Cat Camp 2018: Big Cat in the City
This past weekend our Director of Outreach, Jennifer Leon, joined by Senior Keeper and Zeus tiger’s best friend Rebecca Williams attended Jackson Galaxy’s Cat Camp in New York City. This two-day feline advocacy event focused on educating cat lovers on some of the biggest issues facing cats today brought in speakers and attendees from across the country. Our friends Cole & Marmalade (CAM) sent their dad, Chris Poole, along to table the event with us and explain to attendees how little cat fans can help big cats!
Jen, Rebecca and Chris
On Saturday, Jennifer was one of the first speakers of the day with her presentation Big Cat Rescue: Leading the Battle to End Big Cat Abuse. And what a great turnout! Attendees learned about Big Cat Rescue’s start, the cats that call our sanctuary home, the issues surrounding cats in the captive trade and how they can help. As one attendee kindly put it “this presentation alone was worth the price of admission”!
Cat Camp 2018 Jen Speaking
Jen, Rebecca, and Chris were overwhelmed with everyone’s kindness and support – it was two non-stop days of talking about the issues and meeting both new and long-time Big Cat Rescue fans. They even got to meet an outstanding BCR supporter and CAM fan who flew in all the way from Paris for the event!
Having Cat Man Chris there with Big Cat Rescue was certainly a draw. After posing for a picture with the famous cat dad, Chris was sure to encourage all of his fans to make the Call of the Wild!
Cat Camp 2018 Team photo
The Big Cat Rescue booth even had a visit from the cat whisperer himself, Jackson Galaxy! Jackson is a big fan of all cats, big and small, and seemed particularly impressed with our sanctuary’s on-site foster program for domestic kittens. We were sure to extend an invitation for him to visit us in Tampa and check out our kitten cabana.
Cat Camp 2018 Jackson Galaxy BCR booth
All in all, it was a fantastic weekend and the purrfect opportunity to reach out to a new audience of cat lovers. A special thanks to Cat Camp heroes Christina and Simon Ha for visiting the sanctuary earlier this year and inviting us to Cat Camp to help bridge the gap between big and small. We can’t wait for Cat Camp 2019!
Jennifer Leon, MPA
Director of Outreach
PS: Shop AmazonSmile and choose Big Cat Rescue as your charity. AmazonSmile will donate .5% of sales to the cats at no cost to you!!!
Big Cat Rescue’s mission is to provide the best home we can for the cats in our care, end abuse of big cats in captivity, and prevent the extinction of big cats in the wild. YOU CAN HELP by making the Call of the Wild, EVERY WEEK, at BigCatAct.com
