…and who was watching the tigers?
Posted on Fri, Apr. 14, 2006
Details emerging from the tragic Pine County tiger attack that took the life of trainer Cynthia Gamble last week paint a more gruesome picture than previously imagined. The tiger, now euthanized, was examined and found to have had parts of the woman’s body in its stomach. The cat was at least 150 pounds underweight, no doubt a major factor in the killing.
Gamble, who held a USDA license for her bankrupt Center for Endangered Cats, was described by friends as an expert handler who "loved" her feline charges. That would have been tough love at best. No reasonable parent would starve a child out of love, and Gamble’s terrible fate offers the most compelling case yet against private ownership of big cats.
Not helping is the confusion of who’s really acting in the interest of the animals. Carole Baskin of Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Fla., denounces private ownership of menageries such as Gamble’s. Las Vegas tiger trainer Zuzana Kukol expressed support of Gamble but accuses Baskin of breeding cats rather than rescuing them from abusive owners. Baskin calls that "old news," saying her past actions are what make her so adamant against the practice.
Whatever. The whole scat fight is reason, as expressed in a letter on this page, for restricting big cats to their natural habitats or zoos — and accredited ones at that.
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 here:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/344896451?ltl=1140270431
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