GreetingsThe signs of Fall are here with shorter days, but as expected, there is still more work to be done for the big cat cause. This October edition of the AdvoCat brings you reports of our hurricane relief tour, the upcoming Fur Ball, a big cat calendar and more. Enjoy and see you at the Fur Ball! Carole Baskin, Founder 

	Fur Ball This Month!

The much-anticipated and eagerly-awaited Fur Ball Gala event is literally days away now. You will not have to wait long now to partake of one of Tampa's most memorable fundraiser evenings. Just a reminder that you can still get your tickets to have fun dressing in exotic costumes, enjoy the enticing plated dinner, dance to the cool sounds of the Wholly Cats jazz band, bid on the array of 200 silent auction items, and taste the complimentary wine and decadent chocolate cascades. For even more details, follow the link to see the evening's happenings, sponsors, and ticket information. We look forward to seeing you at the Roaring 20's Fur Ball on Friday October 21st. 

Get your tickets here ...

	Big Cats Unleashed at the Libraries

They are safely on the loose at the local libraries in the form of DVDs to be watched by you.

The Big Cat Picture on DVD can now be found in 10 Hillsborough County Libraries. At the request of the Library System, Big Cat Rescue donated the DVD's in the hopes of educating patrons to the plight of exotic animals.

The library system will be putting a DVD in the John F. Germany Library in downtown Tampa and the remaining copies will go to the Regional and largest libraries. It can be found in the Animal Interest section of the library's DVD Collection. By doing this, the library system hopes to share Big Cat Rescue 's Mission with those residents of Hillsborough County who have not had the opportunity to visit the sanctuary.

It is our hope to get a copy of The Big Cat Picture DVD into each of the 26 Hillsborough County Libraries. If you would like help us with this goal, by purchasing and donating one or more copies of the DVD, please contact Carole Baskin at Info@bigcatrescue.org

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	Calendar Centerfolds

It's been two years in the making, but our cats are finally starring in their very own calendar. Former volunteer and avid current supporter, Beth Stewart, shot these photos and pitched the idea of a calendar about Big Cat Rescue and the work we do saving big cats to a calendar company.  The result after two long years of negotiating, organizing, and writing the stories is this twelve month calendar called "Saving Big Cats".  It is available around the globe on Amazon.com, Borders.com and BarnesAndNoble.com.  This was a once- in-a-lifetime opportunity to let the cats share their stories with the world. It would seem like this would be an ongoing opportunity to spread the word, but it is not. The bookstores chose not to carry the calendar in their physical locations because of competition with World Wildlife Fund and National Geographic (which features Shere Khan this year).  The calendar company won't offer our calendar in upcoming years unless they sell out.  Help us make that happen.  Everyone you know needs a calendar for 2006 and buying one today helps insure that we are able to reach the world again in this way.  

	The Games Cat People Play

If childplay can keep us all young, then we have the fountain of youth for you in the form of terrifically fun and cute new on-line games. Big Cat Rescue provides a safe online environment for all of those learning habits in our pages under the "Free Stuff" Games link.  La Wanna Jones, Rainie Cass and James Northrup are the giants in online games for children.  La Wanna is the biggest provider of puzzles and games for our site.  She came here for a photo tour and must have taken several thousand breathtaking photos.  Over the past year she has turned them into online story books, dragger puzzles, flash puzzles, screen savers, jigsaw puzzles and more.  She has also created big cat themed word games and quizzes for us, all at no charge.  James contributed the fun puzzle cards that can be e-mailed amoung friends on-line. Rainie has created our own cat caricature of Shere Khan that we use as a mascot on these pages, a skill stop machine, kukee camera, dress up the tiger, coloring pages and lots more.  We thank all three supporters and hope you enjoy their creativity on behalf of the cats.

see the games...

	Magnetic Personalities

You've seen the pink breast cancer ribbons and the patriotic ribbons on cars. Now, you can show your support for Big Cat Rescue in the form of a leopard spotted magnetic ribbon for your car. It's an idea that has real staying power, will give around-the-town exposure, and may even prompt some questions, so be prepared. Like many of our successful ventures, one of our own interns came up with this idea, and we ran with it. Be sure to get your ribbon!

Get it now ...

	Cat-astrophic Relief Tour

We mentioned last month that we were going to offer a discounted Saturday tour to benefit the animal victims of hurricane Katrina. We hosted the event and it was a huge success thanks to so many of you and our volunteers. We offered $10 tours and 160 guests took a special tour of Big Cat Rescue that day. The funds raised amounted to a whopping $2500 and were donated to the Humane Society of the United States' Disaster Animal Rescue Team (DART) and to United Animal Nation's Emergency Animal Rescue Service (EARS) . We also had a oversized card for everyone to sign and send with the donation. We may have only made a small dent in the overall effort, but we are proud to send the funds and know they will help in many ways. Thank you for participating!

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	Big Cat Rescue Meets Highest Charity Standards

In 2004 the IRS reported that there are 964,000 registered charities in the U.S.  Only 81 of them qualify for and display this seal.  Big Cat Rescue is one of them.  This seal confirms that the organization meets all 23 of the Standards for Charity Accountability.

The BBB Wise Giving Alliance is a national charity watchdog affiliated with the Better Business Bureau system. The Alliance has over a century of experience and recognition in charity evaluation.Unlike other charity monitoring groups that focus solely on a review of charity finances, the Alliance completes comprehensive, in-depth evaluations of the charity's governance, fund raising practices, solicitations and informational materials, as well as how it spends its money.You knew we were doing things right; now the rest of the world does too!Legislative Action Step: Help us do something right today.  Write these four Congressional Committees with a couple quick clicks and ask them to ban steel jawed traps. These are painfully cruel traps that cause the drawn-out suffering of so many unsuspecting animals. Write the legislators all at one time in one letter HERE.