Charles Perry cperry@heraldonline.com (803) 329-4068
Dear Charles,
The people keeping big cats as pets will tell you they are doing it for conservation purposes. That is why the Long Island Ocelot Club changed its name to the Feline Conservation Federation. None of these private owners are participating in any true conservation efforts. That is just the deception they use to cover the real agenda which is one of selfishness and greed.
Many of these places house white tigers. No one who knows anything about white tigers would claim to be breeding them for conservation. They are all hybrids of
Real sanctuaries do not breed their cats, so these places, which always have cubs, could not qualify as a sanctuary either.
The following is a partial listing (797) of incidents involving captive big cats since 1990. These incidents have resulted in the killing or deaths of 234 big cats, 69 human deaths, more than 243 human maulings, 214 exotic cat escapes and 364 confiscations. http://bigcatrescue.org/big_cat_news.htm
To see a video of the mauling of a zoo keeper in 2006 go to http://bigcatrescue.org/animal_contact.htm
The Journal of Internal Medicine in 2006 estimated that 50 million people worldwide have been infected with zoonotic diseases since 2000 and as many as 78,000 have died. Read more about zoonotic diseases here:
To see the number of exotic cats abandoned each year go to http://bigcatrescue.org/animal_abuse.htm
To view a trend chart that shows the alarming escalation of big cat incidents here: http://bigcatrescue.org/Flash/BigCatBans/BigCatBanCharts.htm
The
This video shows facilities that are currently
Feel free to quote me or the website if you do any follow up story on the fraud that is being brought to your town.
In case you need a second opinion on white tigers, try:
Dr. Ron Tilson, Director of Conservation at the Minnesota Zoo, is the director of the Tiger Species Survival Plan and has actually worked in the field to save them. http://www.tigerfdn.com/home/W2D7.html He is quoted on our page about white tigers.
You can contact the American Zoological Association at http://www.aza.org/NewsGrantsCalendar/MemberNewsMar2006/ Do a search on that page for "white tigers" and you will see that they are trying to debunk the myth that white tigers are an endangered species that should be bred.
For the cats,
Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
an Educational Sanctuary home
to more than 100 big cats
12802 Easy Street
813.493.4564 fax 885.4457
http://www.BigCatRescue.org MakeADifference@BigCatRescue.org
Sign our petition here:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/344896451?ltl=1140270431
Get 7 Free Lessons from the Teachers of "The Secret" here: http://bigcatrescue.theofficialsecretseminar.com
This message contains information from Big Cat Rescue that may be confidential or privileged. The information contained herein is intended only for the eyes of the individual or entity named above. You are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, disclosure, and/or copying of the information contained in this communication is strictly prohibited. The recipient should check this e-mail and any attachments for the presence of viruses. Big Cat Rescue accepts no liability for any damage or loss caused by any virus transmitted by this e-mail.