Big Cat Updates

Zeus is doing better every day. You can get updates on him at BigCatRescue.org/Zeus-Tiger or watch the live web cam on him in the hospital cage at https://video.nest.com/live/JmCWXdpxWh

Kitten Updates

Karma told the Interns these cats and kittens are ready to go back to the Humane Society of Tampa Bay to be fixed and adopted into their forever homes.

"Tomorrow afternoon:

Momma Maya
Bashful
Becky
Christof
Lavinia
Lottie
Sara
Allen
Aurora

I will pick them up from the Cabana, and Maya from intern housing tomorrow afternoon. Himalayan, please pack up Bashful's special diet and bring to food prep for me to take in with her.  Modglin, please prepare a cage for a litter of 6 six week olds. Himalayan, please prepare a cage for 1-4 older kittens. Humane Society is still deciding which of the litters they'll send.

Thank you!"

Karma L. Hurworth

Videos

Silly Leopard Sisters

Leopard sisters, Jade and Armani, are very playful and love enrichment! Join in on the fun watching them be silly chasing each other around and tearing up their enrichment toys.

Dr Wynn Checks On Zeus Tiger

Dr Wynn Checks On Zeus Tiger in the morning. A beautiful butterfly stops my golf cart for a while. Then Rebecca comes in to visit w/ Zeus Tiger. More about Zeus at BigCatRescue.org/Zeus-Tiger

We just got a check for $5,725.65 for the ad revenue on the YouTube videos YOU watched, so thank you and keep watching!

Rescue News

Yesterday we got two rescue calls.

The first one was someone saying they had a serval that "needed rescuing."  I called them back, but haven't heard any more.  I don't know if it is an owner trying to dump their pet or if someone thinks we can just swoop in and take a serval away from someone who shouldn't have it.

The second one was pretty heart breaking.  Animal Control, in the Port Charlotte area, was called to the scene of an accident where a mother bobcat had been hit by a car and killed.  The witness, who sat with the bobcat as she died, saw kittens across the road.  The Animal Control officer said the mother was not lactating, so the kittens must have been weaned, but no one knew for sure if they were old enough to survive.  A road mowing crew arrived right after the accident and the kittens ran into the woods.

Operations Manager Kathryn took a posse of three car loads of people, I think, to the scene at 601 Rotunda Blvd W Port Charlotte, FL to search for the kittens.  Afton helped them out by sending recordings of Cooper Bobcat to play, in the hopes that the kittens would hear bobcat sounds and reply.  No sound came back from the dense underbrush.  Kathryn has friends in the area and we will continue to seek out tips, but looks like these little guys are on their own now.

Carole's Notes

I've been working on my presentation at the wildlife film festival.  I have to get it down to 4 minutes.  So far, if I describe the 3 prong approach at all, it goes to 5.5 min.  Still working on editing it down, or talking faster.  Maybe I will practice on you guys during a LIVE Facebook walkabout?

10/18/2011, Terry Thompson, out of jail 2 weeks, set free 56 lions, tigers, bears, cougars, wolves and other wild animals.

Cut the doors off the cages, committed suicide, apparent goal was to wreak as much havoc as possible with his last actions.

His horrific act of violence against the animals, and the community, turned out to be a catalyst for change.

Animal protection groups had been trying for years to ban the private possession of big cats.

1/6/2011 Ohio’s outgoing Gov Strickland passed emergency executive order to require registration of dangerous wild animals and ban criminals from possessing them.

3/2011 Incoming Gov. Kasich allowed the order to expire

7/2011 IFAW hosted 11 orgs, 18 million supporters, to come up with a 3 prong approach to ending the big cat crisis.

Generic tiger
USDA cub handling
Fed ban on private possession and cub handling

The 11 org coalition, which included IFAW, HSUS, Born Free & Big Cat Rescue, knew that the next major tragedy involving big cats was just right around the corner, because in our world it’s pretty common place news.

10/18/11  When law enforcement had to find and kill 18 Tigers, 17 Lions, 8 Bears, 3 Cougars, 2 Wolves, 2 Monkeys it was a 24 hour long blood bath that came to be known around the world as The Zanesville Massacre.

No matter where you go, when you say "Zanesville Massacre” people know the story.  What made it so memorable, was that people just could not believe that it could be legal to privately own such dangerous animals.

So why is it still legal?  Celebrities have a lot of power in Washington and there are several people who have made their fortunes and found their fame by taking cute baby lions, tigers, snow leopards and other wild animals onto talk shows.  Some of the most well known claim to be there w/ babies from their affiliated zoo, but most of those babies are actually bred by private owners for the pay to play trade.

Those breeders would be banned under the Fed law we lobby for.  The celebrities are doing all they can to thwart our progress.  Media has hampered change by pandering to the romantic notion that you can touch the wild and be held out as a Lion Whisper.

Hospital Update

We have a big dental day coming up with the Peter Emily Foundation, so this gift came just in time.

Thank You!

Thank you everyone for liking, sharing, shopping and donating.  It takes all of us, doing what each of us can, to end the abuse of big cats being bred for life in prison.