Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission Officers and Senior Management investigated for Conversion of Privately Owned African Lioness, Juma, and facilitated fundraisers for Carole Baskin’s Big Cat Rescue Corporation
A content and healthy Juma shown here at her home before being unlawfully seized by Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission (FWC) and taken to Carole Baskin's Big Cat Rescue Corporation (BCR).While Juma is no longer being held at BCR, efforts are now under way to move Juma back with her owner.
Tampa, Florida (AgPR) April 27, 2022 – Juma, a four-year-old African Lioness was unconstitutionally and unlawfully seized from her home facility in a Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) covert tactical raid on March 2, 2022. FWC took advantage of the national societal disruptions during the COVID-19 global pandemic to non-renew Juma’s home facility license.
The result was a frivolous criminal citation issued by FWC against her owner, a racial minority. Even though Juma’s facility license was confirmed legally valid on March 2, 2022 by the FWC’s General Counsel’s Office, several rogue FWC officers coordinated with senior management in Tallahassee to raid the facility within days of Juma’s owner filing an appeal of FWC’s nonrenewal. FWC forced Juma to be violently shot twice with a high-powered CO2 rifle. FWC helped to drug and ship Juma to Big Cat Rescue (BCR), leaving Juma’s owner in tears, traumatized from the violence and deception visited upon him and his beloved lioness at the home facility by FWC, Howard Baskin and BCR’s trigger happy, violent and callous veterinarian.
Just days before FWC’s armed raiders arrived to take Juma from her home facility, “something” changed within the senior management at FWC that led to a business arrangement with Howard and Carole Baskin’s Big Cat Rescue Corporation. Big Cat Rescue used this unlawful seizure to run deceptive online fundraising campaigns to fleece the public with false narratives as they promote, Earth Day and the Humane Society of the United States’ (HSUS) Big Cat Safety Act. The Big Cat Safety Act has little to do with “safety” and has everything to do with creating a monopoly for Big Cat hostile seizures that benefit HSUS and Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries such as Big Cat Rescue.
Upon arrival at Big Cat Rescue, Juma was promptly renamed “Koda” by the Baskins and the online fundraising for the illegally seized African lioness began. Big Cat Rescue also generated revenue from the illegal seizure and merchandising of “Koda” keychains, pendants and $5000.00 sponsorship kits which had been promptly put into place upon Juma’s arrival at BCR. BCR continues to vow that they are going to permanently deprive Juma’s owner of his relationship with her so that BCR can continue financially exploiting Juma until she dies at BCR before her time.
In response to FWC’s heavy-handed and unlawful seizure of Juma paired with Big Cat Rescue Corporation’s systematic fundraising efforts, The Cavalry Group’s Legal Team was forced to take legal action to rescue Juma from Howard and Carole Baskin’s Big Cat Rescue Corporation. Thanks to the efforts of the Cavalry Group’s Legal Team, Juma is safe and no longer held captive and imprisoned at Big Cat Rescue.
Mark Patterson, CEO of The Cavalry Group made a statement that should serve as a warning for all animal owners and animal enterprise throughout the United States, “These actions by FWC and Big Cat Rescue are part of the animal rights business agenda and a model for what is coming next to destroy animal agriculture and ownership of private property in America.”
Now that Juma has been rescued and secured from Baskin’s Corporate prison, The Cavalry Group has requested multiple civil and criminal government investigations to review FWC’s actions and policies for destroying body cam evidence and has demanded an investigation as to why FWC personnel in Tallahassee invited the Baskins team to work together with FWC as a joint tactical armed assault team to trespass upon private property and violently capture Juma so that BCR could financially exploit and mentally abuse her. As a state regulatory agency tasked with the oversight of licensees and the protection of wildlife throughout Florida it is concerning that significant evidence seems to indicate that some officers and senior management at FWC colluded with Howard and Carole Baskin and their Big Cat Rescue Corporation to engage in what amounts to the unlawful harming and “taking” of a federally protected species and the civil theft of living private property to benefit the Baskins, Big Cat Rescue and HSUS. The Cavalry Group’s investigation and litigation is ongoing.
If any person has any relevant evidence on FWC or Big Cat Rescue, please contact: Mindy Patterson at The Cavalry Group. To donate to The Cavalry Group’s legal defense fund click here or visit the website SaveJuma.com
About The Cavalry Group The Cavalry Group is a member-based company working to protect and defend the Constitutional and private property rights of law-abiding animal owners, animal related businesses, sportsmen, and agricultural concerns legally and legislatively nationwide. For more info visit www.thecavalrygroup.com.
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