“Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness” has turned the world of exotic animal handling on its head, and one of the series’ stars is now defending her business practices and trying to make it clear she’s only here for the cats.
Carole Baskin runs Big Cat Rescue down in Citrus Park, Florida with her husband, Howard Baskin. Her story about getting started in the exotic animal game is showcased in “Tiger King.”
Questionable incidents are told as well, such as a rumor that followed after the disappearance of Baskin’s second husband, with some suggesting that she fed him to the tigers after he planned a divorce.
It’s made clear very early in “Tiger King,” that Baskin’s biggest enemy is rival zoo owner Joe Exotic. Baskin had been on Exotic’s case for years as she tried to get him to stop breeding big cats and also stop allowing people to exploit and pet the tiger cubs.
Much f the Netflix docu-series shows Exotic’s utter disdain for Baskin, so much so that he regularly threatened her life on his internet show and even created an effigy to Baskin that he would shoot in the head and blow up.
It’s made clear that none of the other private zoo owners, including Doc Antle, like Carole Baskin, as she runs her business as an activist and sanctuary, rather than a full-on private zoo. However, Baskin does allow the public to come to interact with the animals, which are kept in cages, and many of the other stars in “Tiger King” believe Baskin is a total hypocrite.
A big issue of contempt is brought up concerning Baskin’s workforce, as she utilizes lots of help from volunteers who show up to donate their time to helping out around Big Cat Rescue.
Doc Antle, even labeled the volunteer program as “brainwashing,” and Joe Exotic marveled at how many people she was able to get to work for free.
Carole Baskin has been dealing with the negativity from “Tiger King” in the best way she knows how — taking to social media! On Facebook and Instagram, Baskin has been posting articles refuting the claims made in the Netflix documentary, as well as defending her practices with Big Cat Rescue.
On Saturday, she posted a statement in regards to the accusations about her volunteers and tried to clear up any misconceptions about her “employees.”
“Why don’t we pay our volunteers? Because they are volunteers…” Baskin wrote on social media.
She also explained, “But we do have a small staff but that means more money goes to the cats!”
Baskin is not letting the negativity from the Netflix series bring her down, as Big Cat Rescue continues going full-steam ahead with providing a loving life for the exotic animals. They’ve also been posting recent videos of the cats celebrating St. Patrick’s Day.
