The Press Conference

On Thursday, the pseudo-sanctuary (herein known as PS to save time and blog space) held a press conference to explain the deaths of Vivi and four cougars. It was reported to me that on Tuesday, the PS attorney didn't even know there was a press conference scheduled.

So, why did the PS say they wanted to hold a press conference? A local on-line newspaper reported the deaths of Vivi, several cougars and tigers (13 animals in all). This article spurred a lawsuit filed against the on-line publisher.

Last Friday, the PS was contacted by a local magazine for an update on the Vivi's necropsy report which was supposed to be posted on the PS' website ("We will be posting a complete veterinarian report on "Vi Vi" with the next week") several weeks ago. The PS female director claimed she would hold a press conference on Thursday at its touring facility but no time was set.

The following week when a time was requested, the PS female director apparently waffled,  saying she may not hold a press conference after all.   Instead, she faxed the necropsy report to the media.

When reminded that the magazine's on-line readers were promised a press conference, the PS director relented and decided to hold one after all.  Only two tv news media crews and the on-line magazine reporter showed up to the press conference since they were the only ones tipped off that there would be a "press conference." It is my understanding, other media (newspaper and three other tv media stations) were not invited to the "press conference" by the PS.

A person from one of the media outlets reported when one of the reporters tried asking specific questions, the reporter was told that if she interrupted the "press conference" one more time with questions, she would be asked to leave. I heard the PS' vet was rude to the reporter and unwilling to give specific answers to the reporter's questions.  Apparently, when the reporter asked about the high number of animal deaths within the last six months, the PS director became upset and demanded if the paper she was holding was the PS animal inventory list.  The reporter responded by saying something like "this is my notes."  Actually, the reporter was holding the animal inventory listing, so she could ask specific questions about the number of cats left at the tour facility.

Now before the "press conference," I was asked to give my opinion of all the reported missing animals at the PS. The interview was held outdoor, in the summer Texas heat, for approximately 5-10 minutes.

So, later that night, the news carried the PS press conference as its second lead story! It lasted for about a minute and a half and it was very enlightening. I was told I came across as professional and credible, while the PS female came across as very angry. I just hope the message, that we do not want to close the facility, but rather we are hoping for a change in management, resonated with the public. The PS director was flanked by the PS attorney and her "vet." The PS claimed only 4 cougars died this year and that they all died from "renal failure." Gee, there's a shock, renal failure, the #1 cause of death at both facilities. So what happened to the other 4 cougars that went missing? What happened to 5 tigers? From December 2008 - July 2009, the following animals were reported dead: 1 liger, 8 cougars, and 6 tigers (including ViVi). So where are their necropsy reports?

The following day, I spoke with the USDA/APHIS vet investigator and was able to tape the entire conversation. According to the vet, ViVi arrived in poor condition--she apparently was underweight with a collar embedded in her neck. She said one week before ViVi's death, the workers observed the tiger having problems and the PS contacted the PS' vet. Despite ViVi's serious health condition, the tiger was left on tour for viewing by the general public. When I asked why the tiger was left on tour, the vet first said she didn't know why, then changed her mind by saying saying something like "where would they put her?" I asked, don't they have a clinic? The reply was that the quarantine cages behind the "clinic" were being used to store primates!  More primates stored in the so-called quarantine warehouse area? Good grief! My guess is they'll be living in "quarantine" for a very long time, but that's another story.

I guess the dog and pony show in March 2009 at the PS' vet office, where Vivi was shown undergoing medical tests and an x-ray, was just that, a dog and pony show. The PS vet claimed during the newscast the tiger cub was in good condition and there was no mention of any serious health problems at that time. It's no wonder no one could understand why the tiger died a few months later. Even the USDA/APHIS vet was surprised to learn of Vivi's death, for the last time she saw the tiger a few weeks prior, she appeared to be in good health (per our email correspondence).

So Vivi was left on tour, despite her downward health condition, when she apparently died in her cage from lesions on her brain. According to the USDA/APHIS vet, they investigated the case and found no foul play. So Vivi's case is now closed. When I pressed the vet for information as to why the WAO only claimed 4 cougars died during the year, the vet said she would have to check her records about the cougars. She was very evasive when I asked about the 5 other tiger deaths. Funny, she vividly recalled the details about Vivi's case, but she couldn't seem to recall anything about the cougar and tiger deaths which I reported to her last month. It just seemed very strange to me. For you see, in July 2009, she confirmed the high number of cougar and tiger deaths during our phone conversation (the conversation which was documented for posterity on my other blog site since I did not tape this conversation) and asked me if the additional male tiger that died in mid-July was from the back of the property, near the Patas monkeys, seeing how"several" other tigers apparently died in this area.

One thing did strike me odd. The USDA vet claimed that if it wasn't for all the media attention to Vivi's death, chances are they would never have conducted a full necropsy. Hmmm.

When I asked where the PS disposes the animal bodies, I was told by the USDA vet that they were buried! Gee, a second surprise. When I repeated, "they bury the animals?" she said yes, as long as they bury them deep enough no smell emanates from the burial site, it's okay. Yet, according to the PS' own web site, they claimed BFI disposed the bodies!

I did learn during the course of our 25+ minute conversation that the PS is finally changing the big cats' diet from frozen chicken to a "prepared diet." I wonder if the change in diet is due to all the cats dying from "renal failure?"

The vet asked me why I was pursuing this case. She started to allude I had a personal problem with the PS' female director.  Shocked by her words, I cut her off and stated quite clearly that this had absolutely nothing to do with the PS director, but rather it had everything to do with saving the animals. She made sounds of agreement to this comment. She asked me what I hoped as an outcome and I told her I wanted to see a change in management. I told her there was serious mismanagement issues when it came to the PS' finances and I asked her why the PS felt it had to lie to the public in order to fund raise for its animals.

The vet said that many sanctuaries exaggerated the health of its animals in order to make a buck. I told her that I believed it was wrong, because it gave real credible organizations a bad name, especially when word gets out that donations are not going towards the care and support for the animals. The USDA vet was quick to point out that the alleged mismanagement of money issues had nothing to do with the USDA investigation. I told her that I understood, however if the money was spent wisely, the cages could have been expanded, enrichment provided, and the animals received a proper died. My thoughts are--when it comes down to it, the finances play a huge part in animal care, but heck, let's not get bogged down with such minutia.

She seem to agree with me that the current board of directors is a "puppet board" (her words) and that if she checked on the 4 additional dead cougars, she would not be surprised if the proper "paperwork" would have been recently filed. The vet did say that due to all inspections and attention to the touring property, the PS directors were now complying with inspection regulations. I remarked that despite all the positive changes, there were still too many animal deaths discovered within a very short time span. The vet made sounds of agreement to this statement. So while the animals records are finally "updated" and the facility looks "cleaner," the animals are still dying in large numbers. Reminds me of a beautiful red apple that is rotten at the core.

Here's a burning question -- if the sanctuary is finally coming into compliance after all these years, why weren't they written up in the past?  Ahhhh...good question!

So apparently, while all this is going on, the heirs apparent of the PS (ps kids), jetted off to Vegas for the weekend in quest of gambling and lots of alcohol . I guess the apple (no pun intended) didn't fall very far from the tree. I shall be writing more about the heirs apparent in future blogs, seeing how the board agreed they should replace the current "directors" in the event the quit or become incapacitated.

I have to wonder why the eldest daughter was not considered to take over the sanctuary.  As far as I can tell, she has not been acting childish and ridiculous on Facebook.  Interesting.

Later:  Just learned another lawsuit was filed against the pseudo-sanctuary out of Justice of the Peace #3 recently.  I'll have to submit a request for open records to learn what this one is about.  Looks like the noose is tightening around the pseudo-sanctuary directors.  I wonder if the board knows about this lawsuit.

[Present Day:  Here is a copy of the lawsuit.  I believe a payment arrangement was eventually made between the WAO and AT&T.  According to the WAO bankruptcy notice, AT&T is still owed $400.]

AT&T Lawsuit - 081909