Meet Ra!
Ra staying cool in this hot weather. Photo by EFRC
CENTER POINT, INDIANA —This is Ra. He came from a retired circus trainer who locked ten big cats in a barn, along with an elephant and horses. You can imagine hoe great his life is now!
You can see RA on the Exotic Felice Rescue Center tour. He is one of eight cats rescued from a traveling circus that had been closed for more than ten years. The cats spent their lives in circus cages in a barn.
The Rescue --The Story told by EFRC
"On a snowy morning in February a call came in from the USDA asking us to take five tigers, three lions and assist in the removal of two more exotic felines and then question "can you do that today?"
Ten big cats in dusty, rusty old circus cages and needed to be confiscated. Being one of the only organizations in the country capable of taking ten large predators with no advanced notice we headed north, crawling through a blinding snowstorm at ten mph arriving at the rendezvous point late. There we were met by federal and state officials and promptly escorted to the site. The federal and state officials kept the owner at a distance while we surveyed the situation with USDA officials and our staff began unloading three truckloads of equipment. Some of the animals loaded readily. One lion had to be immobilized, and a tiger had to be taken in her cage, afraid to leave the tightly confined space 7' square where she lived. By dark, all the animals were loaded and on their way to a new and better life. The day after their arrival all the animals were examined by Dr. Fred Froderman, DMV, our veterinarian. We scheduled a procedure the next morning for Princess to remove two claws over-grown into her paw pads causing her pain each time she took a step. Samo. One of the male tigers was missing large portions of his tail and had sores and lacerations on both of his legs and tail. Sanitation, antibiotics, proper diet and a large enclosure have provided Samo a chance to recover."
Learn more about this wonderful organization by visiting their website at: lwww.exoticfelinerescuecenter.org/home.html
A story done by CBS Evening News: www.cbsnews.com/news/center-point-indiana-rescue-center-cares-for-big-cats/
You can see RA on the Exotic Felice Rescue Center tour. He is one of eight cats rescued from a traveling circus that had been closed for more than ten years. The cats spent their lives in circus cages in a barn.
The Rescue --The Story told by EFRC
"On a snowy morning in February a call came in from the USDA asking us to take five tigers, three lions and assist in the removal of two more exotic felines and then question "can you do that today?"
Ten big cats in dusty, rusty old circus cages and needed to be confiscated. Being one of the only organizations in the country capable of taking ten large predators with no advanced notice we headed north, crawling through a blinding snowstorm at ten mph arriving at the rendezvous point late. There we were met by federal and state officials and promptly escorted to the site. The federal and state officials kept the owner at a distance while we surveyed the situation with USDA officials and our staff began unloading three truckloads of equipment. Some of the animals loaded readily. One lion had to be immobilized, and a tiger had to be taken in her cage, afraid to leave the tightly confined space 7' square where she lived. By dark, all the animals were loaded and on their way to a new and better life. The day after their arrival all the animals were examined by Dr. Fred Froderman, DMV, our veterinarian. We scheduled a procedure the next morning for Princess to remove two claws over-grown into her paw pads causing her pain each time she took a step. Samo. One of the male tigers was missing large portions of his tail and had sores and lacerations on both of his legs and tail. Sanitation, antibiotics, proper diet and a large enclosure have provided Samo a chance to recover."
Learn more about this wonderful organization by visiting their website at: lwww.exoticfelinerescuecenter.org/home.html
A story done by CBS Evening News: www.cbsnews.com/news/center-point-indiana-rescue-center-cares-for-big-cats/