Big Cat Rescue Watch

FWC Reports NO Violations at Big Cat Rescue

 The exotic animal exploiters who attack Big Cat Rescue online due to our efforts to end the mistreatment of exotic animals in private hands have posted an inspection by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) conducted on November 7, 2014. This was a very unusual inspection in which three officials went in different directions and spent 6 hours each examining the sanctuary in extraordinary detail.The version of the report the attackers have reported was the initial report which erroneously characterized their observations as violations. The final report, which the attackers also have, but of course chose not to publish, clearly stated that none of the findings were violations.They were recommendations for maintenance which, if they were not attended to, at some point might have become violations.

"Recommendations and not a violation"

See the final language below or you can FOIA the FWC at myfwc.com to see the entire thread that resulted in the following: Click here to see the first two pages of the final report with no violation box checked on page one and the statement pictured above on page 2 along with confirmation from FWC that these are the first two pages of the final report.The recommendations were primarily items that are dealt with in our normal ongoing maintenance of the sanctuary. All were addressed in a timely fashion. A USDA inspection on 8/6/2015 found, as usual, no violations, and the next FWC inspection, on 8/20/2015, as usual, found no violations. Big Cat Rescue has a near perfect inspection record over the years and never had any comment by any official that related to care of the animals.The report noted some areas that showed signs of rust. We live in humid Florida, and some rust is a fact of life. We deter rust using brown Rustoleum paint and we repaint cages on an ongoing regular maintenance program.The attackers, who have no regard at all for the truth, falsely post repeatedly that the brown color of the Rustoleum on the cage wire is all rust. One refers to BCR as a “jungle of rust.” If all the cages were totally rust like the lies of the attackers claim, don’t you think FWC would have noted that?Rust is, in fact, not a violation of any rule. The relevant rule is that the cages must meet certain strength requirements. This makes perfect sense – the cages have to be strong enough to contain powerful animals. The concern with rust is that if you use the minimum gauge wire and it rusts, the strength could diminish below the minimum requirement. That is why Big Cat Rescue uses cage wire that is FAR in excess of the minimum. Even with minimal amount of rust that may appear before the next painting cycle, our cages far exceed the required strength.One of the inspectors commented that he was not an engineer and had no way to know if some rust brought the wire down below the strength standard. So we assisted FWC to remove any uncertainty by having an engineer test one of our older cages that is right by the lake so it is most exposed to moisture and had been through repeated cycles of having any rust scraped off and being repainted. The engineer pulled on the cage with a bobcat machine with a tension gauge connected to the chain that the bobcat pulled. As you can see in the video below, the cage far exceeded the required strength.Scroll to minute 1:21 for the section about strength testing.https://youtu.be/YhHAEmoC_gEThe individual who posted the erroneous initial report had in his possession the final report stating there were no violations. But, of course, he knowingly posted the incorrect initial report and falsely claimed there were dozens of violations. Then others in the small band of animal exploiters who constantly attack Big Cat Rescue picked up the same false information.Big Cat Rescue is the leader in working to end the private ownership of big cats by individuals and road side zoos. The animal abusers and exploiters have no arguments to justify their selfish mistreatment of animals. So their only recourse is to try to discredit Big Cat Rescue, and the only way they can do that with lies. Posting the incorrect version of the FWC report and falsely claiming it contained violations is just one more of their lies.