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Unusual "pets" find peace at The Sanctuary

Contributed by: Anthonette Klinkerman on 6/29/2008

The question read, "Have you seen Eddy?"

Eddy, you see, is a black panther with jade-green eyes, and he had been staring at me for over a year now from a scrolling advertisement in King Soopers. I decided it was time to visit The Wild Animal Sanctuary.

We first visited the website, where my daughter and I watched a short video about the sanctuary and where the animals came from before ending up there. I had some notion that the animals had been rescued, but I had no idea how many inhabitants there were.

I'm sure I'm not the only one that was unaware that there is a streak of tigers, 75 strong, living in Hudson, Colorado. Along with gray wolves, mountain lions, Black bears, leopards, and Coati Mundi (a member of the raccoon family) for that matter.

The stories are varied, and heartbreaking, but we went ahead with our visit. (Don't trust Mapquest on this one - call and get precise directions.)

The large sign at the entrance is worded carefully, I'm guessing by an English major, to induce some shame in human lust for entertainment at an animal's expense, but not so much that you turn away at the entrance fees.

My four-year-old's favorite animal is a Serval, one of the smaller wild cats. I doubted there would be any, but when she asked, the teen at the desk replied there were two, and took us out onto the aerial walkway.

Diva, the one visible in her enclosure, had been rescued from a New York City apartment. Her owner had tried to remove her claws with pliers. The sad thing is she wasn't the only animal there whose owner had such a brilliant idea.

Phala, the white tiger, was saved from a white tiger "mill", where she was near death. In the 1980s, the Cincinnati Zoo sold white tiger cubs to the private sector for up to $60,000, and it is estimated Phala was born during this time. She is now comfortably living out her old age at the sanctuary after a miraculous recovery.

The stories go on to include Kobu, an African Lion, who was rescued from a concrete pit somewhere in Mexico. Two black bears were rescued from a circus where they had been trained by getting them addicted to nicotine. Tigger, the tiger, was saved from the basement of a house in Centennial where he had come down with ringworm.

Wild animals are wild animals. I'm not sure what is so difficult to understand about this. I know when I was a kid I thought a tiger would be a cool pet, but apparently I was gifted with enough IQ points to not follow through with the notion.

I can only speculate that it's the draw of money somehow, or the novelty of having an unusual pet. The irony is that these creatures can never be pets in the true sense of the word.

When the big cats get out of hand, some owners simply turn them loose. Seven people have been killed and 31 injured by tiger attacks in the US since 1998, and several incidents have been in Texas.

The park's newsletter estimates 30,000 large carnivores are being kept by private owners in the US, and 15,000 of those are tigers. That is actually more than are currently in the wild.

We left the compound speechless, and contemplative. Staff suggested we return for sunset sometime as that is when the wolves start howling. Though none of these animals can ever be rehabilitated, at least some instincts remain.

The Sanctuary is always in need of donations for these four-legged victims of human ignorance. From food to toys, to funds for healthcare, the Sanctuary can even design donation insert cards for wedding invitations.

www.WildAnimalSanctuary.org, or 303-536-0118


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Showing 1-3 of 3 comments
Submitted By: Fairlight Baer-Gutierrez
posted on 7/7/2008 @ 10:40:31 AM
Rated Story
I keep forgetting about that place. Thanks for sharing your experience, Anthonette, and for posting your opinion, Sara.
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Submitted By: Anthonette Klinkerman
posted on 7/1/2008 @ 7:46:46 AM
(Not Rated)
Again, the questions remains, Ms. Serval; what in the world would possess someone to want to confine a large cat in an area where they can't possibly provide for it? I'd say this is one case where the Federal Government got it right - that is placing a ban/regulation on such foolishness. If you love the cats so much, leave them in the wild where they belong. Keep sending your money to help this establishment, but funnel some to efforts to ban the breeding and sales of large cats for the private sector.
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Submitted By: Sara Serval
posted on 7/1/2008 @ 6:12:22 AM
Rated Story
Alot of these big cats, were not abused nor neglected by private owners. But they were forced to give up their pets due to banning laws and strict regulations being forced on Federal/State government. In order for a sanctuary to receive public donations, and grants, they have to publish sad stories. But when Wild Animal Sanctuary was about ready to close their doors, who came to their aid? The private exotic pet owners! Why? Because we have a heart for the exotic animals, we care about them. When they cried about their big cats starving, who sent them truck loads of meat? Who rallied together to help them save their sanctuary?
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Showing 1-3 of 3 comments
CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Anthonette Klinkerman

Castle Pines North

Anthonette Klinkerman has posted 72 stories and 43 comments since joining on 4/14/2006. Anthonette Klinkerman 's average story rating is 4.94.
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