From Fur Farm Rescuers to Freedom Fighters

 

Most of you know that the sanctuary started with Windsong the bobcat in 1992 who inspired us to do fur farm rescues in 1993, 1994 & 1995.  When those last cats were rescued from the fur farm in 1995 that closed the era on cats being farmed in the U.S. for their fur.  To our knowledge there were no more fur farms who were raising and killing cats for their fur within our borders…

 

But there was a fur farm left in Canada.  We began negotiating with them to do the same thing there that we had done here:  buy every cat they had IF they would agree to quit raising and killing cats for their fur.  The price was going to be $90,000 to buy all of the cats and we would have to build cages for them as they arrived, which run us about $7500. per cage.   The negotiations took two years but in late June of 1997 the first four kittens arrived:  Apollo, Zeus, Boris and Natasha.  They were only 2 months old and about as unfriendly as they come.

 

A month an a half later Don went missing.  In our last story time I told you about all of the other cats and kittens who were in need of intensive care at the time of his disappearance.  The chaos was just indescribable.

 

Two of our volunteers stepped in to help.  Lenore offered to take Boris & Natasha and one of the cougar cubs to help alleviate the pressure on Jamie and I to provide around the clock care to so many youngsters.  Jackie took a bobcat and 3 cougars.  Of all of the people who adopted cats from us back then, I can only think of two people who didn't end up accidentally killing or returning them.  Lenore and Jackie; although Jackie did send back Enya and her brother.

 

Over the years both have asked me to take all of the cats back, but with a little persuasion (OK arm twisting) I have been able to get them to keep their commitments to the cats.  Both take a lot of pride in the fact that they have exotic cats as pets, but I think both would tell you that they wouldn't do it again if they had it to do over.

 

The picture is of Boris and Natasha (two males) who live on Lenore’s lanai.  She still can't touch the cats and can never know the kind of love that we expect to be able to give and receive from pets.  The cougar died last year.  The reason I wanted to tell you about these cats today is because both of these former volunteers have called me recently with concerns about legislation we are trying to pass.

 

Our opponents, the people who breed, sell and exploit wild animals sent out a letter to permit holders in Florida telling them that the laws we are trying to pass will cause them to have to euthanize or relinquish their "pets."  That isn't true, but the animal terrorists, as Jamie calls them, can't get any support for their position if they actually tell the truth.  They have to make up scare tactics like this to get support for their abusive industry.

 

The laws we seek to put in place will ban the breeding, buying, selling and possession of exotic cats BUT there is always a caveat built in to grandfather in the animals that are currently possessed.  When people try to give up their cats we always try to find ways for them to keep the cats because the animals don't like change and the people who bought them should keep their commitment to the animals if that is at all possible.

 

There is rarely room in good sanctuaries for exotic cats so we will always advocate for regulations that enable the cats to stay with their owners if at all possible and if that is suitable for the cat.  What a ban would prohibit is bringing more animals into captive situations and would close the loophole caused by people claiming they had the animals prior to the ban.  That is why they must register the animal at the time of the change in the law in order to keep the animal.  The only cases I know of where animals were confiscated after a ban was when people refused, after being advised and threatened with confiscation several times, to register t