For the last six months I have been interning at Big Cat Rescue, a cat sanctuary in Tampa Florida. Home to over 100 hundred cats from the tiny sand cat to the mighty tiger; this place is absolutely incredible. The founder Carole Baskin is a wonderful woman who has devoted her life to the well being of hundreds of wild cats and to ending the awful exotic cat pet trade. As a sanctuary we have two missions: number one we want to take care of the magical creatures that we have and number two we want to educate the public and change the laws to end the exotic cat pet trade. This has truly been an eye opening and life changing experience. As an avid animal advocate from a young age I have been aware of how truly cruel of a species humans can be but working here I have seen it on a whole new level. The world's most powerful and majestic creatures torched, abused and rendered helpless for one’s own amusement; it leaves me totally speechless. There are currently more tigers in backyards in the state of Texas alone then there are in the wild. I am so proud to serve these amazing cats. Nothing makes me happier than advocating for their well being while caring for them first hand. To be able to help provide a voice that is heard for those who cannot be understood and cannot stand up for themselves puts a great big smile on my face. I feel so blessed to have had this amazing experience become a part of my life. The last few months have been nothing but sheer bliss filling my heart with even more love, bhakti and helping me to extend my karma yoga to the most deserving of creatures.
JENNA FAITH (November 2013)
Read the full blog post by Karo Tak at http://www.karotak.com/the-tiger-in-all-of-us/