POLICY FOR ANIMAL CONTACT
BY STAFF AND FULL TIME VOLUNTEERS ONLY
Big
Cat Rescue does not take animals out of their home enclosure. Contact
is only permitted of the lesser cats (lynx and smaller) and only
by trained staff for medical purposes.
All persons handling the animals at Big Cat Rescue must wash their hands with a bacterial soap or use hand wipes with an antibacterial agent before and after each animal to prevent the transmission of germs.
Nearly
every contact with other living organisms, whether it be with humans
or other animals, carries some risk of disease transmission. Diseases
that are spread from animals to humans are called zoonoses (adj.
= zoonotic diseases). Responsible refuges should and do make reasonable
attempts to limit the risk of the spread of disease from the animals
in their care to their employees and to the general public. For the
general public, the risk of contracting disease from most sanctuary
animals is minimal to nonexistent due to their distance and isolation
from
the
animals.
Risks of zoonotic disease can be markedly reduced by avoiding direct animal contact. Hand washing is perhaps the single most effective personal hygiene procedure for reducing the risk of infection. At Big Cat Rescue we have developed systems of housing, transport and operant conditioning that allow us to provide the ultimate care for these cats without endangering the keepers and attending veterinarians.
The following video shows why contact with big cats is a bad idea. It is obvious that these male lions are just cubs, judging by the small growth of their manes. We have been told that this zoo does not allow hands on contact with the big cats and that this was truly an accident that the keeper and cats were in the same area, but it is a wake up call to all who think that they have a bond with big cats that would prevent them from being hurt. Five minutes before such maulings and killings, the keepers usually would have told you that something like this could never happen.
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