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 Steffanie. I’ll read your comments carefully and probably turn them into an article so that your thoughts have a bigger audience. Thanks for taking the time to express your views here.
OK fair enough Steffanie. I respect your opinion. Yes, I have been cheated on and it does suck, agreed 😉
To answer your question, dam right I am using that Baskin had a ten year affair! Have you been on cheated on? It sucks, and it speaks of her character. That she screwed her step children out of their inheritance, and later to find out that she fraudulently obtained Power of Attorney, also speaks badly of her. She is a master manipulater, a liar, and killed her husband and found a way to convince the public to fund her personal zoo and life style. Give kudos to the bitch for all her devoted followers, that blindly finance mostly cats she bred. Sadly, the zoo is shitty. I live in California, and zoos and sanctuaries here are kept at a much higher standard than Florida. I feel sorry for her cats. One day karma will knock on her door, and the old witch will get hers.
Your article is still biast, and you are pretty much agreeing with BCR points. I have a Early Generation Bengal and she does not have IBS, aggression issues, she pees and poops in her litter box, she has no behavior problems, is friendly with our other pets, and loves my husband and I. The only health issue she has is allergies, she sneezes once in a while. She is timid towards strangers and one of my teenagers, and she does not like change or the outside. To be honest, that moron Baskin has it wrong with EG Bengals. They are descended from the Asian Snow Leopard, which is a shy creature, and not adventurous. Thus, when my Bengal found herself unexpectedly outside when a screen broke under her weight she howled until my husband rescued her. She was so frightened she howled at me for another half an hour. They are vocal, and will let you know whatever mood they are in and what they want. But they are intelligent enough to know when to shut up too. They are very trainable.
A cat is going to pee everywhere because you declawed them. That is just barbaric and cruel. My guess is most people experiencing that were stupid and made the choice to do so. This causes the cat pain and arthritis. It is actually painful to use the litter box. Declawing should be illegal. I would never do that to my cats. It show what type of person Baskin is that she did this to her cats!
Nothing she says is true about hybrid cats. Since you do not own one all your article is, just like Baskin’s lies is a opinion. Hybrids have fertility issues. Currently, actually thanks to Baskin’s tirade against Savannahs, I am waiting on a litter. The mother, a F3 had to be taken to the vet and given medication to induce labor. She only had two kittens and one passed on. Hybrid cats are known to get uterine infections, and males are infertile until the fourth or fifth generation. Please explain to me, how hybrid cat with known fertility issues is going to create a super cat?
Why do people fear hybrid cats is because of the lies Baskin, HSUS, PETA, WCS, BornFree, and AR groups articles which demonize these felines, and say they are vicious, which is not at all true. It is their fault hubrid cats are shot and killed. They are responible for all the cats being killed by their propaganda.
I can tell you, my Burmese is a better hunter than either of my Bengals. She killed two mocking birds that dive bombed her, and their young. Cats are all good hunters and it is ridicules to say thy are better. We also own a feral, and she is not a hunter. With your logic, she should be, both her parents were feral.
The truth is that hybrid cats are like any other cat just smarter and more active. They intergrate well with other pets, but they bond with their people deeply and they need more attention than your normal cat.
Baskin owns a F1 badly bred Bengal. She claims he is wild. Not from the pictures I saw. She loves him, and lives with her. Well, I want the right to own my cats, and to own my Savannah without intervention of some AR nutters, and a liar, that cannot even cover her deceit half decently. Why should she have the right to own a Bengal, but take that right away from everyone else? Why should she destroy people’s well established breeding programs, and confiscate their beloved pets? All because she was not a successful breeder. She obviously does not believe the lies she is spewing out. Otherwise, her Bengal would be in a cage were it belongs, due to their vicious nature. (Yes, that is sarcasm.) Yes, I am not objective about that bitch or all the AR nutters I mentioned. If they had their way they would murder my favorite cat.
BTW, what right does that bitch have to in this ban to retroactivity confiscate early generation hybrid cats, from loving homes and murder them if this band passes in California or Florida? I purchased my cats legally, and unlike her, do not expect the public to finance my felines. My cat would not do well in a sanctuary either with lions and tigers, she is a house cat! So dam right I am not objective! I truly have no understanding why you have the need to defend someone like her. People have given you enough evidence of her character, which stinks to high heaven. How you can think anything she does is okay, it makes me question your morals and I have no doubt that your association with BCR.
Steffanie, I am not in awe of Baskin, not at all. I am surprised you cannot see that from the way the article is written. I simply checked out allegations and tried to find the truth and presented the information I discovered with my thoughts. That is fair and does not justify your comment.
Please try and be as objective as me.
You are not actually using that to criticise her are you? If you are you are criticizing humankind 😉
I can’t read your entire comment because it comes across as biased. I don’t know Baskin. She may be the kind of person you say she is but all I can do is be as objective and as unbiased as possible.
I have criticized her in an article about wild cat hybrids:
https://pictures-of-cats.org/living-with-wild-cat-hybrids.html
These entire summary is completely ignorant and biast. Your awe of Baskin and your pathetic attempt to justify her deceit and immoral and unethical behavior.
Let us take a look at Baskin. She had a ten year affair with a married man, which caused a divorce. She is a suspected of being apart of his disappearance just after he requested a restraining order against the psycho bitch. In many of her previous relationship she was physically violent and threatened and assaulted the men in her life. She surrounds herself with con artists and felons to help with her deceptions. She continually lies about her past, so which is it? When did she meet Don? When she was young or later on when Don’s marriage was collapsing? Very classy to screw her step childre out of their inheritance, especially after one of her friends went to the police and confessed she actually did not witness Don signing the document giving Baskin Power of Attorney if he disappeared or died. How convenient he was out of her way soon after.
Oh, and she does not hate hybrid cats, because she owns a badly bred F1 Bengal as her personal pet. In a post she claimed it was wild, pissed all over the place, was destructive, and she was unable to even pet the crazy cat. So the poor kitty lived on her porch. You can imagine my surprise when I sae this dangerous feline wrapped around her neck on her Facebook page! Funny how it was filled with hybrid cat pictures. I think she is a lover. She seems to love her Bengal. I can relate, because I dearly love mine too. So, why should I have to give mine up and that lying bitch keep hers?
Most of her cats are from her breeding program, and they were not abused just because they came from the exotic pet industry. The donations is her piggy bank and the paid employees are her family! Oh, they get a decent chunk of change!
Her petition in California and in Florida would destroy people’s businesses, and owners of Early Generation hybrid felines would have these beautiful pets confiscated. What would happen to these beloved cats? They would be killed or transfered to sanctuaries were they would live their lived among lions and tigers. Many of these kitties become attached to their owners, and are used to social interaction. This would be animal cruelty.
Hybrid cats are not wild animals, and make wonderful pets. Many times they experience the same problems other domestic cats do. They are not aggressive, do not use your house as a urinal, they often do not have health issues or behavioral problems. They do not bite or scratch any more than a normal cat, often less. They integrate well with other animals, and have no extra hunting abilities than a normal cat. They are active and smart. If you are stupid enough not to actually read and look at all the evidence of her lies, then you are warped.