May 1 2019

Big Cat Updates

NO VET MONDAY this coming Monday as Jamie will be out of town.
Loki: During his recent vet visit it was discovered that he had been declawed and was already neutered. He looks great overall. He did have one canine removed and is eating. After some observation, he was returned to his outside enclosure.
4/29/2019 King Tut went back outside to his enclosure
Pharaoh- arthritis in both ankles, and a luxating patella which would mean the same surgery as Mickey. At his age it would not be advised so he will be on pain meds for the rest of his life, possibly medicam, eventually, and have ramps built for his platforms in his enclosure
Hoover: Seems to be healing well so far. The infection in super resistant, so he will remain on meds for a while and Dr. Justin will continue to monitor for signs of it. He will not be allowed back to his enclosure for a little longer but definitely not out to the water until he is fully healed.
MaryAnn has extended her stay in the hospital as she is healing but the sutures are healing slower than expected.
Visiting Cougar has gained 22 lbs since his arrival to us. His kidney values have dropped a great deal and are suspected to have been infection related. His jaw looks great and the small hole that was still there was closed up. He will need pain meds and kidney meds for the rest of his life.

Watch our Facebook page LIVE throughout Thursday Morning – May 2nd Big Cat Rescue Giving Day – starting about 9 AM as we Introduce the Tigers and Black Leopard! Donate to their lifetime care at Big Cat Rescue: https://bigcatrescue.salsalabs.org/2019givingday/index.html

Alexa Flash Briefing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9z-lK-gjN4U

In case you have missed previous days’ news briefings you can find them all at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCPv8ivo6o4CZHFifkfRYDw

Coordinator Report – Kathryn Stapleton

Was a good day!! Everyone worked hard and got everything done.

Thanks to Marie Schoubert, Brittany Mira, Tanya Chute, Dylan Lavigne, Mazz, and Amanda Fenick for getting the feeding done. Thanks to Phyllis Middaugh for coming in to help everyone clean. Food prep got done before lunch so Tanya, Mazz, Amanda, and Brooklynne Dillon could finish the Tiger Island cage and start on the cubs’ old cage. Thanks to Jennie Jamison, Elizabeth Heath, and Dylan for doing tours.

We still managed to get enrichment and operant sign-offs done as well.

We ended the day on the happy news that Dutchess, Jasmine, Sapphire, and Jinx are now part of the BCR family, officially!! Since they have already been in secret for 4 years.

That’s it for me!
Kathryn

Former Witness Protection Cats Now have Bios Posted

Check out their stories and photos and get a few tidbits about their personalities.

ACTION ALERT – Missouri Residents

ACTION ALERT – MISSOURI RESIDENTS!

Proposed bills in MO would prevent local authorities from inspecting roadside zoos and circuses. Time is of the essence. TAKE ACTION NOW at the link below! Urge your state senator to oppose both HB951 and SB133.

These bills would restrict public safety officials from ensuring that exhibitors who raise dangerous exotic animals, such as lions and tigers, are securely housing their animals to prevent an escape or injurious activity. Likewise, they tie the hands of animal control officers from responding to citizen concerns about the welfare of animals and investigating reports of cruelty, neglect, or abuse at roadside zoos and circuses.

A vote could occur any day. Please take immediate action for exotic cats in Missouri! https://bigcatrescue.salsalabs.org/mohb951sb133/index.html

Promotions

The Volunteer Committee is pleased to announce the promotion of Mary Gagliordi to Green Senior Keeper.

Videos of the Day

3D Keisha Tiger Rescue Story – The heartbreaking rescue of Keisha Tiger. Keisha the tiger was born in 2000 at a pseudo-sanctuary in Sinclairville, NY. While the website proclaimed to be a sanctuary, in fact, all but one of the 11 tigers had been bred for use as pay to play props. Keisha was rescued with Zeus and Kimba

According to volunteers, Zeus was the son of the original female, Kimba, and then was bred back to his mother to create the other 9 tigers, including Keisha. This is commonly done on purpose to create white tigers, which are the cruel result of severe inbreeding. What we saw during the rescue was unimaginable suffering and conditions that clearly threatened everyone in the area.

The pseudo-sanctuary had a pile of citations for not allowing inspectors onto the property, but in many cases, those are considered by the bad guys to be far less incriminating than actually answering the gate and letting inspectors see what they are doing. The NY state attorney’s office decided to send a message to all of the backyard breeders, dealers and pseudo-sanctuaries that they would no longer turn a blind eye to the danger that these facilities pose to the public and launched the biggest seizure of wild animals in New York’s history. With the help of IFAW and several sanctuaries 11 tigers, 3 lions, 3 bears, and 2 wolves were rescued that day in May of 2014.

Keisha only has half an ear and a little bobbed tail. We think she lost them to the lions who lived in the cage next door to her in NY. All over the compound the bears and big cats shared common walls where they could easily reach through and injure or kill each other.

Big Cat Rescue had gone to NY expecting to bring home four of the tigers, but one had passed away before we got there and no one seemed to know when or how. The other tiger, who was Keisha and Zeus’ mom, was a 20-year-old tigress named Kimba. She was in such bad condition, that unfortunately, that we were not able to save her, but at least she died here in comfort, surrounded by love.

Maybe the worst thing about the entire situation in NY was that it is so typical of how big cats are treated in America. You can put an end to that by never paying to see or touch a cub. I think, one of the most important things we can do is speak up when we see abuse. Whenever you see an article or a post, where something has physical contact with a big cat or their cub, you have the power to educate right there, in that moment.

Maybe the selfish individual who posted the image won’t be educated, but you might reach a single viewer before they become apart of the problem. Keisha will now remain at her forever home, here is loved, respected and finally safe. Despite the first fourteen years of her life being a horrible experience that no animal should have had to endure Keisha’s spirit was never broken. She is full of life and very outgoing.

Want to volunteer, intern. donate, learn about our mission and learn how you can help cats like Keisha? Visit BigCatRescue.org/get-involved/ today. You can stand up and be a voice for these cats

Q&A at Big Cat Rescue 5/1/2019 – Follow along as Keeper Brittany shows you many of the Tigers, Lion, Leopards, Jaguar, Cougars, Lynx, Servals, Bobcats, Savannah Cats and an Ocelot that Call Big Cat Rescue was Rescue Home! Cats Featured: Apollo, Nabisco, Mrs. Claws and Smalls!
Tomorrow is Big Cat Rescue Giving Day!! https://bigcatrescue.salsalabs.org/2019givingday/index.html

Merchandise of the Day

When you shop Mother’s Day gifts at smile.amazon.com/ch/59-3330495, AmazonSmile donates to Big Cat Rescue!!!!

You can donate to the cats at NO COST TO YOU when you select BCR as your charity on Amazon Smile and shop Smile.Amazon.com instead of Amazon.com. It is exactly the same as regular Amazon EXCEPT when you use the Smile URL Amazon donates .5% of your purchase to BCR. It’s added up to over $100,000 for the cats!

Our Unique charity link:
https://smile.amazon.com/ch/59-3330495

Big Cat Rescue May 1st Birthdays

We have lots to celebrate today! Happy Birthday to Apollo, Chaos, Kewlona, Dryden, and Nabisco! When we rescue cats we typically are not given any real information or conflicting information so we have to estimate the month and year and we celebrate them on the 1st of the month!

You can learn their stories here:
http://bigcatrescue.org/apollo/
http://bigcatrescue.org/chaos/
http://bigcatrescue.org/kewlona/
http://bigcatrescue.org/dryden/
http://bigcatrescue.org/nabisco/

Photos for the Day

Good morning Big Cat Rescue Friends! ☀️ Handsome Hoover wishes everyone a wonderful Whiskers Wednesday! >>•<<

A well-deserved nap for Her Royal Lioness, Nikita

Ginger is always on the lookout for tiny critters! Isn’t she stunning?!

The key to her soul lies within her eye… Sweet Sundari

Good night Big Cat Rescue Friends! ? The Fab 4 ( former Witness Protection Cats) wish you “good night” for the first time and remind you tomorrow is the first Big Cat Rescue Giving Day! Top L-R: Dutchess, Jinx Bottom L-R: Sapphire, Jasmine Photos: Brittany Mira