Dinner with my darling at Whisky Joes on the Causeway See our sign at top left? They are a supporter of the sanctuary. Vets and Reporters I am up early today because Dr. Tammy Miller Michau and Dr. Liz Wynn Swearingen want to sedate Simba Leopard to look at his eye. He has a hole in the cornea that I wanted to treat w/ eye drops, rather than sedate him for extensive surgery. He’s so old and I expect to lose him every day, so it seems unfair to put him through this, but now they are saying it could be a fungal infection and that could hurt him a lot more, so we are going to sedate at 9 am this morning. 10 am: Dr. Miller thinks his eye is healing better than expected and opted to not do surgery today. Whew! Another bullet dodged. Before leaving I had to respond to a time sensitive report in the UAE: Hi Carole, I feel as if you are more qualified to answer this journalist's query. Do you have time today? Best, Judy From: Megha Subject: Urgent journalist request: Comment about condition of circus animals in the UAE: Hi Judy, Julian Rademeyer suggested I contact you. I'm a journalist at 7DAYS - the only independent daily newspaper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. I'm working on a story you might be interested in and wanted to share, as well as ask if you might be able to comment. It's about a lion and two tigers that have been living in deplorable conditions for months at a circus site in Dubai. Attached is a picture of the lion and below are links to the videos of the tigers (being made to practice tricks with the trainer using a rake and a shovel to direct them). The circus shut three months ago but the animals have been living in these stuffy conditions (pictured) all this while. The current temperature is 32 degrees celsius and we've had several severe dust storms over the past few months. Since the media attention about their living conditions, the tigers have disappeared and a witness claims to have seen people making offers to buy them in public about an hour away from the circus site. I was hoping you would be able to share your thoughts with me, from a global perspective, on the impact of these conditions on the animals, and what it means for the species. Any UAE-specific data you may have would be useful too. My deadline is end of play today - Monday, March 23. However, if you are able to assure me of a comment after the deadline I will hold the story another day. Please note, the links to the videos are currently unlisted and confidential. Thanks very much for listening. Look forward to hearing from you. Best wishes, Megha P.S. Sorry I haven't read your book, but I hope to get my hands on a copy over the summer now that I've learned about it from Julian. Dear Megha, Judy Mills asked if I would share my perspective on how lions and tigers, being treated this way, affects global populations. The conditions you show are truly deplorable and my heart aches for cats being so deprived of everything they need to be the magnificent animals they are. Seeing the training that goes on behind the scenes is something most people are never going to see. If people knew the animals are beaten, starved and sometimes even killed in the process, they would not go to circuses or wild animal performances. The evil people who use wild animals for such ventures are smart enough to hide what they do and to lie about it. They will always tell their audience that they only use positive reinforcement and praise. The fact of the matter is that they must carry something with them into the ring, when in front of a crowd, to make the cats think they have the weapons that were used during training. The whips look like long sticks to the cats and are the reminder to do the trick or be hit. 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 thi