Part 2

First off, thank you so much to those who have read and left comments here, on Facebook, and in private.  I appreciate the encouragement, and it’s what will keep me writing.  These are difficult and a bit intimidating to write, especially when I am calling out specific people or facilities.  I am not out to unfairly harm or discredit anyone, but I do think it’s important to acknowledge the issues.  

What brought this part of the discussion about was a member of a zookeeper forum asking about Black Jaguar White Tiger Foundation.  The question was simple enough – Are they legitimate?  

Well, that’s a matter of perspective, isn’t it? 

In my experience, rare and endangered big cat cubs, bottle raised and well-adjusted to human interaction are not exactly easy to come by.  A sanctuary that seems to have a constant influx of healthy bottle babies is suspect, to put it mildly.  I will say the same thing about a sanctuary that houses a broad range of especially desirable subspecies or color variations. I believe that by definition, a sanctuary should not allow petting and interaction by anyone not seeing directly to the care of the animal. (The veterinarian is fine, but not the celebrity who paid for a new enclosure, or just makes for good press.) Making a big media spectacle to raise funds for far-flung rescue efforts… That’s great marketing, but it is also creating an issue just so that you can solve it.  That’s quite different than responding to a need.

I have never visited BJWT.  For all I know they ARE saving the old, the ugly, and the common cats, too.  Hopefully they’re doing something about the source of all of those pretty babies, but if they were, I’m pretty sure they’d be talking about it as much as they do their luxury watch endorsement.

 

In my opinion, no, BJWT is NOT a legitimate sanctuary.

Is my opinion biased?  You’re damned right it is.  I don’t like their double standards.  They advocate the destruction of legal breeders and other animal organizations while showing off how they and their celebrity guests get to cuddle adorable baby predators.  Oh, and they refuse to alter these animals in case they’re needed in the future for breeding. 

Do you see my issue?  Some guy who arbitrarily started a sanctuary three years ago proudly takes endangered animals away from legal zoos and breeders with important connections, access to studbooks, experience resulting in live births, and an understanding of genetics… And someday he might breed them? That doesn’t make a damned bit of sense on any level.  And yet, according to social media, this guy is a hero.

More and more, small zoos and private owners are being wrongly victimized for nothing more than someone else’s marketing scheme.  Too many facilities or organizations have decided that it’s not enough to just do good things, or even jump around shouting about doing good things. They have to try to ruin the reputation of anyone or anything they see as potential competition.  They need someone to point out as the bad guy so that the public can make a comparison to see why those good things deserve a reward.  Those newly minted bad guys don’t have to do anything to deserve the negative attention. They’re just a convenient patsy, mostly because they’re too small, too underfunded, and frankly too busy caring for their animals to spare the time and money it would take to fight back. 

**Here is where someone being ‘helpful’ will tell me that any truly quality business could just sue for slander/libel and heal their reputation.  You show me one case where that actually worked.  

Spoiler alert - it hasn’t worked for anyone, yet.  Hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars have been lost in the attempt.

You’ll notice that a lot of sanctuaries and animal rescues in recent years suddenly have a lot of circus rescues.  I don’t deny that a circus, like any other business, can go under.  I also don’t deny that some animals were declawed, defanged, or otherwise maimed by circuses.  But that many?  Recently?  And these circus animal rescues never made the news.  That’s odd.  Isn’t a circus going under and leaving dozens of animals facing an uncertain future exactly the sort of horror story the media loves?  And why is it the keepers of those dozens of rescued lions and tigers and leopards can’t tell me the name of the former circus?  Much less how they managed to rescue only babies, or what happened to the hoof stock. Hmm.

When the circus comes to town, I attend.  I sit close to the action and get a good look at those animals.  I’m watching eyes, ears, tails, and whiskers.  I’m reading body language.  I’m looking for muscle density, coat condition, and how they place their feet.  I look for hesitation in movement, signs of stiffness, crouching behaviors that may indicate harsh handling.  I have experience.  I know what I’m looking for.  I do not think the majority circuses harm their animals.  Again, I am sure that some have.  The concerns started somewhere, but that doesn’t make it right to condemn every traveling menagerie.  It really doesn’t make it right for so many sanctuaries to base a portion of their fundraising on a situation they can’t clearly define and are not directly helping.

The anti-circus campaign worked!  Say goodbye.

Sanctuaries make a great platform for that “Nobody should touch tigers but me” mentality.  I have not yet met a sanctuary owner or director that doesn’t handle and pet their cats.  It’s yet another great example of the double standard helping to drive the wedge between zoos and sanctuaries.

The “Us versus them” mentality is keeping different members of the animal care community from working together at a time when our livelihoods and the animals we love are very much living on borrowed time.

I do believe that there is a very real need for sanctuaries.  I believe that many of the large, well-known sanctuaries have built their reputations through hard work and dedication.  I know for an unfortunate fact that there are some facilities that have created a sanctuary out of their own collection of pets and some creative storytelling. 

In the eyes of the USDA and APHIS, zoos and sanctuaries are held to the same standards of care.  There is no difference.  However, in the court of public opinion, a private owner of a zoo that charges $5 for people to come and look is exploiting the animals for money, whereas the sanctuary charging $5 for the same privilege is just collecting a donation, and should be applauded for their selfless efforts.  How is that fair?  Either way, the money will go toward food and maintenance, insurance, advertising, equipment, staff, and everything it takes to run a business.

Because at the end of the day a sanctuary is a business, just like a zoo is a business.   Private zoos, public zoos, aquariums, and sanctuaries are in the business of caring for animals.  Many zoos have taken in animals that another facility or an individual could no longer care for.  Many sanctuaries are now offering educational information at their exhibits.  Zoos and sanctuaries may have different mission statements, but they sure have similar day-to-day operations.

Every sanctuary I have ever visited, and most of the zoos, have been non-profits that will solicit donations for animal care and facility maintenance and expansion. 

***Just for the record - If an insufferable asshole files for not-for-profit status he does not suddenly become an angel of charitable compassion. He has simply become a tax-exempt asshole who can legally hit you up for a donation.  To say that a different way, a 501C3 does not grant sainthood.  It just changes how you file taxes.

Most zoos and sanctuaries will advocate against exotic animals as pets, and animals being used for entertainment. (Except for their own program, of course.  Those are ‘ambassadors’ not ‘entertainers.’) 

So what is the difference? 

Well, sanctuaries are supposed to be a forever home for abandoned, abused, unwanted, discarded animals.  Some sanctuaries are not open to the public, and others have regular hours. 

Zoos are supposed to be educational institutions where people can go to see and learn about animals.  They go out of their way to encourage attendance and interest in the exhibits.

Sanctuaries by definition do not propagate.  Most zoos do.

Most zoos contribute in some part to global conservation efforts, be it through public or private education, captive breeding programs, outreach to wild habitat projects, or any combination of these things.  Some sanctuaries are now at least lending a nod toward the wild counterparts of their captive residents, but they are generally more focused on the horrors of captivity gone wrong, owing to the origin of their resident critters.

Where the differences between the two types of business really shine is in their marketing. 

A zoological institution or wildlife park will publish cool facts about their animals, offer discounts for groups, change up the exhibits to highlight different species, buy advertising in newspapers and magazines and put ads on the radio or television if they can afford it.  They will try to garner enthusiasm for weird animal trivia and offer interactive or tactile experiences for children.

Sanctuaries on the other hand rely on the public’s love of a sad tale with a happy ending.  They use emotive language to highlight the horrors of life in captivity.  One photograph of an emaciated bear will quickly grab attention. An image of hybrid wolves chained in a rusted cage will create outrage.  The coup de gras… a video of a crying baby anything, or an animal suffering physical abuse, with JUST the right story, can go completely viral and generate thousands of dollars for the organization that unlocked the proper combination.  It doesn’t matter if the picture has nothing to do with their sanctuary, is so old that there’s no possible way that subject is still alive, or if nobody knows where the event happened. The text or voiceover can be a complete work of fiction.  As long as the finished product makes someone feel like a hero when they pledge to sponsor an animal it’s a winner! Money in the bank.

Okay, they’re not all that bad.  Just a lot of them.  Some are worse. 

I’m okay with the idea of a sanctuary emphasizing the story of a rescue to make it a bit more dramatic.  It’s marketing.  I get that.  I am not okay with flat out making stuff up, especially when the fairytale they generate directly hurts another person or facility, or blatantly discredits an entire branch of the animal industry.

Just like I argue that not all sanctuaries are good, I must argue that not all private owners are bad.  Not all zoos overbreed their collections and kill the surplus. Not all roadside zoos are filthy death traps. Not all white tigers are inbred for profit.  Not all elephants are beaten into submission. Not all exotic breeders feed the black market.  Not all petting cubs are later killed in canned hunts.  

The manufactured information to the contrary – And I do mean every bit of it – Was created for the sole purpose of making the consumer feel like forking over a bit of cash is the least they could do to make up for the atrocities perpetrated by other humans. 

I promise that there really are decent and well educated private owners, beautiful small stand-alone zoos, private breeders that carefully track bloodlines, perfectly healthy and genetically diverse white tigers, happy elephants that enjoy their work and their trainers, leopards that were petted as babies and went on to live full lives, and for-profit entities with an eye on the future survival of endangered species AND who put every dime right back into the animals. 

I have personally encountered all of these things.

Actually, most of the animal people I’ve met are responsible and conscientious, and treat their animals better than many people treat their children.

That may be hard to digest.  In fact I know more than a few readers at this point have denounced me as a fool or a liar.  Either I spent my years living in a wildlife park completely blind, or being brainwashed, right?

Well, brace yourself because there’s more.

Not all of those animals at the sanctuary were rescued.

Some of them were purchased.  Some were traded.  Some were requested by the sanctuary and given to them as gifts.  Some were born and bred there. 

In one case that I can prove, cubs were bred with the intention of making a profit.  These bottle baby white tigers were listed for sale in the Animal Finder’s Guide.  When they failed to sell, they were rebranded as an averted tragedy.  You can still donate to feed that lie to this very day.  We’ll hear more about this particular ‘sanctuary’ in another post.

  

I wish, with all my heart, I could remember which sanctuary randomly sent my mother a calendar of their cats a few years ago.  It was an advertisement of course.  Twelve very pretty pictures of cats telling their stories, hoping that sympathetic souls would pledge to donate.  Do you know what I loved about that?  It was nice.  It was positive.  It didn’t point fingers, it simply stated who they were and what they wanted.  My favorite part was their white tiger’s story.  That cat was in a sanctuary because the people running the facility wanted her, and so she was received as a gift.  That’s beautiful.  No made up drama.  No caveat regarding questionable bloodlines. 

One story I have never heard, because it hasn’t happened, is about that time that a small zoo was about to go under because the regulations changed. New statutes requiring them to raise the height of their fences two feet were beyond the limits of their budget, so a big-name animal rescue used their awesome powers of fundraising and helped that little zoo to meet the new guidelines.  The animals didn’t have to move or face euthanasia, the keepers got to keep their jobs, and the locals still had a place to go and learn about their natural world. 

Why haven’t I ever heard a story like that?  Why can’t a rescue ever be about facilities supporting each other?  Wouldn’t it be more economical and more humane in many cases to help the animals where they are? 

I guess the AZA zoos share resources, but they’ve come to exclude any non-AZA facilities wherever possible.  To be a member of their organization you have to pay hefty annual dues and agree to play by their politics. 

ZAA is smaller and not so expensive to join.  They do have rules, but they’re more lenient, and apparently you can be a member and still be nice to those that refuse accreditation.

The non-accredited zoos support and help each other by sharing bloodlines and resources and vendors.  They keep each other informed of changes in legislation. They talk about the USDA and discoveries in biology and veterinary medicine.  They don’t mind if other facilities are accredited or not as long as their animals are healthy and well managed.

I don’t know anything about the sanctuary networks.  I know they exist.  I know that there is cooperation, but I can’t speak to their hierarchy.  I have seen some of the horror story marketing used by some sanctuaries targeted at other sanctuaries, calling them out for substandard care, breeding, selling, buying, and poor management. 

But if any facilities, be they sanctuary, zoo, aquarium, menagerie, breeding compound, ranch, or otherwise are actually actively helping and supporting each other, then they are certainly being quiet about it.

Last year, Great Cats World Park made a very nice gesture to a sanctuary and got kicked in the face for it. 

I left Great Cats, and I’m still pretty damned mad about the way I was treated there, but that little privately owned zoo has the healthiest collection of cats I have ever seen.  The owner has a pretty nasty reputation on the animal activist websites, but having shared an address with the man for four years, I can attest that everything he is, everything he does, has to do with the comfort and wellbeing of those cats. 

Like most zoos, Great Cats takes surplus from other zoos, has a breeding program, has cats on loan to and from other facilities, has purchased animals, and has taken on several rescues.  Last spring it was decided that the collection was a bit out of balance.  Over the course of about three years, the Park had lost a leopard, a cougar, two snow leopards and a lioness, all to complications stemming from old age.  Their exhibits had been taken over by tigers.  Not a huge deal, as they were all healthy, happy, and loved. But the Park’s primary purpose is to teach the public about a wide variety of cat species, so the “Look, another tiger!” game was getting less funny.  

Craig called up an old buddy of his, a Mr. Rick Glasey, to see if he knew anyone who was looking for tigers.  (This is what happens with Great Cats surplus animals.  The Park finds out if another facility wants to house them responsibly and see to their care.  If not, those animals stay put, and continue to be loved and cared for at the Park. This will sometimes determine how and where the next exhibit is built.) As it happens, Rick did know a facility nearby that was looking for tigers. 

The Oregon Tiger Sanctuary.

Uh, okay…  I think that caught us a bit off guard.  We sort of knew them, had shared food source information, shared cold storage space, and had coordinated evacuation plans using each other’s facilities as places to take cats in case of wildfire.  But being as they are a rescue, I don’t think it had ever occurred to us to ask if they were having a tiger shortage.  As it happens, they were. 

Apparently the United States Illegal Pet Tiger Crisis doesn’t extend to the Pacific Northwest.  

Who knew?

Now to back up just a bit, I met some really nice people at a USDA symposium a couple of years back.  They had a sanctuary in Texas and REALLY wanted a tiger.  I liked them, liked their vets, liked the pictures they sent of the enclosure, liked their feeding protocol, safety plans, everything.  What I didn’t like was their website that swore ALL of their animals were rescued from horrifically abusive situations. I asked them for a promise that they tell the truth about where they got that tiger.  They wouldn’t do it, so I kept the tiger. (That story will be relevant, I swear.) 

We decided to at least meet with and talk to the OTS staff. Rick came to the park and brought Rob the vet director, and I think one or two of their keepers.  We took them on a tour of the whole park, and introduced them to our staff and all of the cats.  Oregon Tiger Sanctuary was looking for several tigers, and they really wanted a white tiger to replace a recent loss and they really wanted cubs that they could handle and grow up with.  We had what they were looking for.  

Moxie and Brutus are young adult siblings.  Moxie had been an ambassador cat and would easily acclimate to a new facility, and her brother is an easygoing cat with a sweet disposition.  We also had two cubs, one white, one orange.  They were leash trained sweethearts that were growing up together.

Now keep in mind there are several other tigers that live at Great Cats, but when it’s time to discuss sending out a cat, a lot of thought is put into making a successful transfer.  Relocation can be extremely traumatic for an adult cat.  They are territorial and don’t like change.  Moxie, as an ambassador, had grown up seeing new places and riding in a trailer.  She had been at both outdoor and indoor venues, and wasn’t bothered by an occasional change of scenery.  Out of all of our adults, she would have the smoothest transition. Brutus had stayed home while his sister was off adventuring, but he always missed her when she was gone, so we wanted to send him along. Also, he loved meeting new people, so we knew he would take to new keepers right away.  As a bonus, Moxie and Brutus are white tigers.  

The OTS staff was of course super excited about the cubs.  Keep in mind that well acclimated bottle babies in perfect condition don’t come up for rescue, so this sort of facility won’t see them often, if ever.  We allowed them to walk the cubs with us and ask any questions they could think of.  They met the parents, talked about their vaccines, their diet, their habits, their preferences, and so on.  At that point we were treating them like any other big cat facility, which is why we also went to visit their home. 

What a nice place!  It’s closed to the public, so the only people their animals see are their keepers, and on occasion former owners come to visit relinquished pets.  As advertised they had several vacancies.  The enclosures are large, and some have access to pools.  The cats have platforms and toys.  OTS has a dedicated staff, great safety procedures, and a really nice onsite vet facility.

I talked at length to the staff about my concerns giving our babies to a sanctuary.  I told them the story about refusing to send out a tiger, because I couldn’t stand the idea of someone using an animal I loved, one that I had raised, to tell lies and dupe people out of money.  Especially my Moxie.  I know you’re not supposed to have favorites with your ‘kids’, but Moxie was always my special girl.  I met her when she was two months old, and it was love at first bite.  (She’s a tiger, not a puppy.  Little tigers are jerks.) She helped me teach thousands of people about endangered species and habitat loss, genetic research, evolution, feline behavior, and more.  She was a star.  She was retired at two.  She was happy and healthy, and okay fine she’s a little cross-eyed, but it’s not like she was ever going to be breeding stock anyway.  I was willing to send her out, to share her if someone would love her, and care for her, because her background meant she could be easily relocated.  She and Brutus and the cubs were a gift. I requested that the sanctuary to admit to the origins and circumstances of these not-rescued tigers, and they promised they would. 

An understanding was reached, and we agreed to deliver the cats to their new home.  We used our truck and trailer, because they didn’t have the equipment to haul big cats.  The facility’s director herself was delighted to walk one of the cubs into their new enclosure.

This happened in April, 2016.

The following is the text of a letter sent to Great Cats World Park from Penny Torres-Spinnler of Oregon Tiger Sanctuary.

“Hi Craig, Traveler and Farrah.  I really have enjoyed meeting you three, and Craig, as we've partnered in getting Big Cat Food delivered and stored over the years, I'm happy to have met you finally! You do such a great job at exposing the Public to the Natural Behaviors of Great Cats, and educating those who come to visit with all of you about the importance of Exotic Animal Conservation. Thank you for the tour for us at your facility, and thank you for visiting with us! ...and Thank You for helping the Exotics born in captivity to live long, happy, healthy lives allowing those with Conservation in their soul, to be exposed to the 'Beings' behind their Amazing Eyes, so they too may be moved to work with those of us who work to raise awareness and encourage Conservation for All Exotic and Wild Animals on our Planet. ...and like us, thank you for always encouraging those seeking pets to help us help Domestics find Wonderful Homes. This is a Beautiful Facebook Page, to go along with such Extraordinary Big Cats as well as you, Craig and your Awesome Crew! I look forward to seeing you all again. - The Oregon Tiger Sanctuary - Founder/Director ***For Anyone Looking to have a genuinely Caring and Exceptional Experience for the Purpose of Supporting and Enjoying Exotic Animals who, without Craig, his staff and the Great Cats World Park, would never have an opportunity to experience a close up and fun adventure while learning for the purpose of Conservation, I recommend this well trained staff, this Highly Experienced Trainer and these Amazing and Well Cared for and Loved Big Cats! One of my favorite experiences with Craig, his staff and the Big Cats of GCWP is how Very Loved, Well Cared for and Happy all the Cats are! Thank You Team for being on the Front Line of Allowing Everyone to Experience and Learn about the Behaviors and the Importance of Exotic Animal Conservation and Natural Habitat Preservation.”

Isn’t that nice?  Then on their Facebook page was this:

The last thing I did before leaving Oregon to begin my new life was to drive up to the Sanctuary to visit my tigers.  I was touched by Moxie’s reaction when she saw me.  Brutus is always happy to see everyone.  Dublin was indifferent, and little Kronos about turned himself inside out.  It was great to see them and spend some time talking with them and Rob who had become their primary keeper. 

Overall I was happy with what I saw.  They all had new names and they were all fat, but that’s common with sanctuaries.  I do think Moxie was too fat for her health, so we discussed their feeding habits and ideas for backing her off her food a bit.  I was surprised to see the cubs being fed bottles through the fence.  They’d been weaned for months before leaving the park, but again, just because a practice is different, that doesn’t make it wrong.  The cats were happy.  They were calm and playful and interested in what was happening around them.  I did correct Rob twice.  He would refer to rescuing the cubs, and I would refer to giving them the cubs.  I figured it was a slip, because usually that’s what they did, but I didn’t let it worry me.  I also mentioned having emailed whoever keeps up their Facebook page.  That person keeps posting anti-white tiger rhetoric that has been soundly disproven, and they had specifically come to us wanting white tigers, so why bash them?  I was told he’d look into it.

That was November of 2016.

  Then in December, this news story was released.

I was instantly sick.  I feel so betrayed.  They LIED!  

The USDA never had any involvement with the placement of these cats.  That is a complete fabrication.  

It doesn’t matter that I’m not with the park anymore.  They lied to me.  They looked me in the eye, made me a promise, took my tigers, then did exactly what they told me they wouldn’t do, and then added some made-up crap to make it seem like they rode to the rescue when the feds called them.  

And the part about cubs being taken from their mothers?  Uh, THEY are the ones that wanted hand raised cubs.  (Yes there will be a post on hand raised babies.)  I’m guessing that means they don’t interact with them anymore? That right there is EXACTLY what I was talking about before.  Double standard, lying, and making another facility look bad to elicit sympathy, bolster your fundraising, and paint yourself as a hero.

As soon as I saw that, I called the sanctuary and left a message for Robert to call me.

I am STILL waiting.  

I have no idea how things went down at the Park when the boss-man heard about this, but I imagine they too feel betrayed. In fact I bet it got a bit loud over there.

I wonder if they’ll try to get those tigers back?

I mean, if they’re such a burden to OTS…  I’d donate to that cause for sure.

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