People Say Our Sanctuary Was a Landfill

I keep hearing people say that our sanctuary was previously a landfill or a dump and yesterday heard that it was in foreclosure.  These things are partially right, but the landfill statement makes people concerned for our cats' health and the bad guys frequently say that more than 100 cats have died here because we are built on a dump.  The factual story is that in the 1980's I loaned $80,000.00, on what was 40 ac of dry ground to a man named Wendell Williams.  He paid on time, so I never had a reason to come look at the property again until he quit paying.  When I came out to see why he wasn't paying, I discovered that he had dug out an 18 ac lake and hit a spring.  He had been selling the dirt; made lots of money and moved on.  I did foreclose on him to get the property.  The other way he made money was by allowing construction crews to dump building materials here after tearing down buildings.  It is concrete, lumber, sheet rock, and plastic piping for the most part that he buried.  None of that stuff would pollute our lake, which is tested annually because of the tigers, nor would it pollute our ground water.

 

Don Lewis used to bring home everything he could buy: trucks, boats, planes, baby strollers, clothing, everything he saw at every yard sale and "treasures" he would find in dumpsters.  He covered the top of this 40 acres with his hoarding.  He went to Costa Rica once a month and every time he was gone, I was hauling out dumpster loads of the junk he brought home.  The restraining order he applied for against me was in an effort to be able to stop me from hauling off all his "good stuff" if he got a call while in Costa Rica from someone ratting me out.  His secretary told me about the restraining order and that this is why he did it after his disappearance in 1997.  We never fought, so I didn't have any idea that he had done such a crazy thing.  It has taken 15 years, but we have almost eliminated all of the junk. (Written 4/28/2013 to volunteers)

 

Our cats live almost twice as long as they do in the wild or in captivity any where else, so it is a ridiculous claim by those who hate us that 100 cats have died for that reason.  100 cats have died because we have rescued well over 200 cats, who were mostly older and in poor health, over a 20 year period.  We are the only facility that I know of that posts our cats' deaths and keeps a memorial garden on site and online for everyone to see.  

 

Photo is Jamie in her first rehab project for investment and rental after having installed a new kitchen and floor.

 

Hi, I’m Carole Baskin and 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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Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile

 

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

 

Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue

 

Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.