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Press Release:
2009
Rescue of Narla the Cougar.
Scott, Chris and Andrew picked up Narla the cougar before 8 am Thursday morning (1/7/10) in RI and began the trek back with her. They arrived here at 6:15 am on (1/8/10) and at 7 am, after being weighed and having her eyes and tail checked by Dr. Wynn, released her into her new Cat-a-tat.
Her tail looks OK and she is in good condition overall, but has the same old cat eye issues (Uveitis: http://www.veterinaryvision.com/dvm_forum/dvm-uveitis.htm), that many of our cats have. She is enjoying our considerable warmer weather at 50 degrees and all of the hard work everyone did to get her Cat-a-tat ready. Thanks everyone!
Photos of the rescue here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigcatrescue/sets/72157623173290048/
You can help provide for her care here: http://www.bigcatrescue.org/donate.htm
Animal Planet Hero of the Year: Scott Lope, Director of Operations at Big Cat Rescue, is the 2009 Animal Planet Hero of the Year. Thanks to all of our supporters Scott got more votes than the other nine candidates combined and he was in some very good company of fellow animal heroes. These 10 had been chosen from 7000 nominees. We celebrated at Whiskey Joe’s and gave out awards to many of our wonderful volunteers, including the Founder's Award to Julie Hanan and the Volunteer of the Year Award to Mary Lou Geis.
Thanks to your votes Big Cat Rescue has made the top 100 charities in Facebook's contest which means $25,000 for the big cats and we are now eligible for the next round of voting to win $1,000,000!
Help us Rescue a Cougar: When Narla the 13 year old cougar's owner died unexpectedly she found herself to be the unwanted "step child." Help fund her rescue by donating.
Christmas Weekend Bobcat Rescue: The calls just keep coming. Saturday 12/26/09 7:24 pm a call comes in from the Florida Wildlife Commission telling us a bobcat has been hit by a car at Lutz Lake Fern and Dale Marbry. They tell us that the Sheriff is there but the cat is spinning in the middle of the road and they have no way to move the cat off the pavement. By 7:45 the van is loaded and Chris and I are on the way as well as Dr. Wynn who is going straight from her home to the scene. She and her husband arrived first and Animal Control was already there, with a noose on the cat. Animal Control said they would just drop the cat off at a clinic, but what usually happens when there is no one to pay the bill, is that the cat is euthanized.
Sunday 12/28/09 Dr. Wynn was caring for the bobcat we rescued last night and was hoping he could come back to the Cat Hospital at 4 pm today, but he wasn't doing much better, so she kept him in the oxygen tent.
Thanksgiving Weekend Bobcat Rescue: 11/30/09 A call comes in at 6:15 am from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's department: A bus driver named Mary who drives for Independent Day School saw a bobcat in the middle of Linebaugh Av. near Nixon Road. She was able to nudge the cat out of the middle of the road into the bike lane, but could not get the bobcat to step up onto the curb. Chris and Carole raced to the scene with nets and carriers.
Bobcat Hit By 3 Cars Recovering at Big Cat Rescue: October 30, 2009 at 4:00 Dr. Deborah L. Sullivan of the Suncoast Veterinary Care Center called Big Cat Rescue reporting that a good Samaritan had retrieved a bobcat who had been hit on SR 54 and tied the cat in the back of his truck and drove him to the first Veterinary Clinic he saw. Upon arrival the bobcat leaped from the truck but was stunned enough from the impact that Dr. Sullivan and Dr. Shreeve were able to hand inject him with a sedative as he was conscious enough to strike out.
He had been hit by a car, which stunned him to the point that he was just sitting in the middle of the road shaking his head. Gathering all of the strength and will at his command he tried to weave off the pavement when he was struck by a second car that flipped him into the path of a third oncoming vehicle, according to eye witness reports.
The vets rushed him into X-ray to see if there were any broken limbs or spinal injuries. Blood seemed to be flowing from his mouth, which would indicate severe internal injuries, but it turned out to be from a gaping wound under his chin. Satisfied that he was probably just suffering from shock and a concussion Dr. Sullivan set out to find a rehabber who would actually enable this cat to go back to the wild rather than trying to make a pet or a prop out of him.
The bobcat was a beautiful 23 lb. male and appeared to be about a year and a half old to two years old judging by his size, his magnificent teeth and his otherwise virtually un tattered appearance. He was probably just now being pushed out of his mother's territory and thus crossing six lanes of traffic to do it. Big Cat Rescue Rehabber and President, Jamie Veronica and CEO Carole Baskin mused as to if he could be Hope's long lost brother. It was only two miles away that Hope was found as a tiny kitten dropped alongside a road about a year and a half ago. Jamie had suspected then that a mother bobcat had been moving her brood and had somehow dropped Hope and that is why she searched so long for her to try and reunite the two, but never heard her call to the baby and finally gave up.
The bobcat was still sleeping peacefully from the sedation so Big Cat Rescuers decided to swing by their own Vet's office to have blood work done. It looked like this male would be fine to set free after a few days of recuperation, but he would need to be tested for FIV (the feline version of aids) before doing so to insure the safety of the resident population of bobcats. While there, Dr. Addler filled in for Dr. Liz Wynn and stitched up a couple of his wounds and X-rayed his head. It is amazing that a cat could take such a hard blow from a moving car and not just be crushed inside that sleek, furred skin. The X-rays showed no fractures and his blood test came back negative for FIV so all was looking good for him.
It was 7 PM on the eve of the night tour at Big Cat Rescue so there were plenty of hands on deck to help unload him into the cat hospital and get him set up in the squeeze cage before he woke up. This will enable his caregivers to give injectable antibiotics, if he doesn't eat food with pills in it, and give him fluids if he can't or won't drink on his own. Jamie Veronica checked in on the bobcat at 9 PM and he was sleeping upon arrival, but then sat up when he heard her. She moved her hand quietly from side to side and he was able to follow it with eyes that glowed golden even more hauntingly than the jack-o-lanterns in the parking lot noting "He seems to respond to sound as well."
The next day the Volunteer team readied the rehab cage, where Hope used to live, so that the bobcat dubbed Dante can have a few days to gather his wits about him and recover from the impact and the trauma. He will them be set free to find his path in life. Thanks to surveillance cameras Jamie Veronica can track his progress. "Right now it takes him several minutes to cross the cage as he can only take a few steps, sit down and catch his breath, and then another few steps, but he was able to jump up onto his den so we are hopeful that he will have a full recovery," said Big Cat Rescue's licensed rehabber.
You can help support rescues like this and provide the medical care needed in such emergencies here: http://www.bigcatrescue.org/donate.htm
Videos about Hope the Bobcat's rehab and release here: http://www.bigcatrescue.org/video/00280.htm
Serval Rescue! An African Serval was limping along in the Arizona desert until she collapsed alongside a road. She had almost completely given up the will to live. She was probably a pet or perhaps used in the hybrid breeding scheme that has become all the rage where Servals are bred to domestic house cats to produce Savannah Cat hybrids. The domestic cats are often killed in the process. The kittens sell for thousands of dollars, but when they mature they typically spray and bite and make awful pets. The hybrids are usually discarded by the time they are two or three years old.
This Serval was obviously abandoned and was placed by authorities at the Tucson Wildlife Center, a non-profit sanctuary dedicated to native wildlife. Lisa Bates-Lininger the founding president of the Tucson Wildlife Center said, "She was dehydrated and tired and just ready to give up. She may have died last night, but luckily we got her in. We got her emergency treatment, fluids for shock, and she's also missing a rear leg."
Despite 18 media posts including TV news in Tucson and a post on Craig's list looking for the owner no one admits to having abandoned this Serval to die in the desert. Thanks to some very generous supporters the serval was flown to her new permanent home at Big Cat Rescue where she is recovering well. Servals can live into their late teens and proper care is thousands of dollars each year. Her new 1,200 square foot Cat-a-tat had to be specially modified to accommodate her three legged hopping. It seems that she only recently lost her leg as she has a very difficult time keeping her balance. We are writing vets in the Tucson area to find out if any of them know what tragedy caused her to lose a limb and to see if there is any way to prosecute those who exposed her to such danger.
See a video of her here: http://bit.ly/45ou2u Help support her by paying $1.00 per entry to give her a new name: http://bit.ly/4esBNC
Big Cat Bailout: Read about the recent rescue of a liger and two tigers HERE
See the photos here: http://BigCatRescue.org/images/tigers/ligertigerrescue/index.htm
Save Tony the Truck Stop Tiger! http://www.BigCatRescue.org/FreeTony.htm
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These articles may be used in whole or in part:
About Big Cat Rescue 500 words HERE
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Big Cat Rescue in the News HERE
Media Contacts:
We know you have deadlines to meet and want the best in still photos at 300 DPI, video footage and experts for interviews about Big Cat Rescues and exotic cat information. We will respond within 24 hours by email, or you can contact us immediately by cell phone.
Need Photos for a Story?
For a few lion, tiger and other big cat photos that you can download immediately with photo credits to BigCatRescue.org click HERE. All we ask is that you credit BigCatRescue.org
Need Video for a Story?
Big Cat Rescue hosts high resolution video at Veoh.com so that you can easily download the clips you need. If you need b-roll you can download it online for $1.99 and it is about 5 minutes of high quality digital video of lions, tigers and other big cats roaming about the sanctuary. All we ask is that you credit BigCatRescue.org. Get the shorter video clips you need here for free: Big Cat Rescue Video Library
Need Experts for a Story?
CEO & Founder Carole Baskin 813 493-4564 MakeADifference@BigCatRescue.org Bio for Carole Baskin
President Jamie Veronica 813 323-3263 Info@BigCatRescue.org Bio for Jamie Veronica
Sanctuary Operations Gale Ingham 813 850-7052 Gale.Ingham@BigCatRescue.org
Sanctuary Operations and Education Dr. Beth Kamhi 813 323-3265 Beth.Kamhi@BigCatRescue.org
Advisory Board Howard Baskin 813 889-7244 HBaskin@BigCatRescue.org Bio for Howard Baskin
We have photos of all exotic cat species on high resolution CD. If you are doing a story about us, or quoting us, the images are free for that purpose. If you need them to augment a story that does not include us, all we ask if for photo credits to be displayed on or next to the image that includes our web address of www.BigCatRescue.org These images can be mailed or emailed. Contact Carole at MakeADifference@BigCatRescue.org
ABOUT BIG CAT RESCUE:
Big Cat Rescue, a non-profit organization
founded in 1992, provides a permanent home for unwanted, abused and neglected
exotic cats. The 45 acre sanctuary houses over 100 lions, tigers, leopards,
bobcats and more. Big Cat Rescue is the largest big cat sanctuary in the world
and one of three in the Eastern United States that meet the strict standards
of care required to receive accreditation from The Global Federation of Sanctuaries
(GFAS). Big Cat Rescue is located at 12802 Easy Street, across the street from
Westfield Shoppingtown in Citrus Park, between Smokey Bones Restaurant and
McDonalds. For tour times and other information, visit www.BigCatRescue.org. For
more details, including finances, annual reports, awards and affiliations visit About Us.
MEDIA
CONTACT: To arrange for in-studio or at-location interviews, please contact:
Carole Baskin at 813 493-4564 or MakeADifference@BigCatRescue.org
To see stories that have been done on us before, see News.
Feel free to reprint any of our articles here provided credit is given to www.BigCatRescue.org
For our history, seeHistory and Evolution.
For daily, updated, statistics and typical cases of Animal Abuse that has
created a necessity for Big Cat Rescue, see Animal
Abuse.
For information about visiting and interacting with the big cats, see Visit Us.
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