them and I drove extra carefully in the meanwhile. Driving to Bushnell, I told Tom Watson, who would be driving my jeep back to Tampa, if we didn’t need it, that he should be careful because my brake lights were still out.
When they returned to Tampa and began working on the car, Kenny Farr and Dad disassembled the entire brake system, from the lens caps to the dashboard and under the hood. What they discovered is that someone had cut the power lines to both brake lights and had re-taped them to disguise the fact that one of each dual line had been severed. Who ever had done this had gone to the extra bother to just barely connect the lines so that if a tester was used under the hood, it would give the appearance of power to the lights, but the least little jolt (in this case slamming the hood) was enough to disconnect the lines that had just been slid in place, but not attached. Only Don would have had the time to do so much to my car without anyone thinking about him messing under the hood.
Then there is the thing with the mobile home that Don bought for my parents next door.
Jamie’s house where Don insisted she was only to have space heaters (used ones at that) and no central heat or air.
The gas dryer outside and gas oven inside that would make a good excuse for an accident.
The fact that I cannot escape the house, all windows are screwed shut and the gates around the yard could be locked as well.
The blue metal bender falling right where Dad was working and Don pulling his van in the way to keep my Dad and I from being able to exit without walking right into the path of the falling ton of metal.
The crane dropping the tree at my feet and then taking out the fence. In retrospect, I think Don was swinging it at me and it just fell short.
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The first thing the children wanted to do was have the Power of Attorney, Will and Trust tested for authenticity. I agreed because, again, I was sure this would resolve any concerns they had regarding me in the disappearance of their father. Don had disowned them a couple of years prior so they didn’t know anything about our personal relationship except what Anne was feeding them, and that was nothing but lies.
Peter Candler reviewed the documents and said they were all genuine in his written report. Willa Smith, hired by the children, said she questioned the Power and the Will, but gave no written report (to my knowledge) J.J. Berrie examined the documents and agreed that they were Don’s signature. Ray Green reviewed the Trust and said it was genuine.
All of the witnesses and Notary on the documents provided Affidavits stating that they saw Don sign them and that he understood what he signed and that he was competent to do so. Last week I discovered that in all of the Will Contests where forgery was alleged, the judges gave more credence to the unimpeachable witnesses than to expert witness opinion.
I sent the following to Detectives Lingo and Fernandez today:
After speaking with the two of you last week I have had a few other thoughts. It looks suspicious to me that Anne is the beneficiary of such a huge life insurance policy and how she and the kids are all behaving like they are sure Don isn’t going to come back in and blow them all away. I guess the kids feel like they couldn’t be any worse off since they know Don wouldn’t even speak to them, but Anne is taking a terrible risk by acting this way. Even she won’t be able to fast talk her way out of this one.
The children are now trying to say that the Power of Attorney that Don gave me, the Will and the Trust documents were forgeries and therefore their father has died “intestate”, making half of the estate theirs. They are in an awful big hurry to say their dad is dead and are trying to make it look like I have killed him (I guess to free up more of the estate for them) and that I forged the documents. They claim to have hired a handwriting expert who did ink tests and evaluations of the documents to prove that they are forgeries, which I find an amazing feat since I have possession of the originals. I have gathered the witnesses and the notary to the documents and had them prepare affidavits as to the validity of the documents, but this has made me aware of just how far these people are going to destroy what Don & I have worked so hard for all these years.
I had just offered to transfer to them the properties that I had put into their trust (most of the stuff Don owned when we got married) which amounts to about 1,200,000.00 because even if Don comes back, I don’t want to work for them any longer with the way they are behaving and although Don had told me to dissolve their trust, he’ll get over it someday. They know if Don comes back they will get nothing, so they must be pretty sure he isn’t coming back or they don’t care what lies they get caught in since Don disowned them anyway. They have nothing to lose and nine million dollars to gain. More than anyone else though, Anne knows that the Trust, Will and Power of Attorney are valid because she had the old originals from 1992 hidden under her desk. If she thought they were forged, surely she would have asked Don at some point in the last five years, especially since she was the notary on some of them.
Something I guess I should tell you guys is that Gladys Lewis Cross (the kid’s mom) had tried to kill Don on at least three occasions that he told me about. I remember that the first time he said that Gladys had found out about him and Dorothy (Thompson) and she came flying into the lot and tried to run Don down with the new car he had just bought for her. On another occasion, when she found out about Janie (who worked at the post office) she tried to shoot Don and they got in a fist fight over the gun. He was successful in wrestling it away from her, but she clawed up his face pretty badly. He said he had to almost knock her out to get the gun away from her because she was so intent on killing him.
The third time was over a girl (I think it was her niece Tammy that she later divorced him over) and she tried to run him down in a mall parking lot and ran into a light pole, trashing another car, but missing Don. Could she have been so angry over not getting the million dollars more that she thought she would get, that she would kill Don in a last ditch effort to recover the money she felt he owed her for all her suffering? She could have felt she was “protecting” her girls by doing that and insuring that he didn’t waste any more of it on the animals.
Even if she doesn’t have anything to do with Don’s disappearance, I expect that she is behind much of the posturing the kids are doing now. I think her allegiance with Anne has been underestimated for a long time. I believed that Anne had quit backing Gladys over Don after their divorce, but recently when Gladys was suing us for more money, Anne refused to admit in Court that Don told her to find a million dollars of his best assets for Gladys and the children as they all sat around the table at Gladys house that night, prior to their divorce. Anne has always said she knew that to be the truth and that she was there and that Gladys was given access to all the books, until it recently went to Court and then Anne changed her story and said that none of that ever happened. She had no reason to lie to me about that before so I’d have to assume she was lying when she said it didn’t. If her alliance was with Gladys then of course she would not say the words that would blow Gladys out of the water.
In the suit for more money, Gladys was expecting over a million and ended up with $50,000.00 paid to her this year. I expect most of that went to her Attorney. Don has had other women throughout their entire marriage and Gladys knew about most or all of them, so it wasn’t like it was some huge surprise to her on the three occasions she tried to kill him. It apparently didn’t take much to set her off then, so how much of a disappointment over this lawsuit going south it take for her to try again, especially if she could make it look like I did it. The only question then becomes, where is the body and what “evidence” is going to be left in plain sight?
In the same folder is a hand written note to the same detectives and copies but it’s not dated and I think I gave them these documents earlier. It says: The following are copies of Don’s Wills from here and Costa Rica along with the supporting documents. I would like to offer, in writing, to pay for the expenses involved in sending Hillsborough County Detectives to Costa Rica to locate my husband, as I believe you would do a more thorough and honest job than an agency from the phone book. - Carole Lewis
I miss Don so much. Some people say they have seen him. How can the passion we shared be gone? How could he just walk away and not look back? Why? Why? why
I remember looking at real estate with Don. It was always an adventure and I would always feel like I was riding on the edge with him. We pulled up in the driveway in Don’s pickup truck expecting the house was abandoned by the overgrown yard and broken windows. This house was in an awful neighborhood and just getting from the truck to the back door of this long forgotten home was making the blood race through my veins. I was expecting to be ambushed at any moment and although we had scouted the house out through the windows, we never knew who might be using these shells for cover. Don was an expert at breaking and entering as it was his policy to never “break” and yet no building had ever proven impervious to him.
We always made ourselves known while on the outside, although this day we were quieter than usual due to the danger of drawing attention to ourselves in this part of town. Once inside, we were always cat like in the quiet, cautious way that we would search out every room, always watching each other’s backs. The hair would stand erect on the back of my neck and I would sweat in nervous anticipation. Don always carried a gun in his sock and a gun in his pocket, but I was his eyes and his ears.
His senses had dulled and I had to be always on guard. Once we were certain that we were alone in the house, we could look at it again through different eyes. The eyes of the real estate investors who knew what would be expensive to repair and what would need only superficial attention in order to turn this into a profitable venture. The kitchen is often the most neglected and most costly to replace and as usual, our second search commenced here.
I stood at the sink, looking out the window, wondering what it would be like to be to have lived here and had for my daily view the depressing sight of burned buildings, graffiti and violence. I thought about the desperation of being so impoverished that I could not change my status in life and the complications of addiction and unwanted children that would further add to my burdens… when behind me in his amorously happy voice Don said “Can you think of anywhere we haven’t done it?” Coming back to present day reality, I looked down and said “only the kitchen sink.”
He pulled me close and kissed me, long and soft and gentle like he always does. I get lost in his kisses. The rest of the world just floats away and nothing matters anymore except the sweetness of his lips. I’ve never been kissed with such intensity and passion before Don, nor since. I was so lost in his love, that I barely even noticed he was unbuttoning and unzipping my jeans. I was so lost in my desire that I don’t even know how he undressed. All I remember was being thrust up onto the sink and the feel of Don sinking deep inside me. I was howling with the pleasure in complete abandon of the danger this could bring on us. I love the way he makes love to me. So tender and with such force that I cannot think of anything but him and all else fades away in ecstasy.
There are so many moments that we shared like these. I always thought the magic was in “us” but maybe it was all his.
On the morning millionaire Jack Donald Lewis disappeared, he was wearing a $1 T-shirt from Kmart and blue jeans bought at a yard sale. He left behind an 8-year-old Dodge van with a broken window and a battered grill.
He also left behind Wildlife on Easy Street, (now known as Big Cat Rescue) the 40-acre sanctuary in northwest Hillsborough County where he lived and kept more than 100 animals, from lions and leopards to llamas and lemurs.
A month ago, authorities found the van, the keys on the floorboard, at a private airport in Pasco County, where Lewis, who has crashed planes in the past, was known to buy aircraft impulsively - with cash.
Lewis' disappearance has worried his friends and family, knotted his business affairs and mystified law enforcement. Volunteers from his big-cat sanctuary have distributed more than 1,000 missing person fliers. A psychic has visited his house. His wife and his children from another marriage have squared off in court over his money, and the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office has taken a keen interest in his whereabouts. Detectives say that while there are no obvious signs of foul play, it hasn't been ruled out.
On Wednesday, authorities received an unconfirmed report that Lewis, 59, was in Costa Rica, where he owns 200 acres near a volcano. They do not know if someone took him there, if someone killed him, or if he left on his own.
He may have had reason to go.
In June, Lewis told a Hillsborough circuit judge that his wife threatened to kill him, but the judge did not see a danger. That same month he visited a psychiatrist at his wife's urging, but did not return for follow-up visits, she said.
He's been his own man all his life, boot-strapping himself from Depression-era childhood to financial success through trucking and real estate. But his latest vocation, Wildlife on Easy Street, may have been bringing on more publicity and financial drain than the modest animal lover wanted.
Lewis was born in Dade City to a single mother of three, who sold fresh bread and worked as a seamstress. His father was a drunk she never married who used to ride the corpses out to the cemetery in a horse drawn wagon. Fortunately, the horse knew the way there and back. His last name was never known to Don Lewis who was born at an abortion clinic at 305 W. South Ave. in Tampa, FL. The doctor there was a friend of his crippled mother and her latter marriage to a man named Lewis was later attributed to Jack Donald.
In high school, he had several jobs, including mechanic and farm hand. He graduated from Pasco High School a year ahead of schedule in 1955. He used to joke that the only school he ever graduated from was reform school. Girls adored him.
"He always seemed to know where he was going," said Gladys Cross, Lewis' first wife.
The couple met at the A&P when Lewis, a bag boy, winked at her.
Two years after their first date, they married. She was 14; he was 17. Eleven months after that, their first daughter, Donna was born.
"We were both so poor it was terrible," Gladys Cross said in a deposition last year.
That would change. Lewis started hauling rock and sand in Dade City, then bought five dump trucks. In the early 1960s, he began driving tankers for Texaco and Red Wing Carriers in Tampa. On the side, he bought washing machines, repaired them, and resold them at profit. He invested in used cars, making money at auctions.
His bank account swelled.
He kept hustling as though he was still dirt poor, according to those who knew him. His E Broadway Avenue office was a trailer with newspapers covering the windows.
His next big move was into real estate. While standing in line at a bank one day he heard a banker exclaim that he would sell a $22,000. mortgage that was in foreclosure for ten cents on the dollar. He asked his friend, Carole Stairs to read the deal for him, as he could barely read, and they did the deal. Lewis and Stairs bought bad mortgages from other lenders, then let homeowners remain if they paid 18-percent interest. If they made six house payments on time, he would sell the home back to them cheap. If not, he foreclosed.
"Most people who dealt with him were desperate," said Alvin Coulter of Brandon, a former business partner. "But they went in with their eyes open. They were adults when they did it."
Wendell Williams, another real estate investor who knows Lewis, added, "I don't want anyone to think Mr. Lewis was not ruthless, because he was."
Regulatory agencies kept after him for housing code and environmental violations. He pleaded no contest in 1994 to dumping trash and burning it on land he owned in Seffner, records show.
"He's got a notorious reputation around here," said Leslie Campbell, enforcement supervisor at the Hillsborough Environmental Protection Commission.
Lewis eventually amassed holdings of some 350 parcels in five Florida counties, held under numerous names and trusts, according to property and court records.
"They didn't want anybody to know about how much money they had," said Sheldon Wind, Lewis' long-time attorney, in a sworn deposition in 1996.
The secrecy extended beyond his finances. For the first three years she knew him, Lewis used a different name, Bob Martin, and claimed to work for someone named Don Lewis, Carole Stairs Lewis said. He didn't want her to love him for his money, she said.
They met on the side of Hillsborough Avenue when she was 19. He saw her from his car as she walked along the road; he pulled over and asked her out.
"I just fell in love with him at first sight," said Carole Stairs Lewis, now 36. They carried on an affair with Lewis for years before his divorce she said.
At some point, Gladys knew about that affair and others. She used to pack extra food in his lunch, and she knew it was for his girlfriends; they would leave love notes and lipstick-stained napkins in Lewis' lunch box.
Lewis dated women "younger than our daughters," Gladys Cross said. "I couldn't compete with that."
After 34 years, she asked for a divorce in 1990 when Gladys fell in love with a man named Cross and desired to marry him. That, too, involved secrecy, as the couple went to Sumter County to complete the split. Cross later sued Lewis in 1994 alleging he had hidden the couple's wealth during the divorce, and settled for $148,000.
A year after the divorce, Lewis married Carole Stairs at the Polk County courthouse. She wore a tank top and a $14 wedding band Lewis bought at a pawn shop.
Shortly after they married, the couple started Wildlife on Easy Street, a center for exotic cats set on 40 acres of tall pines, high grass and flowering bushes at the end of a dirt road at their home in Citrus Park.
Today, they care for more than 100 lynx, ocelots, cougars and leopards, as well as otters, lemurs, llamas and horses. They nurse animals such as Nicoma, a lion who drags an injured hind leg, and promise to find the unwanted animals permanent homes.
"A lot of these animals have every reason in the world to hate you more than any other animal," said Al Cochran, a volunteer at the center. "But Don found it in his heart to love them."
Critics say Lewis turned the refuge, which is organized as a Florida not-for-profit corporation, into another business. They say he bought cats cheaply at auctions and then sold them to buyers impressed by the center's non-profit status.
"That was a point of conflict between Don and I," Carole Lewis said. He wanted to sell the animals. She wanted to keep them.
"He would always say that everything had a price."
The refuge's Web site said it lost money last year, and volunteers were organizing a fund-raising golf tournament about the time of Lewis' disappearance.
The commission's Lt. Dennis Parker said things have improved at the refuge.
Lewis also had paperwork problems with the Federal Aviation Administration. Flying without a pilot's license in 1988, he hit some wires while landing at a crop duster's strip near Pensacola during a storm. He failed to get a weather briefing before taking off, according to FAA records.
If Lewis left intentionally, he didn't do much planning. His disappearance created a vacuum of power at his business enterprises, and questions about who had authority to act in his absence.
About two weeks ago, according to court records, Carole Lewis entered her husband's office on E Broadway. His children accused her of improperly taking documents, and asked for a court order to keep her away.
Carole Lewis responded with her own accusations, claiming in court documents that McQueen secretly has transferred $435,273.24 to her own name since May, when Don Lewis began traveling to Costa Rica.
McQueen denied taking any money, saying Lewis always kept his assets under different names. "I have done nothing that Mr. Lewis did not instruct me to do," she said.
"There is not a lot of trust there between all parties involved," said Gale Rathbone, Lewis' daughter.
A judge appointed a conservator to safeguard Lewis' estate, valued at more than $4-million, jointly with Carole.
Carole Lewis suggested in court records that her husband's children are angry about being cut out of his will, something he did after Gladys Cross' 1994 lawsuit. The children supported Cross.
"Kids always side with their mother," Carole Lewis said, "even if it means turning on their Dad."
But the couple's own relationship became turbulent over the summer.
On June 12, Don Lewis petitioned for a domestic violence injunction against his wife, saying she had threatened to kill him. A judge found that Lewis was in no danger, and denied the injunction.
According to records, the couple had fought over a pile of junk Lewis had collected at yard sales, his weekend passion. While Lewis was in Costa Rica, his wife paid someone to haul the pile away from the yard. Lewis was furious and sought the injunction.
The fights no longer matter to Carole. Her long blond hair swept up in a cheetah-print hair band, her eyes welling with tears, she said recently she wanted terribly to find Don.
Wildlife volunteers also await his return.
Said Susan Aronoff, a former volunteer, "I would like to think that Don was sitting on a remote island somewhere, laughing at us for being so worried about him." - Times researchers Kitty Bennett and Barbara Oliver contributed to this story.
Hearing on the motions was heard before Judge Sexton. Before the hearing I was presented with a copy of a Motion For Restraining Order dated 6/20/97 filed by my husband against me. I had never known about this petition and couldn’t think of what would have instigated it. I was not informed then that the Motion had been denied because the Judge had written that Don was not in any immediate danger.
With the shock of my husband’s disappearance, the betrayal of my friend of 16 years, Anne McQueen, and the presentation of a document signed by my husband saying I had threatened to kill him, I did not feel prepared to launch into battle and conceded to the Agreed Upon Order of Conservatorship signed 9/16/97 by Judge Sexton.
I agreed to the appointment of myself and a disinterested third party, Douglas B. Stalley. I felt Anne was misleading the kids and if I gave them a chance to see everything that was going on and all of the files and documents they would calm down. I also needed time to find out what my husband’s request for an Injunction was all about.
2020 Note from the future: Looking back on this I find it outrageous that Anne McQueen says that in mid June 1997 (or later) Don hands her an envelope and says, “If anything ever happens to me, be sure to get this to the police!” But when he disappears 2 months later she forgets all about it. First, I can’t believe that she wouldn’t have peeked at the contents, if he’d said that and second, there is no way when you are being grilled by the cops about your missing friend and boss that you fail to remember the envelope exists. No. Instead, it’s the day of the hearing where the judge is going to decide who gets to run the real estate business that Don and I built, that she suddenly remembers and springs it on me right before the hearing. She didn’t spring it on the police. She springs it on me and the court. I’m sure she knew it was just Don trying to figure out a way to keep me from hauling off his precious scrap, but now that it could be used as a weapon against me that might give her full control of our bank accounts and properties, it was her ace in the hole.
I think the undated letter to Mildred must have been written just before this hearing. I was offering to give Don’s daughters their Trust properties and all of his other assorted entities that I’d not worked with him on, which came to about 1.6 million and would agree to let them take the lion’s share of the life insurance policy. This was roughly 20% of the estate. As for everything outside of my GALTA trust, I offered to split it with them as long as they let me run the business without the expense of the conservatorship. I figured I could keep turning the properties over so that when Don came back or the time was up, I wouldn’t care how much they were getting without working for it. I needed that to happen so that I could make sure the business didn’t fail and to keep the cats fed. I was trying to get Mildred to propose this settlement to them the day before the hearing on 9/9/1997 but with Anne springing the Restraining Order application on me, and maybe even on them, they probably didn’t trust me. We would all have been much better off if they had.
To get our name out in the community, we would sometimes take cats to events. Auroara was always a big hit because she was a tiger and she was easy to travel with because she had been raised in the house, slept in my bed, and trusted me. She trusted me too much in fact.
After one such event, where we had taken her in a box truck, she wouldn’t come down the same narrow ramp (like they use for people to roll a hand truck up and down) she’d gone up to get in the truck. It looked a lot scarier on the down slope than the up slope, I guess. The clock was ticking and we were supposed to be inside, but Auroara wasn’t budging. I had her leash in my hand and had been coaxing with praise and even food, but nothing was working.
Jokingly, I turned to her, arms outstretched and said, “Well jump then. Momma will catch you.”
In the flash of an eye she did! When she did, all 200 + pounds of her landed on my chest and knocked us both to the pavement . She just about knocked the wind out of me and I thought she’d broken every bone in my body, but it turned out she was the one who actually got hurt. She scuffed her paw pads on the pavement and I felt so bad about it, I vowed to never take her in vehicle where she would be fearful again.
Auroara loved riding in the car because she had an obsession for the wind in her face. As a cub you could send her into total bliss by pointing a blow dryer in her direction. If you wanted her to sit still, just point a fan at her.
We had a utility van briefly, that I thought was a great way for transporting Auroara to and from events because she could run free in the back, and there was a metal grate to keep her from climbing all over me while I drove. I looked in the rear view mirror to see her peeling back the grate, like a sardine can lid, and that was her last road trip.
This was a letter to Detectives Lingo and Fernandez:
Nancy Heusted a WildLife volunteer at XXX or XXX approached me and said she had an encounter with Don just before he left that she thought was important. Nancy is new here and didn’t even know who Don was when he asked her to do him a big favor. He told her that he had some very important errands to do and needed her to do tours for him. She explained that she was new and didn’t know how to do a tour. He asked if she would sit out front and find volunteers to do tours as they came in. This is all weird, because Don goes yard sale-ing on Saturdays and never takes any thought as to the operation of the refuge and he certainly never volunteers for doing tours. She said from there he launched into a woeful account of how he wasn’t important, and that nothing he did matters, no body loves him and on and on, much to her embarrassment. She felt like whoever this person was, he was destined to commit suicide in the near future and she asked around to find out who he was. No one relayed this story to me and Nancy left shortly thereafter for an extended trip. Upon her return this week, she discovered Don’s disappearance and thought that she should tell me about this incident. She’s three weeks late. I asked how strongly she felt about this and she said she was a nurse and often deals with people in distress and thinks that if Don isn’t here, it is of his own choosing. She is willing to speak to the police about it.
I still have that bag of evidence from our search at the airport. I also have copies of a stack of faxes between Don and his Costa Rican Attorney, and some from Vokker. For what it’s worth two groups of psychics came out and did their best and they concur that Don was kidnapped by smugglers who are flying through Mexico, and they also believe that Don will be returned somewhere just off the Georgia border at a rest stop where free coffee is served. One group knew Don, the other was here on vacation from Oregon and did not know anything about Don. They acted independent of each other on separate days. If you think there is any value to this sort of help, then let me know and I’ll forward their names and numbers.
As for a reward, I agreed not to offer one while you were actively investigating, but I haven’t heard anything in a while. Let me know when I can make this offer without messing up your search. My attorney, Debbie Boje in conjunction with Jim Freeman said that the Insurance Company who insured Dod would certainly assist in finding Don. They have over a million reasons to do so. Can they contact you for leads, or can you do that?
Don’t kids and I agreed to a Co Conservatorship to protect and maintain the assets while this is being sorted out. Anne McQueen was originally in agreement but backed out because she thought the girls were being too generous in allowing me to continue supporting the wildlife sanctuary out here. I don’t understand why Anne would care, since the kids and I agreed that this was Don’s passion and he would want it this way. An onlooker’s view of Anne’s behavior in court this morning was that she acted like a caged snake, striking out at everyone. That was Richard Dery XXX or XXX who Anne had subpoenaed to court. I want to know why she was holding photos that appear good fuel for a blackmail case and how she came to be in possession of them.
Anne brought copies of an attempt at getting a restraint order that Don had applied for on 6/12/97. I had gone down to apply that June while Don was still in Costa Rica, because he had threatened to turn the cats loose upon his return and although I expected him to calm down before returning home, (I had given away some of his precious trash) I wanted to know what had to be done ahead of time. I was told that unless Don threatened to hurt me, then I could not get a restraining order, so I did not fill out the paperwork. When Don went to the courthouse on June 12th he must have been told the same thing and said that I had threatened to kill him and that I had his gun and another gun. All Don wanted to do was make sure that I could not get rid of any more of his junk, and lying is not a moral issue with him. If that is what it took to get what he wanted, then he would say anything. The judge denied his application saying Don was not in any immediate danger. I’d like to talk to the people involved that day and see what the whole story was, but thought that you may want to do it first.
Let me know. You can page me at XXX or leave a message at XXX or fax XXX. Thank you. Carole Lewis (I faxed it to the Sheriff on 9/10/97)
2020: I found my handwritten notes but no date that read as follows:
• Restraining Order 276-8100 Domestic Violence
• Petition Court for Guardianship | Money | Person & Money
• Petition to determine incapacity.
• 972-3000 - Respond Unit to p/u & take to psych unit.
• Dr. Gold XXX 3 weeks
• Mental Health XXX Joan
Based on what I recall going on at the time, I must have been looking into what would be necessary to have Don Baker Acted or declared mentally incompetent if he was in danger of hurting himself. I remember scheduling the appointment for him to see Dr. Gold who was said to be an expert on Alzheimers, but Don disappeared before the appointment, so this note was probably written sometime around 3 weeks before his disappearance.
At 8:30 in the morning I was served with an Order restraining anyone but Anne from having anything to do with the operations of our business. It was time stamped with Friday’s date at 3:00 pm, which was well after we had already completed the transfer.
I did not violate the Injunction and Anne used it as an opportunity to ransack the office. It was Labor Day weekend and the Courthouse and law firms were closed until Tuesday (9/2/97). I prepared a Motion seeking relief from the Injunction and presented copies of the Power of Attorney and the “master” Trust Agreement.
Today at noon all of the volunteers (over 100) and all of the friends and family, came to pick up and post Missing flyers about Don. I have distributed and posted about 500 my self in the past few days. Jim Moore asked me if I thought it would be a good idea to have this huge, human comb make a sweep through the area where Don was last seen and I did. I can’t believe I didn’t think of this earlier, especially given the fact that I was so annoyed that the Pasco police only thought it worth the time of one deputy and a couple of hours. Why didn’t we use dogs?
The volunteers returned with a black shirt, turned inside out, a glove, covered in oil, just like the ones we have cases of, a brush, a 1996 license plate cut in half and a faded receipt from an Auto Salvage yard. The most frightening of their evidence is what looks to be blood splattered on the pavement between the planes that were hangared next to (2 poles down) where Don’s van was parked.
They called Dewey Gallop over to look at it and he said it doesn’t look like anything typical of aviation fluids. A Pasco cop was arresting a man for DUI and came over to ask the volunteers to look after the man’s dog and they asked him to look at the possible blood stain, but he said he was busy with the DUI and that the Sheriff’s Dept. would have to send someone else. No one else ever came so I am faxing the info to the Tampa Detectives Lingo and Fernandez. The news came out to the search site and I have heard that it is getting at least state wide attention and that may help. National broadcast would help more I think.
Having had time to research the files I have made a frightening discovery: Anne has transferred $508,969.71 of our money into her name and $435,273.24 of it has been just in the last year while Don has been spending a lot of time in Costa Rica and I have been busy trying to get the sanctuary paying for itself. The day Don disappeared was the date of the last transfer that I have found and that was for $3431.31 for a tax certificate. If Don wasn’t around, then who okayed this?
Note to police: I have the bag of items the volunteers found for you and will bring them to you, or you may pick them up. If I’m not here, they are on my desk, in a bag tied shut to prevent contamination. Thank you for your time in finding my husband. I know that there are probably a lot of more pressing issues that you have to deal with, but he is so important to me.
Carole Lewis (813) 920-4130 920-5924 fax
12802 Easy Street Tampa, Fl. 33625
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.
I’m sitting at “the lot” (Corner of 62nd and Broadway) at 7 am waiting to see if Anne comes in early to start hiding records. I can see the lot across 62nd Street to the East where the two grandfather oaks still stand. In 1981, when Don & I fell in love, our little love nest, a tattered travel trailer was parked between those big trees. So many wonderful memories flood my mind that it is difficult to record yesterday’s events. I love and miss him so much.
Within 24 hours of Anne telling Don’s girls about his disappearance, they managed to have a pow wow electing Donna Pettis as their spokesperson and hired Ross Peaveyhouse, Esquire who advertised heavily as a Will & Probate Attorney. They sure didn’t leave any time for trying to find Don nor for grieving. Anne & Donna Pettis called me from the office to let me know that they had decided to appoint a conservator (Anne).
Anne told everyone that there is no power of attorney, but then told me that she has my Will and the Power of Attorney I gave to Don in 1992 just before our Anniversary. I asked about the reciprocal Will and Power of Attorney Don gave me that same day and she said it did not exist. It seems strange that she can find mine, but not his. They should have been kept together. I had forgotten about preparing either of the documents until she reminded me of mine that she had. When Don had started going to Costa Rica so much we had revised his to add jurisdiction in any Country. I have been too busy looking for Don and running our business and refuge to spend any great deal of time searching for a lost paper. After the strange call from Anne and Donna Pettis, I spent the night searching until I located the original Will and Power of Attorney dated 11/96.
Knowing how bitter and suspicious of his kids Don was, I am dumbfounded that Anne would think it was okay to invite his daughters down to the office to go through the books and bank accounts. These are the same girls who tried to take Don to the cleaners via his ex-wife and who Anne says “bald-faced lied” to the court to help their mom get another million dollar settlement four years after the first one. I spent all day Thursday in the office with her and Madeline and let her hang herself with her own rope. (A nice little rope trick my mother taught me.)
I remember the first Christmas Don and I shared in our little love nest. Don had set up the cutest little tree and had decorated it all in white angels. Angel was what Don has always called me. He was the one who started me collecting angels. He bought a nameplate for me that said “Angel”. He brought me little plastic angels and when Pearlie Mae died he sent a ceramic angel praying over a cat. It still sits on my desk to remind me that “all good kitties go to heaven”.
I made curtains for our love nest and tried to make it cheery because often I’d sit there for hours waiting for him to find time to sneak back there to see me. Don had told me his name was Bob Martin and that he was just a lot boy for his slave driving employer, Don Lewis. That was why he would have to sneak around to see me. I was 19 and “Bob” Don was my life. It was a year or more later before one of Don’s new secretaries accidentally gave away his secret.
This just in: Paul Newman in Costa Rica triplex called to ask when Don’s flight will be arriving on Sunday. I updated him and he at least pretended to be surprised and said he would call if Don showed up down there. I told him to let Don know that his kids are seizing his assets and figured that would get Don on the phone right away.
Later that day: I drove to the office 3 hours early and noticed that several other people seemed to be watching the building. How many laps around the block can you make in a pickup truck towing a boat and not look suspicious? The little green compact car must have made twenty laps alone.
At 9:15 Donna Pettis drives up and tells me that Anne did not want to give me the keys to the office and that she was meeting with her attorney. Donna Pettis wanted me to come with her to her Attorney’s office to appoint a conservator, but I told her that I was not comfortable speaking with her attorney since I am still un-represented. We drove off and I called my dad and asked him to get guys and trucks and come to the office.
Suspecting there would be a huge fight, I drove home to get my Power of Attorney. The code for the alarm that Anne gave me the night before, must have been changed, because we could not shut off the alarm and the police arrived. I showed them the POA and my dad explained the situation to him, so he left. We loaded all of the file cabinets and drawers that we could fit into the two pickup trucks and the Jeep.
In the interim, Anne accompanied by her attorney, came in and she asked for her personal items. She tried to take the Don Lewis and United Truck and Trailer check books, but Kenny Farr caught her and made her put them back. She admitted to having $2200.00 in cash from the weeks rent payments, but refused to turn it over. She said she was going to turn over $250,000.00 in properties in her name to the Attorney, Leroy Merkle and that I shouldn’t bother her about the $2200.00.
Then she started screaming and crying that I took her two tins of pennies, nickels and dimes that she was saving for her grand babies and a box with her personal files in it. I told her that the Jeep was already packed, but that I would sort through it carefully and return anything of hers to her. She had a fit and demanded that we unload until we found her boxes, and I refused and her attorney told her she should try to leave gracefully. She kept trying to finagle the boxes, but I wouldn’t give in.
There must be a reason she would put up such a huge fight, for what was supposed to be just her tax records and personal memorabilia. In her hysteria she said, in front of her attorney, my dad and Kenny Farr that she had compromised her scruples for Don for the last time. When I asked what she meant she said that Don made her forge documents and sign other people’s names. Donna Pettis and her husband both came and tried to slow us down, as did Wendell, but we just kept packing until we were out of room.
I was last in our convoy and picked up Burger King meals for everyone as we approached the refuge. It was about 2:00 pm at the latest when we ate and then began unloading. I spent the rest of the day and most of the night separating the old from the new and our business records from Anne’s personal life. One box seemed to hold nothing but the tax and medical records of the last few years for her and all of her children.
I started to just set that box by the door for her, but remembered how adamant she had been and resigned myself to the boring task of going through it a page at a time. Hidden within the pages I found a treasure trove of documents that would be worth a small fortune to the highest bidder. Foremost, was the Will and Power of Attorney that Don executed in 1992 naming me as his attorney and sole heir (the one she said never existed, despite the fact that she notarized the thing), secondarily was the original 1988 GALTA Trust which left the remainder of our estate to Don’s children (even though this had been revised and originals left with Anne that removed his children entirely) and last but not least the most recent original PSRL Land Trust.
I can’t think of any reason why she would need to hide these in a box filled with only her personal documents. They have no trash pickup there so Don brings the office trash here and it is often burned, which means someone could accidentally stumble across these documents if she were to try and throw them away. The safest way to dispose of them would be to slip them into a box from her home and destroy or hide them there. This box was under her desk and had nothing else in it, except her personal stuff.
The rest of the stuff I found made me wonder what it is that she and Madeline do all day. It was the biggest, nastiest, dustiest mess you’ve ever seen, with no rhyme or reason. Still in the top desk drawers were receipt books and deposit slips from the early 1980’s. Everything it would take to run that office would fit in two file cabinets, if it were all in the same two cabinets. The house next door to Anne’s, that she keeps insisting was her own doing and nothing of Don’s, was paid for with 4 cashier’s checks purchased by Don and made payable to the Clerk of the Circuit Court. I wonder if Don knew?
I found a pile, two inches thick of all of the tax certificates held in mostly Anne’s name and some in Gale Rathbone’s name. These will be paying off for years and I would never know. I found arrest records on Anne’s son Jesse (who she said hated Don, but the feeling was mutual). The police report said that Jesse cut someone off in traffic for shooting him a bird and Jesse roared up, blocking traffic, opened the guy’s door and punched him in the mouth hard enough to bust it open. His hearing is coming up Sept. 2, 1997 and Anne has just been bragging to everyone about how she raised her kids right from watching all the mistakes Gladys Lewis Cross and Don made in raising their brood.
The detectives asked me to fax them maps to the properties in Costa Rica when they called me at the office earlier today. Donna Pettis had called them raising Cain because I was moving the office. I asked the detectives if they had a problem with that, and they asked if they could look at it when it gets to its new location. I told them they could and they said there was no problem with me moving stuff then. I also faxed them the long distance calls that Sprint sent and asked if they want me to check them out, or asked if I should wait until they do a preliminary search. I reminded them of how weird I thought it was that Alvin Coulter and Joe Ryan were the first to call and ask me to keep them posted on any news about Don.
Same date, different entry:
Friday 9:00 am passed and no sign of Anne but Donna Pettis, Don’s eldest daughter, pulled up and told me she and her sisters were meeting with their attorney and going to have Anne appointed as Conservator so that no one but Anne would have access to the office. She asked me to come with her to her Attorney and consent to this order and I told her I needed to find legal counsel and would meet with them later. I told her that I had Don’s Power of Attorney and that there was no need to appoint a conservator to run our business. Thinking back on how defensive Anne had been and all of the illegal transfers to her maiden name, I reasoned that she had persuaded Don’s children to appoint her conservator so that she could destroy all documentation giving me the authority to run the business since she always had originals of the Power and the Will and the Trusts, although since Don’s disappearance she has started saying she didn’t remember the documents but that she was looking for them for me.
I called our crew and told them to bring every man and every vehicle they could find to the office. In three hours all of the files we could load were on their way to my home.
For entertainment purposes only.
Everyone’s been pointing at Anne McQueen and saying she’s responsible for separating Don & I. No one seems quite sure if she knows where he is and has vowed not to tell, or if she “knows” he’s not coming back. I’ve blown off the accusations because she’s been my friend for 16 years. Or has she?
She’s always been the one I would call to make sure Don was okay and in the recent past, when Don would stay out all night, Anne always calmed my fears by letting me know that he was safe. She never volunteered any information; I’ve always had to verbally pin her to the wall, but she’s often been the only one who knew his whereabouts.
I spent most of the day at the office trying to figure out what Anne’s story is. She said that all of the property that was put in her name by Don (and Wendell) had nothing to do with Wendell Williams and that Don was just making sure that Anne would never have to work again, if anything ever happened to Don. Does she think I don’t know Don well enough that he thinks EVERYONE should work until they drop dead?
She also wanted to be sure that I knew that Don wanted some Motel to go to her, etc., etc. etc. Madeline was in the office and heard all that was said, but her loyalties are certainly with Anne. I reminded her that Don had told me about putting a few parcels in her name at Wendell’s insistence because Wendell Williams cannot get away with stealing Don blind if I know what’s going on. My first doubts in Anne surfaced a few months ago when she went from detesting Wendell Williams to covering for him. It took a while to figure out why. Anne insisted that Don made no provisions for Wendell Williams and that there are no trust documents, whatsoever for the properties in her name.
The phone rang and although she was refusing to talk to the media, she found herself stuck on the phone when Wendell Williams walked in. I took the opportunity to ask him about Don telling me that the properties in Anne’s name had something to do with Wendell Williams and asked if he had anything in writing. He said that he and Don and Anne had all sat down and gone over that and that Anne was in possession of all of the trust documents that would spell out how much of each property went to Wendell.
I, disliking Wendell Williams the way I do, did not clarify the situation as per Anne’s version, but rather just looked at her and let her know that I knew she had lied. I could see the horror in her eyes and I thought she would puke. She hung up abruptly and asked Wendell Williams to leave, but she did not dispute what he had just said.
Anne said that she thinks something happened to Don on Sunday 8/17, which perhaps was her way of saying she didn’t believe I saw him Monday morning. I told her there were a lot of volunteers here on Sunday who saw him and pointed out to her that Monday, by noon she was already frantically looking for Don by paging Kenny Farr and then getting me on the phone and almost yelling “Where in the Hell is your husband?!”
I had just walked in from the Courthouse and wasn’t aware that Don wasn’t here. Why was she so nervous and upset? Now she denies it and says it was Tuesday that the call took place, but Tuesday I had already filed a missing persons report and had told her, so she wouldn’t have been paging us to find Don on Tuesday.
I asked Anne if she had anything in writing from Don about the motel, or any of the properties in her name, or even so much as a trust agreement and she said “No.” I asked if she had any power of attorney, will or anything that would allow her to continue in the operation of this business until his return and again the answer was “no”. We played this sort of cat and mouse game all day and she had every child, grandchild, friend and relative drop by during the day for no apparent reason. Madeline did nothing all day, as did Anne which has been true of every visit I’ve ever made to this office.
Separate entry with same date:
I spent the day in our real estate office quizzing Anne McQueen about the title search I did on her showing 500,000.00 + of our properties titled in her maiden name. This had all been done in just the past few months. I asked for the alarm code and a set of keys (ours were with Don) and I had never had to open the office before. Don would go into the office maybe once a week or every other week and I didn’t go there much at all. The last few months I had been there much more than usual trying to convert our sloppy record system to computer. Anne was fighting that every inch of the way. When I asked for a set of keys, Anne was suddenly very sick with a headache and had to go home. Since she claims she was the only person with a set of keys and the code, everyone would have to leave so she could lock up. I knew something was up then. She said she had to rest, but that she would make me a set later that night and bring them to me in the morning. She gave me a bogus alarm code.
My dad, Vernon Stairs, drove by around 5 pm after everyone had left at 4 pm and saw Madeline Gavinni and Jesse McQueen (Anne’s son) carrying files out of the office. They stopped when they saw he was watching them and drove back to Anne’s. Later that night I called Anne and asked what she had removed and she quit. She told me to meet her at the office at 9:00 am and she’d turn in her keys.
Gator the serval was convulsing yesterday and went to an emergency clinic, but the Vet doesn’t know anything about exotic cats, so first thing this morning I took her in to Dr. Stacie Wadsworth, DVM. Gator and I had been through a long night of her fits and finally at 6:00 am we had to sedate her because she was so tensed I thought her little heart would explode. I stayed with her at the Vet’s as long as I could and then finished looking at tax deed properties and filed a Quiet Title suit at the courthouse. I checked into names that Don holds property in and found $142,500.00 of actual cash he has put out in Anne McQueen’s various maiden names. The assessed values exceed a quarter of a million. Apparently he began doing these transfers in December of 1995 and I am sure that he has no paperwork to cover him. As soon as I came through the door Anne was on the phone wanting me to call Don’s kids and the media. She had originally said she wanted me to wait until next Monday so that we did not unnecessarily scare the kids, but two of them have called her and she said she is afraid they will accuse her if she doesn’t tell them he’s been gone a week already. I asked if she wanted to call them or if she wanted me to and she said she wanted to call, because she had talked to Donna Pettis just this morning and Gale Rathbone is Anne’s friend. I told her I would get the press involved, if that is even possible. Detective Lingo at the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office called about case number 97-069358 and asked if I have any more info on Don. I told him about the van being found and about the credit card purchase of the tickets for the 31st to Costa Rica. He asked if the office would be hiding Don’s whereabouts since he has done this to me before, and I told him I didn’t think so, because Anne keeps calling here looking for any news. I gave him her name and number. 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.
Don’s van was found at the Pilot Country Airport. The airport manager had discovered it there at 4:30 on Tuesday morning, and had asked around about whom it belonged to. When they called police to have it impounded, the ID# came back with the notation that the car was reported missing along with Don. Dad drove me up there and we talked to the cops and to the people at the airport and I got a list of every owner on the runway, some nearby homes and every plane’s owner on the field. I contacted everyone on the list to see if they had any knowledge as to Don’s whereabouts, but only one person even knew him and that was the airport manager and he did not know anything. No one could remember seeing the van there before 7:00 pm on Monday. The police officer, a Mr. Elliot said when we got there that he had been watching the buzzards, but it was windy and they were acting confused. He said he had canvassed the perimeter woods and had checked the sight over for any signs of a struggle, and had checked the van good for signs of blood, but had come up with nothing. He had looked through the van and the only thing he thought was odd (and I did too) was that in Don’s huge garage sale collection, there was a brand new, never opened Spanish/English Dictionary. Don can’t read, so what did he need with that? When I told Anne about it later, she said that Don had Madeline calling every used book store in town for one and Anne, thinking that was a huge waste of time had Madeline buy a new one for less than $4.00. The police would not finger print the van because they said it was not suspicious and said that even if they did finger print it there would not be any comparisons made because “you have to have a bad guy to compare it to” and no one was sure a bad guy existed. Dad pointed out that the seat was too far back for Don to have driven and I pointed out that the turn signals were on; something Don would never do, but it was still not considered suspicious. (The photos were taken in 2019 and look the same to me as what the place looked like in 1997) 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.
I Reported Don Missing
Don has been missing since yesterday morning before dawn, which isn’t unusual, except that he didn’t call Anne McQueen all day and she said she even paged him into the night, and he still did not call her back. She said in all the years that she has worked for him that he has never failed to call her for such a long period of time. He’s been real pouty and moody lately and ignoring us when we talk to him, but we never know if we are being snubbed or if he just didn’t hear us. If it’s not important I just let it slide and don’t ask louder. We haven’t had a fight, other than the ongoing issue about him not getting keys to the cages and to that end, after he began just cutting holes in the cages to get the cats out, I gave him a set of keys and told him that I didn’t have copies of the bigger cats keys, but that I would make him a set soon. He doesn’t usually mess with the big cats, so I figured I could postpone him indefinitely on that point and he should have been happy to have keys to all the Servals, Caracals and Lynx. He appeared justified if not happy.
He’s been raising two little Caracal kittens (Elijah was one of them born 8/1/1997) and has seemed to take a great deal of interest and pride in doing so. He pulled them much too young and I am already raising a very difficult little Bobcat kitten (Catera), so I did not jump in and offer to do his midnight and 3:00 am feedings. He hasn’t dutifully gotten up for these feedings every night but he does the 7:00 am feeding. During the day he has made no provisions for the kittens to be fed, other than allowing every volunteer who asks to feed. We have never had a cub survive a lot of inexperience and I have been reluctant to get attached to them at all, because I have been so sure that his approach would kill these too. He began this while I was in Jacksonville.
I haven’t written much in a while because things have been going so smoothly for a change. He has been working on selling the scrap in the yard and having it all hauled off. He took care of things (with Jamie supervising) while I went away for four days in Jacksonville for the LIOC Conference and no one died or got loose. He bought my mother a sewing machine and my daughter several wave runners and gave me the pair of Snow Leopards that he knew I’ve thought about for a very long time, although I never said so. (As a later note; I had put plates up in the house with snow leopards on them and that’s how he knew I was admiring these mystical cats)
He’s been pretty reliable in helping with the evening feedings of the adult cats. He’s acted depressed and not very affectionate, but has been much easier to deal with in the recent past. Cutting up the cages, over breeding the cats and moving them from nice yards into small cages have been the only “hateful” things he’s done and I’ve just let it slide and then once he had forgotten about the cats, I would put them back where they belong and repair the pens. I get frustrated because there is always so much work to be done and he has nothing to do except impede progress, but I can’t really get angry with him because I know that he is no longer responsible for his actions.
Last Thursday he started complaining, more than usual about his diarrhea, but he was also complaining that he wasn’t getting his vitamins, when I was standing over him and watching him take them, so I did not pay much attention to him. Saturday he felt good enough to go yard sale-ing and brought home washers, dryers, guns, motor cycles and assorted junk for his impending export to Costa Rica aboard the Iveco.
That night he was in and out until midnight or later digging through all of his yard sale goods to pack. I remember hearing him on the phone with Wendell Williams saying that the signs would be delivered for the 26 lots on Monday morning. He was testing the microwaves and televisions and moving stuff back and forth between the trucks, trailers and sheds. He didn’t want my help, so I fed the kittens and went to bed.
Sunday he said he was too sick to go to church but when I got home from morning services he was out in the yard busily packing and sorting the box truck for Costa Rica. I finished making the signs for our 26 lots and then laid down because Sunday is the only day I get for rest. During the day, Don was in and out of the bedroom, scurrying around like a little squirrel, “reading” the newspaper, looking for more guns and motorcycles and planes. I don’t remember him calling anyone; maybe he already had. He was no where to be found when it was time for evening services either, so Jamie & I went without him.
Sunday night I needed ingredients for the kitten formula and trash cans. I thought Albertson’s was an all night store, so after the 11:00 pm feeding I drove up there. Albertson’s was closed. The station wagon I used overheated and I could not get the radiator cap off. I let the car sit for a long time and tried to start it with no success, so I began walking home. I tried to call my daughter, but no one answered. She never does.
I tried both lines at home, but the Bobcats had peed on the phones by the bed and I had unplugged them to wash them off and had not plugged them back in, so even if Don was in the bedroom, he could not have heard the phones ringing.
My brother was on patrol on Sheldon Road and was in the middle of an arrest, so he asked another cop to drive me home, but by this time I was almost there. I told Don about the car and he wanted to go get it right then, which was at around 4:00 in the morning. He was mad about me letting it get overheated and reminded me about the van that died the same way back in February while I was driving. Rather than argue, I just let him rant on as we went for the wagon.
I don’t know why the mad rush to get to the car, but I assume he did not believe me and perhaps thought he would catch me at something if he raced up there only to not find my car. He filled the radiator and it started back up so we took both vehicles back home. He gave me his car phone in case something happened, but who was I going to call?
I got home a few minutes ahead of him and when he laid down beside me he was calmed and tender. We only slept for about an hour or so and I was just dead to the world, when I heard his voice from the bedroom door. I squinted to see him and could only make out an outline because it was still dark outside and there were no lights on in the room. I looked at the clock but the lighted dial was out (I later found it unplugged).
He said to have the guys load all his stuff in the box truck for Costa Rica and to make sure it was running real good because he was going to leave “early, early, early” for Miami tomorrow. I had found out through Rich Reed, one of our Volunteers that Don was planning to go the Costa Rica before schedule. Don hadn’t told me, but often he didn’t. I suspect that he did not want to give me time to plan things that he would not approve, like repairs and scrap dealers.
I got back up at 7:15 and fed my Bobcat kitten, Catera. I had at first assumed that he had gotten up so early to feed his little Caracals, but they were screaming and ate more than usual, so he must not have fed them. Dad got here at 7:30 and I relayed Don’s message and asked him to relay the part about getting the truck running real good to Kenny Farr if he came in. A few minutes later Dad showed me where the clutch had been completely taken loose and when Kenny Farr got in he said that it was like that on Saturday when Don had asked him to carry the box truck with the forklift over next to the semi trailer. Kenny Farr said Don had some other mechanic doing the work for him and Anne tried to call the mechanic three times with no success.
I had filed the eviction and foreclosure at the Courthouse and the Taurus wagon overheated on the Interstate. My Jeep still had a dead battery. I walked down to the Westshore exit where I felt it was safest to depart and from there to a Shell station with a garage. Juan carried water to the car with me and what seemed an endless time later he got the car cranked and we drove it to the station. Juan showed me how the radiator cap had not been screwed down and the steam marks from where the radiator fluids had escaped on the one side that was tilted out. Apparently, Don did not put the cap entirely back on last night.
Maybe he didn’t screw it down tight because I couldn’t get it off the night before. I should have checked. He and a Jamaican sounding manager (who suggested that I try chickens and voodoo on the doomed car) worked on the wagon for a long time and then said the car needed $1200.00 in head gaskets and I told them I only paid $600.00 for the whole car, so I would send our wrecker after it.
I only had a little bit of cash on me, so I hired a cab to take me part of the way home and then walked the rest. My legs hurt so bad, I can hardly stand up.
When I got home, Anne was on the phone to Kenny Farr at my house and she said that after noon that she had been paging Don all day and he would not return her calls. I told her I had just gotten in and didn’t know if he was here or not. Kenny Farr said he wasn’t. I didn’t know until around 6:00 pm that no one ever came to fix the box truck’s clutch. At 6:30 when Don did not show up to help feed, I asked the kids to help me. I usually take Jamie out to eat after she helps me feed, but was a little concerned about Don’s not being here and I wanted to be here when he did get home so that I could explain about the box truck and why it wasn’t ready. I was afraid that if he got home and found it not ready, he would assume that I had not relayed his orders and might do something foolish to one of the cats.
I gave up waiting for him after the midnight kitten feeding and went to find him. I had already searched the yard and all of the trailers but did so again. I then decided to drive by some of his favorite places to hide, like the Westshore property, the Condos in Temple Terrace, the Sheldon Road property and some sleazy motels we used to use. I gave up around 5:00 am, came home and slept until 7:15.
Tuesday morning before Anne even went to work she called me telling me how worried she was and said that she had paged Don throughout the night to no avail. I told her that this is not unusual for him to do, but she insists that he never treats her this way. She said that I must hate her because she is always in contact with my husband, even when he won’t call me. I told her that I don’t hold that against her, because at least I can find out that he is safe and can quit worrying.
Anne was really frantic about Don not getting in touch with her, but I find it hard to get all worked up over him disappearing for a day because this has become so much of his behaviour with me that it no longer surprises me. I told her I would file a missing persons report and she decided to call the hospitals, morgues and travel agent about his tickets. She said there has been no activity on his credit card and that is how he usually buys his tickets. A couple days later the charge came through on his tickets for the 31st of August.
Monday Anne said that Wendell Williams went to “the farm” (100+ ac in Seffner on Hwy 92) and to Vandenburg Airport looking for Don. I find it a little strange that Don’s not gone more than a few hours, and the last place he was known to be was Wind and William’s, when he dropped off the 26 signs for the 26 lots, but who should panic and start searching airports, other than Wendell? The farm was a legitimate place to look because no one is there now.
Deputy H. Penia came out after I called in the initial info and took my statement. He said that Don is not in jail and that the info on his van will notify them if it is impounded or involved in a wreck. He said that they don’t often find missing persons who are adults because adults are free to do as they please and are more careful than children about not being found. He said they would call me, or the office, if they found anything, and that I should call them if Don comes home. He was very polite in dealing with a situation where it appears that I am over reacting to a straying husband. If he knew anything about Don’s history, he probably would not have even bothered to drive out here.
There were calls in the memory in Don’s car phone
263-3603 Non published, unlisted, not existing per Det. Fernandez
626-4193 The office
243-9760 7108 Riverwood Blvd Sherie and Simeon Frost
246-4999 Lazy Days Superstore
I’ve asked my brother, Chuck Stairs, to get a copy of our non long distance phone calls for that week if he can, but he says he will need a warrant.
After all the cats and kittens were fed Anne called and asked me to go check the Riverwood house because she says it is empty now. With Don’s mental problems, he may have gone there since we used to live there, or maybe he’s just looking for his gold. At any rate I drove out there and he’s not there, although the deer still are and someone left the gate standing open. I drove home and called Anne with no news and she said she wanted to go check out Tampa Bay Executive Airport because I had told her about Don looking at an experimental plane there last week. I didn’t want to wait an hour for her to get here and then have another hour round trip drive, so I told her I’d go look and would call her if my plane were missing, or if the experimental plane was missing.
My plane was still there, but the little ultra light looking experimental plane was not there. I called Anne on Don’s car phone before I knew that you could recall the last 5 numbers, so I lost one.
From the future: I didn’t get a copy of the missing person report until 4/28/1998 after my attorney requested it and the Sheriff faxed it to me.
Cote’s Septic Tank Receipt & Fill Dirt
This is written from the future around 6/26/2020 when I saw these receipts being posted online to suggest that Judy Watson’s septic tank could have been open at the time of Don’s disappearance. From what I can find, the first person to ever start the rumor about Don being buried in or under the septic tanks was started by Judy Watson after she was fired around 8/1/2000. It was such a ridiculous claim, I never bothered to research it and always thought her mobile home and tank were already installed at the time of her taking over Jayla Cougar’s care which was May 1997. After Judy’s interview with Ripper Jack he produced the following receipts that seem to coincide with the permit pulled for the mobile home installation on 8/4/1997.
Ripper Jack makes the assertion that because the trucking bill was dated 8/14/1997 that the tank could have been open when Don goes missing on Aug. 18. It’s possible, and others have asked why I didn’t check to see if Don fell in and drowned. Obviously, we would have looked if that could have possibly been the case, but nearly 23 years later, I have to rely on online sources that say the entire month of August only had 8.39 inches of rain, so even if all of it fell before the 18th, we would have seen a body in less than 9 inches of water, IF the site was open.
I think it’s more likely that Judy got the permit on 8/4/1997 to bring in the mobile home and also started the septic tank process on 8/5/1997 by paying Cote’s Septic $2700.00
Then there would be the sand needed for the drain field which could have been what this Wingate receipt was for:
Judy Watson says the initial installation was red tagged by the county because it was too deep and that more fill dirt had to be brought in. I don’t recall it, but this receipt from J & J Trucking was presented to try and prove that it was delivered 8/14/1997.
That could be the case, or it could be that she was just paying the delivery fee for the dirt she bought on 8/6/1997. In the Ripper Jack videos they try desperately to move the time of the septic tank installation as close to the time of Don’s disappearance as possible. I think it was Judy Watson who then says that my father did the extra work to the tank to bring it up to code, which is ridiculous. There’s no way Cote’s Septic was going to let us meddle with their construction project or their reputation with the county. It’s possible that her story is correct about it being red tagged and elevated, but it would have been done by Cote’s who was the licensed contractor.
Someday if someone wants to put up the money to replace the tank and drain field, the Sheriff’s office can come watch the whole process, but I’m not letting some armchair detective use this as a filming opportunity to continue their baseless accusations. Even when they find that all of the animal exploiters who have run with this story were lying they will have to find some way to deflect attention to some other equally outlandish lie in order to save face.
At the time of this writing Jim Moore has already debunked the nonsense about the meat grinder saying that he was the primary food prep person for the sanctuary from 1995 until he left in 2000. During that time he never saw a commercial meat grinder and only saw the small counter mount one that I have described. He said the only person who ever used it was Don during a period of time when he was trying to grind up a donated truckload of breaded chicken patties from a Wendy’s delivery that had a freezer failure. That coincides with my belief that the same grinder had been used prior to Jim’s arrival in 1995 for the Mazuri diet trial, because he never witnessed that process and if he was feeding every night, he couldn’t have missed it. Jim also debunked the septic tank story and Anne McQueen’s story about the timeline of Don’s disappearance.
On Sunday August 17, 1997 Jim said it had been a quiet day and he and a volunteer (I think her name was Jamey) were taking photos of the cats. Don was running around and busy filling his truck with stuff that was going to Costa Rica. Jim remembered there being dirt bikes and all kinds of stuff already packed. He said Don was in a great mood and had dollar signs flashing in his eyes at the prospects of all the money he was going to make in Costa Rica off his truck load of stuff. He said a man rode in on a motorcycle that Don wanted to see about buying and Don bought it. As it was starting to get late, Don asked if Jim would be willing to drive the guy back to St. Pete about 45 minutes away. Jamie and I would have been at church. Jim agreed and said by the time he returned from the trip it was after dark, which would mean he would have last seen Don around 6 pm or so.
Jim said things about me that were hurtful and wrong, but I don’t think he did it out of mean spiritedness. He just obviously did not understand some of the other things that were going on and because I don’t confide in people, I think he thought that I must have thought more highly of other volunteers, since I wasn’t telling him everything that was going on. He seems to have believed that I was closer to others because he said that I told him “the fate of the sanctuary” was in their hands.
I can see how he could have felt hurt if he thought that because I had depended on him so heavily to help make sure the cats were fed every day. I’m not sure those were my exact words, but he was referring to Susan Aronoff and Doug Edwards. He was saying it in the context of wondering aloud why those two would have been witnesses on our documents, but it’s just because they were the ones who were usually in the house. People doing cat care were usually in the yard. It made perfect sense to use the clean hands of who ever was nearby.
What Jim couldn’t have known about my statement was that I meant it was because Doug was doing tours, which the other volunteers detested, and that brought in revenue. Susan Aronoff was in the apparel business and was helping me get good prices on tee shirts and other items we could sell in the gift shop to our tour guests. It was a time when I was being strangled financially because of Anne McQueen and Don’s family trying to take over our real estate business. I had to find ways for the sanctuary to become self sustaining.
There has always been a rift between volunteers who do cat care, like Jim, and volunteers who do things that promote our ability to fund our mission, or who do advocacy so that our mission can be completed. Each group always seems to think that I love the other group more and that I must be much closer to them, since they don’t perceive themselves as being in my “inner circle”. I don’t have an “inner circle” because I don’t sit around and shoot the breeze with people. I’ve never figured out how to make it clear that it takes all of us, using all of our best talents, to end the abuse of big cats and to save them in the wild. Nearly 3 decades after saving that first bobcat, I still sense these same issues.
Danny Lewis Murder or Manslaughter? I’m writing this from the future (6/17/2020) because it will come up later and I don’t think I ever recorded what I was told that made me think Danny was in prison for murdering someone. It’s been so long, I don’t recall who told me this. I think it was Don as part of his reason for disowning Danny, but it may have come from Kenny Farr later. I really seem to remember it was Don though. I had been told that Danny was driving a carload of kids who were all stoned and drunk and that he ran down a young man in a parking lot. That could easily have been deemed an accident, but what made it seem intentional was that I was told that he backed up and ran over him again three times. At the time I had no reason to stick my nose into Danny’s business. As long as he wasn’t coming to the sanctuary I didn’t have to worry about him being out of control. Later in 2001 when the police told me about the Michael Spitz’ (or whatever his last name turned out to be) deathbed confession that Danny had killed Don, it didn’t seem far fetched to me at all. The police would later tell me that Danny was in jail during that time and I assumed it was for the murder or manslaughter, or whatever had involved the death of the man in the parking lot. Gladys complained about my belief, saying that Danny hadn’t been in jail for murder, but rather was in holding for his drug addiction, when Don went missing. I can’t find mention of this on the Internet, but in 1996 - 1997 when I think this happened, the Internet was new to most of us and news stories weren’t being catalogued in most cases. I don’t have the capacity, nor the intense curiosity, to find out what had happened exactly, since it seems that regardless of what mayhem Danny may have been causing, it didn’t appear to have anything to do with Don’s disappearance. 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.
This is Hercules the snow leopard cub Don bought me for my birthday. He bought this cub and a female from Marc McCarthy where he’d bought Jade and Armani the leopards. The female and her sister are being used by the Dallas Zoo but as soon as she’s not a cute cub they will send one of them to us.
Don returned and agreed to take care of everything so that Judy Watson and I could drive to Jacksonville until Sunday for the LIOC convention. I left detailed written instructions taped to everything and told all of the staff and volunteers to remind him when to feed and about the sick Cougar’s medicine. I called the first night and Don was having a hard time getting Callie to take her meds so it was the last time she did. When I got back the cat was nearly dead, but we were able to turn her around.
I’m writing this from the future on 6/21/2020 because last night Ripper Jack posted a video of Judy Watson, Sherry DeWald and Debbie Sandlin trash talking me. I did learn that I was wrong on one aspect though and that was the timing of Judy moving onto Easy Street. I had always thought that she was living here at the time that Don left, but if this is a legitimate document, then it indicates that she applied for the permit to bring her new mobile home here on August 4, 1997 and it wasn’t ready for occupancy until September 18, or maybe not even until September 24, 1997.
After Tiger King I had tried to discern if there could be any validity to claims that her septic tank was open at the time of Don’s disappearance and could find no health department records from that far back. I knew that Jayla Cougar had been born on 5/6/1997 and Judy was taking her out to schools and civic events to raise money during the time that she was still handleable. I knew we had built Jayla a cage on the west side of Judy’s trailer and assumed it was built after the trailer was in place, but I’m not sure. Since Judy and Jayla were here all the time, after Jayla’s birth, I assumed it was because Judy was living here. In her interview she said she was traveling with Jayla back and forth to Treasure Island. That’s possible, but I don’t remember Judy having her own Florida Wildlife Commission permits to house a cougar off site and that would have been a risk, if not an outright violation, for us to have allowed her to do that.
In fact, when Judy came to work for us, she had just spent the last decade or so working for an animal abuser named Bert Wahl. He had sent her two favorite cougars to Nature’s Classroom and Judy wanted possession of them. If she had her own license at the time, I don’t think she would have been asking me to help her get the cats released to my custody.
The notion of Don being in or under the septic tank is still just as ridiculous and just as easily disproven. Howie suggested that we challenge anyone who wants to make such outlandish claims to put up $100k in escrow against our matching funds. If Don’s not there we get their $100k. If Don is there, they get our money. It would be money well spent, if by some miracle someone managed to kill and bury him there, just to have closure. I don’t think anyone who claims it, actually believes it. They just love that the media and the mob runs with the idea of it.
Don flew back to Costa Rica for a week.
I had made these little cards so he could get information in a world where he didn’t speak the language. On one side I put his photos of him or his cats because he loved to show them off to anyone who would look. On the back, in very large type, I’d write a sentence as simply as I could say it, so Don could read it, and then the Spanish translation. This way he could show someone a card with telephone, or bathroom, or food, or water, or hotel on it and the person reading the Spanish translation could at least point him in the right direction. This is one example of the cards I’d made for him.
Schools call us all the time asking us to bring cubs for the kids to pet. We don’t breed lion or tiger cubs so we will sometimes set up a temporary cage at the school in their gymnasium, and bring some of our bigger cats who are easy going. Shere Khan and China Doll are always a big hit and while the cats are caged we are free to talk about the issues to the kids.
On this day we had decided the cage building and tearing down process would go faster if we used a lighter gauge hog ring. The way you build the cage is to set up the panels, snap them with double sided horse snaps (like you would clip to a bridal), hog ring the panels together and remove the awkward looking snaps. We’d done this a number of times and were pretty quick about it.
The cats would be in their travel crates, wearing collars, so we could leash them up, walk them into the new temp cage, and then take off the leashes so they didn’t step on them or eat them.
For some reason China Doll was feeling particularly frisky after being turned into the temporary cage. She got so excited she was bounding against the walls with such force the hog rings were popping off and we were running around snapping the clips as fast as we could to keep her from destroying the entire cage. We had to call the event short and risk being tossed around like a rag doll to go in with her and re attach the leash.
I waited until the gym was empty to try and remove her and Shere Khan from the cage and take them back to their crates in the van.
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. 1997-07-16 Jamie and I had Glamour Shots done for her birthday. 1997-07-26 Don wanted to take me to garage sales and I told him about my suspicion that he is using the clothes as a cheap lure for the raggedy prostitutes in San Jose. I told him that I had talked to someone, though I wouldn’t say whom, that had told me about his exploits. I told him that I did not want to believe what I had been told, but that to keep on taking down girls and baby clothing when I know that he is not selling it, can only convince me that he is up to no good. I noticed that he did not pack any girl’s or baby clothes for this trip. We didn’t argue and Don didn’t say much in his own defense, except that he “doesn’t sleep with prostitutes.” 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.
Don bought another plane; a Cherokee from Roy Dawson. I have had mine up for sale and now Don wants to get back into flying. He has been trying to exchange my Cardinal for a little experimental plane and we went to the airport to look at it. I wouldn’t taxi in the flimsy little thing, but Don is so excited about the prospect of flying it all over Costa Rica, that he can’t be reasoned with. I told him he could not exchange my Cardinal for an experimental anything.
Vokker called from Costa Rica 001 506 380-5785 and seemed surprised that I answered the phone. It was my line, the fax line. He said he had called this number a few months back and left a message and Don had gone into fits that Vokker had called this number and had instructed him to never do that again. Vokker said he was calling to let Don know that he had heard about Don putting a contract out on his head and that he was contacting the embassy so that if Don tried to re enter the country he would be arrested. Vokker said that there are a lot of people who would jump at $1000.00 to kill a person. I asked why he thought Don would want to kill him and he said he was holding one of Don’s cars as collateral for all the work he did for Don for which he was not repaid.
Vokker said that Don smuggled a male Ocelot with a microchip and that he has the number and witnesses that he had microchipped the cat himself to pass for a domestic cat that had been brought in supposedly with the same chip number. The Margay, he said was missing two toes from her front left paw and he knew how it was done and where. He claimed to have personally witnessed Don smuggling these cats on to the plane. I asked how this was possible and he said all you have to do is slip a $50 in your passport and anything goes.
He claims to have copies of all of Don’s checks and receipts totaling some $500,000.00 that he said Don did not report as coming in to Costa Rica through customs. Vokker said that he is the one who recommended that Don deposit it with the Helicopter Brothers and that he can verify how much they got from Don. He said Don used to have him run ads in the Spanish paper down there looking for live in girls who must be young, slim and Tico and will send me a copy of his most recent ad from 6 weeks ago where Don started running them in English in the Tico Times so that he did not have to rely on Vokker.
I wonder who wrote them for Don?
He said that Don uses his private line for these ads 231-1785 but Vokker has copies of the message tapes where the girls have responded describing themselves and what they would do. He said that he has receipts from paying the escort services so that someone would be waiting for Don when he arrived. He said that Don is known all over the neighborhood as the dirty old man who trades second hand baby clothes to young poor mothers who cannot afford to take care of their children and Don has offered several of them free rent in exchange for their sexual services.
One girl, Iva age 22 with an 18 month old child is divorcing her husband who is a grocery clerk because Don has promised to bring her and her child back to live the good life in the US. Don has promised her a year lease, marked paid, for her affection. Another girl, a friend of Vokkers is 26 with a 6 year old son Don has made the same offer to, but she doesn’t like Don because he lies and sleeps around.
Later today I received a call from Mary Hooper, Vokker’s girlfriend. (305) 871-9026. She said Don was always very kind to her and always telling her that she was beautiful and that if she would leave Vokker he would take care of her forever. She was in the room the day that Don was on the phone telling me that he was going to divorce me and take half of the cats to Costa Rica. She heard him screaming about how he would choke me financially and poison all of our cats just to get even with me for having the junk hauled out of the yard. This was on his last trip before this one.
Mary and Vokker moved in with Don in October and she said immediately she noticed that Don’s entire reason for coming to Costa Rica was spent looking for young girls to have sex with him. She said it didn’t matter if anything else got done, every day that he was there, his first and foremost focus was on what new girl he could get into bed with. She said it is common for him to “interview” 5 or 6 women a day by running ads for what would appear to be a legitimate job and then if the girl was pretty he would tell her that he was a gentleman and would not rush her but that he would expect her to sleep in his room with him every night and then maybe later on, if she liked him she could be his girlfriend and he would pay for her to come live in America with him.
Vokker and Mary both said that they kept the answering machine tapes from where angry Costa Rican men would call and curse Don out for trying to buy their daughters, wives and sisters under the guise of a legitimate job offer.
What most convinced me that she was telling the truth was that she said in all of Don’s interviews, if the girl looked “usable” Don would make breakfast or lunch for her while interviewing her for the job. The jobs he advertised for were housekeeper, interpreter and business partner. This wouldn’t be so odd, except that if he interviewed four people he liked he would offer a meal each time. Don is not the hostess type, but whenever he wants something from me, he makes a meal for us. It has always been his “come on line” to say that he just wanted to be my friend and that he wouldn’t rush me (and then he’d start kissing and petting and making it very clear that his words didn’t mean a thing). Don loves the chase, but he likes to win early on.
Mary said that he used to buy nice clothes and bring them to Costa Rica to sell, but that Don started bringing ratty, soiled children’s clothes and petite women’s clothes and would hang them up all over the place to get the poorer young servant girls in the area to come inside. When he got them inside then he would tell them they could pick out a few things for themselves and their babies in exchange for sexual favors.
She said Don has lured in the dirtiest of the prostitutes and slept with them. He had tried to use condoms because he was afraid that he would catch something, but Don complained to Mary that he needed a better class of prostitute because he couldn’t keep a hard on if he had to use a condom. Mary said she always had to clean Don’s room and tried to embarrass him with some of his own used condoms left laying around, but she said that he wasn’t at all embarrassed.
One little girl was homeless and had a six week old baby. Don told her that she could stay with him and that he would give her time to get to know him but she had to sleep in the same room with him. The very first night he started trying to get her to have sex with him but she said that she had had a cesarean section with her baby and couldn’t so Don suggested oral sex. She told him that was disgusting and Don complained to Mary that “she wouldn’t even try it”. Mary told Don that perhaps he should give her time like he had promised, but Don said he could see that she was going to be nothing but trouble and threw her out. Her name was Gesaynia.
The first “house keeper” that Don fell for was a tiny little girl named Yvette. Don accidentally brought home pictures of her carrying a Teddy Bear that I had seen him pack. He said that she was the taxi cab driver’s daughter. He never could remember her name and always called her little bit. She looked to be all of ten years old, but Don assured me that she was of legal age. Why would I care if the taxi driver’s daughter was of legal age?
The taxi cab driver, Alex, is supposedly Don’s best source of girls and he translates to them what Don wants when they can’t speak English. Vokker said he was often called upon to do the same. Don tells everyone that he is the only reason for our success and that everything I do fails. He complains that I don’t think he ever does anything right.
I don’t remember the last time Don was capable of making a sound business decision. Just yesterday Anne had Don sign a notarized affidavit, that I witnessed saying that if he ever gives Wendell Williams any more money without accounting to Anne first, then Don will owe her $10,000.00 which tells me that she has caught him giving it away again. I’d caught Wendell twice in the same day saying to Don, “Remember that two grand you owe me?” In both cases, Don peeled two thousand dollars off the roll in his pocket and handed it over to Wendell. I confronted them both about it but Don couldn’t remember that Wendell had just done that a few minutes before as well.
Anne also said that Don has a private line at his desk now at the office, that no one else can pick up on. He has no need for such a thing unless he is trying to hide something.
The worst that I heard from both Mary and Vokker is that Don ordered a catalogue of photographs of women, in an envelope addressed to him. The catalogue gives the girls measurements and descriptions and says things about their personality like “I would have sex with someone even if I didn’t love them” and “I would have sex with an older man if he were rich enough”. They both claim that Don went through the photos and marked the girls he wanted to buy and that several of the girls in the photos spent the night with Don on one or more occasions. Mary said that she has been witness to at least 30 of his illicit encounters who have slept over.
Peaches the Serval
Peaches Serval DOB 4/18/94 arrived 6/27/1997
Peaches will be moving to the tour path soon, so I thought she would be a good one for you to get to know.
Peaches the serval was from a facility in OK called Oakhill Wildlife Center. It was owned by John Aynes who bred exotic cats for accredited zoos, roadside zoos and private collectors. Most of the Pallas Cats, Clouded Leopards and many of the Cheetahs that are in zoos and private hands are there because of this prolific breeder. Our Pallas Cats came from there when they had contracted an illness that would have spread quickly through John's facility because of his tight quarters and shared walls.
Peaches was used as a breeder and came to us when she was no longer needed for that purpose. With limited space for the big money makers, like the other cats mentioned above and red pandas and other endangered wildlife he bred, the servals were discarded. Others from there that came at the same time were Alphie Serval and Daisy Serval.
John dropped off the radar about 6 years ago and emailed me just the other day. He was building an aviary for a few birds and wanted to know where we get our hog rings. He said that he had pretty much moved to London and didn't have time for the cats. He said he had sent them all to zoos and only had a few birds for the past 5 or 6 years. His voice seemed full of regret, and I can only hope that it was for all of the breeding he did in the 1990's that has resulted in so many of these cats living generation after generation in cages.
This was actually written in 2010 to the volunteers, but placed here as it was the day Peaches arrived. This photo is me holding Little Feather Bobcat around that same time era.
Psychiatric evaluation today and Don didn’t sleep a wink all night. He says it was Sandy Wittkopp’s cooking that kept him up, but he’s been eating her cooking for years and last night was no better, nor worse than usual. His vitals all proved in perfect condition, with the exception of a hernia developing, but we knew that. Dr. Blasini seemed at an absolute loss as to why Don came to him for a mental health problem, and he referred Don to Dr. West, upstairs, who was not there, so we saw Dr. Russell. The psychiatrist seemed to view this more as a therapy session but he was helpful in explaining how it was nearly impossible to make an accurate assessment of a persons mental condition and said outright that he did not know enough about business matters to know if Don was making sound judgments or not in that department. He suggested that Don come back a couple more times and take a few verbal tests.
Don admitted that his memory is going and about the money he gave the Costa Rican mafia, with no security. He detailed his research as to the safety of this investment by saying that he talked to 7 Americans who had put their money with the Helicopter Brothers and they had said that they get their payments every month and that was all the convincing he needed. As for the deal with Wendell Williams and Sheldon Wind, Esq., Don just said that he was a little slow in getting the security agreements that he needed, and even admitted that it was a year or more after he gave them the money that we were finally able to get them to sign anything. In his own words Don said that Wendell Williams is a snake and will always be on the lookout for a way to get the better of someone.
Don said that he felt like I wanted complete control of our checkbook so that I could waste money on the animals, and that was the reason I was insisting that he be evaluated. He said that even though we have been business partners since 1984 that I only accounted for 10 percent of his income until we were married. I did not see the point in arguing with him on paid time, but on the way home I asked him if he really believed that statement and he said he meant it.
I asked him who he thought was responsible for making the other 90 percent of that income and to my absolute astonishment, he said “Pam did it all”. I reminded him that all Pam Enriquez ever did (besides take him to the cleaners) was to hand him copies of the public records her mother found and then they would drive around all day together looking at properties. I was the one who did the title searches, researched the documents at the finance companies, discovered the pitfalls and warned him. I was the one who then would prepare the transfer papers, prepare and file the lawsuits to clear title, represent his interests in court, attend the final sales and hearings and then deliver the merchantable titles to him.
All of this I did at no cost to him for years. His response was that finding the deal was the most important part and I told him it didn’t matter how good a deal you find, if you can’t do anything with it because of a bad title, then it will never make you money. He just began repeating himself, so I dropped it. No sense getting him worked up.
I asked Don to explain to Dr. Russell why he left Sundari, the six month old leopard in the parking lot with the windows down on the van and at first he said he just had to run under the carport and that he didn’t take his eyes off the van but then I reminded him that he was all the way around on the other side of the house and wandering off further when Judy came running up and told me that she had Troy catch Sundari as she was coming out the window and that he was sitting with her until someone came after the cat. Then his story changed to saying that he was only going to be away a few minutes and Sundari was in the back of the van and he didn’t think she would try to get out.
I mentioned the incident with Elsa the Bobcat that he had left the door ajar and his reply was that no one would have thought that she would try to escape. Maybe no one in his mental condition. I had used every bit of the money I had saved in my personal account to put a fence around the Western end of the property after we were able to recapture that Bobcat. She spent two days in a residential neighborhood before we were able to catch her.
Tonight, Don wanted to fight about that. I reminded him that he had checked around and agreed that USA Steel fence had the best price and I had even gone one step further and gotten credit for 600.00 for 600 feet of scrap chain link he has had sitting and rusting in the yard for years. Don said that just showed how stupid I was because I should have gotten the credit for what that chain link would have cost new. I reminded him that the material was not new and I therefore had no justification for requiring them to give me credit at all, much less for new fencing. He said he would have made them do it or they wouldn’t have gotten the job. I told him if he believed that, then we needed a lot more fencing and he could do that on the next go round. This seemed to satisfy him.
Despite this little fuss, Don has been a changed man for the past few days. After 4 years of begging and pleading for him to haul some of this trash out of here, he has suddenly made a career out of cleaning up the yard. He had Dad and Kenny Farr haul off 3 semi trailers Thursday, 3 semi trailers (again full of trash) today and is having Kenny Farr drag all of the huge earth movers into a corner of the yard. He has given Wendell Williams 30 days to haul off all he will and then Don agreed in front of everyone to allow me to have the rest hauled off.
He only asked that I allow him to sort through the fence materials so he can keep his “good pallets”. Don’s been letting us burn all of the rotten, ant infested wood that he has been so viscously guarding all these years. He agreed to have all of the plastic junk he’s dragged in to be recycled except that he is still very attached to some 50 gallon drums. He has agreed to take all of the junk tires to the Westshore property, where he is storing all of the other stuff he is hauling out.
He has agreed to bury all of the broken concrete blocks and bags of solid concrete that he was so sure he was going to need someday. I am encouraging and thanking him as much as I can to make the best of his sane days. People are starting to refer to this place at “The Wildlife Park” rather than the “Cat Farm” and I think there is a good reason for that. Without trash everywhere you look and with huge natural enclosures it does look more like a park than a farm.
Note from the future 6/5/2020 Don managed to hide his diagnosis of being Bipolar and Altered mental status. I continued to believe it was Alzheimer’s disease and set up an appointment for Don to see Dr. Gold in late August, but he disappeared before the appointment. I didn’t find the diagnosis until after Don disappeared as I was digging through his stuff looking for clues.
Note from the future. July 24, 2020 someone sends me a yearbook photo of Jim and I confirm it’s him, but didn’t think the article could be based on the small stature of the guy I remember being so much larger.
Nonetheless, I googled his name and Marquette and murder and found this story that does sound like the Jim Jones I left home with. If so, he wasn’t just AWOL from the army; he was an escapee from Ft. Leavenworth for killing a man over drugs.
2014 Sun Sentinel article: Escaped killer lived quiet life in Deerfield for decades before capture.
A quiet Deerfield Beach neighborhood of pastel, single-story bungalows and well-sculpted lawns might seem an incongruous hideout for an escaped killer.
Yet that's where James Robert Jones — an Army private who was convicted of stabbing a fellow soldier four decades ago and then escaped the notorious Fort Leavenworth prison — carved out a new life in suburban South Florida, federal officials said.
Even his wife, Susan, was unaware her husband was a man with blood on his hands.
"She had no idea" her husband was living under a stolen identity, next-door neighbor Tammy Smith said. "I talked to her. She's extremely distraught."
Jones, who went by the name Bruce Keith, was captured Thursday morning at the Pompano Beach air-conditioning business where he worked, said Inspector Barry Golden with the U.S. Marshals Service.
"The first words out of his mouth were, 'I knew this was going to catch up to me one day,'" Golden said.
Jones, who appears much older than his age of 59, was being held without bond in Broward County Jail on Saturday, awaiting transfer to Army authorities. He still has 20 years left to serve on his sentence for premeditated murder and aggravated assault.
Jones, from Ontario, Calif., was 20 and stationed at Fort Dix, N.J., when on the night of April 28, 1974, Lonnie Eaton and Thomas White, two Army privates returning to the base after drinking at a nearby bar, were savagely attacked.
White said one man approached them, asking if they had marijuana for sale. When they said they didn't, two other men armed with knives or straight razors leaped from the bushes and attacked the two soldiers, the Trenton Evening News reported at the time.
White, 22, survived several stab wounds. Eaton, 18, a medical specialist about to be deployed to Germany, died. He left a wife, Zandra, the News said.
Jones was convicted of murder in 1974 and sentenced to 23 years in military prison. Three years later, he somehow escaped the disciplinary barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Details of the escape were not available.
"We don't have access to that; it's 30 years past," Golden said. "It must have been something elaborate, because he got away and he disappeared.
"He was basically off the radar," Golden said. "He probably assumed someone else's identity."
Investigators later determined Jones obtained a Florida driver's license in 1981 in the name of Bruce Walter Keith. He gave the same address as his current one in The Cove neighborhood of Deerfield Beach. Keith, Golden said, "was one of his friends."
During his nearly 37 years of freedom, Jones stayed clear of trouble. "This guy really lived a normal life," Golden said. "He had not been arrested, apparently, because if he had been arrested on any felony his fingerprints would have gone into the system."
The trail remained cold until January, when the Army asked the Marshals Service for help in finding Jones. Investigators interviewed Jones' family member and friends. "There was something mentioned about Florida," Golden said.
Marshals focused on the Sunshine State. They used computers to compare jail mugshots of Jones with those in a database of Florida driver's license photos, and came up with a match for Bruce Walter Keith.
Investigators staked out Jones' home and followed him to a Pompano Beach air-conditioning business, where they detained him. He spoke about the law catching up to him.
"That kind of tells you that you have the right person," Golden said.
Jones was taken to the Broward Sheriff's Office and fingerprinted. "He admitted he was the right person," Golden said.
Jones may face escape charges, but that's up to the military, the inspector said. "The U.S. Army will assume custody of him at some point and return him to Fort Leavenworth," he said.
Residents along Jones' street, Southeast Fifth Court, said the man in the pale green house with the red pickup and boat in the yard, was a friendly, hardworking, helpful neighbor who waved hello and joined in block parties.
"He was a nice guy, as far as I know," said Jones' pool cleaner, Jamie Flibott.
"Totally shocked" was how next-door neighbor Smith described her reaction at the arrest of "Keith," who never displayed any violent behavior. He and his wife were a "loving couple" who traveled with friends in a recreation vehicle, she said.
"They were a normal, fun, outdoorish couple, camping and boating," she said.
Another neighbor, who declined to give his name, was willing to accept "Keith" as the man he had become, rather than the man who stabbed a fellow soldier to death.
"Just because someone made a mistake in life doesn't mean they couldn't change as a person," he said.
Staff researcher Barbara Hijek contributed to this report. rnolin@tribune.com or 954-356-4525https://youtu.be/cWvEXG_1E_s
They said he was one of the top 15 military fugitives. A spokesman for Fort Leavenworth told Mail Online Jones, who was 23 when he escaped on March 21, 1977, was last been seen working in the prison dining hall. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2580949/I-knew-catch-one-day-Murderer-escaped-military-jail-1977-created-new-identity-Florida-finally-caught.html
Due to this new information, I’ve changed the date on this from May 25, 1977 to March 21, 1977.
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. 1997-06-14 Don went to the Tampa Machinery Auction and brought home some guy who didn’t have any place to stay the night before. I have never known Don to pick up strangers, and now not only does he pick them up, but he brings them home with him. They left for the sale early this morning. Don said that Davie Blaisedale was at the sale and had told Don that he had yelled to him several times in passing, but Don couldn’t hear him. Which begs the question; how did he know Davie (his former business partner, from D&D Auto) had called out to him? 1997-06-15 Out of the blue Don is loving and attentive and really keeps me on edge never knowing who he is going to be from moment to moment. When he is loving he makes me feel as if I am the only woman in the world. 1997-06-16 Don brought Wendell Williams out to the house and gave him 30 days to remove whatever he wanted of his junk and then told me I could have the rest hauled off, once the 30 days expired. Don also said he would have Kenny Farr drag all of Don’s mess out of the llama field. Too bad he never keeps his word. 1997-06-17 Don’s been wheeling and dealing and bought two more servals named Arizona 2 and Dakota 2 (he just sold 3 because he said we have too many). He also bought a 14 year old Ocelot named Tabitha and is bringing an 8 year old Ocelot named Sabrina home for breeding loan. I spent the day building cages and shuffling cats to accommodate his new acquisitions. 1997-06-19 Don called and asked that someone feed his cats if he wasn’t home by 6:00 pm, so Jamie did. Don got home around 9:30 and said he won 100.00 at the auction and wanted to split it with whoever had fed his cats. Even when he heard it was Jamie, he still cheerfully handed over $50.00. This is truly out of character for him. 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.
This $100,000 check was Don’s loan to the Costa Rican mafia.
Don’s first day back from Costa Rica, he wakes up and while he’s brushing his teeth he calmly tells me that he is going to tear down the Caracal pens to prove that he was in control. He was angry that I had the trash hauled off and had been mad that I had replaced the ant infested den boxes in the Caracals’ pen before he left, so he said in retaliation that he was going to tear down the cages. I tried to reason with him that there was no where for the Caracals to go and to tear down their pen would be counter productive.
After a while I realized that he could not be reasoned with and told him that his actions have been so bizarre that I would have him “Baker Acted” if he did not go of his own accord to be tested. He said “If you do that, you will live only long enough to regret it!” He said he would poison ALL of the cats with antifreeze. I asked why he would inflict such a painful death on an innocent animal and he said it would be worth it to him, just to see me suffer. I told him to get off the property, and not come back. I told him that if he did not go, I would have him arrested. I told him that he could not come back until he had been tested for Alzheimer’s disease and if it proved that he was sane, and just evil, then he could have his divorce, but if the tests concluded that he was ill, then I would take care of him until he died.
Don asked what it was about him that made me think he was sick. He said he was sincere, so I sat down with him and showed him all of the symptoms and pointed out his similarities. He finally agreed to go be tested and I called all day, but no one ever returned my call about having him evaluated. The next day, he said he had Anne McQueen check with our insurance carrier and she had found a doctor for him to go to. He said he wanted to go to the doctor she found first and if that doctor said there was nothing wrong with him, then he would agree to go to the doctor I had been referred to by the Tampa Bay Alzheimer’s Chapter. I asked if the doctor that Anne McQueen had chosen was a specialist and Don said that he was a “head doctor” but he didn’t know who or where or when his appointment was.
Note from the future: 5/24/2020 Howie found a Blue Cross Blue Shield receipt for Don’s MRI dated 6/23/1997 and some blood tests that had been run on 6/20/1997 which was the day of his doctor’s appointments for a psychiatric evaluation. On 6/3/2020 I found the prescription from the doctor for Don to get an MRI at St. Joseph’s Hospital and on both the prescription slip and the patient worksheet he lists the diagnosis at Bipolar Disorder and Altered mental status. All these years later, when I had not been able to find these documents, I thought that maybe I had turned over the originals to the police. Turns out I must have given them only copies. I also found where St. Joseph’s several years later returned part of the money paid saying they had over charged us.
Through a chain of events I discover that the day of those doctor visits and blood tests were the day I thought Don had filed for a restraining order when I first heard about it on 9/9/1997. I don’t think I ever had a copy of the order. It had just been sprung on me by Anne McQueen who was using it to try and have herself appointed conservator of our business, rather than me. Today, when Howie found the receipt, I searched my diary and found that I thought 6/20/1997 was the date of the restraining order, but when I searched online it was dated 6/12/1997 and recorded on 6/16/1997. I’m still searching for why I was told or thought it was the 20th, but for now, here are the copies.
Regardless of my misunderstanding of the date, June 12, 1997 is the day that Don filled out the restraining order and it makes sense, given what was transpiring on this same day according to my diary entry.
Apparently Wendell Williams called Don in Costa Rica and told him that I was giving away all of his “best junk”. Don called here and told Kenny Farr to block all the driveways with the junk trailers and to disable all of our heavy equipment so that I could not clean the yard. Kenny Farr told Don that Wendell Williams had lied and the specific items Don was most upset over, (a well point system that hadn’t run in over a year and a radiator) were here all safe and sound, but Don wouldn’t hardly let him speak he was so irate.
He got me on the phone, patched through his office and said that he was turning the cats loose, that he was throwing me out, that he was moving out, that he would choke me financially so I had to do things “his way”, that he would let the mortgage on this property default, that he was going to mess up all of the cleaning I had done by bringing in more loads of junk and piling them in the front yard… on and on he raved. I tried to assure him that none of his “good junk” would be gone when he got here, that we were just storing it safely for him in these trailers.
He said he didn’t want it stored he wanted everything left just like it was, which is what got the County Code officers after me in the first place. Rather than argue with him in his condition, I told him that I couldn’t hear and then hung up.
Wendell Williams came riding in the back of a pick up truck full of junk and said it was all his. I asked if he had somewhere to store it and he said he did, so I told the drivers to take it to wherever Wendell Williams told them. Naturally, Wendell Williams chose to dump it on one of my other properties. I told Wendell Williams that I knew he was doing his best to get Don to leave me so that Don would be easy prey for Wendell, and I let him know that I would not allow him to take advantage of Don no matter how much trouble he caused me. Wendell Williams called the cops and told them that Don had agreed to let Wendell Williams store all his stuff here and that I had given it away without his permission, but when I explained the situation to them, they told Wendell Williams to leave.
Don left for Costa Rica today and for the first time, I really hated to see him go. All that I have been reading tells me how sad and scary his life has become. I’ve started looking back at his increasingly odd behaviors. At some point in time he began avoiding public restrooms. He would tell me on many occasions that “a pain had hit his tummy” and he had to go so quickly that he had to pull the car over and run in the woods, or behind a building. Once he even said that he jumped in a dumpster in a parking lot to relieve himself. It wasn’t until he would do this sort of thing, when I was with him, that I realized he would pass by a public restroom and opt for some open area to soil.
Even if I pointed one out to him, he would say that he didn’t want to use that restroom. As early as 1993 I can remember him having a fit if anyone flushed the toilet in the house. He would get hysterical over how much water was being wasted, so it just became second nature to wait until Don left the house to flush the toilets. As long as he didn’t hear it happen, he never seemed to notice. We are on a well, so there isn’t a cost factor in flushing.
One of the things that I most admired about Don was his business savvy and his ability to calculate long strings of equations in his head. Yesterday when we were discussing the cost of a fence he couldn’t do simple division or multiplication, so I gave him paper to write it down and he could not remember the symbols for multiplication and division and when I wrote them for him, he couldn’t discern between the two. Today he asked me to go to a closing in his stead.
When I got there the Buyer had prepared a contract that was 10 pages full of self serving legalese, including a paragraph that said we would loan him all the money he needed to build houses at prime plus 2%, with no cap on the amount or the loan to value ratio. He assured me that Don had already agreed to sign the document. I called Don and explained how dangerous this would be and Don agreed that the closing should be cancelled. The man was quite upset and said that Wendell Williams had assured him that “he could get Don to sign anything he wanted”. It’s a good thing that these were not in Don’s name. The builder went on to tell me that he had just gone bankrupt after losing millions of dollars and he was really counting on Don financing him in the building business.
I had asked Don what it was about Costa Rica that most appealed to him and he said “the people there are so stupid that it makes me look smart”. Don can’t find his way around town anymore and that is probably why he hangs out with Wendell Williams all day. In Costa Rica, Don is still lost, but things move so much more slowly and he doesn’t know the language so he is under no stress to even appear like he knows what is going on. He has no desire AT ALL to learn the language and keeps telling me how wonderful it is that he can communicate using crude gestures and pantomimes. He could not do that here without people treating him like the mental case he is, but down there it does not seem that unusual. He is having a harder and harder time making his desires understood and the opportunity to give up speaking and just use motion is probably a great source of relief.
He has been very depressed lately. He just picks at his food, he has no energy, he looks so sorrowful and says he just feels “blah”. I suggested a doctor and a remedy and he got very defensive and said he could “cure himself with his mind”. I argued that depression is a disease and not something that a person could will in or out of their life, but he protested stating that his mind was stronger than most peoples’ and could get rid of this bad feeling if he just didn’t have so many other things always bothering him. I took the opportunity to ask what was bothering him and he said the Boarding House is “not doing right” and the grass needs mowing and nothing runs like it used to. I think he is upset because he doesn’t “run like he used to” and he’s “not doing right”. I am at such a loss because I can’t make his life right for him. I can’t give him back his power to reason. All I can do is try to give him back his dignity and try to keep his life stress free.
I created little laminated cards for him with photos of things he might ask for in Costa Rica, such as a glass of water, or beans and rice, or a gas station, or medical help. On one side was the photo and on the other side was the Spanish question, asking them to understand that he speaks no Spanish.
Don said he talked to his daughter, Lynda Sanchez last night. I found that odd because he had disowned her several months ago. He never did say what the conversation was about, but all that night and this morning, every time he would refer to a woman, he would call her Lynda Sanchez. He even called my dad Lynda Sanchez. Something must have stuck in his mind. I can’t help but wonder if he really spoke to her or if the whole conversation was in his head. Before Don left today he reminded me that Friday was my birthday and told me that he had given me so much for all my birthdays and Christmases prior that he was caught up for several years. I agreed with him to set his mind at ease that he would not be expected to be here, nor to give me anything. I was curious what he perceives as gifts, but not enough so to risk his feelings.
05-27-1997 It took Don all day to set two pieces of concrete; something that used to take him 15 minutes. He couldn’t remember how. 05-28-1997 Don and I were both deposed in the slip and fall case on 6001 Sheldon Road. The tenant said he’d broken his back moving his armchair across the room. Don spent the rest of the day hanging out in Gale Porter’s office talking about Joe Ryan. We won the case in the end. 05-29-1997 Don stayed gone all day. He said he had to load two trucks for Kenny Farr and would be back by noon. 05-30-1997 Don and I went out to breakfast and took a cat to the Vet (Dr. Stacie Wadsworth, DVM.) Later I worked with Dad and the boys on ridding some of the cages of the ant infested dens that Don had made out of orange crates. Don said not to remove them, unless they had ants in them. The ants were the reason we were removing them in the first place, so we removed them. Don gave a couple of tours to people he had told to just show up out here. I made him do the tours because we cannot allow people to wander and Don always tells everyone he talks to that they can just come out any time. He stopped the tours several times to threaten me that he would tear down the pens altogether if I didn’t leave the old dens in there. I explained calmly to him that he had agreed that it wasn’t good to have the cats living in boxes full of ants and that the ants would kill the little kittens and he would agree and then a few hours later he would come back around and say that he was going to tear down the whole pen if I didn’t put all of his ant infested orange crates back in the cages. This went on all day. I had to hide all of the tools from him to keep him from letting a cat loose. 05-31-1997 Like every Saturday, Don left out at first light to load up a van with everything he can buy at yard sales. We have several commercial trucks full to the back doors with all of the stupid, worthless things Don has paid good money for. I won’t let him take the cats with him any more because he forgets that they are in the car. I have to fight with him every Saturday to protect the cats. Don lost 1200.00 and is accusing me, Jamie, Susan Aronoff and Sandy of stealing it from his favorite hiding spot. Wendell Williams probably talked him out of it.
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. 5/15/1997 Had to sneak our two mutts into the vet to have them neutered and spayed; something Don forbids. 5/16/1997 Don has been running all over the place accusing everyone of stealing his car phone and his handkerchiefs. He found the phone later that day under the seat of his car. Why would anyone steal a used hanky? 5/17/1997 At first light Don was off, with Sundari our six month old Leopard to go yard sale-ing. When he came home the refuge was very busy and the gates were open, as always on Saturdays. He got out of the van and left the windows down and the Leopard loose. Two of our Volunteers, Troy Valentine and Judy Watson discovered her hanging out the window and put her away. Don never asks before taking a cat and I have to watch him all the time to keep him from doing dangerous stuff like this. I got a call one day that he’d done the same thing with Sundari in a neighborhood, where she escaped and was scaring people half to death before he rounded her back up. 5/24/1997 I had to give a presentation in Arcadia with the cats and asked Don to feed for me. It is the second time I have asked him to do so. He forgot several of the cats and I had to recheck everyone when I got home. 5/25/1997 I had caught up a Bobcat (Elsa) and put her in a cage attached to a 1200 sq. ft pen, where Cerange just moved, in the hopes of acquainting the two before putting her in his pen. I told Don I wanted to make sure they were going to get along before opening the door. Behind my back he sneaked out there and let her out, but did not fasten the gate and she escaped. He did not tell me that she got away, so I don’t know if he saw it or if she got out after he walked away. The next day a tour group saw her out and told me. When I asked Don how her door could have been opened and left standing open he said that he had done it. When we couldn’t find Elsa anywhere on property, we began expanding our search outside our gates. Jamie went down N. Meadowview Circle and a neighbor said they thought they had seen her, so Dad, Jon, Kenny and I took nets and a big carrier. We found her in the backyard of a house on N. Meadowview, so we set the carrier up in the narrowest spot where the shrubbery came around the side of the house to the front. Some chased her from the back yard into the narrow space where she ran into the familiar carrier to escape them and Dad and I were able to slam the door shut behind her. 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.
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. 4/1/1997 Don gave me $3500.00 to help pay the workers. It is the first time this year he has helped out. He is leaving for Costa Rica today. Returned 4/6/97. 4/7/1997 When Cachanga and Cachinga first arrived from a broker named Tim Ming in Central or South America, Don would lay in bed, with a carrier on his belly, and feed the hissy caracal kittens from long handled forks. They never did tame down much, but Don kept trying to gain their trust and would often go in their cage and try to pet them. After one such visit, he left the door standing open again and Cachanga wandered over to Food Prep to see how dinner was coming along. The cats always know from whence the food comes. It comes in buckets and it comes from a certain direction down the path. Food prep was a short trailer body, sitting on the ground, opposite the path that ran along the north boundary of the lake. There was a three section freezer outside. Every day we would pull the meat from the freezer and take it into the box trailer to thaw. Down one side of the box trailer was a metal table for cutting meat and down the other were commercial style sinks and more cutting space. Because there was no cooler to defrost the meat, it was always a few hours of trying to break it up in water and hacking at it with machetes. I’m surprised no one lost a limb in there. To have so many people slinging blades, back to back was so dangerous. Jamie looks up (because she can just sense this sort of thing) and there is Cachanga Caracal standing in the doorway. He seemed pretty pleased with himself to have divined the source of all food. Reading his mind, Jamie took a bucket, walked past him, and said, “Come on...let’s go eat.” Cachanga happily trotted alongside her and back into his cage in anticipation of being fed first tonight. That didn’t happen, but it worked for getting him home without a fuss. 4/23/1997 Don said he revised his insurance policy with Anne McQueen’s help. He said the first $250k comes to me, then it pays off the 200k mortgage to Gladys Lewis Cross on the Easy St. property and then pays off Mr. Baker’s 100k, then pays Roy Dawson’s 130k. If any of these are already paid off then that portion goes to WildLife on Easy Street, Inc. 4/30/1997 Don turned 59 today. 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.
Don told my dad that he would be late coming in tonight, so I asked Jamie and JD to help feed. I took them out for ice cream afterwards to celebrate their awards. I asked Don if he wanted me to bring him anything (he was coming in just as we were leaving) and he said “No.” I could tell by his tone of voice that he was out to pick a fight.
My period was over three days ago but Don had refused my advances every day and that was after a week of supposed abstinence. He said that the last time we made love it made him sore and that was why he didn’t want to have sex. He’s been hiding himself so I expect he’s had another VD outbreak. This is the third time since he began spending so much time in Costa Rica. I found out while working at the shop (office) that Don hasn’t been there, like he’s been telling me for months. Anne said she thought Don was spending all of his time here at home and she resented that.
She just now found out that he has been lying to her too. He has always told me that he spent the day at the office, with the exceptions I’ve listed here, so I haven’t worried much about what he was doing. So where does he go all day every day? He’s not doing any real estate work and he’s never dirty enough to have been playing mechanic.
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. 3/25/1997 According to Anne, Don went out to dinner with Anne McQueen our office manager. He did not come home to feed tonight and did not call to say he would be gone. He stayed out all night. 3/26/1997 Don stayed gone all day and all night again without calling again. 3/27/1997 Don told Anne he was staying in a travel trailer here at the house, but I had already looked in all the trailers here and he wasn’t here. In my notes after looking all over for him it read “This morning there was no sign of him. I know that he can’t help being senile. I love him and want to express that love to him, but he runs away like this for no reason”. Don got a health certificate from our vet, Dr. Stacie Wadsworth, DVM to take a 3 year old, male Bengal cat named Andre to Costa Rica on 3/24/1997. Attached to that document is a Spanish notice signed by a Veterinario Costa Rica dated 3/27/1997. So was Don in Costa Rica since the 24th and what was he doing taking cats to and from there? 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.
1997-02-18 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. 2/7/1997 First thing Don does when he gets back is to try and tear down the great new Bear Cat cage we built while he was gone. It is 1200 sq. feet with trees, a den, two lock outs (one portable so we can take Banjo to shows) and everyone, especially the Bear Cats, who have been in tiny cages, just loves it. When we wouldn’t help him tear it down then he wanted to cover it and straighten the sides so that photographers could not get a good view of the animals. The photo tours are what is paying for these wonderful pens. Next he wanted to size down all of the doors (so small that the bear cats couldn’t use them). We finally got him distracted onto something else. Don keeps getting into cages with cats and either leaving the gates standing open, or he will cut a hole in the side of the cage. When we discovered Callie Cougar wandering around we called everyone together with nets to chase her for hours. It was an easy game for Callie, but we were all getting exhausted. Don devised a plan where I’d stand on the path, net outstretched, and he and the goons would chase her in my direction. Dumb plan, but nothing else was working. Here they came: Callie leaping effortlessly ahead of them and the rowdy mob of four or five men chasing her. The nets were heavy, as Don had welded them for use with super heavy duty commercial fish netting. I held it out to one side as Callie closed the gap between us. At the point of impact, I shut my eyes because she was right on me. She had leaped into the net, but with such force it pulled me completely off my feet and I skidded on the ground behind her. Scrambling atop the rim of the net, to keep her from standing up and backing out, I could not believe that of all her options she would have leapt right into the net. That was a lucky, lucky catch. Thank you Callie. 2/10/1997 Gladys’ Case Against Don was Dismissed. 95-DR-005258 was voluntarily dismissed in Hillsborough county O.R. Book 8438 on page 1606 but I don’t know why. Did Don pay her more money when he realized none of his kids or his secretary, Anne McQueen would back him up in court? 2/11/1997 Don was gone until after midnight. I assumed he was at the Imperial Auto Auction. We don’t need a car and he never sells any that he buys. He just drags them into the front yard and dumps them. 2/17/1997 Don was at an auction all day. 2/18/1997 Don was at an auction all day in Kissimmee. 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.
1/27/1997 Don did not show up tonight to feed the cats he usually feeds. He came in after 10:00 p.m. but refused to say where he had been. 1/28/1997 Don woke up in a wonderful mood. We made love, went out to breakfast and he agreed to allow me to insure the sanctuary, finally. He said he wants to make sure that I am always taken care of and he even had me draft a Will and Power of Attorney. He had me change the Will a few times because he seemed to just delight in making sure that none of “his greedy kids” were in it. Anne & I both agree that he should not leave them out in the cold though, so I did not mention to him the fact that they are still getting an inheritance through their PRSL Land Trust that I drafted to contain all of his properties for them right after we were married. 1/30/1997 Don left for Costa Rica for a week and returned 2/6/97. 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.
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. 1/2/1997 Don left for a week in Costa Rica. He doesn’t buy anything any more, so I don’t know what he does down there for a week at a time. He doesn’t call me anymore when he is gone. 1/23/97 is not today’s date but it is the time when my life began to change for the better. I have been so isolated here, taking care of the animals and getting Don out of trouble that I have lost touch with the outside world. The Tampa Tribune did a very nice article about WildLife on Easy Street today and they distributed it state wide in their Baylife section. Since then we have been bombarded with new visitors and our volunteer staff has grown from 12 to 120. New people with new perceptions and one of them, Rich Reed, was trying to comfort me for running such a huge place and managing an Alzheimer’s patient/husband as well. I’ve thought Don was loosing his mind for a long time but thought it was noticed only by me. For a casual acquaintance to see the problem so quickly made me wonder more about this dreaded disease. I bought every book on the subject that I could find and now I understand why he acts the way he does, but I still don’t know how to protect him from himself. His driving is a menace to society, his forgetfulness with the cats not only jeopardizes their safety but the public’s safety as well. His financial indiscretion is going to keep me from being able to properly take care of him if I cannot find a way to control the situation. Having him declared mentally incompetent is only the tip of the iceberg as I will still have to watch him day in and day out to keep him from hurting himself and others. Tracking his decline is all I know to do. 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.
Today I told Don that I wanted him to be honest in his answer to a question that I was going to ask him because I had asked it before and had written down his answer then and I would ask him again in the future and would expect the same answer each time. I asked him for the second time what was going on at the TriPlex the night I returned from Bagaces and why he was not there to pick me up at the bus terminal. He said that he was expecting me back at 10:30 and that Martha had told him the last bus out of Bagaces would put me back in San Jose at 10:30.
Don had gone with Michael and Vic to the government auction that day. He said he had not come back to the TriPlex when Martha called and told Garro that I was on my way earlier than expected. He said Garro decided to come pick me up when Don had still not arrived back at 8:15 p.m. Don can’t remember where he was that night. There could have been a time discrepancy if I was going by Florida time and Don was going by CR time, because 10:30 to me would have been 8:30 CR time. We went out to eat at the Chinese Restaurant around the corner and if that was charged on a card it would tell me if it was 10:30 CR time.
I asked Don why he was standing out in the street when we drove up and he said he was on his way out to the car and saw headlights and was waiting to see if it was us. I asked him why there were clothes all over our bedroom and he said that he had let Garro’s girlfriend and Carmen with her two brats, go through them earlier that day. He was sure that no one else had been there. He did not remember the room being a mess, nor my clothes having been ransacked, but rather said the clothes had been stacked in neat little piles.
He kept asking me with every pause in my speech why I was asking him what I was, and I kept on going without acknowledging his inquiry, until he had answered all I had asked. I finally responded by telling him that I had received a phone call a couple of weeks prior from Karina who had said that she did not know Don was married and was in the room with him when he found out that I was on my way there. They had just been intimate and she had a fit when she learned he was married.
I told him she said that Don then assured her he was divorcing me because I interfere in his business dealings and spend too much money photographing the cats. His uncontrollable smile let me know that he had been caught, at least in what he said, and that I knew who he had said it to. Don denied knowing anyone named Karina and that there was anyone else in the room.
He went on to say that Michael Sedwick had decided to sue him recently and was probably behind this because Michael had threatened to do several things. Don said that Michael did not threaten to say anything to me. He then backtracked and said that Bertha had also been allowed to look through the clothes and take whatever she wanted and that she must have seen the condition of the room and fabricated the entire story. I asked what benefit there would be to her or Michael to do this and he could supply no answer. Don asked if I had Karina’s number and I told him that I did not, but that she was going to get the other girls Don was accused of chasing and was going to call me with their numbers. This seemed to make him very nervous.
Don asked who the other girls were and I told him that two were named, one of which was Olga. Don said that Michael, Bertha, Olga and he went out to dinner one night, but that she was with them and she took a bus home before any of them left. Don said that I would probably take it wrong, but that he had told Bertha to have Olga get an estimate from a dentist to remove her two deformed “vampire teeth” (they stick straight out) because he said that although she was quite over weight, the change in her mouth would make all the difference in the world as to what her life would be like if she weren’t so “scary looking “when she smiled.
He said she had a gorgeous face as long as she did not open her mouth. He said that she had two little children, both from different fathers because she could not hold on to a man with a face like that. He said he was going to pay for the dentistry and not let Olga know it was him (baloney), but that Bertha insisted he give her the money and she would arrange the surgery and of course, Don did not trust her. $1500.00 would make a big difference in my life or my daughter’s life and certainly in any of his children’s lives, but he would rather spend it on a girl from Nicaragua with two bastard kids.
Don ran off at first light to the Tampa Machinery Auction and bought some truck pieces that he says he is going to build a good truck out of. He had committed us to doing a benefit yard sale at AB Able Academy but he couldn’t be bothered with going. I took, Al Cochran, Jan Cochran and Sandy Wittcopp along with Whoopie Lemur, Jumanji Leopard and the Serval twins and raised $208.00 for the animals. Don came home at 3:30 p.m. and was looking for a fight as soon as he came through the gate.
He wanted to fight about whose cars were parked where, and where the truck driver with a load of shingles was, and why Jamie was painting in the Bengal barn and who ate all of his left over Chinese food (Publix left it for us for free) and started yelling at me when I said I didn’t want another load of dirt dumped in the front yard but would rather have it dumped out of sight. The last mountain is still there.
Don returned from Costa Rica at 1:30 a.m. and I had been up until after midnight taking care of the cats and feeding the kittens. I got up again at 3:00 a.m. and fed them again but Don was too tired to help. All morning was spent getting the last details in order for the Publix commercial and the crews and trucks arrived en masse at 11:00. Filming went on until 1:00 a.m. but Don went to bed at 8:30 p.m. He did feed the outside cats but did not help with the kittens.
In the past 7 days I have been able to bring in $2900.00 for the cats from extra pay, books, videos, memberships and photo tours. I don’t know what Publix’s donation will be yet. It later turned out to be $2000.00.
C Stairs Loan Shark
I’m writing this from 5/26/2020 because it came up in another context and I don’t think it was mentioned in my diary before. If you search the public records from 1950 until 1981 when I met Don, you will see he only had owned a house, his used car lot in a bad part of town and a lot that he later built a house on for his wife in Brandon.
One day in 1984, while standing in line at the bank, Don overheard a bank officer say he had a $20,000 loan in default he would be glad to sell for $2000. Don got the information and, because he could not read beyond a first grade level, asked me to look into it. In brief, we bought the loan, foreclosed, and sold the property for a substantial profit. That is what got us into the real estate business. We started buying defaulted loans from banks and going to tax deed sales. This was before this became a popular business. There were few people doing it. With me doing the research, negotiations and title clearing on the properties we built this to a portfolio of properties to rent or resell that was worth around $5 million dollars at the time of his disappearance. My maiden name was Stairs and I was the person all the bankers and people in the industry dealt with.
I told everyone my name was Gilda Goldman and that I was working for a tough businessman named C.Stairs, because a woman couldn’t get the time of day in that field in the 80s. My business card said C.Stairs, Loan Shark on it and I’d answer the phone as if I was just the secretary. The image was my name: C. Stairs in the shape of a shark I drew bearing down on a little fish. I chose the tag line and graphic because we were the last people anyone should borrow from as we charged 18%. We would tell people to go anywhere and everywhere before borrowing from us because the interest was so high and we would foreclose on them if they defaulted. We were willing to deal with people who had horrible credit and would likely default and trash the security, because that is a high risk, high reward business.
When Don and I married people were always calling him Mr. Stairs because they figured he’d been the shrewd man behind the curtain all that time. Everyone was initially confused about why I called him Don.
We kept the properties in land trusts. During the roughly ten years we were partners before his divorce and our marriage there were properties we bought together and some Don bought on his own or with another woman, Pam Enriquez. When we married I put all of those I had not worked on into one trust. The ones from our joint efforts were kept in a separate trust. The trust holding the properties I was not involved in was set up with his children as beneficiaries if he passed and called the PRSL Land Trust. I was the beneficiary of the trust holding the properties I was involved in. Anyone can search his name in the public records from 1950 – 1997 to see this is true. Anyone can also check the conservatorship case to see that the Will, Power of Attorney and Trusts were all authenticated by multiple firms and stipulated to be authentic by all parties to the conservatorship, including Don’s daughters.
With several suitcases full of petite ladies clothing and shoes, two telephones and a couple of hand guns and rounds of bullets, Don flew back to Costa Rica. He said he had to go to fire Vokker who is running the TriPlex in Rohrmoser and for no other reason. He wanted to be here Friday for the Publix commercial so he was only going to have 3 days there and I thought that $400.00 was a lot to spend just to tell someone to get out, but he insisted that he had to go.
When he got there, the TriPlex was fully rented so I could not call him because they had also rented out his room. His phone in his room can only be used for local calls and the phone Vokker and the rest of the guests have access to is the international line, which is weird and I am sure the day will come when Don gets burned with unauthorized charges.
Don called Anne McQueen just having a fit because Simeon and Sherry Frost had not made their cat payment and wanted me to take the papers to Sheldon Wind, Esq. for him to start a suit. I was trying to call him to find out what papers he was talking about, because the security agreement I had tried to get him to present to them, he had refused, saying that if he made them sign it then they wouldn’t pay for the cats. I never could reach him, even though I left a message, but he called Anne McQueen and she said Don wanted me to take the security agreement to Sheldon Wind, Esq..
I relayed back to her that Don had refused to ask them to sign one and Sheldon Wind, Esq. said there was nothing he could do without the security agreement. Don finally remembered that he had not required them to sign one and was hoping that a piece of paper with a number and both of their signatures would be sufficient for a lawsuit. A paper that didn’t exist. He just has no idea of what is going on in the real world.
Don went to the gun show to buy ammunition to kill Richard Perez.
Last night he suggested that I give up all of the things I am doing to try and make Wildlife on Easy Street financially independent and go back to working the real estate for him full time. I told him that I don’t feel comfortable doing that because he is draining all of the profits off of the good deals that I have worked for him and investing it all in Costa Rica in his name and his corporations. He corrected me by saying that he bought a couple of dumps in Pinellas County and I reminded him that he was now buying only in his name.
When I asked why he has been doing this he said because he didn’t trust me because the day he had said that if we divorced he would give me the Sultenfuss mortgage (I made that deal possible) and a house to live in that is valued at $38,000.00. I had told him that he was dreaming if he thought I work like a dog every day to have him take it all away from me on one of his stupid whims and he took that to mean that I would somehow not deal fairly with him. It has been years since he has made a good deal and he has been constantly throwing money away on his friends and with his secretive dealings in Costa Rica.
Note from the future: There are pages still missing, obviously, because Richard Perez’ name shows up only twice. Once where I mention he’s cost Don over a million dollars in a deal gone bad and then here where I gave no detail. I’m filling in this missing blank from the future (2018) with what I can remember. Richard Perez and Pamela Enriquez had somehow used racketeering charges to extort a million dollars from Don. Apparently he kept having sex with Pam but decided to kill Richard. I warned Richard that Don was out to kill him and told him I’d keep doing my best to stop that from happening.
Many times I could scare Don out of stalking Richard by telling him we were being followed, or that I’d seen police in the area, or whatever I could do to divert him from completing his mission. I thought he mostly just wanted to revel in the idea of it, rather than actually do it, so I’d help him put on ridiculous disguises, and spend so much time on getting ready for the deed that he’d be too tired to actually go. I can remember a couple of times, where we go out to Carrollwood where Richard lived, Sugartree or Sugarwood (something like that) and Don’s dressed up as a blonde female, with full makeup, high heels, gloves and all. Why was dressing to look like me a disguise? We are laying there in the bushes as it’s getting dark and I’ve run out of ways to keep it from going this far.
On one occasion I tell him that I’ve seen Richard sneaking away and that he’s probably on to us, which freaks Don out and he’s ready to go home. I don’t remember what it was the second time we got that far, that I did to make him go home. Each time I’d play up how it was going to take both of us if we were going to get away with this, so that he wouldn’t actually go kill Richard on his own. Looking back on this I can hardly believe the craziness I was dealing with and what I was willing to do to keep Don out of jail.
...rest of my life with this man, but I do not want this continued Satanic link to Pam. This goes far beyond an emotional or physical need, but I fear for my household with his present connections. I have told him many times that if he could give Pam every dollar that he has and all that we have together to buy his way to freedom from her that I would be happy to be poor with him, forever. When I met and fell in love with him, he told me that he was just a lot boy working in the yard for minimum wage for a tyrant of a boss. I believed and loved him.
I think Don is perhaps too afraid of being poor again to do that, and in retrospect of the conversation that I had with Pam, I don’t think that she would let him go. She desires to be rich beyond perception and has told me that she needs Don’s “magic” to increase her own wealth. This has proven itself to be tru based upon the fact that she never had anything before she seduced Don and in all of her investing with other people since meeting Don she has managed to tie up every cent that they gave her, which has been somewhere between $150,000.00 and $250,000.00 and has been unable to turn any kind of a profit. If her ability to make money for Don was based upon her own talents, then there is no reason why she has not been successful with other people, unless her words were true that she had to be able to tie into Don’s “magic.” (In retrospect, I believe Pam didn’t understand that I was the primary source of Don’s money making “magic” and even though Don told me she had other investors he was probably siphoning profits off our deals to buy properties in her name.)
As much as I love him and want him to share my life, I see that there is too much at stake here to be selfish. I thought that his love for me would be strong enough to cause him to break off all connections with Pam when he was faced with the reality of my leaving him. Don has made it clear that he wants both of us, and I know that the reason he moved in with me was because he knew that I would stay for the love and he knew that Pam would continue to see him as long as he kept her happy with the money. I had hoped that he would opt for love over money when I left, but see that he is still trying to hold on to both. If I continue to give him love, I don’t know if he will ever have the driver necessary to see Pam for what she is. If I take that love away from him, will I make him even more vulnerable to her? I would never again let him know how much I love him if I knew that there was something that would save him. I don’t know how to make that happen. I pray for him constantly, but it is said that the Lord helps those who seek Him, and as long as Don is being led by Pam, I don’t see any chance of him turning to God. What can I do to turn Don’s face to the Lord, when He is the only One who can help? I believed that Angels intercede for us and I can’t help but wonder if that is why Don was in that nearly fatal plane crash and was later threatened by that hoodlum. Was it God trying to cause Don to face something more precious than his money in hopes that Don would see that…(words blocked out) grace and so that perhaps he would be more open to need God’s commandments, and spare his own soul?
I pray that God will guide me and help me to find the answers. I pray that it is not too late.
Don told my dad that he would be late coming in tonight, so I asked Jamie and JD to help feed. I took them out for ice cream afterwards to celebrate their awards. I asked Don if he wanted me to bring him anything (he was coming in just as we were leaving) and he said “No.” I could tell by his tone of voice that he was out to pick a fight.
My period was over three days ago but Don had refused my advances every day and that was after a week of supposed abstinence. He said that the last time we made love it made him sore and that was why he didn’t want to have sex. He’s been hiding himself so I expect he’s had another VD outbreak. This is the third time since he began spending so much time in Costa Rica. I found out while working at the shop (office) that Don hasn’t been there, like he’s been telling me for months. Anne said she thought Don was spending all of his time here at home and she resented that.
She just now found out that he has been lying to her too. He has always told me that he spent the day at the office, with the exceptions I’ve listed here, so I haven’t worried much about what he was doing. So where does he go all day every day? He’s not doing any real estate work and he’s never dirty enough to have been playing mechanic.
Dad Starts Work at the Sanctuary
I’m writing this from the future on 2/20/2021 so I’m not sure of the day that my father came to work at the sanctuary, but I do know it was in 1996 and probably in the spring or summer because I’d been at Home Depot in the garden section and had been envying the new rubber ponds that were made to put in gardens along with little waterfalls for effect. Mom was working for Gulf Controls and Dad had recently closed up his furniture store on the corner of Rome and Waters Av. For years he had been buying the seconds at Royal Creations and turning them into salable products. I know he was doing this as far back as 1980 because he had set me up with my own inventory and a box truck to set up displays on vacant gas station lots around town. I was hauling 90 pound book cases and entertainment centers in and out of the truck right up until the time I went into labor with Jamie.
As I write now I don’t remember why he closed the shop. It had been a pretty good business that he had run from flea markets and then the store front, from the traffic I saw when I’d help out. Every day he would carry the desks, end tables, and other merchandise out to the parking lot in front, with huge signs you could easily read driving by. $15 for a desk. $45 for an entertainment center and free delivery and set up at your home. He sold a lot, but maybe there just wasn’t enough of these small ticket items to pay the rent? I don’t know. At any rate, he was at home and despite being able to fix anything from a broken toaster to an airplane engine, he had never fed himself. My mother always buttered his bread and waited on him hand and foot when it came to domestic issues.
She called me one day and said, “You have to find something for your father to do! He’s driving me crazy! He calls me at work every two minutes because he doesn’t know how to operate the microwave to make popcorn, or he can’t find the TV remote.” I asked Dad to come out to the sanctuary and told him that I had seen these ponds at Home Depot and wondered if he could create a little outdoor garden area with one for one of the cats in the Bengal barn. He loved working outside and always had a green thumb, so he was made for this kind of task.
Back then we had a 12 x 60 foot mobile home that we had converted into several indoor rooms for Bengal cats, domestic cats and hybrids. It was an eyesore and the very first thing people saw to the right as they entered our front gate. In order for the cats to have some time out in the sunshine I had already built a long, narrow row of cages at window level on the outside of trailer with pet doors so the cats could go out onto their little catios or be inside in their rooms. These were only about two feet deep and three feet high, but ran the length of the trailer. I told Dad that I wanted to create an outdoor cage that ran the full 60 feet but that would be about 15 feet deep and go all the way from the top of the windows to the ground. In that ground space I wanted a waterfall and pond and lots of landscaping so that it was a great place to be a cat. These cats were anywhere from 8 to 15 pounds each.
He leaped into the task and at the beginning of the next day he said, “What do you want me to do now?” I was shocked and delighted to see the transformation he had made for the first cat to have this huge space, so I said, “How about a second pond?” The next day, he had replicated the work for the second cat in line. The same happened for the third day. On the fourth day, when he said, “What do you want me to do now?” I said, “I’d like to get all of the big cats off concrete and onto soft earth.”
I gave him the requirements for cage wire strength, minimum cage sizes which we already exceeded by 4 to 10 times, and told him other than that he should just surprise me. He worked six days a week and was always out in the yard building cages when I woke up at 7:30 and was usually there until 4PM or so. He continued expanding the cats spaces and giving them more fun things to do, use and explore until he died in 2016 on his 75th birthday.
The last renovation to the Bengal barn was a fabulous waterfall that covered the entire front of the mobile home. Dad made it from hand mixing concrete and it was the genesis for all of the pools and dens he would later build for all of the big cats. He would artistically mix colors into the concrete to make it as realistic looking as possible. This is PurrFection and PurrSistence the twin ocelots. Photographers loved this natural looking environment and we were able to charge a lot for photo tours because of the natural environments my father created for all of the cats to live in.
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
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Don Was Worth About $113,000 When I Met Him
Summary
At the time that I met Don he still owned his two lots on 62nd where our office trailer was and where he sold used cars and cut axles off trailers. In 1980 they would have been worth about 25k including the office trailer. Apparently he co owned that with David Blaisdell at the time so I don’t know if or when he bought Davie out. He also still owned the Lakewood lot where he would later build a house for his wife Gladys. Back then that would have been worth about 20k max, as he’d already sold off two sections of it to others and just kept about 3 acres or so. He was owed a 28k third mortgage on Sheldon Wind, Esquire’s office. He could have still owned PT S23 T29 R19 which was worth about 40k.
I did this title search on June 2, 2020 because people keep repeating the lie that Don was a millionaire when I met him. This is in the public record and anyone can search the record to see that I am telling the truth. When I first searched his name online, I used his legal name: Jack Donald Lewis and only found a couple of lots and his house in his name between 1950 and Jan. 1981 when I met him, but further research on variations on his name led to a few more entries. He still wasn’t a millionaire, and in fact seemed to have a history of getting into trouble financially and having to give properties back when he couldn’t make the payments.
1965: 12/30/65 Don sells Lot 37, Faulkenburg Heights to McMillion but where did he get this parcel?
1965: On the same day as the above sale, 12/30/65, Don bought Lot 18, Blk 5 Buffalo Estates from Harris. He sells it to Jones on 12/30/68 for around $8000. 1967: Don buys PT S2 T29 R19 from Law and owes her a mortgage of $3500.00 which he pays off in 1972. In 1972 Don sells this parcel to Wright under an agreement for deed and a final deed in 1979. Don filled out a UCC-1 to finance a piano this year.
1969: Don & David Blaisdell buy PT S15 T29 R19 from Parrino with a mortgage back to Parrino. In 1976 Don deeds it to Wendell Williams for 10k, who pays Don off in 1979. In 1980 Don and David Blaisdell paid off Parrino.
1972: Don buys Lot 4, Block 8 Everina Homes from Yates. He sold it 2 years later to Varklet.
1973: Don and David Blaisdell bought Lot 11, 12, 13 Triangle Sub from the same Parrino and owed a mortgage back of $11,000 to Parrino. I think these are the lots where our office was on Broadway and 62nd. 1974: Don buys a lot from Don Garlitz (the race car driver) PT S2 T29 R20 for 22k. Don owed a mortgage back to Garlitz. In 1976 he sold off part of it to Oliver. In 1978 he sold off another part to LeBeuf and with that sale was able to pay off Garlitz. I think this may be the Lakewood property, but am not sure.
1975-1976: Don was sued by 4 entities separately and ended up with judgements against him. One of the lawsuits resulted in favor of Wright, who Don had sold a property to. The others appear to have to do with his trucking business as they are leasing companies and shipping companies. In 1979 Don satisfies the judgment to Leasing Service Corp.
1976: Don buy PT S33 T28 R21 from Odom but two month later Don and Odom are sued by Dunn who gets a 9500.00 judgment against them. Don later sells the property to Bingham in 1980.
1977: Don buys PT S23 T29 R19 from Hall and mortgages it for 40k to Flagship Bank. In 1979 Don pays off the bank when he sells part of the land to the county as road right of way.
1978: Don buys Lot 1, Block 119 So. Tampa Villa Sites for 2500.00 from Shields in April but then quit claims it back to Shields in August of 1978 and quit claims to Cook in 1979, the latter is probably to clear the chain of title.
1979: Don loads Sheldon Wind, Esquire 28k as a third mortgage on his office building at the corner of Hillsborough and N. Florida Ave. 1980: Don sells L4 B6 Brandonwood Sub to O-Keefe on 1/22/80 but I can’t figure out how he had any interest in it.
1980: Don buys PT S4 T29 R20 from Waters for 16k based on doc stamps being 400.00 There were a number of other people with the same or similar names, but I went through each to compare marital status and signatures and came up with the above. While it might seem weird that Don would sell properties that he didn’t own, that was an ongoing thing with him. He’d just plant a for sale sign in the yard of a vacant house and sell it. Then he’d have me track down the owner and negotiate buying it at a price that allowed him to sell it. I don’t know if he did something similar with the 2 parcels above or if there is just a stray deed in the records due to him not being able to secure title.
Don’s real estate holdings when I met him were roughly: $113,000.00
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Carole Baskin's Diary Introduction
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 This video is for entertainment purposes only.