Carole Baskin Bio for Speaking Events

Carole Baskin is the founder of Big Cat Rescue. She runs a real estate business to support herself and volunteers as CEO for Big Cat Rescue managing 107 volunteers, several interns from around the world and 9 staff.

 

She has run this Tampa based non profit since 1992 and has garnered international attention to the plight of captive big cats on CNN, Animal Planet, Discovery, U.S. News & World Report, People Magazine, The Today Show, Sports Illustrated, all of the local media outlets and many more national and international programs.

 

She has lectured in Costa Rica, Panama and many cities across the U.S. on cage construction, legislative affairs, and sanctuary standards in Universities, Law Colleges, and in numerous animal association conferences.  Her efforts, combined with many others of like mind, have resulted in the 2003 passage of the Captive Wild Animal Safety Act which made it illegal to sell a big cat across state lines as a pet, the 2009 requirement that those in Florida who possess Class I animals must post a $10,000 bond and the reclassification of a cougar to Class I, making it illegal to own as a pet in FL.

 

Carole Baskin served as a past President of The Association of Sanctuaries and currently serves on the board of the Humane USA PAC and is the head of the Florida branch.  The PAC is the nation's largest political action committee dedicated entirely to putting animal friendly candidates in office.  Her mission is to end the trade in exotic cats and thus put herself out of business.