Information on Florida Big
Cat Rescue, BCR, (formerly known as 'Wildlife on Easy street)
and its co-founder Carole Baskin (formerly Carole
Lewis)
Animal Welfare (AW) =
Responsible Animal Use
Animal Rights (AR) = NO Animal Use
The Animal Rights Movement -
FREE Posters
|
Before donating
money or placing your pets in a sanctuary or a
rescue, always ask for references and check for
credibility (better safe than sorry). Donors should
check the organization's tax return (IRS 990) to see
where the sanctuary receives its funds and how much
actually goes towards the animals (ie. food, vet
care, and new enclosurers). Good resources are
ActivistCash,
Charity Navigator,
iGive,
GuideStar,
etc... Donors may also
want to check to see if the sanctuary is a member of
the
BBB Charity Wise Giving.
|
HAVE YOU BEEN SLANDERED
BY BCR ? IF YES, CLICK
HERE
1995 Big Cat Rescue History VIDEO
The Big Cat Rescue (aka Wildlife On Easy Street) exotic animals'
selling, breeding dealing and trading in 1995
As of 4/28/2008, Big Cat Rescue is not a BBB
accredited charity. They no longer have permission to use the
seal. Big Cat
Rescue Corp (BCRC) does not meet the following Standard for
Charity Accountability. Standard 20 : Complaints -
Respond promptly to and act on complaints brought to its
attention by the BBB Wise Giving Alliance and/or local Better
Business Bureaus about fund raising practices, privacy policy
violations and/or other issues. See
PDF or
MSDOC files, page 2
Cheetah Attack 2008! Carole Baskin Lewis bashes current cheetah
owner when she could not get her own! Baskin claims she
stopped breeding in 1997, so why did she want
breeding loan in 2000?
The Big Cat Fight 11/11/2007
| Wildlife on Easy Street
(now Big Cat Rescue)
incorporated in March 30th, 1995.
The purpose was stated as: “Acquisition, Shelter,
Feeding, Breeding and Socialization of exotic and
non-exotic animals;…” |
According to Carole
Stairs Lewis's (Baskin) December
1996 article
'How to Choose an Exotic Cat'
published in 'Exotic Market Review',
they already
owned 120 exotic and wild cats
acquired thru purchase or breeding, and the
number was increasing.
|
On February 5th,
1999, Carole Lewis
made a
post to Felines-L
(private big cat owners E-list) announcing the
total of 148 big cats at her
facility. |
Current count,
October 2007, using
animal data from Big Cat Rescue website reveals the
current
total to be around 110* big cats.
The facility was incorporated in 1995 with mostly young
animals.
At least 10 of their tigers are retired circus tigers
and Ringling Brothers finances their caging and care.
BCR seems to have fewer cats now that they are
supposedly
'rescuing', then they had in the past when they were
buying and breeding. Where are all the 'rescued' big cats
hiding? |
*Count of individual animals under 'Photos of
our cats' link is around 107-110 cats (some links have only a
picture, so it is not clear if it is BCR's cat or if picture is
there just for information). According to
VolunteerMatch, they have 120
cats, but this
undated article on BCR's website
claims 140 cats. Still less that 1999 count of 148 bought and
bred pets.
Carole Baskin of Big Cat Rescue
sending letters to exotic animal owners' neighbors to scare
them in
MSDOC
or
PDF
Fall 2007
For More on Florida issues, click
HERE
| THE TRUTH as
reported in the past by BCR, in their own words |
As
currently reported/presented by Big Cat Rescue |
 Here is the TRUTH about the healthy,
bouncy and playful
tiger cub Shere Khan that BCR (Wildlife on Easy Street) just purchased
in 1995.
In
Carole's own words on this
Big Cat Companions VHS
VIDEO,
she says that he was "bottle raised in a
loving and nurturing home" and that he "does bite
hard", which is what any healthy cub with strong
healthy
teeth does.
|
Compare it to
what is reported on
Big Cat Rescue website
<snip>He never got the vitamins and exercise he needed as a
growing cub, so his back legs were badly underdeveloped. He
was very sick for a long time and suffered major problems
from calcium deficiency. X-rays showed that his baby canine
teeth were rotting in their sockets from his malnourishment
and they had to be excised because they had rotted through
his face.<snip>
Well, since the video
clearly shows healthy tiger cub as purchased, the breeder
shouldn't be blamed. Who then caused Shere Khan's
health problems later on as he was growing up? Or, are
the malnourishment and rotting teeth claims regarding Shere Khan's
condition even true? |
The truth about pet Snow
Leopard 'Wildlife on Easy Street" purchased as pet,
with plans to buy 2 more VERY expensive pets while asking
the public to pay for $7,500 cage- as
reported by Big Cat Rescue in their Cat Tales
March 1998 (page2) newsletter- click
on the B&W picture on the left |
As
reported by Big Cat Rescue in their videos, calling
her pet Snow Leopards 'surplus to the Species Survival Plan',
click
HERE |
 USDA
paperwork* indicates BCR (WOES) bought ocelot
'Nirvana' on 7/27/1994 from Miami Reptiles for
$3600. |
However, the current BCR
website
claims: Nirvana came to Big Cat Rescue
from a broker on 7/27/94. He had left her at the
vet's office for dead because she was so dehydrated.
<snip> |
 USDA
paperwork* indicates cougar Catrina/Katrina was
bought from USDA facility by BCR (WOES) for $650 in
March 1995. Cougar 'Scratch' was also bought for
$650. Cougar 'Max' was also acquired in the same
transaction, but was given away. |
However, the current BCR
website
claims: Catrina came to Big Cat Rescue
with two Cougars and a Black Leopard on March 14,
1995.She was supposed to be a Florida Panther with
her deep red color and 60-pound, low slung frame.
She was a pet, but when her owner moved she could
not go with him... |
  USDA
paperwork* indicates most if not all BCR (WOES)
servals were either bought, sold, bred or on loan.
*PS: These forms were given to
USDA facilities to fill out and keep on hand for
their USDA inspector...that is why the USDA would
not have copies of them |
However, the current BCR
website
claims stories like:...Nairobi
was the mascot in a pet store window until she came
to live at Big Cat Rescue July 7, 1994...Fluffy came
to Big Cat Rescue from Oregon as a result of the pet
trade...Serengeti and Kalahari were unwanted pets
after a divorce... Website 'forgets'
to mention that supposedly the couple getting the
divorce originally got the cats from Carole Baskin.
They were volunteers at WOES.
|
 USDA
paperwork* indicates BCR (WOES) acquired their first
white Siberian tiger 'Electra Kita' in 1995. |
However, the current BCR
website claims Zabu
is their first white tiger:...Big
Cat Rescue has never taken in a white tiger before
...When Zabu and Cameron’s plight came to our
attention we had to think long and hard about
whether or not we would have a white tiger on our
tour. We didn’t want to be perceived as using a
white tiger to draw visitors... |
 USDA
paperwork* indicates BCR (WOES) Clouded leopard
'Burma' was
purchased in 1996 for $5500. |
However, the current BCR
website
only mentions one of these very rare and hard
to get cats: Malachi Male Clouded Leopard came
to Big Cat Rescue as a temporary boarder. <snip> |
|
The truth about 'Wildlife on Easy
Street' Bengal cats (domestic and wild Asian Leopard
Cat hybrids). In their September 2000 Cat Tales
newsletter, page 2, Carole admits that: "All of
the Bengal cats have since been altered and turned
loose to patrol the grounds on Easy Street" -
click on the B&W
picture on the left |
However, Carole
Baskin claims on her
website
regarding tiny Bengal cats:
<snip>...They bite. Even in
play, even if they love you, they
bite and I have scars all over my hands to prove
that
their love nips will leave you bleeding. They
want to eat your other pets and they don’t care if
it’s a German shepherd, they are going to be
constantly
looking for a way to take the dog down. That is why
many of them can’t run free on Easy Street. They
pick
fights with 500 pound tigers. I have even received
reports from Florida's Game and Fish Commission of
them
stalking little old ladies and I have been called in
to trap and remove them. ...<snip>
So the question remains, is
Baskin fear mongering and attempting to create
paranoia regarding small
harmless sweet exotic cat hybrids, or, if she
is right, did she release an army of attack patrol
guard Bengal cats in 2000 that are now terrorizing
little old ladies and fighting 500 pounds tigers???
To find out the truth about the
monster Bengal kitties
and verify BCR's claims, REXANO contacted
Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, FWC.
FWC replied that there is
"No
verifiable truth to that report. No knowledge of
this ever being an issue in the 13 + years that I
have been here serving as an
inspector/investigator." |
What is a True Exotic Animal
Sanctuary? By Zuzana Kukol, September 2008
NEW
AR Fanatic Falsifies Data
by Bart Culver,
January 2007
Savannahs Do
Make Great Pets, Don’t believe BCR’s Hype. By
Brigitte Cowell, Ph.D., Kirembo Savannahs, October 2007
in
MSDOC or
PDF files
Pictures of happy Savannah and other cats
HERE
and
HERE
AR Fanatic Talks Conservation
by Bart Culver, January 2007
Who says it is immoral to have wild
animals as pets? By Bart Culver, February
2007
Personal Injury Lawsuit: Ocelot Bite
1/23/2007
NEW
PETITION FOR INJUNCTION FOR PROTECTION
AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE By Jay Baykal,
October 2002
AZA Denied WOES Application for
Certification, June 2001
Some of the Wildlife on Easy Street
ads placed in Animal Finder’s Guide circa
April 1995 – February 1997
Too Purrfect Carole Lewis in 'People' magazine December 7, 1998
issue,
discussing her husband's Don Lewis mysterious disappearance in
MSDOC or
PDF files
(...Police did learn, that
two months before he vanished,
Don Lewis had filed court documents seeking a
domestic-violence injunction against Carole, accusing her of
threatening
to shoot him...)
Exotic Cats as House Pets
By Carole Stairs Lewis
Cougar Attack Victim Release
September 15, 1998
Wildlife sanctuary faces federal
charges after leopard attack 9/11/1998
(...Wildlife on Easy Street, the exotic cat sanctuary
founded by Don and Carole Lewis, has been charged with 26
counts of violating the federal Animal Welfare Act...)
Caged leopard attacks sanctuary
volunteer 9/4/1998 (...Carole Lewis, owner
of the sanctuary, did not return a telephone message
Thursday. Sheriff's deputies said Lewis was driving Harrell
to the hospital ...)
Missing businessman sued over cougar
bite 12/4/1997 (...Don and his wife,
Carole Lewis, are named in the lawsuit, along with Wildlife
on Easy Street...)
Carole Lewis
(Baskin) article in LIOC (now known as FCF) magazine
March/April 1998 issue (...The life of one of
the sweetest little cougars ever to chirp his way into my
heart lays motionless before me and I feel helpless....Before he got sick,
Fleetwood and his sister Enya were out of their cages more
than they were in them. They spent many nights a week with
cabin guests and were always out doing events, riding in the
car or walking around the yard....)
Missing millionaire worries family
9/19/1997 (...In June, Lewis told a
Hillsborough circuit judge that
his wife threatened to kill
him, but the judge did not see a danger. ...Critics say
Lewis turned the refuge, which is organized as a Florida
not-for-profit corporation, into another business. They say
he bought cats cheaply at auctions and then sold them to
buyers impressed by the center's non-profit status...)
Federal Register Application to import
jaguars and ocelots for breeding April 9,
1997
NEW
How to Choose
an Exotic Cat By Carole Stairs Lewis (Baskin) as published in
'Exotic Market Review' December 1996
Two roaming cougars back in cages
8/7/1996 (...Wildlife officials said
the Lewises may be cited for unsafe housing permitting the
escape of the cougar, a misdemeanor. In June, the World
Society for the Protection of Animals gave Wildlife on Easy
Street poor marks for living and safety conditions...)
Searchers continue hunt for cougar
8/6/1996 (...A tame 80-pound cougar escaped about 7:30 a.m.
and was still missing at 10 p.m. after a 12-hour search
Monday, wildlife experts said...)
It's a bitter case of leopard custody
4/24/1995 (...The leopards, owned by Jack Don Lewis of
Tampa, were seized in August by the Florida Game and Fresh
Water Fish Commission because Lewis did not have the
appropriate permit...)
ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS
By Cougar Ridge -
(...Their newest tactic is to call in multiple false
complaints on the few like me who have the guts to stand up
to them. The State and the Federal Officials know what is
going on and are angry themselves. It not only wastes their
time, but wastes taxpayer money...)
www.REXANO.org
