How to start and run a world class sanctuary

1. How to Start and Run a Sanctuary "If I knew then, what I know now, I never would have started a sanctuary." Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue [email_address] 12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL 33625 Office 813.920.4130 Cell 813.493.4564 Fax 885.4457 Caring for cats - Ending the trade Join more than 54,000 Big Cat Rescue fans http://www.facebook.com/BigCatRescue Twitter: Follow Me and get a free wild cat screen saver or ecard account @BigCatRescue Big Cat Rescue is the largest accredited sanctuary in the world dedicated entirely to abused and abandoned big cats. The sanctuary began rescuing exotic cats in Nov. 4, 1992. The non profit 501c3 sanctuary is home to more than 100 exotic big cats. Big Cat Rescue’s mission is to provide the best possible home for the animals in our care and try to stop the flow of exotic cats needing sanctuary by educating the public about the plight of the animals and supporting stronger laws to protect them. Big Cat Rescue is: Accredited by the Global Federation of Sanctuaries, Certified by Independent Charities of America as a “Best in America Charity”, Rated 4 Stars by Charity Navigator (their highest rating) and has the highest score of any animal based charity. Find out more at BigCatRescue.org

2. The ultimate goal of YOUR sanctuary Big Cat Rescue's mission is two fold: Caring for cats AND Ending the trade If you don't know where you're going, you won't know when you get there Start with the end in mind It's never too late to work smarter Your animals are counting on you

3. Can ’t be for selfish reasons Just to be with animals you love? From now on you are mainly going to be dealing with personality management and fund raising If you aren't putting the long term well being of the animals first, you may become more of the problem than the solution Sanctuaries are failing every year

4. Failed Facilities in Just Past Few Yrs Archangel Underwood, MN Ashville Game Farm, Jeff Ash, NY Bearcat Hollow, Ken Kraft, MN Corpus Christi Zoo Dennis Hill Exotics Shelbyville, IN Great Cats of Indiana Greenville Wildlife Center in Greenville, NJ Horseshoe Creek in Davenport, FL owned by Darryl Atkinson Indiana Backyard Zoo that had 11 tigers Karl Mitchell, Pahrump, NV

5. Failed Facilities in Just Past Few Yrs L & L Exotics owned by Lorenza Pearson in Copeley Township, OH Savage Kingdom owned by Robert Baudy in Centerville, FL Siberian Tiger Foundation owned by Diana Cziraky aka Diana McCourt Tiger Creek/Wild World Morepark, CA Tiger Rescue Colton, CA Tigers Only owned by Joan Byron-Marasek in Ocean County, NJ Wesa-A-Geh-Ya in Warrenton, MO Sandra and Kenneth Smith Wild Animal Orphanage San Antonio, TX 400 tigers, primates Zoo Cats AKA Zoo Dynamics Marcus Cook FL and TX

6. Huge Facilities in Peril Wildlife Waystation, CA more than 400 big cats, bears and primates G W Exotics, OK claims to have more than 200 big cats and yet appears to breed in excess of 50 cubs per year while saying he can’t pay water or electric bills Serenity Springs, CO 71 tigers + other big cats sentenced to 6 yrs jail Joe Taft, IN 117 tigers, depends on road kill, no succession plan Turpentine Creek, AR 65 tigers but only permitted to have one by co Pat Craig, CO 55 tigers and easily that many lions nearly folded a few years ago and then began taking in huge numbers of big cats T.I.G.E.R.S., SC has 51 tigers and giving cats away now Central FL Animal Rescue has 50+ big cats on 2 acres

7. Get Right People Doing the Right Jobs Family members support the cause because it isn't about me It's a difference THEY can make We only hire from our volunteer pool Be the example and take the time to train Give them authority to act and get out of their way

8. Animal People Aren’t People People Most of our volunteers want to do “animal” work If they are great at that, they might get a paid job, doing admin or management work Animal work will always be volunteer work Hiring outside our volunteer pool might mean a lack of understanding of the issues

9. A mission the public will embrace The public is fickle and has a fleeting attention span. They love a rescue and will donate, but it is never enough for life time care (10k @ cat) To get the kind of support you need for the life of the animals you need a plan that the public can embrace They need to become a part of it

10. YOUR plan must result in a solution Big Cat Rescue's goal is to put ourselves out of business If we are successful, there won't be big cats being born, exploited and discarded in cages None of us can rescue our way out of this The solution is bigger than our facility The solution will outlive us

12. Play Animal Lover's Vision Statement

13. Goals, strengths, weaknesses and opportunities As you are creating your plan think about your core strengths and how to use them Consider your weaknesses and devise ways to shore them up so they aren't detracting What opportunities are unique to you, your expertise, your area, that can help you make the biggest impact?

14. As you are creating your plan think about your core strengths and how to use them What are some of YOUR core strengths? What can you do better than anyone else?

15. Consider your weaknesses and devise ways to shore them up so they aren't detracting What weakness comes to mind AND what can you do to compensate for it?

16. What opportunities are unique to you, your expertise, your area, that can help you make the biggest impact? If you had a month to live, what would you do with it to insure the success of your sanctuary? Do it!

18. Document you are following the plan As you make progress, document it on the plan under results or actions taken Lots of grants, contests and media will want to see concrete steps you have taken Every time you review or update your plan you will see it from a fresh perspective Most genius is just the result of see- ing an old problem in a new way

19. Adjust as needed to stay on track Flying, and especially landing a plane is done through many, tiny adjustments Big unplanned moves often result in crashes After a while you will see patterns Too much time spent feeding animals Not enough time ending the abuse

20. Be transparent My husband says he fell in love with me because "what you see is what you get." If you are acting with integrity and ending animal abuse, the public will fall in love You have to show them that you are following your plan Show them how THEY are making a difference

21. Be painfully transparent Big Cat Rescue posts our 990's, audited statements, annual reports and monthly newsletters online for the world to see It includes our successes and our failures We include our rescues and the tributes to the cats who have died Our enemies use it, but the good it does far outweighs their attacks

22. Greatest gains for the effort If you start a sanctuary, you will soon be up to your eye balls in animals You will be tired, over worked, over stressed and often in tears over the ones you can't help You owe it to the animals you love and to yourself to focus your precious energy on the efforts that can give you the biggest impact for the time invested

23. Just say, "No" How many times do we hear some hoarder quoted in the media saying, "I just can't say no"? Don't let that be you. YOUR Acquisition Policy should be created when you are not in a life or death situation. Based on sound decisions, logic & your sanctuary's future & goals.

24. Big Cat Rescue's Acquisition Policy 1 Is it a cat? 2 Has this cat been with us before? 3 Are we financially able and staff stable enough to take on this commitment? 4 Will the owner surrender the permits and sign a contract not to own or use another exotic cat? 5 Is this acquisition a governmental seizure? 6 What are the legal ramifications? 7 Is ownership un-contested? 8 Is transport possible? (we can only receive a cat in the state from a licensed person who owns it and there are state laws that apply to cross country transport) 9 Is it a dire situation? 10 Is the cat in danger of euthanasia? 11 Is the cat starving?

25. Big Cat Rescue's Acquisition Policy 12 Is the cat being neglected? 13 Is the cat ’s health in danger? 14 Would this cat be breeding if we don’t take it? 15 Is the current situation unsafe? 16 Are there no other good options for the cat? 17 Would this acquisition negatively affect our current population? 18 Do we have quarantine space? 19 Does it cause our existing cats to not have sufficient green level keepers? (300 manpower hours per cat according to 2006 stats) 20 How would this acquisition financially impact the care of existing population? ($10,000.00 annually per big cat according to 2011 stats)

26. Big Cat Rescue's Acquisition Policy 21 Does this cat further our mission sufficiently to offset the use of hours and dollars in solving the problem once and for all? 22 Are there extenuating circumstances? 23 Could the former owner be a potential source of trouble for our staff? 24 Is the final vote, after all of the considerations are heard, unanimous?

27. Saying No is The Hardest To Do One good law saved 5,000 big cats based upon trends from 1999 to 2003

28. Non Profits Can't Lobby...BS This is repeated more often than any other excuse IRS allows up to 5% of budget to be used for promoting legislation (not the legislators) that helps you end abuse Another reason to be wildly successful financially It's why you need to have plenty of staff & volunteers who can do the animal care work so you can devote your time "My folks just don't care about politics" - Sometimes I feel the same way, but what that means is that I am not leading them effectively, if they don't get it

29. I'm Afraid of the Bad Guys If people aren’t talking about you, you aren’t making a difference The reason the bad guys hate us is because they know we are going to end the abuse of big cats that profit from HSUS 11 million members/ $130 million PeTA 2 million members/ $35 million We are small 60,000 members/ 1.5 million The bad guys now have websites dedicated to bashing HSUS, PeTA & Big Cat Rescue. It's a badge of honor!

30. Be Their Voice “ Morality cannot be legislated but behavior can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless.” Martin Luther King, Jr. HR 3359 a bill to ban the use of big cats in traveling acts Would end circus acts and cubs in malls S1184 and HR 1021 Ag Gag bill must be defeated Join the FL League of Humane Voters and create voting blocks of animal lovers.

31. We Aren’t Perfect We are considered the leading sanctuary and are often asked to help other sanctuaries be more like us, but We still have trouble recruiting and retaining volunteers We still have drama We still have gossip and back biting We still have over worked staff, volunteers and interns We still have a lot to learn and do

32. Sooooo, What Would YOU Do? What can we do that make volunteers want to be here more? What are we doing wrong that is preventing us from being a place where volunteers would rather be than anywhere else? What can we do to let you know that you are appreciated?