We invited Aleesa in to make sure she was good with the pay of roughly 35k in cash and housing and she was.  I broke into tears (unexpectedly) when I told her that the reason I chose her for this job was because she had come to me early on saying that her goal was to run a place like this and I am putting my faith in her ability to actually run this place one day.

 

After all the meetings I had to race to my computer to send out this tax donation appeal that Susan had written:

 

We have 70 precious reasons to ask you to please consider making a year-end, tax-deductible donation to Big Cat Rescue. Their names circle the alphabet several times over: from Apollo (lynx) to Zeus (tiger). From Armani (leopard) to Zabu (white tiger). From Ariel (bobcat) to Zimba (serval). And from Ares (cougar) to Zucari (serval).

 

If you have already donated, please accept our heartfelt thanks and appreciation for your kindness!

 

As 2017 comes to a close, we are so grateful for everyone who has visited our sanctuary, followed our cats on social media, taken action to help us pass the Big Cat Public Safety Act and generously donated to our sanctuary. It is only because of your financial support that we can continue to rescue abused, neglected and abandoned exotic cats around the country and provide them with the best possible nutrition and medical care at our sanctuary.

 

This year we have rescued nine exotic cats, including 5 in December! Maya, an 18-year-old cougar from Ohio (pictured here), was rescued earlier this month after her owner surrendered her to the Department of Agriculture in Ohio. She is certainly enjoying her large enclosure!

 

And Manny the jaguar and Natalia the Amur leopard have just arrived from a zoo in Omaha. It’s been many years since Big Cat Rescue has been home to a jaguar and Manny has already stolen our hearts with his playful antics of storing all of his new toys inside his den at night. We’ve never had an Amur leopard at the sanctuary before and are enjoying getting to know Natalie’s purr-sonality. So far she is quite shy.

 

You also helped us provide a forever home to a discarded Savannah Cat and you're helping Noel Bobcat, who was hit by a car and left for dead on Christmas day, get the rehab she needs for release back to the wild.

 

Thank YOU so much for your amazing support of our sanctuary and cats! We hope the cats can count on you one more time in 2017 as you consider making your year-end, tax-deductible charitable donations.

 

Bigcatrescue.org/tax

 

Best wishes from your Big Cat Rescue family for a purrfectly healthy and happy New Year!

 

If you prefer, you can mail a check by December 31st to Howard Baskin at Big Cat Rescue at 12802 Easy Street, Tampa, Florida 33625.

 

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.  These are my views and opinions. 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