Another Reported Tiger Death - Bubba?

I just learned there was another tiger death at the pseudo-sanctuary and rumor has it that it may have been Bubba, the white tiger. Here is Bubba's story:

The video clip below was taken on November 24, 2008. Bubba arrived at the pseudo-sanctuary in the Spring of 2005 along with several other animals to include 8 servals (today there is only one left at the facility). The facility sent out newsletter appeals in 2005-06 requesting funds to build Bubba a "specially designed, large natural area, with low shelter areas and large natural pool." Needless to say, the cage was never built; he currently lives in a small enclosure that housed many, many tigers over the years. His cage mate, Princess, died under suspicious circumstances in 2008, shortly before the video (seen below) was taken.

Bubba was also promised a special diet and medication to treat any pain resulting from his degenerative joint disease in his hips. According to the pseudo-sanctuary's vet, Bubba should have been able to live a near normal lifespan. It's hard to believe that the tiger in the video is only about 8 years old!

We are waiting for confirmation of the tiger that died recently. No matter who the tiger was (Bubba or another male tiger), he or she did not deserve to die so young. So many big cats have died from the touring facility within the last few months, that it unconscionable that the USDA does nothing to save the remaining big cats living at this "facility." May God Bless and protect the tiger that died in and now resides in Heaven, forever and ever.

Why Bother?

I don't even know why I bother contacting the USDA any more regarding animal deaths.  I cannot get it through Dr. Pannill's head that every time a WAO animal dies, the pseudo-director calls the WAO's vet to request a death certificate.  The vet doesn't even look at the animal, so the pseudo-director makes up whatever she wants for the cause of death portion of the certificate.  This is sick.

To: elizabeth.c.pannill@usda.gov
Cc: Robert.M.Gibbens@usda.gov
Sent: Sat, July 18, 2009 8:21:27 AM
Subject: WAO - Additional Big Cat Animal Deaths

Dear Dr. Pannill:

Since there would be little value in requesting an investigation into the deaths of Vivi (9 month old tiger cub) who died last week and the adult male tiger who died two days ago, (seeing how all the "paperwork" will undoubtedly be on file with Dr. Ehrlund's office), I thought you might want an update on the latest unusual deaths at the Wild Animal Orphanage, so you can adjust your records. http://www.sanantoniolightning.com/vivi2.html

It is my understanding Dr. Erhlund wants the body of the adult male tiger to be sent to TVMDL as soon as possible.

Regards,

Kristina Brunner

Needless to say, my co-workers think I'm crazy for pursuing this case. My friends want me to stop because they see what this case is doing to me mentally and physically.  The OAG has done nothing to stop the pseudo-directors from going crazy with the sanctuary's funds and the USDA could care less if the animals lived or died.  So why am I bothering?  I had one friend ask me why I put so much faith in God when He obviously does not care if the animals lived or died at the pseudo-sanctuary too.  She wanted to know why I continued to bother with this case since it appears everyone is against me.

After a few thoughtful seconds, I told her that it was not God killing the animals, but the pseudo-sanctuary's board of directors.  God loves these animals and when they pass away He will be there with open arms to welcome them home.  In the meantime, God continues to give me the strength and courage to carry on despite all the nay-sayers who said I should quit the animal case.

I guess with everything going on right now, this song sums up how I feel right now...

Thank you, God, for always being there for me and the animals...  I will get through this storm.

Vivi's Memorial

It was my intention to cover the cougar case, but I'm afraid the death of the pseudo-sanctuary's latest acquisition, Vivi, baby tiger, needed to be addressed. I originally wrote about Vivi (first known as Zee Zee) in February 2009, shortly after her arrival to the pseudo-sanctuary. Tours visiting the "sanctuary" reported the 4 month old tiger cub lived next to the bears and was moved next to the two adult tigers. The tour guide told guests the plan was to integrate Vivi with the two adults sometime in the future.

 

Now Vivi is dead and the pseudo-sanctuary's vet, concerned with the extremely high number of big cat deaths this year, requested the tiger be taken to the Texas Vet Medical Diagnostic Laboratory for a necropsy. The picture shown above was found on the pseudo-sanctuary's veterinarian's web site; another photo seen on the site shamelessly depicts Vivi sedated and being "held" by one of the vet techs. I wonder when those photos will be taken down, if ever.

I warned the USDA/APHIS about Vivi living at the pseudo-sanctuary. Did they keep an eye on her? Did they keep an eye on Noel, the baby cougar, whom arrived just two months prior to Vivi? NO! Now Vivi is dead and Noel is allegedly "recovering" from her injuries sustained when "introduced" to the adult cougars. Noel lives at the pseudo-sanctuary's unregulated, non-inspected property, alone, right next to several tigers.  Yes, you read correctly -- Vivi is living in one of the New Jersey tiger quarantine cages, within an eye view of several tigers! Due to her alleged injuries, it is unlikely she will ever be integrated with the 6 surviving cougars (assuming there are still 6 cougars left). So she will have to spend the rest of her life in a tiny quarantine cage next to tigers.  Poor thing must be terrified.

And what would be the point of reporting Vivi's death to the USDA? I'm sure the pseudo-sanctuary's government paperwork will be in order -- never mind the epidemic of animal deaths at the tour facility. So, for grins, let's catch up on the number of deaths which occurred in the last few months -- 8 cougars, 1 liger, 1 tiger cub, and at least 2 tigers (possibly 4 in all)--that's a minimum of 12 animals since February 2009! This is outrageous and the sad thing is there is absolutely nothing anyone can do to save these animals, nor warn others from sending their "pets" or "lab animals" to this place. Government failed these animals because they are more concerned with "intentions" and the "paperwork" then they are on the health and welfare of the animals. I can assure you if animals were substituted for children or elderly residents, this place would have been shut down years ago.

So "where" can the directors be found during this epidemic? On vacation of course, where else? The male director is on yet another vacation and will not be back until next week, at which point, the female director plans to take yet another vacation.

With the heat maintaining over 100 degrees with a heat index of over 102 degrees every single day for weeks, I'm sure the death toll will continue to rise. But heck, you can be sure the "paperwork" will be in order.

God Bless Vivi and all the other animals that died at this place within the last few months; they deserved so much better. Vivi never got a chance to live the life of a tiger as her light was snuffed out way too soon. I just pray no more baby animals are either born or taken to the pseudo-sanctuary as I'm afraid they too will meet a very tragic end.

Farewell To Beast - A Very Special Liger

I really hate starting the blog with bad news. It was my intention to start a blog with a happy patriotic video as I am supposed to be celebrating Independence Day. I will not be celebrating anything this year as I learned Beast, a beautiful male liger whom I got to know rather well over the few short months we spent together, was "euthanized" last month.

Before I start my monologue, I'd like to share Beast with you:

Picture taken in January 2002, shortly after his arrival.

Picture taken March 2005

Pictures taken in August 2005

Picture taken in February 2009

 

So what happened to Beast?

(you may want to turn up your speakers up (way up) to hear the tour guide talking about Beast on the third and final slide of the presentation)

As soon as I learned Beast was near death and on display for the public to see in temperatures hoovering at or over 100 degrees, and not eating, I immediately contacted the USDA/APHIS.

By the time the inspectors showed up (10 days later), Beast was already dead.

As soon as I learned Beast had died, along with two more cougars, I contacted the USDA/APHIS inspector to let her know that Beast and the cougars were dead. I was surprised to learn the inspectors just visited the property on Wednesday (July 1, 2009), and other than a few housekeeping issues, they found no problems!

Trying to understand how the pseudo-sanctuary got away with displaying a very sick liger, not to mention 8 cougars that died within just six short months, I asked several important questions (questions and answers are not direct quotes as I am paraphrasing the questions and answers for brevity sake):

1. Is it against the AWA to display animals that are seriously ill and under distress? Answer: As long as the pseudo-sanctuary's veterinarian authorizes the animal to remain on display, then there is not much the USDA/APHIS can do.

2. How did Beast die? Answer: The paperwork on file, signed by the pseudo-sanctuary's veterinarian, claimed he was euthanized due to a positive result for cancer. The USDA/APHIS does not have the authority to challenge the vet's report unless it is proven the report was falsfied in some manner.

3. Did she happen to notice that two more cougars were also dead? Yes, the paperwork on file seemed in order.

4. What were their cause of deaths? Were autopsies performed? Let me guess, the results were "inconclusive." Answer: Vague answers were given, but the bottom line was the paperwork appeared to be in order.

5. Based on the high number of cougar deaths, the relocation of the remaining cougars to an older primate cage (which has a top), and news that pepper spray may be issued to the workers soon, is it possible that some of the cougars may have escaped? Answer: Well, I - anything is possible.

6. Did she see the New York primates? Answer: Yes, the primates were doing fine. Two primates appeared to have some hair loss, which probably occurred from over grooming by the dominant female (side note: I thought one of the tour guide said the hair loss was due to self-mutilation while housed in the small laboratory cage, hmmm). The redness was due to the female primates going through their estrous cycle. The redness can extend from their bottoms to their faces.

7. Did you see the bite wounds on the primates' bodies, specifically the tails? Answer: No, they were bouncing around so much I did not notice any bite wounds.

The inspector told me the USDA/APHIS cannot continue to go out and check on the pseudo-sanctuary's animals each time I report something wrong. She went on to say that this "sanctuary" was one of the better ones the USDA/APHIS inspects as they have very few write-ups. She then went on to describe a different sanctuary that suffered a loss when a male tiger, one night, killed its cage mate. The inspector told me there was nothing the owner could do to prevent this accident. (whaaaa???) What I should have said at this point was that the pseudo-sanctuary director in question puts too many animals together, which results in a lot of fights, and in the cougars' case, deaths. But I was just too stunned by this story to even comment other than "that's terrible" and "poor tiger."

I asked her "what about the high number of animal deaths?" Her response was straight to the point, as long as the deaths were humane and the paperwork was in order, there is not much the USDA/APHIS can do. I was encouraged to report any animals laying in the hot sun after sedation, so the animals could be checked upon by an inspector. I quipped, why bother, by the time the USDA/APHIS inspectors showed up, the animal would be dead but the paperwork would be in order. I asked the inspector if the same vet signed all the paperwork and was told yes; the pseudo-sanctuary only uses one vet. Interesting.

I further pressed the investigator by asking if 67+ dead animals since the start of the investigation seemed rather high to her. She agreed the number of animal deaths at the pseudo-sanctuary was rather high (and she felt the death rate was high for many years) and she even went so far as to say she questioned the pseudo-sanctuary's veterinarian about the high number of animal deaths a few years ago. She told me the vet probably doesn't like her very much (which I replied, "well, she doesn't like me at ALL") because of her of line of questioning. The most she got out of the vet was that if the animal was aggressive, then it must be put down [gee where have I heard that before?].

We agreed the the pseudo-sanctuary does not go to the ends of the earth to care for its animals. We talked about how much better care we give our own animals, which explains our pets long longevity. Our pets live to a ripe old age, while the sanctuary's animals are either euthanized or they have "renal failure." Question? How come very few animals living at the scamuary actually die from old age?

Unfortunately, unless I can prove the animals are killed inhumanely or slaughtered for their fur, bones, claws, etc., there really isn't anything the USDA/APHIS can do. After all, the paperwork IS in order. So, I concluded by saying that I won't take up the USDA/APHIS' valuable time in the future by requesting investigations into animal deaths or injuries; I'll just submit a report to the agency, so they can update their records. No sense in investigating animal injuries and/or deaths since the paperwork will undoubtedly be in order (I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, huh?).

So folks, that's how a sanctuary becomes a "scamuary." Oh, there is at least one bit of good news, the inspectors got to visit the unregulated, non-inspected property and she saw Jake, the White Crowned Mangabey, living in an enclosure about 20' long, nearby other non-human primates. Sadly, out of all the animals I expressed concerned for their health and well-being to the USDA/APHIS, only Jake and Bubba are still alive today. The really big question is how long will Beauty (the other liger) live -- I give her six months before the pseudo-sanctuary kills (oops, I meant "euthanize") her...with the proper paperwork on file, of course!

Oh, and I forgot to mention the bears are still living in their quarantine cages. Never mind over a $100,000 was donated to build their supposed huge "natural enclosure" back in 2004. Their dreams of trees, natural ground, and a large pond apparently are just that--dreams. I asked if the inspector noticed the clogged drain in the old bear enclosure or the broken water bowl in another bear's enclosure. The inspector said she did not see these problems. Funny, I was under the impression the workers reported, on the morning of the USDA/APHIS inspection, problems with the bears' enclosure. So much for a thorough "inspection."

More to follow on the cougar story...

And I have updated the primate story in the previous blog posting. Check out the videos at the end of the photos and you decide--are the primates get worse, or grouping well as the USDA/APHIS inspector claimed.