2003 February News

News from February, 2003
DawnWatch: Zoo surplus animal dumping on cover of San Francisco Chronicle

DawnWatch: Zoo surplus animal dumping on cover of San Francisco Chronicle

Last November, the National Enquirer covered the dumping of surplus zoo animals to horrendous fates such as death on hunting ranches. Some people felt the story was unreliable given the magazine in which it appeared.

Today, Sunday, February 23, a similar story is on the cover of the San Francisco Chronicle. It is reliable. In his story headed, “Uproar over Internet market for zoo animals,” Julian Guthrie tells us:

“Since the 1970s, zoos have declared thousands of lions, tigers, bears and other creatures ‘surplus’ because of over-breeding, inadequate funding or simply because the animals failed to wow visitors as they once did. Some zoos have sold the animals to brokers, who funnel them to breeders, hunting ranches, research facilities, circuses, auctions or individuals looking for the latest exotic pet. But in recent years, experts say, the Internet has brought the industry in from the wild — and right into the living room.”

We hear from Pat Hoctor, a “self-professed animal lover,” who “formerly worked as a trapper and transporter of exotic animals, and has raised about 200 lion cubs and 400 cougar cubs.” He says that he is sure that some of his animals have come to “bad ends” though he guesses that the majority didn’t. 

We also hear from Pat Derby, “a former animal trainer in Hollywood who runs the Performing Animal Welfare Society sanctuaries in Northern California.”  She says, “When I started in this business, the problem of exotic animals as pets and the whole pet trade was so minor. It could have been solved back then. Now, we could take our sanctuaries and fill them up next week and build another one and another one and another one. We have to go to the root of the problem.”

 The root of the problem is that non human animals are considered to be things, property, to be captured or bred, bought and sold, locked up or displayed, for human amusement. This front page story offers us a perfect opportunity for letters to the editor against the use of animals for human entertainment. You can read the whole detailed article here: ZOO Dumping


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November 2002 Sanctuary News

Our Monthly Update from Tim Mills, Yogie and Friends hard-working Executive Director!

Hi everyone:

We are now able to accept donations and contributions by VISA and MasterCard.  Make a $25 tax deductible donation and receive a FREE T-shirt of your choice!

It’s November and that means turkey time! Last year we had the blessing of David and Toni Zuber bringing out ten 15 lb turkeys for the cats. They all enjoyed it and Putty Tat ate 2 of them. This year, I hope everyone is doing fine and planning to have a good Thanksgiving. And please remember your animals during this time of year. Its getting cold outside and they are in need of warm shelter and more food to keep their bodies warm.

On November 14 the Senate Judiciary Committee passed by voice vote the Captive Exotic Animal Protection Act, a bill to combat the practice of private “canned hunting” operations throughout the United States. S. 1655, which was introduced by Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE), is now ready for a vote in the full Senate. The U.S has as many as 1,000 canned hunts ranches, facilities where trophy hunters pay a set fee to shoot tame or habituated animals in a fenced enclosure, typically in a “no kill, no pay” arrangement. While gazelles may sell for $800, other exotic animals such as African lions and giraffes sell for fees ranging into the thousands of dollars. For more information on canned hunts, click here: http://action.fund.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=1270 and sign the letter.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Thank Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) for moving the canned hunt bill through his committee: Phone: (202)224-4242/ Fax: (202) 224-3479/ Email: senatorˍleahy@leahy.senate.gov

We had another busy month as always and had a Keithville school and a Bossier Parish special education class out to visit Yogie. Also the Rutherford House came out and will be bringing out two other houses. Plus we had many boy scouts, cub scouts, brownies, girl scouts and head start schools out to visit the cats. Everyone enjoyed their visit and came away with more knowledge about these great cats. We are expecting 2 more schools to be coming out this month as well as more groups.

Weve just rescued a cougar from Arkansas. His name is Bubba, hes 13 years old and has been in 6 different homes. This will make his 7th home but it will be his LAST! A couple took Bubba in, otherwise he would have to be put down. After getting Bubba, they realized they didn’t have the means to take care of him, so they contacted us and we brought him to Yogie and Friends. This means a new pen, house, food, medical care, toys and lots of care. Since he has been with us Bubba has had two root canals on his teeth. He feels much better now. You can visit Bubba in the photo gallery.

We are in desperate need for funds during the wintertime more than ever. Donations are next to nothing and the cats have to eat and be taken care of. Everything and anything you give will be helpful and is tax deductable. So please give, and help save these great animals.

We have new members:

Jenny Senier is Director of Marketing and Human Resources

Jim Denney is our Volunteer in charge of Public Relations.

Angela Drudge is our exotic cat trainer

As you can see the web site has changed, and is being completely redesigned. We want to thank Len Moyer of Merlin Computers for his contribution and for introducing us to Don Sherret of WWWeb-Works Web Design Studios in Shreveport. Please visit their businesses and thank them for all they are doing for the animals.

It’s school time of year so any schools you might know of that want to go on a field trip to see wildlife, please let them know we are here and open for schools during the week. We even have a lesson plan to teach the kids about the cats.

We have a golf cart for those who are handicapped so they can enjoy the cats also.

Please remember these cats are NOT PETS. These animals are very dangerous and can kill or seriously hurt you . It does not mean that the cats are bad or evil, this is what they are and what they do. We do not promote these animals as pets. They belong in the wild, but because of man and the desire to own them as pets they lose their natural environment. The animals suffer from a lack of room, a good diet, vet care, a mate, and so on. Also the owners are in danger of the cat hurting them and whoever is in the cats area. So please, if you or someone you know wants to buy a cute little exotic cat, understand that they get big fast and its very dangerous and not healthy for the animal. If you care for wild animals at all, just don’t do it.

Hope to see ya out here real soon!!

Here is a little information about me, Tim Mills

I am single. I lived in Michigan for 32 years. I moved here after I got my HVAC, (A/C) license at FSU. I got my first cat after 6 months of study. Then when I got my first one, I learned so much more about them. They are not pets and they need special treatment. After I got my first tiger, I went to different sanctuaries, got online, read books, and talked with many people in the business. After a year and a half, I started a nonprofit sanctuary in Frierson, LA. with the help of Billy Strunk, vice president of Yogie and Friends, a very special person that has taught me many things about running this organization. With the help of Jim Denney, my right hand man, we have built 5 pens and have taken in 10 cats. We are licensed by the USDA and the Louisiana Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries. We are the only sanctuary in the state of Louisiana. that does what we do.

Tim Mills

We need volunteers to help us raise money for further improvements to the sanctuary. Call one of the numbers on the ‘come see us’ page if you can help. Please help us see that these cats live Happily Ever After.

We have just put up 5 new 9 foot umbrellas for shade. Its very hot and we want everyone who comes out to have a enjoyable time. So don’t worry about the hot sun, just get under the shade and enjoy the cats. Soon the weather will be perfect to come and see the cats.

We are in need of donations for the new cats pen, food bill and vet bills. Please send your tax deductible donations to:   Yogie and Friends
                                             128 Fob Lane


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October 2002 Sanctuary News

Our Monthly Update from Tim Mills, Yogie and Friends hard-working Executive Director!

Hi everyone:

We are now able to accept donations and contributions by VISA and MasterCard.  Make a $25 tax deductible donation and receive a FREE T-shirt of your choice!

It’s October and summer’s hot weather is slowly going away. The tigers are more bouncy and playing in the pools more. September was also very busy. Channel 12 came out and did a  “live at 5” broadcast on September 25. It was great but we had to use lights to do the broadcast as it was “live at 5” in the AM!! Leo was very vocal during the filming. We are thankful for the people who came out early in the morring to support us. We had a great time with Jeff Ferrell and his camera man, Bobby. Bobby had a great time playing and running with Yogie – Bobby was on the outside of Yogies’s pen, of course. Thank you very much, guys!

We took in 5 exotic cats this summer, and built 2 new pens and still in need to build one more. We now have 7 tigers, 5 lions, one black leopard and one serval. We named the serval Speedy Gonzales. We are sorry to report the death of Slowpoke, our bobcat,  in September. Although he was only with us a short time, we will miss him. This was Slowpoke.

We took in 3 lions, 2 female and one male. We were told they were living in a garage for 17 years in Texas. They were in bad shape and in need of good vet care, healthy food and a good home. We are giving them that plus lots of love.

We also had a home school group that came out, around 35-40 people. LSUS Biology club, and the Krewe of Barkus and Meoux came out and visited the cats. They all enjoyed themselves and are welcome to come back soon.

This coming month we are going to have Keithville middle school out to visit Yogie. The kids are going to have a blast with the cats, learning about them and seeing these cats play.

We are still expanding Yogie and Boo Boo pen. So anyone that want to come out and help, please let us know. Our next project is building a new pen for Tigger. He has outgrown the small pen he is currently using. We are in need of funding for this, as it cost us a little over $4000. per pen to build so please, if you can, donate to help support this great cause.

We also had 2 big cat houses built by David and Tonia Zuber this summer. They are nice
enough to come out and build heavy duty houses for our big cats. The houses have lots of
room with a floor to keep them dry.

As you can see the web site has changed, and is being completely redesigned. We want to thank Len Moyer of Merlin Computers for his contribution and for introducing us to Don Sherret of WWWeb-Works Web Design Studios in Shreveport. Please visit their businesses and thank them for all they are doing for the animals.

It’s school time of year so any schools you might know of that want to go on a field trip to see wildlife, please let them know we are here and open for schools during the week. We even have a lesson plan to teach the kids about the cats.

We have a golf cart for those who are handicapped so they can enjoy the cats also.

Please remember these cats are NOT PETS. These animals are very dangerous and can kill or seriously hurt you . It does not mean that the cats are bad or evil, this is what they are and what they do. We do not promote these animals as pets. They belong in the wild, but because of man and the desire to own them as pets they lose their natural environment. The animals suffer from a lack of room, a good diet, vet care, a mate, and so on. Also the owners are in danger of the cat hurting them and whoever is in the cats area. So please, if you or someone you know wants to buy a cute little exotic cat, understand that they get big fast and its very dangerous and not healthy for the animal. If you care for wild animals at all, just don’t do it.

Hope to see ya out here real soon!!


Posted in Monthly Newsletter and tagged , ,

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