911 Animal Abuse

19 Search Results for ""tiger touch""

• Kathy Stearns Using Cubs Kathy Stearns Using Cubs

  • From: Anon
  • Description:

    At Dade City rescue center, you can feed a tiger or cuddle a kangaroo

    By Helen Anne Travis, Times Staff Writer
    In Print: Saturday, February 28, 2009

    ---

    Nakita, a 14-week-old female Siberian tiger, is one of the new additions to Dade City’s Wild Things, which is part of the Stearns Zoological Rescue & Rehab Center. For a fee, you can handle her for 10 minutes.
    	[KERI WIGINTON | Times]

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    DADE CITY

    The jaguars rolled on their backs like house cats. The lions basked in the sun, and the tigers rubbed their furry cheeks against their cage, practically begging you to pet them.

    Now, you can.

    At Stearns Zoological Rescue & Rehab Center, a zoo north of downtown, guests can bottle feed Nakita, a 14-week-old tiger cub, or hold Mahina, a 15-pound albino baby wallaby (a "joey" if you want to get technical).

    The interactions cost a little extra, last about 10 minutes and are highly supervised.

    Handlers keep Nakita on a short leash. They watch her closely as little kids try to angle a baby bottle just so into her mouth. The 30-pound cat's claws are kept short, but the zoo staff warns you may get scratched when she wraps her huge paws around your forearm.

    Mahina, on the other hand, is more likely to burrow her small pointed head in your neck. Wrap her up in a warm blanket, and she thinks she's in her mother's pouch. If she gets really comfortable, you may get a kiss.

    Both creatures have been equally popular with guests, depending on their preferences.

    "You can cuddle (Mahina) like a baby," said zoo owner Kathy Stearns. "The tiger is the more exotic, forbidden thing."

    The animals are just two of the 170 she keeps in her 22-acre backyard, which also serves as the zoo's grounds. Some of the cougars, tigers and exotic birds are rescues who could not be returned to the wild. Others were adopted from breeders and zoos.

    Stearns opened her backyard to the public in 2007 after several years of offering private tours. She had a few reptiles for guests to touch, but Mahina and Nakita are the first mammals in her petting zoo.

    Nakita won't stay there for long.

    According to Florida law, the tiger cub can have limited interaction with guests until it weighs 40 pounds, said Gary Morse, public information officer for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

    Nakita will hit the weight limit in about a month.

    But her interactions with humans over the past few weeks should be a benefit in the years to come. She'll be more equipped to handle the stresses of life in a zoo and will be less likely to bite humans.

    "Generally, socialized animals do better in captivity than those that are not," Morse said.

    Nakita goes on long walks with her trainers before guests come by. The goal is to wear her out so she's calmer around visitors. But like any young animal, she has tons of energy in reserve.

    Earlier this week, Nakita suddenly tensed up while chasing a rubber ball around a kiddy pool. She lowered her striped body in the water and tensed for a strike at keeper April White.

    White noticed the stalking tiger and nonchalantly prevented the attack with a firm, "No."

    Other commands Nakita had to learn before she could play with the zoo's guests: "down" and "no bite."

    Helen Anne Travis can be reached at htravis@sptimes.com or (813) 435-7312.

     

    Fast facts

    If you go

    Tours of Stearns Zoological Rescue & Rehab Center leave from Dade City's Wild Things, 37237 Meridian Ave., at 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

    Call (352) 567-9453 for reservations.

    The tour lasts about three hours and costs $22.95 for adults, $12.95 for children younger than 12, and free for children 2 and younger.

    Time with Nakita or Mahina is an additional $12.50 per person, minimum two people.

    Visit dadecityswildthings.com.

    
    [Last modified: Feb 27, 2009 10:33 PM]

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  • 11 months ago
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• GW Exotics GW Exotics

  • From: Guatemala
  • Description:

        Recently i visited the website of GWPark in Oklahoma. I have been wanting to blow the whistle on these people for a long time but have lacked the courage to involve myself with the law, and wish to remain anonymous. I can give just a few examples of the abuse animals have suffered at the hands of this joke of a park. One of the most obscene incidents involves a rock python, which went missing back in the winter, ?no big deal i guess?, someone went in to clean the cage and left the air vent open and it crawled inside, however this went uninvestigated so no one knew this until 3 months later when the reptile house started to smell. Thats right, a full length rock python magically disappeared into thin air and these "animal lovers" didnt even look for it, it starved to death and rotted out in the ceiling of their reptile house. They pulled it out wrapped it in a tarp and threw it in a dumpster. My children have had a few pet deaths and as a man who loves animals myself I can understand how you have to develop a tough skin about these things but not being so callous when you are responsible for its death. Another prime example of the cruelty is when they put a very aggressive male lion in with one of their beautiful white tigers in order to make them breed. As you know Mr. Schreibvogel drags these babies around the country as soon as he can nab them, keeping them overnight wherever he can, sometimes in the bathrooms of the facilities he is using, where he has people come in and manhandle them all day to turn a profit, "tricking them out" as it were. Anyway the blind date between these two didnt go so well, the male attacked the female almost killing her, an already wary female who was abused by her former owners, it was touch and go on her health and whether or not she was even going to make it. But the important thing as Mr. Schreibvogel often says is that they make babies, a direct quote, "Can't make money if we don't have babies". Its horrible. He has turned the honest idea of an animal refuge into a tiger mill. He employs any one who turns up needing a job, people who may have had no general education or interest in animals before are responsible for the care taking of these creatures. This makes for improper care and unintentional but inevitable neglect. Cages are often left unlocked and water bowls unfilled. Some of these employees are in trouble with the law as well, one of which named Wade Cantu, is a USArmy deserter and keeps the job because he is confident that he is secluded enough at the park that the police will not track him down. Not only this but he pays for illegal immigrants to come up from Honduras, he does this so that if there is an attack or injury upon these workers they will not have to file it or report it to anyone and save himself the publicity or chance his park will be shut down. I have wanted to call the department of homeland securities immigration about this, if not only for the safety of these animals but also the safety of these workers but do not want to compromise my identity.  If  law enforcement were contacted just once to deport the immigrants or arrest the AWOL soldier, I feel that this park would be scrutinized and inspected to ensure that none of  these things ever happen again.

  • Blog post
  • 1 year ago
  • Views: 138

• 3 Southwest Ranches FL Think B 3 Southwest Ranches FL Think Big Cats Are Trophies

  • From: TheirVoice
  • Description:

    #62
    Yesterday
     
    
        Barbara wrote:
        I live on a major road in Broward County and can tell you many times during thunderstorms, celebrations with fireworks, sudden loud noise(such as a fire truck) there are loose dogs just running to get away. They climb fences, go through windows, etc. Many times over the last 34 years I have brought them into my yard, just so they won't be killed on this road. I can't IMAGINE dealing with dangerous wild animals. Around here, most people don't even like the ducks.! For the last few weeks, I have had a very tall (and loud) goose at my house every day. I don't know where it came from, but follows me everywhere
    
    DID YOU GET GOOSED BY THE GOOSE?
    Bingo
    
    Miami, FL
       
    
    #63
    Yesterday
     
    
        Snaggle Puss wrote:
        Heavens to MergaTroid ... Exit -- Stage Left!!!
    
    I was wondering if anyone else remembered old Snaggle. He is the only cat I want in my living room.
    
    
    Pompano Beach, FL
       
    
    #64
    Yesterday
     
    it's people like them that ruin it for everyone else.
    like on casual Fridays at the office. one person comes in with a torn pair of jeans and its back to tie and suit thanks.
    miamiman
    
    Fort Lauderdale, FL
       
    #65
    Yesterday
     
    an idiot is born every minute.
    Barry
    
    Fort Lauderdale, FL
       
    #66
    Yesterday
     
    
        Barbara wrote:
        I live on a major road in Broward County and can tell you many times during thunderstorms, celebrations with fireworks, sudden loud noise(such as a fire truck) there are loose dogs just running to get away. They climb fences, go through windows, etc. Many times over the last 34 years I have brought them into my yard, just so they won't be killed on this road. I can't IMAGINE dealing with dangerous wild animals. Around here, most people don't even like the ducks.! For the last few weeks, I have had a very tall (and loud) goose at my house every day. I don't know where it came from, but follows me everywhere
    
    Many women appreciate an occasional goose.
    
    
    Pompano Beach, FL
       
    
    #67
    Yesterday
     
    the neighbors should really get a petition going to have the "Kitty" put in a zoo where it belongs. not only will it be safer for our children, but its the best thing for the wild cat. it belongs someplace with others like it where it is free to run and move around. some people realy have no brains. Lily
    
    United States
       
    
    #68
    Yesterday
     
    
        Barbara wrote:
        I live on a major road in Broward County and can tell you many times during thunderstorms, celebrations with fireworks, sudden loud noise(such as a fire truck) there are loose dogs just running to get away. They climb fences, go through windows, etc. Many times over the last 34 years I have brought them into my yard, just so they won't be killed on this road. I can't IMAGINE dealing with dangerous wild animals. Around here, most people don't even like the ducks.! For the last few weeks, I have had a very tall (and loud) goose at my house every day. I don't know where it came from, but follows me everywhere
    
    Barbara, there was a story recently about someone who actually had a 'pet' goose. It had wondered into their yard and kind of adopted the family and it became their pet until some cold-hearted (kids, i think) decided to kill it.
    
    Maybe it just wants to be your friend.
    Mike Clayton
    
    Hollywood, FL
       
    
    #69
    Yesterday
     
    That house must smell lovely.
    Lol
       
    
    #70
    Yesterday
     
    
        DeShawna wrote:
        we got 4 pits cause them pits are real pets. we train them so nobody animals mess with us. the pits will eat a lynx for lunch so aint no lynx no real animal unless it can beat a pit and we train our pits to win. we even add gunpowder to their food to tuffen them up cause them pits be for real. we also train them
    
    Wow. Are you mentally retarded, or did you just bash your face against the keyboard when you were typing that?
    The Dude
    
    Indianapolis, IN
       
    
    #71
    Yesterday
     
    A buddy of mine has a serval and as we all know... people with Exotics are humans with no identity and looking for attention. They think it’s cool and different (ego is in control). Thank you. Amen. The Dude.
    Crazy
    
    Fort Lauderdale, FL
       
    
    #72
    Yesterday
     
    Please tell me why this is allowed? I guess if you have money and can afford a big house you can pay your way into owning one of these. What happens when it gets loose and eats someones face off then what? Go to the zoo lady!
    Average Joe
    
    Fort Lauderdale, FL
       
    
    #73
    Yesterday
     
    
        DeShawna wrote:
        we got 4 pits cause them pits are real pets. we train them so nobody animals mess with us. the pits will eat a lynx for lunch so aint no lynx no real animal unless it can beat a pit and we train our pits to win. we even add gunpowder to their food to tuffen them up cause them pits be for real. we also train them
    
    Your pit bulls got nothing on my .45! I've never had to pull or use my weapon in the 14 years I've carried, but if an animal (human type) threatens me, they'll have a bad day. I think most animals act better than a lot of the "humans" out there, so I would only hurt an animal as a (very) last resort. If these people are properly trained and licensed to have the exotic cats, more power to them. I have no problem with educated people saving the life of a wild animal and caring for it. The biggest problem in S Florida are the humans, not the pets.
    ILovemykids
    
    Fort Lauderdale, FL
       
    
    #74
    Yesterday
     
    
        Evil Killers wrote:
        Those folks are real losers. Their homes are full of cat and goat crapping and must stink to high hell. Not to mention that one day the cat will be **** off and rip somebody's arm off. Good riddance!
    
    Well said!!
    Selfish Selfish Selfish
    
    Miami, FL
       
    
    #75
    Yesterday
     
    This should be banned. No one needs a large wildcat. Just morons trying to feed their own egos like Tony in Scarface.
    Ads by Google
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    Florida grandma
    
    Chicago, IL
       
    
    #76
    Yesterday
     
    
        DeShawna wrote:
        we got 4 pits cause them pits are real pets. we train them so nobody animals mess with us. the pits will eat a lynx for lunch so aint no lynx no real animal unless it can beat a pit and we train our pits to win. we even add gunpowder to their food to tuffen them up cause them pits be for real. we also train them
    
    I hope someone from an animal welfare organization notes the abuse of putting gunpowder in a dogs food!!
    Boca
    
    West Palm Beach, FL
       
    
    #77
    Yesterday
     
    
        DeShawna wrote:
        we got 4 pits cause them pits are real pets. we train them so nobody animals mess with us. the pits will eat a lynx for lunch so aint no lynx no real animal unless it can beat a pit and we train our pits to win. we even add gunpowder to their food to tuffen them up cause them pits be for real. we also train them
    
    Are you pitting me!
    Defender
    
    Atlanta, GA
       
    
    #78
    Yesterday
     
    Oprah Miracles and the New Earth
    by Erwin Lutzer
    
    Get it,
    Read it,
    Learn about it.
    wise son
    
    Hollywood, FL
       
    
    #79
    Yesterday
     
    My Mom told me to stay out of cat houses.
    Tutor
    
    Chicago, IL
       
    
    #80
    Yesterday
     
    If these wild animals were meant to be domesticated they would have home contsruction skills. It's dangerous and disrespectful to the animals' instincts.
    Justified
    
    Delray Beach, FL
       
    
    #81
    Yesterday
     
    
        Tony the Tiger wrote:
        Not so grrrrrrrrrreat!
        What a stupid article to put in the newspaper to frighten the people of South Florida. These animals should be removed immediately to a zoo....I would be a nervous wreck living in S.W. Ranches. Someone better remove these animals now before someone gets killed or eaten. Let the owner live at the zoo with them; be their zookeeper but stay the hell away from our homes. Would anyone like to have dinner at her home? I don't think so.....you might turn out to be dinner for them!
    
    Your a complete idiot. A zookeeper isn't anymore qualified than these people. Do you know what's involved in owning this animals? No, probably not. But just act like you live a in perfect utopia of your community. You think someone owning a cat is a threat to society down here? LOL! Get a reality check. Look at the thugs we have here committing murder, killing innocent people, cops, and all the rest of the scum that makes up S. FL. Get a life, some people should be scared to live here this area alone. Head over east to the hood and see whats scarier...
    Merlin the Wizard
    
    Boca Raton, FL
       
    
    #82
    Yesterday
     
    There ought to be a law.
    
    It's time to abort the Right to endanger others by bringing wild animals into a human environment.
    
    Too many loose screws in too many humanoids.
    
    I thought Obama was going to fix this?
    Merlin the Wizard
    
    Boca Raton, FL
       
    
    #83
    Yesterday
     
    wise son
    Hollywood, FL
    
    Especially without a condom...which will protect you in a wild environment.
    Dryback
    
    Fort Lauderdale, FL
       
    
    #84
    Yesterday
     
    
        Haywood Jablomey wrote:
        you wouldn't by any chance happen to have gold teeth and dreadlocks, would you?
    
    I assume "DeShawna" and "her" post were a joke.
    Jon
    
    Kennesaw, GA
       
    
    #85
    Yesterday
     
    No one better blame that animal when it gets bored and decides to attack the stupid white trash owner.
    Southern Cane Alum
    
    Ocean Springs, MS
       
    
    #86
    Yesterday
     
    Nothing like spending 100s of thousands of dollars to buy a house that is to be used as a giant litter box. Nice--I bet the place smells amazing.
    Rich g
    
    Hollywood, FL
       
    
    #87
    Yesterday
     
    Most if not all people should not have big cats, However there are exceptions,
    1-they live in sw ranches, good large spread.
    2-animal was rescued, purchased from a shelter that rescues them and finds responsible class II license holders to keep them
    3-lynx's are not that large, its not a tiger, lion, leopard....big difference.
    4-I had a serval cat which is a bit smaller but still wild, I had to build a secure enclosure in backyard, Do the 100 hrs at a big cat rescue, and take the test for the license.
    5-It was a rewarding if not demanding project. He long gone now but I would not of traded the experience for anything. One last thing, socialization with humans while young is so important to having a large cat providing you have the skills and infrastructure or yes tragedy can occur.
    
    Lily
    
    United States
       
    
    #88
    Yesterday
     
    There is no other way to put it. These people are Morons. That is not open for a debate.
    Krazy Kat
    
    Fort Lauderdale, FL
       
    
    #89
    Yesterday
     
    I commend them for saving the cat and raising it. As for what the neighbors think, obviously most here are not aquainted with Southwest Ranches, there are all types of animals as everyone has plenty of land and that is why they choose the area. I have to laugh at the comments of how the animals will turn on them. That is a rare instance, what isn't rare are human children turning on their parents and murdering them. I would rather take my chances with the animals.
    JMF
    
    Fort Lauderdale, FL
       
    
    #90
    Yesterday
     
    
        DeShawna wrote:
        we got 4 pits cause them pits are real pets. we train them so nobody animals mess with us. the pits will eat a lynx for lunch so aint no lynx no real animal unless it can beat a pit and we train our pits to win. we even add gunpowder to their food to tuffen them up cause them pits be for real. we also train them
    
    Obviously you are an uneducated, naive animal abuser. You should be locked up and taught how to speak english and spell. I hope one of your pit bulls bites your head off for retribution.
    jrr
    
    Astoria, NY
       
    
    #91
    Yesterday
     
    amazing how regardless of size, cat behavior is the same. my cat does the head butt thing and loves when I rub under his armpits...but dont touch his lower belly. Amazing! god bless them for taking the cat in.
    SUEY
    
    Pompano Beach, FL
       
    
    #92
    Yesterday
     
    While these folks are at it, why don't they house serial killers? Same difference really. Both are extremely dangerous and can kill at any second for no apparent reason. That's why felons are housed at maximum security prisons. Wild animals are housed in zoo's. I have to say the laws of this state really need to be revised to account for the stupidity of it's citizens...
    lylo
    
    Hollywood, FL
       
    
    #93
    Yesterday
     
    Not a humane way to treat wild animals! Wake up crazy people... http://www.bigcatrescue.org/
    Slippery Soap
    
    Miami, FL
       
    
    #94
    Yesterday
     
    These animals deserve to be free so we can hunt them for sport.
    Lily
    
    United States
       
    
    #95
    23 hrs ago
     
    
        Southern Cane Alum wrote:
        Nothing like spending 100s of thousands of dollars to buy a house that is to be used as a giant litter box. Nice--I bet the place smells amazing.
    
    'giant litter box'.....LMAO!!!
    
    Probably the best post yet!!
    
    
    Fort Lauderdale, FL
       
    
    #96
    23 hrs ago
     
    That donkey and those goats are starting to look pretty appetizing.
    
    Sasha
    Karen
    
    Boca Raton, FL
       
    
    #97
    23 hrs ago
     
    I hope the owners get bitten and learn their lessons. Get a life
    Que
    
    Miami, FL
       
    
    #98
    23 hrs ago
     
    Loco gringos!
    Stinky
    
    Boca Raton, FL
       
    
    #99
    23 hrs ago
     
    I bet her house smells like a zoo.
    Chris
    
    Richmond, TX
       
    
    #100
    23 hrs ago
     
    Caring for these animals whose habitats have probably been destroyed by man's greed and carelessness shows that there are some decent people out there. I'm a million times more worried about some nutbag with a gun breaking into my house or trying to rob me than I am about a lynx killing me. Man is the most dangerous animal of all. Most of these posts just validate that statement.
    Lori W
    
    
    #101
    23 hrs ago
     
    Funny Snaggle Puss (brings back memories). These animals are not meant to be housepets and as beautiful as they are, they do not belong in somebody's home. I feel that those owners are being irresponsible simply by having the big cats as house pets. We have seen here in South Florida (not to mention the Las Vegas act) how quickly these beasts can turn, sometimes without provacation. I feel that the practice of owning wild animals as pets should be outlawed completely.
    Joe
    
    Lakeland, FL
       
    
    #102
    23 hrs ago
     
    Probably won't be long before we are reading that he did kill you.
    Joe
    
    Lakeland, FL
       
    
    #103
    23 hrs ago
     
    
        Que wrote:
        Loco gringos!
    
    I guess if this were a hispanic family and someone used the phrase "crazy **** " there would be hell to pay.
    Idiot
    
    Boca Raton, FL
       
    
    #104
    23 hrs ago
     
    
        Que wrote:
        Loco gringos!
    
    Crazy chi chi man. Go back to your daddy Castro.
    DeShawna
    
    Delray Beach, FL
       
    
    #105
    22 hrs ago
     
    
        Haywood Jablomey wrote:
        <quoted text>
        you wouldn't by any chance happen to have gold teeth and dreadlocks, would you?
    
    in fact, i am grilled up and my cousin work at the oakland pk flea market and hes going to grille up the bottoms. a few of my cousings got dreads but i dont so your only part right.
    miamiman
    
    Fort Lauderdale, FL
       
    
    #106
    22 hrs ago
     
    
        Que wrote:
        Loco gringos!
    
    not loco but stupid gringos i bet he also pays to have his wife serviced while he watches
    DeShawna
    
    Delray Beach, FL
       
    
    #107
    22 hrs ago
     
    
        JMF wrote:
        <quoted text>
        Obviously you are an uneducated, naive animal abuser. You should be locked up and taught how to speak english and spell. I hope one of your pit bulls bites your head off for retribution.
    
    we got them pits trained so nobody been bitten. its more a business so we gotta do what we gotta do. we got them fenced in pretty good so it isnt anything plus nobody going to ever break in. peace out!
    
    my pet
    
    Hollywood, FL
       
    
    #108
    22 hrs ago
     
    I have a laughing Hyena as a pet. I can tell the worst joke and his sided still splits.
    my pet
    
    Hollywood, FL
       
    
    #109
    22 hrs ago
     
    side
    my pet
    
    Hollywood, FL
       
    
    #110
    22 hrs ago
     
    my other pet is a very rare jackalope.
    Dave
    
    
    #111
    22 hrs ago
     
    All is I can say is I am glad these crazy people dont live by me.
    miamiman
    
    Fort Lauderdale, FL
       
    
    #112
    22 hrs ago
     
    i have a snake in my pants
    Sam Yosemite
    
    Aiken, SC
       
    
    #113
    21 hrs ago
     
    I've been told one of these wild animals resides 3 doors down from my house ( in a gated community ). I am eagerly awaiting a clear shot. BTW, the owner is a certified looney.
    MJC
    
    Fort Lauderdale, FL
       
    
    #114
    21 hrs ago
     
    Talk about an absolute retard. I hope this cat eats her alive!!!!
    RDC
    
    West Palm Beach, FL
       
    
    #115
    19 hrs ago
     
    My Rhodesian Ridgeback (rescue) could take that cat out. She probably wouldn't...she's too lazy to get off the couch and do it...but she could if she wanted to.
    
    United States
       
    
    #116
    19 hrs ago
     
    I got gators in the living room.
    Frosty
    
    United States
       
    
    #117
    19 hrs ago
     
    
        Sam Yosemite wrote:
        I've been told one of these wild animals resides 3 doors down from my house ( in a gated community ). I am eagerly awaiting a clear shot. BTW, the owner is a certified looney.
    
    People that want these pets think of them like they think of their car, their blackberry, their big screen tv.
    
    They are possessions. They love to Define Themselves by their possessions.
    
    Translation?
    You're right, certified looney tunes.
    dick
    
    United States
       
    
    #118
    19 hrs ago
     
    If you watch the movie, she says, The cat has freedom.
    
    I think not...
    
    Run of the house maybe...
    dick
    
    United States
       
    
    #119
    19 hrs ago
     
    
        MJC wrote:
        Talk about an absolute retard. I hope this cat eats her alive!!!!
    
    Did you see near the end of the video the llama stroll through the bedroom?
    Lily
    
    United States
       
    
    #120
    18 hrs ago
     
    
        dick wrote:
        <quoted text>
        Did you see near the end of the video the llama stroll through the bedroom?
    
    Yeah, wasn't that wild?? LOL
    Crazy
    
    Boca Raton, FL
       
    
    #121
    17 hrs ago
     
    Animals belong in the wild, not in your living room! When some child gets killed or attacked, the county will get sued and that will be the end of that!
    Tom K
    
    Shawnee, KS
       
    
    #122
    15 hrs ago
     
    The HSUS is a terrorist organization, not a credible source of information. They are not qualified to hold an opinion. Look up John Goodwin.
    typicalswranchre sident
    
    Fort Lauderdale, FL
       
    
    #123
    14 hrs ago
     
    sw ranches preserving the rural lifestyle! if that is letting a wild animal bang your wife while you watch!!! shoot first ask questions later! beastality is illeagal isn't it? Where are all the tree huggin peta liberals on this one!!!!!!!
    the city council and mayor probablely gave the burks a permit to don this. douchebags!!!!!!!
    
    
    
    Carole Baskin
    
    Hudson, FL
       
    
    #125
    13 hrs ago
     
    If you pay taxes, you are paying for people to abuse wild animals for their own egos' sake. The Florida Wildlife Commission does not inspect twice a year, but if they did, it would cost the tax payer 300.00 and the permit fees aren't even half that. When big cats escape, it is the tax payer (YOU) not the low life exotic owner, who pays for all of the police, animal control, etc. to clean up behind them. Visit BigcatRescue dot org/big_cat_news.htm to see how often these wild animals escape, maul and kill. Wild animals should not be bred for life in cages.
    yasmine
    
    Delray Beach, FL
       
    
    #126
    12 hrs ago
     
    
        Carole Baskin wrote:
        If you pay taxes, you are paying for people to abuse wild animals for their own egos' sake. The Florida Wildlife Commission does not inspect twice a year, but if they did, it would cost the tax payer 300.00 and the permit fees aren't even half that. When big cats escape, it is the tax payer (YOU) not the low life exotic owner, who pays for all of the police, animal control, etc. to clean up behind them. Visit BigcatRescue dot org/big_cat_news.htm to see how often these wild animals escape, maul and kill. Wild animals should not be bred for life in cages.
    
    find a new cause treehugger. its a free country. get back to watching Nancy Grace
    jake
    
    Miami, FL
       
    
    #127
    11 hrs ago
     
    I can only imagine the smell.
    Barbara
    
    
    #128
    10 hrs ago
     
    So, what DO YOU DO with these animals when they are spooked by a thunderstorm, fireworks and the big one-a major hurricane? I know how dogs react. What DO YOU DO when you have visitors or someone working on the property? THE POOR MAILMAN?!!!! I'd be afraid to leave the house-no telling WHAT I'd come home to
    

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• Big Cat Attacks 2008 Big Cat Attacks 2008

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    December 26, 2008 Mexico City, Mexico:  Lions and tigers were confiscated during drug raid.  A gardener detained along with more than a dozen members of an alleged drug trafficking ring testified that police threatened him to feed him to lions and tigers during a raid at a Mexico City mansion. The gardener, Fernando Maya, testified that police dragged him to cages with lions and tigers and threatened to throw him inside. "They kept saying, where is he? And that they were going to throw me to the lions, they were going to throw me to the tigers, which had not eaten."  Eleven Colombians, a U.S. citizen, two Mexicans an Uruguayan were detained in the raid. Prosecutors said the gang allegedly arranged for cocaine shipments from Colombia to Mexico's Beltran Levya cartel.
    
    December 9, 2008 Albion, IN: Noble County 911 Director Mitch Fiandt said an18-year-old female tiger escaped from the Black Pine Animal Park.  Park officials say the tiger returned to the property 8 hours later and was back in its enclosure about an hour after that.  An Albion firefighter alerted authorities after spotting the tiger on his property.  Authorities shot the tiger with a tranquilizer, but were not immediately able to capture it.
    
    December 8, 2008 Hamilton TWP, NJ:  Santa Claus bit by pet bobcat in Petsmart.  Scratches and bites cover the hand and arm of Jonathan Bebbington, after being mauled by a pet bobcat who was brought to Petsmart for a photo session.  Bebbington says, "It hurt, it had a lot of power in its jaws."  He struggled to control the cat for nearly 5 minutes while it bit him repeatedly. "He locked on here, grabbed the skin," he says as he points to his left hand. The cat's owner left after the incident without providing her name, though she did tell volunteers with Penny Angel's Beagle Rescue, which ran the event, that she had it shipped from Wyoming for $1,500. It is illegal to own a bobcat in New Jersey and allegedly this owner was keeping hers tethered in yard. There have been other cases of bobcats in South Jersey, including Mr. Peepers at the Cape May County Park Zoo, which was rescued from Bridgeton. Anyone with information about the bobcat or its owner should call the Atlantic County Division of Public Health at (609) 645 5931.
    
    December 6, 2008 Wisconsin Dells, WI: Alan Borud was greeted by a 50 lb Siberian Lynx in his yard.  Borud watched as the cat came up on the porch, stood on its hind legs, at which point it was about chest high to Borud, and looked in the window. He called DNR who took the cat to a local humane society.  Big Cat Rescue called the authorities and offered a home to the cat, but Derick Duane of the McKenzie Wildlife Center said the owner was coming to retrieve her. They have had issues with this owner before, and have taken our name as a placement option if the owner cannot keep the Siberian Lynx contained. An anonymous tipster said the owner bought this cat and her mate in MO and then raised them as pets. When the cats reached about a year of age, the male began attacking the husband and son in the family and both the male and female were said to have been turned loose on purpose. No one has caught the male, and the owner denies that there ever was a male cat and denies that he turned this female loose.
    
    December 1, 2008 Cass, WVa:  Davide Cassell killed his pet tiger today said Hoy Murphy, spokesman for the state Division of Natural Resources.  Murphy said the snowmaking crew at Snowshoe Mountain Resort saw the big cat on Monday morning.  Cassell, who works at Mountain Lodge on Snowshoe Mountain, was trying to find the animal and tranquilize it, but ended up killing the cat instead.  Cassell had a permit for the animal.  In May 2006, an Asian brown bear owned by Cassell escaped and the 400-pound bear was not seen again.
    
    November 27, 2008 Kansas City, KS:  An exotic African cat (a Serval) roaming a Kansas City neighborhood has been shot and killed by police. Residents worried the cat was dangerous to children. But efforts to trap it over several weeks were unsuccessful, and an officer shot it Thursday with a patrol rifle.  Police think the cat was dumped or had escaped from people who were keeping it as a pet. The identity of the owners is not known.
    
    November 26, 2008 Harrisburg, PA:  A Chester County farm caretaker says he thought he was shooting a bobcat in the chicken coop -- then his heart sank when he saw it had a collar.  The animal he killed was a Serval cat that someone was keeping as a pet.  Heim says once he realized he'd shot a pet, he was sad for the animal -- and angry at its owner for allowing it to be out.
    
    November 19, 2008 Columbus, GA:  Wildlife officials say a cougar killed at West Point Lake was an illegal pet.  The 140-pound, 88-inch cat was shot by deer hunter David Adams of Newnan on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land near the Georgia-Alabama border.  Officials said the cat had not been living on wild game and had callouses indicative of living on concrete her whole life.
    
    November 17, 2008 Miami, FL: A 16-year-old girl mauled by a 150-pound cougar required more than two hours of surgery to repair a large gash in the back of her neck suffered when the animal clenched its powerful jaws around her head. "It's really a miracle that she's alive," said a family spokesman. Because the male cougar, named Chaos, was declawed, the girl did not suffer scratches to her face or body.  Saturday's attack was witnessed by the girl's mother, who had brought her daughter to work cleaning out cages at a private wild animal sanctuary in a North Miami-Dade home to earn community service hours required to graduate from high school. The cougar lunged at the teen in the yard of the home of Alan Rigerman who keeps the animals at his home in the 17900 block of Northwest 84th Avenue.  Rigerman owns a second cougar, snakes, tortoises and alligators. The girl and her mother had been brought to the home by Anthony Zitnick, 21, who after the attack was arrested on a charge of burglary of an occupied dwelling. Rigerman told The Miami Herald that Zitnick entered the property with a key he had given him after Hurricane Wilma in 2005, but that Zitnick only helped with the animals while under Rigerman's "supervision."  Zitnick casually knew the girl's mother and had asked her if any of her children would be interested in the nonpaying job.  The girl and her mother had no idea Mr. Zitnick did not belong on the premises, which they entered with a key.
    
    Chaos got agitated, suddenly lurched and pinned the girl, and put his mouth around her head. A neighbor who heard the girl's screams jumped over the fence and helped free her from Chaos' jaws by punching the animal in the face. At the time of Saturday's attack, Rigerman was out of town at a reptile show in Tampa. Rigerman often attends public meetings of Florida's Wildlife Conservation Commission praising them for their lax regulations and enforcement and opposing new rules that would curb his behavior.  He has publicly threatened other attendees who favor tougher regulations.
    
    November 16, 2008 Luray, VA:  A 15 year old keeper lost her finger to a 5 year old tiger named Star at the Luray Zoo located at 1087 US Hwy 211 West, in Luray, Virginia 22835 owned by Mark Kilby and Jennifer Westhoff.  She was showing off and petting the cat in front of visitors at the time.  The Page County Sheriff's Office says the girl's finger was amputated as result of a tiger bite. The private zoo's web page is covered in pictures of people petting exotic cats and behaving recklessly.  The Luray Zoo has frequently employed people as young as 14, said Kilby. It is a violation of VA's Dept. of Labor laws that teens under 18 work in any "occupation that exposes them to a recognized hazard capable of causing serious physical injury or death."  Kilby declined to discuss whether the zoo carries insurance for such attacks.  Besides the tiger, the zoo's 37 mammals include five other breeds of what Kilby terms "big cats" - two lynxes, one serval and one bobcat.
    
    November 14, 2008 Camperdown, So. Africa:  12 lions escaped the Lion Park after a storm downed the fences.  Ten lions have been recaptured and are being kept in cages, while two others are still roving about the reserve.  "Two lions were found at the front gate [of the park] and this was when we first became aware that the others might have escaped," Boswell said.  A search party of about 20 Lion Park staff members, a helicopter pilot and a district official from Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife (EKZNW) conservation authority searched for the remaining 10 lions throughout the morning.  The police and the EKZNW officials were notified, but were asked NOT to alert the public of the potential danger lurking in the tall grass.  Boswell said that the park did not want to involve the public because they did not wish to cause public panic.
    
    November 13, 2008 Singapore:  Three white tigers mauled Nordin Bin Montong, 32, a Malaysian working as a cleaner at the zoo, to death after the man jumped into their enclosure. "Keepers managed to separate the worker from the tiger. While waiting for the ambulance, our vets attended to him," said Guha. "The worker
    tragically succumbed to his wound." Nordin was seen behaving in an agitated manner before he fell into the moat. Terrified visitors near the section watched the vicious attack in horror and screamed, the paper said. Aziz Ansari, 16, a student, filmed the initial part of the horrific attack with his handphone. The video clip showed Mr Nordin's desperate fight to save himself, first by trying to get up and back into the moat, then by kicking one of the two tigers.
    
    November 11, 2008 Mexico City, Mexico:  A tiger escaped from an unlocked cage at a commercial zoo and fatally mauled its caretaker before it was captured and killed.  State officials said that Bioparque Estrella had closed Monday when the tiger escaped his unlocked cage and fatally attacked 26-year-old Herminio Rodriguez Palma.  Some 150 police officers and zoo veterinarians began an intense search for the tiger at the 740-acre wild animal park in the countryside northwest of Mexico City. Mexico has had problems with dangerous animals escaping from their caretakers recently.  In September, a five-ton elephant got away from his trainer at a circus, wandered onto a highway outside Mexico City and was fatally hit by a bus. The bus driver also was killed.  Three tigers escaped from a circus truck and took shelter in a house in western Mexico last week and in August, a 500-pound lion escaped from a local lawmaker's private zoo in southern Mexico, killing two dogs and a pig and attacking a woman and child on a donkey before it was sedated and captured.
    
    November 11, 2008 Maddaloni, Italy: A 700lb Siberian tiger which can grow to 12 feet long prowled the streets of Maddaloni, southern Italy, for more than five hours after escaping the circus.
    
    November 9, 2008 Junsele, Sweden: A keeper was mauled by a white tiger at the zoo.  The keeper, who has worked with the zoo's tigers for 16 years, was trapped in a cage with the big cat unti the zoo's owner, Ulf Henriksson lured the tiger away with a piece of meat so rescue workers could get the man out of the cage and into an ambulance.  The keeper was bitten in the foot and the shoulder and would be hospitalized for a couple of days to ensure against infection from the wounds, Henriksson said, noting the tiger saw the keeper more as a playmate than a threat.
    
    November 8, 2008 Anchorage, AK:  In the past week, three reports of the cat wandering near Fort Richardson and Point Woronzof, some 10 miles apart, have reached Rick Sinnott, Anchorage-area wildlife biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The cat's reported spots and size appear to describe the serval, an African wildcat sometimes kept as a "designer" pet, he said.  Possessing such an animal is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $10,000 fine, he said.
    
    November 5, 2008 Mexico City, Mexico: A family in Mexico was in shock after finding a tiger, which had escaped from a circus, lying on their patio, police said. The tiger terrified the town of Zitacuaro, in western Michoacan state, as it wandered the streets for an hour and a half before entering a house.  The tiger "went through the house and lay down on the patio," the officer said. "The family was terrified and they hid." A total of three tigers escaped from their circus cages when the doors were left open the day before.
    
    November 3, 2008 Ratchaburi:  A male Bengal tiger has been on the loose in Ratchaburi since Thursday, when it escaped from its cage at a wildlife research station after attacking a keeper.  The tiger, named Silathong, attacked Bunma Thongkerd, at the Khaoson wildlife research centre as he opened the cage for cleaning. Mr Bunma was mauled but survived. The tiger slipped out of the cage and ran off.
    
    October 29, 2008 Broken Arrow, OK:  Safari's Interactive Animal Sanctuary is home to 27 big cats. Former keepers have warned for years that the practices there of allowing contact with adult tigers would lead to injuries, escapes and death. SIAS' website is covered in the typically ignorant photos of the President, Lori Ensign Scroggins (ex-wife of Joe Estes who runs Safari Joe's) bottle feeding tigers and walking them on leashes. That kind of irresponsible behavior can only lead to tragedy for humans as well as the animals when they pay the ultimate price. Now the liger named Rocky may be killed for mauling to death a volunteer named Peter Getz who walked in the cage while feeding the cat a deer carcass.  The mauling happened in the presence of more than 40 pre schoolers who were ushered away from the scene.
    
    October 29, 2008 Winston, OR:  Two cheetahs headed for the Memphis Zoo aboard a Delta flight made a stop at the Atlanta airport where it was discovered one of them had gotten free in the plane. The cheetahs are one-year-old sisters from Wildlife Safari Park in Winston, Oregon.
    
    October 29, 2008Cambridgeshire U.K.:Hamerton Zoo offers 'Face to Face with a Cheetah' sessions but today the face to face happened with a little boy after the Cheetah escaped the zoo.  The 6ft long animal was just 15 feet from 9 year oldToby when he spotted it. Toby dropped the bicycle he had been playing with and fled. As he reached the house the three-year-old, 66lb cheetah named Akea bit chunks out of the saddle and ripped the tires with his claws. Toby has since had nightmares over the incident. He said: "I panicked. It looked massive and really scary. I thought it would attack me. I ran as fast as I could."
    
    October 28, 2008 Latham, NY: Many attacks and escapes go unreported as those who deal in exotics do not want the bad press, but they can't help but brag about it on what they think are private chat groups.  This was posted on Phoenix Exotics by a breeder of Savannah cats:  "Hell I got seriously bitten by a serval and I went to the ER and said I fell out of a tree and landed on barbed wire..." signed Deborah-Ann Milette, The home of the best known Savannah"MOTZIE"  In 2005 USDA fined her and revoked her license 21-C-0218 for because she allegedly drugged and killed a tiger cub among other things.  See 911AnimalAbuse.com for more.
    
    October 28, 2008 Berlin, Germany:  Rescue workers saved six tigers from a blazing 43-foot wagon by turning them loose on the highway.  One tiger appeared to have suffered some smoke inhalation, but the other five were in good condition, owner Daniel Renz said.  Renz said his show would go on, as planned on October 30, but the six tigers involved in Monday's blaze -- Queeni, Aschima, Lena, Sonja, Sibi and Goldi -- will be given a break and some of the circus' seven other tigers will perform in their place.  The suspected cause was an overheated suspension system on the truck, said Renz.
    
    October 14, 2008 Johannesbrg, So. Africa:  Nelson Silaigwana of Three Streams Farm in Mangwe was found mauled to death by escaped lions.  Two weeks ago, the eight-year-old daughter of a farmer was mauled by a lion and a lioness her father kept caged.  Courtney Sparrow, who suffered a hole in her throat and serious injuries to her arms, face and head, underwent ten hours of surgery in Milpark Hospital, Johannesburg.  Her father, Ron Sparrow, said he used the lions to deter attackers, but two lions broke through a weak window and the lioness attacked Courtney. A domestic worker was injured when she tried to rip Courtney from the lioness's grip.
    
    October 13, 2008 Fallon, NV:  A volunteer named Emmie was invited to pet the big cats at Tiger Touch owned by John and Barbara Williamson.  She was petting a cougar named Kicky when the cat latched onto her palm and tried to drag her into the cage.  See photos of the injury and read more about the mauling HERE.
    
    October 4, 2008 Palm City, FL: A 50 lb, declawed Siberian Lynx disappeared from 3560 SW Wood Creek Trail at about 4:30 a.m., shortly after owner Tina Love fed her on the screened patio.  "She's not the type to walk around," Love said. "But I thought she might have just wandered off."  The property was unfenced. Love bought Simba from a breeder in Wisconsin for $2,500 after she gave away her bobcat because it was too wild. The Siberian Lynx was found again a couple weeks later, a mile and a half away, hanging out in a children's playground.  She was confiscated by authorities as the owner did not have current permits and lacked appropriate caging.  Often Big Cat Rescue has to turn away cats, from irresponsible owners who are trying to dump them, because the owners refuse to sign a contract stating that they will never again fuel the exotic pet trade.
    
    September 16, 2008 Gaveston, TX:  Galveston County Judge Jim Yarbrough said Tuesday that a tiger is out of its enclosure from an exotic pets center. The news follows reports of a lion holed up in a Baptist church with its owner on Bolivar Peninsula.  Yarbrough said, "I understand he's hungry ... so we're staying away from him."  Hurricane Ike made landfall Sept. 13 but a week later, the tiger still had not been found.   The lioness and her owner were waist deep in water in the church along with several people who had fled there for shelter.  "They worked pretty well together, actually," said the lion's owner, Michael Ray Kujawa. "When you have to swim, the lion doesn't care about eating nobody."
    
    August 20 Reno, NV: Washoe County Regional Animal Services originally responded to a call about a large black dog on the roof of a home in the valley east of Washoe Lake.  When they got there, they found not a dog, but two black leopards on the roof.   State Wildlife Department spokesman Edwin Lyngar says the cats are exotic pets that escaped from the home of their owner Andy Kay who could not be reached for comment at telephone numbers associated with the West Coyote Drive address or the Ann Road address.  Washoe County Assessor's Office records indicate the Washoe Valley property is owned by Coyote Irrevocable Trust and that Kay is a trustee.  In March two black leopards were fired on by the police after allegedly mauling a puppy 200 yards from their home.  Those cats were never found and are suspected to be the same as these found on a rooftop.  Regional Animal Services Center Director Cindy Sabatoni said two Siberian tigers were found in Washoe County two years ago and a bobcat was found last year in Stead.  The problem in NV is so prevalent that the tigers never even made the news.
    
    August 19, 2008 West Palm Beach, FL: Authorities found and sedated a missing tiger from McCarthy's Wildlife Center. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says the adult lion and tiger escaped and were loose overnight at McCarthy's Wildlife Sanctuary (a breeding compound and not a true sanctuary) about 20 miles northwest of West Palm Beach. Three schools, Golden Grove Elementary, Acreage Pines Elementary and Western Pines Middle, were on lock-down until the tiger was found and sedated at 11:00 am the next day. Authorities say they don't know how the big cats escaped.  A person who answered the telephone at the sanctuary on Wednesday said they couldn't comment and abruptly hung up.  Marc McCarthy houses 22 big cats on what appears in aerial maps to be about 8 lots in a subdivision.  In May, McCarthy was rushed to the hospital after being bitten on the leg by one of his tigers, Sabi, on the set of a rap video being filmed in Miami.
    
    August 5, 2008  Richmond Township, IL:  Larry Dean said he was practicing a circus act at the Hawthorn Corporation farm near Richmond when the tiger suddenly became aggressive and grabbed him with its mouth. "He had numerous scratch marks and bite marks," said Richmond Township Fire Chief Rick Gallas. "I would say that was a mauling... he was pretty bloody." Gallas said workers told paramedics they had to beat the tiger with baseball bats to get it to release Dean. Gallas said Dean told paramedics it was the second time a tiger had attacked him at the farm, but Dean declined to comment when asked about that on Thursday and Hawthorn's owner, John Cuneo says Dean should not have been near the tigers.  Hawthorn owns about 50 tigers but only about 30 of the animals are at the farm, Cuneo said. Others are performing at circuses around the world, Cuneo said.  In 2003 the U.S. Department of Agriculture accused Hawthorn of failing to care for its elephants properly. But in 2004 he agreed to give away his elephants in exchange for keeping his circus tigers.  Cuneo has tried to get rid of his tigers when they won't perform by asking Big Cat Rescue to take them, but Big Cat Rescue does not enable bad behaviour.  Cuneo's Sarasota neighbors are concerned that he plans to move his tigers to their neighborhood as he has purchased 5 acres of beach front there and asked for permits to install n 8 foot high wall.  FL law requires 5 ac and an 8' fence for people to keep tigers in their back yard. 
    
    August 4, 2008 Branson, MO:  A 16-year-old boy named Dakoda Ramel is in the hospital after an attack at the Interactive Zoo and Aquarium( fka Predator World) in Branson West owned by Breck Wakefield. Rescue crews say a 16-year-old employee entered the tiger exhibit to take some photos for guests. Witnesses tell rescuers the teen was knocked to the ground.  That's when they say two other tigers joined in, dragging the teen to the water trough. "We have two puncture wounds on the neck, one big one on the leg, a big gash on the leg. His neck is bleeding," a caller says on the 911 tape.  That's the condition in which he was airlifted to Springfield, where he remains four days later in critical condition.  The father of the boy, Jim Barr said, "It was holding him down by his leg and tearing his calf off, eating it right in front of him."  A lot of people remember Predator World from last year, when some wolves, a fox and a bear escaped. The bear killed an adult tiger at the park.  What this park is known for is its interactions with animals like sharks, tigers and alligators.
    
    August 3, 2008  Warren County, MO:  A 26 year old volunteer named Jacob Barr was mauled by a tiger at the Wesa-A-Geh-Ya Animal Facility and lost his leg below the knee.  The Warren County Sheriff's Department responded, to a report of a dog attack. Staff at the compound described not a tiger, but rather a pitbull attack. "This was not a dog attack, it was indeed a cat (800 lb tiger) attack on the person," Sheriff Kevin Harrison said. "And that they had tried to mislead my investigators and cover it up."  The victim lost his leg below the knee and was airlifted to Barnes Hospital by Arch Air Medical.  The tiger named Hercules who was said to have hopped the fence was shot to death by the owners, Ken and Sandra Smith. They then hid the body at a family member's house.  The farm is home to 50 exotic animals and has been criticized by animal protection groups and USDA.  About four years ago, the USDA filed allegations against the Smiths that included not providing proper veterinary treatment and lacking adequately trained employees. The Smiths gave up their exhibitor license and later had it revoked for operating without a license.  They are no longer inspected by USDA and the Sheriff's office has no resources to devote to managing these kinds of operations.  More HERE.
    
    July 17, 2008 New Zealand Safari Park:  Lisa Baxter, a 19 year old tour guide knew that if she screamed it would wake the rest of the pack and she would be killed, so she quietly worked to free her hands from the piercing bite of 18 month old Timba, the lion.  Lisa, of Gullane, East Lothian, said: "I was stroking Timba's nose when he just grabbed my hand. His teeth were razorsharp and went straight through my skin."  Later she added, "My hands were so swollen, I thought they were going to explode."
    
    July  10, 2008 Atlanta, GA:  A serval was found wandering near 14th Street and Georgia Tech in mid-town Atlanta and picked up by Animal Services who said the problem is more prevalent than most people think.  Owning an exotic cat as a pet is illegal in GA unless it is being used for "education" so when exotic cats escape their owners rarely come forward.  Big Cat Rescue received a report from a neighbor saying that the owner had become fearful of the cat as he matured and turned him loose on purpose.  The cat, dubbed Ozzie, has been placed in a licensed facility.  GA has no accredited sanctuaries, so that probably wasn't a happy ending for the cat.
    
    June 20, 2008 Thailand's Tiger Temple:  In a report on the Tiger Temple released today is documented and account of a Thai woman who came with her partner to help raise funds for the Temple, put her hand into the tiger, Dao Ruang's, cage to pet her. Dao took hold of the woman's hand with her mouth. When the
    frightened woman tried to pull her hand away, Dao Ruang bit through it and held on. The woman's partner came over and hit Dao Ruang over the head. The woman's hand was badly torn between her 3rd and 4th fingers and required numerous stitches to close the wound. On other occasions, investigators observed tigers attacking staff and volunteers. One resulted in an injured finger, which needing suturing, another a French volunteer whose shirt was ripped, narrowly missing her neck and another a Danish volunteer who was tackled to the ground by and bitten on the leg. The resulting injury got infected and the volunteer need medical treatment at a hospital. During an interview with a journalist in January 2008, the Abbot was asked why the tigers do not bite. The Abbot said, "They want to bite and one day they will bite." Meanwhile the Monks spray tiger urine in the cats' faces to subdue them.   Animal Planet has removed all references to the show.  Read the entire report HERE.
    
    June 19, 2008 Newton County, MO: A deputy shot and killed a 6 month old, declawed, black jaguar after being called to the home of a woman who thought she had seen a cougar. The jaguar had body fat, but no food in its stomach, and his paw pads indicated having been kept on concrete, which means he had escaped from captivity. Missouri does not regulate non-native wildlife, so the agency has no records that might have revealed where the jaguar was being kept.  Last month, a declawed black leopard was shot to death in Neosho, MO.
    
    June 17, 2008  McAllen, TX:  Police said Michelle Ashton, 49, who was arrested while exchanging carriers filled with six tiger cubs in a parking lot, could be linked to a suspected tiger-smuggling ring. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Special Agent Alejandro Rodriguez says it appears the cubs were bound for Mexico when they were seized. According to the feds, smuggling wildlife is a lucrative business that ranks second only to drug smuggling. "It's a very huge problem," Fish & Wildlife Service Agent Nicholas Chavez said. "It's been prevalent for years. It's something that we see definitely every week." "You could get anywhere from probably $3000 to $25000 a piece for them depending on what color they are, what they look like," he said. Ashton allegedly told police that she was a representative of Spring Hill Wildlife Ranch outside of Calvert in Robertson County. If convicted Ashton could face a $250,000 dollar fine and up to five years in prison for violating the U.S. Endangered Species Act.  Wildlife trafficking earns billions of dollars annually. Smuggling wildlife products feeds into multipurpose criminal distribution networks that generate what Younger called "peripheral
    crime." This includes corruption of officials, falsification of documents, intimidation and murder. "Once we start to dig into these things we find that not only are they smuggling wildlife, for example, but they'll be smuggling narcotics, or diamonds or gold bullion," he said.
    
    June 12, 2008 Shifang, China: Following an earthquake on May 12 and mudslides that caused 400 people to flee on foot, a circus turned loose many of their animals and left 3 lions and 2 tigers behind in cages. On June 3 soldiers shot one 2 year old tiger to death in his cage. One white lion had starved to death already. When Chen Qinghua, head of Wanguan Group, was informed that a tiger and 2 lions were still alive, he organized a rescue party who transported the big cats by helicopter to the Bifengxia Zoo. They had gone without food or water for 25 days.
    
    June 7, 2008 Tokyo, Japan: Zookeeper, Atsushi Ito, was mauled to death by an 11 year old, 330 lb. male tiger while cleaning the animal's cage at the Kyoto City Zoo in western Japan. Police suspected Ito had failed to lock a door that connected two cages.
    
    June 6, 2008 Winnepeg, Canada:  Kelly John Clarke, 38, sometimes called the Tiger Man of St. Clements has been charged with two counts of first degree murder in connection with the brutal killings of Joel Labossiere, 34, and his pregnant wife Magdalena, 33, who were found shot to death inside their St. Vital house on April 20. Clarke first made headlines in 1997 when his Midwest Exotics – a business that bought and sold exotic animals to pet stores, zoos and universities – brought to his St. Clements home Sheena, a Siberian tiger. When his trailer burned to the ground 1998, surrounding residents pressured council to bring forward a restricted exotic animal bylaw. Most of the animals were confiscated, but in August 1999, Winnipeg police seized the 250-kilogram Sheena after the tiger was spotted in a cage in the back of a van in River Heights. In December 2001 Clarke was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison and a 10-year weapons prohibition for 14 armed robberies. He went on the spree to fund a $1,000-a-day crack cocaine habit. In August 2007, Clarke was arrested in Selkirk and charged with intimidation after allegedly disrupting a Winnipeg trial and following a Crown attorney while she drove home from work. These are the kind of people who have big cats as pets.
    
    May 27 So. Africa:  A man in his forties was attacked and killed by six lions on a lion farm in Setlagole, near Mafikeng, North West police said.  Superintendent Koos Degenaar said the man went into the lion's cage to give the animals water.  He was then attacked by six lions. All that was left of the man were fingers and intestines. This is the sixth such incident to be reported in the province in two years. Other incidents include a 13 year old boy who was killed by lions at Tosca, two people who were killed on two different farms at
    Zeerust, anther fatal lion attack at a farm near Swartruggens and a fifth occurred near Potchefstroom.
    
    May 26, 2008 South Bend, IN:  A Potawatomi Zoo worker was attacked by a leopard as she cleaned the cat's holding area, leaving her with head wounds.  Zoo visitors watched Saturday as veteran zoo keeper Jeri Ellis was wheeled away on a stretcher, her head wrapped in bandages and towels spotted in blood.
    
    May 24, 2008 Detroit Zoo, MI:  Royal Oak - An animal handler at the Detroit Zoo has received stitches after being scratched and bitten by a lioness named Katie.  The Detroit Free Press reports the attack happened shortly after Saturday's 5 p.m. public closing time.  Zoo spokeswoman Patricia Mills Janeway says Brett Kipley, who in his 20s, received stitches at a hospital.  The newspaper says Kipley used pepper spray to fend off the animal during the attack.
    
    May 21, 2008 Neosho, MO:  A 61 year old woman was chased into her house by a black leopard.  An officer on the scene said he shot the cat with a shot gun two or three times as it approched him and then fired several rounds from a .45 caliber Glock into the cat's chest before stopping him.  The cat was pawing at the door to get into the house when the police arrived.  The leopard was a declawed pet that had escaped or had been dumped.
    
    May 14, 2008 Russia:  A drunken Russian zookeeper, who was mauled by a lion after climbing into its pen May 1 at a zoo in the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiisk, died in hospital Tuesday, investigators said. The man, who had been suspended from work for being drunk, entered the animal's enclosure while the lion slept and was attacked by the big cat as he tried to tap it on the nose.
    
    May 11, 2008 Toledo, OH:  The Toledo Zoo said that a zookeeper suffered three lacerations to the chest while caring for the tigers. The tiger's paw made it through a double mesh barrier at an odd angle, enabling the tiger to come into contact with the keeper.
    
    May 10, 2008 Carrollton, IL:  Authorities have seized an African Serval named Max from Tammy Ruehl who was keeping it as a pet without a permit.  Ruehl says she received a $75 fine. Carrollton Police Chief Mike Kiger says the state had the right to confiscate the animal.
    
    May 9, 2007 Loxahatchee, FL:  According to PR-inside.com  and Palm Beach Post: "Mark McCarthy who took his tiger onto the set of rapper Rick Ross' new video, was savagely attacked by the white tiger.  The big cat, which featured in the background of one of Ross' scenes with Nellie was being used as a prop to look like the rapper's pet.  The tiger turned on the unnamed trainer when he tried to coax the fierce creature out of its cage during filming. Reportedly agitated from being in chains all day, the tiger bit the trainer's leg as he tried to remove it from its cage. The tiger's keeper suffered severe bite wounds to his right leg and was rushed to hospital after the attack.  Now laid up, McCarthy had to cancel some of his other gigs. "Won't be the first time I've been bit, won't be the last. I've been bit by everything from venomous snakes to tigers and leopards and monkeys and who knows what else," said the 52-year-old owner of McCarthy's Wildlife Sanctuary.  He said the $5,000 bonus he got for the video will barely make up for the shows he missed. "
    
    May 9, 2008 Muskegon, MI: Both a serval and a bear are believed to have escaped April 28 or 29. Numerous residents in Fruitport Township reported seeing the bear early this week before it was recovered.  The serval, a declawed cat with no way to protect himself or hunt, is still missing.  He escaped through a window in the room where he was kept. DNR spokeswoman Mary Dettloff said the agency probably will seek a misdemeanor charge against the owners for failure to report the missing bear, as required by the SPCA's permit.
    
    May 1, 2008 Quebec:  The 70-kilogram king of the jungle, who goes by the name of Boomer, has been on the lam since he escaped last night from a house where he was kept as a man's personal pet. The lion, which is about four feet high, was last spotted beside Highway 105, near Maniwaki, about an hour north of Ottawa.
    
    April 18, 2008 Los Angeles, CA: Five Circus Vazquez tigers have been evicted by Los Angeles animal welfare officials because the big-cats earlier attacked and killed another tiger in their small cage. Department general manager Ed Boks says the tigers killed one of their own in Huntington Park on March 31 and the U.S. Department ofAgriculture cited Circus Vazquez for having too many tigers in close proximity to each other. Los Angeles officials went to the San Fernando Valley where the circus was performing across from the Panorama City Mall and the tigers were close together in the same cage. Boks says it was believed to be a public danger.
    
    April 18, 2008 San Francisco, CA: Nicki Phung, 31 and Steven Tieu, 38, admitted in federal court to trying to illegally import a real, stuffed tiger into the United States. The two were caught in December when a U.S. Customs official at San Francisco International Airport inspected a box labeled "toy tiger" mailed from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and bound for the couple's home in Hercules, CA.
    
    March 29, 2008 Wellington, FL:  Judy Berens, owner of Panther Ridge Sanctuary, was showing off her two male cheetahs, Matt and Charlie, that she says she paid $40,000.00 for in Africa, when they knocked her down and punctured her arms and back more than 40 times before volunteers were able to rescue her.  Berens says she has to pay another $10,000. to the Cheetah Conservation Botswana and Cheetah Outreach as part of her deal with the US Fish & Wildlife Service who are not supposed to allow the import of endangered species unless doing so somehow enhances their species chances at survival.  Many of these Cheetah conservation centers are merely breeding facilities that supply cats to zoos and private collectors.  (The cats are not set free.)  Berens has more than twenty exotic cats in her 5 acre back yard and said, she fashioned herself after Katharine Hepburn's leopard-owning character in Bringing up Baby. "I figured if she can have a leopard, why can't I..?." Judy Berens' comment is exactly why displaying big cats as tractable is harmful to people and the cats. If show biz had not portrayed Hepburn as a master of the leopard, Berens might not have shelled out 7500.00 for her Jaguars nor the 50,000 for her pet Cheetahs. As long as people, like Berens continue to exhibit exotic cats as if they were tame, others will say, "...why can't I?"
    
    March 28, 2008 Davenport, FL:  Darryl Atkinson of Horseshoe Creek says the animals have to go now that he won't be able to exhibit them for money.  He has more than 30 big cats in cages that have been cited more than 40 times for being too small and too flimsy.  When Big Cat Rescue called to see if they could help they were told that Atkinson was going to work with Bhagavan Antle (T.I.G.E.R.S. in SC and FL) and that his cats were going with him.  There isn't much the state or federal government can do to stop him if another dealer is willing to let him continue to operate under their license. 
    
    March 20, 2008 Ontario, Canada Bowmanville Zoo: A martial arts teacher knocked over by a lion during a photo shoot for Desi Life at Bowmanville Zoo says she is happy to have come away with four broken ribs and a bloodied lung.  "To be honest, the sensation I have is a great deal of gratitude to be alive," Gitanjali Kolanad said yesterday.  In the video, one minder kicks the baby lion in the neck while the other pulls on a leash. The lion takes a second, unsuccessful lunge at Kolanad as she lies gasping, before he is hauled out the door. "I couldn't breathe – that was the terrifying part. The muscles in my chest seized up and they didn't relax until I was in the emergency room and they gave me a muscle relaxant."  See it here: http://www.thestar.com/DesiLife/article/347684
    
    February 23, 2008 Miami, FL:  A pet serval was turned in, no questions asked, at an exotic pet amnesty day sponsored by the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission.  100 owners dropped off bags full of pythons, scorpions and assorted other reptiles, birds and mammals.  "This is garden-variety stuff," said exotic pet veterinarian Thomas Goldsmith, who examined the submissions. "This is Miami. People have sloths and leopards and God knows what else."  The FWC then gave the dumped pets to new owners.  One of the people surrendering her pets, Christie Lyon said, "People have no idea what they're getting into."
    
    February 21, 2008 Honolulu, HI:  A 245-pound Sumatra tiger named Berani was discovered wandering around an unsecured area just before the Honolulu Zoo's opening on Thursday. A startled female volunteer reported the escape after the tiger brushed past her. Zoo workers describe 8-year-old Berani as the tamest of three tigers at the zoo. Quintal says staff members who cleaned the tiger enclosure failed to properly latch a gate.
    
    February 21, 2008 Johnstown, OH:  Ben Uditis was driving when he noticed a fire at 3159 S. County Line
    Rd. Editis woke Rick Armstrong and helped him get his animals out of his garage, including a caged tiger.  Firefighters arriving on the scene had to work around the big cat to put out the blaze. ( Since no one was harmed, this is not included in the totals above as an incident although the first responders would certainly call it one. )
    
    February 13, 2008 Bracebridge, Ontario: Provincial police were forced to shoot and kill a six year old jaguar named Bhino after he broke through a chain link cage at Guhu Exotic Animal Reserve. When officers arrived, they found the jaguar with the family's pet dog in his mouth. The dog was on a chain and therefore couldn't escape the jaguar and had to be put down because of severe injuries.
    
    February 9, 2008 Davenport, FL: Brenda Chapman was clawed by a tiger named Kheira while cleaning out its cage, at Horseshoe Creek said Gary Morse of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.The incident comes on the heels of Darryl Atkinson's Feb. 1 arrest on charges of grand theft and signing a forged instrument. The commission said it found Atkinson accepting money from people on court-ordered probation in exchange for signing off on community service work they did not do. "That's just not what I need with all this other stuff," owner Darryl Atkinson said.
    
    January 24, 2008 Seattle, WA:  Two declawed, yearling servals were found wandering around West Seattle. Animal Control picked up one on Jan. 1 as it was going after some cat food left on a doorstep. Officers picked up the second one on the grounds of Madison Middle School.  Officer Don Baxter suspects they both belonged to the same owner, who has not claimed them.
    
    January 18, 2008 Mayes County, OK:  The fire at Safari Joe's Exotic Wildlife Refuge destroyed a large barn that housed big cats, monkeys, birds and reptiles. Joe Estes, who owns the refuge, says he was able to save some tigers and lions but at least two tigers housed on the property died in the flames along with about 100 other exotic animals.

  • Blog post
  • 1 year ago
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• Mary Jean Williams Deborah-Ann Mary Jean Williams Deborah-Ann Milette

  • From: TheirVoice
  • Description:

    In 2002 I was asked to help someone to get her tiger named Tigger released
    and returned to Texas. WELL, she seemed to think better and defy court orders
    and do what she pleased in spite of her tiger (showing it off) bit two
    children in 2 states! But what do I know. Her son let the tiger loose, was shot
    and she claims it was my fault when I was in NY!!!! DUH? ?
    
    She was fined heavily by USDA and the state of IL, not to mention I didn't
    answer quickly (people you have 10 days to respond) I got fined as well not
    to mention Mary Jean Williams, who owned Tigger the tiger,,, SHE NEVER
    PAID ME FOR FOOD< GAS AND HOTEL!!!!!!!
    
    I learned tonight that she is getting MORE tigers and putting them on the
    land she purchased in Nevada. She has sucked up royally to John Williams of
    Tiger Touch, which explains why my relationship went to the crap house because
    she claims it was my fault. I sent all papers and documents to Z and others
    of my innocence in the baloney and Ray (_lionguy@..._
    (mailto:lionguy@...) ) knows the whole story.
    
    This woman NEEDS to be stopped because she has NO CONCEPT of right and
    wrong. She is the stupid individual that needs to be stopped because she gives
    every AR the very reason why "we should be stopped" as private owners.
    
    This woman NEVER paid and IF SHE CAN BE STOPPED the money owed would be
    well worth the effort to protect GOOD OWNERS.
    
    I lost plenty, paid fines not necessary not to mention my USDA license and
    yet this piece of work is getting tigers again? ? ?
    
    Deborah-Ann Milette
    Telling Felids

  • Blog post
  • 1 year ago
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• Tiger Touch Mauling of Intern Tiger Touch Mauling of Intern

  • From: TheirVoice
  • Description:

    To anyone who will listen about a horrible crime:
    
    I have a friend, from the Philippines who was a crime victim while visiting the US. She came as a journalist to do a story for PAL in Las Vegas, and wanted to extend her stay in the states. She has an
    interest in exotic cats, so she applied to the Tiger Touch resort in Fallon NV (5820 Mission Road, Fallon NV 89406), via email in hopes to be accepted there as a student/volunteer. They accepted her so she
    extended her visit to Nov. 6th, however because of the situation, she is currently back in Manila now.
    
    She arrived Las Vegas on Oct. 3. After she finished her work for PAL, she arrived at the Tiger Touch about Oct. 6. The owners, and the only other people tending to the animals besides herself, pressured her and tried to persuade her, repeatedly, to take her clothes off, get naked with them, have threesomes with them, and smoke marijuana with them. She refused their offers and they grew cold and started trying to isolate her from the outside world, limiting and monitoring her use of the phone and computer.
    
    On Oct. 13th, she was bit by one of their big cats. They claim sanctuary for lions, tigers, cougars, lynxes, bobcats and servals.  She was bit by a cougar and they resisted getting her medical care, insisting that she allow it to heal 'naturally', and they gave her the drug tramadol for pain. After I insisted she have them take her to the hospital the owner pointed a gun at her, he and his wife took her to the ER, but, made her tell a ridiculous story about how she accidentally stabbed herself, had some kind of spasm and stabbed herself again, then slipped and fell on the bloody floor landing on a pile of jagged broken bones to explain the puncture wounds.
    
    They were threatening her and holding a gun on her, told her that in Nevada they can shoot her first and ask questions later if they think she is a threat, and when they returned from ER, they demanded to see
    emails she had sent to people and stopped allowing her to make or recieve phone calls. Then on Oct 17th, their internet service mysteriously (suspiciously) went out.
    
    In the morning of Oct. 18th called the Fallon Sheriff's office and asked them to go check on her. After the Sheriff left, they told her to pack her bags and get out. I WU $200 so she could rebook her flights, and the couple told her she could not use the phone to rebook, she should try rebooking online. Fallon Sheriff case report #14385-08.
    
    The owners of Tiger Touch drove her to the Reno airport on Oct. 19th and she flew to Las Vegas hoping to make a connection to Manila as a stand-by with PAL. When she got back to Las Vegas Int. Airport, on
    the 19th, she called me and told me about the gun and how she was unable to report the truth to the Sheriff because she was afraid for her life from the owner's threats. She gave another statement to the Las Vegas Airport police before she got on the flight back to Manila.
    
    I'd like to know if justice is going to be served? Does anyone here even care or are you all too paranoid that she might not be an innocent victim, but is more likely a spy???? The USA already has a pretty bad reputation worldwide, and what these people did at their Tiger Touch facility is worse than what OJ Simpson and his possy of thugs did in Las Vegas.
    
    Because of all the things my friend has told me, I'm also concerned that there may be other victims that did not make it out of Tiger Touch alive. She is currently back in Manila with a serverly injured and infected stitched up hand, wounded by a cougar attack, but only treated for a knife wound. The hospital in Fallon treated her for a knife wound, not an animal bite. She reported to me just before boarding her flight that she is still in extreme pain, and she needs medical treatment. She started getting anti-rabies shots, but has no money to continue the shots or treatment for the infection. Her hand is badly swollen and leaking a lot of pus.
    
    I think she might lose her hand or her life over this.
    
    I have serious concerns not only about my friend, but who is looking after the cats?

    
    Sharlene  harmonyhil@

    $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

    
    --- In Phoenix_Exotics@yahoogroups.com, Katarina Sardoti <WACKOKITTEN7@...> wrote:
    Does anyone know where I can volunteer to assist big cat keepers in a U.S.facility for a month this October? Can you please help me in my search?   I'll be in Las Vegas, Nevada this October 2, on official media coverage (I'm a journalist by profession) but I'll be free by October 4.    I'd prefer a facility close by, if there's one, but I'll do my best to find a way to access any suitable facility for as long as I can access it by public transport and within my very limited budget.   I've emailed inquiries to a number of U.S. tiger sanctuary websites and they said they don't take volunteers who cannot commit at least 3
    months. Interns are required to commit 1 year and are not allowed direct contact with big cats. That's what they told me at the International Exotic Animal Sanctuary,Texas and at Animal Ark, Reno, Nevada.
    
    My problem is I can only spare one month for 2008.I just want to take advantage of my unexpected freetrip to the U.S. to further my knowledge of the big cats I love.   This will be my third visit to the U.S. and I've been granted a multiple-entry "I" (Journalist) visa. But because this is an unplanned visit (I was notified I'll go to the U.S. just a week ago), I have to return to my work in my country by mid- Novemberand have to be with my mom, who just lost my dad, for Christmas. Also, I have to honor my promise to an Asian sanctuary where I have cared for 23 Corbettstigers, 2 Gir lions and one Asian leopard early thisyear. I have been re-accepted in the facility for February 1-April 1, 2009.   Of course, if I can train in a U.S. facility next month, I can return to work with big cats in 2009 and in the coming years - if the facility, or some other U.S. tiger sanctuary will have me.   If I can sustain myself with what I earn as a big catkeeper, I will change careers and become a keeper full-time.
    
    Right now, I feel that I need a license as a big catkeeper plus official training in big cat husbandry if it will be possible for me to have it in one month in the U.S., from October to November this year.    I have no formal training in keeping big cats thoughI have interacted with captive adult Siberian tigersand Bengals in my teens and have grown up in a household full of felines.
    
    The Asian facility where I volunteered for a full month early this year was not really meant to be a zoo or a sanctuary. The tigers, lions and leopard I handled do not habitually respond to verbal commands nor can they be classified as "trained" in the true sense of the word. There was no "formal system" or protocol.
     
    I believe I was able to handle these big cats in an unprotected, full contact basis and emerged unscathed simply because I was sensitive to their moods and individual personalities. But I know there is so much more I need to learn.
     
    By the way, would you also know about the Tiger Touch University Resort in Fallon, Nevada? Will you recommend it as an ideal facility and good training ground for big cat keepers?   You can email me at WACKOKITTEN7@...   I will be very grateful for your help.

    $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

    Just so you know.... This did happen... 

    I've been in near-constant contact with who did indeed have untoward experiences with John and Barbara Williamson of Tiger Touch. She was injured there (though the part of "forcing" her to report her hand injury as an knife accident may not be entirely so as I had discussed such things with her at the time it was happening via email to come up with a plausble explanation for the cause of the wound other than one of the cats biting her (for those who know me, the emails are available... but if you know me you should know that I'm nowhere near full of sh*t when it comes to privacy matters).
    
    Yes, she is a journalist for a Manila newspaper, she did travel via Philippines Airlines to Las Vegas, both of which I've verified via outside sources.... so unless the organization has tapped into major computer systems including the US Customs Service to fake a passport number and photograph, she is indeed who she said she is, and since she's been conversing directly with me regarding questions about big cats, handling, circumstances she's encountered there AT Tiger Touch regarding the cats there... and other matters I have no reason to believe that she has been other than truly genuine and honest about aspects.
    This being Emmie, the journalist, as I don't know Sharlene.... though Emmie has mentioned her several times to me in emails.
    
    You all will believe what you want to believe.... but the evidence before me (that I'm truly hesitant to share on the open list) says something completely else to me. Whether parts of it are true or not, I cannot say. Other parts I have no reason in the world to disbelieve.
    
    Admittedly, having something like this stated publicly in one large blort does indeed lend to the feeling that it is incredulous. But nonetheless.... I remain in contact with the originating individual (Emmie) and as a result I'm privvy to things the open list isn't.
    
    And, just for what it's worth, I did apologise for you all making snide remarks before her visit, and did apologise on behalf of other big-cat owners as well as the nation entire for her untoward experience
    here.... and I wasn't meaning the bite.
    
    So don't be so quick to judge. Sharlene has some right to bitch about it, even though in reality she's asserting someone else's experience in her ire.

    
    Timothy J. Fuller
    President, NEOPOA
    
    Bringing fire as the light of reason to mortals and morons for better than two
    decades.
    
    Prometheus Horse <prometheus_horse@

    $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

  • Blog post
  • 2 years ago
  • Views: 1391

• FCF Lynn Culver Controversy FCF Lynn Culver Controversy

  • From: TheirVoice
  • Description:

    This press release issued by Joe Schreibvogel about the Feline Conservation Federation and Lynn Culver exposes their thinly veiled attempts to fool the public into thinking they provide a needed service. Joe is no stranger to controversy though and the Internet abounds with undercover video of the suffering his cats have endured including a lioness with her arm chewed off by tigers and no vet care. He claims to have "re-homed" 22 tigers into a cage that cost 21,000, but a decent cage for one tiger costs 7500.00. Visit in person, get behind the scenes to see how the cats are really kept, and then decide. This press release is just the pot calling the kettle black.
    

    /24-7PressRelease/ - Wynnewood, Oklahoma, September 08, 2008 - The Florida incorporated organization Feline Conservation Federation, better known as the FCF, finds itself in a whirl wind of controversy.
    Recently, there was an incident at the Wesa-Ah-Gee-Ah Sanctuary in Warrenton, Missouri where a worker lost his leg below the knee due to the injuries he received from the escape of a tiger at the sanctuary. Joe Schreibvogel, of the GW Exotic Animal Park in Wyneewood, OK offered to spearhead the rehoming effort of the animals after the Wesa-Ah-Gee-Ah Sanctuary decided to shut their doors. Schreibvogel contacted Lynn Culver, President of the Feline Conservation Federation for help in the rehoming of these animals and asked for assistance from the FCF's Safety Net Fund. This program was set up from donations for aiding individuals who are in the process of rehoming felines and helps to cover the costs for transportation and enclosures. Ms. Culver ignored Mr. Schreibvogel's request and said "The Safety Net Fund is set up to work by various members taking the lead - writing a web page about the case on the FCF Safety Net page, providing details that FCF is taking on the project. I am not going to do it. As president, my main concern is getting the expected services to the members. With this increase growth rate, more than ever, I have my work cut out for me. We have a production timetable to meet on the next Journal, and the upcoming elections to conduct, the change over to a single membership renewal date, the recent MO tiger attacks and related media needs. On a personal level, my 45 cats and 12 kittens to care for. And I might add, I recently underwent surgery and had fell asleep at the wheel and ran my car off the road and it is now being repaired. I am a bit overwhelmed right now and I work at least 6 hours a day on FCF stuff for no pay. It is time for the other board members to step up to the plate and do their jobs. I have told them I will support and aid them in this effort and I have laid out a plan for them - but they must take the first step."
    
    Due to the lack of interest from the FCF in this rehoming project, Mr. Schreibvogal took the project on by himself and spent more that $21,500 of his own money to build enclosures and pay for the transportation costs to bring 22 of the Wesa-Ah-Gee-Ah animals to his GW Exotic Animal Park. He then found homes for the remaining animals and helped those who took in these animals to make preparations for their arrival.
    
    A week after the rehoming of the animals from Warrenton, Mr. Schreibvogel started getting emails relating to the Warrenton situation and he found one that was most disturbing. A woman out of Arkansas sent this email on August 31, 2008 to Mr. Schreibvogel that said "I got a desperate call from someone who attends church with Sandra (owner of Wesa-Ah-Gee-Ah) wanting help in placing these cats. Because I was so busy with school, work, and a new baby, I contacted Lynn Culver. I figured as president of the FCF, she should help or at least put Sandra in touch with someone who could. Apparently FCF did nothing. That was months ago. If Lynn had not ignored the situation, that accident could have been prevented and that boy would still have his leg. Just another example of FCF offering all kinds of help to owners, and providing none." Could the tiger incident have been prevented if the FCF had taken action when they were first made aware of the problem?
    
    All of the animals in Warrenton were placed without the FCF (Feline Conservation Federation) ever stepping up to the plate. Joe Schreibvogel states "with or without their help we want law makers to know there are responsible, fair, people out here being professional who will step up and make sure cases like this do not get dumped in the laps of the states or just ignored. We just want the chance to have a voice when laws are written so as to protect the professionals in this industry because some of us do care about the cats and the public safety."
    
    Schreibvogal says he is puzzled by all of the misinformation in the media about the incident that caused the injury to the worker at the sanctuary. One report indicated the cage was 17 feet tall when in fact it was only 10 feet tall. "They are making these animals sound much more dangerous than they are, and this tiger was in a poorly constructed cage. Tigers don't make a habit of just climbing out to get out. There are always factors behind any incident." Schreibvogel stated that this was indeed a sad accident but he was told by an eye witness at the scene of the accident that the tiger was provoked by a volunteer at the top of the cage who taunted the tiger with a piece of chicken which gave this tiger the incentive to climb up the side of the cage. Schreibvogel said "There are already regulations in place in Missouri to cover the ownership of animals and if they are not followed things like this can happen. Missouri doesn't need any new laws, they just need to enforce the ones they already have in place." The FCF has now had complaints filed against them for fraud of selling memberships with advantages and than removing certain privileges as they see fit with no refunds offered to people buying memberships. The creditability of the registered feline handlers cards they also sell is under scrutiny as one member puts it a kangaroo could sign up for this, it's not about professionalism its about $30.00. In the last month one board member has resigned, and over 30 memberships have been either suspended or revoked due to people questioning the ethics of the Organization.
    
    All information contained in this article was through direct dated emails, or personal conversations with the people involved.
    
    # # #

    Press Release Contact Information:
    Joe Schreibvogel
    G.W. Exotic
    public relations
    rrt 2 box 67
    Wynnewood, oklahoma
    usa 73098
    Voice: 405-665-5197

  • Blog post
  • 2 years ago
  • Views: 314

• Carson & Barnes Circus Carson & Barnes Circus

  • From: TheirVoice
  • Description:

    January 26, 2004

    To Whom It May Concern:

    My name is Courtenay Tosti (formerly Courtenay Warren). I worked at Carson & Barnes Circus C&B) during 1993 when I was 21 years old. The following is an account of what I witnessed while working at the circus.

    Many of the people working at C&B were on the run from something they had done. I was warned to be careful when I joined as 2 workers had supposedly killed their wives, and were known to brutalize women. My boss, John "JB" Brooks, cursed at me constantly and frequently hit me.

    The Millers, who own the circus, had various skins and skulls of deceased performing animals, including a tiger skin and a hippo skull, decorating their homes and offices.

    Owners told me that I would be sorry if I ever told what I saw. Based on what I had heard and the tone used by my superiors, I felt as if they were threatening me with physical harm. When I stood crying as they dumped the body of Nelson, a Siberian tiger, into a trash bin Gary Byrd approached me and said that if I knew what was good for me I would keep quiet.

    All of the animals were stressed out much of the time, and some of them got very aggressive. Margaret, the elephant, chased a man up a pole, tried on numerous occasions to karate-kick me as she would go past, and was always in trouble.

    A member of the prop crew got too close to the tiger cage one night and a tiger grabbed the boys head with his paw and inflicted deep wounds. I saw the injured boy right after the attack, he was sitting on a chair, with his head between his knees, blood was pouring out of a couple of large holes in his head.

    The owners and handlers knew how dangerous the animals were. However, that did not stop them from putting the animals near the spectators. Even certain elephants who were known to have killed people and were considered "insane" were not kept away from the public. It was very easy for the public to approach the elephants on the picket line from the rear, which startles them, and as I was in the security department I was frequently forced to make entire families leave the elephants area, where they would bring their children right up to the chained elephants to pet them, oblivious to how deadly this could be. If no one was watching closely people would often duck the useless barriers in front of the Cat Cages and approach the big cats, sometimes holding their children up for a better look.

    I never saw a vet attend to any animals when they were on the road.

    While having a difficult birth, a four-horned sheep was put into a hot trailer and left alone. She could be heard screaming but no one attended her, she died.

    A wallaby had open, festering wounds and was not provided with vet care.

    A horse, Rick, was allowed to eat moldy hay and died.

    A Siberian tiger, Nelson, was ill, supposedly from pneumonia, and laid down in the chute as it was no longer able to stand. Several handlers stabbed at him with bullhooks to get him to move. He was not given vet care, and died soon thereafter. His body was picked up by a front-end loader and dumped in a trash bin. I was told that his skin would be kept.

    A pygmy hippo, Katy, was not given water to lay in, and her back was cracked and bloody. I inquired about this and was told that a pygmy was not a 'water hippo', and that water only irritated her back. The hippo from the year before died at a young age.

    Animals were often left out in the hot sun, the rain, and in extreme temperatures, sometimes below freezing. I saw Goliath, a white rhinoceros, huddled against the back of his cage trying to stay warm. I saw the zebra, standing head down, shivering in the snow.

    The elephants were not allowed to cover themselves with mud or water because it would mess up the performers uniforms. Their skin was very dry and cracked, and would often bleed. If they attempted to throw water on their backs they were beaten.

    The elephants were only fed hay and sweet feed, which caused them to suffer digestive problems, including diarrhea.

    All of the elephant handlers went into the barn at winter quarters to blow torch the hair off the elephants, which could tear a performers uniform. They would close the doors but you could hear the elephants screaming, and smell the burning hair and skin. I later saw black marks on the elephants bodies. When I asked about it I was told it was from the blow-torching, but that it 'didn't hurt'.

    It was well known that new handlers were taught to be mean and aggressive to the animals. When they were not mean enough, they were reprimanded, taken off animal duty, or fired. I witnessed one handler, Oakie Carrs son-in-law, harshly criticizing a new elephant handler for not being more aggressive with Bunny, the elephant in his charge.

    I often saw camels being hit and one time I saw a handler, Reggie Lindsey, curse at a camel and whack it on its hind legs, with his bullhook.

    The handlers took great pride in concocting newer and more violent torture devices. They would put nails and hooks into baseball bats. They would put larger hooks, the type used by firemen to tear open walls, into the creation of their bullhooks. Their devices put ordinary bullhooks to shame.

    I observed one practice training session in the barn at the winter quarters. The trainer struck the elephants over and over, and called them filthy names. They were struck on their eyes and genital areas.

    Elephants were constantly beaten every day. The handlers yanked and stabbed at them with the hook, and hit them with baseball bats. This was done because the elephants did not respond quickly enough to a command, because the elephants were doing something that annoyed the handlers, like playing with the picket line, and often for no apparent reason.

    An elephant named Mona, reputedly crippled during her training, had severe back problems but continued to travel with the circus until she fell out of the trailer twice and was mortally injured.

    Alta, one of the elephants Reggie Lindsey was in charge of, turned and ran out of the tent during the show, knocking cars out of her way. She was brought back and beaten severely by Lindsey. Lindsey often beat her, and she ran like this more than once.

    Becky the elephant was forced to perform when she had a painful foot infection. She walked very slowly with a limp, and was struck and yelled at to get her to move more quickly.

    Despite suffering from arthritis, Minnie was forced to do the routine called the long mount where all the elephants stand propped on each others backs in a row. Each time she did it she would wince, shake her head and scream in pain.

    Margaret was an elephant who was often in trouble. In order to teach her a lesson, 6 or 7 elephant handlers surrounded her and began beating her ruthlessly as she was chained front and back legs. Some of them stabbed at her legs to keep her off balance while one beat her over the head with a baseball bat until she was bloody. She fell forward and started crying, shaking, urinating and defecating. It went on for several minutes.

    Kay, a matriarchal elephant well into her fifties was very sick with kidney problems. She was forced to perform even though she was very ill. She died while the circus was performing in Taylorville, Ill. She was standing and since she was chained to the picket line, her body just tilted forward. All of the other elephants became hysterical and were screaming and trying to touch her and offer assistance, but they couldn't move because they, too, were chained.

    I have heard the animals agonizing cries for help go unanswered. I have heard the circus people lie to the public about how the animals are treated. I share this information in hopes that the public will understand the degree of immense pain and suffering, beatings and neglect, and illnesses and deaths that circus animals experience on a regular basis and refuse to support it.

    Sincerely,

    Courtenay Tosti

    (817)312-9797

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    Complainant proved by a preponderance of the evidence that on December2, 2000, Respondent Diana Cziraky exhibited animals during a period when her Animal Welfare Act license was suspended, in willful violation of section 2.10(c) of the Regulations (9C.F.R. § 2.10(c)). if( bInlineFloats ) { document.write( ' ' ); document.write( WPFootnote3 ); document.write( '
    Close ' ); document.write( ' ' ); } Specifically, the record establishes that pursuant to section 19(a) of the Animal Welfare Act (7U.S.C. § 2149(a)), the Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, temporarily suspended Respondent Diana Cziraky’s Animal Welfare Act license for a 10-day period beginning on November24, 2000 (CX64, CX67). On December2, 2000, during the period of suspension, Respondent Diana Cziraky exhibited animals (Tr.166-67, 169, 177-81, 183-84, 190-94, 305, 629-32; CX1, CX49, CX54-CX62). Respondent Diana Cziraky admits that she received the notice of suspension of her Animal Welfare Act license and exhibited animals during the period of suspension, but she states that she exhibited animals during the period of suspension only after being advised by counsel that the notice of suspension was not enforceable (Tr.945-47).

    Respondent Diana Cziraky’s reliance on erroneous advice is not a defense to her violation of section 2.10(c) of the Regulations (9C.F.R. § 2.10(c)). Moreover, Respondent Diana Cziraky’s reliance on erroneous advice does not negate the willfulness of Respondent Diana Cziraky’s violation of section 2.10(c) of the Regulations (9C.F.R. § 2.10(c)). An action is willful under the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. § 558(c)) if a prohibited act is done intentionally, irrespective of evil intent or reliance on erroneous advice, or done with careless disregard of statutory requirements. if( bInlineFloats ) { document.write( ' ' ); document.write( WPFootnote4 ); document.write( '
    Close ' ); document.write( ' ' ); } The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit define the word “willfulness,” as that word is used in 5U.S.C. § 558(c), as an intentional misdeed or such gross neglect of a known duty as to be the equivalent of an intentional misdeed. Capital Produce Co. v. United States , 930F.2d 1077, 1079 (4th Cir. 1991); Hutto Stockyard, Inc. v. United States Dep’t of Agric. , 903 F.2d 299, 304 (4th Cir. 1990); Capitol Packing Co. v. United States , 350 F.2d 67, 78-79 (10th Cir. 1965). Appeal in this proceeding does not lie either to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit or to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. However, even under this more stringent definition, Respondent Diana Cziraky’s violation of section 2.10(c) of the Regulations (9C.F.R. § 2.10(c)) would still be found willful.

    Section2.131(c)(2) of the Regulations (9C.F.R. § 2.131(c)(2)) requires that a responsible, knowledgeable, and readily identifiable employee or attendant must be present during periods of public contact with animals, and section 2.131(c)(3) of the Regulations (9C.F.R. § 2.131(c)(3)) requires that, during public exhibition, dangerous animals must be under the direct control and supervision of a knowledgeable and experienced animal handler. Complainant failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that Respondents violated section 2.131(c)(2) and (c)(3) of the Regulations (9C.F.R. § 2.131(c)(2), (c)(3)). if( bInlineFloats ) { document.write( ' ' ); document.write( WPFootnote5 ); document.write( '
    Close ' ); document.write( ' ' ); }

    COMPLAINANT’S APPEAL PETITION

    Complainant raises 12 issues in Complainant’s Petition for Appeal of Decision and Order [hereinafter Complainant’s Appeal Petition]. First, Complainant asserts the record does not support the Chief ALJ’s statement that a person becomes a trainer by paying $2,500 and entering into an agreement with The Siberian Tiger Foundation (Complainant’s Appeal Pet. at 5). The Chief ALJ states “[a] person becomes a trainer by paying $2,500 and entering into an agreement with the Foundation” (Initial Decision and Order at 2). I agree with Complainant that the record does not support the Chief ALJ’s statement. Instead, the record establishes that a person who pays $2,500 and enters into an agreement with The Siberian Tiger Foundation is referred to as a “trainee” and the purpose of the agreement is to train the trainee “in the area of exotic cats and the ownership thereof” (CX6). Further, the record establishes that a trainee must receive a minimum of 500hours of training before losing the status of a trainee (Tr.988-89). Therefore, I do not adopt the Chief ALJ’s statement that a person becomes a trainer by paying $2,500 and entering into an agreement with The Siberian Tiger Foundation. Instead, I find that a person becomes a trainee by paying $2,500 and entering into an agreement with The Siberian Tiger Foundation.

    Second, Complainant contends the record does not support the Chief ALJ’s statement that after 1,000hours a trainee is considered fully trained in animal behavior and control. Complainant asserts the Chief ALJ’s statement appears to accept Respondents’ view of what “fully trained” means (Complainant’s Appeal Pet. at 5). The Chief ALJ states:

    As part of the “hands on” phase of their training, trainees work with handlers who accompany persons entering the animal compound to have a “close encounter” with the cats. After five hundred hours of training[,] the trainee receives a certificate and after a thousand hours the trainee is considered fully trained in animal behavior and control.

    Initial Decision and Order at 3.

    The Chief ALJ does not state that he found Respondents’ trainees fully trained in animal behavior and control after 1,000hours of training as Complainant contends. Instead, the Chief ALJ uses the passive voice of the verb “to consider” and does not indicate who considers Respondents’ trainees fully trained in animal behavior and control after 1,000 hours of training. Based on the record, which establishes that Respondents generally consider their trainees fully trained after 1,000hours of training (Tr.720-21, 988-89) and my reading of the Initial Decision and Order, I infer the Chief ALJ found that Respondents consider their trainees fully trained in animal behavior and control after 1,000hours of training. I restate the Chief ALJ’s Initial Decision and Order by eliminating the passive voice of the verb “to consider” and stating that generally Respondents consider a trainee fully trained in animal behavior and control after 1,000hours of training.

    Third, Complainant contends the Chief ALJ’s description of Respondents’ close-encounter method of exhibition is error. The Chief ALJ states, as follows:

    Large groups are broken down into smaller groups and each group is accompanied by two to four handlers. The group is then stationed in a “safe area” which is beyond the length of the chains attached to each cat. Those persons in the group desiring a “close encounter” are taken one at a time by the handlers to the chained lion or tiger and allowed to approach and touch or pet the animals from behind. Meanwhile, to maintain control over the animal, one handler, a “spotter,” stands near the animal’s head with his/her hand either poised above the head or holding the animal’s collar. The spotter is to keep his/her “eye on what is going on.” The other handler is stationed on the animal’s other side and stands on the chain to keep the chain taut during the encounter.

    Initial Decision and Order at 4.

    The record does not support the Chief ALJ’s statement that each group of people was accompanied by two to four handlers. Respondent Diana Cziraky admitted that on some occasions Respondents allowed members of the public to have direct contact with lions and tigers with only one handler present (Tr.990).

    The record does not support the Chief ALJ’s statement that groups were stationed in “safe areas” which is beyond the length of the control chain attached to each cat. On October21, 2000, Jessica Lee was a member of the public observing another member of the public, Ethan Newman, pet a tiger named Imara. When Imara began biting Ethan Newman, Jessica Lee stepped back, whereupon Joseph, a male lion, knocked Jessica Lee over, pounced on her, bit her, and released her only after his eyes were sprayed with vinegar (Tr.594). An incident such as the October21, 2000, incident involving the injury to Jessica Lee establishes that Respondents did not always place groups in safe areas. Further, on February28, 2000, Respondents allowed Nikita, a male tiger, to walk around freely during a close encounter (CX84-CX90, CX94-CX96). Terry Aston, one of Respondents’ trainees, testified that Nikita was allowed to walk around freely on several occasions, as follows:

    [BY MS. CARROLL:]

    Q.And how long did you [train]?

    [BY MS. ASTON:]

    A.March to June was my last. I had moved, so I didn’t go back there. In my training time that I was there, supposedly, my volunteering time as I call it, Nikita walked around freely quite a bit. I mean, we could have a crowd in there of 20 people and if Nikita decided to come of his den, he did and you just herd the people up and we would stand in front of him and Nikita would walk around.

    One day in May, they had put up the swimming pool. They have a swimming pool for the animals, but we had to put a big caging around it because Imara, the youngest one, she has a tendency to want to play in there and then use it as a bathroom.

    And two of the ladies that were there that day were so scared when Nikita walked out, they went in that enclosure closed the gate and locked themselves in there.

    Q.With Imara?

    A.No, Imara wasn’t in there. Nobody was in there at that time because it’s very intimidating to some people to have a cat that large just walking free.

    Tr.373-74.

    I find that during the close encounters in which Respondents allowed Nikita to roam freely, no area could be considered a “safe area” which is beyond the length of the control chain attached to each cat.

    The record does not support the Chief ALJ’s statement that close encounters were limited to touching or petting the animals from behind. The evidence reveals that members of the public were often face-to-face with Respondents’ animals (CX1, CX59-CX61, CX80-CX88).

    The record does not support the Chief ALJ’s statement that during close encounters the control chain attached to each animal was kept taut by a handler. On a number of occasions, Respondents failed to keep taut the control chain attached to the animal with which a member of the public was having a close encounter or there was no control chain attached to the animal (CX13, CX93-CX 97).

    Therefore, I do not adopt the Chief ALJ’s description of Respondents’ close-encounter method of exhibition, and I substantially modify the Chief ALJ’s description of Respondents’ close-encounter method of exhibition.

    Fourth, Complainant asserts the Chief ALJ erroneously indicates Respondents had an accessible CO2 fire extinguisher and an available tranquilizer gun on the dates alleged in the Complaint (Complainant’s Appeal Pet. at 8). The Chief ALJ states: “A CO2 fire extinguisher is also accessible. It provides control of the animal by temporarily depriving it of oxygen. A tranquilizer gun is available if necessary” (Initial Decision and Order at5).

    I agree with Complainant’s contention that the record establishes that Respondents did not acquire a tranquilizer gun until February or March of 2001 (Tr.938), well after the violations alleged in the Complaint. Further, the record does not establish that a CO2 fire extinguisher was accessible during the entire period covered in the Complaint (Tr.1035). Therefore, I do not adopt the Chief ALJ’s statement that “[a] CO2 fire extinguisher is ...accessible” and “[a] tranquilizer gun is available if necessary” (Initial Decision and Order at5). Instead, I find Respondents made CO2 fire extinguishers more accessible to handlers and acquired a tranquilizer gun after Complainant filed the Complaint.

    Fifth, Complainant asserts the Chief ALJ erroneously stated that Respondent Diana Cziraky keeps a daily record of each animal’s behavior and discusses each animal’s behavior with the trainers (Complainant’s Appeal Pet. at 8-9). The Chief ALJ states Respondent Diana Cziraky “keeps a daily record of each animal’s behavior and discusses their behavior with the trainers” (Initial Decision and Order at 5).

    The record does not support the Chief ALJ’s statement that Respondent Diana Cziraky keeps a daily record of each animal’s behavior and discusses each animal’s behavior with the trainers. Complainant introduced part of a notebook in which one of Respondents’ students recorded the behavior of one of Respondents’ tigers. The notebook contains three consecutive entries: one for October21, 2000; another for October29, 2000; and the last for October30, 2000. Further, Respondent Diana Cziraky testified that the students keep the notebooks and bring to her attention any issues of major concern. (CX46; Tr. 993-94). Therefore, I do not adopt the Chief ALJ’s statement that Respondent Diana Cziraky keeps a daily record of each animal’s behavior and discusses each animal’s behavior with the trainers.

    Sixth, Complainant contends the Chief ALJ erroneously suggests that Complainant’s legal theory is that Respondents were in compliance with section 2.131(b)(1) of the Regulations (9C.F.R. § 2.131(b)(1)) until people were bitten by Respondents’ animals (Complainant’s Appeal Pet. at 9-10).

    The Chief ALJ states Complainant’s “rationale for alleging a violation in this proceeding is that ...the Foundation was in compliance with section 2.131(b)(1) until people were bitten” (Initial Decision and Order at 19). However, the Chief ALJ also indicates Complainant’s position is that Respondents’ failures to handle their animals so there was minimal risk of harm to the animals and the public with sufficient distance or barriers or distance and barriers between the animals and the general viewing public, so as to assure the safety of the animals and the public, constituted violations of section 2.131(b)(1) of the Regulations (9C.F.R. § 2.131(b)(1)) (Initial Decision and Order at 9, 15, 17).

    Complainant’s filings reveal that Complainant’s rationale for alleging Respondents violated section 2.131(b)(1) of the Regulations (9C.F.R. § 2.131(b)(1)) is that during public exhibition, Respondents failed to handle their animals so there was minimal risk of harm to the animals and the public, with sufficient distance or barriers or distance and barriers between the animals and the general viewing public, so as to assure the safety of the animals and the public. The record clearly establishes that Complainant views the bites and other injuries sustained by people who had close encounters with Respondents’ animals as the consequence of Respondents’ violations of the Regulations. I find nothing in Complainant’s filings indicating that Complainant takes the position that Respondents’ animals’ bites constitute violations of the Regulations, and I do not adopt the Chief ALJ’s statement that Complainant’s rationale for alleging a violation in this proceeding is that Respondents were in compliance with section 2.131(b)(1) of the Regulations (9C.F.R. § 2.131(b)(1)) until people were bitten.

    Seventh, Complainant contends the Chief ALJ erroneously assumed that Respondents’ “premium customers” who paid $2,500 for exposure to Respondents’ animals were trainers and not members of the public. Complainant contends the record establishes that these “premium customers” were members of the “public” and “the general viewing public” as those terms are used in section 2.131(b)(1) of the Regulations (9C.F.R. § 2.131(b)(1)). (Complainant’s Appeal Pet. at 10-13).

    I agree with Complainant that the record does not establish that persons who paid $2,500 for exposure to Respondents’ animals were trainers. Instead, the record establishes that persons who paid $2,500 and entered into training agreements with The Siberian Tiger Foundation were Respondents’ “trainees” (CX6). However, I do not agree with Complainant’s contention that Respondents’ trainees were members of “the public” or members of “the general viewing public.” The Regulations do not define the term “the public” or the term “the general viewing public” as used in section 2.131(b)(1) of the Regulations (9C.F.R. § 2.131(b)(1)), and Complainant did not prove by a preponderance of the evidence that Respondents’ trainees were members of “the public” or members of “the general viewing public” as those terms are used in section 2.131(b)(1) of the Regulations (9C.F.R. § 2.131(b)(1)). if( bInlineFloats ) { document.write( ' ' ); document.write( WPFootnote6 ); document.write( '
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    Eighth, Complainant contends the Chief ALJ’s suggestion that, under the Regulations, all dealers, exhibitors, intermediate handlers, and carriers and their bonafide employees are members of “the public” and “the general viewing public” under section 2.131(b)(1) of the Regulations (9C.F.R. § 2.131(b)(1)), is error (Complainant’s Appeal Pet. at 13-14).

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    CX 53.

    Ellen Magid, a veterinary medical officer and an Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service supervisory animal care specialist, testified that she had authorized Mr.LaLonde’s investigation and that the explanation accompanying the suspension notice (CX53) was based on a settlement involving another exhibitor. She said the explanation was not intended to be a requirement but only “something to give Ms.Cziraky to help her understand the problems that we were facing and to give her some guidance on how to correct them.” (Tr.660-62, 667, 683-84).

    Dr. Peter Kirsten, a United States Department of Agriculture veterinary medical officer, and Richard Porter, a United States Department of Agriculture investigator, went undercover to Respondents’ facility on December2, 2000, during the period when Respondent Diana Cziraky’s Animal Welfare Act license was suspended. Dr. Kirsten and Richard Porter testified that they attended a close encounter with Respondents’ animals on December2, 2000. (Tr. 164-67, 627-30). Dr. Kirsten took photographs and Richard Porter took a video of Respondents’ exhibition of animals that show no distance or barriers between members of the general viewing public and Respondents’ animals and both Dr. Kirsten and Richard Porter each testified without contradiction that there was no distance or barriers between members of the general viewing public and Respondents’ animals (Tr.169, 177-81, 183-84, 190-94, 305, 630-32; CX1, CX54-CX62).

    Respondent Diana Cziraky admits that she received the notice of suspension of her Animal Welfare Act license and exhibited animals during the period of suspension, but she states that she exhibited animals during the period of suspension only after being advised by counsel that the notice of suspension was not enforceable, as follows:

    [BY MR. ROGOVIN:]

    Q.I would like to take you back to your suspension by the USDA.

    [BY MS. CZIRAKY:]

    A.Okay.

    Q.Did you in fact exhibit while under suspension from the USDA?

    A.Yes, we did.

    Q.Why did you do that?

    A.Well, we didn’t at first. It happened on a Friday and I had to wait until I talked to an attorney and the one I talked to is in Akron. His name is Tony -- I have trouble saying his name -- T-S-A-R-O-U or something like that. But the reason I wanted to speak to Tony is that he specializes in laws that pertain to animals and I wasn’t sure what to do or what was going on, so come Monday, we were turning people away. And once people start traveling, we can’t stop. And people come from hours and hours away. So, we were handing out extra gift certificates to use at a later date to compensate for their inconvenience.

    I did finally reach Tony on the phone and I talked to him –

    Q.What day did you reach him?

    A.It would have been on Monday.

    Q.The first Monday of your suspension?

    A.Yes.

    Q.Okay.

    A.So, I talked to Tony and I had him on the speaker phone and he said read the letter to me, so I did and he specifically asked me is this paper signed by a judge. I said, no, it is not. Then he asked for it to be faxed over to his office.

    Q.Okay.

    A.Then I handed it to Jennifer and –

    Q.Jennifer Adams?

    A.Yes, because she was in the room, so she -- we have two lines, so she faxed it off to his office. He told us to go ahead and continue exhibiting because it was not signed by a judge and it was okay for us to keep running our business.

    Q.If he had told you that it was an enforceable order even though it was not signed by a judge, would you have exhibited?

    ....

    THE WITNESS: If he had told us that we should listen to the letter, we would have listened to the letter.

    BY MR. ROGOVIN:

    Q.And you would have not exhibited?

    A.Of course not.

    Tr.945-47.

    When Respondent Diana Cziraky failed to comply with the November2000 suspension order, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service issued another suspension order on December5, 2000, suspending Respondent Diana Cziraky’s Animal Welfare Act license for 11 days (Tr.667, 945-49; CX33).

    At the hearing, Complainant presented a series of witnesses for the purposes of showing the dangerous nature of lions and tigers and showing Respondents exhibited lions and tigers without providing the safeguards to the animals and the public required by the Regulations.

    Dr. Kirsten has had experience inspecting Animal Welfare Act licensees exhibiting exotic animals. He said that other licensed exhibitors providing close encounters evaluate both the animals and the people for safety and said he was familiar with incidents where animals have had to be “traumatized” after attacks on their handlers, citing one instance where four bears were shot and another where a tiger was sprayed with pepper. Dr.Kirsten testified that tigers are “ambushers” and “opportunistic predators” which would view a small person, a person with an infirmity, or an elderly person as an “opportunity” and that they attack by biting their prey. He visited The Siberian Tiger Foundation on December2, 2000, and expressed the opinion that encounter groups of 10 or 12 persons are too large to supervise, that there did not appear to be any criteria for selecting persons for encounters, that the safe area was not clearly marked, that the chains allowed the animals too much movement, and that a man standing on a tiger’s chain could not have controlled a 400- or 500-pound tiger if the tiger decided to move. (Tr.166-71, 173-74, 176-78, 181-84, 344).

    Dan Hunt, assistant director of the Living Collection for the Columbus (Ohio) Zoo, has had over 20years’ experience handling “large cats,” which includes lions and tigers. The Columbus Zoo, which has an Animal Welfare Act license, uses pepper spray to control the animals. He said, because of their genetic makeup, tigers are programmed predators which have killed thousands of persons in India and that even hand-raising an animal does not “unwire that predisposition.” Dan Hunt said their behavior is unpredictable, their disposition can change in a “split second,” and direct contact with the animals is “inherently dangerous.” A tiger, he said, uses a sweeping motion with its paw to knock small game off balance and when a tiger similarly curves its paw around a human, the tiger thinks it “owns that human being.” Dan Hunt said, under some circumstances, the Columbus Zoo will allow persons to pet tiger cubs up to the age of 6months but even that can constitute a risk. Columbus Zoo board members and their guests, including children, have also been allowed to have encounters with animals. Dan Hunt said that he has been attacked by a tiger at the Columbus Zoo and that a woman was injured by a tiger. (Tr.426, 437-39, 457-58, 462, 472, 483-84, 501, 506-08, 514-15, 917-19).

    Baron Julius von Uhl, an exhibitor licensed under the Animal Welfare Act, has worked in circuses and shows as a trainer of lions, tigers, and leopards since 1954. He said that tigers are too dangerous to allow people to interact with them. He has seen a trainer killed and knows others who “got chewed up” and even bought the cats that killed their trainer as publicity for his show. Julius von Uhl said that a cat putting its paw around a person’s leg is demonstrating its dominance and places the person at the “mercy of the animal.” Julius von Uhl said a person standing on a lion’s chain cannot control the animal and the chain could wrap around and break the person’s leg if the animal moved. He uses a whip and stick to control the animals with which he interacts but said a trainer has to be dominant and have the respect of the animals. He said it takes 3years to become a trainer. (Tr.392, 400-10, 413-15).

    Alicia Hall, a zoologist called by Respondents as a witness, has studied animal behavior. She said tigers and lions are dangerous but curious animals with short attention spans. While they are predators, she said, socialized tigers do not regard humans as prey. As for the risks involved with the encounters at The Siberian Tiger Foundation, Ms.Hall testified, as follows:

    [BY MR.ROGOVIN:]

    Q.Based on your experience and observations at the Siberian Tiger Foundation, how would you evaluate the risks of people having close encounters with these tigers?

    ....

    [BY MS. HALL:]

    THE WITNESS: Inherently, any time any human is around a larger order primate -- or larger order animal, there is a risk. By nature these animals are predators, therefore, they are equipped with equipment to do damage to prey. So, there is an inherent risk.

    The question is specifically are risks addressed? It’s a really hard question to answer. I think it’s all a matter of degrees. Like I said, I was a dog groomer. There is not a dog groomer in existence that hasn’t been bit every single day they go to work. You go to work, you get bit. That’s just the rule.

    ....

    THE WITNESS: There is a risk involved and it’s just inherent. It’s not that the risk is any greater because these animals [lions and tigers] are vicious or violent. It’s just they have bigger equipment. So, an accidental touch or an accident [sic] move of the head can inflict a larger wound than an accidental movement of a dog’s head, but I don’t think in a controlled environment like [The Siberian Tiger Foundation’s environment], that the risk of intentional damage or intentional infliction of harm is any greater at all. I don’t think there is a significant risk.

    Tr.265-66.

    Other witnesses were presented to testify that, because of their interest in or love of tigers and lions, they were willing to assume the risk of being injured just to have the opportunity for an encounter with these animals.

    Beth Wismar, for example, a faculty member of the College of Medicine, Ohio State University, with a doctorate in anatomy, has been a volunteer teacher at the Columbus Zoo for 14years. She testified that when she visited The Siberian Tiger Foundation she was aware of the danger when she petted the animals. (Tr.801, 805, 810-11, 813).

    Marie Collart, a registered nurse, said that she visited The Siberian Tiger Foundation because of her “life-long interest in the big cats.” She said she was aware of the danger and risk of injury. Her comment on her willingness to have encounters with lions and tigers was that “life has risks.” (Tr.752, 780).

    Jane Zickau, a vice president of administrative services, Central Ohio Breathing Association, said she visited The Siberian Tiger Foundation because “I am [a] cat lover and an animal lover” and she knew there was a risk and she accepted the risk. Asked if she would return to The Siberian Tiger Foundation despite the incidents that occurred there, she responded: “As soon as this is over, I will go back. Absolutely.” (Tr.784, 799-800).

    Anne Taylor, a municipal court judge and a member of the board of the Columbus Zoo, testified that she is an animal lover and photographer. She said that she has had encounters with grizzly bears and with tigers in China, as well as at The Siberian Tiger Foundation, and that “I think there ought to be a place in the world for people to have this personal, unique encounter with animals, particularly the big cats, which I think are probably the most beautiful animal.” She added that leopards have been allowed to attend board meetings at the Columbus Zoo, that a python was allowed to wrap itself around her neck, and that, as part of the Columbus Zoo’s program to allow board members and contributors to the Columbus Zoo to have “behind the scenes” tours and encounters, Judge Taylor’s niece and nephew, 6 and 15years of age, were allowed by the Columbus Zoo to have an encounter with a Siberian tiger weighing between 300 and 400pounds. (Tr.900-01, 903-05, 917-19).

    Since Complainant filed the Complaint, Respondents have improved their safety practices. These improvements include shortening the control chains on the animals, using more handlers during close encounters, making encounter groups smaller, not allowing children under the age of 16 to have close encounters, and acquiring a tranquilizer gun. (Tr.938, 1035).

    DISCUSSION

    Complainant contends Respondents repeatedly violated the handling provisions of section 2.131(b)(1) of the Regulations (9C.F.R. § 2.131(b)(1)) in a manner that placed the public and the exhibited animals at risk of harm.

    Respondents argue, inter alia, that there was no violation of the Animal Welfare Act as it relates to the public. Respondents contend that section 2.131(b)(1) of the Regulations (9C.F.R. § 2.131(b)(1)) purporting to deal with public safety exceeds the scope of the Animal Welfare Act because the fundamental purpose of the Animal Welfare Act is to insure the humane treatment of animals and that “there is nothing in the Act which even suggests the purpose of protecting the public against animals.” (Respondents’ Post-Hearing Brief at 9). Respondents argue “Congress did not authorize the Secretary to become the general guardian of public safety where animals are concerned. It is not the function of [an administrative proceeding] to rectify each and every perceived threat or actual injury to the public simply because a holder of a license under the Act becomes the subject of publicity and Complainant suffers some embarrassment. There are local courts, laws and remedies for this.” (Respondents’ Post-Hearing Brief at 12-13). As Respondents contend, the historic police power of a state or municipality to regulate animals has not been supplanted by the Animal Welfare Act. DeHart v. Town of Austin , 39 F.3d 718 (7th Cir. 1994).

    Complainant counters with the argument that Congress intended that animals be exhibited in a manner that is safe for both animals and the public because the Animal Welfare Act refers to the public concern for animals and that, before there can be an exhibition, animals must be exposed to the public. Complainant further argues the lack of adequate safeguards when animals are exhibited can lead to injuries to the public which, in turn, can result in the animals being subjected to unnecessary discomfort or harm through such means as being hit with a stick, sprayed with a CO2 fire extinguisher, or even being killed. (Complainant’s Post-Hearing Brief at2-5). Respondents argue that this discomfort, which Respondents contend is momentary, is a necessary disciplinary means of controlling the animal (Respondents’ Post-Hearing Brief at2).

    The purpose of the Animal Welfare Act, as it relates to exhibited animals, is to insure that they are provided humane care and treatment (7U.S.C. § 2131). The Secretary of Agriculture is specifically authorized to promulgate regulations to govern the humane handling of animals by exhibitors (7U.S.C. §§ 2143(a), 2151). The Regulations deal almost exclusively with the care and treatment of animals. However, section 2.131(b)(1) of the Regulations (9C.F.R. § 2.131(b)(1)) also provides that exhibited animals must be handled in a manner that assures not only their safety but also the safety of the public.

    Animals that attack or harm members of the public are at risk of being harmed. The record establishes that effective methods of extricating people from the grip of an animal can cause the animal harm and can cause the animal’s death (Tr. 406-07, 409-10, 458-59, 671-72). Even after an animal attacks a person, the animal is at risk of being harmed for revenge or for public safety reasons (Tr.520-21, 671). Respondents often sprayed their animals with vinegar or struck their animals when the animals bit members of the public. Occasionally, Respondents sprayed their animals with CO2 fire extinguishers to stop an attack. (Tr.27, 937-38, 992-93). Respondent Diana Cziraky testified that her first tiger that attacked a small girl was confiscated by the health department and decapitated to test it for rabies (Tr.926-27, 949). Thus, section 2.131(b)(1) of the Regulations (9C.F.R. § 2.131(b)(1)), which requires that, during public exhibition, animals be handled so there is minimal risk of harm to the public, with sufficient distance or barriers or distance and barriers between the animals and the general viewing public so as to assure the safety of the public, is directly related to the humane care and treatment of animals and within the authority granted to the Secretary of Agriculture under the Animal Welfare Act.

    Complainant contends the incidents where members of the public were injured were the direct result of Respondents’ failures to handle their animals as required by section 2.131(b)(1) of the Regulations (9C.F.R. § 2.131(b)(1)). Specifically, Complainant alleges Respondents’ following practices led to the incidents where persons were injured and were therefore violations: (a)allowing small children to have direct contact with adult lions and tigers without having adequate barriers or controls; (b)allowing persons to be placed in the position of appearing as prey to the animals; (c)allowing animals to be exhibited to the public without having adequately trained and experienced personnel to control the animals; (d)using chains to tether the animals that were inadequate to prevent the animals from injuring people; (e)using ineffective measures, such as hitting the animals or spraying the animals with vinegar to control the animals; (f)allowing encounter groups that were too large to supervise; and (g)failing to provide a safe distance between the animals and the public (Complainant’s Post-Hearing Brief at 12-31).

    Respondents argue the Secretary of Agriculture has not issued standards covering the practices used by Respondents in handling and exhibiting animals. Respondents state the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service was aware of Respondents’ practices through its inspections of Respondents’ facility and had therefore, in effect, approved them. Respondents contend, therefore, that, in the absence of standards, the practices that they followed must be considered adequate. (Respondents’ Post-Hearing Brief at 1-7).

    “In order to satisfy constitutional due process requirements, regulations must be sufficiently specific to give regulated parties adequate notice of the conduct they require or prohibit.” Freeman United Coal Mining Co. v. Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Comm’n , 108 F.3d 358, 362 (D.C. Cir. 1997); “Traditional concepts of due process incorporated into administrative law preclude an agency from penalizing a private party for violating a rule without first providing adequate notice of the substance of the rule.” Satellite Broadcasting Co. v. FCC , 824 F.2d 1, 3 (D.C. Cir. 1987). Section 2.131(b)(1) of the Regulations (9C.F.R. § 2.131(b)(1)) specifically requires Respondents to handle animals during public exhibition so there is minimal risk of harm to the animals and the public with sufficient distance or barriers or distance and barriers between the animals and the general viewing public so as to assure the safety of the animals and the public.

    The evidence presented by Complainant overwhelmingly establishes that lions and tigers are instinctive and dangerous predators. They can be trained but not tamed. Even when trained, these powerful animals can inflict serious injuries on people as demonstrated not only by the incidents at Respondents’ facility, but also by the incidents referred to at the Columbus Zoo, the incidents involving handlers referred to by Dr.Kirsten, and the incidents involving injuries to trainers referred to by Baron Julius vonUhl.

    Respondents’ lions and tigers are simply too large, too strong, too quick, and too unpredictable for a person (or persons) to restrain the animal or for a member of the public in contact with one of the lions or tigers to have the time to move to safety. Respondents’ animals had a history of injuring members of the public and a history of being hit and sprayed with vinegar in order to stop their attacks on members of the public. Nonetheless, Respondents failed to have any distance or barriers between their animals and the general viewing public. I conclude section 2.131(b)(1) of the Regulations (9C.F.R. § 2.131(b)(1)) provides Respondents with adequate notice of the manner in which Respondents’ animals are required to be handled during public exhibition. Given the size, quickness, strength, and unpredictability of Respondents’ animals, Respondents should have known that some distance or barrier between Respondents’ animals and the general viewing public is necessary so as to assure the safety of Respondents’ animals and the public.

    The incidents that occurred at Respondents’ facility during the period February28, 2000, through December2, 2000, show that Respondents were not in compliance with the handling requirements of section 2.131(b)(1) of the Regulations (9C.F.R. § 2.131(b)(1)). Therefore, by failing to handle animals during public exhibitions so there was minimal risk of harm to the animals and the public and by failing to maintain sufficient distance or barriers or distance and barriers between the animals and the general viewing public so as to assure the safety of the animals and the public, Respondents willfully violated section 2.131(b)(1) of the Regulations (9 C.F.R. § 2.131(b)(1)).

    Section 2.10(c) of the Regulations (9C.F.R. § 2.10(c)) prohibits any person whose Animal Welfare Act license has been suspended from exhibiting any animal during the period of suspension. Respondents do not argue that section 2.10(c) of the Regulations (9C.F.R. §2.10(c)) fails to provide them with adequate notice of the conduct which is prohibited. I conclude that section 2.10(c) of the Regulations (9C.F.R. § 2.10(c)) provides exhibitors with adequate notice of the conduct which is prohibited.

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    CHAPTER 54–TRANSPORTATION, SALE, AND HANDLING

    OF CERTAIN ANIMALS

    § 2131. Congressional statement of policy

    The Congress finds that animals and activities which are regulated under this chapter are either in interstate or foreign commerce or substantially affect such commerce or the free flow thereof, and that regulation of animals and activities as provided in this chapter is necessary to prevent and eliminate burdens upon such commerce and to effectively regulate such commerce, in order—

    

    (1) to insure that animals intended for use in research facilities or for exhibition purposes or for use as pets are provided humane care and treatment;

    (2) to assure the humane treatment of animals during transportation in commerce; and

    (3) to protect the owners of animals from the theft of their animals by preventing the sale or use of animals which have been stolen.

    The Congress further finds that it is essential to regulate, as provided in this chapter, the transportation, purchase, sale, housing, care, handling, and treatment of animals by carriers or by persons or organizations engaged in using them for research or experimental purposes or for exhibition purposes or holding them for sale as pets or for any such purpose or use.

    § 2132. Definitions

    When used in this chapter—

    . . . .

    (h) The term “exhibitor” means any person (public or private) exhibiting any animals, which were purchased in commerce or the intended distribution of which affects commerce, or will affect commerce, to the public for compensation, as determined by the Secretary, and such term includes carnivals, circuses, and zoos exhibiting such animals whether operated for profit or not[.]

    ....

    § 2134. Valid license for dealers and exhibitors required

    No dealer or exhibitor shall sell or offer to sell or transport or offer for transportation, in commerce, to any research facility or for exhibition or for use as a pet any animal, or buy, sell, offer to buy or sell, transport or offer for transportation, in commerce, to or from another dealer or exhibitor under this chapter any animals, unless and until such dealer or exhibitor shall have obtained a license from the Secretary and such license shall not have been suspended or revoked.

    . . . .

    § 2143. Standards and certification process for humane handling, care, treatment, and transportation of animals

    (a)Promulgation of standards, rules, regulations, and orders; requirements; research facilities; State authority

    (1) The Secretary shall promulgate standards to govern the humane handling, care, treatment, and transportation of animals by dealers, research facilities, and exhibitors.

    . . . .

    

    ....

    § 2145. Consultation and cooperation with Federal, State, and local governmental bodies by Secretary of Agriculture

    . . . .

    (b) The Secretary is authorized to cooperate with the officials of the various States or political subdivisions thereof in carrying out the purposes of this chapter and of any State, local, or municipal legislation or ordinance on the same subject.

    ....

    § 2149. Violations by licensees

    (a)Temporary license suspension; notice and hearing; revocation

    If the Secretary has reason to believe that any person licensed as a dealer, exhibitor, or operator of an auction sale subject to section 2142 of this title, has violated or is violating any provision of this chapter, or any of the rules or regulations or standards promulgated by the Secretary hereunder, he may suspend such person’s license temporarily, but not to exceed 21 days, and after notice and opportunity for hearing, may suspend for such additional period as he may specify, or revoke such license, if such violation is determined to have occurred.

    (b)Civil penalties for violation of any section, etc.; separate offenses; notice and hearing; appeal; considerations in assessing penalty; compromise of penalty; civil action by Attorney General for failure to pay penalty; district court jurisdiction; failure to obey cease and desist order

    

    (c)Appeal of final order by aggrieved person; limitations; exclusive jurisdiction of United States Courts of Appeals

    Any dealer, exhibitor, research facility, intermediate handler, carrier, or operator of an auction sale subject to section 2142 of this title, aggrieved by a final order of the Secretary issued pursuant to this section may, within 60 days after entry of such order, seek review of such order in the appropriate United States Court of Appeals in accordance with the provisions of sections 2341, 2343 through 2350 of title 28, and such court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in part), or to determine the validity of the Secretary’s order.

    ....

    § 2151. Rules and regulations

    The Secretary is authorized to promulgate such rules, regulations, and orders as he may deem necessary in order to effectuate the purposes of this chapter.

    7 U.S.C. §§ 2131, 2132(h), 2134, 2143(a)(1), (a)(8), 2145(b), 2149(a)-(c), 2151.

    28 U.S.C.:

    TITLE 28—JUDICIARY AND JUDICIAL PROCEDURE

    ....

    PART VI—PARTICULAR PROCEEDINGS

    ....

    CHAPTER 163—FINES, PENALTIES AND FORFEITURES

    § 2461. Mode of recovery

    ....

    Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment

    short title

    Section 1. This Act may be cited as the “Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990"

    findings and purpose

    Sec. 2. (a) Findings.–The Congress finds that–

    (1) the power of Federal agencies to impose civil monetary penalties for violations of Federal law and regulations plays an important role in deterring violations and furthering the policy goals embodied in such laws and regulations;

    (2) the impact of many civil monetary penalties has been and is diminished due to the effect of inflation;

    (3) by reducing the impact of civil monetary penalties, inflation has weakened the deterrent effect of such penalties; and

    (4) the Federal Government does not maintain comprehensive, detailed accounting of the efforts of Federal agencies to assess and collect civil monetary penalties.

    (b) Purpose–The purpose of this Act is to establish a mechanism that shall–

    (1) allow for regular adjustment for inflation of civil monetary penalties;

    (2) maintain the deterrent effect of civil monetary penalties and promote compliance with the law; and

    (3) improve the collection by the Federal Government of civil monetary penalties.

    definitions

    Sec. 3. For purposes of this Act, the term–

    (1) “agency” means an Executive agency as defined under section 105 of title 5, United States Code, and includes the United States Postal Service;

    (2) “civil monetary penalty” means any penalty, fine, or other sanction that–

    (A)(i) is for a specific monetary amount as provided by Federal law; or

    (ii) has a maximum amount provided for by Federal law; and

    (B) is assessed or enforced by an agency pursuant to Federal law; and

    (C) is assessed or enforced pursuant to an administrative proceeding or a civil action in the Federal courts; and

    (3) “Consumer Price Index” means the Consumer Price Index for all-urban consumers published by the Department of Labor.

    civil monetary penalty inflation

    adjustment reports

    Sec. 4. The head of each agency shall, not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 [Apr.26, 1996], and at least once every 4 years thereafter–

    (1) by regulation adjust each civil monetary penalty provided by law within the jurisdiction of the Federal agency, except for any penalty (including any addition to tax and additional amount) under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 [26U.S.C. 1 et seq. ], the Tariff Act of 1930 [19 U.S.C. 1202 et seq. ], the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 [20 U.S.C. 651 et seq. ], or the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 301 et seq. ], by the inflation adjustment described under section 5 of this Act [bracketed material in original]; and

    (2) publish each such regulation in the Federal Register.

    cost-of-living adjustments of civil

    monetary penalties

    Sec. 5. (a) Adjustment.–The inflation adjustment under section 4 shall be determined by increasing the maximum civil monetary penalty or the range of minimum and maximum civil monetary penalties, as applicable, for each civil monetary penalty by the cost-of-living adjustment. Any increase determined under this subsection shall be rounded to the nearest–

    (1) multiple of $10 in the case of penalties less than or equal to $100;

    (2) multiple of $100 in the case of penalties greater than $100 but less than or equal to $1,000;

    (3) multiple of $1,000 in the case of penalties greater than $1,000 but less than or equal to $10,000;

    (4) multiple of $5,000 in the case of penalties greater than $10,000 but less than or equal to $100,000;

    (5) multiple of $10,000 in the case of penalties greater than $100,000 but less than or equal to $200,000; and

    (6) multiple of $25,000 in the case of penalties greater than $200,000.

    (b) Definition.–For purposes of subsection (a), the term “cost-of-living adjustment” means the percentage (if any) for each civil monetary penalty by which–

    (1) the Consumer Price Index for the month of June of the calendar year preceding the adjustment, exceeds

    (2) the Consumer Price Index for the month of June of the calendar year in which the amount of such civil monetary penalty was last set or adjusted pursuant to law.

    annual report

    Sec. 6. Any increase under this Act in a civil monetary penalty shall apply only to violations which occur after the date the increase takes effect.

    Limitation on Initial Adjustment.–The first adjustment of a civil monetary penalty ...may not exceed 10 percent of such penalty.

    28U.S.C. § 2461 note (Supp. V 1999).

    7 C.F.R.:

    TITLE 7—AGRICULTURE

    SUBTITLE A—OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE

    ....

    PART 3—DEBT MANAGEMENT

    ....

    Subpart E—Adjusted Civil Monetary Penalties

    § 3.91 Adjusted civil monetary penalties.

    (a) In general . The Secretary will adjust the civil monetary penalties, listed in paragraph (b), to take account of inflation at least once every 4years as required by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 (Pub. L. No. 101-410), as amended by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 (Pub. L. No. 104-134).

    (b) Penalties –....

    ....

    (2) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service ....

    ....

    (v) Civil penalty for a violation of Animal Welfare Act, codified at 7U.S.C. 2149(b), has a maximum of $2,750[.]

    7 C.F.R. § 3.91(a), (b)(2)(v).

    9 C.F.R.:

    TITLE 9—ANIMALS AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS

    

    INSPECTION SERVICE,

    DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

    SUBCHAPTER A—ANIMAL WELFARE

    PART 1—DEFINITION OF TERMS

    § 1.1 Definitions.

    For the purposes of this subchapter, unless the context otherwise requires, the following terms shall have the meanings assigned to them in this section. The singular form shall also signify the plural and the masculine form shall also signify the feminine. Words undefined in the following paragraphs shall have the meaning attributed to them in general usage as reflected by definitions in a standard dictionary.

    . . . .

    Exhibitor means any person (public or private) exhibiting any animals, which were purchased in commerce or the intended distribution of which affects commerce, or will affect commerce, to the public for compensation, as determined by the Secretary. This term includes carnivals, circuses, animal acts, zoos, and educational exhibits, exhibiting such animals whether operated for profit or not.

    . . . .

    PART 2—REGULATIONS

    Subpart A—Licensing

    ....

    § 2.10 Licensees whose licenses have been suspended or revoked.

    ....

    (c) Any person whose license has been suspended or revoked shall not buy, sell, transport, exhibit, or deliver for transportation, any animal during the period of suspension or revocation.

    ....

    Subpart I—Miscellaneous

    ....

    § 2.131 Handling of animals.

    ....

    (b)(1) During public exhibition, any animal must be handled so there is minimal risk of harm to the animal and to the public, with sufficient distance and/or barriers between the animal and the general viewing public so as to assure the safety of animals and the public.

    ....

    (c)(1) Animals shall be exhibited only for periods of time and under conditions consistent with their good health and well-being.

    (2) A responsible, knowledgeable, and readily identifiable employee or attendant must be present at all times during periods of public contact.

    (3) During public exhibition, dangerous animals such as lions, tigers, wolves, bears, or elephants must be under the direct control and supervision of a knowledgeable and experienced animal handler.

    9C.F.R. §§ 1.1; 2.10(c), .131(b)(1), (c)(1)-(3).

    STATEMENT OF THE CASE

    Respondent Diana Cziraky is licensed by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to operate as an exhibitor under the Animal Welfare Act. Respondent Diana Cziraky holds Animal Welfare Act license number 31-C-0123. (Compl.¶ 4; Answer; CX3, CX4.) Respondent Diana Cziraky is the founder and director of Respondent The Siberian Tiger Foundation and the president of Respondent Tiger Lady LLC (CX 43). The Siberian Tiger Foundation, also referred to as The International Siberian Tiger Foundation, is an Ohio corporation. The Siberian Tiger Foundation’s place of business is 22143Deal Road, Gambier, Ohio43022, where it exhibits lions and Siberian tigers to the public. (CX71). The Siberian Tiger Foundation’s promotional material describes Siberian tigers as animals that are threatened with extinction in the wild. The material states that, to preserve Siberian tigers, The Siberian Tiger Foundation exhibits them to the public as an educational endeavor to make the public aware of this threat. (CX37).

    The Siberian Tiger Foundation, operated by its founder, Respondent Diana Cziraky, offers interested members of the public the opportunity to have what it calls “close encounters” with its lions and tigers and the opportunity to enter into a training program to become animal trainers. The Siberian Tiger Foundation has five Siberian tigers and three lions ranging in age from 9 months to 6 years. The mature tigers weigh from 650 to 800pounds. (Tr.183; CX42). Respondent Diana Cziraky has raised the animals since they were cubs and said they are “trained, but not tame” (Tr.929-30, 934). She testified that she has not had formal animal training but has learned about lions and tigers by reading books, talking to other animal handlers, and attending programs sponsored by the American Zoological Association and through over 10years of actual experience with the animals (Tr.991-92).

    A person becomes a trainee by paying $2,500 and entering into an agreement with The Siberian Tiger Foundation. The agreement provides that the trainee will receive “hands-on training” in such matters as feeding, training, and raising lions and tigers. The agreement further provides:

    Trainee understands and verifies by signing below that there are inherent risks associated with exotic cats (specifically Lions and Tigers) and that any and all injuries or illnesses resulting from the contact of, or association with these animals is unintentional by [The Siberian Tiger Foundation]. Trainee assumes full responsibility for any accidents, injuries or related incidents that may occur to themselves, the cats, or others while training with the exotic cats.

    CX6.

    Train ees are also personally told to expect “some minor cuts and bruises.” As part of the “hands-on” phase of their training, trainees work with handlers who accompany persons entering the animal compound to have close encounters with the cats. After 500hours of training, the trainee receives a certificate and, generally, after 1,000hours of training, Respondents consider the trainee fully trained in animal behavior and control. The Siberian Tiger Foundation has not kept records of the number of persons it has certified. (Tr.126-27, 720-21, 986-90, 1001).

    Members of the public desiring a close encounter pay $35 and sign a liability waiver. Close encounters provide persons with the opportunity to have physical contact with Respondents’ cats. The liability waiver provides:

    I understand that entering into the compound with Lions and Tigers is VERY DANGEROUS and that I can be injured in many different ways by the lions or tigers themselves or just by falling down. I may also suffer damage to my clothing, camera equipment, or any other personal items that I bring in with me. Although many others have entered the compound without harm, it does not mean that I may not be injured. I hold The Siberian Tiger Foundation and its agents blameless and I accept ALL responsibility for anything that may happen to me.

    CX32.

    During the time material to this proceeding, Respondents permitted parents to sign liability waivers on behalf of their children, thereby allowing children to have close encounters with Respondents’ animals (Tr.36, 113, 227, 232-34).

    Before members of the public are allowed in the compound, they are given a lecture on proper behavior during the close encounter, such as following the directions of handlers, not turning their backs to the animals, keeping their heads higher than the cat’s head, not making sudden movements, not pulling away if “mouthed” by a lion or tiger, and backing away slowly after the close encounter. Respondent Diana Cziraky testified that each day before close encounters begin, she visits with each animal and that she evaluates adults and children to determine whether they are good candidates for close encounters. She said she can tell whether a lion or tiger is in the mood to be viewed by the public. If not, she keeps the animal out of the compound where the close encounters will take place. She also limits close encounters to 3 hours a day. (Tr.21-23, 227-29, 252-56, 388, 592, 608, 622-24, 719).

    During the time material to this proceeding, Respondents allowed groups of up to 20people at a time in the compound, an outdoor area surrounded by a high wire fence. During close encounters, Respondents chained most of the animals to the fence near wooden wire spools which, from photographs, appear to be 3 to 4 feet high. The animals were apparently allowed to recline on the ground or on the spools during the close encounters. (Tr.24, 121, 135; CX13).

    As people enter the compound, they walk through a disinfectant to prevent diseases from being tracked into the compound. Those persons in the group desiring a close encounter are generally taken, one at a time by the handlers, to a chained lion or tiger and allowed to approach and touch or pet the animal. Generally, to maintain control over the animal, one handler stands near the animal’s head. This handler is to keep his or her “eye on what is going on.” Often, another handler is stationed on the animal’s other side and stands on the chain during the encounter. Respondent DianaCziraky testified that with these controls one handler can distract the animal and slow it down if it makes a sudden movement to give the other handler enough time to move the person having a close encounter with the animal the few feet to a safe area beyond the length of the animal’s chain. After a close encounter, the person having the close encounter is to back away from the animal. A handler’s other means of control is a vinegar spray bottle. The vinegar stings the cat’s eyes but does not cause permanent injury. (Tr.121, 130-32, 135-37, 300-02, 592-94, 716-17, 794, 817, 936-38, 941, 987).

    Respondent Diana Cziraky testified that the animals are declawed and that three of the tigers have been defanged. She said that tigers have short attention spans and that she can control the animals with just voice commands or a rap on the nose. Over 12,000 persons have visited The Siberian Tiger Foundation to have close encounters. (Tr.931, 993, 1016-17).

    Respondent Diana Cziraky said the Regulations are vague and that when she contacted the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service for interpretation of the Regulations, she received different answers. She stated: “I think it’s probably up to the inspector at the time to decide whether it should be this way or that way because it’s not very defined.” (Tr.1032).

    The Siberian Tiger Foundation has been inspected since 1997 by Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service employees. A number of witnesses testified that Respondents’ facility was clean and that Respondents’ animals appeared healthy, well-fed, and clean. Prior to the violations alleged in the Complaint, Respondents had not been cited for any violation of the Animal Welfare Act, the Regulations, or the Standards. (Tr.40-43, 101-02, 249-51, 305-08, 517-18, 575, 639-41, 660-61, 665-66, 683; CX106).

    On February 28, 2000, Terry Aston was in an encounter group of four people. A lion put its paw around her foot and when she tried to pull away the lion “nipped” her on the back of the leg but without breaking the skin. Terry Aston said she was aware that lions and tigers are dangerous animals and that the encounter constituted a risk, but she also stated the animals are “such a wonderful thing to see, that you don’t have any regard for anything. You just want to get in there and touch them.” The nip did not deter her. She later returned to The Siberian Tiger Foundation and entered its program to become a trainer. (Tr.356-58, 361, 388-90).

    In April 2000, Gayle Channell took her 12-year-old daughter to The Siberian Tiger Foundation to have an encounter. A tiger bit the girl on the foot but quickly let go when a handler hit the tiger on the nose. (Tr.623-25; CX104).

    On April29, 2000, Gayle DeLeon took her daughter, Lauren DeLeon, to The Siberian Tiger Foundation where a tiger bit the girl’s shoe and bit even harder when sprayed with vinegar before releasing the shoe. Lauren suffered two puncture wounds on her foot which were treated at The Siberian Tiger Foundation and later at a hospital. (Tr.233-38; CX75). Gayle DeLeon also said she saw a 5-year-old boy in the compound petting a tiger. When the tiger stood up, the tiger frightened the boy who “took off running towards the lioness. The [boy’s] Grandmother stopped the boy, turning him in another direction running towards another tiger. She grabbed him again and stopped him. He was screaming all this time. All the animals were up and watching him.” (CX75 at 2-3).

    Brittany Sly, a 10-year-old, liked tigers. On July14, 2000, her father, Robert Sly, took her to The Siberian Tiger Foundation. Though he knew tigers were dangerous, he thought “it would be a special treat for her to be able to touch one.” (Tr.21). Brittany was in an encounter group of four which was accompanied by three attendants. Robert Sly testified that, when he saw Brittany bend down to pet the tiger’s paw, the cat “stood up and came down with his mouth on my daughter’s head, on Brittany’s head ...and drove her to the ground and started moving her around -- with him [sic] mouth on her head -- kind of like shaking her.” (Tr.28). The attendants got wrapped in the tiger’s chain but managed to make the tiger release the girl by hitting the tiger on the nose. After calming down and receiving treatment for the bites, Brittany was taken back into the compound by her father to pet another tiger because, he said, of her “love for tigers.” (Tr.20-21, 28-33, 44).

    On October 21, 2000, Robert Newman took his 10-year-old son, Ethan, to The Siberian Tiger Foundation. It was Ethan’s fourth visit. Robert Newman said Ethan was interested in tigers and “learned to read by reading Calvin and Hobbs cartoons. So, you can see how much he is interested in tigers.” Robert Newman said he was aware that tigers are predators but believed that an encounter with tigers at The Siberian Tiger Foundation was “a low level of risk.” (Tr.202, 217, 224, 227-29).

    When Ethan encountered the tiger, she moved “relatively quickly” and grabbed his leg with her mouth. Ethan stood still as directed, but then the “tiger bit down and [Ethan] said that it hurt and then she bit down harder and he started to scream that it really hurt and at that point, he really started to scream quite loudly and was obviously in serious pain.” The tiger let go when the handler hit her on the nose. The wound required 50 stitches. (Tr.205-06, 208-09, 211).

    Jessica Lee, 19, was present at the time Ethan was bitten. She observed the incident. As it was taking place, Jessica Lee said she “backed up apparently into the range of a male lion -- just on his chain. So, he just knocked me over and pounced on me and had me flat on the ground and was trying to bite my back. And did manage to -- not really sink his teeth in, but I had a bite.” The lion released her after being sprayed with vinegar. (Tr.594).

    On October28, 2000, a person named Jason Adelsberger was reported to have been bitten at The Siberian Tiger Foundation (Tr.91, 552; CX39, CX40).

    On October 29, 2000, Tonya Ware, who was enrolled in the animal trainer program, was working with another handler while a man was having a close encounter with a tiger. When the tiger made a quick move, Tonya Ware told the man to step back. As she turned her head to see if the man had backed up, the tiger bit her foot. Tonya Ware remained quiet and did not try to pull away, but the tiger continued to bite her foot despite being sprayed with vinegar and being hit on the nose. The tiger finally released her, but not before Tonya Ware had eight wounds in her foot. Tonya Ware was treated by a doctor, but did not require hospitalization or stitches for the wounds. Tonya Ware said she knew that even trained tigers were dangerous and that she was at risk working with the animals when she entered the trainer program but did so because of her fascination and compassion for the animals. (Tr.138-41, 150, 153, 162-64; CX5, CX6, CX51).

    In the meantime, on September 12, 2000, Carl LaLonde, a senior Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service investigator, instituted an investigation of The Siberian Tiger Foundation, and on November24, 2000, served a notice of a 10-day suspension of Respondent Diana Cziraky’s Animal Welfare Act license (Tr.518, 524-25; CX64, CX67). The explanation accompanying the notice states:

    I. The current method of exhibition at this facility, allowing the public direct contact with adult dangerous animals such as lions and tigers has resulted in bites and other injuries to individual members of the public. Therefore, this method is not compliant with Title 9 Code of Federal Regulations, Subchapter A, Animal welfare:

    Section 2.131(b)(1) which indicates that animals should be exhibited so that there is minimal risk of harm to the public and the animals being exhibited. We have received information that several bites have occurred during the past 8months.

    Section 2.131((b)(1) which indicates that there should be sufficient distance and/or barriers between the animals and the general viewing public to assure the safety of the animals and the public. Many people are in the cage at one time.

    Section 2.131(c)(3) which indicates that during public exhibition, animals should be under direct control of experienced handlers. The handlers are apparently unable to prevent these adverse interactions from occurring.

    II. The following conditions of exhibition are in compliance with Section2.131.

    Dangerous animals in direct contact with the public for such activities as photographic sessions or “petting” must be:

    Less than six months of age, and

    Less than seventy-five pounds in weight and

    Collared, and

    On a leash not longer than 18inches in length

    Members of the public not engaging in direct contact with the animals at the time must be kept away from the exhibit animals by a barrier.

    The handlers, as well as the license holder, should meet the requirements for knowledge and experience for direct public contact venues as explained in the “Dear Applicant” letter. A copy of the letter should be left with the license holder.

    III. Any methods or conditions for direct contact exhibition other than those listed in II above should be approved by Animal Care prior to exhibition.

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• Diana McCourt Diana McCourt

  • From: TheirVoice
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    Diana McCourt's

    Siberian Tiger Training Scheme

    

    Even though McCourt lost her USDA license to operate the tiger-tamer camp in 2000, and permanently in 2006, she still continued to charge people to come into her back yard in Gambier, OH and pet the adult lions and tigers. The cats would often be chained down so that people could touch them or have their photos made with the cats. To make the cats more pliable McCourt had their teeth and claws removed. Despite the abusive violations to their bodies and mobility, the USDA investigation included eight allegations of attacks on visitors in an 8 month period.

    In May of 2007 Diana McCourt emailed Carole Baskin asking if she could move her operation to Tampa and bring her cats to Big Cat Rescue. Our response was that her cats were welcome here but her brand of animal abuse was not. By August McCourt had been evicted and Knox County was awarded custody of the four tigers and two lions. HSUS contacted Big Cat Rescue and asked if we could take the cats, but six more big cats increases our annual budget by $45,000.00.

    When Sarabi, our lioness died, her half acre enclosure was opened up so that Nikita our only other lioness could have the run of both half acre enclosures. This large enclosure has an open roof and is only suitable for lions because they don’t climb, or very old, declawed tigers, who would be unable to climb. Taking on two lions, age 9 and 13, who have a 20 year life expectancy means a cost of $15,000.00 annually and $150,000.00 in the long run. Lions often end up in canned hunts, especially males who are coveted as wall trophies, so we felt certain our donors would help us rescue these two cats.

    Calling with the good news, that at least the lions would be spared, we were told by the landlord, who has been caring for the cats since evicting Diana McCourt, that the male tiger, Nikita, would be heartbroken that his best friend in the world, Joseph the lion, would be leaving. As the conversation unfolded it appears that for the last 13 years, two tigers and two lions have shared a cage. (Joseph only coming along in the past 9 yrs) Instead of being elated for the lions, we now felt sick that they would be separated from the only pride (albeit tigers) they had ever known. And thinking about how they would feel, of course, led to thinking about how the tigers left behind would feel.

    We appealed to our supporters, asking if they would be willing to help us rescue all four cats who have lived together and the response was an overwhelming, "YES!"

    On Oct. 19th Big Cat Rescue's President Jamie Veronica, VP Cathy Neumann, Operations Manager Scott Lope and Veterinarian Dr. Liz Wynn, DVM flew to Columbus, OH to rendezvous with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) staff and a driver and vet tech from the Animal Sanctuary of the United States (ASUS) at the Columbus Zoo at 6 am on the morning of the 20th. From there the entourage drove an hour to the Gambier, OH facility and met with the property owner and the Knox County Animal Control Officer, Rich Reed who had been granted possession of the six cats.

    Within just a few hours all of the cats were safely loaded and on the way to Florida where they arrived at 6 am the morning of the 21st. While the weary drivers slept, the Big Cat Rescue team unloaded Nikita, Simba, Sasha and Joseph into their new enclosure, which is a little more than half an acre of lakeside living with high grass, cave like dens and hills from which they can survey their new kingdom.

    We let you know that the rescue would cost us $34,000.00* and 294 of you responded. As of 11/16/07 $29,435.00has been raised to save these four cats. The International Fund for Animal Welfare ( IFAW ) agreed to help rescue the last two cats and IFAWpaid to transport all six cats to their final destinations. That saved us $4,000.00! We are now only $565.00 short of what this rescue will cost us. Thank you everyone who has helped so far! If you haven't helped yet, keep in mind that your donations are tax deductible and thatthese catsrely entirely on your generosity.

    See an interactive online map of exotic cat owners . See people being stupid with big cats, endangering themselves and others HERE . See the awful conditions that many captive cats endure HERE .

    Will you help provide for Joseph, Sasha, Nikita and Simba?

    See slideshow of photos taken 9/26/07 in Ohio: Siberian Tiger Foundation

    6 big cats taken from Ohio owner

    Donna J. Miller's Animals in the News

    Monday, November 12, 2007 Donna MillerPlain Dealer Reporter

    Six fewer big cats are languishing in cages in Ohio. Two lions and four tigers were whisked away Oct. 19 from Knox County to plush sanctuaries in San Antonio and Tampa.

    Too bad the cats were irreparably harmed before they left. Their former owner, Diana McCourt, had their claws and most of their teeth pulled out so she could make money letting people pet and pose with the cats for pictures. The majestic predators can no longer clamber up a tree or shred a carcass, but they will get better care for the rest of their lives. You can see video and more photographs at bigcatrescue.org.

    Ohio has plenty of laws that limit keeping native wildlife but virtually none that protect exotic animals and the people they can maim and kill. House Bill 45 would require exotic-animal owners to have sturdy enclosures, fences, warning signs, frequent inspections and liability insurance. The bill stalled soon after it was introduced by Rep. L. George Distel, a Democrat from Conneaut. He wrote the legislation after a 36-year-old Ashtabula County woman was mauled by a 500-pound black bear that escaped from its pen in May 2006.

    Since 1993, there have been 44 reported exotic-animal escapes, prompting most cities to outlaw keeping such creatures. Still, about 120 big cats live in Ohio, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture records of owners who exhibit, breed or sell them. Owners who keep exotic animals as "pets" do not need to register and submit to health and safety inspections. That's the way it will stay without passage of HB 45. At least 25 states prohibit keeping big cats as pets.

    "Ohio should join them," said Beth Preiss of the Humane Society of the United States. "Wild animals belong in the wild."

    Fighting dogs:

    The Humane Society of the United States is offering $5,000 rewards for information that collars dogfighters. The national group with deep pockets also has a political arm lobbying hard to increase penalties for animal fighting, which sometimes also involves drugs and weapons trafficking, prostitution and money laundering. The society says that nationwide, more than 250,000 dogs are forced into organized or street-level fights each year to entertain about 140,000 people. Report dog fighting to local police and at humanesociety.org (click on "Campaigns").

    Actress Emily Deschanel of the Fox television drama "Bones" and U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton, a Copley Township Democrat, are working with the Humane Society Legislative Fund to garner support for the Dog Fighting Prohibition Act, Bill 3219. The legislation toughens federal dogfighting penalties and makes it illegal to possess fighting dogs or attend the fights. To help raise money for pro-animal lobbyists and politicians, go to partyanimals.fund.org.

    Ohio already outlaws fighting, watching and possessing, while it is not a crime to be a spectator in Georgia and Hawaii. Dogfighting is a felony everywhere but Idaho and Wyoming. New Jersey has the toughest laws in the country - fighting, possessing and watching are third-degree felonies punishable by three to five years in prison and a $15,000 fine. Ohio's penalties, up to 18 months in prison and $5,000 fines, are ranked the sixth-toughest.

    Huge vet bill:

    Throw a party! Friends and local businesses are helping Tom Hug, 49, of Vermilion and Dudley, an 18-month-old golden retriever who racked up a $13,000 medical bill after he bolted into the street and was struck Sept. 23 by a car and a motorcycle. He is recovering with four plates in his pelvis. The benefit party begins at 6 p.m. Friday at German's Villa, 3330 Liberty Ave., Vermilion. Tickets are $20. Donations can be made to the Dinner for Dudley account at any KeyBank branch. The Humane Society of Erie County will get part of the proceeds. Hug said that if he had to co-plan the event again, he would select a different menu. Posters read, "Dinner for Dudley & his Furry Friends. A STEAK FRY."

    Saving furry friends:

    Local animal-rights activists and wannabes are meeting over coffee at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdayat Phoenix Coffee on Lee Road in Cleveland Heights. They will be planning a Fur Free Friday demonstration, trading vegan Thanksgiving recipes and making cruelty-free holiday gift lists. Go to animalrights.meetup.com.

    Send animal news to djmiller@plaind.com; fax 216-999-6374; 216-999-4852; 1801 Superior Ave., Cleveland, 44114.

    http://www.cleveland.com/l iving/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/living-0/1194859 898146820.xml&coll=2

    Siberian Tiger Foundation is not accredited by The Association of Sanctuaries. Check for yourself to see if they meet the sanctuary standards for an accredited animal refuge.

    Knox County assumes care for Diana McCourt’s six lions and tigers

    Sunday, August 12, 2007 3:43 AM

    By Gail Martineau

    THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

    Knox County residents are footing the bill for two lions and four tigers left in legal limbo after their owner was evicted from a Gambier farm in May.

    The county took responsibility for the animals' care this month, county Humane Officer Roger Reed said.

    Reed said he didn't know how long the cats would be wards of the county. Last week, he spent $100 to feed the animals, but county commissioners have allocated up to $1,000 a month in expenses.

    The animals were taken from owner Diana McCourt after she was evicted from her Deal Road home and place of business this year. McCourt is appealing the eviction, she said.

    Without her cats, McCourt said, she has lost her only source of income, running the Siberian Tiger Conservation Association. The association teaches college students how to handle wild cats. McCourt had allowed the public to view the animals for a fee until federal agriculture officials ordered an end to the practice in 2002 and she surrendered her exhibitor's license.

    "The cats are stranded and they won't let me feed them or take care of them," she said.

    Since the eviction, the animals have remained at the Gambier farm, which is owned by Donnalynn and Christian Laver of Columbus. The Lavers had been caring for the animals until county officials determined they had no legal obligation to do so. Since May, the Lavers said, they have spent $3,000 on the animals' care.

    The Lavers and county officials are working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to find a suitable home for the animals.

    "Everyone is working together to get the best possible placement for the animals," Mrs. Laver said. "That may entail moving them together or moving them separately. We have no idea what the situation is going to hold."

    In the meantime, Reed said, the county is prepared to pay for food -- 3 to 5 pounds of chicken and ground beef per day for each animal -- and medical expenses.

    Knox County Commissioner Allen Stockberger said he has not heard any complaints from local residents about the cost.

    "It's not something that the county deals with on a regular basis," he said. "We will be caring for them until we can find a new home or new owners."

    Dispatch correspondent Jane Hawes contributed to this story.

    gmartineau@dispatch.com

    htt p://www.columbusdispatch.com/dispatch/content/loca l_news/stories/2007/08/12/lionlady.ART_ART_08-12-0 7_B3_M87JHUV.html

    Carole’s Note: I sent the following to the appropriate authorities:

    Big Cat Rescue has a half acre enclosure that would be appropriate to house two lions. Diana had asked to move her cats here before the eviction, but she wanted to keep control of them and we are a permanent placement facility and do not condone her brand of animal use. We let her know that the cats were welcome here, but that she is not. If she surrenders ownership, or the state or USDA seizes the lions, with her being unable to retrieve them later, we would be willing to pick them up.

    From the Siberian Tiger Conservation Association website:

    Nikita: 800 pound male Siberian Tiger, born August 20, 1995. Nikita is our "gentle giant". He is majestic in his movement and loving with the three cubs Sher-Khan, Ekaterina, and Sierra.
    Sher-Khan: Male Siberian Tiger cub born April 19, 2000. Sher-Khan is the half-brother of Nikita, and is following ion his big brother's footsteps. He is very sweet and lovable. Now Dead.
    Ekaterina: Female Siberian Tiger cub born April 24, 2000. Ekaterina wants to be our "circus kitty". She has a talent for tricks and likes to perform.
    Sierra: Female White Bengal Tiger cub born May 3, 2000. Sierra is our "littlest angel" with a halo and powder blue eyes. She likes to travel and loves having her picture taken.
    Simba: Female Siberian Tiger born June 8, 1994. Simba is sweet and gentle and is especially loving with physically challenged individuals.
    Sasha: African lioness born May 12, 1994. Sasha is the "matriarch". As the "mother" of the pride, she watches over everybody, even the tigers.
    Joseph: African lion born August 19, 1998. Joseph prefers vanilla-bean ice cream over steak; each year he receives a year's supply as a gift from the Breyer's company. Joseph loves his lioness, Sasha, and is very protective of her.

    USDA shuts down Diana McCourt's Siberian Tiger Foundation scheme. Download the report HERE

    2006

    20/20: Lions and Tigers in Your Neighbor's Backyard?

    
    
    Description: Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! The most ferocious animals in the wild might be living in your neighbor's backyard and, as Jay Schadler reports, they could be the star attractions in potentially deadly businesses. Some backyard entrepreneurs are setting up their own facilities where members of the public, sometimes paying hundreds of dollars, can have close encounters with dangerous animals. But just how safe are these businesses that sometimes call themselves animal "sanctuaries," wildlife parks or even conservation associations?

    According to Michelle Thew of the Animal Protection Institute, there are more tigers - up to 10,000 - in private hands in the United States than there are in the wild in India. Once-endangered animals are being bred by the thousands, and in some cases lions and tigers and other wild animals end up in places that experts say could make them potentially lethal to the public. For 11 months, ABC News has been investigating such backyard businesses that charge $200 to brush a tiger's extremely lethal teeth or $495 to let a 600-pound grizzly bear pluck a marshmallow from your lips. 20/20 also goes undercover to the Siberian Tiger Conservation Association, owned by Diana Mc Court fka Diana Cziraky, who is operating without an exhibitor's license. What will happen when we confront the owner?

    Order a copy of the show for 29.95 HERE

    2004

    L ions, Tigers & One Visitor Remembers Petting Them

    

    
    Next, Sher Khan began licking my hand with a coarse-sandpaper tongue.

    
    A few moments later, Tara stepped in and made smoochy sounds before kissing Sher Khan on the face. The animal responded with an affectionate shrug and dropped his paw upon Tara’s head. My wife jumped away, eyes wide. And I swear the tiger smiled at her.

    
    To begin at the beginning: Over that weekend, Tara and I had appeared at the Universal Light Expo in Columbus, Ohio -- one of the biggest New Age expos in the world. We each presented a free one-hour workshop in the main auditorium, followed by a two-hour joint workshop for a fee.

    
    As I was leaving the auditorium, a pretty blonde introduced herself as Diana McCourt, and handed me a color flyer on the Siberian Tiger Conservation Association.
    “Come out and see my tigers,” she said. “I’m only an hour away.”

    
    I ran into Diana later and a third time at our sales booth run by Gentle Wind Metaphysical Store. She purchased several of our books and CDs. “Are you serious about the invite?” I asked.
    “I’ll take your picture with the tigers,” she replied.

    
    Tara and I were conducting a two-evening seminar at Gentle Wind on Monday and Tuesday, leaving our days free. Tuesday morning I called Diana. She gave me driving instructions. We arrived at her home in Gambier, Ohio about noon. I pulled the rental car to the back of the property, where we saw lions and tigers in two huge enclosures.

    
    Diana welcomed us into her home where she was chopping huge bowls of freshly thawed meat in to large chunks. Tara and I would accompany her while she fed the animals. I silently liked this idea, because if the cats were full, they might be less likely to eat us when we entered their domain.

    
    Diana had raised the big cats from tiny babies “that fit in the palm of my hand,” she said. “They grew up sleeping with me.” She explained that her conservation association is a non-profit educational and certified training facility. She trains people to work with the animals. Students feed and groom the cats and even brush their teeth (with chicken-flavored toothpaste). They walk them and train them with voice commands and hand signals. (740-668-9205 or www.sibertiger.com )

    
    Angela Brooks, a college-age woman who had trained with Diana, and Angela’s mother Elaine Melody Thomas arrived. We were introduced, and I realized that Diana wanted a backup trainer with her before taking two strangers into the enclosures. We were told not to turn our backs on the cats. “If they grab your foot or leg, don’t try to pull away. They know the word ‘no,’” Diana explained. “You can bop them on the head with your knuckles.”

    
    At this point, Nikita, an 800 pound male Siberian tiger meandered by. “Oh, yeah. I’m going to punch him out,” I thought, almost laughing out loud.

    
    

    
    We also petted Ekaterina, a female Siberian, and then on to Sher Khan -- the hand licker and head bopper who lounged on top of the shed.
    As we exited the enclosure, I told Diana, “I’d love to find out what you did in past lives to establish your passion for big cats.” I explained that I’d be conducting a group past-life regression at Gentle Wind that evening and invited her to attend.

    
    In the second enclosure, in addition to huge Nikita, the area housed Simba, a female Siberian, Joseph a male African lion, and Sasha, his mate. Sasha ruled the roost, and she was less than welcoming. Elaine was assigned the task of distracting Sasha while we were in the enclosure. So from outside the fence, Elaine sang to the lioness. At one point, the cat growled and charged the fence, coming to her full height as she bounced off the chain link. I assumed Sasha either did not like the song or wanted to intimidate Elaine.

    
    We went on to pet and interact with the two tigers and the male lion. What most surprised me about being with the big cats, I experienced absolutely no fear. Tara claimed that was naive. Yet at home, every time I encounter a rattlesnake, my adrenaline goes through the roof. - Dick Sutphen

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• Ken & Sandra Smith's Wesa-A-Ge Ken & Sandra Smith's Wesa-A-Geh-Ya

  • From: TheirVoice
  • Description:

    Ken & Sandra Smith's Wesa-A-Geh-Ya

    is not accredited by The Association of Sanctuaries. Check for yourself to see if they meet the sanctuary standards for an accredited animal refuge. See an interactive online map of exotic cat owners . See people being stupid with big cats, endangering themselves and others HERE . See the awful conditions that many captive cats endure HERE .

    Video of Wesa-A-Geh-Ya

    USDA findings HERE

    Warren County: Exotic animal owner charged for violating registration rules

    Cited by USDA in 2004 for more than 35 violations

    By Kevin Spradlin
    Saturday, August 4, 2007 10:36 AM CDT

    
    Warren County resident Rosella Baller only wants county officials to enforce the rules regarding the registration and upkeep of exotic animals.
    
    Doing so might be easier said than done, the commissioners said Monday. That's because the commissioners, along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Missouri Department of Conservation, are still trying to figure out what the rules are.
    
    At issue is whether an animal sanctuary - a 17-acre parcel of land called Wesa-A-Geh-Ya - owned and operated by Ken and Sandra Smith in northern Warren County has been properly registering its animals with the Warren County Sheriff's Department.

    AdSys ad not found for news:instory

    Ken Smith, of Highway A between Interstate 70 and New Truxton, was charged by Warren County Prosecuting Attorney Mike Wright on June 1 with one count of keeping dangerous wild animals without registering with local law enforcement. The charge is a misdemeanor.
    
    The Smiths could not be reached for comment.
    
    Ken Smith has a court date scheduled for Aug. 21 before Associate Circuit Judge Wesley Dalton.
    
    Until then, Presiding Commissioner Arden Engelage said, there's not much the county can do. He said the commission sent Baller's complaints and mounting evidence - a pile of papers going back seven years - to the county attorney last week.
    
    Engelage said he didn't know when he might hear from county counsel. The situation might resolve itself in court, he said.
    
    Baller, who lives near the Smiths, said it was nearly impossible to ensure the Smiths were following the law and registering their animals - which include nearly 60 lions, tigers, wolves and cougars.
    
    Baller suggested Monday the county commissioners should adopt an ordinance requiring exotic animal owners, such as the Smiths, to insert microchips into each animal. That would help identify an animal's owner should one escape, she said, and keep track of the animals in captivity.
    
    Northern District Commissioner Jim Logan said that wouldn't fix the registration issue because a female animal could have babies - which, of course, wouldn't be born with the microchips.
    
    Baller pointed out this is not a new issue. The Smiths were cited for roughly three dozen violations of the Animal Welfare Act in November 2004 by the USDA.
    
    Those complaints, which were administrative in nature and not civil or criminal, were settled early last year. The Smiths agreed to a $13,000 fine and two years' probation.
    
    The USDA said the Smiths operated "a dilapidated backyard animal menagerie" which "masquerades as a sanctuary while breeding lions and tigers and confining animals to small, barren cages," according to a report from www.bigcatrescue.org, a Florida-based sanctuary and educational facility.
    
    The USDA report filed in 2004 said the Smiths "failed to provide minimally adequate veterinary care." Examples of that substandard care included a malnourished bear with sores on the pads of both front feet, a young lion who was "lethargic, cold to the touch and dehydrated," a lion with bite wounds on its legs and a tiger whose hind legs were paralyzed.
    
    The Big Cat Rescue organization also reported USDA officials "found maggot-infested food storage; unsafe caging; inadequate shelter from inclement weather; unsanitary drinking water; and insufficient perimeter fencing for dangerous animals."

    http://suburbanjournals.stltoday .com/articles/2007/08/04/news/sj2tn20070801-0801wa r_zone.ii1.txt

    Wesa-A-Geh-Ya Charged With Denying Care to Dying Animals

    January 25, 2005

    Contact:

    Lisa Wathne 757-622-7382

    Warrenton, Mo. - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has filed multiple charges against Wesa-A-Geh-Ya, a dilapidated backyard animal menagerie in Warren County, Mo., which masquerades as a sanctuary while breeding lions and tigers and confining animals to small, barren cages. The USDA launched an investigation and charged Wesa with violations of the Animal Welfare Act after PETA filed a formal complaint with the agency in June 2003, based on eyewitness reports of atrocious conditions at the facility.

    The USDA's 13-page complaint states, "The gravity of the violations alleged in this complaint is great. They include instances in which respondents impeded an inspection and failed to allow access to their facility, and repeated instances in which they failed to provide minimally adequate veterinary care." The USDA cited the following examples of Wesa's failure to provide veterinary care:

    * A bear who "appeared malnourished and had sores on the pads of both front feet"

    * A juvenile lion who "was lethargic, cold to the touch, and dehydrated"

    * A lion with an abscess on his face and bite wounds on his legs

    * A tiger whose hind legs were paralyzed

    The USDA also found maggot-infested food storage with foul-smelling, rotten meat; unsafe caging; inadequate shelter from inclement weather; unsanitary drinking water; and insufficient perimeter fencing for dangerous animals. Wesa's menagerie includes more than 65 animals, including tigers, lions, cougars, wolves, and a bear.

    In December 2003, PETA also filed a formal complaint with the Missouri Attorney General's Office, asking that it declare Wesa in violation of the Missouri Nonprofit Corporation Act. The attorney general determined that Wesa was in violation of state law for continuing to advertise as a zoo after forfeiting its USDA exhibitor's license.

    "Wesa-A-Geh-Ya bills itself as a sanctuary, when it's nothing but a hellhole of animal misery," says PETA Director Debbie Leahy. "The only thing that can stop perpetual suffering at Wesa is to rescue these animals and padlock the place for good."

    For more information, please visit PETA's Web site WildlifePimps.com.

    Big Misery for Big Cats at Wesa-A-Geh-Ya

    Update January 2005: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has filed multiple charges for violations of the Animal Welfare Act against Wesa-A-Geh-Ya.
    
    The USDA's 13-page complaint states, "The gravity of the violations alleged in this complaint is great. They include instances in which respondents impeded an inspection and failed to allow access to their facility, and repeated instances in which they failed to provide minimally-adequate veterinary care. Respondents have continually failed to comply with the Regulations, after having been repeatedly advised of the deficiencies."
    
    Wesa was charged with failing to provide veterinary care for the following animals:

    . A juvenile female bear named Hazel who "appeared malnourished and had sores on the pads of both front feet"
    . A juvenile male lion named Jeffrey who "was lethargic, cold to the touch, and dehydrated"
    . An adult male lion named Pooh who had an abscess on his face and month-old bite wounds on his hind legs
    . An adult male tiger named Samson whose hind legs were paralyzed
    . A lion named Simbanala who had a lacerated ear
    . A tiger named Brutus who had an injured tail

    The USDA also found maggot-infested food storage with foul-smelling, rotten meat; unsafe caging; inadequate shelter from inclement weather; unsanitary drinking water; and perimeter fencing that was insufficient to safely contain dangerous animals.
    
    In December 2003, PETA also filed a formal complaint with the Missouri Attorney General's Office, asking that it declare Wesa in violation of the Missouri Nonprofit Corporation Act. The attorney general determined that Wesa was in violation of state law for continuing to advertise as a zoo after forfeiting its USDA exhibitor's license and notified Wesa that it must amend its articles of incorporation and advertising.

    Background
    
    Down a rural road 60 miles west of St. Louis, in Warrenton, Missouri, sits a collection of haphazardly constructed dog runs at a facility called Wesa-A-Geh-Ya (Wesa), operated by Ken and Sandra Smith. At first glance, Wesa appears to be yet another backyard puppy mill so prevalent in the Midwest-but its dilapidated, barren cages aren't filled with neglected and overbred dogs; they're crowded with an estimated 63 tigers, lions, cougars, wolves, and other exotic animals. Warehoused, the animals have neither environmental enrichment nor adequate space to exercise. Wesa is a classic roadside zoo and backyard breeder of big cats that masquerades as a sanctuary, preying on people's sympathy to collect donations while exploiting the animals in its care.
    
    Whistleblowers-many of them former board members and volunteers-have come forward with shocking and persistent complaints of overbreeding, inbreeding, abuse, animal disappearances, malnourishment, neglect, and preventable animal deaths. State officials charged the facility with violating caging laws, and Wesa has been repeatedly cited by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for failure to provide adequate veterinary care, failure to provide adequate shelter from inclement weather, improper food storage, sub-standard perimeter fencing, poor construction of animal enclosures, and unsanitary conditions.
    
    Sick, Dying, Malnourished, Crippled Animals Left to Suffer
    Witnesses report animals dying slow, agonizing deaths without any veterinary care, including an 18-year-old tiger who lay in her cage for more than a month, not eating or drinking. She withered away to skin and bones until she died. A black bear cub was in so much pain with raw and bleeding wounds on the soft, tender pads of her paws, apparently caused by living on rough gravel, that she actually tried to walk on the tops of her front paws. After being shot and killed by the Smiths, a sick horse was found to have had an untreated broken hip. A goat who approached a wolf cage to eat straw out of sheer starvation was badly injured when the wolf attacked, perhaps out of hunger. Volunteers claim that the animals are often fed only once every five days.
    
    An animal nutritionist, funded by a local veterinarian concerned about the animals' care, had found vision problems attributable to vitamin A deficiency; bowleggedness in big cats from rickets, metabolic bone disease, or vitamin A deficiency; unsanitary food storage; and failure to provide enough time between pregnancies to allow animals' nutritional stores to recover.
    
    A former board member reported seeing Ken Smith punch, hit, and kick the animals on numerous occasions. In one instance, Smith repeatedly kicked three lion cubs in the face and head because they jumped on him when he entered their cage.
    
    A veterinarian who visited the facility was appalled at the shocking conditions: "Animals were cramped in crowded cages. Males were not separated from females, encouraging breeding. . The animals had nothing in their tiny enclosures for enrichment. Cages were barren, with cement or gravel floors. Ken and Sandy Smith did not seem to care about enhancing the lives of the animals." In fact, conditions are so overcrowded that a former board member reported four cougars were stored in a horse trailer for an entire year before being moved to a cage.
    
    Jeffrey was a young lion cub who suffered and died because of Wesa's apathy and greed. According to volunteers, Jeffrey was not given enough to eat so he consumed straw, gravel, and bone that caused an impaction. Over several weeks, Jeffrey lost weight and grew listless. In August 2002, Jeffrey was obviously in severe pain and deteriorating. Volunteers expressed concern to the Smiths, who not only refused to seek veterinary care for Jeffrey, but also denied permission for a volunteer to take him to a veterinarian. Fearing Jeffrey was on the brink of death, the caring volunteer finally rushed Jeffrey to a vet hospital anyway.
    
    The veterinarian who treated Jeffrey wrote, "[Jeffrey was] gravely ill ... On presentation, this lion appeared to be dying. His body temperature was 96°F, and he was virtually lifeless. . A large foreign body mass was found in the stomach." The lion cub was operated on, but it was too late. Jeffrey died following surgery.
    
    Despite overwhelming evidence that Wesa had failed to provide adequate care to Jeffrey in the form of wholesome and ample food and health care, and therefore was in direct violation of Missouri's cruelty-to-animals statute, the county prosecutor declined to prosecute the facility for Jeffrey's unnecessary suffering and tragic death.
    
    "Scamtuary"
    In violation of any legitimate sanctuary's guiding principles, Wesa breeds animals in order to remain well stocked with cute babies to draw visitors to the backyard menagerie and to sell for a profit. No legitimate sanctuary would make a bad situation worse by breeding and selling exotic animals. Volunteers report that more than half of Wesa's "rescued" animals were actually born there. And it has been documented that the zoo has sold at least a few animals to a man who was recently convicted of selling and slaughtering tigers and leopards to sell their meat and skins on the black market.
    
    In addition to breeding animals, Wesa-A-Geh-Ya engages in the harmful practice of prematurely removing baby animals from their mothers, which is psychologically cruel to both the infants and their mothers and deprives the babies of proper maternal care and normal development. The lion and tiger cubs have been sold or carted around to state fairs where people pay to have photos taken with them, a practice that perpetuates the exotic pet trade by inspiring others to obtain wild animals. The additional stress of transport, excessive handling, confusion, and other unnatural aspects of these events puts further stress on the babies' delicate immune systems and increases the chances of their becoming ill. No legitimate sanctuary would ever tear babies from their mothers or take animals off site except for medical reasons.
    
    PETA has filed a formal complaint against Wesa with the Missouri attorney general for violations of the state Nonprofit Corporation Act and deceptive trade practices. PETA is asking that Wesa's nonprofit status be revoked and that Wesa be required to immediately terminate all public and private deception, fraud, misrepresentation, and use of false pretenses in connection with the solicitation of funds for charitable purposes or, in the alternative, face criminal prosecution. PETA is also asking that Wesa's assets, including the animals, be placed in receivership for their own protection.
    
    What You Can Do
    Please write a polite letter to the Missouri attorney general. Ask him to seriously and carefully review PETA's complaint regarding Wesa-A-Geh-Ya, which thoroughly documents the many ways in which the facility is violating the state's nonprofit rules and engaging in deceptive trade practices, and to revoke Wesa-A-Geh-Ya's nonprofit status, to institute criminal proceedings if necessary, or to institute any proceedings deemed necessary to protect the animals' welfare:

    Please write a polite letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture officials. Thank them for thoroughly investigating and pressing charges against Wesa-A-Geh-Ya. Urge them to pursue aggressive prosecution of this case and to levy the maximum penalties possible against Wesa-A-Geh-Ya.

    Dr. Chester A. Gipson, Associate Deputy Administrator
    USDA-APHIS-VS
    4700 River Rd., Unit 84
    Riverdale, MD 20737-1234
    301-734-7833
    301-734-4993 (fax)
    Chester.A.Gipson@usda.gov

    No genuine sanctuary would make a bad situation worse by engaging in or condoning commercial activities such as breeding, buying, selling, and exhibiting animals or by keeping animals in deplorable, overcrowded, neglectful conditions. Please contact PETA (e-mail CaptiveAnimals@peta.org) for help in combating pseudo-sanctuaries in your area.

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• Marcus Cook of Zoo Dynamics or Marcus Cook of Zoo Dynamics or Zoo Cats 2

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    Man mauled by tiger remains hospitalized

    DALLAS, June 21 (UPI) -- A man remained hospitalized in Dallas Wednesday after being mauled by a Bengal tiger at a facility that supplies exotic animals to zoos and exhibitions.

    The incident happened last Friday at Zoo Dynamics. Part-time employee Don Roberts was mowing a strip of grass when the 300-pound tiger jumped a fence and attacked him, The Dallas Morning News reported.

    The sheriff's office told the newspaper a power failure allowed the animal to jump an electrified fence. Roberts said the tiger attacked as he ran to warn another employee it was on the loose.

    The company, which has had exotic animals on its 5-acre property for 15 years, said it is investigating how the mauling occurred.

    A hospital spokesman said Roberts was in the intensive care unit through the weekend and was in good condition Tuesday. He lost an ear, had claw marks all over his body and needed thousands of stitches.

    The tiger is under quarantine and the victim reportedly does not want to press charges against the facility

    http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060621-104855-3483r

    State halts roving big cat exhibit

    

    Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has obtained an emergency court order in Kaufman County to stop a traveling hands-on exhibit featuring wild jungle cats and cubs.

    Abbott on Friday said the action was taken to prevent harm to the public from exhibits put on by ZooCats Inc. The nonprofit organization brings animals such as tigers, leopards, lions and cougars to exhibit at children's birthday parties, weddings, commercial and media events and educational settings.

    In addition to the emergency court order, the charitable assets of ZooCats and related nonprofits, as well as operator Marcus Cline-Hines Cook, have been frozen. District Judge Howard Tygrett also named Dallas attorney Robert Trimble as temporary receiver.

    Trimble will oversee placement of the wild cats and other animals in the professional care of the International Exotic Feline Sanctuary in Boyd, northwest of Fort Worth .

    "This operator deliberately downplayed the potential danger of these animals, as well as the group's safety record and trainer qualifications, letting children and adults touch and hold them without regard for disease or possible physical harm," said Abbott in a statement. "This dangerous deception against the public, and the organization's false assertions about its charitable intentions, led our legal experts to conclude that we needed to act quickly."

    ZooCats officials were not immediately available to comment.

    ZooCats has exhibited the animals at the Mesquite Rodeo, Six Flags Over Texas, the Dallas ArtFest and various private schools. It has also set up show booths at a number of events in North Texas where children and adults may hold and feed the animals and have their pictures taken for a fee.

    The principal facility housing the animals, which also include wolf pups, a bear and a zebra, is near Kaufman. ZooCats obtains its animals through donations from zoos, sanctuaries and refuges, but the group also buys them from exotic breeders.

    Cook has made public claims about his group's perfect safety record. But, according to Abbot, ZooCats has been cited numerous times by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for violations such as failing to keep the adult animals under the control of a trained animal handler and for failure to maintain structurally sound facilities to prevent escape.

    The attorney general said the organization also falsely claims to be distributing charitable funds it collects for its services. It purports to represent, and donate funds to, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Save the Tiger Fund, and wildlife programs underwritten by Irving-based Exxon Mobil Corp.

    But, said Abbot, these organizations claim no affiliation with ZooCats and have not given Cook permission to use their logos or trademarks in exhibits. Cook also has falsely claimed an affiliation with the Dallas World Aquarium, the attorney general said.

    Abbot said he also suspects that Cook has misappropriated charitable assets for personal use and will ask the court to correct this abuse of public funds.

    The state will request civil penalties under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the Texas Nonprofit Corporations Act. Also requested are attorneys' fees and reimbursement of investigative costs associated with the case.

    ZooCats related nonprofits, which are also named in the lawsuit, include Zoological Studies Group, ZooCats Zoological Systems, Specialized Species Humane Society Inc., Zoo America Inc., and Technology Specialities and Research Group Inc.

    
    
    2003 American City Business Journals Inc.

    ZooDynamics Exhibitor Has Abysmal History of Mistreating Animals, Endangering Public

    August 11, 2005

    Contact:

    Amy Rhodes 757-622-7382

    Miles City, Mont. - Today, PETA sent an urgent letter to the Eastern Montana Fair president, urging the implementation of a strict policy prohibiting exotic-animal displays at the fair, which opens on August 25. PETA's request comes after the group learned that the carnival booked for the fair, Thomas Carnival, includes an attraction called Zoo Dynamics (formerly called ZooCats). Zoo Dynamics, owned by Marcus Cook, has been cited numerous times by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA), and the big-cat display has resulted in injuries to members of the public.

    In 2003, the USDA filed charges against Cook for alleged AWA violations including using a cattle prod to stun a tiger as a means of discipline, exposing young animals to excessive handling, causing animals trauma and harm, unsupervised public contact, mishandling an injured zebra, dozens of instances of unsafe handling of dangerous animals during public exhibition, allowing a bear cub to be teased with a stick, filthy enclosures in disrepair, exposing animals to extreme heat and inadequate ventilation, failing to provide minimum space, food and water, and failing to comply with veterinary care requirements.

    Cook was recently charged with unsafe handling by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission after one of his tiger cubs bit a woman at a car dealership in Tampa . PETA filed a formal complaint with the USDA after obtaining photos of two of Cook's tiger cubs at the dealership with bloody abrasions around their noses and eyes. Another cub used by ZooCats bit an employee while on display at Six Flags Over Dallas in 2002 and the exhibit was later removed from the park.

    Animals used for photo ops are often still babies and are typically forcibly removed from their mothers, causing extreme stress to both mother and baby. When they outgrow their "cuteness," exotic animals are often sold at auctions, where they may be purchased by "canned-hunt" operators or people who kill them illegally for their body parts.

    "The Eastern Montana Fair would do the animals and the public a favor by banning exotic-animal acts," says PETA Director Debbie Leahy. "Tearing babies from their mothers for stressful and potentially dangerous public contact isn't wholesome family entertainment."

    PETA's letter to the Eastern Montana Fair president is available upon request. For more information, please PETA's Web site WildlifePimps.com.

    Big-cat exhibitor Marcus Cook of ZooCats and Zoo Dynamics is traveling the country with Thomas Carnival, which operates at local and state fairs. Cook charges a fee for visitors to have their photos taken with tiger cubs.

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees animal exhibits, filed charges against Cook, in part for allegedly failing to handle animals safely, failing to protect animals from temperature extremes, and using a cattle prod to stun a tiger as a means of discipline during an exhibit.

    In February, Cook was charged by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission with unsafe handling of wildlife after it was revealed that a visitor to an exhibit at a car dealership was bitten by one of his tigers. Another cub used by Cook bit an employee while on display at Six Flags Over Dallas in 2002

    Group Sends USDA Photos of Displayed Cubs With Bloody Facial Sores

    For Immediate Release:
    March 10, 2005

    Contact:
    Amy Rhodes 757-622-7382

    Tampa, Fla. - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has launched an investigation of exotic-animal-trainer Marcus Cook for possible violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act. PETA contacted the USDA about a woman who was reportedly bitten on the hand by one of Cook's tiger cubs. According to news sources, on February 12, Sandra Hopps-Caraballo received two puncture wounds on her hand during a controversial photo op with the cub at the Tampa Bay Auto Mall on Tampa Road. Cook, who does business as Zoo Dynamics, was exhibiting two adult and two baby tigers at the dealership when the incident occurred. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission charged Cook with unsafe handling of captive wildlife.

    PETA also complained to the USDA that the two cubs had bloody abrasions on their noses and around their eyes and provided photos of the tiger cubs' marred faces to aid in the investigation. PETA has asked the auto mall to ban exotic-animal displays from its properties.

    Cook has been cited by the USDA for failure to provide veterinary care, failure to provide shelter from inclement weather, inadequate ventilation, filthy cages, failure to provide minimum space, and improper handling during public exhibition. In 2002, Six Flags Over Dallas dismissed Cook's tiger exhibit over concerns for public safety. In August 2004, Cook was charged in federal court with conspiring to violate laws pertaining to wildlife. Cook was named, along with eight others, in a 55-count indictment that alleges that the accused bought or sold more than $200,000 worth of endangered or threatened animals between 1999 and 2003, violating interstate provisions of the Endangered Species Act and the Lacey Act.

    Tiger cubs used in traveling acts are prematurely removed from their mothers, denying them proper nutrition and maternal care. If the animals survive the stress of transport and handling, exhibitors typically dispose of them a few months later when they become more difficult to handle, replacing them with new cubs. Since 1990, there have been at least 177 dangerous incidents involving big cats in 36 states.

    "Besides the cruelty of taking baby tigers away from their mothers, these cats become ticking time bombs when constantly subjected to handling and stress," says PETA Director Debbie Leahy. "The best way to protect the cats and the public would be to revoke Cook's license to operate."

    The Federal Wildlife Officer

    REGION 3
    Paul Beiriger, Regional Rep
    
    Nine Individuals Indicted on Wildlife Related Charges

    Minneapolis - In a 55-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury, a Racine, MN, couple faces additional charges related to their operation of an animal park and animal brokerage business. In addition to the charges against Kenneth G. Kraft and his wife, Nancy L. Kraft, seven others were charged with various wildlife related charges.

    The grand jury charged the Krafts will conspiring to violate a number of laws including the Endangered Species Act and the Lacey Act. The Endangered Species Act generally makes it unlawful to buy/sell in interstate commerce animals that have been designated as either endangered or threatened. The Lacey Act generally prohibits the interstate sale or purchase of endangered or threatened animals with a market value in excess of $350, and it also makes it unlawful to make and/or submit a false record or label for any endangered or threatened animals in interstate commerce from 1999 to 2003.
    
    The other individuals charged by the grand jury on wildlife-related charges were: Robert E. Baudy, age 80, from Bevilles Corner, FL; Marcus Cook, from Dallas, TX, and the operator of Zoocats, Inc.; Troy Allen Hyde, from Bozeman, MT, the operator of Animals of Montana, Inc.; Hans Jakob Lueck, age 50, from Shoreline, WA, the operator of Wild Eyes Animal Adventure and Photography in Montana; Merle Multhauf, age 50, from Emerald, WI, Craig Perry, from Center Point, IA, the operator of Perry's Wilderness Ranch & Zoo; and James F. Rienow, age 55, from Suamico, WI, an animal broker and taxidermist.

    According to the indictment, the Krafts advertised their interest in buying, selling, and trading exotic wildlife, including endangered and threatened animals through several means, including the Internet and a national exotic animal publication "Animal Finders' Guide". The Krafts bought and sold numerous protected animals, including tigers, grizzly bears, and leopards. They had sources and customers around the country, including, but not necessarily limited to: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
    
    The indictment alleges that at the same time the Krafts were illegally buying and selling protected wildlife from their property in Racine, MN, under a number of different names, they also operated an animal park called BEARCAT Hollow. BEARCAT Hollow stands for Beautiful Endangered and Rare, Conservation and Therapy. The Krafts solicited donations, memberships, and other forms of sponsorships for BEARCAT Hollow by representing that the funds raised would go to feed and otherwise support the animals of BEARCAT Hollow, but they failed to disclose that the animals at the Racine, MN, property were regularly bought and sold as inventory of Kraft Game Farms or Kraft's Animal Escapades.

    Because protected wildlife may not generally be offered for sale, bought, sold, or transported in interstate commerce, the Krafts allegedly made false records and false identifications of the wildlife involved in the transaction on forms of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. According to the indictment, Nancy Kraft told at least one person that, for instance, the Krafts would make an illegal sale of a protected grizzly bear appear lawful by declaring the animal to be a "Syrian grizzly," believed by the Krafts not to be protected, on the federal APHIS Form 7020. The Krafts are also alleged to have falsified records in order to hide their illegal activity by claiming the transactions were a "donation" or "breeding loan" instead of the sale or transfer of animals.
    
    The indictment also charges Kenneth Kraft with witness tampering for allegedly instructing a person to lie to federal officials and maintain that animals he bought from Kenneth Kraft had been illegally donated rather than illegally purchased.

    If convicted on the conspiracy or wildlife-related charges, the Krafts and the other defendants face a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine. If convicted of tampering with a witness, Kenneth Kraft could face a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine. Any sentences would be determined by a judge based on the federal sentencing guidelines.
    
    The case is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Koch is prosecuting the case. Criminal indictments are only charges and not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

    The Christian Science Monitor

    Trouble at wild-animal parks? Study cites lax US regulations for private exhibitors.
    By Mark Clayton | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor August 31, 2006

    The grainy picture, taken at a private wild-animal park, shows a girl reaching out to pet, or grab, the tail of a full-grown leopard. How will the leopard react?
    As the debate over private ownership of exotic pets intensifies in the US, attention is also beginning to fall on private wildlife exhibits that display "big cats" like lions, tigers, and leopards.

    
    TIGER HUG: Gloria Johnson with Casanova at her Havana, Fla., farm. As states ban private custody of exotic pets, some owners seek USDA licenses.
    PHIL COALE/AP/FILE
    
    Licensed by the US government, these parks are required to put "significant barriers" between visitors and big cats. But there's enough gray area in the law so that some facilities permit close contact with the animals, including touching them - sometimes with tragic results.

    In the year since 17-year-old Haley Hilderbrand was fatally mauled while posing for her senior photo with a leashed tiger at a Kansas wild-animal park, pressure has grown at federal and state levels to explicitly ban public contact with big cats at facilities that are licensed and regulated by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

    In April, Kansas became the first state to ban direct contact between humans and potentially dangerous animals at wildlife exhibits. It also joined 21 states that prohibit private ownership of certain big cats.

    Last month, Rep. Jim Ryun (R) of Kansas introduced legislation in Congress to beef up the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), which governs animal safety at USDA-regulated facilities. His bill would prohibit direct contact between big cats and the public and require the USDA to write public-safety regulations for exhibitor licensees.

    Activists say AWA rules are too weak to ensure that the animals are securely kept and well maintained - or to protect humans from the animals on display. "We're not even that critical of the USDA because it doesn't really have the authority it needs to deal with the public-safety problem," says Greg Wetstone of International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), a Yarmouth Port, Mass., animal rights group.

    About 5,000 lions, tigers, and other big cats are kept by nearly 700 USDA big-cat licensees in the United States. Someone seeking a license to exhibit tigers is subject to requirements similar to those for someone seeking a goat license, IFAW reported last week, after a year-long investigation of such facilities.

    As a result, in states where private ownership of exotic animals is banned, people can legally keep their animals by getting a USDA license as an exhibitor. In a rising number of cases, license applicants are mom-and-pop outfits building animal collections.

    "These animals are dangerous, and it takes a lot to contain and feed them," says Mr. Wetstone of the IFAW, which included in its report the grainy photo of the girl touching the leopard. "So some folks decide to make a few bucks and escape state rules barring them as pets. They go get a USDA license."

    The IFAW report - which looked at 42 wild-animal exhibits in 11 states, all USDA-licensed - cites these problems.

    • Most of these big-cat facilities are "structurally unsound."

    • Most allow public contact between people and big cats.

    • "Vermin and grossly inadequate sewage disposal" are often evident. Meat fed to big cats is often rotten.

    • Many facilities have no attendants at big-cat exhibits, and some "allowed children to work as attendants."

    In the past decade, there have been 13 big-cat-related incidents in Florida, 12 in Texas, six in California, and five each in Illinois, Nevada, Minnesota, and Kansas. Since 1990, 13 people have died in these incidents, IFAW says.

    A USDA spokesman says AWA regulations are adequate to keep the public safe and are zealously policed by its team of inspectors.

    "There is no public-safety crisis," says Darby Holladay with USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. "Whenever any incident occurs, the USDA animal-care program looks into it. If there's a possible violation of the Animal Welfare Act, enforcement action is taken."

    The process can be slow. In the case of the park in Kansas where Hilderbrand was mauled, the USDA has yet to decide on whether to revoke the operator's big-cat license.

    Critics of the IFAW report say it fails to deliver specific violations at specific facilities. "I don't think it's a well-informed report," says Marcus Cook, spokesman for the Feline Conservation Federation, which represents big-cat exhibitors. "If they know something, let's report it. If you've got a valid complaint, let's make it to the USDA. Don't just throw a bunch of numbers out there."

    An IFAW member says the group has more than 2,000 photos documenting the violations cited in its report. "Our staff member was at [one] facility when a leopard bit the finger off an untrained worker," says Josephine Martell, a principal author of the report. "You can't just say, 'here's the tiger. Take care of him. I'm going to get some coffee.' But that's what's happening."

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• Marcus Cook of Zoo Dynamics or Marcus Cook of Zoo Dynamics or Zoo Cats 1

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    Marcus Cook of Zoo Dynamics or Zoo Cats
    

    Check for yourself to see Marcus Cook meets the sanctuary standards for an accredited animal refuge. Read USDA's 41 page complaint against Marcus Cook HERE See an interactive online map of exotic cat owners . See people being stupid with big cats, endangering themselves and others HERE . See the awful conditions that many captive cats endure HERE .

    Government, experts question tiger breeder's practices

    Photoe Courtesy:

    
    Marcus Cook, the man who brought a pregnant white tiger to Duluth with a traveling carnival, said it was sad but natural when the tiger's four cubs died two days after they were born.

    He vowed his own veterinarians would look into the case.

    "Our team is absolutely explicit," he said Thursday, the day the cubs died.

    Cook, an exotic-animal breeder from Texas, said three veterinarians who work for his company, Zoo Dynamics, "will leave no stone unturned."

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture is launching its own investigation into the deaths. And this isn't the first one.

    Just two months ago the USDA issued a complaint against Cook for violating the federal Animal Welfare Act.

    The department said, in the complaint, there are "repeated instances" of Cook's failure to provide "adequate veterinary care, food, water, or housing to animals."

    The complaint went on to say those failures "have resulted in injuries to animals and to the public."

    Ron Tilson, a tiger expert at the Minnesota Zoo who advises all accredited zoos in North America, is one of Cook's many critics.

    "It's immoral, it's unethical," Tilson said of Cook's breeding practices. "Certainly the animal rights and humane societies have come out and said it's a form of animal abuse, therefore it's cruel to animals."

    Tilson said he agreed with that assessment and that the mere breeding of white tigers is not natural.

    To maintain that color, Tilson said, the cubs have to be inbred , which means they lose genetic protection against a number of diseases.

    "And there are many other things, including cleft palates, and crossed eyes, and curved spines, and shortened feet, and all of those things would put a wild tiger at a disadvantage, so it wouldn't live," he said.

    Tislson said the last white tiger born in the wild was observed in 1951.

    In the case of the four dead cubs in Duluth, Cook said Thursday it wasn't his fault.

    "We know that it is not anything that has to do with animal care, or keeper error, or facility structure, anything of that nature," he said.

    Cook didn't return KARE11's call Friday.

    Cook's company is based near Dallas.

    He also has been sued by the Texas attorney general, and Cook was ordered to stop operating as a nonprofit.

    The Texas attorney general called Cook's business practices "deceptive."

    Scott Goldberg Kare 11 News SGoldberg@kare11.com

    http://www.kare11.com/news/news_ar ticle.aspx?storyid=259295

    Ti ger exhibit operator faces charges

    Published Saturday, July 07, 2007
    
    While the reasons four white tiger cubs died this week at a traveling exhibit in Duluth still are unknown, the operator of the exhibit faces numerous charges by the USDA for mistreating his animals, as well as putting them in a position that has caused injuries to the public.

    Marcus Cook, who has told the News Tribune he is both the senior animal specialist and senior zoologist with Texas-based Zoo Dynamics, said Friday that allegations against him are “99.9 percent are completely incorrect, unfounded or misrepresented.”

    He also said that he never lets the public handle his tigers.

    But a complaint filed in May by the U.S. Department of Agriculture claims Cook has supervised numerous animals that received improper veterinary care and had numerous untreated health problems, and that he allowed the public — including children — to handle tigers. The charges date from 2002 to 2007.

    Also, in 2003 the Texas attorney general’s office obtained an emergency court order to prevent Cook and the company he was then associated with, ZooCats, from exhibiting tigers.

    The attorney general’s office wanted to stop the company from putting the public in harm’s way for allowing “children and adults to touch and hold them [tigers] without regard for disease or possible public harm,” according to a news release from the attorney general’s office.

    The office also claimed that ZooCats lied about connections with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and was set up as a false nonprofit, using publicly donated money for profit-making purposes.

    As part of Cook’s agreement with the attorney general’s office, ZooCats was dissolved and Cook must not represent that he has a good safety record. He also must not tell people he has a bachelor’s degree in zoology. He was ordered to pay $100,000.

    Cook has denied making any misrepresentations.

    Cook’s tigers have been involved in at least three biting or attack incidents, the most recent in June 2006 in Texas when, according to news reports, a Bengal tiger escaped its cage and mauled a yard worker, who required 2,000 stitches as part of his treatment and recovery.

    Cook said Friday that the man had a history of mental illness and signed a statement saying he was attempting to commit suicide.

    Cook said the two tigers at his exhibit are in good health, but he referred all questions about the cause of death of the tiger cubs that died Thursday to Dr. Kelly Manzer, who he said was a veterinarian with Zoo Dynamics. Manzer did not return a phone call seeking comment Friday.

    Zoo Dynamics released a statement Friday saying it suspected the tiger cubs’ deaths were caused by congenital defects.

    Ron Tilson, director of conservation at the Minneapolis-based Minnesota Zoo, said all white tigers are inbred. Tilson said white tigers can trace their origins to a white tiger captured in India in 1951, which mated with one of its daughters, which had a recessive gene to create another white tiger.

    “They’re all so highly inbred almost to the level of brother and sister,” said Tilson who, because of that, believes breeding white tigers is inhumane.

    “This is abuse; this is not natural. It’s doing something that is contrary to what nature would order,” he said. “They are producing cubs that are not doing well simply for the sake of making money.”

    Tiger cubs born in captivity do generally have a higher mortality rate. Cubs handled by humans have a higher chance of death, said Tammy Quist, executive director of the Wildcat Sanctuary in Sandstone, Minn. Wildcat Sanctuary is the only accredited big cat sanctuary in the Upper Midwest.

    “A traveling exhibit is not a good situation for tiger cubs to be in,” Quist said. “Who hauls around a pregnant tiger in a trailer from Texas to Minnesota?”

    Cook said he never allowed the public to touch or handle the cubs, and he never allows people to touch the adult tigers. People can pay to feed them, but that is done by handing food over a gate with a pair of tongs.

    Though Cook told the News Tribune on Thursday that a veterinarian from the Lake Superior Zoo examined the cubs the morning before they died, Dr. Louise Beyea said that was not true.

    Instead, she said she saw the cubs only after they died to provide a referral for them to be transported to a facility for diagnostic results.

    Beyea did not know where the animals were sent. Beyea also said she did not know what caused their deaths but that, based on a limited observation, she did not see “any abuse or mishandling” on the part of Zoo Dynamics.

    Under Minnesota law, municipalities don’t have to examine traveling animal exhibits’ safety records.

    BRANDON STAHL covers health. He can be reached at (218) 720-4154 or by e-mail at bstahl@duluthnews.com.

    http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/a rticles/index.cfm?id=45627&section=homepage

    Misinformation Fed to the Press About White Tigers by Marcus Cook and his staff (notes are corrections to article)

    The stars are the cubs with stripes

    Duluth News Tribune
    Published Thursday, July 05, 2007
    
    The refrain of “Why can’t we keep one?” was heard Wednesday from the tiger tent at the Mighty Thomas Carnival in Duluth, where dozens showed up to ooh and ah over four newborn cubs.

    One male and three female royal white Bengal tigers were born Tuesday between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. to proud parents Gita and Splash, according to Zoo Dynamic zoo handler Steve Lopez. The cubs were born in a hay-lined, 10-by-10-foot cage in the carnival’s tiger tent.

    There are only about 400 white tigers in the world, said Zoo Dynamic senior zoologist Marcus Cook, more than 200 of them living in confinement in the United States.
    
    Senior zoologist Marcus Cook with Zoo Dynamics of Dallas holds a male royal white Bengal tiger cub. The cub was one of four born Tuesday at the Zoo Dynamics exhibit at the Mighty Thomas Carnival in Duluth. There are about 200 royal white Bengal tigers in the United States. (Royal White Bengal Tiger was a name coined by the magic act Sigfried and Roy. There are no purebred Bengal tigers in the U.S. and all white tigers are the product of inbreeding and crossbreeding Bengal and Siberian species)

    Mama tiger
    “All white tigers, wherever you see them, whether in movies or at the zoo, have been born in captivity,” said zoo handler Carlos Lopez. “My goal is to get the word out that these guys are dying.”

    He blames the scarcity of white tigers on poachers and the fact that there is no place to reintegrate them into the wild because of deforestation. He added that the survival rate in the wild for white tigers is only 11 years, compared to the 20 to 25 years common in captivity. (There hasn't been a white tiger spotted in the wild since 1951 and no white tiger has ever lived past kittenhood in the wild)

    Although the cubs haven’t been named yet, Cook said two might be called Stars and Stripes for their nearly patriotic birthday.

    Each cub weighs between 2 and 2½ pounds and will spend the next six months with its mother.

    “By then [six months], each tiger will be about 18 inches high and weigh about 80 pounds,” said Carlos Lopez. “After they are six months old, they will gain one pound per day until they are fully grown.”

    Fully grown royal white Bengal tigers can range from 221 to 453 pounds for females and from 419 to 569 pounds for males, according to information from Zoo Dynamic.

    For now, the cubs’ only job is to eat and sleep. They won’t open their eyes or be able to walk for nearly two weeks, Carlos Lopez said.

    This was Gita’s second litter. Her first two male cubs were born on June 8, 2005, and are living at the Amarillo (Texas) Wildlife Refuge .

    “She is a really good mom,” Carlos Lopez said.

    Not all animal lovers are enthused about the breeding of white tigers.

    A program of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, called the Save the Tiger Fund, points out on its Web site that the tiger species survival plan “has condemned breeding white tigers because of their mixed ancestry.”

    A white tiger can be born only when both parents carry a gene for white coloring, which occurs naturally only once every 10,000 births, according to lairweb.org.

    “To produce white tigers … directors of zoos and facilities must continuously inbreed, father to daughter, to granddaughter, and so on,” the Save the Tiger Fund Web site states.

    Save the Tiger Fund says that the issue “is a contradiction of fundamental genetic principles… [which is done] for economic rather than conservation reasons.”

    But Cook has a different point of view.

    “People that believe that are anti-zoo people and need to do the research,” he said. A lot of the inbreeding took place in the 1950s, he said, when people still thought it was OK to hunt tigers because they weren’t endangered. Since then, zoos have been trying to fix the problems of endangerment and inbreeding, Cook said.

    “Gita and Splash are five generations back and clean on the tree,” Cook said. He said breeders are using new technology to correct mistakes of the past.

    One of the ways they are doing this is through out-breeding, he said — mating animals less closely related than the average of the population. (This outbreeding is the cross breeding of Bengal and Siberian lines which creates a hybrid that is not of any conservation value to either the Bengals or the Siberians in the wild. Much like breeding a Doberman to a Poodle.)

    But carnival visitors Wednesday weren’t thinking about the tigers’ biological issues.

    “Tigers are amazing,” Cook said. “We often refer to them as edutainment: both educational and entertainment.”

    And the viewers had the same opinion.

    “I think they are really cute and cuddly,” said 8-year-old Dalton Levy of Duluth. “And I think they have really cool colors.”

    He said he learned lots about cats and a little about tigers at school, but in real life, “they are really cute.”

    His cousin agreed.

    “My favorite thing about the tigers is that they are big and fast,” said 7-year-old Jantzen Levy.

    The tigers will be at the carnival until Sunday and, though the cubs get their nourishment from their mother, the public is allowed to feed Gita and Splash for an extra few dollars.

    Kendra Lisdahl and Crystal Starstead both fed the tigers pieces of raw pork and couldn’t contain their excitement.

    “I like tigers,” Starstead said, “and the babies are beautiful.”

    http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/a rticles/index.cfm?id=45459&section=homepage

    Man on the mend after tiger attack

    By Kent Miller

    The victim of Friday's tiger attack at a private facility between Terrell and Kaufman is recovering at Methodist Medical Center at Dallas after being flown there by air ambulance after the attack.

    Don Roberts was mauled Friday by a Bengal tiger that had escaped its cage when an electric fence failed at Zoo Dynamics located on River Oaks Drive of off State Highway 34. Roberts said he was attacked while attempting to warn a Zoo Dynamics employee that the exotic cat was loose.

    “The tiger jumped me as I ran to a nearby cage where the employee was working,” Roberts said in a prepared statement. “I've worked there before and know that being cautious and following safety guidelines are important. I'm very aware of their [large exotic cats] awesome power and have a healthy respect for the dangers they pose. Accidents sometimes happen.”

    Roberts continues to recover at Methodist Medical Center but hopes to go home soon.

    “The healing process may take a little time but I'm comforted to know my actions stopped the attack and may have helped others escape injury,” the statement read. “I look forward to returning home and getting back to my normal routine.”

    The tiger, which was housed with other exotic cats at the facility, apparently jumped a failed electric fence and attacked Roberts on the grounds between the caged tiger habitat and a perimeter fence on the outside edge of the property, according to a Kaufman County Sheriff's report.

    Sheriff's department spokes-woman Sharlie Davis said the facility also houses panthers, leopards and other exotic animals.

    She said the facility, to her knowledge, has never had one of the cats escape.

    The tiger was being held in quarantine at the facility for observation.

    http://www.kaufmanherald.com/ articles/2006/06/22/news/news02.txt

    Man recovering in Dallas from tiger attack

    DALLAS -- A man who was attacked by an escaped Bengal tiger at an animal sanctuary last week was in good condition at a Dallas hospital Wednesday.

    Officials said Don Roberts, a part-time employee at Zoo Dynamics, was doing yard work between two fences at an exotic animal facility in Kaufman County when he noticed the escaped tiger.

    Roberts said the tiger pounced on him as he ran to get help.

    "The healing process may take a little time," said Roberts, who remained at Methodist Dallas Medical Center after he suffered numerous claw marks and cuts that required about 2,000 stitches. "I look forward to returning home and getting back to my normal routine."

    According to the Kaufman County Sheriff's Department, the tiger escaped when power at the facility failed and the tiger was somehow able to leap an electrical fence.

    Officials at Zoo Dynamics, which has maintained exotic animals on the property for about 15 years, said they were investigating. The business provides exotic animals to zoos.

    The facility currently has eight tigers and three other big cats behind fences up to 18 feet tall, operations director Marcus Cook said. The escaped animal was captured and remains under quarantine.

    http://www.chron.com/disp/stor y.mpl/metropolitan/3989937.html

    Tiger attacks worker at Zoo Dynamics

    KAUFMAN, Texas A tiger chased down and mauled a man at an animal sanctuary in Kaufman County last week.

    It happened Saturday, and witnesses say the man is lucky to be alive.

    Donnie Roberts says he was doing landscaping at the animal sanctuary when the 300-pound Bengal tiger got Roberts' arm in its jaws.

    He says the tiger threw him down on his hip and got on his neck.

    Roberts says he thought the tiger would kill him, but managed to stay calm. He prayed and was somehow able to get the tiger off him.

    The tiger ripped off his ear and left claw marks over his body.

    Roberts says he believes he has about two thousand stitches.

    Now the animal is being quarantined.

    http://www.kltv.com/Global/st ory.asp?S=5057863&nav=1TjD

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  • 2 years ago
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• Phoenix Exotics Part 4 Phoenix Exotics Part 4

  • From: TheirVoice
  • Description:

    From: < lndmonk@yahoo.com
    To: <Phoenix_Exotics@yahoogroups.com
    Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2006 11:51 AM
    Subject: [Phoenix_Exotics] Florida

    A bill is going to be presented in the house tomorrow possibly called the
    "Python Act or Bill". It is being presented by Rep Bill Posey district
    24 (1850-487-5053) and Rep Poppell district 29 (850- 488-3006).

    The actual bill or number could not be found yet but it is to stop the
    breeding and selling of exotics in Florida. Not sure which exotics yet.

    Carol Baskins is going to be at a press conference in Tallahassee today
    to support it.

    Just getting information on this and will let you know clarifications as
    they come. Please get involved in this one!

    _Simply~Simian Inc._ (http://www.simply-simian.com/index.html)
    _Protest Big Cat Rescue and Carole Baskins _
    ( http://www.simply-simian.com/catrescu.htm )

    

    From: "Bob Nevin" < bob@...
    Date: Thu Feb 9, 2006 2:32 pm
    Subject: Re: [Phoenix_Exotics] Florida iluvclydesda...

    What's the deal with these people?!

    We had a 10' boa constrictor or python for a 6th grade classroom pet in
    Elementary school and no one blinked an eye. Now if your neighbor has one
    people freak!! More small pets get squashed by cars than get swallowed by a
    pet snake. Give me a break. Oh now I see they want to lump in other exotics
    in as well.

    This society has gotten so into safety and sterilization, its driving me
    nuts! Here is the latest safety craze at my supermarket, seat belts for the
    shopping carts - required!!! ugh

    One thing I need to stress regarding this bill is the breeding situation.
    Banning breeding will highly limit the amount of genetic diversity in an
    animal population. Though controls can be made so that the animal breed
    doesn't overpopulate, banning breeding outright will not fix the problem.
    Banning the sale of such animals will also not solve the problem and
    actually make it more difficult to for state animal control officers to
    enforce. All this would just go underground and there will be a huge lack of
    control on the breeding because it will go undocumented just as there is in
    drug trafficking.

    I know I'm preaching to the choir but want to give my thanks to lndmonk for
    bringing this to our attention.

    I will send my 2 cents to the Governor and state congress people ASAP even
    though I'm not from Florida.

    -Bob
    (Its my God Given right to responsibly own a lion and support those who do.)

    

    From: "Ray" < rrooney@ucwphilly.rr.com ...
    Date: Tue Feb 7, 2006 2:59 pm
    Subject: Re: [Phoenix_Exotics] Contact Geraldo runeraion
    
    Who? Big Cat Rescue? It's been covered here in excruciating detail the last
    month. Just go to the Yahoogroups site and read the messages you passed
    over. In a nutshell:

    The story starts with Carole's husband's dream.

    Big Cat Rescue got its start as Wildlife On Easy Street (WOES) back in the
    mid 90s.

    It was founded by millionaire Don Lewis, who made his fortune in real
    estate, trucking, and other ventures.

    WOES was started as a unique bed & breakfast where visitors were allowed to
    come and learn about exotic cats and, after a bit of instruction, were
    allowed to spend nights in a cabin divided in half - one side for the tiger,
    lion, etc.they would spend the night with and the other for the guests. A screened
    wall separated them.

    They bred and bought animals in a fashion similar to Tippi Hedren years ago.
    They published books on having exotic cat pets. Things were sweet for the
    millionaire and his second wife but they were about to sour.

    Tired of hassles from government and AR people Don Lewis purchased 200 acres
    of land near Begaces, Costa Rica to move the operation to. This is when
    trouble started for him.

    Life in the USA is easy, convenient and comes with all civilized amenities.
    At the best, life in Costa Rica would be uncomfortable and basics such as
    electricity undependable. Never mind good highways, malls, clubs, spas,
    entertainment, etc. Carole was well less than thrilled and made it known to
    Don.

    Don started setting things up and was preparing to transport vehicles there
    on Monday, August 18th, 1997. He supposedly left home to do this and drop
    off some signs at his real estate agent's office and was never seen again.

    The signs were found outside the real estate agent's office when they
    arrived that day but nobody had seen Don.

    The next day, August 19, Don's wife Carole filed a missing person report
    with the sheriff's office.

    Don's van was found the following day at Pilot Country Airport in
    Springhill. The manager said it had been there a couple of days, parked on
    the grass between some planes and hwy 52. The keys to the van were still in
    it, tossed on the
    floor. Nothing of note was found in it.

    Then authorities got a tip that Don and Carole were having marital
    difficulties and that Don had gone to court 2 months before claiming Carole
    had threatened to kill him. The judge turned down his petition for
    protection and Don went on living with Carole until he disappeared.

    Don's children from his first marriage accused Carole of killing him and
    feeding him to the big cats. Deputies searched Wildlife On Easy Street but
    found no evidence.

    Did Don Lewis just up and fly away to Costa Rico, leaving everything in
    life, including his kids, friends, and millions, behind? Or did someone just
    want it to look that way?

    In 2002 Carole got Don declared legally dead and inherited everything.

    In 2004 Carole married board member Howard Baskin on November 1st and is now
    known as Carole Baskin.

    Following Don's disappearance Wildlife On Easy Street turned 180 degrees. It
    no longer promoted ownership but opposed it and joined AR and sanctuary
    groups and started spouting the party line against ownership.

    The cats that Don and Carole had bred and bought suddenly got "stories"
    about how they were saved from abuse and abandonment. A few animals were
    taken in and their stories embellished similarly.

    The move to Costa Rica obviously never happened and it is unclear what
    became of the land. Sold to developers? Defaulted on?

    Carole decided the name of her operation did not sound good and changed it
    to Big Cat Rescue. She is now Florida's version of Carole Asvestas (Wild
    Animal Orphanage aka Animal Sanctuary Of The United States) and campaigns
    for bans countrywide and seeks to change Florida's constitution if she can't
    get them to ban more ownership.

    Stories abound of questionable fund raising, improper keeping and treatment,
    and shady deals. See the recent messages here for more.

    I will let those engaged in the protests fill you in on their actions and
    reasons but that too has all been here for weeks.

    What is missing is any media interest in telling the true story of this
    terrible string of events. Even Geraldo's show will be promoting them
    instead of investigating them.

    This is wrong.

    Ray

    

    From: < lndmonk@yahoo.com
    To: <monkeyyardsale@yahoogroups.com; <repo-pac@yahoogroups.com;
    <simply_simian@yahoogroups.com; <Phoenix_Exotics@yahoogroups.com;
    <SSAMembership@yahoogroups.com
    Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 10:59 AM
    Subject: [Phoenix_Exotics] Protest information:

    The Protest against the Big Cat Rescue and Carole Baskins will be on this
    coming Saturday starting at 9 AM thru 1 PM. Meet at the corner of Easy
    Street and Citrus road. Please dress in a manner that will not reflect badly on
    the protestors. This is an important protest as Ms. Baskins is one of the
    very ones who is influencing legislators against private owners of exotics.
    Not just cats. All exotics. If she can be shown for exactly what she is her
    influence will be nullified. This is very very important and anyone that
    can be there should try and attend.
    NO YELLING OR SCREAMING OR PROFANITY. simply hand out flyers and answer
    questions. DO NOT BRING YOUR PETS. Vernon Yates will be spokesman and
    talk to the media which will be in attendance.

    Lets show our support for this man who has stood up for private owners for
    years and continues to do so.

    I will be leaving NC on Thursday for Florida and have room for a few
    companions if you want to attend and need a ride let me know asap.

    Linda

    _Simply~Simian Inc._ (http://www.simply-simian.com/index.html)
    _Support Vernon Yates Demonstration_
    (http://www.simply-simian.com/catrescu.htm)

    

    From: Tim Stoffel < tim@...
    Date: Sat Jan 28, 2006 2:37 am
    Subject: Re: [Phoenix_Exotics] Carole Baskins is on the Hillsnborough Co. Animal Advisory Committee timbalionguy

    On Fri, 2006-01-27 at 14:24 +0000, Dana wrote:
    Hello Group! I am a new member. I have the large macaws for pets. I
    live in Hillsborough County Florida.
    Carole Lewis Baskins is on the Hillsborough County Animal Advisory
    Commmittee.The Animal Advisory Committee is an appointed group of
    people to develope the long range plans for the Animal Ordinances and
    Policies of this county. The appointed memebers of this committtee are
    also members of animal activist groups. So much for being neutral, all
    seem to have personal agenda to push thru.(mandatory microchipping ect.)
    I object to Carole being on this committee. I would like any feedback
    that would give me factual info on her.
    It is bad enough that she would like to take our right to own exotics
    away, but now to "regulate" how we own our pets(dogs and cats).
    Thanks, Dana

    Expose and discredit them!

    For the lions,
    Tim Stoffel

    

    From: "Bob Nevin" < bob@...
    Date: Wed Jan 25, 2006 10:14 am
    Subject: Re: [Phoenix_Exotics] URGENT iluvclydesda...

    Well you caught me with nothing but dust mites in my wallet!! lol I just got
    done paying a huge tax bill and I'm up in Ohio. I have an idea though and
    that's to spread the word about this to other animal groups like
    DraftnDrive, Some of your primate sites. There is another one called Tigers
    as Pets too.

    Hope this helps.
    -Bob

    

    From: < lndmonk@yahoo.com
    To: <Phoenix_Exotics@yahoogroups.com
    Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2006 10:15 PM
    Subject: Re: [Phoenix_Exotics] URGENT

    In a message dated 1/24/06 8:05:53 PM Central Standard Time,
    bob@... writes:

    I'm with him in spirit.

    I was hoping for more than spiritual help..lol... I am going to be going
    down there I am pretty sure, and am busy printing out flyers now. We are
    also making a booklett of Carole Baskins life to mail out to the polititians
    she is courting now.. lets see how they like being associated with a suspected
    murderer? And a admitted liar and forger.. Susan already admitted to the
    cops she lied n the stand about the will and her name was forged on it.. too
    bad she didn't tell the truth the first time and this all may have had a different
    outcome.

    Is there no one on this list that can take the time for a Fl vacation now?
    People need to start standing up for what they believe and say.. bullys always back down when faced with real opposition.

    _Simply~Simian Inc._ (http://www.simply-simian.com/index.html)

    

    From: "Z" < tigers9@...
    Date: Tue Jan 24, 2006 11:03 pm
    Subject: RE: [Phoenix_Exotics] URGENT zbrubruff

    I live too far but please keep us posted:-)
    Z

    

    From: Phoenix_Exotics@yahoogroups.com
    [mailto:Phoenix_Exotics@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of lndmonk@yahoo.com
    Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2006 10:42 AM
    To: Phoenix_Exotics@yahoogroups.com
    Subject: [Phoenix_Exotics] URGENT

    OK guys we have a guy that is willing to stand up and be heard... Vernon
    Yates in Fl is going to picket Carole Baskins and her big Cat rescue
    Facility during the upcoming event at her place with the polititians ( major sucking
    up) and needs help... Anyone that can attend the demonstration please get in
    touch with Vernon. I am personally planning on trying to get there.. If
    you can help in any other way please do so. He will need funds to print flyers, but

    mostly he needs support. He has fought this woman for a long time with no help and should have been supported all along since Carole has made it very clear she is against us all as private owners... Lets help him out... Linda

    You can also donate to just help Vernon with his facility since Carole has done all possible to discredit and dishonor him for his stance against her. I am sure he would appreciate some help with his animals at this time also.

    _Simply~Simian Inc._ (http://www.simply-simian.com/index.html)

    

    From: "Z" < tigers9@...
    Date: Tue Jan 24, 2006 4:14 am
    Subject: RE: [Phoenix_Exotics] carole Baskin petition zbrubruff

    Here is the story of these cougar kittens as told/seen/imagined by Carol
    Baskin.
    She makes people feel sorry for these cubs, but her petition is against
    private ownership, gee, how deceitful IMHO.
    Z
    http://www.bigcatrescue.org/rescuenewscubs.htm

    

    From: "Bob Nevin" < bob@...
    Date: Mon Jan 23, 2006 2:06 pm
    Subject: Re: [Phoenix_Exotics] Kids, Cats & Candidates-Carol Baskin press release iluvclydesda...

    Ok this Carole person is a true whack Job.

    

    From: < lndmonk@yahoo.com
    To: <Phoenix_Exotics@yahoogroups.com
    Sent: Monday, January 23, 2006 11:19 AM
    Subject: Re: [Phoenix_Exotics] Kids, Cats & Candidates-Carol Baskin press
    release

    From the WEB:

    _Welcome to Wildlife Rescue and Rehab_ (http://www.wrrfl.org/)

    Follow up on the "disappearance" of Carole's Lewis Baskin's former
    husband, Don Lewis, in 1997, case # 97-069-358 with the Hillsborough County
    Sheriff's Dept.

    On Thursday January 19th a cold case detective paid a visit to Susan
    Aronoff, a former friend of Carole and staff member of Wildlife On Easy
    Street/Big Cat Rescue. During this interview Susan admitted to the detective that it
    was not her signature on Don's supposed will which appeared after he
    disappeared. Susan revealed that Carole had forged her name as a witness to Don's will
    and that she was told by Carole to appear in court and say that the signature
    was in fact her own.

    Susan further admitted that she perjured herself in court out of fear of Carole, as she had cats boarded at Easy Street and believed they could be in danger if she did not cooperate.

    

    From: lndmonk@yahoo.com
    Date: Mon Jan 23, 2006 9:01 am
    Subject: Re: [Phoenix_Exotics] Kids, Cats & Candidates-Carol Baskin press release lndmonk

    In a message dated 1/23/06 4:56:22 AM Central Standard Time, tim@...
    writes:

    This woman doesn't mess around!
    She's mis-educating children and politicians at the same time. Perhaps a
    whole bunch of us need to visit that day wearing T-shirts with the TRUTH
    on them!

    there are already people out there insisting on something being done about
    her..On Thurs Jan 19th a cold case detective showed up at the home of one of
    the supposed witnesses on the will.This witness admitted to the detective that
    it was not her signature on the will, that Carole forged it, and the witness' perjured herself in court under fear of Carole, as her cats were boarded there.
    That same detective is following up on several other peoples information on
    her.

    Why don't we all simply write the polititians stating what we all know about
    her and her so called rescue operation? I am sure they would not want to be
    associated with someone that was suspected of feeding her vanished husband
    to the cats?

    Hopefully in the near future the whole thing will be resolved so Don's children and friends can get on with their lives knowing the truth about his dissappearance. There are agencys working on it now.

    _Simply~Simian Inc._ ( http://www.simply-simian.com/index.html )

    

    From: "chimps" < chimps@...
    Date: Tue Jan 17, 2006 9:32 pm
    Subject: [Phoenix_Exotics] Carol Baskin: link w/interesting info re BCR/WOES luvgr8apes
    
    Here's an interesting site where someone finally has the cajones to stand up to
    Carole and expose her true agenda and lies on an actual website. There's also a
    link to an article from a People magazine special edition titled True Crime
    Stories with photos of Carole and her mysterious 'missing' millionaire husband.
    Check it out..
    http://wildliferescueandrehab.org/learnthetruth/index.html

  • Blog post
  • 2 years ago
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• Bhagavan Antle Bhagavan Antle

  • From: TheirVoice
  • Description:

    Bhagavan Antle

    AKA "Doc" Antle (but he's no intellectual)

    When Carole Baskin and Big Cat Rescue became known for trying to stop the trade in exotic cats as pets, Bhagavan Antle, who is often called Doc Antle a breeder of ligers, lions and tigers, began bashing her and Big Cat Rescue. There is no justification for inbreeding tigers to create the white coats and no excuse for cross breeding lions and tigers just because ignorant people will be to see a freak. Ligers and white tigers suffer painful birth defects that often kill them as youngsters, but for those in the business of having plenty of babies on hand, that is better for the exploiters.

    See an interactive online map of exotic cat owners . See people being stupid with big cats, endangering themselves and others HERE . See the awful conditions that many captive cats endure HERE .

    A liger is the result of breeding a male lion to a tigress. A tigon is the result of breeding a male tiger to a lioness. Since lions and tigers do not exist in the same areas, this is not something that happens in the wild. It is done in captivity by disreputable carnies to produce a freak that ignorant people will pay to see. These cats suffer from many birth defects and usually die young. Because ligers are usually larger than either parent, it also puts the tigress at great risk in carrying the young and may require C-section deliveries or kill her in the process. When the public quits paying to see these unfortunate creatures, the evil people responsible for breeding them will stop this inhumane practice.

    Watch a video below that was created by a teenage supporter of Big Cat Rescue who already understands, better than most adults, what the truth is behind the breeding and showcasing of ligers.

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    You can stop the abuse. Don't support places, like T.I.G.E.R.S. and Jungle Island, that breed ligers. Bhagavan Antle who calls himself Doc Antle , the person you will most often see promoting this shameful practice, has gone to great lengths to stop us and the brave young girl who created the video above, from letting you know the truth. Visit her YouTube site HERE and let her know you appreciate what she is doing to prevent the future breeding of ligers and tigons.

    When you see ligers in the news or on TV, write the station and let the reporters know the truth about hybrids. You can send 5 letters at once to the media of your choice through an online email system at CatLaws.com

    

    The following story attempts to make it sound like there could be some reason to breed lions and tigers for public amusement, but anyone who cares about animals knows that this is a despicable thing to do because the cats have to spend their lives in deprivation and confinement and are genetically so unhealthy that they usually die young. The ONLY reason anyone breeds ligers is to create a freak that simple minded people will pay to see.

    Ligers Make a "Dynamite" Leap Into the Limelight

    by: Maryann Mott August 5, 2005

    It's half lion, half tiger, and completely real. Now thanks to a cameo in the 2004 cult movie Napoleon Dynamite, the liger has leaped into the limelight, prompting fans to ask, What are they really like?

    The faintly striped, shaggy-maned creatures are the offspring of male lions and female tigers, which gives them the ability to both roar like lions and chuff like tigers-a supposedly affectionate sound that falls somewhere between a purr and a raspberry.

    Weighing in at about a thousand pounds (450 kilograms) each, they typically devour 50 pounds (23 kilograms) of raw meat in a meal.

    "For the most part they're really laid back," said Jason Hutcherson, vice president of Wild Animal Safari in Pine Mountain , Georgia . "They like to swim and play in the water."

    The drive-through wildlife park is believed to have the country's largest concentration of ligers, housing ten of the massive cats.

    Since 1999 the park has bred its male lion and female tiger many times, producing about 24 cubs.

    Not all of them have been healthy, though.

    "We've had 3 out of 24 that, for all practical purposes, were normal but developed as they grew older some kind of neurological disorder," Hutcherson said.

    Autopsies didn't reveal what caused the cubs to develop "head shakes," so park staff "chalked it up to a genetic defect," Hutcherson said.

    Accredited zoos frown on the practice of mixing two different species and have never bred ligers, says Jane Ballentine, a spokesperson for the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, based in Silver Spring , Maryland.

    "Keeping the two species separate has always been standard procedure," she said.

    Wild Ligers?

    

    Long before fans heard Napoleon claim that the liger is "pretty much my favorite animal," there have been rumors of the hybrid's existence in the wild.

    Lion-tiger mating occurs in captivity. But it does not happen in the wild, probably for the same reason humans do not breed with gorillas or chimps.

    "Crossing the species line" does not generally occur in the wild, because "it would result in diminished fitness of the offspring," said Ronald Tilson, director of conservation at the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley.

    Geography is another obstacle to natural lion-tiger mating. Wild tigers mainly inhabit Asia, whereas the lion's current natural habitat is almost entirely in Africa .

    The Gir National Forest in India is the only place in the world where tiger and lion ranges overlap, fueling speculation that wild ligers roamed the area hundreds of years ago.

    Tilson doesn't believe it.

    "This would be highly improbable, because the Gir forest is really very dry and not optimal tiger habitat," he said.

    A Liger Named Patrick

    Perched on the edge of the Mojave Desert near Los Angeles , California , a lone liger, named Patrick, lives at Shambala Preserve, which bills itself as "a haven for endangered exotic big cats."

    "The interesting thing about these animals is that they have the best qualities of the tiger and the best of the lion," said movie actress and conservationist Tippi Hedren, who has run Shambala since 1972. "Those qualities manifest themselves in the fact that they like to be in the water [a tiger trait] and are very social [a lion trait]."

    Many of the cats at the 80-acre (32-hectare) sanctuary are orphans or castoffs from circuses, zoos, and private owners who could no longer care for the animals.

    

    The 800-pound (360-kilogram) liger was kept in such a small cage that his hind-leg muscles had started to atrophy, said Hedren, who starred in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds.

    Patrick's compound at Shambala allows him plenty of room for exercise. A stream runs through his compound, so his tiger half can play in the water or his lion half can stay out of it, whichever he chooses.

    Liger in the Hills

    Spirit of the Hills Wildlife Sanctuary in Spearfish, South Dakota , recently acquired a liger named Samson and 48 other big cats after federal authorities closed a Minnesota wildlife facility.

    "Everyone who comes wants to see Samson," said Trevor Smith, an environmental biologist and sanctuary board member.

    The four-and-a-half-year-old hybrid tips the scales at over a thousand pounds (over 450 kilograms), and eats 30 to 50 pounds (14 to 23 kilograms) of raw meat every other day.

    

    The sanctuary-whose mission is to educate people about wild animals and emphasize that they don't make good pets-has seen a surge in visitors since Samson's arrival in June.

    Much of the public's curiosity about the liger stems from Napoleon Dynamite, Smith said.

    Smith worries that Samson is "becoming too much of a freak show."

    If Samson had his way, Smith said, he'd sleep away the day inside, away from public view.

    "We've had a huge ethical debate at the sanctuary on whether or not we should lock him out of his shed," Smith said. "But at the same time, he's why the visitors are coming."

    Tigons and Ti-tigons

    A tigon is the product of a male tiger and female lion. They receive growth inhibitor genes from both parents and so are smaller than either of them. They show much the same coloration of ligers except they sometimes have more distinct stripes. As with ligers the females are fertile whereas the males are sterile. They have the same vocalizations as liger, a sort of cross between lion and tiger. Ti-tigons speak tiger. Tigons are now rarer than ligers, but in the late 1800's/early 1900's tigons were more common.

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    This article was done about Alan Rigerman in the Miami New Times

    Monday, September 17, 2007

    Miami's feline fringe is a vanishing breed

    Tigers, Cougars, and More in the Back Yard

    By Calvin Godfrey

    Published: September 13, 2007

    Miami's feline fringe is a vanishing breed

    Alan Rigerman pokes his head out the door of his little gray house in Northwest Miami-Dade and emits a crackle of excited greetings. He is dressed, as always, in a black T-shirt and "sportive" khaki shorts; his hair is pasted to the side of his head with a heavy dose of hair spray.

    When he steps inside, a black-and-white housecat named Oreo begins vying for attention — to no avail.

    The darkened living room is neat but well-worn; signs of Rigerman can be found on every surface. A long bookshelf packed with antique scientific texts occupies one wall; a terrarium containing a pair of Gila monsters rests just behind his head. Eighteenth-century floral prints accompany a painting of a bare-chested brunette that his neighbor almost threw away. The top of his large wooden dining table is scarred with millions of tiny loops: the result of 40-plus years of incessant letter writing.

    At age 64, Rigerman occupies a room like a small tornado: fussing and vacillating with all the vim of a supercharged Zero Mostel. He enjoyed a 35-year career as a Miami-Dade County schoolteacher. The job was his life. In 1975 he married a former student; it lasted seven years. "It was a wonderful marriage," he says. "And a terrific divorce." He retired in 2003.

    In a way, Rigerman offers everything that democracy is supposed to want in its citizens: hyperinvolvement, flawless attendance, and a kind of needling obsession with all things civic. He writes letters to the editor of every publication, small and large (including New Times), from Homestead to Fort Lauderdale. He opines about handicapped parking and his prostate, animal rights activists and his boa constrictors.

    Lately someone has been hurtling jars of excrement through his front window. Three in all. Each has coincided with the appearance of a letter-to-the-editor. The last missile was housed in a cup from a nearby restaurant. "So I know it's local," Rigerman says with hardly a trace of indignation. Whoever it was also threw a dead cat.

    He prays for a "federal enema" to come down on the crooked Miami-Dade County Commission, and is titillated by the thought that iguanas have been granted the same kind of amnesty as Cuban immigrants. In November 2005 he ran an admittedly futile campaign against county Commissioner Natasha Seijas, just to "get [his] issues out there." One of them is the private ownership of big cats.

    Unholy yowls emanate from the rear of the house. On the way through his tidy kitchen, Rigerman picks up a package of raw chicken drumsticks. Oreo follows for a bit and then skedaddles as her master enters a concrete room where he stores feeder mice, cleaning supplies, and a pair of cougars. Half of the 20-by-30-foot space is walled off into two chainlink cells. A corridor runs between the enclosures, separating mother and son. If they were placed in the same cage, they would likely kill one another.

    Rigerman begins pushing the drumsticks (six dollars' worth) through spaces in the fencing. The cougars take them up in their mouths and make quick work of them with a single loud snap.

    Chantell, lying on a large wooden shelf, regards Rigerman with a pair of beautiful, soft bronze eyes. Chaos, her son, paces furiously. His heavy shoulder muscles shift menacingly under his blond hide as he leaps from his shelf to the floor and back. Rigerman, feeling brave, places an air horn in his pocket "in case of emergency" and steps into the cage. He grabs a loose section of wire caging, which he holds up as a kind of shield.

    He did not always need the extra protection, he says, but he now suffers from terrible spinal pain. He can't tussle with his cats these days without some measure of caution. He pushes open the door as Chaos thrusts his giant head toward the opening, butting Rigerman in the shins.

    The cat dives between his legs and begins pawing his ankles; though Chaos was declawed as a cub, he has visibly powerful jabs. "He's a youngster," Rigerman says, trying to steady himself. "He hasn't learned his manners yet." He shuffles away from Chaos, who darts behind him and leaps up on his owner's back, placing both front paws on his shoulders. Rigerman jerks upright, in agony.

    "No!" he barks, his voice echoing like an explosion off the walls. "Bad! Bad! Get back!" He bops Chaos on the head; the cat slinks away. "Does he actually know it's bad? I don't know, but he stops."

    The moment passes like an eternity. For Rigerman, whose arms bear several bite marks and long scratches, this counts as a pleasant encounter. "Look how good he's being," he says as the cat ecstatically runs his fur through Rigerman's fingers.

    Rigerman does not pretend to totally understand the animal and freely admits there is a chance it would maul him if he let it. It would not be a bad way to die, he muses.

    Animal rights activists, alarmist neighbors, and the squeeze of increasingly tighter legislation have pushed Miami's cat people from the city to the suburbs to the farthest edges of town.

    Over the past two decades, after a trio of child maulings (all associated with a single cat owner), the laws regulating the ownership of big cats got tougher. Beginning in 2000, Floridians applying to own lions, tigers, and leopards ("Class I" cats — the ones that roar) were required to own five acres surrounded by a bad-ass eight-foot fence. Owners of cougars, panthers, and clouded leopards ("Class II," or purring cats) were required to have two and a half acres — and a bad-ass fence.

    Owners who bought their cats before the state involved itself in exotic pet ownership were grandfathered in. But the move marked the beginning of the end for the town's cat keepers. "The limitation on acreage will preclude such animals from being kept in small residential neighborhoods where zoning and public safety conflicts are problematic," Col. Julie Jones, director of the law enforcement arm of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, wrote in a 2002 memo.

    This past July, partly in response to growing hysteria about giant pythons in the Everglades, the state legislature voted to require all owners of "animals of concern" — including venomous snakes, bears, and cats — to obtain two million dollars' worth of liability insurance or a $10,000 bond. Despite the fact that they had nothing to do with the python problem, venomous snake owners have already shelled out. Owners of big cats will have to pony up the dough come January 1.

    In 2004, Humane USA, an animal rights-oriented political action committee, posted on its Website a list of the names and addresses of all Floridians licensed "to display dangerous cats." Only 31 names are listed in Miami. One — Rigerman — is listed in Hialeah. There are four in Homestead.

    A half-dozen or so have moved away, lost their cats, or no longer keep them. Some are businesses or nonprofit "sanctuaries." Two work in zoos and don't own cats as pets. Some names are redundant — owners and their businesses, husbands and wives. Those who remain comprise a handful of working stiffs (plumbers, schoolteachers, prison guards) and wealthy eccentrics.

    The new legislation will likely ensure that the ownership of big cats will be limited to businesses, the wealthy, and the feckless — those who tend to buy the animals on a whim, only to discover they can't take care of them. The Alan Rigermans of South Florida — thrifty and obsessed, the kind of people willing to own a pet that costs between $7 and $40 per day to feed, who are willing to forgo vacations and shell out thousands of dollars to exotic veterinarians — are becoming a thing of the past.

    Elaine Berman acquired a black leopard in the late Eighties. The cat lived 24 years, in her Kendall townhouse, and died this summer. Berman maintains her license, but doubts, at age 73, she'll purchase another. Ultimately she thinks the limitations on cat ownership are a good thing. "They can live a long time," she cautions.

    Organizations like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have long battled the ownership of big cats. "There's not an accredited zoo in the country that gives [big cats] the space they need," says PETA's captive exotic animals specialist, Lisa Watheny, "much less a private owner." She suggests that the tighter regulations will mean a certain end for big-cat exhibitors.

    "They're a dying breed," says Lt. Pat Reynolds of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.

    Dressed in a stained white undershirt and hiking boots, a beefy 20-year-old named Anthony Zitnick (a.k.a. AJ) walks through Rigerman's front door and crashes in a heavy chair. One of several young men Rigerman allows to handle his cats, Zitnick navigates the house with the sour familiarity of a teenage son. His bleach-blond hair hangs down over his neck, and a thin mustache curls over his upper lip. Scars run up the outside of his forearms, vestiges of fisticuffs from his days at American High School, near Medley.

    "A lot of people thought it was suicidal," Zitnick says, rolling his eyes dramatically. "That's how smart people at my high school were — that I had to dig through muscle and bone to reach veins on the other side."

    He grew up around the block from Rigerman. About two years ago, following Hurricane Wilma, Zitnick began helping him clean up his house. Chaos was born a year later, and Zitnick started coming by to help rear the cub. Rigerman sometimes pays him eight dollars an hour, and seems happy for the company.

    Zitnick rolls his eyes as Rigerman explains all of this; the young man seems impatient to get Chaos out. "He's a good guy," Zitnick mutters as Rigerman walks into the next room. "He just talks a lot."

    Once in the cage room, Rigerman suggests they take out Chantell. Zitnick rolls his eyes again. "When was the last time you did that?" he asks.

    Rigerman gives no answer. "There's no question that the best place for all these animals is in the wild," he says as Zitnick climbs into Chaos's cage, armed with only a collar and a thick chain leash. "But man is such that he has been keeping these kinds of animals since the Christians were fed to the lions."

    Zitnick's approach to the cat involves a lot of chokeholds and half nelsons. He stealthily subdues the rambunctious cougar. "This is where a few years of high school wrestling pay off," says Zitnick, who is studying massage therapy in Pompano Beach. He straps the thick nylon collar around Chaos's neck and leads the tremendous cat backward, out the door of the holding pen.

    The two men cut an odd figure as they drag the 200-pound carnivore across Rigerman's sloping yard, past grazing tortoises, toward the calm canal water. Boats and back-yard playgrounds line the banks. Sometimes the cat charges forward; Zitnick baits him with a dried coconut.

    Rigerman takes the thick chain from Zitnick and wades into the water with his feline. "This is what it's all about," he says, grinning. The cat paddles clumsily around him, climbs onto his shoulders, and dunks him.

    Zitnick helps Chaos back onto land and begins lathering his fur with Johnson's baby shampoo while Rigerman bobs in the water, raving about the harmless inevitability of invasive species.

    Zitnick guesses he'd someday like to own a cat — a tiger or a cougar. "They're not ... they're fun to ...," Zitnick pauses to think as he rubs suds along Chaos's tail. "It's not an everyday house pet.... I kinda do things out of the ordinary."

    Eventually they tie Chaos to a stone anchor near the property line. The cat looks happy, at last, basking under a stubby palm tree, batting at the low-hanging fronds.

    "You boys have a cat down there?" asks Rigerman's neighbor Shelly Girling from inside her house. A pleasant-looking woman with quaffed red hair and a bright floral-print dress wanders to the edge of her yard.

    Rigerman stumbles out of the water and encourages Girling to let her Dachshunds out. She decides against it, but leans over her fence and asks how the baby is. Chaos tosses mouthfuls of sod into the air and pounces on the gray coconut, sinking a massive canine into it, almost as an answer.

    The scene takes on a Norman Rockwell quality. Fluffy white clouds slide across a deep blue Sunday sky, and Chaos begins to look more and more like a lovable fixture of the Rigerman household. Until it's time to return him to his cage.

    The cat does not want to go.

    Zitnick uses all of his might to drag Chaos back, foot by foot, into his enclosure. At the door of the cage, Chaos leaps up onto Zitnick's shoulders and opens his mouth, running his canines along the length of his arm like a puppy tongue. Zitnick reaches out both hands and seizes the cougar by the throat, lifting it off the ground. He steps a few feet into the cage and hurls it to the ground. It hits the concrete floor with a resounding thud and bounds back up just as Zitnick shuts the gate.

    Rigerman, seemingly unable to resist, heads into Chantell's cage. He barks and coos until she allows him to scratch her behind the ears. "See," he says. "She's not going to hurt me. If she were going to hurt me, I would yell, scream, and punch the shit out of her in the face."

    By dazzling the owner of a service station with a few exotic pets, Rigerman convinced the man to install a second horn in the trunk of his aging Toyota Corolla, free of charge.

    Plodding slowly along the Dolphin Expressway on a recent hot weekday afternoon, his vehicle is almost as loud as he is. A baby alligator head sits on the dashboard amid a pile of plastic corn snakes. Rigerman employs the gator's lacquered jaws as a caddy for a trio of spare eyeglasses.

    "I wear the same thing every day," Rigerman explains between bursts of his horns. "So I like to change my glasses as often as possible."

    Rigerman has decided to pay a visit to Ann, a longtime friend and cat expert, who asked that her last name not be printed for fear of animal rights "loonies." Her small green townhouse in Westchester is among the oldest in Miami, she would later explain, and consists of a kitchen, a living room, and two bedrooms: one for her, one for her cats.

    Rigerman arrives unexpectedly and slowly works his way past the black steel door and into the apartment. Ann has spent about the past 20 years perfecting her house as a dual habitat — a cat-proof people pen. Orange short-pile carpet lines the floor, and a long, pillow-plotted couch juts out from the middle of the living room. All electronics, books, and cords are neatly tucked away — nothing extraneous or chewable is lying about. Occupying one corner of the living room is a large leopard-print bar surrounded by framed photographs of various cats: leopards, servals, and caracals.

    The back patio had been converted into a sort of outdoor play area, enclosed on four sides by a black chainlink fence. Beyond the fence, a small canal separates Ann from a row of other houses. Occasionally they enjoy a full view of Ann's three cats — though they rarely go outside.

    "In wintertime they might go out and walk around for five minutes," she says. "But if I close the door, they'll all three press their heads against the glass, looking at me like I'm the worst person in the world."

    Rigerman sits down at the bar to await the arrival of the cats. He booms about Ann's feline expertise.

    Ann fusses. "They won't come out because of his loud voice," she says. "I told you to cut out the cologne and hair spray."

    "Do you have any idea how that makes me feel?" Rigerman asks sadly. "It makes me feel terrible."

    (Rigerman promises to quiet down and spends the next hour on the phone trying to renew his subscription to an exotic animal catalogue.)

    Ann rushes to the kitchen for a piece of turkey breast. She steps into her hallway, meat in hand, and implores her kitties to at least come say hello.

    "You don't want to at least say hello?"

    Hiss.

    "Oh, don't hit me! You don't want to come? You want to be nasty?"

    Ann wears house slippers and a bright caftan. Her hair forms a perfect silver dome; bangs fall like a sheet of ice over her forehead. She smiles warmly and gestures in large sweeps of her head and arms. She walks with a slight limp — a symptom, she says, of never wanting to come into this world in the first place. The doctors had to yank her in with forceps, resulting in a small loss of motor control on her right side.

    Ann had always wanted an exotic cat. She just never knew it was possible to own one. She grew up in Los Angeles and studied theoretical math at a small Christian college in Washington. Dancing was prohibited on campus. She left just before graduating and decamped to Manhattan, where her father lived.

    She moved into an eighth-floor apartment and lived with a roommate and three German shepherds. One day, while walking the dogs, she came upon a Long Island man walking what looked like a small leopard. Before long, she found herself taking the cat, an ocelot, on the weekends while its owner partied at his house in the Hamptons.

    "The ocelot just sat out on our terrace with no cage or anything," she recalls. "He used to play with the dogs and have a wonderful time."

    One rainy summer, while visiting friends in Miami, she got bored and went for a job interview. She lied and said she planned to move here. Soon enough, she did. She found herself working 60 hours a week designing computer software for a variety of airlines. She remembers enjoying it. For a thrill she began sitting a Coconut Grove couple's margay. "I really wanted that cat to like me," she recalls. But every time Ann walked into the house, the cat would march to the middle of their white carpet and relieve itself in protest of her arrival.

    One day, while the system was down at work, she noticed in the Miami Herald an advertisement for baby cougars and other exotics. She dialed the number.

    To her surprise, she discovered she would need a license for a big cat. To obtain a license, she would need 1000 hours of "husbandry" training in a 12-month period.

    So she spent weekends volunteering at a veterinary clinic in Fort Lauderdale. "The only thing I learned was how to clean large litter boxes and open cans of [zoo-grade] cat food," she says.

    Finally, as she entered her late forties, Ann acquired an African serval named Pandora. She would take the cat for a six-month trial, she decided.

    Pandora refused to be touched — a quirk she communicated by biting.

    "She slept on top of me," Ann recalls, exasperated. "But if I woke up, I couldn't touch her." In order to put the cat in its cage, Ann had to devise all manner of clever trapping and baiting techniques, involving everything from stuffed animals to canvas harnesses. The 30-pound feline would wake up in the middle of the night and drink its entire bottle of water just to pee on her.

    Ann was hooked.

    She equipped her spare room with high shelves, huge litter boxes, and a serval-size ladder. From then on she continued to take care of cats: raising exotic kittens, finding owners for unwanted cats, and, of course, tending to her own flock (four, at its peak).

    Ann installed a Murphy bed in the cats' room so she could sleep surrounded by the animals (a practice that ended about two years ago, when a serval named Tango taught the others how to leap onto her in the middle of the night).

    Ann's cats have all been servals or caracals (or combinations of the two). The animals look something like a cross between a cheetah and a housecat. In the wild their long legs help them search for prey by leaping over the high savanna grass. They have been known to jump more than 10 feet into the air to catch birds midflight. In Ann's house, they have developed a taste for ground turkey, air conditioning, and television.

    Ann has several brothers and sisters, but she considers her cats her family.

    "I've called them my friends," she says. "I've called them my kids. But it's really not the same as a normal domestic [cat] or a dog. The top of their list is certainly not pleasing you."

    In 1992 Ann became ill. She couldn't go to work for two months, she says. She was constantly exhausted and found herself unable to cope. After undergoing a battery of tests, she was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. She recalls losing her short-term memory and running a low-grade fever for three years. Things are slightly better now, she says, but not by much. "If I didn't have my cats," she says, "I'd be gone. They need someone to love them and feed them."

    Rigerman rises and heads for the cat room. He meows loudly, and Ann's cats stare down at him from their high perches, hissing and baring their teeth.

    "I remember once I was here and the licking started," he says, staring fearlessly at the canines of Ann's oldest cat, a pure caracal named Kira. "The licking turned to biting." The cat sank its teeth into Rigerman's arm. He sat calmly and waited for it to retract them. "Ann was mortified. But I told her: 'Ann what are you upset about?'"

    Rigerman putters deep into the Redland, passing tree farms, fruit stands, and barren you-pick fields. The sun hangs low on the horizon as he inches his way, both horns blaring, down Krome Avenue. The rural byway gleams with the sinking yellow sun; everything is made beautiful in that light. Rigerman counts roadside memorial markers aloud and wonders why he and Ann never became an item.

    He is happy to be back in this part of town, the place where his interest in owning cats was sparked. When he began teaching, he made a bond with a couple named Frank and Ellen Weed, who lived in a trailer out in the Glades. The two bred hundreds of cougars in what's now Everglades National Park. Ultimately they were shut down and kicked out after being cited ad nauseam by federal wildlife inspectors eyeing their land, but not before Rigerman had brought class after class out to see the Weeds and their cats.

    He recalls a visiting troop of Boy Scouts one day needling an aging Frank Weed with questions. "Mr. Weed," said one boy in an obnoxious voice, "why do you have all these animals?" Rigerman loved Weed's response. "Because I want to and I can," the old man told him.

    Whatever Rigerman owned, he brought to school. He was Mr. Rigerman, the oddball ecology teacher who disdained homework and reveled in field trips. "I love teaching," he says. "It's fun. Where else can I get that kind of an audience?"

    After giving it up, he began substitute teaching. That was cut short in 2003, following a melodramatic flareup in a photography class. Several students accused him of disappearing into the darkroom in the middle of class and returning to conduct the remainder of the session in his underwear. They alleged that he terrorized them with a sack full of snakes and lizards, and made lewd and lascivious comments: mocking a girl about the length of her skirt, suggesting he had slept with their teacher, and telling one student she was "fucking beautiful" for her age.

    He thinks the accusations were drummed up by a group of pernicious girls. The animals were harmless. He says his "underwear" was, in fact, a pair of shorts.

    Rigerman battled the charges, and in August 2005 he was reinstated to an eligible list of substitute teachers. "You are prohibited from bringing any animals to any school site at any time," wrote Maria Teresa Rojas, assistant superintendent.

    Rigerman heads west on SW 168th Street. A detour takes him over some nasty dirt roads before delivering him to a five-acre gated compound. The fence is impressive, rising high into the air with a cantilevered incline.

    These are where his animals will go when he dies, Rigerman guesses.

    Beyond the fence, flocks of emus graze on a large meadow. A massive bison idles up to a parked swamp buggy and begins scratching itself against the chassis.

    Set back from the mass of wildlife is a large gray house.

    Rigerman slowly rolls up a dirt road and settles at a sort of shed piled with the makings of a great Tom Waits song. Tractors and huge circus cages sit amid a clutter of engine parts beneath a wooden overhang adorned with cow skulls. A trio of mean pythons captured from the swamps sit idly in cages.

    A broad-shouldered man with red skin and a trim black beard appears out of the distance. A thick, slobbery guard dog trots along at his side. The figure smiles and nods at Rigerman. This is his land, and his name is Frank Pajon.

    Pajon came to the States from Cuba at the age of one. At age eight, he began working in his father's gas stations in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and sometimes got pulled out of school to work the pump during the cold winters. During his formative years, Pajon dreamed of living on a kind of jungle ranch, surrounded by every animal under the sun.

    In 1973, at age 13, he moved to Miami. He wanted to be a veterinarian, he says, but joined the Marine Corps instead. After his discharge, he worked as an auto mechanic at Gables Lincoln-Mercury, which happened to be next door to a business owned by an animal importer and drug kingpin named Mario Tabraue.

    Pajon had already taken care of a serval at that point, but Tabraue was into big animals. He hung out at Tabraue's business as often as possible and developed an eye for tigers and cougars. To Pajon, Tabraue was an animal guru — someone who loved and knew a lot about exotics. Pajon would not comment about Tabraue's legal trouble, but according to a Miami Herald article, he was busted in 1987 on racketeering charges (which included dismembering and burning the body of a federal informant). It was around that time when Pajon decided to get his license to own cats.

    (Tabraue served 12 years of a 100-year sentence and has since resumed his import business on a compound in the Redland. He declined, through intermediaries, to be interviewed for this story.)

    Pajon began keeping and breeding cougars. About five years ago he bought the adjoining lot and cleared the land. He put up eight-foot posts and wired them with electric fencing — all for the sake of lions and tigers. A year later he got his Class I license and purchased a pair of six-month-old tigers.

    Pajon provides a brief tour of his menagerie as chickens skitter about his feet. Beyond a sliding gate, a mishmash of red deer, turkeys, peacocks, cows, geese, toy ponies, llamas, and a donkey roam the meadow Pajon cleared. Many peck at a pile of Cuban bread loaves put out that evening.

    The place looks like a strange slice of Xanadu, a sort of rough-cut exotic dreamscape dotted with the occasional palm tree. Though Pajon's place is located in Miami-Dade, it seems a planet away from the chintzy boardwalks, seedy ghettos, and cookie-cutter suburbs that define Miami in movies.

    Pajon has made himself a paradise, or at least he's working on it.

    He wanders over to a female lion named Nala. "That's Alan spelled backwards," Rigerman chimes in from over Pajon's shoulder.

    "It's also the name from the Lion King," Pajon replies.

    Rigerman purchased the baby lion last summer — he maintains a Class I license, but only for infants — and turned it over to Pajon after three months.

    The cat's fur is matted; it looks exhausted. Pajon recently dropped close to $1000 treating the lion for toxoplasmosis, a parasite typically found in domestic cat poop. Nala is slow, Pajon says, from the medicine.

    Stray cats have been traipsing on his property and might have contaminated the lion's food. At the advice of county police, Pajon and his rifle keep a lookout for roving feral packs of the town's unwanted pets.

    Next Pajon crosses to Sinbad, a 600-pound Siberian male tiger. He's being held in a temporary cage, cobbled together out of a section of white tile flooring and chainlink fence. The Siberian (the largest cat in the world) lumbers toward the fence as Pajon nears, stroking itself against the metal weave as if the links were the fingers of a benevolent giant.

    Pajon walks deeper into his property, past a wolf in a circular enclosure to a huge oblong cage where his most precious creature is kept: Umba, a 400-pound female Bengal tiger. She leaps out of a plastic hot tub liner, shooting gallons of water playfully toward Pajon. The cat eats roughly 15 pounds of fresh meat a day and seems to melt before her master.

    "I try to sit with her for at least a half an hour a day," he says, gazing at the deep orange lines that slither and slide over her massive sides.

    He has never trained her to perform, he says. "If you train them to perform, you can't touch them," he says. "You have to use the whip." Though he has spent as much time with Umba as possible and accustomed her to walking on a leash, Pajon attributes her pleasant nature to the luck of the draw.

    He ducks through the outer door and into her cage without hesitation. While he shovels out some unwanted bones and droppings, Pajon turns his back to Umba.

    "I trust her completely," he says, taking her head in his hands and placing a heavy chain leash around her neck. He walks her like a big dog, muttering "leave it" out of the side of his mouth as she eyes a passing chicken or a cage full of yapping Dachshunds. Pajon proudly leads his tiger up onto the bed of his pickup truck and back down. He wraps his arms around her neck and squeezes — a tremendous, sphincter-puckering hug.

    Pajon makes a living as a corrections officer, often working double shifts in the Miami-Dade jail system. He might begin at 4:30 a.m. and end at 9:00 p.m. On a good day, however, he will get home at noon and spend quality time with his animals.

    He has brought the tigers on Sábado Gigante and to photo shoots in an effort to offset the cost of the upkeep. He and Rigerman plotted a recent event at Club Space, to exhibit the tigers in cages outside to net a windfall of $5000, but the deal was broken when animal rights activists got hold of the flyers, lobbied city officials, and hounded the club owners. Rigerman offered to show up with his porcupine and a few snakes, free of charge. But the club turned him down.

    As Pajon leads Umba back into her cage, he regards the grounds with a squint. "If it was up to me," he says, "I'd get a baby elephant. Boy, if I hit the Lotto...."

    The sunset is casting strange light onto the animals in Pajon's back yard. His helpers have all headed home by now. Rigerman wheels out the front gate. Before darkness settles, Pajon will release a trailer full of guard dogs to roam the property.

    Rigerman is happy to know Pajon is around. At his age, Rigerman says, he couldn't buy anything new without knowing he had a place they could go. "And that's Frank," he says.

    Meanwhile Rigerman is looking to purchase a baby serval. "I want it as a house cat," he says. "I'll neuter it, declaw it, and let it roam the house."

    What about Oreo?

    "They'll get along," he says.

    http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2007-09 -13/news/cat-people/full

    This was a follow up story on the Alan Rigerman vs Carole Baskin debate

    Saturday, October 13, 2007

    Cat People Get, Well, Catty

    Cat People Get, Well, Catty

    Fri Oct 12, 2007 at 07:16:05 AM Calvin Godfrey

    Following the publication of Cat People, Alan Rigerman’s star has risen tenfold. And by that, we mean, he made it on a Spanish-language morning show, Despierta America. He brought his cougar, a lizard and Anthony, a masseuse in-training who helps Rigerman handle his cats.

    Because he cannot speak Spanish, Rigerman was translated in real time. He ogled the dancing girls and complimented the host on his portliness.

    But this marginal rise in his notoriety has also attracted some negative attention: A woman by the name of Carol Baskin purchased the names and addresses of big cat owners from the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission and has taken it upon herself to begin writing the neighbors of captive wildlife owners. She sent a draft of her letter to New Times.

    “Keeping wild animals in private collections is cruel to the animals and dangerous to you,” she wrote. Baskin, who runs a facility in Citrus Park called Big Cat Rescue, has stirred controversy since the disappearance of her husband, Don. Some of her detractors have alleged she fed him to her tigers.

    In March 2006 a group of her former volunteers went to Bay News 9 in Tampa Bay and accused her of lying about the rescue aspect of her operation. Most of her animals had been bought and bred on premises, they said. She told the station she had been very open about being a former breeder and suspected her former volunteers were only angry that she had now come out in opposition to the pet trade.

    In the meantime, Rigerman has been sharpening his talons.

    His cougars were recently inspected by Federal and State wildlife authorities. “They were very nice,” he said. “They couldn’t believe how well I kept them.”

    He spent all day Tuesday on the phone with the FBI in Virginia (he does not think the Miami office takes him seriously enough). He is worried about the militant wing of animal rights extremists. “Some people believe that the mainstream animal rights people support, financially and ideologically, the animal rights extremists,” Rigerman said, careful to mind his p’s and q’s. -- Calvin Godfrey

    http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2007/10/cat_people_get_well_catty.php

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• Gini Valbuena Gini Valbuena

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    Gini Valbuena

     

    When Carole Baskin and Big Cat Rescue became known for trying to stop the trade in exotic cats as pets, Debbie Sandlin began slandering them in an attempt to draw the attention off the subject; Exotic Animals as Pets, which is not a subject anyone can defend, and try to misdirect attention in any way she can.  When Carole Baskin and Big Cat Rescue became known for trying to stop the trade in exotic cats as pets, Gini Valbuena began slandering them in an attempt to draw the attention off the subject; Exotic Animals as Pets, which is not a subject anyone can defend, and try to misdirect attention in any way she can.

    pay to come have their pictures taken with a baby chimp or baby orangutan. She also uses the babies for photos by themselves, by dressing them up in baby clothes, for calendars and such. She keeps one adult chimp (at least) in a barred cage in her back yard and she has turned a room inside into a cage as well. She hands out cards that say Valbuena Photography and Valbuena Chimps and defines herself by the latter. On her website she proudly displays disturbing photos of naked and nearly naked children with chimps doing things like sticking their fingers in a crying baby's mouth. Read about how dangerous zoonosis is HERE

    She claims to have owned 15 chimps and 4 orangutans, but says she only owns two chimps now named Kenya and Tanzee. When she has been profiled in the news she refuses to say where her chimps and orangutans end up when she is through using them. She will only say that they always go to a great sanctuary...but that isn't likely.Great sanctuaries are accredited and as such they do not enable people like Gini Valbuena to continue to use, abuse and discard primates. Before giving her a moment's worth of your time, find out where these primates really end up, who is footing the bill for their care for the next 40 years and make sure you see them in person.

    These people often use aliases, false addresses and other methods to hide their real identities when they spread their libelous claims because when their background becomes known, it is apparent that there is no truth to their assertions. It is all a ruse, meant to distract from the real issue which is that exotic animals should not be kept as pets.

    The letter that Carole Baskin wrote advising neighbors of exotic animal owners about a public workshop to address the proposal that neighbors be notified in the event of an escape is posted below:

    See an interactive online map of exotic cat owners . See people being stupid with big cats, endangering themselves and others HERE . See the awful conditions that many captive cats endure HERE .

    The letter that Carole Baskin wrote advising neighbors of exotic animal owners about a public workshop to address the proposal that neighbors be notified in the event of an escape is posted below:

     

    Dear Exotic Animal Neighbor, October 2, 2007

    Did you even know that there are people living right next to you who own dangerous Class I and Class II wild animals? It could be anything from a bobcat to a tiger. While they may be caged now, what happens in a hurricane? The cobras and black mamba sort of neighbors are even more prone to escape. We post a list of the big cat escapes, killings & maulings on our website.

    Keeping wild animals in private collections is cruel to the animals and dangerous for you.

    At a recent meeting of the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission they voted down a recommendation that neighbors be notified BEFORE someone moves in next to them with dangerous wild animals because the breeders, dealers and exotic pet owners were there but their neighbors weren’t. They decided to offer two more meetings for neighbors to respond before voting on whether you should be notified when a dangerous wild animal escapes near you .

    Of course, just like all of their other meetings, you won’t be notified by them of when and where.

    We think you have a right to know.

    DATE AND TIME: October 8, 2007, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
    PLACE: Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry Auditorium, 1911 SW 34th Street, Gainesville, Florida 32614.

    DATE AND TIME: October 9, 2007, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
    PLACE: The Ft. Lauderdale City Commission Chambers, 100 N. Andrews Avenue, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33301-1016.

    For more information on the meetings contact Captain Linda E. Harrison, FWC Division of Law Enforcement Linda.harrison@MyFWC.com

    To find out who in your neighborhood has these animals will cost you $50.00 (and a lot of frustration, because the FWC doesn’t want you to know) but you can try to get the list from FL Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission Attn. Debbie Manderfield 2590 Executive Center Circle, Suite #200 Tallahassee, Fl 32301. We purchased the list and found your address to be adjacent to one of the owners of Class I or Class II wildlife. We thought you ought to know.

    For the cats,

     

    Carole Baskin, Founder

    PDF with photos

     

    Curious? You can get closer

    For $100, you can spend an hour with an chimp. The money goes toward the owner's medical bills.

    By LEONORA LAPETER

    
    Published October 13, 2006

    CLEARWATER - On Cheri Pierce's list of things to do before she dies: hold a chimpanzee.

    So Pierce, who lives in New York, traveled to a home in Clearwater last week for her very own private chimp encounter.

    Noah, a 7-month-old chimp, pulled her blond hair, swatted her cheek and kissed her on the mouth. Gini Valbuena, Noah's owner, hovered in the background.

    Valbuena has owned and raised dozens of chimps and monkeys over the past four decades. She currently has three chimps at home. For 20 years, Valbuena cared for her menagerie with the money she made from running a photo studio out of her home.

    But in August, she had gallbladder surgery and racked up $50,000 in medical bills - all without insurance.

    Suddenly, she needs the chimps as much as they need her.

    "I fully supported them for many years," Valbuena wrote in an e-mail. "Now we work together doing something they love. ... We've hit a bump in the road due to circumstances we could not foretell, but we'll steer around it together."

    * * *

    Her first monkey - a capuchin, the kind used by organ grinders - was a gift from her parents when she was 12 years old.

    Valbuena can't explain why, but she connected with the monkey.

    More followed: gibbons, chimpanzees, orangutans. She owned some of them, but also raised many for other people. She also has had several big cats, including a lion. Valbuena also married, had four children and divorced. To this day, her daughter picks up her kids' toys with her feet - like a chimp.

    Back then, there were no laws against owning chimps or lions as pets. Today, by law, you can own them only if it involves a commercial use.

    Valbuena took photos of regular folks but she also photographed the chimps in dresses and suits and sent them to greeting card companies.

    A few years ago, her photo studio went under and she began offering chimp encounters for $100 an hour. She also takes her chimps to Naples for a few months each year for corporate events at a private preserve.

    One of her chimps, 5-year-old Kenya, is over 40 pounds and is not allowed to participate in the encounters. Usually when her chimps reach sexual maturity, between ages 7 and 9, Valbuena sends them to an 82-acre farm she won't name somewhere in Florida .

    She continues to raise them from afar.

    * * *

    In Florida, you can swim with dolphins, manatees and stingrays, pay to have a tiger cub climb your leg and touch a legless lizard named Jimmy Dean.

    About 55 people and companies in Florida are licensed to exhibit chimps, which cost anywhere from $30,000 to $60,000. They include Busch Gardens in Tampa and Walt Disney World in Orlando.

    Valbuena, who doesn't want to give her age but is in her 50s, is one of them. She's locked in a continuous battle with animal rights activists, who disapprove of private ownership of wild animals or using them for amusement.

    Valbuena says chimps love the interaction and she loves them like children. She does not sell her older chimps to research centers, and figures anything that keeps the species going is a good thing.

    In August, after her gallbladder was removed, Valbuena began advertising her chimp encounters more. "It is very enriching for the chimps as they become bored easily and we are always looking for ways to entertain them," she says.

    But then she wonders. Her parents raised dozens of foster children.

    "Sometimes I think about Mom and Dad raising all those foster babies all those years. All that time and attention, and I know there are all these children out there, and sometimes I feel guilty about giving it all to an animal, but these are just like my children. They are my family."

    * * *

    Valbuena sits on a stool as 3-year-old Kira, dressed in a Bugs Bunny diaper, clings to her. Dr. Darryl Heard, a University of Florida professor and zoological medicine specialist, gives Kira anesthesia.

    "It's okay. Kisses. I know. Sorry," Valbuena coos, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

    The chimps are her life. They eat five or six times a day and need round-the-clock care, like human infants. And now Kira needs a tooth extraction, at a cost of $500.

    Valbuena knows of at least three chimps and four monkeys who have died under anesthesia.

    Is she doing the right thing?

    About 45 minutes later, the doctor calmly tells Valbuena the tooth came out, but there is something wrong with Kira's breathing.

    Valbuena's chin quivers.

    "There's so much happiness and joy in them and when one is the sick, it's the worst," she cries.

    Kira, however, is fine. Valbuena cradles the groggy chimp. "Hi, darling, Mommy's so glad you're better."

    Before heading back to Clearwater, Valbuena sits in her Dodge Caravan in the parking lot and slides Kira into a toddler-size pink one-piece with white eyelet trim along the back.

    "Put your jammies on, darling," Valbuena says. "Mommy's so sorry you had to go through that."

    All is well.

    * * *

    Behind Valbuena's home on a deck with two large cages, Pierce arrives to play with Kira. Valbuena makes the New York woman wash her hands with a disinfectant first.

    Heard, the UF animal doctor, says chimps and people can give diseases to each other. Valbuena, however, says her animals have all their shots and have been checked for diseases. She's more worried about people giving the animals diseases.

    Pierce has gifts for the chimps, a xylophone and a pair of maracas. Kira quickly breaks the xylophone's mallet in two and hides one of the maracas in the crook of her leg.

    Then she leaps into Pierce's arms and gives her a big hug.

    "Oh, I love you," says Pierce, her blue eyes fixed on the chimp's craggy face. "Want to come home with me?"

    Kira and Pierce kiss, then Kira does a somersault.

    "I don't know how you do it," Pierce tells Valbuena. "I'd play with them all day."

    The chimp smiles, revealing a gap in her front teeth. Then she looks around for Valbuena, who's standing off to the side, monitoring the encounter.

    "Mommy's not going anywhere," Valbuena says.

    [Last modified October 13, 2006, 06:30:58]

    Chimps aren't pets

    The story of a woman who owns chimpanzees presented Gini Valbuena as an animal lover who is now "working together" with her chimpanzees to raise the $50,000 she racked up in medical bills because she didn't have health insurance.

    According to the article, Valbuena is promoting a $100-per-hour "chimp encounter" to individuals and groups. In the past, Valbuena also "raised monkeys for other people." And when the chimps reach sexual maturity, "Valbuena sends them to an 82-acre farm she won't name somewhere in Florida." Is it no wonder animal rights activists have been in a "continuous battle" with Valbuena?

    Anyone with common sense would be in conflict with her. Chimps should not be pets, and they don't belong in diapers and children's clothing.

    Allowing people the freedom to "own" wildlife, from chimpanzees to python snakes, is unconscionable. And the Times' choice to write a piece that touts exploitation as humanitarian is revolting.

    As a former director of an animal welfare organization, I will tell you that every story like this negates what we try to do to mitigate the overpopulation of pets in this country. Shame on you.

    Marylou Doehrman, Spring Hill

    LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ON CHIMP PIMPS

    Shame, shame!

    SHAME ON YOU for promoting Amazing Animal Actors ("Talking with the animals," June 28, 2002).

    These chimpanzee babies belong with their mothers, not with a chimp pimp renting them for $200 an hour. Chimpanzees have long childhoods, like us; in the wild they are not weaned until about 5 years old and stay near mother until about 9.

    Chimpanzees are not furry little humans, and must not be treated like animated toys for human amusement. What will really happen to these youngsters when they are no longer cute and cuddly? Raised away from chimpanzee society, they have not learned to act like chimpanzees, and no reputable zoo will take such misfits.

    Sadly, when chimpanzee children have grown too big and strong to be easily controlled, they are typically sold into biomedical research or to ramshackle roadside zoos, or are forced to breed a new generation of performers. Chimpanzees can live to be 60 years old, but entertainers are usually discarded before they reach 8.

    Because chimpanzees are just like us in all the ways that matter, it is wrong to use them for amusement. Shame on your newspaper for giving free advertising to a chimp pimp.

    Cyn Krueger
    Stop Experimentation on & Exploitation of Chimpanzees (SEEC), Mercer Island, Wash.

    'Pay to play' chimp program is the problem
    Re: A chimp play date, story, July 5.

    On behalf of the Chimpanzee Collaboratory, I would like to point out that your July 5 article on Gini Valbuena's "pay to play" chimpanzee program in Clearwater omitted a few important details.

    We are a group of scientists, public policy experts and attorneys that includes world-renowned primatologist and advocate Jane Goodall. We are dedicated to improving the lives of chimpanzees and other great apes. Programs such as Valbuena's are exactly what we are trying to protect chimpanzees and other great apes from.

    Captive chimpanzees in this type of situation are usually taken from their mothers at infancy and are denied the opportunity to grow up in a normal chimpanzee family. Later in life, they become too strong for a "hands-on" approach by even the most caring human guardian.

    Chimpanzees are extremely social beings, but they become so humanized when raised in this manner that, once placed in a sanctuary with other chimpanzees, they do not know how to interact and they suffer horribly from social isolation. Those are the lucky ones. More often than not, chimpanzees used in entertainment end up being sold to biomedical laboratories or roadside zoos, where they may remain for decades.

    Readers who wish to learn about the true nature of chimpanzees and their plight can contact the Center for Captive Chimpanzee Care in Boynton Beach (www.savethechimps.org). This sanctuary, run by Chimpanzee Collaboratory member Dr. Carole Noon, is home to chimpanzees who previously lived in an Air Force laboratory. She also provides sanctuary for chimpanzees who were orphaned by their owners, who initially kept them as pets but were no longer able to take care of them.

    Noon provides true sanctuary for these individuals and allows them to be who they are - chimpanzees, not props for our entertainment.

    Liz Clancy Lyons,
    The Chimpanzee Collaboratory, Washington, D.C.

     

    Cruel advertisement

    
    October 11th, 2006 by admin

    Recently, a disturbing advertisement appeared on the popular online community, Craigslist.com. The ad featured a photo of a baby chimpanzee and offered “hands-on” encounters with chimpanzees for $100/hour. The ad promised, “Your encounter may include holding, feeding, playing with and photographing a young chimpanzee.”

    The ad was placed by Gini Valbuena, who operates a business (Valbuena Chimps) out of her home in Clearwater. In addition to “Chimpanzee Encounters,” she also rents her chimpanzees for commercials, trade shows, etc. Unfortunately, this is not illegal. But it is certainly exploitive and teaches horrible messages about these endangered animals.

    Posted in News |

    4 Responses to “Help us get cruel advertisement offline”
    on 12 Oct 2006 at 8:24 pm Lisa
    When will this disgusting, inhumane and cruel practice be put under the spot light and eliminated. Cannot Gini Valbuena be charged with anything?

    on 12 Oct 2006 at 9:02 pm Bridget Devaney
    Gini needs to get a job that requires her to work instead of her poor animals that have no choice in the matter. I’d respect her if she was charging for “Gini Encounters” for $100 an hour.

    on 18 Jan 2007 at 8:29 pm Sam Hunah
    That’s just awful. And you know I have done some research on this Gini and it looks like she’s had about 20 chimps in her lifetime. Where did they all go?

    on 18 Jan 2007 at 8:34 pm forthechimps
    She’s a Godshame. She has dumped soooo many chimps over the years that she needs her own sanctuary just to keep her unwanted retirees.
    How this woman is still allowed to treat her babies like this is just a huge question to me.
    How does she think the baby chimps feel when they always see the older ones that grow up with gone one day…doesn’t she understand that they know what their future holds?
    Doesn’t she care?
    I hate her.

    See an interactive online map of exotic cat owners . See people being stupid with big cats, endangering themselves and others HERE . See the awful conditions that many captive cats endure HERE .

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