Starving tigers rescued from New York pseudo-"sanctuary"

[Arugula Latte]

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New York JnK Tiger Rescue
DejaVu is all I can say. It happens over and over, like a recurring nightmare for the wild animals suffering through it; only the names and places change.

Someone wants to “rescue” wild animals because that seems like glamorous work, so they buy animals (and just prolong the problem) until the really bad guys find out there is a new place to dump last year’s photo cubs, and then the “rescues” become more legitimate, in the eyes of the “rescuer” because at least, because they aren’t paying for animals any more. Usually the big cats who need rescuing are the cubs who just outgrew the ridiculous 8-12 week window, in which USDA condones the use of cubs for photo and pay to play sessions. All it takes to fix this mess is for USDA to acknowledge that it is a violation of the Animal Welfare Act to take cubs from their mothers for this inhumane, unethical, albeit lucrative exploitation… But I digress.

This video was shot in 2009 at JnK’s Call of the Wild and the dangerous conditions, lack of respect for the powerful nature of these wild animals and lack of understanding of their physical and emotional needs was evident. The cats were thin, but not starving yet at that time. http://video.buffalonews.com/?video=3591290809001

Five years go by, and citations pile up for not providing sufficient shelter, not having an attending vet, not willing to provide documentation of where the cats came from or went and having a perimeter fence that was only 2 feet above the 6 feet of snow. This article from 2009 detailed the illegal purchase of a leopard that resulted in seizure and a fine, as well as a number of other violations, and yet the media treated it like a puff piece. http://bigcatrescue.org/lions-tigers-and-bears-find-refuge/

more at link: http://bigcatrescue.org/jnk/

[TreasonousBastard]

1. I remember a woman who had one of these in New Jersey...

kind of hidden on her property that nobody much cared about until one went "missing."

Search "new jersey tiger lady" for the details. It's an interesting story.

My impression at the time was that she, and others, thought they had a good idea about saving these animals, but were naive. They had no idea that without the resources of, say, the Bronx Zoo, they couldn't properly care for them.

[Arugula Latte]

2. Yes, I can imagine that buying enough meat alone could easily bankrupt you.

Big Cat Rescue needs donations to help with this case: http://www.razoo.com/story/Nytigers

Nobody should be allowed to exploit exotic animals. Big Cat Rescue is working to get a ban on public interactions with cubs to avoid the abandonment problems (once the tigers get too big, they are dumped, usually into bad conditions.) https://www.votervoice.net/BCR/Campaigns/30111/Respond

[Sunlei]

6. about 200k a year for about 15-25 large cats from my experiences at zoos and real sanctuaries.

And they never would use road kill. The chance of parasites/disease is very risky.

To lower costs the large legitimate rescues/sanctuaries get a lot of donations.

Many of the large grocery chains, meat wholesalers donate large shipping containers of human quality meat..year in and year out to legit sanctuaries. There are also prepared frozen zoo meats and even large canned prepared diets for many exotics. Even 'Hills' the popular pet food Corp. has canned foods specially mixed for many exotic species.

[Brigid]

3. Starving tigers?

Last edited Wed May 28, 2014, 06:26 PM - Edit history (1)

That is sooo not good on so many levels.

[shenmue]

4. Glad they're safe

Whew.

[Sunlei]

5. yes, the USA is full of exotic animal hoarders, and many other hoarders of whatever animals...

whatever animals horses, canned hunt animals a lot of those places are just dumps with junk all over. Starving animals, many of the canned hunt places dump their unwanted excess animals right into the wild.

The USA has very weak laws to make sure basic needs are met. Many states animal abuse is a slap on the wrist or nothing will be done. Even the USDA is a very weak org.

This Global group is top flight- If a sanctuary, a canned hunt place, a zoo, a horse rescue, a dog rescue, a horse breeder, a dog breeder- takes the time to gain GFAS Accreditation and Verification you know they are a responsible animal caretaker.
Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries

http://www.sanctuaryfederation.org/gfas/

[csziggy]

7. The worst situation I've heard of was the Zanesville massacre

http://bigcatrescue.org/zanesville-massacre-18-tigers-17-lions-3-cougars-gunned-down/


If someone really loves exotic animals, the best thing they can do is donate to the preservation of their habitat so they can live where they are supposed to live as they are supposed to.

Buying a big cat kitten because it is cute is insane. If the person knows so little about the animals to not understand what they will grow into, they should not own one!

[Arugula Latte]

8. And then there are people who buy them to exploit for profit --

makes me sick!