Lions and tigers caged in Ohio now thriving in Tampa – Donna J. Miller's Animals in the News
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Donna Miller
Plain Dealer Reporter
Two lions and two tigers that spent years in cages in Central Ohio are living large at a sanctuary in Tampa. They arrived at Big Cat Rescue in October.
Listening to one of their caregivers, you can almost hear them purr. (You can at bigcat rescue.com.)
"I walked through the sanctuary at dusk today and they had just eaten," Carole Baskin said Tuesday. "Nikita and Simba were sacked out in the high grass.
"Joseph was roaring across the lake to Cameron, our other male lion, and Sasha was playfully stalking me, standing perfectly still when I looked at her, as if she thought being still made her invisible. It has been just great to see them relax and become who they really are."
But they are minus their claws and most of their teeth, which were pulled by the Ohio woman who used to own them, so she could make money letting people pose with them for photographs.
Ohio lacks an exotic-animal law that would have barred such animal abuse and risk to hu man life and limb. Our lawmakers clamored for such a law in the days after a black bear mauled an Ashtabula County woman two years ago, and promptly failed to act.
With 120 big cats still living in Ohio and many more bears, who's protecting them and their neighbors?
http://www.cleveland.com/living/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/living-0/1215937819161720.xml&coll=2
—
For the cats,
Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
an Educational Sanctuary home
to more than 100 big cats
12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL 33625
813.493.4564 fax 885.4457
http://www.BigCatRescue.org MakeADifference@BigCatRescue.org
Sign our petition to protect tigers from being farmed here:
http://capwiz.com/bigcatrescue/issues/alert/?alertid=9952801&type=CU
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