Louisiana Tigers in Trouble

I recently learned the Louisiana tigers, Java, Sabrina, and Savannah, may be in trouble.

Earlier this year, the pseudo-sanctuary claimed in its newsletter the tigers "recently" arrived from Louisiana, when in reality they arrived over a year ago (more lies printed in the newsletter--gee what a surprise). Java was allegedly taken to the non-inspected, non-regulated property and for almost 10 months Sabrina and Savannah lived at the touring facility, until they too were allegedly moved to the non-USDA licensed property.

I learned Savannah is living at the unregulated property and is not doing well. Last week she was very ill and for several days she refused food. Java is reported losing weight despite all the low-cost/low quality chicken pieces fed to her on a regular basis. At this time, I do not know Sabrina's health condition. So, the question is whether or not the pseudo-sanctuary's "vet" is treating the tigers? I wonder if Laura from the ASPCA - National Outreach bothered to check on the Louisiana tigers after they were removed from the touring facility. After all, the ASPCA was instrumental in placing the tigers in the care of the pseudo-sanctuary, shouldn't someone from this organization check on the tigers?

On the financial front, I learned the facility hired the director's oldest daughter to work as the pseudo-sanctuary's bookkeeper! It was my understanding; the Texas Attorney General Office wanted the pseudo-sanctuary to hire a competent bookkeeper to maintain the books. I wonder if this is what they had in mind!

Meanwhile, the pseudo-sanctuary recently updated its website, to include pictures of animals that are no longer living. I'm willing to bet the directors have no idea they posted pictures of dead animals on the website since they do not even know the animals--to them the animals are just their meal tickets.

Please pray for the Louisiana tigers, for they deserve so much better than what they are receiving.

Happiness keeps You Sweet,
Trials keep You Strong,
Sorrows keep You Human,
Failures keeps You Humble,
Success keeps You Glowing,
But Only God keeps You Going

FOILed Again

Back in January 2009, I submitted a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request to Lehman College regarding the placement of its Rhesus Macaques. I asked:
 

1.  Number of species of animals sent to the pseudo-facility;

2.  Date(s) animals were transported;
3.  $$ amount accompanying the animals for supposed life-long retirement care;
4.  Process used in the selection of the retirement facility for the animals.

This week I finally received a response. Six Rhesus Macaques were moved from NY to the pseudo-sanctuary on/about April 20, 2008. The pseudo-sanctuary charged $2,500 per monkey ($15,000) for life long care and $3,960 in transportation costs for a total of $18,960.

It is hard to imagine any business manager from Lehman could possibly believe the pseudo-sanctuary could provide a "new enclosure," "quality species diet," and "vet care" for these six transplanted primates for $15,000. And life long care to boot!
 

But oh--the pseudo-sanctuary has good intentions!! They want to care for retired laboratory animals that served humanity in laboratory research--we should judge the pseudo-sanctuary not on their results, but on their good intentions, right?
 

Remember folks, the road to Hell is built on good intentions.
 

So, how are the primates doing today? Last tour reported only three out of six primates living in the enclosure; two which had serious bite and scratch wounds.

Apparently the primates are fighting because two primates were missing a lot of fur on their backs. The third primate appeared to be okay, but she refrained from coming up to the front. Two separate tours took pictures of the primates (one week apart) and both times, two females were photographed huddling up in the front right side of the enclosure. It is unknown what happened to the other three primates as the tour guide only spoke about the three. Primate species specific "dog food" can be found on the ground and to the left of the primates. Nice, real nice.
 

Lehman College also reported three primates (Sebastian, Prudence, and Bugs) were transported to the pseudo-sanctuary in August/September 2007 for $7,500 ($2,500 each). How are these primates doing today? Well, it is my understanding Sebastian and Prudence died about a year later and it unknown whether or not Bugs is still alive.
 

As to my final question, #4, Lehman College denied access to documentation reflecting the process of selecting the pseudo-sanctuary as the primates' final retirement home. The college claimed their Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee oversees and evaluates all aspects of the institution's animal case and use program. Apparently, documents concerning the process of selecting the pseudo-sanctuary are not subject to FOIL because IACUC does not perform a government function for the State of NY, but rather obtains its functions from federal law and regulation (Matter of ASPCA v. Board of Trustees, 184AD 2d 508, NYS 2d 198 (2d Dep't 1992).
 

The College could have provided the material, but chose not to release the documents, probably due to incriminating information contained in the files. I believe I was FOILed by Lehman College.

What We're Up Against

On very few occasions, I receive tips about animals possibly relocating to the pseudo-sanctuary. Thanks to several concerned and dedicated volunteers, previous owners were contacted and advised to "do their homework" and research the facility prior to relocating the animals by contacting the USDA/APHIS or the Texas OAG/Charitable Trust Division. In almost all cases, the former owners had no idea the pseudo-sanctuary was under investigation by the State and Federal agencies.

We try to act on each tip because animal lives are at stake. Instead of receiving words of thanks, we receive strange emails from individuals trying to hide the fact that they almost sent their animals to the pseudo-sanctuary simply because they did not bother to do their homework in researching the facility.

Once such email was from a wolf sanctuary in Florida. This person was more concerned about receiving an unsigned email than the current conditions at the pseudo-sanctuary!

"I like to know whom I am working with or speaking to and it is only common courtesy (as well as professional) to sign a name when claiming to represent an organization. I thank you for doing so and wish you a great day!"

No where in the notification e-mail did the volunteer represent working for an "organization." Instead the person signed off using the email name. Volunteers elect to remain anonymous for fear of threats or retaliation from the pseudo-sanctuary. After the volunteer received a request from this wolf place, requesting information about the person sending the email, the email was forwarded to me so we could respond and explain the situation in hopes we could all work together and help save other animals possible destined to relocate to the pseudo-sanctuary. Instead we received the nasty message printed above.

Nice, real nice. Where was the love and concern for the surviving pseudo-sanctuary's animals? Where was the caring and giving heart AR people were supposed show towards fellow animal rescuers? Where was the "thank-you for advising us about the current situation at the pseudo-sanctuary--we came this close to sending some bears to that place? Keep fighting for the animals!" Yeah, right.

Did we bother to respond to this ridiculous email? Absolutely NOT!! We have no desire to correspond with individuals more concerned about "signing a name" than the health and welfare of animals. This speaks volumes about this so-called "wolf sanctuary."

Meanwhile, I learned the pseudo-sanctuary is "thinking" about sending a tiger, acquired in 2005, to Texas A&M for diagnosis and treatment.

The pseudo-sanctuary's 2006 newsletter claimed enough funds were raised from donors to treat the tiger and construct his new enclosure. Yes, you read right--2006. Three years later, the tiger still does not have his new enclosure and I have serious doubts the tiger will ever travel to A&M because according to the "directors" donations are supposedly down and caring for one tiger may not be financially feasible.

So while the "directors" receive hefty paychecks, the tiger is left to languish in an old cage, not suitable for his physical needs.

Gee, what a surprise. And the joy of this case continues...

This Case is Driving Me Nuts

Why is this case driving me nuts? That's my new word, by the way...nuts. Anyway, the case is driving me nuts because of all the freaking ups and downs.

First the "downs" - On Monday and Tuesday the pseudo-sanctuary was on 3 local tv news stations (that I know of) and at least 2 Rio Grande news stations. One could see the baby tiger, now called Vi Vi, staged in the transporter with hay and a toy. Then she was shown in the pseudo-sanctuary's vet's office, sedated. The baby tiger was shown receiving a dental exam, body exam, and an x-ray--all with the media cameras rolling. This was pure exploitation. Especially since the tiger should have had a recent health certificate on file with the pseudo-sanctuary as part of the animal transportation process. Sedating a tiger, especially a baby, is risky -- but needless to say the pseudo-sanctuary and its vet had no problem sedating the tiger for the camera. In my opinion, these animal acquisition tv news stories were simply a ploy to get local donors to pony up some cash towards the "care" of the baby tiger. After all, who wouldn't want to donate money for the care of a cute and cuddly baby tiger, hmmmm?

I spoke with two of my contacts with the local tv stations and learned they were not part of the tiger acquisition story. Sadly, there was nothing they could do to stop the stories from airing. One was able to attach a line at the end of the news story that the facility was under investigation by the USDA due to the deaths of a few monkeys.

Another "down" - a recent tour visited the pseudo-sanctuary and confirmed Rumby tiger is gone and I presume she is dead based on the January and February tour reports. According to the tour guide, the empty cage does not house tigers, but rather it is used as a "run-off" cage, where animals can be temporarily moved while their main cage is being cleaned. The pseudo-sanctuary will not even admit Rumby (or Tag for that matter) ever existed. Now she only lives in pictures and my heart. May God Bless Rumby in Heaven with her cagemate, Tag.

Noel, the baby cougar, is still missing.

The tour reported two primates from Lehman College had large bite sores and scratches on their backs. There used to be six primates in the enclosure, but the tour said there were only three primates in the enclosure. The third primate did not appear to have bite soars or scratches. It is unknown whether or not the other three primates were hiding in the enclosed box located at the back of the enclosure or if they too disappeared.

Now the "up" -- earlier this week I heard a rumor that there was a possibility that the pseudo-sanctuary may receive some bears from Indiana. Not knowing whether or not the tip was reliable, I made a life saving call. Long story short, a friend of a friend contacted the group that was hoping to relocate the animals to the pseudo-sanctuary. This group was advised of the pseudo-sanctuary's current financial situation and the concurrent investigations by the Texas AG and USDA/APHIS Offices, and then made a simple request that the group investigate the animals' potential new home before they were relocated. Once the rescue group saw the legal documents on-line, the decision was made not to relocate the bears! Victory dance!!! Bears were saved!! It was a team effort and so a very special thank you goes out to the three ladies that helped saved the bears!

I wish I had more "ups" to report-- now you know why this case is driving me nuts!