I made a post about Big Cat Rescue (BCR) 9 months ago. I said I admired the work of Carole Baskin (formerly Carole Lewis) the founder. BCR was called Wildlife on Easy Street (WOES). I have been constructively criticised recently about this post. I am pleased to be corrected when I am wrong. It has given me the motivation to look again at Big Cat Rescue and make my own decision as to whether the allegations that Carole Baskin lies are true. I will try to be as neutral and as objective as possible.
THERE ARE MANY COMMENTS ON THIS PAGE IN TWO SECTIONS. THEY MAKE INTERESTING READING. PLEASE SCROLL WELL DOWN TO SEE THEM.
The Allegations
- A host of allegations are on this page of this site: rexano.org – link broken to specific webpage April 2013
- BCR don’t rescue cats they buy healthy cats and breed them (src: http://web.archive.org/web/20091126013220/http://www.wildliferescueandrehab.org:80/learnthetruth/index.html (broken link) and http://www.metacafe.com ) and then make money from them.
- BCR has suffered 10 USDA violations in April 1999 (src: as immediately above)
- BCR had a litter of cougars born on their property in 2001 (src: http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/Big.Cat.Rescue.Corp.813-920-4130/review/list).
Looking at some of the Allegations
I’ll look at some of the allegations from the link in the first numbered bullet (rexano.org – link broken to specific webpage April 2013) as this is the best prepared page containing allegations of deceitfulness and therefore the most likely to be true. I will address the first 5 allegations on the linked page above in the order presented.
- Carole Baskin writes “stupid” letters to the neighbours of people who keep dangerous animals under license to warn them of potential problems if they escape etc.. Comment: a copy of the letter is shown. On the face of it, it is true that she sent the letters. But is it silly or stupid in an absolute sense? No. It might be stupid to the author criticizing and it might seem a bit too forceful to some people but to others it might seem very appropriate. This seems to be a bit of mud slinging from someone who does not like Carole Baskin and her operation. I feel I should say that a lot of people want to possess exotoc wild cats and hybrids for various reasons (status?) but find that they are hard to keep. They don’t have the abilities or facilities. There have been many serval escapes as one example.
- Snow leopards were bought by BCR as pets or breeders (in 1998?). Two invoices and a newsletter are produced as supporting evidence. Comment: These animals were on the face of it bought as stated. They were however, bought from another wildlife sanctuary, MacCarthy’s Wildlife Sanctuary, a non-profit 501-(c)-3-wildlife rehabilitation facility licensed by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal Welfare Act, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior. McCarthy’s are a rescue sanctuary (see this page: http://www.mccarthyswildlife.com/about.html). This would then appear to be a transfer of rescue cats from one sanctuary to another. It could be argued that it should be a free transfer because BCR has to take on the upkeep. One of the cats, Hercules, is stated as being a gift from Don Lewis to his wife. Is it possible to give a gift of a wild cat to a wild cat rescuer and rescue a cat at the same time? It seems the answer must be, yes. Is is possible for the founder of a cat rescue operation to treat one of the cats in her charge as a pet? It would seem, yes. Is breeding captive wildcats contrary to wild cat rescue generally? No, this is now the norm it seems (and in any event BCR claim not to breed from Hercules). Also BCR say that Hercules was rescued because he was surplus to the survival plan of this cat species as declared by someone else.
- Another allegation is that BCR are calling their pet Snow Leopards ‘surplus to the Species Survival Plan‘. Comment: I think that Rexano simply got this wrong. BCR are saying, as mentioned above, that these cats were considered surplus by other sanctuary (McCarthy’s?). They claim to have rescued them from getting into the hands of unscrupulous breeders.
- The next allegation is that BCR had a video on YouTube showing how they bred wild cats and traded them etc. Comment: The video referred to has been removed, “This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Carole Baskin .” The allegation in any event would not seem to be automatically contrary to cat rescue.
- BCR is no longer (at 28th April 2008) a charity accredited by BBB because they mishandled complaints and they cannot use the BBB seal. Comment: The three complaints that they dealt with were answered on the BCR website. BCR criticised the complaints as false. This did not meet the standard of BBB. This is standard no. 20. There are 20 standards and the remaining 19 were passed by BCR. The seal is voluntary by the way. BCR are not seal holders (as at Nov 2009). BCR is listed on the BBB website (Nov 2009 – http://www.bbb.org/charity-reviews/national/#B). The list is of “enrolled charities”. The BB Wise Giving report expires Oct 2009. I presume that this means that the problem expires too.
Is Big Cat Rescue a Sham? No, not on this evidence. OK to recap the above. I do not see malpractice or evidence that tells me that Big Cat Rescue is anything other than stated:
Stated Purpose: “to provide a good home for the limited number of cats that the sanctuary can afford to take in … and reduce the number of cats that suffer the fate of abandonment and abuse by educating as many people as possible about the conditions that lead to the plight of these animals. ” (BBB website – this page)
What I do see is some mud slinging. This is probably because Carole Baskin is a forceful women who has made some enemies. Although controversial, I think it fair to say that there may also be a sexist problem. Some men and women don’t like women who behave like men.
She has certainly alienated wild cat hybrid breeders because she is firmly against the practice. She has tended to be too outspoken against wild cat hybrids and made generalizations about them which have on occasions been misconstrued and which have not furthered her cause. But these are simply her views and she is entitled to declare them on her website. Alone, a declaration of a deep distaste of wild cat hybrid breeding is not sufficient to say that Carole Baskin is a liar and runs a sham of an operation.
I welcome comments. But please, comments should be supported by sound evidence if critical.
Thanks Juan for a full comment – appreciated. However, the first section of your comment says that there are conflicting stories about the acquisition of snow leopards. Is this such a big deal? How significant is it? In the grand scheme of things it seems to be insignificant when set against the good aspects of BCR. I may have that wrong and I am not defending BCR. I just feel there is some nitpicking going on. Can you point to outright fraud and deception regarding money for instances? That would stick for me.
I don’t have time right now to read the rest. Also when the first section is nitpicking cud chewing stuff I am put off.
Just to clarify, I was actually replying to Jo Singer. I just forgot to hit the reply button. Yes, I have read what you have written. Have you taken a good look at everything on my website?
http://beyondthinking.weebly.com/big-cat-rescue-formerly-wildlife-on-easy-street.html
This is directed towards what you say about the snow leopards. First on the earlier version of the Wildlife on Easy Street website the snow leopards were stated to be a gift from Don to Carole.
On a earlier version of the BCR website the snow leopards are said to be a gift from a husband to his wife.
The current story is that the snow leopards were zoo surplus from the Species Survival Plan.
https://sites.google.com/site/bigcattributes/home/cloe-snow-leopard
Here is what Mark McCarthy says
—–Original Message—–
From: Mark Mccarthy (address omitted)
Sent: Wed, Jul 2, 2014 12:40 pm
Subject: Re:snows
Carol and Don Lewis purchased 1.1 Snow leopards in the past. They were not rejects from the SSP. They also purchased 1.1 Spotted Leopards and I also purchased a white footed Serval from them. This was back when Don Lewis was still alive and they were known as Wildlife on East Street.
Mark McCarthy
—————————————-
So I think you’re wrong when you say “I think that Rexano simply got this wrong. BCR are saying as mentioned above that these cats were considered surplus by other sanctuary (McCarthy’s?)”. Is BCR not lying when they say the snow leopards came from zoo surplus from the Species Survival Plan when Mark McCarthy, the man who sold the leopards, said they weren’t rejects from the Species Survival Plan?
This is directed towards your comment,
“Is Big Cat Rescue a Sham? No, not on this evidence. OK to recap the above. I do not see malpractice or evidence that tells me that Big Cat Rescue is anything other than stated:
Stated Purpose: “to provide a good home for the limited number of cats that the sanctuary can afford to take in … and reduce the number of cats that suffer the fate of abandonment and abuse by educating as many people as possible about the conditions that lead to the plight of these animals. ” (BBB website – this page)”
On the BCR website they claim to be “the largest accredited sanctuary in the world dedicated entirely to abused and abandoned big cats.”
So wouldn’t they fit the defintion of a sham since they claim to be “dedicated entirely to abused and abandoned big cats” when the truth is that many of their cats were purchased from breeders to be bred and sold. Many other cats weren’t even abused or abandoned.
http://beyondthinking.weebly.com/documents-showing-purchasing-and-selling-of-cats.html
http://beyondthinking.weebly.com/the-changing-cat-stories.html
http://www.rexano.org/Documents/BaskinLewisAFG.pdf
The definition of a sham is something that is not what it is purported to be which fits BCR.
Not sure what sexism has to do with anything. She doesn’t just state her opinions she spouts out lies and misinformation as if they are facts and many people believe everything she says without doing any actual research. I would say she is a liar since in a interview for a article she said,
“There is no such thing as a hybrid bobcat. There has never been a documented case of a hybrid bobcat anywhere,”
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/questions-arise-about-montana-breeder-in-stafford-bobcat-case/article_110c925e-cf1f-11e3-b835-0019bb2963f4.html?mode=jqm
when on her W.O.E.S. website she said this about a bobcat named Skid
“Knowing that the kitten had been too deeply imprinted by humans and that this idea of returning animals to the wild is just the activist’s way of patting themselves on the back, while the animal is sent out to surely die where no one can see him, we gathered twenty two affidavits from people who had watched the cub’s progress, who stated that they did not believe she was a pure Florida Bobcat and therefore the State had no authority to confiscate her. The State agreed and further allowed that she was a hybrid and could be adopted by the person who had originally rescued her.”
Is that not sufficient evidence?
In a interview in April she was telling lie after lie in this YouTube video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIkntBSCdNs
The truth can be found here
http://beyondthinking.weebly.com/interview-with-carole-lewis-baskin.html
You still think she isn’t a liar? Am I still not providing sound evidence?
Now getting back to your response to me.
No, there isn’t anything wrong with making money but there is something wrong when you have to lie to people to get it. Isn’t she basically committing fraud since she is intentionally misrepresenting and concealing important facts which donors are meant to rely on, and in fact do rely on. I and many other people including news investigators have already proved that many of her cats weren’t actually rescued. Lets take a look at Nikita. On BCR’s website they say,
“Nikita was found chained to the wall in a crack house during a drug bust in Tennessee. Because she had been confined to a concrete floor, she had huge swellings on her elbows that took months to heal. She was so thin that you could carry her under one arm. She would only eat white rabbits, so she had a plethora of nutritional issues to deal with as well. The authorities took her to the Nashville Zoo at Grasmere, but she had been declawed and could not live with the zoo’s other lions. They had to find a new home for her, so we received the call. Big Cat Rescue agreed to take Nikita in, as well as three other Bobcats who all arrived on 11/30/01.”
This is what the Nashville zoo had to say on the subject,
http://www.rexano.org/BCR/BCR_Nikita_TNZOO.pdf
You say you aren’t defending Carole Baskin yet you keep making up excuses for her. You are basically saying it’s alright to commit forgery, perjury, fraud, deceit, manipulation, and probable murder as long as it’s for a ‘good’ cause.
Is that not what exploitation is? She is using her cats to make money. How are Night Tours, Weddings, Parties, Private Tours, and Feed the Cat Tours not exploiting the cats? I am not a PETA fan, but even they object to her exploiting the cats in this way. Many of them were on exhibit when she “rescued’ them from places forced to close, so where is their peace…their retirement?
Again many of their cats were not rescued from horrible conditions. Shere Khan for example is said to have come from a loving and nurturing home when BCR was known as W.O.E.S.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLDtLV2Skco
“A male Siberian/Bengal Tiger born 12/20/94 stole our hearts on 3/12/95. He had been sold as a cub, but the purchaser kept putting off his delivery date, until he finally canceled the sale at four months. The breeders then had a four month old cub on their hands who had never been disciplined, and for whom they had no other facilities, than a small carrier, that he was quickly outgrowing. We accepted him knowing that we may never be able to completely tame and trust him. We and our staff and volunteers worked with him several hours every day to try and teach him not to bite.”
Now BCR says this about him
“Shere Khan did not have much of a chance for survival from the start. Dennis Hill had pre-sold him as a white cub, but the purchaser kept putting off his delivery date. He finally cancelled the sale when Shere Khan was already four months old. The breeders were left with a quickly growing cub on their hands and no other facilities for him other than a small carrier. He was up to his belly in feces and decaying food in a pet taxi that seemed to just bust at the seams with tiger fur.
He never got the vitamins and exercise he needed as a growing cub, so his back legs were badly underdeveloped. He was very sick for a long time and suffered major problems from calcium deficiency. X-rays showed that his baby canine teeth were rotting in their sockets from his malnourishment and they had to be excised because they had rotted through his face. His bones were mere paper shells and one wrong jump could easily break a leg. We supplemented him three times a day with calcium to encourage healthy bones and teeth.”
The video says it all. How many people would donate money to a cub who came from “a loving and nurturing home?” Probably none, so Carole invented a story of abuse. Doesn’t, “He could lift himself, but just barely” garner more sympathy and donations than a healthy splashing, normal little tiger cub? Buying tiger cubs across state lines was illegal. That did not stop Carole, she simply paid the breeder $800 cash and listed the cat as a donation.
This is a tiger cub with actual calcium deficiency due to its careless former owners
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yzHuUQAL9YI
Nothing like how Shere Khan looked as a cub
Misrepresentations and lies are two different things. Are you saying that lies, deceit, and fraud have to be accepted in America to drum up money? Because if you are, maybe you should take a good look at your own morals and ethics.
Michael, I’m sorry, I was responding to Jo Singers post, not yours. She said BCR was ethical. So are you agreeing that they are not? Jo also called Juan’s comments garbage, although any intelligent adult could hardly dismiss the evidence if they truly took the time to read.
Are you also saying that there have been no sound arguments made here? I don’t know what you call sound, but I think the truth is as sound as one can get.
As for BCR saving lives, they raise many thousands of dollars with each rescue and there are many others who could save those lives for much, much less, and not destroy human lives with lies and slander in the process.
Juan, I’d just like to address the first 7 paragraphs of your comment.
They are all about the expenses in running the sanctuary and the amount of money the sanctuary makes.
Right now I don’t have the actual figures to argue that but I’m not sure it needs to be argued anyway.
Is there anything wrong in making money in the USA? Is she actually saving the lives of big cats putting aside for a minute the running costs and profits?
If your answer to that is yes then I think you have to conclude that what she is doing is doing some good for these cats which after all is the objective of BCR.
This comment is not an attempt to defend Carole Baskin. In is itended to simply look at this situation as logically as possible.
You refer to an excessive number of tours around the sanctuary. You say she is exploiting the cats. I’m not sure that I understand that to be honest. Are you saying that looking at the cats that have been rescued is exploiting them when money has to be made anyway to pay for the facility?
Even if the facility is far from perfect as you suggest it is better for the cats than the place they come from and their lives are saved. If the lives of these cats are improved by the actions of Big Cat Rescue then you have to say that it is a success.
You keep accusing Carole Baskin of lying. In your comment you say she lies about the amount of money she makes and the expenses in running the century. Even if they are misrepresentations they are hardly serious because their intention is to drum up more money and the moneymaking element of the sanctuary has to be accepted in America which is the capitalist centre of the world. As long as the cats benefit surely some good is being done at the end of the day.
I will try and respond to the remainder of your comment in due course but right now due to pressure of time I cannot.
Hi Janet. I don’t recall saying BCR was ethical. I was simply addressing some points as objectively as possible and leaving it to the reader to decide. That is the intention anyway. I have not as yet read Juan’s comment due to time constraints but will do very soon and perhaps do another article based on them. I have seen pages attacking Baskin but I have not as yet seen a good sound argument.
I do not refer to “garbage” but I do sense there is some mudslinging going on. Even at a very simplistic level BCR does save lives – the opposite of what many private zoo owners achieve.
Thanks for sharing and visiting. Any future comment you wish to make will be published immediately.
Thanks Juan for sharing. Appreciated. Any future comments you wish to make will be published immediately. When I have more time I’ll read your comment carefully. Have you read this page? –
https://pictures-of-cats.org/is-big-cat-rescue-a-sham.html