Happy Valentine’s Day from Some Sweet Cats

Make a donation towards the care of Max and Mary Ann the bobcats and receive a downloadable 8×10 color photo collage documenting their very first day together. Makes a great gift! https://www.bigcatrescue.biz/

Sad Farewell to Three Beloved Cats

2014 has been a hard year so far as we have lost three of our beloved cats. Flavio the tiger died at the record breaking age of 25 years. Sasha the lioness died during a rather routine surgery, but we discovered in the necropsy that her lungs were riddled with cancer and then we lost Precious the bobcat. She had been through so much, and we did all we could for her, but a massive seizure let us know that it was time to let her go. You can read the tributes to these cats at the links above.

Gifts for your Valentine

If you would like YOUR love to be commemorated in stone, how about engraving your name and your loved ones’ name on a brick with a cute little heart permanently installed as part of the walkway at the sanctuary?

If you order the brick today we can have it in time to email you a photo to print out for your valentine, a truly unique and permanent gift that helps feed over 100 big cats.

Want some other great unusual gift ideas? How about these great items at our online store? Just for YOU, our AdvoCat reader, is a discount is good for 15% off from 2/9/14 – 2/15/14

Are You Ready to March For Lions?

Big Cat Rescue has joined a global effort to raise awareness of the plight of the lion in both captivity and in the wild. 15 Countries, 30 Cities, and 191 Organizers have teamed up to host a Global March for Lions.

You can March for Lions at Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, FL on Saturday March 15th from 12 PM – 2 PM. The 2k march will meander down Easy Street and then wind through the sanctuary grounds and end in our parking area where there will be food for purchase, that is fit for the king of beasts, family activities, and much more!

Set up a fundraising page to become a Member of the Pride.

Pride Membership Levels range from $25 – $500. Receive grrr-reat gift bags with each level including an official event t-shirt and other prizes.

Fun Feline Videos

Chris has been cranking out the videos! He’s done such a great job with them that YouTube sent him a pretty expensive present today, thanking him for all the traffic! He got a nice set of director’s chairs, but he hasn’t got time to sit down because he’s working on a flirty little Valentine’s Day video for you.

Cool Cats for Summer Camp 2014!

Summer is almost here! Have you made plans yet?? Registration is open now for our annual Big Cat Rescue Summer Camp. Kids ages 8-15 can join us for one wild time at Big Cat Rescue this summer! This unique opportunity comes around just once a year for children to enjoy behind-the-scenes activities, having fun and learning at the same time.

Comments from previous campers say it all: “The first day of camp she talked all night not just about the fun she had, but about what she learned” and “My child loved it more than I ever thought he would!”

Camp typically fills to capacity so don’t miss out! To register, please visit https://bigcatrescue.org/kids-camp/

*ALSO: We are hiring ONE Florida certified teacher to teach our 12-15 year old campers this summer! This is a paid position, 4 weeks total, Monday-Friday each week. Please email education@bigcatrescue.org if you are interested!

Big Cat Rescue Teaching in the Field

LaWanna makes big cat trading cards, with our logos and URLs and then provides them to schools for free to use as incentives with their students. Check out this nice report from the Community Coordinator: “York Elementary will be using the animal trading cards as part of their ongoing efforts to improve their school attendance. York has struggled over the past several years and now, under new leadership, they are excited to try new approaches at solving their ongoing attendance issues. They have already made great strides, by being the elementary school with the highest percentage of increase in attendance, but they are still significantly below the district average.

The Trading Card Initiative will by far be the biggest ongoing attendance program and we hope to create a lot of excitement around all the different animals. Students will be able to earn one card per week for the remainder of the school year and the program will continue next year as well. Each student will have their own folder with card holders to stash their collection and we feel that they will encourage each other to be at school everyday so they will have more cards to trade. Our kick-off is next week and we will keep you posted on the success!” – Pauletta

Big Cat Books

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 More by Big Cat Rescue when you check out, Big Cat Care – How to Start a Sanctuary by me, Carole Baskin, in iTunes

Top Shocking Incidents of Big Cat Exploitation

We hope by sharing a new list with you each month that you will join us in speaking out for the big cats and cubs that are exploited across this country every day. We encourage you to take one small action today and reach out via phone or email to contact one or more of the offenders listed below and politely express your concern. Together we can be the voice for the voiceless…together we can make a difference. Please join us in our mission of Caring for Cats & Ending the Trade. If you learn of exotic cats or cubs being exploited in your area, please contact Susan Bass at Susan.Bass@BigCatRescue.org.

No. 1 Ford Motor Company aired a commercial during the Super Bowl featuring a live adult tiger with actor James Franco. Ford tells us that the tiger was “properly treated” during filming. And to make matters worse, they now have a SECOND ad featuring an adult leopard! Please politely let Ford know they are missing the point – the very fact that these cats are bred to be used in movies and commercials is abusive. Ford would likely be appalled if they knew how big cats are kept when they aren’t on set. Animal lovers do NOT want to see them exploited for entertainment and profit. Tweet using #nearlydouble at https://twitter.com/Ford and post Facebook comments at https://www.facebook.com/ford.

No. 2 On February 15th the Myrtle Beach Marathon (South Carolina) will again be a willing participant in the exploitation of tiger cubs as it teams up with one of the country’s most prolific breeders and exhibitors of exotic cats, Bhagavan Antle and his T.I.G.E.R.S. facility. Big Cat Rescue tried to educate the president of the marathon and its board of directors about the extensive breeding and cub petting this facility does. We explained that Antle has decades of animal care citations and investigations dating all the way back to 1989. Antle claims his “Rare Species Fund” contributes to wildlife conservation, but Rare Species Fund does not even appear to be a non-profit registered with the IRS. Please ask the organizers of the Myrtle Beach Marathon to stop exploiting tiger cubs and cancel the cub display during their marathon. Contact Shaun Walsh at shaun.walsh@edwardjones.com and 843-238-3343. Contact Bill Stanton at billstanton@sc.rr.com and 843-233-8088.

No. 3 Animal handler Dave Salmoni brought two lion cubs onto the Tonight Show with Jay Leno on January 31st. He used the guise many breeders and exhibitors of big cats use: seeming to care about big cats in the wild all the while exploiting captive cubs on television! The cubs were clearly stressed and not under the direct control of Salmoni, which we believe is a violation of the Animal Welfare Act. To make matters worse, it appears that the cubs actually belonged to Serenity Springs, which is being sued by USDA for Animal Welfare Violations! Please urge NBC and the new producers of the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon (which starts this month) to stop having big cat cubs on the program and place the wellbeing of the cats above profits and ratings. Click here and then scroll down to open the “select show” box to leave your comments: https://www.nbc.com/contact/general

No. 4 Live in the state of Washington or know someone who does? Our friends at the Mountain Lion Foundation need your help to stop a Washington state Senate bill from passing that would FORCE the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) to allow trophy hunters to use hounds to kill cougars for fun. Please help stop this cruel and unnecessary bill!   https://goo.gl/FudMHt

No. 5 Did you know that the USDA has a new online form for reporting animal abuse? If you see abuse of any animals at USDA licensed facilities, you can now quickly and easily let USDA know and urge them to immediately send an inspector out to inspect the facility. Find the form here: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_welfare/aw_complaint_form.shtml

Attention BIG CAT Supporters: Do you love FREE stuff?

How about free stuff that is fun to do and earns money for the cats? Together We Can Make It Happen!

(Click here to watch a short video)

To our Loyal Supporters:

We have a favor to ask you, there is NO COST to you at all! We need to raise funds to support the cats. You will find this a very easy and fun way to help; I promise.

The favor we are asking you is;

SIMPLE – FAST – FUN

and

NO COST to you at all!

Below we have several links that we would like you to click on. Why? It’s simple with your participation these links will generate money for Big Cat Rescue. One link is to play our “Featured” online game of the week. Another link is for more online games. We even have a game for your mobile phone. Just open this email on your phone and click on the link to download the game. Most importantly – please try out these games for some period of time to be fair to the game companies. Why?

The game companies are paying us to try out their games!

Every month we will send out new games for you to play. There isn’t an easier or more fun way to help us with our efforts to raise the funds we need.

We would also like to ask one more favor…most games are interactive, please send this to your friends and family and ask them to play, too!

This week’s “Featured” online game: Goal United

Try out these great online games, too: More Online Games

This week’s “Featured” Android game: Empire Four Kingdoms

This weeks “Featured” iPhone game: Empire Four Kingdoms

Here’s another way to help us raise funds with NO COST to you. We can earn even more money when you are searching online for topics you have an interest in. Use our special “Search Link” built specifically for Big Cat Rescue. Check it out you won’t believe it. Use the “search link” to do 5 to 10 searches (or more) on topics you are searching. No purchase is required. When the search results page displays the topic you are interested in, look at the top right and left side of the page under “Sponsored ADS” and if you see a link that interests you. Please click on the link to see what is being offered, but only if it interests you. (You can save this special link search page to your favorites).

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT; JUST DOING YOUR NORMAL SEARCHES FROM THIS SEARCH LINK, HELPS US FEED THE CATS!!!

Thank you for your support!

PS: Please participate now so you won’t forget, we would love 100% participation in the next 24-72 hours!

Want More Free Stuff for Valentine’s Day?

Valentine eCards

Set 1 (959 cards): https://www.bigcatfun.com/ecards/subcat4.html

Set 2 (260 cards): https://www.bigcatfun.com/ecards/subcat23.html

Valentine Games as eCards

https://www.bigcatfun.com/ecards/category4_294.html

Big Cat Fun Stuff

Still Can’t Find the Purr-fect Valentine’s Day Gift?

Try these “spots”:

Big Cat Valentine’s Day at Cafe Press

https://www.cafepress.com/12802/7043719

Cafe Press Has New Big Cat Stuff

https://www.cafepress.com/12802/11053844

Wild Cat Gifts at Zazzle Gifts

https://goo.gl/WPqizk

Thank you everyone, and know that this Valentine’s Day you have 100+ big cats all dreaming about YOU!

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