Alafia Carole,
I made a tough decision earlier today. I've decided it is in my best interest to back out of the Zoology/Docent Training program I'm enrolled in at the Central Florida Zoo. Why? I actually discovered Big Cat Rescue on the Internet the day before I was scheduled to go through class orientation at the Zoo. My heart instinct told me to scrap the Zoo and get on board with BCR; however, my head said it wasn't logical to scrap my zoo plans considering my knowledge of BCR was only via the Internet.
I spent a good amount of time the other day reading your website. Once again, I am so impressed with you. I respect your love and dedication to serving animals & value an organized leader. (The red, yellow, green traffic light inspired volunteer tee shirt system is brilliant.) I also respect the fact that you have suffered and overcome adversity with courage and perseverance. Overcoming adversity with courage and perseverance means that you are strong and humble; a rare and powerful balance, especially in a leader.
Though I appreciate the role the Central Florida Zoo serves, it's a sterile environment. I can't evolve and flourish in a sterile environment. Based on what I discovered about you the other day and your Sarabi & Mufasa experience, I know you are Spirit conscious, and since you're at the helm of BCR, sight unseen, I know Spirit abounds on the grounds of BCR.
Long story short... I'm asking you to humor me one last time with a 'behind the scenes tour' reschedule. In order to accommodate the Zoo, I arranged my schedule so that I could be free on Wednesdays through April 14. Ergo, I'm available to meet you on any Wednesday of your choosing: March 17, March 24, March 31, April 7, or April 14. I apologize for being a nuisance. I'm not flaky, in order to launch Shaman Safari in 12 months, I must be time and choice conscious. - Lynn (I don’t remember her last name and her websites are now defunct)
If you have time, I'm curious...
Lynn’s questions are in italics.
What species, other than feline, reside at BCR? 6 Binturong, 2 African and 2 Palm Civets, 10 Lemurs(8 ringtailed, 2 blk & wht) , 4 Llamas, a horse that some people refer to as an old soul, (people who you wouldn’t even guess would think such a thing), deer, 3 Patagonian cavies, 2 swans (of course), ducks, a coati and a genet. I won’t take in any animal other than cats, but some of these were before we became as focused and others have been left at our gate. Our operations manager who lives on site has a boxer. I think one of our on site keepers has a skunk.
When you acquired Windsong in 1992, did you have a Class 2 license? If so, how did you obtain said license; i.e., what training granted you this license? From 1980 until 1992 I had Himalayan show cats and we traveled the country getting their grand championships. My cats were raised under foot and I often thought that their success in the show ring had much more to do with their purrsonalities than their genetics. I didn’t like the direction the breed took when they decided that the cats should look like Persians with flat faces and all of the defects that go along with extreme breeding and quit breeding and showing in 1984.
I always was involved with cattery rescues where crazy cat ladies (gosh, do people call me that?) would end up with more cats than they could care for. I was often asked to negotiate their removal and then had lots and lots of trips to the vet to clean the cats up and find proper homes. Because I spent so much time in vets offices with cattery cats that had absolutely no use for people, the vets soon learned that if a bobcat was injured they could set a leg in 30 minutes and turn over the 6 months of rehab care to me. I had to get a rehab permit from the state to do that. I didn’t know that until much later, but that is how I got my initial permit for class 2.
How did you work up to obtaining Class 1 licensing? That was a legal battle. We got a call