Jaguars of Big Cat Rescue
Hunted to extinction in the U.S. by 1940, the Jaguar is in trouble world
wide, and two in particular are barely escaping death due to the rescue efforts
of Big Cat Rescue. There are only 300 such cats registered with
the International species Information Service and only 22 of those are considered
sufficiently pedigreed to be bred for conservation efforts.
When a road side zoo owner died recently, leaving behind Jaguars and Leopards, his wife called upon a family friend to help her find a home for the aging great cats. Because their pedigrees are unknown, they are not valuable for conservation breeding. Big Cat Rescue is the only big cat rescue facility in the East that is accredited by The Association of Sanctuaries, so the two jaguars and a male leopard have finally made their way to our gate.
The Jaguars have been reportedly kept in a basement at the zoo for more 
than a
year and haven't seen sunlight in all that time.
The younger ones were on display and as is often the case, the surplus older
cats were
stored with no concern for their needs. The black female is
bloated and has calluses onher hips and elbows from being confined to a cement
floored cage. The spotted male is grossly underweight and arthritic. (In
this photo you can count every rib and see the way his sides are caved inand
his back legs wasted away. He is rolling in the sun as if to try and soak up
every possible ray.) Both cats suffer from a bad infestation of worms and
pneumonia. Now
they are here in sunny Florida at their lake side home that will be their
safe haven from the abuse of man. Here they will get the medical treatment
they have been denied and a healthy diet.
The
20 year old female requires very expensive medication. We need your
help to be able to provide a permanent home. Please click the button at
top to make a contribution under the category called Donate. Thank
you from the Jaguar. See
update below first.
To see a movie clip of the Black Jaguar click the Play button. To see a better quality version in streaming media click HERE.
You can see the wasting away in the spotted male's thighs and the sores on the black female's elbo ws from not being fed and being kept on conc rete until rescued.
UPDATE
Sadly the male Jaguar died three days after heroic efforts were made to save his life through emergency surgery to repair his mangled intestines. He was 24 years old. 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.
Black Mamba, the 22 year old female had arrived with teeth so rotten that she was spewing blood and mucous and coughing constantly on her own purulent fluids. We tried to extract the teeth, but she was in such horrible condition that she died on the operating table. Through heroic efforts she was revived by Dr. Stacie Wadsworth, DVM, but the tooth extraction had to be halted.
We spent the next six months getting her stronger through a good diet and the gentle exercise of having her huge Cat-A-Tat to walk about, with it's logs and hills for climbing and pool for swimming. In April we attempted the surgery again to remove the cause of the infection. She survived the surgery and is recovering very nicely, but a biopsy done on her jaw bone indicates bone cancer. A
t her advanced age there is not much that can be done for her, other than to keep her comfortable and make her story known so that others like her don't have to suffer. The photo at right is August 2004. Black Mamba died in her sleep at the age of 23 in December of 2004.
The Jaguars Speak
These Jaguars speak to us from the Other Side now and say that the Secret is the answer to all that has been, all that is and all that will ever be. The Secret is the Law of Attraction. Just like other laws of Nature, such as gravity, the Law of Attraction is unchangable. This law is that Like attracts Like. We are all like magnets and we attract to ourselves the things we think about. Whatever the mind can conceive it can achieve. If we are loving, peaceful, caring, giving and kind we can only attract those qualities in others and will find ourselves surrounded people with those qualities and experiences of the best kind. Learn more about The Secret.
Your donation is the gift of life, and a second chance for lions, tigers, cougars and more! |
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