Speed Trap Heart Attack I don’t even remember the last time I got a speeding ticket. Chalk that up to old age; either I am driving like a little old granny these days, or I just can’t remember… I didn’t get a ticket today, as I drove past a speed trap, but nearly had a heart attack. The opponents to protecting wild animals are an evil lot, who don’t respect life in any form, and over the years I’ve been physically attacked, threatened, and intimidated by a number of back yard breeders and exploiters. As a result, I am always a little on edge, but didn’t realize how much I constantly scan the scene for danger until today. My parents gave me two costly gifts in the past few months; a pretty little cherry red golf cart to use at the sanctuary and a 2012 Toyota Tacoma Pre-Runner. My mother and I spent an hour and 15 minutes at the DMV doing the title transfer this morning and on the way to the sanctuary is when I nearly flipped the new truck over to escape being shot! Or that is what I thought was happening… As I scanned to the right, I saw an unmarked police car, in the driveway to a store that shut down last year. The driveway is often used by the convenience store patrons and the church on the other side, so it was a place you would expect to see someone sitting, as they were just waiting for a break in traffic, and not a place one would expect a sheriff’s deputy to have set up a speed trap. As I glanced at the car, I notice what appears to be a man pointing a gun at my face and adrenaline flushed through my veins like a tidal wave. There was that instance of fight or flight where I was struggling to remember if my gun (I have a concealed weapons permit and am a very good shot) was in this car or not. I was considering evasive action, but was hemmed in by traffic. I considered just broadsiding my assailant but (thankfully) thought better of that. And then the pieces began to fit as I cruised on past... He didn’t shoot... My windshield was intact... Typical shape of an unmarked police car... That gun was too broad at the nose... My thumping heart began to calm, but I just couldn’t help but think how badly all of that could have gone if just one of those reactions, to the constant harassment I face, had caused me to take some action other than just passing by. Constantly challenging the way we treat animals and encouraging people to rethink their involvement, such as paying to pet lion and tiger cubs, or going to the circus, or buying designer hybrid cats is not for the faint of heart. Big Cat Rescue is pressing for laws that will protect wild animals from these abuses, but Joe Biden famously said, “No fundamental social change occurs merely because government acts. It’s because civil society, the conscience of a country, begins to rise up and demand – demand – demand change.” The animals, and I, need you to “demand – demand – demand change.” Dad, Mom and Jamie on her golf cart. Jamie added the spots to both our carts. Nat Geo Wants to Film From: Devon Massyn Subject: [Big Cat Rescue] Filming at Big Cat Rescue: Hi there, I 'm a producer for Big Cat Week on Nat Geo Wild and would love to talk to a representative about filming at your facility. Thanks, Devon Massyn Susan Bass followed up with him. I don’t know if he ever actually came to film. Maybe with her. We get pitched all the time and they frequently film but then sometimes it’s years before we see any evidence of their work and sometimes never.

 

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 misconce