My last visit with Jinx and Sabu

I have been dreading writing this post, even though I should have posted it sooner. Part of me just cannot believe how much has changed in just six months--and not for the best.  I hate continually posting bad news to this blog. 

This is going to be a long posting, so I'm going to divide the topics into three section:  My visit with Jinx and Sabu last November; my former relationship with In-Sync Exotics; and my decision to NOT to volunteer for any more exotic animal organizations.

My last visit with Jinx and Sabu

Late last summer, a volunteer from In-Sync Exotics emailed me, advising that Sabu was not looking too good and that I may want to visit with him before it was too late to do so.  I decided I would drive up to Wylie to visit my favorite lions Sabu and Jinx, so I packed up my vehicle and made the 4.5 hour trip (417 miles one way) to In-Sync Exotics.  After all, Sabu and three other animals were the reason why I willingly sacrificed so much of my time and money to save all the WAO animals from a horrible demise.  So, on November 1, 2012, I made the 317 mile one-way day trip to see my boy and favorite girl lioness, Jinx.

When I first arrived, I saw Jinx sunning herself on the playground platform.  She looked content in the sun.  When I called out her name, she immediately picked up her head, her ears twitched forward, and she had this big "grin" on her face.  She did a little head bob, watching me as I made my way to her.  Along the way, I spied Sabu snoozing up a storm in his quarters.  His body was all stretched out and his face looked completely relaxed.  When I called his name, he open up one eye, closed it, and went back to sleep.  So much for making a huge "I'm back" impression on the boy!  I kept calling his name, and he'd open his eyes to give me a "leave me a lone look" and at one point he threw up his paw at me because I kept taking his picture.  That was my cue to see Jinx.

Jinx was still sunning herself when I approached.  She was so laid back, watching me as I spoke with her. 

When I saw it was time to watch and video tape Sabu's blood draw, I went over to video tape the event.  It took quite a while to get his blood drawn because Sabu kept moving around, but eventually his blood was drawn.

I created a video of the blood draw for In-Sync Exotics' blog...

After the blood draw, Sabu ran out onto the playground, so I was able to visit Jinx in her quarters.

When I approached, she was chewing on a bone, so I crouched down for a visit.  She was in such a great mood.  She left her bone to jump up on her shelter box where there was a ball that I bought for her in May 2011.  I rolled the ball to her and she rolled in back to me. We had our own ball game, together, for a few minutes.  I wish I had video of us playing together, but I couldn't hold onto the camera and play ball at the same time. 

She finally stopped playing ball and began grooming herself--I spoke softly to her the entire time she groomed herself.  It was during this time that I knew this was the last time I would ever see my precious Jinx ever again.  She was so content with me being there with her.  And I was very sad when I said my final goodbyes to her.  It was incredibly hard for me to walk away because I think she still remembered me from the old days when I used to keep her company when she lived at Leslie Road.  She was always my special little "flower" child...

When I went to say goodbye to Sabu, he looked very happy on the playground.  Even though I knew I would never see Sabu again, I knew he was very happy at In-Sync.  Letting Sabu go was much easier because he seemed to have forgotten his old WAO life and fully embraced his new life at In-Sync Exotics.  He no longer needed me to champion him anymore.  He was safe.

When I drove away, all I could think about was how sad I was that I would never see these two precious lions ever again.  It was a long drive home...