Dear Thomas and Feld Family,

 

I am so thankful that you have decided to end the use of big cats in your acts.  I was surprised, as I would have thought the show would go on, but more as entertainment by human entertainers.  Regardless, it ends many years of strife between your company and those of us who believe that wild cats are not meant to be bred for life in cages.

 

Articles are saying you are considering "suitable homes" for the cats, but the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries has not been alerted to the need for these homes, and I can assure you that there are no suitable homes outside of GFAS oversight.

 

Back in 1999 when we contracted with you to take all of the big cats as they came off the road, our understanding was that you were getting out of the big cat business.  We held up our end.  As you know, the 18 cats you retired here lived much longer, richer lives than anywhere else.

 

We felt it was a breach of contract for Feld to then go and contract acts who owned their own cats, but your lawyers were better than I was at crafting language and we spent the next 16 years feeling like we had been used.  While you did pay for the upkeep of your cats, the primary purpose of the agreement was to end the use of big cats in your acts, from our perspective.

 

We were grateful that you did retire the cats here, and we loved every one of them until the end.  We'd really like to see a complete end of the use of wild cats in all circus acts and would like to talk to you about providing a retirement home for the cats you've used but this time with a contract that better seals our agreement; that you and those surrendering the cats, will never possess exotic cats again.

 

I remember sitting in the parking lot of our sanctuary with Kenneth Feld, all those years ago, and he said that he didn't like being in the animal business and that as soon as the public didn't want to see animals in circus acts, he wouldn't have animals in circus acts.  I appreciate that he and his family have made this momentous decision to end the use of wild animals and we want to help assure that you are able to give the proper "cradle to grave" support that you have claimed as your mantra.

 

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.  

 

You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile!

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.  Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk