Baby Bobcat Rescue

Max the Baby Bobcat at RI Wildlife Rehab Center

Well, he was a baby when this whole ordeal started anyway...

Back in November of 2010 we were contacted by the RI State Vet who was in the process of seizing a bobcat kitten that had been sold to a local man by the surname of Tardie by a backyard breeder operating under the name of Bitterroot Bobcat and Lynx.  Barbara Roe claims on her site to have been breeding and selling bobcats and lynx as pets since 1985 and charges $1,500 and will ship, apparently, no questions asked.  If anyone cared about the law they would have quickly discovered that it is illegal to trade in bobcats in RI.

Big Cat Rescue was called upon to provide expert testimony to expose the breeders' assertion, that bobcat and lynx make fine pets, to be the money motivated lie that it is.   The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management tried to persuade the owner to release the bobcat to them so that they could send him out of state to a proper facility, but the owner insisted on fighting to the fullest extent of the law and through appellate court.  The bobcat, named Max, was just a kitten when this began and temporary custody was awarded to the state during the trials and appeals, which meant the young bobcat was sent to live with a veterinarian at her rehabilitation center.

Dr. Scott Marshall, the State Vet noted that, "Max has difficulty climbing things like a domestic cat would and he doesn't seem to be able to use his claws.  They are present, we looked at them, but he doesn't seem to be able to flex his digits.  We are curious as to whether he has had a tenotomy done as an alternative to declawing.  All 4 feet are the same.  This guy's claws look normal, so I don't know what to say about it."  By now it was mid December and Max had grown to 15lbs.

Six months later the case has finally been settled and Max is a whopping 30 lbs of feisty bobcat...Find out what happens next for this adorable little bobcat by registering to get monthly updates about our rescues here: http://capwiz.com/bigcatrescue/mlm/signup/

Vote for Big Cat Rescue to Win a Truck!

Big Cat Rescue has been selected as one of 500 finalists in Toyota’s 100 Cars for Good program, which will award vehicles to 100 nonprofit organizations based on votes from the public beginning May 9, 2011.

Toyota’s 100 Cars for Good program will showcase five non-profit organizations each day for 100 days on Toyota’s Facebook page, facebook.com/toyota. Visitors to the page can vote once a day for the organization that they feel is most deserving of a new Toyota vehicle.  Big Cat Rescue will be one of the five organizations highlighted for voting on Friday, June 3^rd, 2011.

Be sure and mark your calendar for Friday, June 3^rd and support Big Cat Rescue in our quest for a new Toyota Tacoma Pickup. If the sanctuary receives the most votes and is awarded the vehicle, it would in-part be used to tow the sanctuary’s rescue trailer.  The Toyota Tacoma would serve as the primary means of transporting staff to the rescue site, along with the necessary equipment associated with each rescue.

Vote for Big Cat Rescue on June 3^rd in the Toyota 100 Cars for Good Program

Cast your vote at:  http://www.Facebook.com/Toyota

Help Us End Cub Abuse

Late last year Big Cat Rescue received a generous grant to fund, for the first six months, a part time position devoted exclusively to stopping this abuse.  The strategy has been to contact mall owners and other venues, educate them about the horrible lives these poor cubs endure, both while they are being used to make money from petting and after they are too old to be used, and urge the owners not to allow this abuse at their venues.  So far 20 malls have agreed not to allow such acts in the future and we are in discussion with many more.  If enough venues refuse to allow the abuse, the economic incentive to breed cubs into a life of misery goes away and we can save THOUSANDS of animals from abuse, far more than we can ever rescue.  The initial grant funding will run out at the end of June.  We are seeking donors to make this an effort we can continue until there are no more cubs being abused.  Will you help us keep up the momentum by making a donation now?  http://www.razoo.com/story/Endcubabuse

If you see lions, tigers or their cubs being displayed at malls, fairs, flea markets or parking lots let our PR Expert know by emailing Susan.Bass@BigCatRescue.org

Animal Rescue Rockstars!

On May 8, Wayne Pacelle and his fiancee, TV journalist Lisa Fletcher stopped by Big Cat Rescue as they were on the book signing circuit for his new book called, The Bond.  At the age of 23 Wayne Pacelle was appointed Executive Director of The Fund for Animals.  He joined the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) in 1994, where he has been CEO and President for the past seven years.  The Bond has been on the New York Times Best Seller list and is a must read for those who want to truly understand the relationship between people and animals, the great love we see in our society contrasted with the cruelty, and the strides being made to protect animals from the latter.  For more on The Bond and how to purchase a copy visit The Bond.

Wayne’s visit followed another such opportunity that we had to share our refuge, training materials and our awesome support crew on May 2nd and 3rd.

After Patty Finch, the director of the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, had done a site visit for our accreditation, she said, "I wanted to share the experience with other sanctuary leaders.”

After delivering a couple of free webinars for GFAS, Patty asked if we would host their first in person 2 day Workshop.  Read the rest of the story about Wayne Pacelle's visit and the first Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries workshop.

Father's Day Fun and Gifts

Be sure to order your Father's Day gift now to ensure delivery in time to honor your Father on that special day.  How about a brick with his name permanently etched on it placed on the path by our Trading Post to show his caring for animals?  http://www.bigcatrescue.biz/

If he lives close to the sanctuary he would surely enjoy a Day Tour or especially a Feeding Tour or Photo Tour.  If he doesn't live near the refuge then you might want to consider some funny cat socks, a logo multi tool, a bowling towel or one of our many great tiger tees.  See our http://www.bigcatrescue.biz/ section to get some ideas.

There are free Father's Day cards with photos of the Big Cat Rescue cats here:  http://bigcatfun.com/fathers-day.html

Check out Skip on Bob-Cam

See how Big Cat Rescue is using the same technology in camera tracking that is being used to save tigers and jaguars in the wild.  These camera traps have dropped in price from $450 to $150 and have video capacity now so we would like more of them to place on some of our elderly cats to monitor their health issues.

http://bigcatrescue.org/skip-cam-episodes/

Save Puppies, Kittens, Dogs & Cats

The only way to stop pets from being killed in shelters is to stop the breeding of unwanted kittens and puppies through spaying and neutering.  Hillsborough County had a great voucher system in place to do just that and not only was saving the tax payers lots of money, but had made dramatic drops in the numbers of pets who were being killed each year.  In a misguided effort to cut the budget this money saving voucher system was cut.  Speak up for the pets who shouldn't have to die.

http://bigcatrescue.org/save-puppies-and-kittens/

Big Cat App

Everyone who has purchased the Big Cat App has raved about having more than 100 of our big cat friends at their finger tips.  It's only $1.99 and half goes to the cats and half to the developer who donated what often costs companies more than $10,000 for such an app.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/big-cat-app/id426593622?mt=8

Watch the Rescue of Six Servals

Servals are unfortunately very popular exotic "pets", Big Cat Rescue recently became home to 6 new servals! All of them had been privately owned for over ten years, but for various reasons their owners were unable or unwilling to keep them any longer.  Most people try to get rid of them as soon as they reach adulthood because they all spray bucket loads of urine to mark their territory.  It doesn't matter if they are male or female, altered or not; their favorite thing to to is pee on everything and every one.

Watch the video documenting the rescue of Kricket, Santino, Doodles, Zoul, Zimba and Zouletta.

Who Were You Remembering This Memorial Day?

Who Are You Thinking Of?

After the Modglin Family generously raised their matching donation to $218,664 early in May we have received over $6000 from donors taking advantage of the opportunity to double their impact by having their donation matched 100% by this grant.

We are only $12,502 from achieving the total.

If you make your donation on the Razoo website we will post your comments about the person or pet your are remembering and celebrating with a gift to the cats.

When the match is over we will post these comments to our BigCatRescue.org site too, so that your loved one will always be remembered.

Please donate at http://www.razoo.com/Modglin or sending checks with “Modglin Match” in the memo line or in an enclosed note.

Thanks for helping us take full advantage of this wonderful match!