Lions and tigers (but no bears)

I love tigers.  I have always loved tigers.  They are the neatest animals ever.  If neatest were a word.  And I have a buddy who volunteers at a big cat shelter - who gets to help tigers.  But they also need help (as the folks who previously owned the tigers as 'pets' came to find out - tigers eat a lot and require a lot of care).  So, the Carolina Tiger Rescue gives them a great home.

I know many of us are facing furlough, high gas prices, crazy governors, et al. - but please consider donating a (tax deductible) dollar or more (every dollar counts) to the Great Human Race. My buddy, Laurie (USN-Ret) (who is NOT a runner) and her husband, Mark (USA-Ret), are fellow troops from Sarajevo. Laurie is currently pursuing her 15th or so career as a vet tech and volunteers at the Carolina Tiger Rescue. This is the facility that recently took in 3 tigers and 3 lions from the Wild Animal Orphanage, just outside of San Antonio, saving the cats' lives.


the donation site is http://www.active.com/donate/ghr2011/lmb0(like I said, a buck or so is welcomed)

and, if you want to learn more about CTR and their cats, please check out http://www.carolinatigerrescue.com/ There are some great vidoes of Nitro, a former junkyard tiger who is blind and loves to chuffle at his keepers.

I know it's hard to imagine that folks own 'pet' tigers and 'junk yard' tigers, but it is fairly widespread. There are currently more tigers in captivity (not zoos - pets and guard animals) in Texas than live wild in Siberia.  As I've told many of you before, I worked hard for over 2 years to shut down a local tiger breeder - just outside of loop 1604 in San Antonio. And, in a city where the mentality is, if you don't need a pet any more, you 'set it free,' that becomes troublesome with really big cats. So, rescues like CTR are vital, especially as the wild tiger population sadly declines.