Big Cat Rescue Volunteer Committee and Staff
JESSICA ALLEN
ADMINISTRATIVE & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGER, VOLUNTEER COMMITTEE
Jessica Allen is the Administrative and IT Manager for Big Cat Rescue, a member of the Volunteer Committee, and also continues her Master Keeper volunteer position. She oversees the online sales, inventory control, and office supply needs of the sanctuary. She also handles many customer service requests the sanctuary receives from supporters. Her previous career as a software engineer comes in handy as she ensures our computers are running, software is up-to-date, and provides internet support. She is also on the Fundraising Committee and handles a large amount of administrative work for the Fur Ball. As a Volunteer Committee member, she manages the volunteer time tracking system and also helps the Director of Operations coordinate the volunteer force.
CHELSEA FEENY
DATA AND INTERN MANAGER
Chelsea Feeny came as in Intern in 2009 and was hired at the end of her intership to manage Big Cat Rescue's database of supporters and to screen incoming interns.
BARBARA FRANK
VOLUNTEER COMMITTEE
Barbara Frank serves as a member of our Volunteer Committee. She is a Master Keeper and, as such, her duties include all duties performed at the Trainee, Keeper, and Senior Keeper levels at the sanctuary. In addition, she is responsible for cleaning & maintaining quarantine animals, administering meds, transporting animals to & from the vet, feeding special needs animals, assisting in animal emergencies, transferring of animals on the property, coordinating cleaning, feeding & tours, and training Trainees, Keepers, and Senior Keepers. She assists in interviewing and screening potential volunteers and interns. She also handles coordination of all weddings on site. As a Master Keeper, Barbara maintains 120 hours of on-site volunteer time per month.
BETH KAMHI, D.C.
EDUCATION DIRECTOR
Beth Kamhi serves as Education Director and Grant Writer for our sanctuary. Beth is also a Chiropractic Physician practicing part time in the Tampa after many years of her own family practice in the Boston area. Her experience in business and technology, background in biological sciences, along with her Keeper training as a volunteer at Big Cat Rescue were the perfect blend for our education department. The Education Director is responsible for the development and coordination of educational functions, scheduling and daily supervision of all school and community programs as well as our ever-growing Summer Camp program.
In her capacity as Grant Writer, Beth identifies priority projects and does the research, writing and submission of applications to potential grantors to further our care of the cats, Educational programs for our community and other sanctuary needs.
JEFF KREMER
DIRECTOR OF DONOR APPRECIATION
Jeff Kremer is the Director of Donor Appreciation with Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, the world's largest accredited rescue facility for exotic cats. Jeff was born and raised in the Tampa Bay area. After spending 21 years working for Honeywell Space Systems in Clearwater, Jeff chose to embark upon a career that focused on his life-long interest in the field of animal welfare.
Big Cat Rescue is accredited by The Global Federation of Sanctuaries (a national accrediting body that is to sanctuaries what the American Zoological Association is to zoos.)
Big Cat Rescue is a member of the International Tiger Coalition, The Captive Wild Animal Protection Coalition, the Florida Association of the Restoration of Ethics, Tampa Chamber of Commerce, Upper Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce, Tampabay Visitors and Convention Bureau, No More Homeless Pets, and many other animal welfare groups.
Big Cat Rescue assists other accredited rescue facilities by helping them build cages, train their volunteers and they lend their people and resources to help them recover from natural and man-made disasters. Big Cat Rescue is licensed by and in good standing with FWC, USFWS, USDA and is registered with the state of Florida as a charity.
Jeff Kremer is available for college and civic lectures and has given presentations to numerous civic and educational organizations regarding the plight of exotic cats and other species and what the public can do to save them.
Jeff is available to speak regarding such topic as:
The exotic animal crisis in America and around the world.
The differences between sanctuary’s and zoo’s.
Ethical issues involving exotic animals in captivity.
Legislative issues involving the exotic animal trade in America.
The nature of wild cats in captivity and why they don't belong in cages
The correlation between youth violence against animals and adult violence towards humans.
SCOTT LOPE
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, VOLUNTEER COMMITTEE
Scott Lope serves as Big Cat Rescue’s Director of Operations and, as such, is responsible for the overall care and well being of the animals along with the day-to-day operations of the sanctuary. Scott began as a volunteer here many years ago. His passion for the animals and his belief in our mission led him to consider leaving his medical career to become full-time Operations Director at Big Cat Rescue. This was a turning point for our organization. Scott’s management skills, military training, animal husbandry and medical background have come together to make Big Cat Rescue a premier sanctuary. Assuring proper nutrition and medical care for all of our animals, seeing to it that habitats are clean and secure, coordinating daily tours, serving as our media spokesperson, managing an ever-changing volunteer force, dealing with public relations, maintaining 42 acres of grounds keeping, handling rescues and regulatory agencies, and tending to the millions of other details it takes to make Big Cat Rescue function so well on a daily basis makes Scott our super hero!
CATHY NEUMANN
VICE PRESIDENT, VOLUNTEER COMMITTEE, BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Cathy
Neumann serves in many capacities at Big Cat Rescue. In addition to being
our Vice President, she serves as a member of the Board of Directors and the
Volunteer Committee while also assisting our Director of Operations as a Volunteer
Coordinator. Although she holds a full time job in a hospital laboratory, most
nights are spent at the sanctuary feeding the animals while weekends are spent
assisting in coordination of volunteers. Cathy has been instrumental in developing
our training and certification program for new volunteers as well as tracking
compliance. She wrote the model for our Intern Program that continues
to attract applicants worldwide. She also pioneered the operant conditioning
program we use today. On a daily basis, she maintains our on-site hospital,
assists in veterinary care and dispensing of medications. Her contributions
are endless; as is the paperwork she drowns in!
CHRIS POOLE
MEDIA PRODUCER
Chris Poole originally volunteered as a hard working intern from the United Kingdom here at Big Cat Rescue. With an extensive background and degree in graphic design and video editing, he later joined our team in order to produce weekly podcasts and web-market our sanctuary on sites such as YouTube, MySpace, FaceBook, etc.
He is always striving to find new ways to cross promote Big Cat Rescue worldwide. While living on property, he provides invaluable assistance to our Director of Operations in the never ending day-to-day chores of running a sanctuary of this size. Chris also performs all of the responsibilities of a Senior Keeper.
JENNIFER RUSZCZYK
SECRETARY/TREASURER, VOLUNTEER COMMITTEE
Jennifer Ruszczyk is Big Cat Rescue’s Secretary/Treasurer as well as a member of both our Board of Directors and our Volunteer Committee. She also heads up and administers the Operant Conditioning program here at our sanctuary. Though she holds a full time position in the outside, corporate world, she manages to come by before and after work during the week to be sure that all of our volunteers and interns receive their training classes and have the opportunity to participate in Enrichment and Operant Conditioning. She also spends her weekends helping our Director of Operations coordinate the volunteer force.
BARBARA STAIRS
BOOK KEEPER
Barbara Stairs works full time in the founder's real estate business, but still manages to use her impeccable organizational skills to handle the phones, the mail, payroll and the cabin bookings. Everyone who comes here wants to meet the sweet lady they spoke to on the phone and she has made her place in the hearts of all who meet her.
VERNON STAIRS
MASTER BUILDER
Vernon Stairs is our Master Builder and works to design, build and maintain all of the cat-a-tats and facilities. He was a business owner until he retired in 1996 and came to Big Cat Rescue to help build a pond. His feats include construction of a three acre tiger marsh, dueling waterfalls and ponds for the fishing cats, an air conditioned rock mountain for the snow leopards, underground dens, overhead sprinklers and so much more for the comfort of the 200 animals living on Easy Street. He is remembered daily by the animals, staff and guests for his work and will be remembered for many years to come in the lasting improvements he has made to the quality of life for each of the animals.
JAMIE VERONICA
PRESIDENT, VOLUNTEER COMMITTEE, BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Jamie
Veronica is President of Big Cat Rescue, a member of the Board of Directors,
and a Volunteer Committee member. She has served in these capacities
for well over ten years. She spent many years developing sponsorship programs
whose financial success continues to contribute largely toward meeting our
annual budget. Much of her time is also dedicated to orchestrating our
annual fundraising event, the Fur Ball. Also an award-winning photographer,
Jamie is the staff photographer and publishes our quarterly Big Cat Times newspaper,
distributed to over 40,000 readers. Her film documentaries have received
acclaim at national film festivals. She and Brian co-produce our weekly cable
show. Jamie is also responsible for overseeing and handling curriculum
for the sanctuary’s
worldwide Intern Program and leads expeditions into places where maps have
not yet been charted. Jamie
raised and coordinated the successful release of Faith, the Florida bobcat,
that our interns still track on a regular basis. She and our Director of Operations
handle all rescues, regulatory compliance issues, and transfer of animals on
our property.
HONEY WAYTON
GIFT SHOP MANAGER
Honey Wayton is responsible for merchandising and maintenance of inventory for our gift shop. On a typical day, you will find her greeting our guests, answering our phones, running our cash register, maintaining the appearance of our gift shop and tour waiting area, and coordinating the responsibilities of our Partner Volunteers in the gift shop. She also fills orders for our online gift shop and is our onsite intern housing representative. Honey serves on our Fur Ball Committee and our Enrichment Committee and fulfills all the daily responsibilities of a Senior Keeper as well.
Click HERE to meet all of our Big Cat Rescue Volunteers the most dedicated people in the animal protection community.