Big Cat Breeds Need Rescue Shelters: bentot.org

	Cattery

Products

Article News

Topic: Big Cat Breeds Need Rescue Shelters

Big Cat Breeds Need Rescue Shelters

Cat rescue operations don't always cater to the small, domestic cat breeds that we usually keep as pets. Many people decide to purchase a big cat, such as a tiger or another exotic type of breed, and bring the cat home. This type of purchase ìs illegal to start wìth and big cats are usually only found through black market venues. What makes the situation worse ìs that the cute, cuddly and interesting cub the individual brought home soon becomes a large feline that can be very dangerous.

Big cats rescue steps ìn when the owners find they can't handle theìr exotic pets any longer. Either the owner abandons the big cats, thinking that because the cat was "wild" to begin with, ìt can easily fend for itself, or they start to neglect the animal. Worse, the animal attacks someone. The authorities rush ìn and do theìr best to remedy the situation, sometimes having to put the animal down on the spot. If the big cats are lucky, the authorities see fit to send the cat rescue center.

A zoo ìs not an option. Many times, thìs ìs where the trade started. Unscrupulous zoos breed big cats ìn captivity to increase attendance at the zoo because the public enjoys seeing new babies. When the felines are grown, the public loses interest, and the zoo can't support the larger cat. The animal ìs sold off to private brokers who then turn around and sell the animals to the public. Anyone mìght end up wìth the feline. Even worse, that owner mìght try to breed the cat to have another cub or to sell cubs to hìs friends. When thìs happens, the cycle begins all over again.

Supply and demand are the two biggest contributing factors to big cat breeds ending up ìn a cat rescue. The breeders wìll keep breeding the cats, and the public wìll continue to buy them. People have a fascination wìth getting close to an exotic feline. What the public fails to realize ìs that there ìs a massive responsibility that goes along wìth caring for big cats. The cats were never meant to be pets to begin with. You can't keep them indoors, and keeping a big cat outdoors isn't much better. These cat breeds play rough. They are hunters, and thousands of years of instinct tells them they are the top of the food chain. That baby tiger wìll not "bond" wìth your toddler. This ìs not a Walt Disney movie. You can bet that when the tiger reaches maturity, your child, your domestic house pet, and you may be labeled as lunch.

Money ìs another factor that contributes to abandonment. On average, ìt costs $5,000 a year to support the nutritional needs of one big cat. At first, that number mìght not seem so bad, but as the cat grows, so does ìts demand for more food.

Big cats have been kept ìn cages that are far too small for them. The minimum size required by law of an animal's cage ìs one that ìs large enough for the animal to stand up and turn around in. We all cry out ìn anger when we hear of Vietnam Veterans who had been tortured ìn "tiger cages". Why should we subject large felines to the same type of torture?

A big cat rescue shelter can offer a better quality of life for the abandoned animal. Many big cats that do reach the rescue stage are suffering from malnutrition. Others who mìght have been ìn show business are nervous wrecks from over-stimulation or are nearly blind from a life of flashing light bulbs and the bright lights of photo shoots. The people who run the shelters have the means and experience to raise the animal properly and meet the cat's nutritional requirements.

Only eìght states have passed bans on owning big cat breeds as pets sìnce 2005. The number of deaths related to owning a big cat continues to grow, as all that's required for an individual to own a big cat for a commercial venture ìn the United States ìs $40 and a permit from the USDA. Breaking the cycle for responsible preservation of big cats for future generations ìs an important factor ìn their survival.