Tiger Escapes, Mauls Three, Kills Teenager and is Killed
While this tragedy happened at at the San Francisco Zoo, it could have happened anywhere. The 12 foot high walls that contained Tatiana, the Siberian Tiger and thousands more like her, had always been adequate to keep her imprisoned. In Florida the state standard is 12 feet and there are no federal requirements so many states have no regulations in place that define a secure environment for big cats... and none really could.
This situation has brought into sharp focus the fact that these animals do not belong in cages and that no matter how long a situation may have been considered safe, it is never 100% fool proof. Natural disasters aside, you can never protect a captive animal from a fool. The debate that erupted over this highly publicized Christmas death of the teenager and the endangered tiger has also illuminated the fact that zoo animals are frequently taunted, harassed, yelled at and have things thrown at them. Day after day, they sit there and take it, until one day they don't.
Big Cat Rescue does not allow such behavior and our guided tours ensure the safety of our 
guests and the dignity of our residents. Most of our tiger enclosures are fully roofed and all of our cages have double entry doors and are padlocked with only our managers having access to the keys. Many of our cats were former pets and were previously de fanged in some cases and declawed in most cases. Shere Khan, China Doll and Auroara are three such tigers who enjoy 1 acre and 3 acre enclosures that cannot be roofed. These are some of our oldest cages and we were in the process of renovating them at the time of the attack. Now we are thinking even more about safety and because of the size of their cat-a-tats this will be a very expensive undertaking.
You can have your name memorialized on these new enclosures in marble. The marble plaques are sized in accordance with the size of your donation and you can inscribe them with your name, your company name or in honor or a loved one. You can have an image of your favorite cat at Big Cat Rescue lasered into the marble if you donate at the highest level for a 12" x 12" sign. The following is the breakdown of what you get for your donation (in addition to knowing you helped provide a permanent home to some wonderful tigers.)
| Your Donation | Plaque Size |
| $5,000.00 | 12" x 12" |
| $2,500.00 | 6" x 12" |
| $1,000.00 | 4" x 8" |
| $500.00 | 4" x 4" |
| $250.00 | 2" x 4" |
Please help us secure their future with the best caging possible. You can make a donation at the secure link below: https://ssl.capwiz.com/bigcatrescue/fundraising/?alertid=10706991&type=FR
After making your donation at the link above email the text you would like included and photo if you are a $5,000.00 donor, to Howard Baskin at Finances@BigCatRescue.org
The sign at right is the one that was erected by the new cougar enclosure to recognize the donors who made it possible. The tiger sign will be done in a similar fashion.
Watch China Doll and Shere Khan having a blast in the recently completed Phase 1, which will be Auroara's cat-a-tat once theirs is completed.