Long before we had to say goodbye to Stoney, I had been considering what to do with his 1,000+ lb body when it was time for him to go. Not to be morbid, but a horse dying is a lot different than most other pets. There are laws and heavy machinery and giant holes involved when a horse is put down. My farrier mentioned that there was a big cat rescue in Indiana that would take livestock carcasses that fit specific parameters (primarily that they weren’t put down with barbiturates via veterinarian administered injection). When the time came to say adieu to Stoney, I made a few phone calls and made arrangements to take him to the feline rescue.
We loaded him up the night before, then drove him in the next morning. The trip was tense–not because I was nervous about what would happen to Stoney, but because the brakes on our Suburban were on the way out (hence our new farm truck). We did make it safely, and dropping off Stoney was met with little fanfare. The rescue has a building full of giant freezers and a strong hoist to unload Stoney. In a couple of minutes, he was taken care of and we left him to offer up his final good deed.
I wasn’t exactly in the mood to stay and tour the facilities and see the cats that Stoney would be sustaining, so we went home and I made a mental note to tour another time. Fall break turned out to be a perfect chance with good (enough) weather and all the kids home from school for a week. We made a morning of it and arrived just in time to join the first morning tour.
In a nutshell, the big cat rescue takes in large and exotic animals–primarily felines–who have been abandoned, abused, or otherwise unable to be cared for by their previous owners. Most of the tigers had worked in Vegas before retiring, some cats were kept by private owners who bit off more than they could chew, and some were injured and unable to return to the wild. Think mountain lions, bobcats, foxes, and racoons (which, yes, I laughed that they’re rehabbing racoons when they’re overpopulated here, haha).
Claire, our resident cat girl, was in heaven the entire trip. Mostly, I just handed over my phone and let her do the photography since she’s the one who wants a gazillion lion and tiger photos. While on our tour, we were under strick instructions to stick to the path and follow our guide’s instructions, all for good reason. The cats were all kept in open-air confines only a few feet from the path. A majority of the cats weren’t interested in saying hello, though there were a few that had a mischievous twinkle in their eye, like they would have loved to grab a toddler if they got the chance.
Aside from walking, the tour was interactive in another way–we had to dodge a few spraying male cats. There were some telltale signs we were told to watch for, then we just had to take turns hustling between spots to stay out of the spray zone. Thankfully, none of us were hit because that wouldn’t have been a fun ride home in the van together with someone smelling like tiger pee.
Evelyn’s favorite part was the fox enclosure. There were half a dozen foxes in a variety of colors, who had all been kept by the same owner until they couldn’t care for them anymore. Part of the policy of the rescue is to keep the names of the animals that come to them, so the foxes all had names like Gamora and Groot, after The Guardians of the Galaxy. Fun fact: all the foxes are red foxes, even though they weren’t red. Their coloring was a result of genetic mutation, and often is caused by inbreeding.
I also noticed most of the cats were older, which is always a touch sad to witness–something so majestic and strong reaching their twilight years is never easy to watch. But, in a way, it’s also heartening to know that less animals are being bred and kept in less-than-ideal captive situations. As long as the rescue continues to function by giving tours and receiving donations, they fully intend on keeping all the animals they have stewardship over.
The tour was a little over an hour, and there were plenty of animals kept comfortably at their facility. It makes me think my decision to donate Stoney’s body to them was the right choice. Knowing that our decision and service kept these big cats and other predators alive and well lessens the sting of Stoney’s passing. I’d definitely like to visit again and if in the future, we have other livestock to donate, I’ll take them there.
Big cats are amazing, and it was something special to see them up close and personal.
