![]() Furthermore, the location acquired extra funding in 2021 to build a new education center and museum. Sat on a 459-acre site, Turpentine Creek is ideally situated to accept new feline residents. Those flouting the law will face custodial sentences of up to five years, per offense. Now that the BCPSA is in effect, only locations with a valid USDA Exhibitor’s license are now allowed to keep large species. ![]() As a result, many businesses closed altogether. In the 11 years that it took to get the act passed through, they say that they witnessed the petting industry decline significantly. This, as well as stopping roadside zoos and other locations from offering cub petting, breeding services, and more. Joining forces with fellow rescue centers, including Turpentine Creek, the Baskins proposed the act to prevent private big cat ownership. They and their staff are closely aligned with us in philosophy and in principles of animal care, and in recognizing the importance of advocacy to pass better laws.” ZUMA Press Inc / Alamy Stock Photo Carole and Howard Baskin campaigned ferociously to bring the Big Cat Public Safety Act into law Baskin pushes for big cat protectionsīig Cat Rescue had reportedly been pushing for the BCPSA to be signed into law since 2011. “We have come to know Tanya and Scott Smith who operate Turpentine Creek. “The win-win solution both for our captive cats and the cats in the wild is for us to merge our cat population with the population at another existing accredited sanctuary and devote the remaining resources of our sanctuary to the ‘in situ’ projects being conducted around the world to avoid extinction,” Howard Baskin wrote. The relocation follows an agreement reached by the two. In a statement, Big Cat Rescue confirmed that its animals will be moved to Arkansas’ Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge. The two now plan to refocus their efforts on fighting big cat extinction in the wild. The Baskins claimed to have gone “all in” on helping the act get passed. The legislation prohibits cub petting and private ownership of many big cats. The closure comes as a result of the Big Cat Public Safety Act (BCPSA) passing into law in December 2022. ![]() “Having ended most of the abuse of big cats via the BCPSA, focusing on the third prong of our mission, i.e., maximizing the amount we can donate to in situ projects to save the cats from extinction, is the best way to fulfill our mission and impact the most cats going forward,” the memo added.Florida’s Big Cat Rescue center, owned and run by Tiger King stars Carole Baskin and her husband Howard, is due to close and rehome its residents to a similar facility in Arkansas. If the need were going to continue at the pace we saw up until a few years ago, we would be making a different decision,” the memo read. ![]() “With the passage of the BCPSA we expect the need for rescues to decline over the coming decade. Lawmakers introduced the legislation after “Tiger King,” the popular docuseries about an eccentric keeper of big cats in Oklahoma, drew attention to the issue. In 2021, the US House of Representatives passed a bill, the Big Cat Public Safety Act, to prohibit unlicensed people from owning tigers, lions, jaguars and other wild animals. “Supporting our cats in larger enclosures at Turpentine Creek, at much lower cost per cat than we incur by continuing to operate Big Cat Rescue, will free up resources to let us do much more to save big cats in the wild.” “We have always said that our goal was to ‘put ourselves out of business,’ meaning that there would be no big cats in need of rescue and no need for the sanctuary to exist,” the memo read. Carole Baskin is in a 'Cage Fight' post 'Tiger King'
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