By Brian Chasnoff - Express-News Web Posted: 11/12/2010 12:00 AM CST
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/three_tigers_are_moving_to_nc_107393633.html?c=y&page=1#storytop
Titan, Java and Bali, the latter after being tranquilized, were loaded onto a 36-foot rescue trailer and carted to the Carolina Tiger Rescue sanctuary more than 1,300 miles away in Pittsboro, N.C.
Nearly 200 animals remain to be rescued from the Wild Animal Orphanage, including 20 more tigers, three lions, one black leopard and more than 100 monkeys.
The nonprofit International Fund for Animal Welfare is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the state attorney general's office and the remaining staff at the orphanage to relocate the animals to other facilities.
“It's in the best interest for us to step in and help get these animals transferred,” USDA spokesman Dave Sacks said. “The main focus for all of us involved has been the welfare of our animals.”
That was not always the main focus, according to some.
Kristina Brunne, a former vice president at the orphanage, says she sparked the ongoing state investigation four years ago with allegations that its founders, Ron and Carol Asvestas, were misappropriating funds raised for the animals.
“What I found scared me to death,” Brunne said. “The animals, the whole situation is a money scam.”
The Asvestases, who were terminated last year by the sanctuary's board, did not return messages left Thursday at a number listed for them.
The attorney general's office would not comment, citing the investigation.
But the sanctuary's current secretary, Suzanne Straw, echoed Brunne's claims. She said the Asvestases once raised funds to purchase habitats for bears on the property, but the money disappeared.
“Six years went by, and they were still in these small enclosures,” Straw said. “That's what the keepers shared with me.”
By June, its resources dwindling, the Northwest Bexar County sanctuary held 350 animals. But the orphanage was saddled with more than $400,000 in debt, Straw said.
“We weren't sure where our next food money was coming from,” she said. “We were teetering on the edge (of violating the Animal Welfare Act), and (state authorities) said, ‘OK, if you slip on the other side, we're coming in.' ”
The sanctuary agreed to shut down and find new homes for its animals, citing “overpopulation, under-funding and inadequate housing for the animals” on its website.
The sanctuary is subsisting on donations, and the staff is hoping to move the animals out within three months.
Walking to the tiger enclosures Thursday, rescuers passed dilapidated trailers on the orphanage's 102-acre property off Talley Road. They enticed two of the tigers into cages with raw deer meat but shot the third with a blow dart when it refused to budge.
The 400-pound tiger paced anxiously, a dart dangling from its hide, before finally dropping to the ground and passing out.
“Just be really careful, because that didn't take a lot of drugs,” veterinarian Ariana Finkelstein warned rescuers preparing to lift the creature onto a stretcher. “If you can move away from his head, please. ... He's sedated, but still.”
Before the animals rolled away, Michael Booth of the animal welfare fund cited the critically endangered status of tigers: Only 3,000 remain in the wild, yet about 10,000 remain captive in the United States alone.
But the sanctuary's current secretary, Suzanne Straw, echoed Brunne's claims. She said the Asvestases once raised funds to purchase habitats for bears on the property, but the money disappeared.
“Six years went by, and they were still in these small enclosures,” Straw said. “That's what the keepers shared with me.”
By June, its resources dwindling, the Northwest Bexar County sanctuary held 350 animals. But the orphanage was saddled with more than $400,000 in debt, Straw said.
“We weren't sure where our next food money was coming from,” she said. “We were teetering on the edge (of violating the Animal Welfare Act), and (state authorities) said, ‘OK, if you slip on the other side, we're coming in.' ”
The sanctuary agreed to shut down and find new homes for its animals, citing “overpopulation, under-funding and inadequate housing for the animals” on its website.
The sanctuary is subsisting on donations, and the staff is hoping to move the animals out within three months.
Walking to the tiger enclosures Thursday, rescuers passed dilapidated trailers on the orphanage's 102-acre property off Talley Road. They enticed two of the tigers into cages with raw deer meat but shot the third with a blow dart when it refused to budge.
The 400-pound tiger paced anxiously, a dart dangling from its hide, before finally dropping to the ground and passing out.
“Just be really careful, because that didn't take a lot of drugs,” veterinarian Ariana Finkelstein warned rescuers preparing to lift the creature onto a stretcher. “If you can move away from his head, please. ... He's sedated, but still.”
Before the animals rolled away, Michael Booth of the animal welfare fund cited the critically endangered status of tigers: Only 3,000 remain in the wild, yet about 10,000 remain captive in the United States alone.
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I am really glad Dr. Finkelstein was there to sedate the tiger for the WAO did not have a good track record in sedating animals resulting in loss of life. I will continue to pray the remaining animals find homes very soon before the weather turns very cold and wet. They all deserve really good homes because they were not properly cared for by the WAO staff and management.
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