Long story about my parttime job

[bilko1]

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Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge

239 Turpentine Creek Lane

Eureka Springs, AR. 72632

479-253-5841

 

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6 of 34 Big Cats Moved To Turpentine Creek!

-TCWR Supporter, These big cats need your help like never before. Please give what you can.

Click Here For Photos - too many to post here.

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Monday, October 29, 2012 dialog between TCWR and the sheriff of a county that 34 big cats call home began. Turpentine Creek was asked to help with the situation so TCWR president and two staff members made arrangements to visit the animals with the sheriff to assess the severity of the problem. This was last week, Thursday, November 1, 2012.

 

The person with the cats is 72 years old with failing health. The youngest tiger is 14-15 years old and the owner was hoping to be able to care for all 34 of them until they succumb to a natural death. Most of the cats are healthy and should live to be 18-25 years old. The owner's health is not going to hold up and be able to see the plan through. Turpentine Creek has been asked to help by both the owner and the local sheriff.

 

The visit, on November 1, was eye opening and the depth and magnitude of the situation became very evident. The problem had been compounded by canceled expectations of help from another facility. Dens were allowed to collapse without repair. Grounds maintenance and road upkeep had stopped some time ago and no truck/trailer can access the animals. Equipment and tools are almost all in nonworking order and much needed repairs go undone. There is no running water to the animals so all/most of it must be hauled up and down the mountain on horrible paths accessible by foot, four wheeler, and tractor only. The cage construction is unsafe. It is amazing that no big cats were running loose. Safety by the gun of a sheriff is calming on one hand, yet unnerving to need such a presence on the other.

 

The 34 big cats that call this rugged, rocky mountaintop home, for the most part, are doing well. A visual inspection of the animals revealed that a female tiger needed immediate veterinary care. The other 33 appeared fat and healthy. Although the living conditions of the animals have diminished, their health has not.

 

Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge staff members had to come up with a plan. The owners' health is not good so we do not know how much time is available. The land the animals live on is not secure. If the owner were to die, the animals would be in deep trouble. Turpentine Creek's management team has assessed the problem and knows that it is too big to conquer quickly on our own. Tanya Smith, TCWR president, has been in contact with many reputable facilities and has received a definite "we have no cage space" from all but one. This one facility is actively assessing their ability to help. TCWR does have room for 8 big cats at this time so plans were made to move the tiger in need of veterinary care first and pick up another to fill trailer compartments.

 

On November 5, 2012 TCWR president, vice president, curator, and two biologists made the trip to pick up two tigers for relocation to the refuge via our veterinarians clinic. Upon arrival the county sheriff and two of his deputies met us along with the owner and two of her helpers. It was decided to load India, a female Bengal tiger, first followed by Chopper, the tigress that needs immediate care. Emily McCormack and Scott Smith watched from outside the perimeter fence while the owner and one helper loaded India into a roll cage. A half hour later and India was transported up the rocky hill to the TCWR rescue trailer successfully. Chopper's trip did not go so well. After trying to load her into the roll cage for a period of time, it was decided she would never load into the roll cage because she was "freaked out" by its presence. Time was running out to get her to the vet by 3 o'clock pm. so the decision was made to knock her out and physically carry her to the trailer. Chopper made it to the vet on time and her surgery went well. Samples had to be sent off for diagnostics but the vet was pretty sure it was cancerous. She woke up grumpy at the refuge the next morning but is doing well now.

 

There are 32 more big cats needing a life long home. TCWR staff is doing all it can to arrange to help these needy animals. If you are a person who can afford to make a large donation, now is the time. If you cannot go large, any amount will help.

 

On November 12, 2012, Turpentine Creek staff, along with two sheriffs' deputies, arrived on the property, near Mountainburg, Arkansas, at the Riverglen Tiger Sanctuary at 9:00 a.m. The weather was very cool, about 30 degrees, so we decided to load tigers we thought would load without meds.

 

We started with a tiger named Lily. She is in the top, number 1 pod, near the owner's house. The roll cage was put in place, the door opened and the waiting began. After about an hour of trying everything at our disposal to coax the skittish tiger into the roll cage we decided to try her neighbor, Duke.

 

Ten minutes later we had the roll cage adjacent to Duke's door, secured and ready. It took about 30 minutes to load Duke into the roll cage. This was an intense time, as the roll cage at the facility is not constructed with ease of use in mind. It requires that five two-foot pieces of chain be wrapped around the door in strategic places to secure it properly, with a bolt through each. This takes time and patience. Threading chain through tight places while a ticked-off tiger is trying to rip your head off is hard on the nerves and incredibly dangerous. We rolled the cage to the rescue trailer and secured Duke safely. Wow!

 

The next cat to load was Austin, a 700-pound tiger. After trying to coax him into the roll cage for some time we decided to entice him with some chicken. TCWR staff were able to get the job done like pro's. Although safe and unharmed, Austin proceeded to throw a fit while we were securing him for the trip to Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge. He had no knowledge that he was part of a safe big cat rescue taking him to a tiger haven...a job well done by great staff.

 

Two hours later the TCWR staff arrived back at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge with the two tigers doing well; pretty mad, but doing well. We unloaded the two tigers into their temporary homes in the compound without incident.

 

The whole situation is touchy; like having to walk on eggs with every word in an attempt not to make Betty Young mad or offend her. Betty is the 72-year-old owner of the cats. I could not mention her name and location until now in fear of her "clamming" up and sending us walking. We've got to make this rescue happen as quickly as possible. The whole facility is in degraded conditions and the animals deserve better. Please donate Today.

 

On November 14, 2012, Turpentine Creek Wildlife Staff Members met two representatives from the Crawford County Sheriff's Department to discuss the plans for the day. The evening before, Nat Geo Wild's Animal Intervention aired with a show featuring Betty Young, the owner of Riverglen Tiger Sanctuary. It was thought the negative impact of the show would light up the sheriff's phone with blood thirsty animal rights groups demands, but that did not happen because of the tasteful way the show was done.

 

We headed up the mountain to RTS and prepared to load two tigers. These tigers were four hundred yards from the closest point we could maneuver the truck/trailer so we had to use the roll cage again.

 

After initial talk and strategic planning, the roll cage was loaded onto a small trailer and slowly driven down the mountains bumpy, rocky road to a location near the cage of Duckie, a female tiger. Ten minutes later we had the roll cage in place and the doors open. Duckie surprised us all by walking into the cage within ten minutes, the door was shut and up the bumpy mountain we went.

 

After unloading Duckie into the TCWR trailer we proceeded directly down the mountain to try to load Odie, another female tiger. The roll cage was unloaded and attached to the cage in front of the door. The 50/50 game of "will the cat load into the roll cage" began. Odie decided it was not her day to go with us so, once again, we had to redirect our efforts.

 

Another female tiger was about thirty feet away. After coming to the realization that removing Princess from her cage would free up some materials to move to TCWR for building, we went right to work. We tried to get Princess to load into the roll cage for over an hour before deciding to anesthetize her. She succumbed to the drugs perfectly and was move to the TCWR trailer without incident. All related activities that go along with anesthetizing a big cat were completed flawlessly and the Turpentine Creek crew headed for the refuge. Because of the time of day these two cats would have to spend the night in the trailer and be unloaded in the morning.

 

At this point in the mission Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge has relocated six tigers to the refuge: Chopper, India, Duke, Austin, Duckie, and Princess. Two of the six had to be anesthetized, two went really easy, and two were highly aggravated, but loaded without drugs. These are not bad numbers or percentages. Actually they are about par for moving big cats safely. However, up to this point Betty has suggested we take certain cats based on their estimated ability to adjust at Turpentine Creek.

 

Riverglen Tiger Sanctuary is located deep in the Boston Mountains and the cats there do not get visitors nor do they experience much activity or stimulation. We have loaded the "easy" tigers first. It will be hard or impossible to load the remaining cats without anesthetization being used as a "tool" for the animal's safety. Turpentine Creek can take two small cats, the leopards, before being full. What will happen to the rest of the animals?

 

At this point there are 28 cats at Riverglen Tiger Sanctuary needing homes soon:

 

24 Tigers

 

2 Cougars

 

2 Leopards

 

Today's date is November 15, 2012.

 

There are two plan of actions at work currently;

[XV1100SE]

Thank you for posting this and for the work you do.

[Miles]

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At this point there are 28 cats at Riverglen Tiger Sanctuary needing homes soon:

 

24 Tigers

 

2 Cougars

 

2 Leopards

 

 

 

I would be very happy to take a few of the Tigers off your hands, as I can provide a good home for them. BUT...I am afraid that my Llamas, Alpacas, and Nigerian Dwarf Goats would not be happy about the new animals on their ranch. I see a conflict brewing.

 

As for the Cougars, this is Huskies Territory. University of Washington mascot is the Huskies. Washington State University mascot is the Cougers. Another conflict.

 

If you need donations for your cause, let me know.

[M61A1MECH]

Thanks for the post and the work you do, we visited Turpine Creek back in 2001 and were very impressed with the work they were doing.

 

I am always amazed that people keep big cats , often as pets.

 

Have you contacted big cat rescue inn Tampa FL? They may be able to help.

http://bigcatrescue.org/

 

There is also a place in Shapes just south of me called Central Florida Animal Rescue , http://www.cflar.org/, maybe they could help.

 

Also a place called Endangered Animal rescue Sanctuary in central florida not far from Orlando, http://www.earsinc.net/index.html

 

Chances are you and your organization are already aware of these places , but in case your not, maybe they can help.

[bilko1]

I would be very happy to take a few of the Tigers off your hands, as I can provide a good home for them. BUT...I am afraid that my Llamas, Alpacas, and Nigerian Dwarf Goats would not be happy about the new animals on their ranch. I see a conflict brewing.

 

As for the Cougars, this is Huskies Territory. University of Washington mascot is the Huskies. Washington State University mascot is the Cougers. Another conflict.

 

If you need donations for your cause, let me know.

Donations are always needed.:happy65:And aprecated.

But I see the cats going to your place would be well fed.

It takes aprx. $7,000 per cat, to move and set up temp. housing at TCWR.

Times aprx. 34 cats is a lot of $ to rase.

 

This is the largest rescue that TCWR has endevered to take on.

You can check out the web site, or Face Book page, lots of pics and information.

http://www.turpentinecreek.org/

 

https://www.facebook.com/#!/TurpentineCreekWildlifeRefuge

 

Bilko

870-350-0365

[Carbon_One]

I commend you for the work you do with these big cats. I've been to Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge a couple of times when in the area and know that the staff does a great job of careing for these animals. Keep up the good work.

 

Larry