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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.

Scott said the original plan had been for Animal Planet's film crew to contact the local Animal Control officer to have them on the scene and all of the media as this would be a good opportunity to show that big cats never work out as pets. Scott said that despite the owner, Marilyn Loppi signing a contract with us saying that she was willing to be filmed, he felt that she would rather not let us pick Narla up than be embarrassed in front of her wealthy neighbors. So instead of meeting with Animal Control and the press, as planned, he decided to go to Loppi's home an hour early. She has been very unreliable from the start, so I am not surprised that she would not keep her word.

Marilyn first contacted us in October asking us to take her dead husband's cougar but she didn't want to sign a contract saying she would never own another exotic cat so she tried everywhere else she and her friends could find, but no one wanted or would take the cougar. She finally gave in and signed the contract, but refused to even pay the $250 for a carrier for her. The story she gave the press is that she can't afford the cat, but she lives in a $353,000 home on what Scott said looks like 25 acres, with horses and in a very posh area. While her husband was dying in the hospital with leukemia and documenting his battle with the disease on YouTube (see Rob Loppi) she was vacationing and remodeling her home and rarely mentioned her husband on her Twitter account until after he died and then it was all "poor, poor me..."

After Narla left she finally did open her door to the press, but just to applaud herself for finding such a wonderful sanctuary. She failed to mention that she dumped the responsibility of caring for Narla for the rest of her life on us and that she exposed the cat to yet another harsh New England winter rather than letting her go last October. In the news there have been dozens of comments posted about what a great pet she was and how Marilyn did such a wonderful thing by shirking her responsibility. It was a missed opportunity to really get the message out that it never works out well for the cat when people try to make pets of them. Hopefully the video Chris shot and that taken by the Animal Planet crew will rectify the situation. Narla is much better off here, but having your fun and then turning your back on your pet when your life changes should not be promoted as the responsible thing to do.

The owner had tossed shrimp in the carrier we bought and shipped to her the week before, to lock her up so that all our people had to to was put the carrier in the mini-van they rented in RI. They had flown to RI and then drove straight back.

Those of you who are fans of Scott's on his personal Facebook page got to see pictures and info on her rescue and ride back to the sanctuary. Scott used his iPhone to keep his fans updated, but Chris doesn't have an iPhone and hasn't been able to update our 4,400 fans here yet: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2235230005&ref=ts Hopefully, Scott will cross post to our fans and Chris will get some pictures and video posted there and on YouTube as soon as he gets some sleep.

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.

Dr. Wynn called me to advise and asked if it was legal for her to take the bobcat from Animal Control. Both as a vet and as a member of the Big Cat Rescue team, she had full authority to ask that the cat be released into her care. She then headed off and Chris and I who were about 3 blocks away still and told us to meet her at her clinic.

By 8:22 the 27 lb, 3 year old bobcat was going into surgery to repair his broken jaw after his x-rays showed no broken bones and badly damaged lungs. The oxygen tube indicated blood in the lungs and the liver levels that are often elevated to around 160 on a cat that has been hit by a car, were 1400 on this cat, meaning he had been hit VERY, VERY hard.

At midnight and Dr. Wynn and her husband, a former paramedic, had come to the Cat Hospital and were still trying to bring the bobcat around. While doing so the interns observed from the surgery suite of the Cat Hospital. Since Dr. Wynn rescued this one, she will get to name him if he survives. After about an hour of oxygen, it was apparent that he would need to be placed inside an oxygen tent as he was balking at the make shift mask on his face and our oxygen supply would not last all night. Dr. Wynn called FVS about taking him there, but they said their ER room was no place for a bobcat to wake up with all of the hustle and bustle so around 1 am she decided to take him back to her own clinic for the night.

In addition to the trauma to his lungs, his eyes were dilated and his pupils uneven. Given the broken jaw, and the tooth that broke off in his tongue, we know he took a severe hit to the head. At 9 am 12/27 Dr. Wynn sent a photo of him sitting stermal to let me know he made it through the night and we hope he will continue on a rapid road to recovery.

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.

Before leaving, I needed to pick up my mail, pay Honey for some sweatshirts I got and while she was ringing me up the phone rang. It was a woman in Bradenton who was on her way to the movies and saw a bobcat struggling after being hit by a car on I 75 S at the SR 70 exit to Bradenton. Including the on and off ramps at that intersection the bobcat had raced across 8 lanes of 70 MPH traffic and was just about in the clear of the last lane when his luck ran out and he was clipped in the back legs by a car. He struggled valiantly to get to his feet, but he rear legs kept folding under him. With every bit of will that bobcats are known to possess he would rise up on this front legs to hoist himself forward for the wood where he would find safety. At the point where the woman and her family left the scene he had managed to get only about 6 feet from the pavement in his western crawl.

Within an hour I was at the scene, but the bobcat was nowhere to be found. I drove up and down in the waning light until well after dark and then got out and walked up and down the highway using a flash light in hope of catching the cat's eye shine from where ever he may have dragged himself. I found no evidence of blood or the cat and can only hope that some good Samaritan got to the cat before me and got the cat the help he needed.

I could rest easier about this cat if someone would call the vets in the area and ask if a bobcat was brought in. I had asked the woman who called Big Cat Rescue to try and get the sheriff on the scene, Manatee County Animal Control or any rescue group she could think of, but she said all of them either referred her back to us, or were closed.

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.

By the time they arrive dawn was breaking and Chris spotted the bobcat laying on the curb, with her head up, watching oncoming traffic whiz past her just inches away. Carole pulled the van up to block traffic in the right lane, turned on the flashers and then circled around the outside of the van while Chris crept closer on the curb side. The bobcat stood and glanced around at her options. It looked like she was going to dive under the van and in morning rush hour traffic that would surely mean her death as the duo could only approach her from the wrong side if that happened.

Carole lunged toward the bobcat in an attempt to cause her to back into the field rather than into traffic and much to both her and Chris' amazement the bobcat sprinted across the field on three legs. Rescuers reasoned that they could trap her against the fence at the far end of the field but the bobcat had a better plan...run like mad for the fence but then take a hard right, jump into the creek to throw her pursuers off the track and then dash off through the heavy undergrowth.

Since the Rescuers didn't see her come out the other side of the creek, Chris headed across and up the far bank while Carole dragged the bottom of the creek with her net in case the bobcat had not been able to swim. The temperature was 52 degrees and the water was bone chillingly cold. Chris and Carole beat the bushes around a large retention pond, and Chris discovered a recent bird kill. There was a well worn path that lead to the area from the road, so it was clear that this bobcat has made this trek across 6 lanes of traffic for a long time.

After circling the lake twice Carole was about to suggest they go home, dress in dry clothes and come back with humane traps and a bigger search force, when Chris called out that he found the bobcat. She had crawled under a pad of reeds next to the pond. When they tried to net her she took off into the water again, Chris dove in after her and managed to net her. For that he gets to name her.

She was then transported to Ehrlich Road Animal Hospital where Dr. Wynn met them to take over in her diagnosis and care. She had an old wound on her side that was raw and exposed. She had scraped her nose during the impact and x-rays showed that her left rear leg was broken in such a way that traditional pinning would not be sufficient to repair the damage, due to her wild nature and impulse to chew her leg off, rather than have an exterior plate to secure the pins. Dr. Wynn tested her for AIDS to make sure she would be a candidate for release and then called Florida Veterinary Services to ask if they could get her in for major surgery.

This $4000. surgery was performed 11/30/09 by Dr. Mark Levy and he did all of the repairs internally so there is nothing external for her to gnaw at and re-injure herself. Her tail was broken, completely separated and de-gloved so it was amputated. Dr. Wynn cleaned out her wound and installed a drain. She did all of the prep work she could to save time this afternoon as long as the bobcat was asleep. The bobcat appears to be a healthy, young female with a good prognosis of surviving. She is back from Florida Veterinary Services as of 8pm and recovering well. The real question now will be if her leg can heal sufficiently for her to again run free.

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.

Bobcat survives being hit by car 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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CEO & Founder Carole Baskin 813 493-4564 MakeADifference@BigCatRescue.org Bio for Carole Baskin

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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

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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.

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