December 21 2017

Big Cat Updates

SUMMARY:  Video, Photos, Manny's updates, new kittens, Letter to Mgmt, Tax Deductible Donation matching, New big cat bans, FUNNY Cole & Marmalade Gingerbread Cat Castle, and more

 Are you still making the Call of the Wild every week?

Getting the Big Cat Public Safety Act, H.R. 1818, passed as a federal law will save far more cats than all good sanctuaries, combined, could ever hope save rescuing one by one.

This will not pass WITHOUT YOUR ongoing efforts.  Please make that call every week and educate everyone one you can with the facts at CubTruth.com and encourage them to make the weekly Call of the Wild, too.  We make that SUPER EASY to do at BigCatAct.com

As of 5:00 PM December 19th, supporters have made 3,090 calls to members of Congress asking for their support of the Big Cat Public Safety Act. We should easily be able to get that number to hit 3,500 by the end of the year.

Let's work together to set-up the Big Cat Public Safety Act for success in early 2018!

 Facebook Live Video Replays

Pharaoh the white serval was playing hide and seek w/ the black leopard next door...until I walked up. Pharaoh is an 18 year old white serval.

Evening snacks and meds with Keeper Devin

 Your Purr-Fect Year-End, Tax-Deductible Donation Will be Doubled!

We have 70 precious reasons to ask you to please consider making a year-end, tax-deductible donation to Big Cat Rescue. Their names circle the alphabet several times over: from Apollo (lynx) to Zeus (tiger). From Armani (leopard) to Zabu (white tiger). From Ariel (bobcat) to Zimba (serval). And from Ares (cougar) to Zucari (serval).

And this year the first $12,500 in donations will be matched dollar for dollar by Larry and Pam Trissel, so your gift will do twice as much good for our big cats!

As 2017 comes to a close, we are so grateful for everyone who has visited our sanctuary, followed our cats on social media, taken action to help us pass the Big Cat Public Safety Act and generously donated to our sanctuary. It is only because of your financial support that we can continue to rescue abused, neglected and abandoned exotic cats around the country and provide them with the best possible nutrition and medical care at our sanctuary.

This year we have rescued nine exotic cats, including three in December! Maya, an 18-year-old cougar from Ohio, was rescued earlier this month after her owner surrendered her to the state of Ohio. And Manny the jaguar and Natalie the Amur leopard have just arrived from a zoo in Omaha. It’s been many years since Big Cat Rescue has been home to a jaguar and Manny (pictured here) has already stolen our hearts with his playful antics of storing all of his new toys inside his den at night. We’ve also never had an Amur leopard at the sanctuary before and are enjoying getting to know Natalie’s purr-sonality.

Thank YOU so much for your amazing support of our sanctuary and cats! We hope the cats can count on you one more time in 2017 as you consider making your year-end, tax-deductible charitable donations.

BigCatRescue.org/tax

Best wishes from your Big Cat Rescue family for a purrfectly healthy and happy New Year!

If you prefer, you can mail a check by December 31st to Howard Baskin at Big Cat Rescue at 12802 Easy Street, Tampa, Florida 33625.

 Keeper Corner

Jamie's new photo of Manny Jaguar.  Even outside his den, Manny likes to keep a toy handy.

 It's Finally Here !!!!

Manny Jaguar's Sponsor Kit is done and ready for YOU!  Many of you have been asking about it so Jamie dropped what she was doing, took mew close-up photos and got it done as you all requested.  Just In Time for Christmas the downloadable Sponsor Kit is now available on Manny's page at https://BigCatRescue.org/Manny/  New photos have also been added to Manny's bio page.

Jamie will be taking new photos of Nat & Maya and building their sponsor kits soon, as well.

 Keeper Corner Continued

Zucari says that re-marking his entire yard after a rain shower or after keepers & volunteers clean it is a lot of work.

Keeper MaryLou got some cute snapshots of Maya Cougar.  Here is one of them.

Keeper Desmond Fowles found Apollo lounging on his beloved Coolaroo bed.

 Turkey For Christmas?

Seth enjoys hanging out on the shore of Tiger Lake. He enjoys hiding in the woods. But, he especially enjoys lounging around the edge of the woods spying on the keepers getting the food carts ready. (Photo by Keeper MaryLou)

You can buy a turkey for your favorite cat at BigCatRescue.org/turkey

 Foster Kitten Program

NEW KITTENS COMING:  Sand Cat Intern House will be getting five. Modglin Intern House will be getting four. Keeper Karma will be picking them up sometime tomorrow morning. They are 5 weeks old and all black. Interns will paint the kitten toenails so we can keep their names straight.

Explore.org/BigCatRescue

I found this on Facebook.com/ExploreOrg  Have YOU "Liked" ExploreOrg Facebook page yet?

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 Letter To Management

December 21, 2017

Dear Sir/Madam:

Recently some of my subjects seem to be very concerned about my hairstyle. Fear not. As King of BCR, my subjects look to me to set the standards here – and that includes the latest and greatest fashions and hairstyles. I must always keep things fresh and new.

Now, we all know that I can rock the Bon Jovi big hair look (1) and the Captain Jack Sparrow chin ponytail look (2) and even bed head (3).
For the new year, I am trying something new. Those things you refer to as “mats” in my hair are just the start of some dreadlocks! I know some people think dreadlocks are dirty. That is just a myth! Dreadlocks are only dirty if you don’t take care of them and wash them.

I know many of my subjects will want to volunteer for that job, so I will probably need to do a contest and pick a few winners. Unless, of course, Dr. Justin wants to volunteer…

It takes about 6 months to make good dreads, so you will be seeing those “mats” in my hair for a while, but

Don’ worry - everytin gon be irie, mon!

Sincerely,

Joseph Lion
(Sent via Lori D., Secretary to the Cats)

 Joseph's Mane  FYI

When cats get as old as Joseph is they no longer can groom themselves as well as they used to.  Some of the cats allow us to help them by using a telescoping scratcher.  Once in a while Joseph allows it but if we get near hi mats he instantly gets really angry.  We are keeping a close eye on those mats.  right now they are only on the surface and are not even close to his skin.  If they reach a point they are pulling on his skin we will of course do something about removing them.  But for now, they are only cosmetic and not bothering him so rather than cause him stress we will wait.

 Facebook Fundraisers - WOW

A HUGE HUGE ROAR OUT to the 34 big cat friends doing Facebook Fundraisers for the cats!!  YOUR help is GREATLY APPRECIATED!!

Facebook makes it super easy to do a fundraiser for the cats.  They handle all the funds for you and every two weeks send the collected funds directly to the cats.  You don't have to do anything!  It takes approximately $8,000 per day to run the sanctuary.  So fundraiser is always an ongoing effort for us.  You all have no idea HOW MUCH we appreciate YOUR Facebook Fundraisers for the cats!!

Learn how easy it is to set up a Facebook Fundraiser for the cats:  http://bigcatrescue.org/facebook-fundraiser/

Because of YOUR Support we are able to give these precious cats many comforts.

 Big Cat Bans Enacted

We are very excited to tell you the Big Cat Bans page has been updated!!  YAY!!!! Check it out.  http://bigcatrescue.org/big-cat-bans-enacted/

 Cole & Marmalade's Corner

EPIC DIY Gingerbread House for Cats!

Published on Dec 12, 2017 - Meowy Catmas! … We can no longer have a Christmas tree (Marmalade destroys them) so we have to get creative :)