Even though I no longer involve myself in the affairs of animal sanctuaries, I do follow several sanctuaries that took in WAO animals.
Since Sabu is near and dear to my heart, I've been following In-Sync Exotics on the only media tool available for fans and donors--Facebook.
To place this posting in context, (because I know there will be a lot of angry ISE fans/volunteers that will object to this posting, not because the information is false, but because they do not know how to separate their feeling from fact and emotion) I believe animals should be respected and honored especially when under the care of humans. Keeping an animal alive, when clearly the animal wishes to let go of its body for selfish personal reasons is unconscionable. The board of directors should never allow an animal to suffer in such a horrible way just so a person can feel "better." Okay, now for the story:
I saw the following pictures of Jasmine posted two separate days on the ISE Facebook page. I had heard that Jasmine was not doing well after the cancerous mass was removed from her body, but by looking at these pictures, it appeared that Jasmine was doing great.
Jasmine kept ripping her water barrel away from the fence to play with it, so we just gave up and let her have it as a toy, and use a small tub for her drinking water now...
And again...
Another great pic of Jasmine playing with her water barrel. Well, it USED to be her water barrel. Now it's her toy.
Then today, I received this information:
- It has become extremely difficult to get Jasmine to eat. She often doesn't acknowledge us at all, and doesn't want to leave her den. Lakshmi is in India so we have called her home, but she can't get a flight back until 10/13. We ran additional blood tests and urinalysis on Jasmine last week - chronic renal failure, low potassium and low thyroid. She is getting a shot of famotadine daily and 3-4 liters of fluids daily with 20cc of penicillin in the fluids. We are hoping that keeps her alive and comfortable until Lakshmi can make it home. Our beautiful girl is tired.
If you've been reading my blog from the beginning, then you know how I feel about a sanctuary lying about the condition of its animals to the public. They are lying about Jasmine's current health condition to their Facebook fans and donors, posting pictures of a healthy Jasmine, when in reality she is very thin, not eating or drinking and I've been told that she is near death. Workers don't expect her to live until "Lakshmi" gets home. Why the ISE board of directors allows this tiger to suffer so is beyond me. These pictures posted of Jasmine were allegedly taken in August 2013.
The ISE Facebook page concerns me greatly because it seems that of late, the administrator posts pictures of its big cats in pretty poses, when in reality the cats are suffering from a variety of ailments. Makes me wonder what else this sanctuary is hiding from the public and why the volunteers who see the cats' conditions on a daily or weekly basis do not speak out on the ISE Facebook page.
Actually, I know why -- the ISE volunteers are constantly told not to post pictures or comments of the sick animals because ISE wants to control the information. And because the volunteers want to continue "playing" with the cats, they are forced to hold their tongues. Sound familiar? It should. Same darn thing happened at the WAO.
I just continue to pray that Sabu receives all the love and attention that he richly deserves and that ISE steers away from following the footsteps of the former WAO directors. There is no excuse for lying to the public. None.
Later: I received an update on Sabu...
- Sabu's blood work looks ok (BUN slightly elevated, but not bad). He has a chronic infection due to a broken tooth. In order to remove the tooth, he would have to be sedated, and the tooth would have to be dug out. At his extreme age, it is not felt to be worth the risk of sedating him. We will keep him on clindamycin, and it will sometimes bleed, so please do not panic when you see this happen. We have him on light tramadol for pain management.
I pray Sabu has no pain and can put some weight on his body before winter. In some of the pictures I've seen posted on Facebook, he's looking a little thin. Not to bad yet, but it could be a problem if ISE is hit by a very cold winter which I heard on the radio that it may be a very real possibility. God bless you Sabu!! I love you so much, my handsome boy.
Later:
Now that Lakshmi has seen Jasmine, the decision has been made to let Jasmine go so she can join Raja in Heaven on Tuesday and her memorial will be held on Wednesday.
May God bless and protect Jasmine forever as she is a very special tigress.
Later:
Jasmine's death announcement was posted on Facebook. This file picture was taken several months ago. May God Bless and Protect Jasmine's Soul in Heaven For Ever and Ever...Amen.
I'm afraid we have some very sad news tonight. We had to say goodbye to our beautiful Jasmine, the matriarch of In-Sync. Jasmine was 22 years old, and has been in renal failure for some time. We have been monitoring her blood work freque...ntly, in addition to running urinalysis on her, and her most recent test results were extremely bad. We have been keeping her comfortable with daily fluids and other medications, but Jasmine was very tired, and it was time to let her have peace. Jasmine has joined her beloved Raja, who left us 2 years ago this month. We know they are together again, as they were for so many years. You can read all about their story here http://www.insyncexotics.org/RajaJasmine.html
You can also see a lot of beautiful pictures of Raja and Jasmine in this album, by clicking on this picture, then scrolling through the rest of their album. Raja and Jasmine were rescued at the age of 12, and were the parents of Kenya (the first tiger that Vicky rescued), Midas, Tyjar and Samu. They were litter-mates, but were bred by their former owners. They are both so important to us, and so incredibly loved. We are glad they are together again, but are devastated that we had to say goodbye to them both.
You can also see a lot of beautiful pictures of Raja and Jasmine in this album, by clicking on this picture, then scrolling through the rest of their album. Raja and Jasmine were rescued at the age of 12, and were the parents of Kenya (the first tiger that Vicky rescued), Midas, Tyjar and Samu. They were litter-mates, but were bred by their former owners. They are both so important to us, and so incredibly loved. We are glad they are together again, but are devastated that we had to say goodbye to them both.
