Big Cat Rescue

Background

Carole Baskin never meant to create a world-renowned animal sanctuary. Nor did she originally plan to turn its web presence into one of the top-ranked sources of information about big cats. Yet as founder and CEO of Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, FL, she has done both, and she gives much of the credit to internet advocacy techniques.

Baskin and her late husband got involved with big cats in 1992 when they saw a terrified six-month-old bobcat for sale at an exotic animal auction, and felt moved to take her home. A year later, having fallen in love with their young cat, they visited a breeder of exotic cats in search of another bobcat kitten, and discovered that the animals there were being bred primarily for their fur. Horrified, the Baskins bought all of the breeder's 56 kittens in exchange for a promise not to slaughter any more cats for fur. Today, Big Cat Rescue is home to almost 150 lions, tigers, leopards, cougars, servals, caracals, sand cats and other big cats on its 45-acre accredited sanctuary.

Mission: The sanctuary pursues a dual mission of providing the best permanent home possible for big-cat victims of the exotic pet trade and educating the public about their plight. Ultimately, it hopes to reduce the number of big cats that suffer the fate of abandonment and abuse, and to encourage preservation of habitat and wildlife.