There’s no such thing as bad publicity, P.T. Barnum famously said.
Nancy Gschwendtner, director of Cedarhill Animal Sanctuary in Caledonia, isn’t so sure about that.
A popular Netflix series on the world of big cat sanctuaries has created enormous publicity about those who keep and care for big cats — most of it negative, Gschwendtner said.
Gschwendtner called the series a “reality show” and a “missed opportunity.”
What is not in dispute about the series, “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness” is its popularity. The seven-part Netflix docu-drama attracted more than 34 million viewers in just 10 days after its March 20 release. In response to its popularity, Netflix rushed to produce a follow-up episode to the series. “The Tiger King and I” is averaging 4.6 million viewers daily, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The series is focused on the small, often inter-connected world of “big cat” facilities scattered across the nation.
Cedarhill Animal Rescue, founded in Caledonia by Kay McElroy in 1990, is not featured in the series. Unlike most big cat sanctuaries, Cedarhill is a nonprofit that is not open to the public, but devoted solely to the care of 20 big cats and more than 200 domestic cats, dogs and pigs.
Gschwendtner has been at Cedarhill for nine years, taking over as director after McElroy’s death in January 2019. She said the Netflix series is nothing but bad news.
“It’s disgusting,” she said. “I really thought it was a missed opportunity to talk about the sanctuaries that are doing a lot of good in educating the public and taking care of these poor animals. Instead, they made it a reality show. It could have been so much more and done something positive. That’s what I hate about it the most.”
Joe or Carole?
The Netflix series introduces a host of characters but focuses primarily on two: Oklahoma-based Joseph Maldonado-Passage, aka “Joe Exotic”; and his bitter rival, Florida-based Carole Baskin, owner of a big-cat sanctuary and aggressive activist against breeding big cats at such facilities.
Maldonado-Passage was convicted in 2017 for targeting Baskin in a murder-for-hire plot. Baskin’s image fares only slightly better in the series: An entire episode was devoted to Maldonado-Passage’s claim that Baskin murdered her second husband, who has been missing since 1997, and fed him to the tigers.
Gschwendtner has sympathy for one character, but only utter disgust or the other.
“I’ve met Carole,” she said. “Kay and I both saw her at conferences, and I believe she’s done a lot of good work. All this business about her husband, I don’t know. But I do know she really wanted to help her animals.”
As for Joe Exotic?
“I never met him,” Gschwendtner said. “It was a decision not to meet him.”
Gschwendtner said Joe Exotic’s operations were a virtual playbook of what not to do in caring for big cats.
“So much of it was just terrible,” she said. “They fed them whatever they could find at Walmart. The cats weren’t on any nutritious feeding program that I could tell.”
Even worse, she said, was his practice of bringing newborn cubs to a petting area for the public.
“Taking an innocent cub literally out of the birth canal to be petted, that’s just something you should ever do,” Gschwendtner said. “It’s disgusting. It’s dangerous. These animals are not pets.”
Close to the point of desperation
The whole Netflix series, Gschwendtner said, casts legitimate big cat conservationists in the most unappealing light imaginable.
“It does worry me,” she said. “I think it worries all of us who are really committed to providing the best care and conditions so these beautiful animals can live out their lives in peace.”
Gschwendtner said Cedarhill has been active in getting the message out on social media about the reality of her sanctuary as opposed to the reality show of “Tiger King.”
“We’ve been getting calls from people wanting to know how we do things,” she said. “We tell them what we do, why we do it and, more important, what we don’t do and won’t tolerate. At the end of the call, they are thanking us for what we do.”
As bad as the show has been for the image of big cat sanctuaries, the timing is even worse, Gschwendtner said.
“Since the coronavirus started, donations have really, really slowed,” she said. “Right now, we’re just trying to make it one day to the next. Then, you put this on top of that, it’s really put us in a very bad situation. We’re close to the point of desperation.”
In a sense, the most noble aspect of Cedarhill’s operation has almost become its worst liability.
Because the public is not allowed on the premises, Gschwendtner is fearful the only frame of reference the public has about big cat sanctuaries are those featured on “Tiger King.”
“What frustrates me is that the producers went to lots of sanctuaries that were doing things the right way. But none of that got into the series. Like I said, it was a missed opportunity to tell the real story.”
Vet: ‘No question’ Cedarhill’s animal are well cared for
Dr. Jeb Cade, a veterinarian and associate clinical professor at Mississippi State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine said there’s no question about the care the Cedarhill staff pours into their animals, which include 12 tigers, four lions, three bobcats and a cougar.
Cade has been providing veterinary services at Cedarhill since shortly after his arrival at MSU in 2013.
“Every time I go out there I’m amazed at their passion and how hard they work,” Cade said. “Every animal out there is loved, even the house cats. Their facility is always clean. The enclosures are really nice, with places to hide, dens, pools and space to move around.
“I don’t have any reservations in encouraging people to do what they can to help (Cedarhill),” he added. “They really love these animals. They know what they’re doing and they’re committed. They’re doing a great job.”
Gschwendtner isn’t shy about imploring people to donate.
“The way I look at it is, I’ll do whatever it takes to provide for these animals,” Gschwendtner said. “Kay devoted her life to it. Now that it’s in my hands, the one thing I know is that it’s not going down, not on my watch.”
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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