Sheba the Black Jaguar

This month I would like to tell you about Sheba the black jaguar; a cat who should be here but isn't.  For years people complained to us about a black jaguar who would pace constantly in a small pit at Cypress Gardens.  Big Cat Rescuers, Barbara Frank and Julie Hanan went to Cypress Gardens to check it out and brought back disturbing video that showed the jaguar to pace so consistently that there was a worn, dark mark in the wall from her pushing against it.

 

We met with Cypress Gardens staff to try and help them come up with ways to give Sheba privacy and enrichment so that she might stop pacing.  They ignored us.

 

Later, when Cypress Gardens had gone bankrupt and were looking to dispose of all of their animals, we offered to take Sheba, but instead they sent her to Dade City’s Wild Things.  Last year a former employee of DCWT brought me a photo of Sheba, her face swollen and blood dripping from the oozing wound.  Even though she was too old to breed, the owner of DCWT, Kathy Stearns, had put her in with a male jaguar.  Sheba had killed the male jaguar and suffered considerable trauma to her head and face.  We, and the employee, reported this to USDA and FWS along with the photos and the employee’s letter stating that Kathy never gave the jaguar medical care for the wounds.  Sheba was again on our minds as we went to lobby in D.C. for laws that would prevent cats like her from ending up in private hands.

 

Big Cat Rescuers, Jeff & Coleen Kremer and Howard & Carole Baskin just returned from Washington, D.C. in the sanctuary’s 7th annual trip to meet with other animal lovers where they petition lawmakers to enact more humane legislation.  One of the best takeaways from the conference each year is the Humane Scorecard which lists all of the animal legislation from the previous session and how YOUR lawmaker voted.  Howard said, “It’s just like homecoming every year to reunite with such great people who are working hard to end animal abuse.”

 

The four Rescuers went up early in order to make this the most profitable conference for big cats ever.  Howard and Carole met with Richard Patch and Sara Amundson of the Humane Society Legislative Fund to get their expert advice on the best ways to end the abuse of tiger and lion cubs who are bred for pay-to-play schemes.  They had similar meetings with Adam Roberts, CEO of Born Free USA, Cynthia Armstrong, the State Director of HSUS in Oklahoma, and many others too numerous to recount here.

 

The conference workshops were excellent, as usual and there was a private screening of The Elephant in the Living Room along with a Q & A with the producer, Mike Webber and the star, Tim Harrison.  The DVD will be out in August and we will let you know when it is available.  The conference concludes each year with Lobby Day where the hundreds of animal lovers from all over the country gather in groups by state to go see their members of Congress.  See photos of Big Cat Rescuers showing Congressional Staff the horrid conditions in which big cats live in the U.S. due to the lack of governance and enforcement.

 

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.  

 

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

 

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