Today we took our daughter Bella to Cat Tales, it is a local large cat rescue/zoo just outside of Spokane. It's zoo like, in that they charge admission and let people in to gawk at the animals, but that is about all that it has in common with a zoo. They don't have any government funding or grants, from what I understand they operate solely on their Adopt an Animal program, donations, and what they make from admissions and gift store sales. Most of the animals at Cat Tales are big cats, though they do have a few bears and birds. Some of them are rescues that were either taken away or surrendered from private owners who could not adequately care for them or who didn't want them once the "cool" factor of owning a tiger wore off. One or two are retired "entertainment" animals.
Some of them, like one bear we met today named Oscar, were picked up by animal control as orphan babies and brought in so they would have a chance at survival. Oscar was found as an orphan cub far from home rummaging through trash looking for food. He has been at the zoo ever since.
Today they were introducing a brand new lion cub he was rescued from an amusement park in Ohio where he was being used as a photo prop. Apparently people where paying $30 or something to have their photo taken with a baby lion cub, but once he got too big to sit still for the photos he had to go and another baby cub took his place.
We have been to Cat Tales in the past and I am sure we will go again, though every time we go it is just unbearably heart wrenching for me. You see another way that Cat Tales differs from your average zoo is in the manner in which the animals are kept. Don't get me wrong they are WELL cared for, LOVED, not abused, and alive which is more than could probably be said were they not at Cat Tales. But they are kept in chain link fence enclosures, some cats like the prized white tigers Apollo and Zeus are lucky enough to share an enclosure about the size of my back yard when they are on display and then they have a private den when not. But there are others like Romeo whose enclosure is about the size of my garage if not a bit smaller. I know that they are a rescue and they do a LOT for these animals simply by providing them a safe place to live out their days. But when I see a majestic white tiger behind a fence and know that is his whole life... that pen... those four walls... I cry for him. When I see a bob cat in what equates to a bedroom and know she will never race up a mountain... never chase prey... never even actually break out into a run... I cry for them. I cry for the leopards, the cougars, the tigers, bears... they can never be released into the the wild and they will live out their days behind those fences and it just rips at my heart.
My husband called me a wet blanket and said to "just get over it and enjoy my day with my daughter." We teach our children that animals should not be in cages, so how do we explain what a rescue is? That these animals are in cages because they probably would have been killed otherwise? My older kids get it, but Bella just wanted to get in and play with the animals she didn't understand why they were fenced up. I tried to explain to my husband that, I am thankful that we have rescues, that we have shelters, that we have people who dedicate their time and money to helping to make these animals' lives better but I still won't EVER stop hoping for one day when all the damn cages will be empty. When there won't be friggen idiots with disposable income who think "hey wouldn't it be cool to have a pet lion!?" When there won't be retired circus tigers. When there won't be a need for the animals to be rescued in the first place. He just says to me "Mama, you can't save the whole world" "I know you want to but you just can't." Well... sure... no one can... if no one tries.
If you want to find out more about any of the animals at Cat Tales just click on their names on the Adopt an Animal link and you will be taken to their full bio.
Oh... and one cool thing I found out today is that they do take donations of frozen meat (if it is still in the store packaging) to feed to the big cats. So as I am helping others to make the switch to a healthier more compassionate way of life all that meat in the freezer does not have to be a total loss.
No comments:
Post a Comment