DONATIONS FROM JAGUAR OF TAMPA SAVE ABUSED JAGUARS
Below is the article that appeared recently in our
newsletter about the wonderful donations we are receiving from Jaguar of Tampa
to help support the sick, abused jaguars we rescued with the help of their
funding. Sadly, the male spotted jaguar did not survive the required surgery.
But Jaguar of Tampa has continued the full support they had promised in order to
help us save the female black jaguar. She is currently undergoing treatment and
not out of danger, but we are hopeful.
Jaguar of Tampa is our first major corporate sponsor coming to the aid of cats they were not directly responsible for. (The circus provides support for the cats they retire at our facility, which we appreciate very much.) We hope to develop a broader program of corporate support.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Send an email of thanks. We all like to know our efforts are appreciated, and this is particularly true of corporate sponsors. There is only so much we can say ourselves to thank Rob Elder of Jaguar of Tampa for his support. The rest has to come from those who value the work we do for the cats. You can help by sending a short email to SaveTheJaguars@BigCatRescue.org thanking Mr. Elder for what he has done to support Big Cat Rescue and the jaguar we are trying to nurse back to health. And we thank you for taking the time to do this!
JAGUAR OF TAMPA
AND BCR RESCUE TWO ABUSED JAGUAR CATS
THE CATS' STORY
The two Jaguars, a spotted 24 year old male and black 20 year old female, were
owned by a small road side zoo in New Hampshire. They had been kept in tiny
cages in the basement at the zoo for more than a year and haven't seen sunlight
in all that time. As is often the case because people want to see younger cats,
these surplus older cats were stored with no concern for their needs. The black
female is bloated and has calluses on her hips and elbows from being confined to
a cement floored cage. When the owner died, his wife sold the cats that were
marketable. But these two were in such bad shape they could not be sold. The
female was blowing massive amounts of mucous discharge. This was caused by
rotten teeth that were so bad the infection had progressed into her sinuses.
The spotted male is grossly underweight and arthritic. In this photo you can
count every rib and see the way his sides are caved in and his back legs wasted
away. 
He is
rolling in the sun as if to try and soak up every possible ray. He has had
radiographs, blood tests, ultra sound and exploratory surgery to fully ascertain
his condition. Both cats arrived with heavy
parasite infestation that is responding to treatment.
THE PROBLEM - FUNDING TO SUPPORT THE CATS
When we got the call about the jaguars in distress, our initial reaction was
that we would have to give the same painful response we had already given over
300 times this year to people trying to place unwanted cats at the sanctuary,
i.e. that the sanctuary had land, but no funds to build an enclosure or pay for
food and veterinary costs for additional cats. That is when we decided to try
what we thought was a "long shot". We called our local Jaguar car dealership,
Jaguar of Tampa, to ask for help.
JAGUAR OF TAMPA STEPS IN
Rob Elder of Jaguar of Tampa visited Big Cat Rescue. He watched as Shere Khan,
the 800 pound tiger, stealthily approached the fence of his natural "cat-a-tat"
enclosure and stood staring at Rob just three feet away. He then toured the rest
of the 42 acre facility visiting the many different species of cat and hearing
their personal stories. He learned about the issues that lead to the widespread
abuse and abandonment of these cats, and the personal story of the two unwanted
jaguars, and knew he had to help.
JAGUAR CARS AND JAGUAR OF TAMPA SPONSOR THE CATS
With the help of Jaguar Cars, Jaguar of Tampa came up with a program to fund the
entire cost of supporting the two Jaguars. Based on that, Big Cat Rescue has
accepted the cats and is currently providing medical care to bring them back to
health. An initial donation check of $4000.00 was presented to Big Cat Rescue on
October 23. In addition, Jaguar of Tampa committed to make an ongoing donation
for each car sold starting November 1, 2003. The dealership is also posting
display materials about the jaguars and BCR in their beautiful showroom and
service waiting lounges to help to acquaint customers with Big Cat Rescue and
ask for their help.
UPDATE
Male Jaguar. Sadly the male Jaguar died three days after heroic efforts were made to save his life through emergency surgery to repair his mangled intestines. The necropsy showed that he had suffered a birth defect that had impaired all of his vital organs and it appeared that he had either not received treatment for a previous obstruction, or perhaps it had healed badly. In either event he was starving to death despite eating massive amounts of food. Unfortunately we had not been able to rescue him soon enough to save his life.
The story of this cat is just one of thousands who are kept for exhibition or as "pets" in backyards, basements, or even apartments in Harlem as we recently learned. So that this noble animal, who truly was a "survivor" of such injustice for many years, will not have died in vain, I hope you will help make his story known. The only way we can reduce the amount of this kind of abuse is by making people aware that they should not support those who display these animals in unaccredited zoos and should not purchase them as pets. Please speak out for him now. You are the only voice he has.
We are so grateful to everyone who helped make his last month a warm and pleasant one where he could sleep away the day in the soft grass next to his mate.
Female Jaguar. On April 22, 2004 the female Jaguar had the two worst teeth removed and a biopsy performed on the bone tissue. The results that came back on the lab tests confirmed our worst fear: bone cancer. Jaguars have very thick bones and estimating the amount of time before the cat would experience pain that would cause us to have to put her down is difficult. Dr. Wadsworth indicated that it could be as short as a few weeks, or as long as a few months. Our plan was to make however long she had left as comfortable as possible while watching for signs of discomfort.
The female jaguar recovered quickly from the surgery and returned to her normal life. During the ensuing months she continued to eat well, maintain a glistening healthy coat, and was surprisingly active for a cat of her advancee age of 23. Occasionally we detected moderate swelling on one side of her face, but there were no indications of discomfort. She passed away peacefully during the night on December 15, 2004.
Jaguar of Tampa Continued Support.
These two majestic cats suffered their entire lives at the hands of man. Jaguar of Tampa generously gave them, in their final months, the kind of life they should have had the many years before. Jaguar of Tampa continues to give each car purchaser a sponsor kit funded by the dealership. Proceeds are used to fund Cheetaro, a six year old spotted leopard rescued from the same roadside zoo that the two jaguars were from. We cannot thank Rob Elder and Jaguar of Tampa enough for their compassion and generous support of the sanctuary!
To see a movie clip of the Black Jaguar, click the play button on the Window Movie Player at right.
Play a streaming media version that is better quality HERE.
For Jaguar Facts and Photos, click here: Jaguars
For Leopard Facts and Photos, click here: Leopards
Back to the Press Room for contacts.
Click on the Jaguar Photos to make a donation to their rescue right now: The jaguars are nuzzling in the grass of their new Tampa home.
J.W. Baker did the beautiful Jaguar renditions below that you can purchase in our secure online gift shop by just clicking on the pictures. Your purchase helps save the Jaguars.
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Your donation is the gift of life, and a second chance for lions, tigers, cougars and more! |
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