Howie’s Letter to Barbara Fisher (an Antle escapee) 

 

Barbara I have been thinking about what you said about a writer/reporter you could trust and who was skilled enough to get the story published in a way that would hopefully discourage other young women from being lured into this.  One came to mind this week.

 

Sharon Guynup is the writer who exposed the horrible Tiger Temple in Thailand. She is familiar with tiger issues and not afraid to take on something controversial. She has worked with National Geographic and has the reputation to get published.

 

She is not associated with us in any way, but we have met her a few times and she is speaking about the Tiger Temple work at a conference we are heading to tomorrow, so we will see her.  If you still think that is a direction you might want to pursue and would like to have an initial informal conversation with her I can run that by her.  Her interest and the timing might depend on how consumed she is with whatever she is working on now, but I think she would be very up front about that.

 

Separately there is one thing I forgot to ask you about when we talked on the phone but was reminded when I peeked at your Facebook page.  (I'm not much of a Facebook user. 😕)  You mention Antle having a 501c3 and I assume you are referring to the Rare Species Fund.

 

The IRS site where you look up nonprofits does not show it under that name, although sometimes nonprofits are registered under one name but commonly known under a d/b/a name.  http://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/

 

I made a $25 donation to see what the receipt said.  By law a receipt from a 501c3 must state that it is from a 510c3 and contain the FEIN.  The receipt from RSA did not.

 

Tax-exempt status statement: Statement that the organization is a 501c3 tax-exempt organization. Include the nonprofit’s EIN in case the donor wants to check the charity’s tax-exempt status.

Normally a 501c3 will prominently let people know of the nonprofit status. There is nothing on the RSA website that I see indicating it is a nonprofit and no financial reporting.

 

Separately, at least one of the claimed conservation efforts is misleading.

 

India Tiger Lantern Project

 

As the human population expands in India, people encroach on tiger territory. What once were pristine tiger preserves now house more than a million villagers. To meet their need for heat and light, villagers collect wood, depleting even further the shrinking tiger habitats. The RSF works with The Corbett Foundation to supply villagers from Kanha National Park in central India with lanterns and solar powered charging stations. The results have been outstanding. Communities that lived in darkness now have a renewable source of light. Children are able to study after dark. Villagers have portable lanterns to help guard against crop raiding herbivores. The reduction in fossil fuel consumption has improved the health of villagers. Equally important, encroachment on tiger habitats has gone down.

 

The way this reads it implies an ongoing relationship with Corbett. We know Corbett well because we donate to their work annually.  Antle did make a donation or donations to Corbett prior to 2015.  However, when Corbett found out about Antle's breeding/petting operation they returned his donation that year and advised they did not want to be associated with him and requested not to be mentioned on his website. If his entry on his website were in the past tense at least it would be true, even if very inconsiderate to ignore their wishes.  But "works with" implies an ongoing relationship he does not have.  I also wonder how many of his donations may have been tied to import permits for animals but have no specific information on that.

 

Anyway, since you mention the 501c3 I wondered if you had any actual evidence of there being one, or perhaps if the colleague you mentioned who was involved in the financial and administrative side of things might. I certainly do not want to say it is no