The worst escape in our history was Tobi Cougar and I’m pretty sure she had very little to do with it.  Tim Evans had been a volunteer, but when it was reported that he was in the cage with Tobi Cougar and kicking her, I ran to the scene and grabbed that huge brute of a man by one ear.  I was digging my fingernails into his ear so deeply that blood began gushing from the ear and he was sure I was going to tear it completely off.

 

It felt pretty secure to me, but he was wailing like a baby, so I dragged him into the kitchen to spray it off.  Seeing there was no real damage done, I offered to let him walk to his car or I’d drag him the rest of the way.  He chose to walk out on his own, but I stayed within striking distance all the way to the gate, screaming at him that he was to never step foot on this property again.

 

Since he couldn’t come play with the cougars here any more, he started going to Sherrie Frost’s house because she had a pet cougar and a pet caracal and a monkey, I think.  The cougar bit Tim’s hand good enough to leave a scar, so on 12/3/1997 after Don disappeared and I had fired Sherrie (who stole my diary and offered it to highest bidder) they concocted a plan to say the bite happened here.  Tim alleged that Tobi had bitten him but she was about as docile a cat as they come.  Case #97-08896 B Hillsborough County, FL.

 

During one of the early hearings, I walked her into the courthouse on a leash to show that she wasn’t the vicious menace he was claiming.  Everyone at the courthouse knew me because I was down there all the time in connection with real estate matters.  I think that Sherrie and Tim came onto the sanctuary grounds and took Tobi outside our gates to turn her loose, in an effort to make it look like she was a dangerous animal.  The reason I believe that is that I got a call from law enforcement saying my cougar was loose, but her cage gate and the front gate were closed, so there’s no way she did that on her own.  Sherrie still had keys, so we ended up changing the locks after that.

 

Before I knew it there were helicopters circling, police sirens wailing and things had gotten totally out of control.  How did law enforcement know before we or our neighbors did?  We sent search parties out into the surrounding area and a call came in from the owner of the Circle K convenience store a quarter of a mile from us, where Easy Street meets the pavement.  He said, “Your cougar is at our door and she’s asking for a Slurpee.” 

 

Don and I jumped in the car and raced up the road.  I saw Tobi sitting at the front door to the store, and she was completely surrounded by police cars and officers with guns drawn and pointed at her.  I jumped out of the car and ran into the melee screaming, “Don’t shoot!  Don’t shoot!”  Don opened the hatch back on the car and I ran alongside Tobi as she leaped toward something familiar and a way away from all of this madness.  I figured no one would shoot if I was in the way.

 

Tobi hopped into the back of the car and I shut the hatch.  It was a pretty anticlimactic end to a very stressful day. 

 

I've been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/

 

I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet. 

 

You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile!

Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile

 

You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org

 

Check out our main c