2015-03-20 Carole Baskin‘s Diary

Carole Baskins Diary

We had to euthanize Cybil Serval today Jamie and Justin made the call to do it and it was the best thing. I’ve always felt awful about Cybil. She was born here, back before we knew any better, on 5/22/96 to Lucky Serval and a male named Nairobi. We had a pretty, young woman, named Katie, who would come in for the midnight, 2am and 4am feedings from 1994-1996. One morning when Cybil was 8 weeks old I took her out of her crate to feed her and her back leg was crushed beyond all recognition. The vet, Dr. Stacie Wadsworth, DVM, said there was nothing salvageable in the leg to pin or cast and that it would probably atrophy and have to be removed. I always hoped that technology would someday allow her artificial bones to enable the use of the leg, but that never happened and neither did the atrophy. Instead, she just held the leg in a very strange position and hopped about on the other three legs just fine. But she’s been failing in health for a while and her most recent lab work shows chronic kidney disease. She’s never going to get better and she is absolutely miserable and refusing to eat. It was time to set her free from her crippled and aging body. She was 19. I looked back in my diaries to the date of her injury to see what was going on in my life that day: Don came back from a week in Costa Rica. He created a SA Corporation, but of course does not have any of the documents, proving ownership of the shares, or the terms, or the by laws. He said he did not include any provision for me in the event of his death. The name of the Corporation is Witco. He closed on the farm for $82,000.00 in Bagaces. He complained about the cable I had installed for $9.99 per month and said the perfect picture “is lousy”. He complained that he can’t memorize the three new numbers of his favorite stations and that he cannot learn how to use the remote. I am so sick, I can hardly stand up. I rushed Cybil Serval in to Dr. Stacie Wadsworth, DVM today because her back leg was crushed over night while Katie was on duty. Katie claims nothing happened. I had Jumanji and Black Majik neutered. Majik has Beri Beri, or sometimes called Stargazer’s and Jumanji, as his sibling carries this fatal birth defect. There is no place for leopard cubs as pets and I do not want them in zoos, so I thought it would be the best for them. Don got so mad that he said he wanted a divorce and $1,000,000.00 to move to Costa Rica. He said he also wants 47 of the cats, and I’d be willing to bet that it is not the wild ones. Same day, different subject: Hi Carole, Tony D from NBC called. His phone # is. He is interested in a background conversation with you regarding new laws being passed in states limiting exotic pet ownership and their impact on sanctuaries such as ours. Diana — Sent from my iPhone Hi Tony! One of my volunteers said you called and I tried to call you back at but your mail box is full. Happy to talk to you about the changing laws that ban the private possession and handling of big cats and how it affects sanctuaries. My cell is . Meanwhile, I will send a couple of documents to back up this statement. Feel free to quote from this email, our website, or use the graphics. "In 2003 Big Cat Rescue had to turn away 312 big cats, but in December of that same year, the Captive Wildlife Safety Act became law. (After 6 years of trying) Every other year, the number of big cats that we had to turn away was doubling, but the very next year after the Captive Wildlife Safety Act passed, the number of big cats we had to turn away dropped, for the first time ever, and it dropped to 110. The new law made it illegal to sell big cats, across state lines, as pets, so there were a lot of parameters there, but the effect was that the breeders and dealers saw what was coming and scaled back the breeding." I've been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views. If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story. The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/ I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story. My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet. You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile! Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.