They Will Never Be Forgotten

I have not blogged for some time because of the very sad news we received recently regarding the health and welfare of the "pseudo-sanctuary's" animals.

• Bubba, white tiger, was discovered living alone, in the enclosure formerly occupied by Jinx (now missing) and Jambo (died in 2007). He used in live in another enclosure with Princess (Bengal tiger) until this year. Sometime between July 2008 – November 2008, Princess died. Since the pseudo-sanctuary refuses to comment on her cause of death, we believe she may have been “over” tranquilized when an attempt was made to move her into the new enclosure which Bubba now occupies;
• Athena (Bengal tiger) is also dead. She must have died sometime between July 2008 – November 2008;
• Casmere, a cougar, is dead. He died in June 2008;
• Bengal (Bengal tiger) died in June 2008;
• Dakota (Bengal tiger), we believe died in August 2008—still awaiting confirmation;
• Khana (Bengal tiger) died in August 2008;
• Bathmorda, we believe died in November 2008—still awaiting confirmation; and
• Many primates died in 2008 (various causes of deaths).

I have learned the Board of Directors had no idea the pseudo-sanctuary directors lied to them about their pay raises in 2007. The Board thinks they actually took a pay cut during that year and the directors had the audacity to ask the board for salary reimbursement for the supposed pay cut in 2007 and 2008! It is no wonder why the directors took so long submitting the sanctuary’s 2007 990 tax return to the IRS. The 2007 990 should be interesting reading for this was the year the employees were supposed to be eligible for health care. I’m curious to find out how many employees actually accepted the health care package offered, half of which was employer paid.

On the plus side, the USDA/APHIS acted on complaints regarding the care of Bubba and a gaping slash on one of the primate’s leg. We heard the “pseudo-sanctuary” received violation notices this month from the USDA/AHIS, but at this time we are unable to report their findings. It takes 21 days from the day of the inspection for the reports to become available to the public. Considering I have a FOIA requests pending with the USDA/APHIS for the last three months, I expect I’ll see the official reports in about, oh, six months to a year!! In any case, it was reported the director told the inspector via telephone (she was on vacation out-of-state, oh how nice) that the other primates suffered much larger gashes in the past and have always recovered. Not true!! I witnessed many primates with body gashes and they did not survive. I believe that if it was not for the intervention by the USDA/APHIS, this primate would not have survived. Now the “pseudo-sanctuary” must provide the primate health care.

We also learned the “pseudo-sanctuary” provided monkey chow to the primates instead of dog food! Finally, species specific food is being provided to the monkeys. No doubt this is due to a complaint to the USDA/APHIS that the primates, along with the older tigers, were looking very thin. The concern was the primates would not survive cold winter weather (yes, Texas gets cold winters) with so little body fat.

Bubba and Lance (both tigers) are so thin it makes you cry to watch them move around. The public is now aware of what is happening to the “pseudo-sanctuary” tigers as Bubba’s plight can be seen on the Internet. Bubba, whom has hip problems, was put in enclosure with hard packed ground, with no hay or mulch in his shelter box. After public outcry, Bubba was finally given hay in his shelter box. The Bubba video shows him moving around in a painful manner; turns out he also had in-grown toenails which will finally be removed this month. With the temperature dropping to the 20’s this weekend; the concern is that Bubba may not be able to stay warm due to his lack of body fat. The public and the USDA/APHIS are keeping a close eye on his condition.



Bubba was promised so much by the “pseudo-sanctuary”—a large natural enclosure, special low swimming pool and low shelters. Instead, he is alone, in a cage that does not meet his needs, despite the tens of thousands of dollars raised by the “pseudo-sanctuary” on his behalf. The director even wrote in the 2006 newsletter that enough funds were raised to start building his special enclosure—can you believe it?? TWO years ago!

The tour guide claimed they gave Bubba a plastic child wading pool for his use, but he shredded it. This is an absolute ridiculous claim because no one in their right mind would ever think of putting one of those tiny plastic wading pools in with a full grown tiger! This is the “pseudo-sanctuary’s” way of putting a spin on the whole build-a-special-pool for Bubba issue. The “pseudo-sanctuary” lied to Bubba and they lied to the public.

I am happy to report a recent tour did see Mac, Shirley, and Rumby (all tigers)!

As we receive more updates on Bubba, Lance, the injured monkey, and all the other animals, I will report the finding in this blog. In the meantime, all the animals that recently died will be missed and not forgotten.