AdvoCat 2015 08

Cecil the Lion

Cecil the lion has touched the lives of everyone who cares about big cats.  Here are three articles that detail some of his impact on the rest of the world:https://bigcatrescue.org/cecil-lion/https://bigcatrescue.org/cecil-the-lion-an-agent-of-change/https://bigcatrescue.org/delta/If you are looking for a way to help protect big cats like Cecil, please take the Tiger Selfie Challenge below.  While Cecil was not a cub that was used for pay to play and then turned out into a canned hunt, most of his kind do start out that way. 

Take the Tiger Selfie Challenge!

You remember the Ice Bucket Challenge, don’t you?  It was a crazy, popular way to raise awareness about  Lou Gherig’s Disease, that started in 2014 and has already raised more than 100,000 million dollars for ALS research.  Just yesterday Boston Mayor Marty Walsh took the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge—and challenged Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to do the same. A full year later this form of public activism is still grabbing headlines.What if the cats had such a successful campaign to raise awareness about the suffering they endure for tiger selfies, lion selfies and liger selfies?You KNOW we could end the pay to play schemes, once and for all, if everyone knew that posing with tiger cubs was Cruel NOT Cool!  Find out how here:  https://bigcatrescue.org/selfie/

New Big Cat Videos

 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsmHBgbkKIERsX0faHHQWq9UdQskxJnVJNever miss a video starring your big cat friends!  Subscribe to both channels:Main channel:  https://www.youtube.com/user/BigCatRescueDaily Big Cat channel:  https://www.youtube.com/user/DailyBigCat 

Free Lion Screen Savers and Wallpapers

 In honor of Cecil the lion we have created free screen savers and wallpapers for Macs and PCs at our newly launched ChatBigCats.com site!  LaWanna and Ysabel have been working for months to convert our old BigCatFun.com site to a kid safe, mobile responsive, interactive site where you can play games, puzzles and find all kinds of fun things to do.  This site is still in Beta, so some links may be broken, but this link will take you to an area that is ready, where you can download the screen savers and wallpapers.  https://chatbigcats.com/newsletter-gifts-august-2015/ 

Your voice is saving big cats!

 Last month we asked you to speak out against the cruel use of cubs, in a pay to play Swim-With-Tigers scheme at Dade City Wild Things and USDA has finally sued them for severe violations of the Animal Welfare Act saying, "The gravity of the violations alleged in this complaint is great, involving multiple failures to handle animals carefully and to provide access for inspection."  Find out more at TigerCubAbuse2.comBecause you take action, whenever we point out big cat abuse, the USDA has also sued Doug Terranova who runs a circus and shows up at fairs with Joe Schreibvogel and his pay to play cubs, and Gregg & Karen Woody who also drag cubs out to parking lots and fairs.  We can end the abuse of lions, tigers, ligers and other wild animal cubs if we all speak out together.  Thank you for taking action on our alerts, and please be sure to do so on the following: 

Top Shocking Incidents

of Big Cat Exploitation – August 2015

 We hope by sharing a new list with you each month that you will join us in speaking out for the big cats and cubs that are exploited across this country every day. We encourage you to take one small action today and contact one or more of the offenders below to politely express your concern. Together we can be the voice for the voiceless...together we can make a difference. If you learn of exotic cats or cubs being exploited in your area, please contact Susan Bass at Susan.Bass@BigCatRescue.org.No. 1      The Benton County Fair in Oregon recently hosted A Walk on the Wild Side’s exotic animal exhibit. An article in the local Corvallis Gazette-Times quoted one fairgoer saying the cages were small and the animals were pacing and showed signs of stress. A Walk on the Wild Side, also located in Oregon, has been closed to the public since March 2015 due to code violations but still subjects exotic cats to fairs and shows.Benton County Fair Manager Lonny Wunder said he receives two or three complaints a year about the wild animal exhibit, but he will reconsider having them back if he receives more than that. SO we are asking you to please urge Wunder to do the humane thing and not allow exotic animals to be displayed at the fair next year.Read the Corvallis Gazette-Times article here: https://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/exotic-animal-show-raises-questions/article_c81dab3e-f5be-5858-a04f-6f6852bf5f49.htmlContact Fair Manager Lonny Wunder at 541-766-6090 and email him at this link https://www.bentoncountyfair.net/contact-us/email-inquiry/No. 2      The Midland County Fair in Michigan just hosted a circus act called Wambold’s Amazing Animals. The act featured several tigers and even included a liger – the result of the unnatural mating of a tiger and a lion. Local paper Midland Daily News covered the tiger show in at least two articles but never mentioned the true issues involved with big cats in traveling acts in their reporting. Fair manager Trish Steele is quoted gushing over the circus act, “They provide a lot of educational information to people who are in the free entertainment area. It’s not just a show.” Hmmm.The owner of the tiger is also quoted in the article saying white tigers are “very, very rare in the wild because they have no camouflage.” It’s true they don’t have camouflage, but white tigers are not found in the wild because they are not a species!There is nothing educational about seeing majestic big cats forced to perform in front of crowds and travel in small transport wagons. Please help us educate Steele and the Midland Daily News that exotic cats and other animals at fairs and in circus acts should be a thing of the past. Urge the fair to NOT have the cats back next year.Read an article here: https://www.ourmidland.com/news/wambolds-brings-amazing-animals-to-fair/article_f5a7d9d2-4752-5fc9-90a4-00c324382234.htmlEmail the Midland Count Fair at midlandfair@midlandfair.netEmail Midland Daily News reporter John Kennett at jkennett@mdn.net and reporter Kelly Dame at kdame@mdn.net No. 3      The Kutztown Fair in Pennsylvania recently hosted a circus act with tigers called Tiger Encounter, run by the notorious Frisco circus family.We’re told children were allowed to feed the cats with a long stick. That sends the wrong message that big cats are ours to use how we want. Please kindly let the Kutztown Fair that animal lovers do not want to see big cats used as entertainment.Email the fair at info@kutztownfairgrounds.com. No.4      The West End Fair in Pennsylvania is going on right now until August 29. The fair features Bruno Blaszak’s Royal Bengal Tiger circus show. However, there is no such thing as a “royal” Bengal tiger. The fair’s website says Bruno is “devoted to preserving these magnificent tigers for many generations to come.”Breeding them to live lives of misery in circus acts and traveling the country in tiny transport cages? That is no life at all for big cats.Politely email the fair at   secwefa@ptd.netComment on the fair’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-West-End-Fair/587611944615207?sk=timeline No. 5      The Showhegen State Fair in Maine recently included the Vicenta White Tigers circus act. In a local newspaper article, owner Vicenta Pages actually told a reporter – presumably with a straight face – that “there are no longer any white Bengal tigers left in the wild of their homeland in India, having been hunted and poached to extinction.” HUH?White tigers do not exist in the wild and could not survive even if they did because they would not be able to sneak up on prey or hide from predators. Big Cat Rescue believes it is tragic that fair managers and even journalists fall for these lies over and over again. Would you speak out for these tigers?Learn more about white tigers here: https://bigcatrescue.org/abuse-issues/issues/white-tigers/Contact the Showhegen Fair at  office@skowheganstatefair.comYou can also help us to politely educate the reporter at CentralMaine.com who wrote an article glamorizing the white tigers at the fair, seemingly without researching or reporting the facts about white tigers. Read the article here: https://www.centralmaine.com/2015/08/16/bengal-tigers-earn-their-keep-at-skowhegan-state-fair/Email reporter Doug Harlow at dharlow@centralmaine.com

Want to Help Big Cats in a More Purr-sonal Way?

 https://youtu.be/hraMHdvIqFwJoin our intern program here:  https://bigcatrescue.org/get-involved/volunteer/intern/ 

Why is the FWC Giving Up on the Florida Panther?

 

Background

You may recall that in June Big Cat Rescue joined various national conservation groups in speaking out against the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission’s [FWC] policy proposal for the Florida panther. You may read our response to the FWC’s proposal at https://bigcatrescue.org/why-is-the-fwc-giving-up-on-the-florida-panther/.Many of you responded to our action alert, contacting the FWC and asking them to not give up on the FL panther. Big Cat Rescue attended the meeting in Sarasota to speak up for panthers (and bears). We also participated in a news conference with the Sierra Club, The Conservancy of Southwest Florida, and the Humane Society of the United States. Our combined actions resulted in the FWC taking note of the public’s comments and sending the proposal back to their staff forrevision.Earlier this month (August 2015) the FWC posted their revised​ policy proposal. As the Tampa Bay Times put it in their editorial on August 17th, the revised proposal is a “win for open government over secrecy” but the policy still has “some weasel language” and that overall, this is a reminder of the "need for public oversight of this critical agency."Big Cat Rescue opposes the revised policy proposal Although we were pleased to read that the overall tone of the proposal had softened with the removal of some of the most contentious terms and language, Big Cat Rescue found the “weasel language” to be far more extensive and subtle than the TBT let on.

First, the good.

The revision includes welcomed recommendations to restore panther habitat in the Everglades, coordinate with the Florida Department of Transportation on the installation wildlife crossings, and support for strategic conservation easements. But much like the FWC’s response to request for more habitat be protected for wildlife – the FWC has little to no say in these matters. These recommendations are just that, recommendations.

Second, the bad.

The original proposal repeated brash assertions that the FWC would no longer support panther recovery outside of southwest Florida and insisted that one population of an estimated 100 to 180 panthers in southwest Florida after 34 years “should be ample scientific evidence to warrant reconsideration of the status of panthers under the Endangered Species Act.”The federal government has maintained that for panthers to be taken off of the endangered species list their needs to be three separate populations, each with 240 panthers. Conservation groups, wildlife organizations, and a wide array of Floridians were quick to call out what was an attempt to force the federal government to reconsider the criteria for taking panthers off the endangered species list. (Big Cat Rescue believes that lowering the panther’s federal protective status, and ultimately delisting the big cat from the Endangered Species Act, are steps towards allowing a panther hunt.)This revision, in addition to the softer tone and recommendations, includes language stating that the FWC does not intend to change the panther’s protected status. But the core statements brashly asserted in the original proposal are still there - polished and smoothed over, but none the wiser.

Third, the ugly.

The FWC is still abandoning their obligation to federal recovery efforts outside of the small population of 100 to 180 panthers in southwest Florida. The policy proposal still calls for federal officials to lessen their criteria for taking panthers off the endangered species list. It also leaves the door wide open for the FWC to take lethal action against panthers.

Be a voice for the Florida panther!

Tell the FWC Commissioners to oppose the policy proposal. Attend the upcoming FWC meeting in Ft. Lauderdale on September 2nd​, 2015 at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina. The FWC will be voting on the revised policy proposal as well as finalizing​​ rules for the impending bear hunt.More information about the meeting including the address, ​start time, agenda, and a ​link to ​the revised draft FL panther position proposal​​ may be found online at https://myfwc.com/about/commission/commission-meetings/2015/september/02/agenda/ 

Take Action Here!

https://salsa4.salsalabs.com/o/51389/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=15098