Big Cat Rescue

Here me out, I have never been to Big Cat Rescue for a lot of good reasons, I will list my top three...
1. Their donations aren't for the cats. It's about the money, if they were spending it on the cats, the enclosures would look bigger and there would be more foliage and possibly more land. The sanctuary looks like it hasn't been redone in about 20/30 years.
2. They promote cub petting. Which is a cruel act against the cubs especially the mother. I understand if it's a smaller species of cat like a lynx or a caracal. But not cubs, especially tiger cubs who depend on their for at least a year or two.
3. For the people that have visited this sanctuary, if you want the better for the animals, stop visiting Big Cat Rescue and go to an actual zoo that takes care of their animals or visit one of the wolf sanctuaries in California, who are struggling financially and the state trying to take away their land. Visit Clearwater aquarium or Jacksonville zoo who rehabilitate animals and properly release them in the wild
That's all for my review

Four of us were booked for a 9AM a private tour. We showed up 30 minutes prior to our tour at 8:30AM as directed by the email. When we got there the gate was closed. We called and no one answered the phone or retuned our call. We sat in the car in front of the gate until a few minutes before 9AM when someone finally came and opened it up. So if you have a 9AM tour, you don’t need to get there 30 minutes early. All the staff members were friendly and helpful. A pleasant surprise was that our private tour included a ride around the grounds in a large electric cart. Our guide was Ginny and she was great, very friendly and knowledgeable. She taught us a lot about the Big Cat Rescue and their mission to stop people from owning big cats and outlawing petting circuses. Which is all in addition to taking care of all the big and small cats along with managing their medical issues. We watch the BCR YouTube channel and the live webcams and know who some of the cats are and their stories. We all loved the tour and loved seeing all the cats we knew, it was fantastic! You can see and hear that the cats love it there and are treated very well. The smaller cats were purring and the bigger cats were chuffing. You get to be very close to them and most of them like the company. We live over 1000 miles away but the next time we’re in the Tampa area, like Clearwater, we will come back to see the cats again and help support the BCR. We recommend going to see the cats, it’s a wonderful experience.

We had Kristen, Bridget, and Jeff as our guides. They were very friendly and made the experience educational yet enjoyable. They answered questions honestly and if they did not know the answer they did not pretend. As a whole Big Cat Rescue is so worth the money. You get a guided tour where you have a device and a fresh ear phone. When you pass by a rescue cat the guide will play a story through your ear phone so you understand what happened to and why the cat is now in a sanctuary. All of the habitats are large and truly enjoyable for the cats. This truly was an amazing experience that will touch your heart. They had said at the very end that if you call and read off the script (pictured) it is worth 100 signatures on a petition.

The best experience, up close and personal with these majestic cats! We did the Keeper Tour which was great as the group was much smaller and it was a much more intimate experience. Our tour guide Dillon was great and knew so much that he was able to answer everyone's questions. Hands down amazing experience for myself and my family. Everyone should go and educate themselves.

Went on the keeper tour. We loved it and the work they have put into the rescue center is amazing. Staff are great and very knowledgeable. The 2 hour tour may have been a little long on my 10 year old, but the 12 year old loved it. For 2 hours it may be a little expensive but I think it's well worth it.

Truly amazing rescue. when the guides talk about each cat you can hear the sympathy in their voices and see the passion in their eyes. As happy as it was to see these animals happy, safe and VERY well fed, its still emotional hearing about where they came from and how many cats are still out there not receiving the care they need. We had a great guide named Tonya. She was very knowledgeable, very personable and cool as hell. She volunteers there most days out of the week. Shes there to make a difference, not for a paycheck. Everyone there is a special type of person. Also. They are working to get a big cat public safety act hr 1380 passed. You should call your local rep and tell them you support the act!

Big Cat Rescue is really great! They do amazing work there caring for big cats that would otherwise not have a safe place to live out their days. They are not a zoo, but an actual rescue. The cats always come first. Highly recommend a visit. You'll learn a lot.