The cat family is the most gorgeous among all the animals, and the Big Cat Rescue is the place that keeps them safe and protect them. "Some sanctuaries choose not to be open to the public at all, but I always felt it was important to be that transparent to donors," she added. Speaking with Insider over email, Baskin shared what it's been like to advocate for animals during this time, how she and her husband are no longer taking paychecks, and why she's not sure if she'll ever open Big Cat Rescue to the public again. The biggest difference between Big Cat Rescue and zoos, however, is their philosophy, according to Baskin. The documentary delves into the mysterious circumstances of Lewis, who was officially declared to be dead in 2002. Shop By Cat. "After 'Tiger King,' I can tell you the things I hear most from people are that we should breed big cats to save them from extinction and turn them all loose in the wild where they belong," Baskin said. Big Cat Rescue … Together, they ran their sanctuary, then known as Wildlife on Easy Street, until Lewis, then 60-years-old, vanished on August 18, 1997. "I think we have already found our new normal," Baskin told Insider. TAMPA, Fla. - The sheriff of Hillsborough County is taking advantage of the popularity around Netflix's new documentary, "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness," and asking for any tips that can lead to information on what happened to the husband of Big Cat Rescue's CEO. Here's what you should know about Baskin's story, where she is now, and how she's refuting some of the claims in Tiger King. The Big Cat Sanctuary is set in the heart of the countryside at Smarden, in Kent. She will not receive any of the park's animals, but told Insider that Big Cat Rescue will "stand ready to assist" should the need arise; Lowe has 120 days to vacate the zoo's premises, according to the ruling. "We are trying out new ways of bringing virtual tours to our supporters," she said. While Netflix’s wildly-watchable true crime docuseries Tiger King focuses on colorful former roadside zookeeper Joseph Maldonado-Passage, better known as Joe Exotic, it also tells the story of sanctuary owner Carole Baskin, who, alongside her husband Howard, owns and operates Tampa’s Big Cat Rescue. ", Valerie Taylor, the executive director of the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries — which conducted an audit of Big Cat Rescue in 2019 — told Stone "these enclosures are for small cats, such as bobcats and servals. "We believe that people will never save habitat as long as they can get their 'big cat fix' at a zoo. Big Cat Rescue is a 67-acre sanctuary in Tampa Florida that provides a permanent home for big cats that have been abused or abandoned. Sorry, … "If we were going to open to the public, we would require masks, temperature scans, and some sort of accounting for where they were before coming here," Baskin said. Tigers at Big Cat Rescue. “I think for Joe, [the feud] was probably very personal, because people said there wasn’t a day in his life that he wasn’t ranting and raving, and carrying on and calling out my name,” she told the magazine. The Big Cat Public Safety Act was championed by Ms Baskin and Big Cat Rescue, which cited Thursday's incident as evidence for why the law must be passed. Here's the true story of Big Cat Rescue owner Carole Baskin in Netflix's new series Tiger King and her feud with Joe Exotic, if she's alive, what happened to … Big Cat Rescue is a large "non-profit" animal sanctuary in Tampa, Florida, renowned and acclaimed around the world for their work "rescuing" exotic cats from the pet trade, circuses, roadside zoos, and fur farms. In recent weeks, zoos and other animal attractions around the country have started to reopen, welcoming large crowds on their opening days. , A post shared by bigcatrescue (@bigcatrescue) on May 5, 2020 at 8:21am PDTMay 5, 2020 at 8:21am PDT. If the only place to see wild cats is in the wild, then people will do the hard work of protecting habitat which ends up saving us all.". When the family arrived at a fur farm to buy more kittens, they learned that all the cats would be killed. "Losing that meant we had to let go 10 of our 20 staff, and my husband and I are not taking paychecks.". 2.5M likes. "Even then, I don't know that I would feel safe exposing our volunteers or cats to this invisible killer. Price. “But for me, he was just one of about a dozen of these bad guys that I was exposing online.”, The 40 Greatest Comedy Series of All Time, Loungewear Is the Undisputed Winner of 2020, When a Bottle of Costco Bourbon Is Something More, We Talked to the Filmmakers Behind 'Tiger King', This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. According to the magazine, Lewis met the 19-year-old Baskin in 1981, when he called to her from his car after spotting her walking down the street in the wake a fight with her first husband. Esquire participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. "About one third of our revenue is from guided tours of the sanctuary," Baskin told Insider over email. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories, was reportedly crowded on its opening day, Baskin is now in control of Exotic's old zoo, the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, an Insider piece about how Baskin and Big Cat Rescue were depicted in "Tiger King,", most of the sanctuary's habitats are larger than 1,200 square feet, Carole Baskin is selling 'Tiger King' face masks, and a portion of proceeds goes towards rescuing big cats, The big lie in 'Tiger King' and the truth about Carole Baskin, People rushed to the 'Tiger King' zoo when it reopened, and visitors say most weren't wearing masks or social distancing, Carole Baskin responded to the YouTube pranksters who faked her interview with Jimmy Fallon, Animal activist Carole Baskin, who owns the Big Cat Rescue sanctuary in Tampa, Florida, became famous after she was featured in Netflix's controversial docuseries "Tiger King.". Allowed guests to rent cabins on their opening days of big cats representing different... 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