Capwiz & Big Cat Rescue

Enabling small organizations to have a big impact!

Challenge:
Carole Baskin first noticed the cruel and abusive treatment of lions and other “big cats” at county fairs when she saw them being locked up in cages much too small for their size. She voiced her concerns about this type of animal abuse to an official with the Florida State Fairgrounds. Unfortunately, the official didn’t share her passion regarding the inhumane treatment of these animals. Baskin refused to give up trying to save these animals. Instead, she founded Big Cat Rescue, an organization devoted to providing the best permanent home possible for abused, abandoned and retired cats. The sanctuary, located on a 45 acre site, provides the big cats shelter in a very natural habitat and allows them to receive the best nutritional and medical care possible, as well as much-needed conditioning and enrichment programs.

The broader mission of the sanctuary is to reduce the number of cats that suffer the fate of abandonment and/or abuse, and to encourage preservation of habitat and wildlife. Given the limited number of accredited sanctuaries that can properly care for the cats, and the thousands of big cats not being kept in optimal conditions, Big Cat Rescue faces a large educational and legislative challenge for the foreseeable future.

Solution:
Originally, to get her message out to the general public, Baskin painstakingly emailed individuals through Outlook. This was extremely time-consuming, especially since she had no way to easily identify or contact potential supporters, or to build an interactive database for future efforts. In order to enlist broader support for her cause and advocate for her issue in a more efficient and timely manner, Baskin started using Capwiz in December of 2004. After collecting the e-mail addresses of people who expressed an interest in her cause, Baskin found that Capwiz’s e-mail tool, Mail Manager, allowed her to quickly create and send out messages asking for her supporters to take action, as well as provide them with a variety of talking points that could be included with any message sent to elected officials. She has greatly increased visibility for her cause.

“Capwiz is the best investment you can make in furthering your mission,” declares Baskin. “We spend far less time on the logistics of getting our message out, and have some great successes to show for our efforts. This in turn allows us to focus more on fundraising and animal care – keeping us squarely on track with our goals.”

Thanks to Baskin and Big Cat Rescue, the Florida State Fairgrounds received thousands of emails from citizens letting them know their disapproval of the abuse of animals in the cages. They must have received the message loud and clear, because when Baskin again contacted them, they said that the Florida State Fairgrounds would no longer allow big cats to be exhibited in that manner; to date they have kept their word. While the Florida State Fairgrounds will not make a formal statement against displaying big cats in small cages, Baskin and Big Cat Rescue are happy to have them doing the right thing.

“The success of this campaign is a perfect example of how even small organizations can have a big impact,” says Baskin. “Big Cat Rescue will be using similar campaigns across the country whenever we hear about other fairgrounds allowing public display of cats in abusive and inhumane conditions.”

www.BigCatRescue.org