2015-11-30 Carole Baskin‘s Diary

Carole Baskins Diary

Gina the Bobcat Rehabber

This is me at about 19 years of age totally terrified to hold these parrots at Busch Gardens.

Carole, I want to thank you for the time you took to give us a tour of your rescue. I was amazed, you have quite the system going there and should be really proud of it. I feel relieved, knowing that if I die before my bobcats, that you will care for them.

Brian, my guy that was with me, is not an animal person. His folks never let them have pets, so he never developed a bond with an animal. He's been with me for over 7 years and is just starting to get a little bit attached to some of my animals, but he just doesn't have that strong emotional connection. I honestly think he's got a wall put up, he doesn't want to care, because it hurts when you lose an animal. I've tried to talk to him about it, but he just clams up and says it isn't worth the heartache.

Carole, when we left, he had tears in his eyes. Something about seeing all of those beautiful animals, and knowing the story behind them, did something to him. I am glad that it did. He even asked me to get your email for him because he wants to write and thank you himself for the time you spent with us at the rescue. I am amazed at his reaction, he was really touched by the cats, and by the obviously fantastic care that they are getting. You have a new fan in him. I am really, really stumped by his reaction, but it's a good thing.

Anyway, I'm rambling and you are one busy lady, so I'll make it short and say again how thankful I am that you let us see your facility, the time you spent with us and allowing us to see those beautiful creatures. God bless you for what you have accomplished for the animals. Also, I'm glad you enlightened me about the "Tiger Ridge" situation. The newspapers here just print his side of the story and make it look like the government is riding roughshod over him, I never see anything that explains what is really going on, and unfortunately, from what I hear, public opinion is on his side, they don't know the whole story, and why the Ohio DNR or Dept. of Ag. doesn't say more in their defense puzzles me. I don't know the man, never met him, but I did talk to him on the phone over a year ago.

Mr. Grumbles had stopped eating, my vet checked him every way possible but couldn't find anything wrong with him. Another rehabber gave me the phone number to Tiger Ridge and suggested that I talk with him (I don't even know his name) about it because he was a big cat expert. He just told me what I already planned on doing.....I gave grumbles a live rooster that my neighbors needed to be rid of because he was so mean that he was dangerous around their young kids. It worked, but it took Grumbles several hours to get around to pouncing and making a kill, he just sat on one of his high perches and watched it, which was odd, usually, anything live is dead within seconds of being in his pen. He did start eating after that though.

Anyway, it seems the prevailing public opinion is this guy is a saint and the government is picking on him. I'm glad that you informed me otherwise. Carole, I think you are one in a million, I just can't get over what you've done, building up your rescue facility. I want to win the lottery just so I can give you all the money you could possibly need for whatever you might need it for for the cats.

Thank you for what you have done and are doing, the world needs more people like you, and we all (animal rehabbers and other animal workers) need to try and stamp out the selling of wild animals, whether it's a big cat or a parrot.....I will try to do my part. Indiana is the next closest state to me that still allows it, I'd like to shut them down. If ever I can be of help in any way let me know. Thank you so very, very much.............................Gina

Carole Baskin [e-mail] 7:53 AM (6 hours ago) wrote to Gina:

It was my great pleasure to meet a kindred spirit in you. Thank you for all you do and the kind words.

Feel free to give Brian my email address. I am not surprised by his reaction. It happens so often here that I've just concluded this place is magical and sacred. People come here, from all over, even those who don't like cats. They often tell me that they were aching over the loss of someone in their lives and felt compelled to this spot. They say it heals them.

Many have said they came here, not knowing why, but when they looked into the eyes of some cat here (and it's always a different cat) they saw God.

I can't take credit for any of that. I'm just fortunate to be in the company of so many old souls. I completed a video yesterday of cats living and long gone and called it Cats We Have Loved, but knew it was really a compilation of old souls.https://youtu.be/87aJgGqYsSk

Hi, I’m Carole Baskin and 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.