October 2009  

Greetings Friend of Big Cat Rescue,

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...it's about learning to dance in the rain."  No one knows who said it first, but it may become my new mantra.  I used to say, "What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger," but I think I prefer the image of dancing in the rain better. 

It's been raining a lot lately; literally.  Rain means fewer tours and that means fewer dollars to feed the cats.  The economy has been raining on everyone's parade and that has been a challenge.  Last year, during the week of our Fur Ball, the stock market crashed.  Because people were so uncertain about the future, they were much more conservative in their purchases that night, resulting in our first decrease in revenue from the event.

Now, a year later, people are still waiting for the "storm to pass" and our Fur Ball ticket sales are below the previous year's.  There are a lot of self defeating things I could do, like wring my hands and pace the floor, but instead I am going to party like there is no tomorrow.  I hope you will join me at the Fur Ball on Friday night and "dance in the rain" with me and several hundred other animal lovers who are taking charge of their own happiness. 

Some of Big Cat Rescue's leopards have been moved around recently.  Adonis and Bagheera the black leopards were moved into an enclosure on the lakeside. This new home is quite different than their last. They have moved from their shady oak and palmetto forest to a grassy, palm tree dotted lakeside cat-a-tat. They seem to be enjoying the change in scenery and have adjusted well to their new neighbors, the tigers.  They even have a swimming pool, though neither of them have tried it out yet.

This year you may be wondering how to scale back on your Halloween purchases and we are here to help.  Our new Big Cat Fun site is chock full of freebies to make this Halloween your best ever.  Free downloads of print outs to make your own party bags, party favors and other creepy fun stuff to play online, or download and play at your Halloween Party. Spend time with your kids making fun crafts rather than buying them.

Send free Halloween cards and make sure your kids can pass the Safety Bat test before they go out Trick-or-Treating.  Don't forget to get your free screen savers, free wall papers and other free stuff to set the stage for fright.  You will have one of a kind, designer props and it is a fun way to share the plight of the big cats with your friends and family. http://www.bigcatfun.com/halloween.html

Send real printed Halloween Big Cat Cards:  http://www.bigcatrescue.org/cards.htm

Regardless of what the economic future holds, there are some people on your Christmas list that you will find a way to buy for this year.  At the Fur Ball you can find hundreds of animal themed gifts and gift certificates that will warm any animal lovers' heart.  Your gift gives twice when you support Big Cat Rescue because the recipient gets something of interest and value and you get to help rescue captive cats and save big cats in the wild.  The Fur Ball is our only big gala of the year and a great opportunity to have fun and meet others just like you.  Get your tickets here:  http://www.BigCatRescue.org/FurBall.htm

Rolex Raffle Update:  With only a few hundred tickets, your odds of winning the $5000+ Rolex are better than you may think! Tickets are only $20 each or best value 7 for $100. Your ticket purchase will go toward our next rescue, putting us in a position to respond immediately because we have it funded. Buy tickets online or 813.920.4130.

Can't come to the ball?  You can still do a lot of your holiday shopping with a click of a mouse and have the same impact here:  http://www.BigCatRescue.biz

Be sure to thank our King of Beasts sponsors with your business too:  American Momentum Bank, Jaguar of Tampa and Teasdale Worldwide.  Read about 10 Years of Fur Balls:  http://www.bigcatrescue.org/000news/0articlesbybcr/2009PartyLikeIts1999.htm

Our Top 10 AdvoCats by Name - number of letters sent via CatLaws.com:  Carole Baskin - 2080, Mary Lou Geis - 575, David Dunkleberger - 292, Heather Behrens - 281, John Lewis - 279, Diane Kastel - 246, Jamie Fox - 241, Amy Gibson - 230, Dena Garcia - 221, Denise Lytle - 208.

See the faces of compassion in those who have written letters at CatLaws.com to protect big cats.  Add your own letter and stories here: 

http://capwiz.com/bigcatrescue/picturepages.tt

The Jesusita Fire in Santa Barbara, CA caused these two to take shelter together. The fawn is 3 days old and the bobcat about 3 weeks. The fawn came from somewhere in the fire and the bobcat from Carpinteria. They immediately bonded and snuggled together under a desk in the Santa Barbara County Dispatch Office for several hours.

Animal Planet is reporting the bobcat kitten was rescued near Arnold Schwarzenegger's ranch, where it was dehydrated and near death.

They rescued the fawn during the last weeks wildfire. Although wild animals, especially of separate species, are never placed together due to regulations, in this emergency situation, they had no choice. During the mayhem of the fire, they were forced to put animals anywhere they could, since they had run out of crates large enough for the fawn. The kitten ran to the fawn, and it was instant bonding. 

Science Daily (Sep. 13, 2009) — A wide-ranging study of big cat skulls, led by Oxford University scientists, has shown that tigers have bigger brains, relative to their body size, than lions, leopards or jaguars. http://bigcatnews.blogspot.com/2009/09/who-is-smarter-lions-vs-tigers.html

Whole prey night is always the cats' favorite night of the week.  The prey has been humanely killed and stored frozen but to see the cats tossing around their thawed, fully furred food is always a little disconcerting to those of us who are sensitive to the plight of all animals. I am glad to see the cats have some fun to alleviate the horrible boredom of captivity, but tonight I found their antics even more hard to watch as I had just been reading a book by John Fitzgerald called Bad Hare Days.  He asked me to read the book for the purpose of writing a recommendation if I liked it.  The book is a glimpse into the life of a young man who witnesses the horrors of hare coursing in his homeland of Ireland.  (The only thing in the US that I could compare hare coursing to would be fox hunting.) John describes a phenomenon with which those of us in animal protection work are all too familiar;  depravity masquerading as tradition and sport.  Find it here: http://astore.amazon.com/bicare-20/detail/1905513674   

The Paw Project aims to end de-clawing and is a non-profit animal advocacy organization that has unveiled a dramatic new billboard intended to educate the public about the harmful consequences of feline de-clawing. The billboard, which reads “If You’re for De-clawing Cats, Raise Your Hand,” depicts a human hand with each finger severed at the last joint, providing a graphic and anatomically-correct representation of the de-claw surgery performed on cats. 

Says Willow, a Big Cat AdvoCat, "I really want to THANK each and every one of you who wrote letters, emailed, faxed, phoned or showed up to the meeting to ask Council members for their support in a ban on declawing.  Your time and efforts made this last round of voting a success!"

In a 5-1 vote, Santa Monica City Council passed an emergency motion September 22, 2009, to draft an ordinance that restricts the practice of amputating the toes of animals, also known as "de-clawing."  To speak up for the cats visit:

http://bigcatnews.blogspot.com/2009/09/thanks-everyone-who-helped-ban.html

Lots of people choose Big Cat Rescue's lakeside beach as the magical "spot" to exchange wedding vows, or to renew their promises to each other.  It's hard to beat a cast of more than 100 exotic, endangered and downright gorgeous cats as your wedding party. The after wedding activities include a tour for the humans in your entourage, and often some special bonding time for newlyweds and big cats alike during feeding tours and keeper tours.  Having all of that wedding money go to such a great cause as rescuing lions and tigers and saving them in the wild is just, well...icing on the cake.  We love to see our guests having so much fun while doing so much good for the cats, but this couple really excelled at having a good time.  Read about this Purr-fect couple:

http://www.bigcatrescue.org/000news/0articlesbybcr/2009Wedding.htm

Big Cat Rescue was founded sixteen years ago in 1992 and to celebrate our anniversary we are going to celebrate the sixteen species of wild cat that reside at the sanctuary.

This month you can "kiss" Zabu the White Tigress.

November honored Windsong the Bobcat who started Big Cat Rescue and December's cat - Hercules the Snow Leopard. February's cat - Genie the Sandcat.  March's cat - Nik the Tiger, April's cat - Rambo the Jungle Cat, May's cat - Aspen Echo the Cougar. June's cat - Esmerelda the Serval, July's cat - Sabre the Leopard.  Last month you could "kiss" Zza Zza the Ocelot.

"Kiss" Zabu the White Tiger today or "Kiss" them all:

http://www.bigcatrescue.biz/servlet/the-791/Sweet-16-and-Never/Detail

email: Info@BigCatRescue.org

phone: 813 920-4130 fax 866.571.4523

web: http://www.BigCatRescue.org/
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