The big cat kings of America are falling like dominoes and Carole Baskin is the victor

NEWS AND VIEWS - VIRGINIA, USA: Carole Baskin, the founder and chief executive of Big Cat Rescue (BCR) always detested the private zoo, big cat kings of America who she accused of abusing and exploiting big cats for commercial gain. There were a number of them. I use the past tense. 

4 ‘Tiger Kings’ in America have now been charged with animal cruelty.

Doc Antle and pet leopard. Image: Netflix.

Since Carole Baskin, in effect, put Joe Exotic behind bars for a long stretch because of his attempts to have her murdered, she has reigned supreme as the antithesis and antidote of America's private zoo exploiters.

She is going to sell up (or has sold) Big Cat Rescue and do other work with the proceeds to help wildlife welfare and conservation. Her mission at Big Cat Rescue is over. She has achieved her goals. For a long time, she was picking up the pieces of individuals such as Joe Exotic and other private zoo owners who also abused big cats and who were unable to look after them properly.

Doc Antle and the world's biggest cat. A lion/tiger hybrid. Image: Apollo currently world's largest cat (2020). Photo: screenshot from video on Instagram. The cat is with Doc Antle who exploited the big cats. He was arrested in a purge against these individuals such as Joe Exotic.

She almost single-handedly introduced the Big Cat Public Safety Act 2022, which is now written into law in America and which prevents private zoos existing and exploiting lions and tigers and other wild cat species. It was a great victory for her.

The Big Public Safety Act was enacted in December 2022. It ended the private ownership of big cats as pets and prohibited exhibitors from allowing public contact with big cats including cubs. Existing big cat owners can carry on until the animal dies.

That is the introduction to this article! It's is about one of those abusive individuals whose name is Doc Antle. He was all over the Internet in his prime. He's been described as a Tiger King star. His full name is Bhagavan 'Doc' Antle.

He's just been convicted on four felony counts relating to the buying and selling of endangered animals in Virginia. He was a celebrity but his celebrity was based upon criminal behaviour.

He's the latest star of the hit Netflix series Tiger King is to face the prospect of jail time. He will be sentenced on September 14 and could face up to a maximum of 20 years behind bars. He won't get that kind of sentence for these sorts of felonies but he will be imprisoned just like his fellow animal abuser, Joe Exotic.

The attorney general of state of Virginia said: "Virginia's animal cruelty laws are not taken lightly by my office. I am proud of my Animal Law Unit for their tireless work and I'm thrilled that the jury not only agreed with us but sent a message that Virginia does not tolerate wildlife animal trafficking."

The investigation began in 2019. The trial lasted a week. Doc Antle was indicted 2020. Two of his daughters were also indicted on charges of animal cruelty and violating the Endangered Species Act.

Although he was acquitted on five counts of animal cruelty. The judge dismissed four additional animal cruelty charges. His defence attorney said that his prosecution was politically motivated because there is a growing public outcry against the exploitation of wild animals for entertainment.

Comment: well, thank God there is a public outcry against the exploitation of wild animals for public entertainment. It's about time. As I said, Doc Antle was the king of the hill for a very long time. He was all over the news media and on social media. He was obviously making quite a a lot of money but he was dodgy. His conviction establishes that.