A Really Big Cat Lover

Joe Taft gives a leopard some personal attention.

By Martin Blank

I had been looking forward to my first visit to the Exotic Feline Rescue Center near Center Point for several weeks. Now driving the back roads of Clay County, I quickly discovered that, no matter which direction you come at it from, the center is in the middle of nowhere. There’s not a neighbor for miles. Given its inhabitants, however, the center’s remote location in a lushly wooded area accessible only by a gravel road is a good thing.

No sooner had we – myself and the two photographers I was with – gotten out of our vehicle near the main gate and started unloading gear than we were asked to get back in the minivan for the time being.

It seems an elderly lioness had been taken to the center’s clinic, which was located back down the gravel road we had just come in on, for some dental work and was being returned to its enclosure. No one was taking any chances.

Walky-talkies crackled and then the lioness, which was in a cage-like trailer being towed by a small utility vehicle, appeared. With military-like efficiency, center employees ran alongside the trailer, offering words of encouragement and comfort to the lioness. The entourage turned at the gate and passed directly in front of our vehicle. Being that close to the lion was electrifying.

Once inside the park, the trailer was backed up to the lioness’s enclosure, and she was persuaded to return to her home.

With that task accomplished, attention was quickly turned to other duties. There were tours to be led and enclosures to be cleaned. Meat had to be provided and water dishes cleaned and filled. In short everything and anything that was part of a normal day at the center awaited doing.

For the three of us, however, it was a chance to spend some time with Joe Taft, the center’s founder and Indiana State alumnus, and learn about and tour the facility.

Joe Taft and a tiger.

Looking at Taft’s tanned and lined face, one sees the time he has spent outdoors over the years caring for his beloved big cats. His eyes twinkle, bespeaking the puckish sense of humor he’s quick to display. His soft-spoken and unassuming manner echoes his attitude that it’s the cats and not him that matter. Not surprisingly, he turned out to be a great host.

After an exchange of introductions and pleasantries, Taft clued us in on the center’s two most important nuggets of knowledge. “Touching the animals is not permitted. If you can touch them, you’re too close. You’ll also be asked to leave,” he says. “Second, if you see a cat backing up to you, be prepared to step aside unless you want to be squirted. It’s just their way of marking territory.”

The first bit of advice was superfluous. I never intended to get that close. I need my fingers for my job. The second suggestion, however, came in handy on more than one occasion over the next couple of hours.

Taft’s interest in big cats began with an ocelot he owned as a pet during his student days at Indiana State in the 1960s. “That was it for me,” he says. “I became a big cat lover.”

Taft sees his studies at ISU as having tremendous value in his work with big cats.

“Taking care of cats like this requires more than just an awareness of and response to their physical needs. A lot of it has to do with observing and understanding behavior, as well,” Taft, who studied philosophy at ISU, says.

“The classes I took provided me with a solid grounding in general knowledge as well as tools for observing and analyzing,” he adds. “I’d have to say I’ve used just about everything I learned at ISU in one way or another over the past 20 years with these cats. A lot of it also has come in handy dealing with some of the people I’ve encountered in doing rescues over the years.”

He explains that an ISU anthropology class had the most impact on him as a student. “It was in that class I first learned about and gained an appreciation for complex behavior,” he says. “I remember there were only four of us in the class. That made for a really good give and take with the professor.”

It was to be several years after he left ISU, however, before his interest in cats was to manifest itself in the establishment of the center and its growth into one of the largest rescue centers in the United States for abused, unwanted and neglected exotic felines.

He founded the center in 1991 on a rural stretch of 15 acres as a home for three big cats. Today, it has almost 200 cats from 23 states that represent nine species – tiger, lion, leopard, cougar, bobcat, ocelot, serval, lynx and Asian leopard cat. There’s also a tigon, which is a cross between a male tiger and a lioness. Taft’s personal preference is for tigers, which explains their preponderance in the center’s population. “There’s just something about a tiger,” he says.

Expansion of the center began in 1998 with the purchase of an additional 11 acres. “Then in 2002, thanks to a grant from the Clark Charitable Trust of Lincoln, Mass., together with a gift from a private donor, we purchased an additional 82 acres adjacent to our original property,” he says.

“When our first 26 acres filled up, we began developing the new property with enclosures for a number of cats,” he continues. “One of those enclosures will feature our first concrete pond for the animals to play in. We’ve also added a processing facility, where we process meat for the cats. That’s pretty much where things stand today.”

Despite its growth, the center’s mission remains the same today as it was on its first day of operation.

“We provide a permanent home for exotic felines that have been abused, abandoned or, for whatever reason, have nowhere to live out their lives,” Taft says. “At the same time we try to educate the public about these beautiful cats.”

Last year, the United States Department of Agriculture-licensed facility hosted more than 21,000 visitors, including numerous schoolchildren. The center also conducts in-school educational programs complete with hands-on exhibits.

The facility is inspected on an annual basis by the USDA and has always received excellent grades. William Finney, a veterinary medical officer with the USDA who has inspected the center in the past, says, “They do a very good job, especially in comparison with the other ones (rescue centers) I see.”

Walking through the main area of the center – the part that’s open to the public – one is struck by the scope of the enterprise. The enclosures for these animals are spacious. The numerous habitats, ranging up to 20,000 square feet of natural landscape, are a far cry from the small cages many of the cats previously called home.

The beauty and power of the cats also captures one’s attention, as does the sound of a collective growl that seems to emanate out of nowhere and everywhere at the same time. The truth of the matter is big cats hidden in the vegetation are producing it. That sound, together with the heat and humidity of the day, makes it feel as if we’re in a tropical jungle.

The stories of how and why these cats came to be at the center comprise a litany of abuse, cruelty, insensitiveness, disinterest and plain old stupidity, according to Taft. They come from breeding “factories” similar to puppy mills, circuses, wildlife parks, businesses and private homes, among other places.

“The center has developed a strong working relationships with the USDA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and various state departments of natural resources. Many of our exotic cat rescues have started with a call from one of these agencies,” Taft, who has gone along on many raids, says.

Some of the cats’ previous living situations are beyond comprehension.

“Our leopards George and Rodney came to us from a private home on Long Island, where authorities found them freely roaming the residence with children present and the man’s wife chained to the staircase,” he says.

“The Munchkins” is a collective name for a group of three lions and four tigers that were rescued from less-than-abysmal conditions in Pittsburgh.

“They were found in three five-foot square cages in a basement almost starved to death. When they arrived at the center, all of the cats were substantially underweight and in generally poor condition,” Taft says.

“The four tigers were blind because of cataracts,” he continues. “Some of the cats had to undergo surgery, including procedures to remove the tigers’ cataracts and restore their sight. While they have made tremendous progress since arriving at the center, their growth was so stunted at an early age because of their treatment they will never reach normal size, which is why they were given the name ‘Munchkins’. ”

A photographer had used two of the center’s first three cats – a pair of tigers – in his business. “It was the sort of enterprise in which you could have your picture taken with a cute, cuddly tiger cub,” Taft says. “The cats, however, had outgrown their usefulness for the operation. When we took them, they had been living in a VW bus for months. One had cataracts and was blind. Both cats’ baby teeth had rotted away.”

At the center, cats are provided with proper diets, social interaction and veterinary care.

“The center benefits from having an on-site clinic where Dr. Fred Froderman performs procedures when required. These will typically include general veterinary care, cataract surgery, dental work, tumor removals, spay and neuter procedures, administering intravenous fluids and blood work. The level of care provided at the center for the long-term health of each cat is substantial and costly,” Taft says. If a greater level of care is called for the cats are sent to the vet school at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Feeding 200 big cats also requires a prodigious effort. “In a typical day, the center will process and distribute about 3,000 pounds of meat to our exotic cats,” Taft says. “We acquire all of this meat free of charge.”

There’s a lot more to taking care of 200 big cats than feeding them, however.

“People don’t realize the hundreds of little things that go into making sure these animals are well cared for, healthy and happy,” he says. “Matters such as providing water, gravel and straw; waste disposal; and parasite and insect control, among so many other things, have to be taken care of every day.”

There’s another important element that Taft and the center staff make sure is included in their care of the cats. “We try to give each cat some personal attention every day,” he says. As a result, Taft and the other staff are always talking to and acknowledging the animals as they walk through the center.

“These are animals with personalities and emotional needs. Most of the cats we take in were bottle-fed. They were raised to be handled. As a result, they crave attention,” he says. “It’s very important to their well-being to be socialized and feel loved.”

That approach seems to be working, as far the cats are concerned.

A group of tigers I watched playing in a pond certainly seemed well adjusted, happy and secure. They wrestled and chased and splashed each other like a group of kids at the neighborhood swimming pool – though just a bit rougher. I was surprised to see them in the water first of all. I always thought cats disliked the stuff. My second revelation was learning that tigers enter the water by lowering themselves from the bank tail end first. There’s no jumping or diving involved. It’s all quite delicate in fact.

If the romp in the pond isn’t proof enough of the animals’ feelings of well being and security, there’s Taft himself going inside various enclosures and petting lions, tigers and leopards just like they’re the family dog. It’s not bravado, however, and, even though he says he doesn’t do it with all the cats – “You have to know what you’re dealing with. You have to know which ones you can do this with,” he says – it’s still mind-boggling to watch. For the record, the ones he goes in with are those who have been born or raised from cub hood at the center.

The work it takes to keep the operation going makes for what is basically a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week, 365-day-a-year-job for Taft . It also means long hours, typically 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., for his team of six professionals, who are trained in caring for exotic felines; four part-time employees; and eight regular volunteers, who sometimes include students from ISU.

“These animals are never left unattended,” he says. “It takes countless hours to give 200 big cats the proper level of care.”

It also takes money. Taft estimates it takes about $500,000 a year to operate the center. The money comes from a variety of sources including donations, grants, merchandise sales, admissions, overnight stays in a guesthouse and special events held at the center.

Taft doesn’t anticipate the need for the center’s services to decline any time soon. In fact he expects the opposite. “We originally set our goal at 100 cats and look at us now,” he says. “Even so, for every new cat the center accepts, we decline many more requests.

“There will be a continuing need for facilities such as this as long as the trade in exotic felines continues to be strong. There is no sign this is going to change any time soon,” he adds.

Despite all the work, pressures and worries, Taft finds tremendous reward in what he is doing.

“It’s very uplifting to walk the grounds on my inspection tour early in the morning. There’s something inspiring about talking to these big cats one on one and watching them run in tall grass instead of being confined in four by eight foot cages,” he says. “I get the same feelings each evening when I repeat my inspection. It’s my reward for a hard day’s work, I guess. I’m grateful I can give these animals a second chance at life.”

When, after several hours of touring, talking and taking pictures, we got ready to leave the center, my thoughts turned to Taft inside an enclosure being nuzzled by a lion.

With that image in mind, I thought about how some people have a calling or purpose in life while others have jobs. It’s clear which side of the line Joe Taft falls on, and he couldn’t be happier.

(Martin Blank is the editor of Indiana State University Magazine. To learn more about the Exotic Feline Rescue Center log onto www.exoticfelinerescuecenter.org.)

Tags: Exotic Felines, Joe Taft

This entry was posted on Monday, September 21st, 2009 at 8:49 am and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.