Tiger Rescue

Tiger Rescue is a facility in Colton, California that was allegedly a "sanctuary" for tigers and other big cats that ostensibly had retired from working in film and television. The short version of the recent story (there's excellent, detailed coverage on The Riverside Press-Enterprise site at www.pe.com and on www.savethetigers.com) is that in operating Tiger Rescue, the proprietor had neglected the facility and--far more significantly--severely neglected the animals.

Tigers were seized from the facility, his home was raided, where additional tigers (and other animals, including alligators) were seized, and dozens of big cat remains were found on the grounds of the home, as well as nearly 60 dead tiger cubs discovered in the freezer. The proprietor is now facing a string of serious criminal charges, 63 counts in all.

But the bulk of those animals are still at the Colton facility, so an amazing man named Chuck Traisi--who otherwise operates, with his wife Cindy, the Fund for Animals' Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Ramona, California--stepped in on May 22 to oversee the animals' care, under the authority of the USDA and California Fish and Game.

He's been there ever since, living in a nearby hotel, away from his wife, his facility and its animals--overseeing the day-to-day operation of Tiger Rescue, which is handled by an enormous battalion of volunteers, who drive in from L.A., Costa Mesa, Del Mar, Ventura and beyond to clean, water, feed and otherwise care for these cats and assorted other animals.

t's an amazing effort by an impressive array of folks, some of whom have turned up there several times a week for many months. If you're interested in volunteering at Tiger Rescue, e-mail us (TalkingAnimals@aol.com) and we'll hook you up. We had hoped, of course, to interview Chuck Traisi on "Talking Animals." In fact, in early July, we were about to record an interview, when sudden developments in the criminal cases complicated matters and forced us to cancel that interview last-minute. And after extending invitations to Chuck for several weeks to re-schedule the interview, which he politely declined, we decided to let it go. At least for now.

But we remain a huge Chuck Traisi fan--against the backdrop of all the hijinks and buffoons dotting the gubernatorial recall election, here's a man demonstrating true heroic leadership.