God Bless Jasmine

More sad news to report. Jasmine, one of the New Jersey tiger, died on 3.17.10 at Talley Road. She was approximately 16-17 years of age and she was the first tiger to die since the new director took over.

From what I understand, Jasmine was under the care of the new vet and on medication for an internal infection. Actual cause of death will not be determined as the vet is on vacation for 1.5 weeks and the sanctuary is unable to keep Jasmine's body in the freezer that long.   The new director is disappointed that a necropsy cannot be performed and is saddened by the loss of the tiger.  I pray Jasmine is in Heaven with the other sanctuary animals. She was a beautiful tiger and she will be missed.

It is days like this when I reflect upon the damage done to the New Jersey tigers--those who were kept in tiny prison-like cages for years on end without relief-- I can't get out of my mind the horrible little cages these animals were forced to live in for years on end.  It was muddy, smelly, simply disgusting.  I call these tigers the forgotten ones.  Forgotten because, once IFAW and the camera crews left the property, no one bother to build another large enclosure for the remaining NJ tigers. For about six years, several NJ tigers (and later on a cougar) lived in deplorable conditions.

Oh sure, the quarantine temporary quarters looked good in 2004, but what I saw last January, was simply appalling. What makes me so mad is that  when IFAW's representatives visited the WAO in 2006, they apparently never said word one to Carol Asvestas about the horrible tigers' living quarters.The main goal now is to get these cats out of these horrible tiny enclosures and into much large enclosures so they can finally run, play, and jump into pools!  They've waited long enough for their promised "spacious" enclosures, don't you think?

November 2003

January 2010
(See how small the cages are and notice no enrichment toys)

January 2010
This is how the tigers lived--prisoners of their own existence at the WAO)