| If we were only $20.00 away from curing cancer, we | | | | wildlife trapper, Vernon Yates was quoted in the St. |
| would surely all clamor to be the one to complete | | | | Pete Times as saying, "I thought I would not see it in |
| the fundraising for the cure. Some of the ills of our | | | | my lifetime but I think it's coming - any form of |
| society are that close to a cure. Ending the abuse of | | | | private (exotic animal) ownership will be gone." The |
| baby lions and tigers is one of them. | | | | public has become better informed and not only is |
| In 2005 The Chronicles of Narnia's computer | | | | refusing to support this abuse, but many people are |
| generated animation of Aslan the lion captivated the | | | | coming forward to end it. |
| imagination of all who witnessed the fantasy. The | | | | Innkeepers at the Sobotta Manor Bed and Breakfast, |
| notion of being so special that the creature known as | | | | Robin and Thurman Hester, wrote Big Cat Rescue |
| the King of Beasts would allow us to touch him | | | | asking for help, saying, "I am an Innkeeper in Mount |
| became irresistible to many when they were allowed | | | | Airy North Carolina where an organization called The |
| to act out their fantasy. It only cost them $20.00... | | | | Zoo (owned by Pat & Robert Engessor) visited |
| and their conscience. | | | | a few days back and they had as part of their show |
| After paying $20.00 to have their picture made with | | | | an eight week old tiger cub that was being handed |
| a baby lion or tiger the vast majority of people, who | | | | to person after person to have photos made and |
| learned the truth about the miserable lives captive | | | | was crying as in pain the entire time. Additionally |
| cats lead, confess "I knew in my heart that there | | | | when the cat was placed back in the pen it was too |
| was something wrong..." Often it is the nagging | | | | ill to even walk and had severe dysentery. They |
| conscience, reminding them of the distressed baby's | | | | would just rinse its rear and hand to the next person. |
| cries for their real mothers, the barren | | | | The condition of this baby was awful and I am afraid |
| accommodations, and the sleaziness of the business | | | | for its life. My friend, as well as others, witnessed the |
| operators that haunted them long after the thrill of | | | | condition of this cub. I am from Tampa and am |
| the moment had passed. | | | | familiar with your organization and hope you can |
| Most of the "pay to play" operations stay on the | | | | assist." |
| move. They set up in flea markets, fair grounds and | | | | Paula Sabatke writes, "I live in northern Wisconsin and |
| parking lots for only a few days at a time. They | | | | visited the Big Cat Rescue for the first time in |
| frequently change their names and rarely own a | | | | December, although I have been a fan for years. I |
| facility anywhere that is open to public scrutiny. Then | | | | am sure that you hear these stories all to often, but |
| know that their pitch of doing this for education or | | | | I would like your help. This past weekend I attended |
| conservation can easily be disproved. By the time | | | | a professional conference in the Wisconsin Dells at a |
| they are found out, they are on the road again. In | | | | large resort, the Kalahari. In the lobby, a private |
| 2005 there were far too many lion and tiger babies | | | | vendor was set up with a very young white tiger |
| bred just for this purpose and those who paid to | | | | cub in a small glass enclosure. For a fee, one could |
| touch them would be appalled if they knew how life | | | | pay to have a picture taken with the cub. This cub |
| has turned out for those innocent cubs. | | | | was about the size of a large house cat and could |
| Big cats can breed several times a year, giving birth | | | | barely stand on its own. While I took the opportunity |
| to 2-6 cubs. The cubs are immediately pulled and | | | | to tell anyone who would listen what a terrible and |
| bottle raised so that the mothers can be bred again. | | | | inhumane situation this was, I felt that I should be |
| It was not unusual to see a circus-type side show | | | | doing something more. Can you offer any |
| offering the public the chance to handle cubs who | | | | suggestions?" |
| were only days old. To keep the cubs small they are | | | | One of the heretofore most popular tourist |
| often starved, and deprived of the calcium and | | | | attractions in Africa was the opportunity to pet baby |
| vitamins needed to build big, healthy bodies. In some | | | | lions. The operators of these lion farms have sold |
| cases cubs have been purposely poisoned to give | | | | themselves as being conservation breeding programs |
| them diarrhea so that they cannot put on any | | | | so that people would feel good about doing |
| weight. Pound for pound a big cat is 12 times | | | | something that they know in their hearts to be |
| stronger than a man, so keeping them small and | | | | wrong. The Drakenstien Lion Park urges people to |
| handlable is the main objective for these abusers. | | | | consider these facts, "These inbred, human imprinted |
| When they get too big to use, they disappear and | | | | and psychologically damaged animals have absolutely |
| there is virtually no way to track them. If the dealer | | | | no conservation value. They cannot be rehabilitated |
| has 10 tigers this year and 10 tigers next year, then | | | | into the wild. They cannot be used to supplement |
| it appears as if no births and no disappearances have | | | | dwindling wild populations." The lion park, which |
| happened, so no further investigation takes place. It | | | | rescues some cast off captive bred lions, further |
| is no coincidence that the US is the second largest | | | | explains that the only use for these cubs, after they |
| consumer of illegal, black market tiger parts. | | | | have grown up, is by the canned hunting ranches and |
| In 2007 USDA adopted a policy stating that baby big | | | | says, "Every reputable animal welfare organization in |
| cats, under the age of 8 weeks and over the age of | | | | the world considers the practice of using lion cubs for |
| 16 weeks, could not be handled by the public. They | | | | human playthings as cruelty." |
| also define a big cat as lions, tigers, jaguars, leopards, | | | | Carole Baskin, Founder of Big Cat Rescue reports, |
| mountain lions, and cheetahs. Florida and some other | | | | "We respond to every one of these complaints and |
| states still classify a mountain lion as a small cat and | | | | urge the witness to take pictures, videos and written |
| allow them to be kept as pets, despite the fact that | | | | statements about what they saw to the USDA, to |
| they can grow to be over 200 lbs and are very | | | | the state agencies that monitor wildlife, and to the |
| dangerous. | | | | media to expose the awful way these great cats are |
| Many pseudo sanctuaries breed their big cats to | | | | being treated." They have been doing it and there |
| attract donors and to lure volunteers who want to | | | | has been a tremendous shift in the way people are |
| play with the babies. But in 2007 the US Fish and | | | | thinking about and treating wild animals. |
| Wildlife Service announced: "Accredited wildlife | | | | When the next Aslan the lion movie, Prince Caspian, |
| sanctuary means a facility that cares for live | | | | opened in theaters May 17, 2008 there did not |
| specimens of one or more of the prohibited wildlife | | | | appear to be even one baby lion or baby tiger photo |
| species and: | | | | booth advertised across the nation. "We monitor the |
| (1) Is approved by the United States Internal | | | | keywords: lion, tiger, cub, big cat and others via |
| Revenue Service as a corporation that is exempt | | | | google news alerts and we closely monitor sites like |
| from taxation under Sec. 501(a) of the Internal | | | | which is a site that allows people who have |
| Revenue Code; | | | | witnessed animal abuse to post a letter, photos and |
| (2) Does not commercially trade in prohibited wildlife | | | | video while contacting USDA and the agencies |
| species, including offspring, parts, and products; | | | | mentioned above at the bottom of every page. We |
| (3) Does not propagate any of the prohibited wildlife | | | | didn't see one report of a baby lion or baby tiger |
| species; and | | | | being used as a prop in conjunction with the opening |
| (4) Does not allow any direct contact between the | | | | of the movie," says Carole Baskin. |
| public and the prohibited wildlife species." (prohibited | | | | So near and yet so far. Exotic and endangered |
| wildlife species incl. lions, tigers, leopards, snow | | | | animals are increasingly in the mainstream news as |
| leopards, clouded leopards, jaguars, cougars and | | | | experts such as the 43 member, International Tiger |
| cheetahs). | | | | Coalition and the World Bank announced a launch in |
| A lot can change in three years and there have been | | | | June of 2008 to save the tiger from extinction. |
| fewer and fewer news reports hawking the fun of | | | | These same groups compiled a petition of more than |
| touching a baby wild cat. Venues are becoming more | | | | 125,000 signatures to ban tiger farming. And yet, at a |
| aware of the public disdain for the practice and no | | | | restaurant in Florida on Memorial Day Weekend, the |
| longer want to be associated with what is now | | | | special was "lion steak" for $48.95 a plate because |
| commonly viewed as cruelty. Every year there is a | | | | the lion, although in considerable peril, is not yet |
| parade in Pinellas County, FL where a local man takes | | | | classified as endangered. To quote Harrison Ford in |
| his tigers, bears and other exotic animals out in circus | | | | his public service announcement for Wildaid, a |
| wagons as part of the spectacle. It has been a | | | | member of the International Tiger Coalition, "When |
| tradition that has gone from being accepted to being | | | | the buying stops, the killing can too. |
| booed in just the last year. The operation owner and | | | | |