Lions, Tigers, and Bears, & Brown Diamonds, Exposed Text Messages and DMs

00:00:06
Speaker 1: Hello, my little beautiful people, my little elves, my little mister and missus Clauses. I mean, we're rowling up on Christmas. We are Hi everyone, that's just it's me. We're back. I am really excited about this Christmas because I haven't had the greatest of holidays in a really long time. I don't know. It just like the energy every holiday is just has been off for a minute. I won't say why. I think it was. I think I know exactly why the energy was off. But I got my Christmas tree up and it just for the first time in a minute, feels like Christmas.

00:00:56
Speaker 2: Which is amazing because Ocean's here. It's our first Christmas, I know.

00:01:00
Speaker 1: And it was so sweet because we took her out the other day and she got to see, like they do this thing by it's at this mall and at a certain time every night they make it snow and then Santa comes in. Okay, so Ocean has seen Santa Claus. She's seen it somewhat snow. The other night they did like a huge fireworks show, So she's seen fireworks, like all of these little first that I've seen where yeah, I'm like last year, this time she was like in the belly.

00:01:37
Speaker 2: Isn't that crazy? And your tree looks gorgeous, your house looks gorgeous. Your stalkings are so chic.

00:01:43
Speaker 1: Also stalkings are hung by the fire.

00:01:45
Speaker 2: They really are also laala. I put it on my story. But the other night, Kyle and me and Margo were at a mall at night that does fake snow that Santa appeared, and I wonder if we were at the same.

00:02:00
Speaker 1: We have the same mall or owned by the same people. Yeah, it was just so cute. It's really cute.

00:02:06
Speaker 2: Did she could you tell? Like watching her? Could she did she kind of know what was going on? Or was it a little too much?

00:02:12
Speaker 1: No, she was very interested in what was going on. But she gets this look on her face. It's kind of like when she saw the fireworks, and of course I cover her ears. Yeah, she can't hear it because they're loud, but she gets this. She's a very curious little girl. She like when I push the button to the elevator, or she sees like an exit sign, like anything and everything. She's so curious what it is and how it works.

00:02:38
Speaker 2: It's so cute too to watch her little eyes, Like you you are the one that mentioned this. When we're talking, we'll be Lalla and I will be in a full on conversation and it'll be like eerily quiet around us, and La La will look at Ocean and Ocean is just sitting in her little jumper or is sitting with Gigi staring at our, and like, Lalla will talk and Ocean will stare at her, and then I'll talk an Ocean stares at us. I'm like, is she does she know what it's going on?

00:03:05
Speaker 1: She gets older, I won't be able to talk in front of her now because she listens. She does, and I'm like, oh god.

00:03:13
Speaker 2: That's a big sign of intelligence though.

00:03:15
Speaker 1: And babies, she's a baby genius. She takes after me, she is. I'm a genius. Obviously you are. Okay, so you did I went to community college. Goddamn brilliant.

00:03:26
Speaker 2: Oh my god, college doesn't mean anything.

00:03:28
Speaker 3: We know this.

00:03:30
Speaker 1: I mean one of these days, yeah, one of these days, I may pull in Elwoods and be like, fuck it, we're going to law school.

00:03:37
Speaker 2: Speaking of Ellie to that that, I don't know if I'm breaking this news to you, Lalla, but as of this morning, Kim kardash she passed her bar exam.

00:03:46
Speaker 1: I okay, is it crazy that I have chills? Did you know that?

00:03:51
Speaker 2: Did I break it to you?

00:03:52
Speaker 1: You just broke that news. Isn't that you don't? That is absolutely incredible. I'm inspired. That is amazing.

00:04:01
Speaker 2: So La La Ken our next lawyer.

00:04:04
Speaker 1: Maybe we'll see I'll be a fucking savage. You really would? I would represent women you.

00:04:09
Speaker 2: And your mom?

00:04:11
Speaker 1: Are you joking?

00:04:12
Speaker 3: Oh?

00:04:13
Speaker 1: Lisa would be the PI. She would kill it. I would be like the head haunch.

00:04:20
Speaker 2: If I ever need anything investigated, I'm hiring Lisa. And if you get your law degree, I'm hiring you because you can I could see you being a savage. Oh, I would be a savage, especially representing women.

00:04:32
Speaker 1: I'm not fucking around.

00:04:33
Speaker 2: She's really not.

00:04:34
Speaker 1: So I'm excited for today's podcast. I know I'm excited for every single podcast, but I think it's important to be excited when we have another guest on do you watch Tiger King? Have you seen it? So?

00:04:45
Speaker 2: I watched the first Tiger King, but I haven't seen the newer Tiger King.

00:04:51
Speaker 1: You haven't seen the newer one?

00:04:52
Speaker 3: No?

00:04:53
Speaker 1: Okay, Well, today's episode is amazing because I'm going to introduce everyone to the real Tiger Queen. Her name is Bobby Brink and she has a sanctuary for big cats and bears. Okay, now, when Tiger King came out, we had just gone into Lockdown, and I was so excited to watch it because I had heard that this was like the Blackfish of big cats. Yeah, and anyone who knows me well, when I saw Blackfish, which is about Orcas in captivity, changed my whole life. I thought I was going to see something like that, and as I watched it, I was a little bit let down. Did I think it was entertaining, Yes? Did I think everyone on the show was not everyone? Did I think most of the people on the show were disgusting? Yes. I sat there and was like, these people live on the same earth that I live on. I don't relate. We are not from the same place. That is for damn sure, Like just the thought process of how you could feel okay and justify what you're doing to these big cats. But it did. It shook me. I was like, these people are crazy, don't relate, don't relate at all.

00:06:13
Speaker 2: So is this year the same?

00:06:15
Speaker 1: This season? This season? Actually I liked it a bit more because I felt like it was more of let's expose these of course, the crazies come back and they, you know, spit their mumbo jumbo jargon where you're like, you're a moron. Yeah, and not even like you would you have to like just listening to it. It's like your soulless how could you see these animals kept in these cads? Like the fact that anyone has to explain it to them is it's strange to me right right? Yes, but I loved it because the final episode of the first season where Joe Exotic is.

00:06:52
Speaker 4: Like, you know why they say animals don cage is their soul dies, And it's like, yes, Joe Exotic, I hate that you had to go to prison for you to realize what people are talking about. Yeah, but at least you understand now they should all be locked up.

00:07:11
Speaker 1: They're a bunch of crazies.

00:07:12
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:07:12
Speaker 1: So anyway, I'm very excited to talk to Bobby because I think she and I are going to be on the same page. I think she's gonna shed a lot of light to that world, and I think there's a lot of people who still think like bike cats and we can hold little baby cups. I'm gonna take Billy it Susan this weekend and it's like, no, what are you doing?

00:07:36
Speaker 5: Ye?

00:07:36
Speaker 2: There are so many people who still think that and La la, so many people who still go to like Sea World in life.

00:07:42
Speaker 1: It makes me physically ill. Yeah, and you can show them everything, you can say look at this, and they're like nope, yeah, it's fled. For the kids, it's insane. I'm the crazy person that's like taking the six year old and I'm like, look at this, traumatizing them. But they know, they're like they know, yeah, good. They don't want their mom to take them to see world after Lalla has spoken to them. No, no, no, that's good.

00:08:11
Speaker 2: Do the animals justice see good person, good person? So then has anything? So I'm excited you're having Bobby on, You're going to talk to her. Let's play ketchup. Has anything interesting or exciting happened to you lately?

00:08:26
Speaker 1: Well, exciting things happened to me daily. Okay. I love that I find out new information daily, oh, which is like a punch in the gut but also amazing.

00:08:38
Speaker 2: You know.

00:08:38
Speaker 1: I I'm in a strange, strange place because I have my moments and I don't know if anyone on that listens to this podcast can relate. But I had felt like in the five years and eight months that I had been with he who we shall not name, we had built family. That's what I thought. And every day I find out something new that makes me feel Lalla, you were so disposable the whole time. You meant nothing. You meant nothing. You were a possession, a shiny object, and nothing more. And I have to be okay with that. I have to realize that the person I have to deal with, I feel everybody serves as the same thing. I served, nothing more than just a possession, and that to me makes me sick daily because to learn the things that I learn and try my best to just keep my fucking mouth shut for my daughter, not say a word about what I know, it can become torturous. And I have to sit and say, the universe will do its thing. You don't have to do anything, La lat. All I have to do is protect ocean Kent at all costs. And I know that there's a lot of women out there who just the level of deceit and betrayal and it can break you. You know, there's moments I sit here and I go, how will I ever go out into the world and trust anybody ever again. But it's important for me to learn how to do that because I know that.

00:10:52
Speaker 5: There's a lot of women out there who are going through the same thing that I am and it's not right, and.

00:11:00
Speaker 1: I have to fight for them.

00:11:02
Speaker 5: Yeah, I have to fight for Ocean, and I know that like that goes without saying. That is my biggest and only priority. But I have another priority, and I have to protect other women.

00:11:13
Speaker 1: I have to. Yeah, it's my job at this point because I can't unsee and unhear what I've seen and what I've heard. Yeah, yeah, Oh. I just want to apologize to everybody. This podcast is amazing because I feel like we can share things and we get bonded. But at the same time, for a minute, I just need everyone to kind of roll with the emotions that I feel every day.

00:11:40
Speaker 2: Honestly, I think you're reaching though these like you say all the time, the amount of women that probably and most likely are going through what you're going through. And I mean I know women personally who have gone through a lot less and who literally can't get out of bed for a month physically, they cannot get out of bed for a month, they're brought food. And I don't know how you do it, but I watch you every day and you find out new information and sometimes I'm there for it and sometimes I'm not. And it's it's shocking how you just kind of soldier through. And I know you're doing it for Ocean, and it's and you're doing it for all these other women, and it's.

00:12:18
Speaker 1: It's really I mean, inspiring.

00:12:20
Speaker 3: It's not the word.

00:12:21
Speaker 2: There's a word that's way, way, way more powerful than inspiring.

00:12:24
Speaker 1: But that's the only only thing that comes to mind right now. I love you for saying that. Thank you. Yeah. I don't think we realize how strong we are. We need to give ourselves more credit, and we need to when we sit there and we think like this has taken me out, your mind is very powerful. Reverse that shit. Yeah, this is not going to take me out. Yeah, I'll be damned. You just got goosebumps. Yeah, the universe will do its thing. The universe always reveals people's truths. Yep. On a lighter note, there is one thing that I'm actually very excited to share that I found out. We're in the holiday season, so let's talk about gifts. Okay, So he whose name we shall not mention, was talking to my mom one day about how some rappers take shitty diamonds and make them pretty. In my mom's mind, she thought, how do you know so much about this? How do you know so much about this? So cut to I dip the f out on that, and I decide we're going to take my engagement ring to a jeweler who came highly recommended by some very high level people. They said, take this ring to sow and so have it looked at. So I do. Okay, keep in mind the jeweler. I won't say his name, you can google it. The jeweler had been quoted in multiple publications saying that the ring runs in or comes in, is valued at appraised at whatever. He used some sort of language. The ring is around one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Damn okay, h He whose name we shall not mention flew in four times to make sure that the diamond was perfect. I'm gonna tell you why he flew in four times to make sure the ring was perfect. What here is the GIA certificate that the jeweler said. You can't find copies of it. He's just given to you, right, okay. Pull it up on the internet, okay, and it says the inscription GIA the number treated color. This diamond has been treated by one or more processes to change its color. I ask my jeweler, who I'm talking to, what is this ring really worth? He tells me this diamond was most likely brown and that he would give me. I won't say the exact number that he said he would give me, but it's in the teens. What now, let's not get it twisted. I love any type of ring that is given and has sentimental value. I don't care if it was one hundred dollars. I don't care if it was one hundred million dollars. I don't But for somebody, I mean, no wonder whose name we shall not mention. Flu in four different times, I had to make sure that the ship brown diamond was there. You know this isn't funny.

00:15:49
Speaker 2: I'm just laughing because I'm shocked.

00:15:51
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:15:52
Speaker 1: So I called the original jeweler. I said, here's the deal. I took it to and he did not want me to take it to another jeweler. He told me we can turn it into a pendant. We can do this, that and the other I said, no, I really just want to know what it's worth. And once I find that out, I'll decide what I am allowed to do, which if I'm allowed to get rid of it, that's what I want to do. That's what I want to do. I don't want to pendent. I don't want this thing in my home. It's bad juju. Yeah, bye bye. So, as I was talking to the original jeweler of the engagement ring, he was obviously he seemed a little stressed out. Yeah, he was a little stressed out. But he says, well, you know, and then he says his name, we shall not mention. Knew exactly what he was buying. He knew the diamond he was getting. Oh. I was like, I don't doubt that, don't doubt that for a second. Oh no, I won't even lie Jazz.

00:16:58
Speaker 6: When I went to my jeweler to have him look at it, when he told me, oh no, we were laughing our asses off, stop rolling because it was like par for the fucking course.

00:17:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, of course it's.

00:17:17
Speaker 5: Worth or you know, this jeweler will give me in the teens for.

00:17:22
Speaker 1: What I was told was one hundred and fifty thousand dollars all I was. And even the jeweler was like, why you're smiling? Is this a good thing? And I was like, no, it's not. It's just you know, when you sit here and just the ship keeps piling up, it's just like you gotta laugh. And the original jeweler who made the ring, Yeah, I said you you said one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. You said I never said that. I said, yes, you did. I have it, screenshot it. You said it. He goes on to say, well, it depends on who he as the ring could be worth ten cents to someone in one hundred million to someone else.

00:17:59
Speaker 2: Is said, not really does that even mean?

00:18:03
Speaker 1: Not really? Oh but okay, so there's the story of my engagement ring.

00:18:10
Speaker 2: At this point though, are you I really want to know, are you surprised?

00:18:14
Speaker 1: Was that?

00:18:15
Speaker 2: Did that take you by surprise or were you.

00:18:17
Speaker 1: Like h should have assumed it just was like, Wow, there's not one piece of my five years with this person that has been truthful and honest. The only truth I feel that existed in my relationship was me and my daughter Ocean. Yeah, that is where the truth ended. Yeah, that is a hard pill to fucking swallow. Yeah, I don't give a shit. Can I tell you if someone came to me, my X came to me and said, can I tell you what I did? I got this dime for X amount of dollars. I literally was a ship round diamond. But how pretty is it? I'd be like, good for you, yeah, badass. But for you to parade around oh like.

00:19:05
Speaker 2: What yeah yeah, because you are so low maintenance and you are so chill and cool about everything. And I don't doubt for a second that if that happened and said, oh, look like this is this is the truth, you'd be like hell, yeah, great.

00:19:21
Speaker 1: And I would have told all my friends, by the way, just go get a ship fron diamond. They've wide it out. Looks like this's so hot, you know, Oh my god.

00:19:29
Speaker 2: But you know what, when you are finally able to get back out into the world and trust people, the amount of people you're going to help daily by just saying, hey, here are some things I've been doing, here are some things I've been learning to literally trust again, like it's possible people and there people are going to be following that. I know people personally who are going to be like, let me know what Lala does to trust people again, because right now I don't trust anyone, and you're going to help a ton of people, you really are.

00:20:02
Speaker 1: We we're gonna do that. I know we will. Yeah, we're definitely all of us are in this together. It is with a strange world that we live in. Everything is so accessible, and you know, after all of this, I sat there and I was like, I may not ever want to be in another relationship again. I am so okay on my own and by myself. Jess, Yeah, I dig it. Yeah, and I am fulfilled. I don't I use my little vibrator if I need to. Yeah, I'm good. Yeah. I do not need a dude financially, mentally, emotionally, any of it. Yeah. I just want to feel safe. That's it.

00:20:47
Speaker 2: But I know and I know that, and I to you are, like, you're one of the most independent people I know. But at the end of the day, it's always good to know there are people out in the world that I'm talking anyone, I'm talking family, friends, relationship that are good people.

00:21:04
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:21:05
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think my biggest struggle is you know you can you can do whatever you want to me. I'll bounce back I'm savage. We didn't just like get I didn't just get knocked up with Ocean. There was a full conversation about trying to have a baby and him knowing the life style that he was leading and still made me feel comfortable enough to bring a baby into this world. Makes me feel like physically ill because now I have to protect her, Yeah, and I will, like, I will make sure I protect her so that she has healthy individuals in her life.

00:21:53
Speaker 3: Yeah.

00:21:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, And how lucky to have a mom like you? Yeah, because, let me tell you, and the harsh reality is, there's a lot of moms going through this now who aren't fighting like you. So how lucky she is to have a mom that will fight for her, that will for the rest of her life fight by her side, that will teach her lessons. Oh my god, it's she's so lucky.

00:22:17
Speaker 1: She's so lucky. She's going to grow up and be an amazing force in this world. And you know, I was getting an overwhelming amount of dms. You know that I never used to check my dms, checking them now religiously. But a lot of women reaching out you know whose name we shall not mention. A blog exposed all of his text messages and DMS, and so after that happened, I had a lot of dms from women that were expressing their disgust for the fact that he whose name we shall not mention, has a profile picture of Ocean Kent and how her sweet little innocent face is linked to these messages that he's sending to women. When I was reading these, these women saying like, that's so disgusting, I can't believe that that would be his profile picture while he's doing what he's doing, I was like, gross, Yeah, yeah, I don't even know what other word to use, my sweetness and girl, it's disgusting. So we are going to I hope you guys got a kick out of that at engagement Rine story. I'm sorry that things Cup we switched from like ha ha oh, but I'm very upset listen to this ring. You know, we're hitting all the notes today and so we will be right back with Bobby Brink and you guys. I know I said last episode that we were gonna do voice mails at the beginning of every episode each week, but I really wanted to tell you guys a story about my ring. So next week I'm going to be doing the first segment of the episode. The whole first segment is going to be your guys's voicemails. I can't wait call me at one eight six six, la la pod. All right, my loves. We are back with an incredible woman. She is the real Tiger Queen. Her name is Bobby Brink. She has a sanctuary called Lions, Tigers and Bears. Hi, Bobby, how are you.

00:24:36
Speaker 3: I'm good, how are you today? Thank you for having me.

00:24:39
Speaker 1: Of course, I'm so excited to talk to you. When I heard about your sanctuary, I had to have you on. I felt like most people's eyes were kind of opened to the exotic animal world and then being kept as pets. When Tiger King came out a couple of years ago, do in quarantine right? And I have to say I thought it was going to be the equivalent of I don't know, if you've seen Blackfish, they speak about orcas in captivity. I thought I was going to be seeing something like that. I didn't get that. I kind of felt like this story took a turn and it was more interesting to hear about these characters rather than the well being of these exotic animals. So I heard about your sanctuary, and I just want you to tell us what you do and why it is different from let's say people like Carol Baskin, right, So educate people.

00:25:38
Speaker 3: So we are an accredited sanctuary where San Diego's lions, tigers and bears and alpine and we rescue animals, provide a lifetime home. We're an education center. And then of course we're their boys. So we help legislation to protect them, and we work with the first responders all across the country. We go and places and help get animals out of places that they shouldn't be and help get them either here to our sanctuary or to a proper sanctuary. So we do a lot of work.

00:26:11
Speaker 1: You do incredible work. And I think a lot of people go to sanctuaries. There are people, I don't want to say, like you, people that kind of mask what they're doing by calling it a sanctuary. Where would you say the red flag is? How does someone know what is a sanctuary and what is a place that is exploiting animals and using the word sanctuary to cover that up?

00:26:41
Speaker 3: Right, So a real sanctuary doesn't buy, doesn't breed, doesn't sell, doesn't trade animals, and you won't see a lot of babies or any public contact anymore. So if you're someplace where you're seeing a lot of babies come in or somebody's bringing in surplus animals, they're just actually hell he being those other places to do wrong or they're doing wrong their self. And one of the most important things that I tell my members here and my donors is know your animal. Know the animal you're supporting, Know where it came from, where it originated from, why it's there, it's issues, and then of course when it dies, so it doesn't disappear out the back door to make room for a new one to come in. Really important.

00:27:26
Speaker 1: Okay, I love everything you just said for because for me, I mean you're the expert here. I always felt like if there's any type of you know, the the animal is being used to entertain you, or you're holding like making contact with the animal, to me, that is exploiting the animal. A sanctuary provides a place where the animal is basically living in its natural habitat or as close to it as you can possibly get. Exactly how many people do you have work at your sanctuary?

00:28:01
Speaker 3: So we have sixteen staff total, and we have about ninety volunteers. You know, twenty of them are here every week and there are core but we have about ninety volunteers. So they do everything from helping clean up to just paperwork and going out in the community and you know, teaching people what's going on, all different tasks.

00:28:22
Speaker 1: That's amazing. And how many animals do you have on property?

00:28:26
Speaker 3: We have here at lions, tigers and bears, sixty eight animals, seventeen different species, everyone to rescue and everyone has their own individuals story.

00:28:36
Speaker 1: Where would you say you rescue these animals? I mean, is it mostly the circus I think is kind of dwindling at least in the United States? Would you say it's private owners of these animals? Circuses? Like what is What would you say is the biggest place that you rescue from.

00:28:55
Speaker 3: I would say compensated animals that you know, people are in trouble and there take in away private owners given back as a pet, or places that just get in over their head and then they go broke. So that's another problem is places taken too many animals to provide the proper care.

00:29:13
Speaker 1: I mean, I can't imagine that it is cheap to feed these animals, take care of them. I mean, how much do you spend each year on these animals.

00:29:25
Speaker 3: It's minimum ten thousand dollars a year just for food for a tiger.

00:29:29
Speaker 1: For one for one tiger. Wow.

00:29:33
Speaker 3: So housing being the most expensive building their habitat, and then you know they have to have a keeper, insurance, you know, electricity, they've got to have a pool with a water you know, waterfall or circulating circulating fresh water every day. So yeah, very expensive. And then of course you know going across the country to get animals out of situations, that's expensive too. So it's not cheap, but you know, we do it right. We give each animal a really good quality of life.

00:30:03
Speaker 1: That makes me so happy. My mom works for the Humane Society, and you know we're big on animals, from you know, the little hamsters to the big old bears. So it's beautiful to see you doing all of this work. How did you decide that you wanted to be in this business of, you know, creating a sanctuary.

00:30:25
Speaker 3: Well kind of by mistake. I was actually opening a restaurant and in the hospitality business. And when I was building one of my restaurants, I saw lions, tigers, leopards for sale or lions tiger's cougars for sale, and I answered the ad. This was in Texas and in nineteen ninety and I've been working with the animals ever since. I came across a woman. I wanted to answer the ad and see what it was. And the first place I went the lady lived on five acres. She had thirty breeding cats and all these babies running around her mobile home floor where you could buy one and take one home today. So that really caught my attention, so I started volunteering for her. And then I answered, you know, it's other ads, and you just see the exotic animal trade there like it's night and day. And I've seen tigers for sale at cattle auctions in the Walmart parking lot and they don't care who they're selling them to. It's just to keep turning the babies and keep making a profit. There's no federal tracking on these animals. Nobody really knows exactly how many tigers are in the United States and how many are in backyards. There's no way to know, and we're just slowly getting state by state laws passed to protect the animals because so many disappear. You know, they're so cute when they're little, and they use them for the photo ops and so people can hold them and pet them and get their picture taken. Please, please, please don't do it. There's not one legitimate place in this country anymore that's doing what we call the cub petting or cub handling. That's your first sign and most of the animals disappear.

00:32:06
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. You know, there was one thing that I had seen about. There was one white tiger in the world, and basically any white tiger that popped up, they all tracked them back to this. Basically they were all in bred and some of them are now at I believe is that the mirage in Las Vegas. Their eyes are all messed up like the amount of inner breeding. I mean, it's absolutely disgusting and I can't believe that it's not taken more seriously, I.

00:32:49
Speaker 3: Don't even know what to say about that, because I've been doing this since nineteen nine and trying to expose these people. And yeah, even as you're seeing in Tiger King, they never seem to get in trouble for the animal abuse. They get in trouble for drugs, yeah, for weapons, for sexual things, for child endangerment, as we see murder for hire, statutory rate, things like that, and then the animals always come second. And one of the the only explanation I can give for that is animals are still considered property. And until our animals aren't considered property, they don't really have any rights. So all of these animals that like Joe Shribango and these people have dumped and use for their drama and so they can stay in the media. Nothing happens to them for what they've done to them, And many animals have died, and they've killed many animals and everything else broken the Endangered Species Act, and it just seems to keep on going, and I just it breaks my heart, but we just keep trying.

00:33:54
Speaker 1: What do you think would be the biggest way that people can start helping move this forward where we can make a difference. I mean, obviously I try just through my little social media to inform people that don't go and support these places. Without our support, it's not a sustainable business anymore. But at the same time, there has to be legal repercussions for these people, because that's the problem I had with Tiger King as well. It's like, why are the animals being placed like basically on the back burner. That was the start of the show. That's what they wanted to portray, was it was about the animals. And then I'm starting this it's murder for hire, it's the statutory rape. I was like, we're we're losing what this documentary was supposed to be about, which was it's about the big cats, It's about the exotic animals. So I was very disappointed that Tiger King took that turn because I was hoping it would be like Blackfish myself too.

00:35:01
Speaker 3: I know, it's very frustrating, So I just hope people finally get it and they don't support these places anymore.

00:35:10
Speaker 1: You almost want to shake people because you're showing your it's like right in front of them, and you're no, we're not allowed. But it's just like, I don't want I don't understand how it doesn't click that this is so wrong, and I think that it's beautiful work that you're doing, and the fact that you started doing it in nineteen ninety I believe is what you said. I mean, you were way ahead of the game knowing that this was so wrong. What was the first animal that you took into your sanctuary?

00:35:45
Speaker 3: Two tigers. Their names were Raja and Natasha Okay, and they came from Alvin, Texas. The man had bought them as a pet for his wife and they were living in a six by twelve chain link enclosure, no top, and right after they got the cats, I guess they decided they were going to get divorced, and just to be mean to her, he didn't want her to have the cats. So they stayed in that six by twelve, probably about six years, no shade, no shelter. One had to stand up for the other to lay down and turn around, and they would, you know, have to fight over the food. You and I couldn't even survive that. But then finally he was getting in trouble, and Fish and Wildlife gave us thirty days to get the permits to cross the state lines and get a habit, a suitable hat the tap built for them and you know, get them out of there, and the guy agreed to let us take them, so we kind of left out there.

00:36:41
Speaker 1: So those were your first two animals.

00:36:43
Speaker 3: Here at Lions, tigers and bears, and that was two thousand and two September two thousand and two.

00:36:48
Speaker 1: Wow.

00:36:49
Speaker 3: And then of course Natasha was pregnant, because that's what he was doing. He was breeding them in that small enclosure and then pulling the babies. So what the breeders do is they pull the baby when they're about eight to ten days old, their eyes aren't even open yet, and they pull them from the mama and that will bring the female back into heat, but it's very cruel for the baby because now it's not going to learn how to be a tiger. And they're plugging a bottle in so people can hold it and get their pictures taken.

00:37:17
Speaker 1: What usually happens to the babies once they're out of that stage, they are they pretty much disposable for whoever has them once they're out of that cute stage. I mean what I know on Tiger King, a lot of things were thrown around like they were being shot once they were out of that quote unquote cute and cuddly stage, gash chambers, what have you like. What do you think happens to them?

00:37:43
Speaker 3: Oh? I believe that's exactly what happens to them from some of these breeders, because they just disappear and there's no there's no records of how many come and go within a year. For each of these breeders, and it's they have to continue to have babies to keep their business operating for the photo ops. And I've seen you'll see them pushing the limit of using them as they're older. But they're so strong and they're so big, And the USDA says eight to twelve weeks is their window of opportunity. So after that animal's twelve weeks, they're really not supposed to be supposed to be exhibiting that animal, but they do push that limit. But then they are continuously breeding more to get more babies.

00:38:27
Speaker 1: So they they say that twelve weeks as they say, you're saying some of these people will push the limit, but twelve weeks and then it's just so, where what are these big cat are they the big cats that are you know, full grown? They're not used for playtime? You know, you see them being walked around on leashes? Were these babies at one point? Do they just take in too many babies for the playtime? Like why are some of these big cats staying until they're grown and older and being walked around on leashes? You know, I'm trying to get the logic behind which none of us are ever going to be able to figure that out.

00:39:08
Speaker 3: But some of the ones that you're seeing walk around on the leashes might look big, but they maybe are only two years old, and as they get older, they'll they they're they'll disappear. And there are some cats that they do continue to work with, but they don't all work, so you'll just see the ones that aren't workable disappear.

00:39:28
Speaker 1: That is just the strangest business. It's disgusting completely, it's it's soulless. We are going to cut to a short break and we will be right back with Bobby Brink. That's our short break. We are back with the Tiger Queen. That's your that's your name. I feel like you should have a show of interviewing you and like educating people. This is this is what I was hoping I would see when it came to Tiger King. They should rename it Tiger Queen. With you and you educate all of us because you look like someone that would also get the job done. So I remember you saying that there's no like number attached to these animals, so when they're born, there's no record of them. How do we know how many big cats are in the wild? Versus how many big cats are in captivity in the United States.

00:40:30
Speaker 3: So there's no there's honestly, there's no exact number. But one thing we do know, there's more tigers in the state of Texas than there are in the wild.

00:40:40
Speaker 1: I just got checked.

00:40:41
Speaker 3: And there's more big cats in Florida than any other state in the United States. So those are two of the key bad breeding, you know, breeding states that a lot of this started Ohio too. Ohio used to have all most of the bad exotic animal options, so there were no laws in the state of Ohio and you could go buy any animal that you wanted, poisonous reptiles not even from this country, and carnivores, anything you wanted. So that has changed with SB three ten. And actually our sanctuary was the one that got the contract for the state. We moved two hundred and fifty lions, tigers, bears, cougars out of just the state of Ohio alone. That the state compensated from these private owners and a lot of people don't know the Amish will breed the exotics, so they have those big beautiful barns there. Some of them are puppy mills, and some of them breed exotics to hold up and sell at least exotic animal auctions or the catile actions. So luckily Ohio has really been cleaned up by the state, but we still do have places, you know, we call the wild Wild West where animals are still allowed. It's still perfectly legal to own them as a pet. Oklahoma is one of the places, you know, where Joe was wheregw exotics Joe Exotic, and he got away with it for years and years and years, and you know, myself and everybody else was trying, but there's just no laws to There were no laws in place to protect the animals.

00:42:15
Speaker 1: Do you feel like since this documentary came out that we are getting closer to laws being put in place to protect these animals.

00:42:26
Speaker 3: When it first came out, I was kind of thinking yes, But like, here's a perfect example that I've been working on. There's a man in Las Vegas right now trying to open up a tent on the strip in a parking lot with tigers, and he's showing him to the public as living in his house, you know, as his family, but he wants to start a magic show. So I kind of feel like that's like where they get where they want to be in the media or the drama, like they want the drama to keep going, like they want to be the next thing freedom Roy. I guess, like, why would we put tigers in a parking lot.

00:43:03
Speaker 1: Test that ended very badly? I don't know why you would want to be that.

00:43:09
Speaker 3: We're still working on that because I was just there and at the community meeting and it was Winchester County. They did say no, but it goes to Clark County now, and we're not sure Clark County is going to say no. You know, this should be a thing of the past. Abusing animals like this and exploiting them should be the thing of the past, especially in Vegas. Look what's happened in Vegas firsthand?

00:43:31
Speaker 1: Firsthand, I mean audience members were traumatized. Someone straight up died because these are these are animals that obviously and it sounds so like as the words come out of my mouth, I can't even believe that I have to say them. Animals like this belong in the wild in their natural habitat. Like it just seems like you said, it should be something that's in the past. Why are we still exploiting animals we know they can turn and on us because they're wild. I mean, it just is horrific in any sense of the word. And I just appreciate the work that you and your team do.

00:44:11
Speaker 3: Thank you.

00:44:11
Speaker 1: So my next question is, obviously, because it's not cheap. You said a tiger is like ten thousand dollars just to feed a year, how do you bring money in and how do you support because obviously you're not exploiting the animals, which many sanctuaries quote unquote do to bring in the funds. How do you bring in the funds for these animals?

00:44:36
Speaker 3: So we are five oh one C three. We have nonprofit so donations. So we do a lot of digital like social media, email, community outreach where we just set up a table and talk about what we do. We do different presentations for different groups. We have a group visits out here, so you can come out Wednesday through Saturday and they're at scheduled times so we can take you around the sanctuary. We'll do behind the scenes. We do fundraisers out here, weddings, anything that overnight. Matter of fact, I'm sitting in the retreat right now where you can rent out to stay overnight right out here with the animals, So we do things like that, you know, to raise the funds to do our work. Right now, we desperately need funds to build more habitats because we can't get these places shut down without having places to let the animals live out their life. And they're not cheat you know, you can imagine, they're not cheap to build. So we're constantly having a campaign to build the next habitat, and we've just been building like one or two every year.

00:45:42
Speaker 1: Wow.

00:45:43
Speaker 3: And in the same breath out trying to fight for their rights. So this can stop because as surplus animals, we have to stop having surplus animals. They just it's funny. When I first started working with these animals, I thought, oh, it's okay, you know how they live. But I've been doing this a long time now, and the more you work around them, the more you know they don't belong you can. They don't belong in a habitat or a cage. They're a wild animal. And like you and I, we can have the most beautiful house in the whole wide world, we still want to go out. We still want to venture out somewhere. So I'm sure it's the same for them. Like they're trapped in their habitat. They don't belong in captivity.

00:46:22
Speaker 1: They just don't know they don't. And unfortunately, there's no other option for them because if you were to throw them into the wild where they belong, they just wouldn't be able to survive. So, you know, I guess the next best thing is having them go to a place like yours, where you know at least they can live out the rest of their life. It's just beyond heartbreaking. I know that you said this was where you were doing a zoom right now. So you have an area where people can come and stay and be with the animals, and how to people book that do? They just go on to your website. I mean, it's so adorable, it's so festive in there. I love it.

00:47:07
Speaker 3: They just go right on the website and you can book an overnight. You can book we call it a member for a day and it's about a two hour visit where the keepers and the train or the train volunteers will take you around to each animal and they kind of just tell you their story and the animals that you kind of know the schedule and they know the routine, so they'll always come up and when you come out, you'll see that. And of course we'll feed them through the fence, you know, just as a reward or a treat, and a lot of times we'll give them enrichment so they can play.

00:47:36
Speaker 1: You know.

00:47:36
Speaker 3: That's another thing. When you put them in captivity, it's not like having a dog where you can leave them at home with another dog all day. They need continuous care and attention, so having the visitors come they do enjoy it.

00:47:48
Speaker 1: I love that. And what is the website? And is this where people can also donate? I just want people to be able to find you guys.

00:47:55
Speaker 3: Yep, it's www Dot Lions Tigersanthayars dot org. It's dot org and we're in San Diego Outpine, California. It's a great place to come visit anyway.

00:48:06
Speaker 1: I mean, I love it. It sounds like a dream come true for me. I am so grateful that you made time to do my podcast today, and I mean, you really are just doing God's work for these animals, So thank you for that as well.

00:48:21
Speaker 3: Thank you because I think the one biggest problem here is people don't know, and people can't help something they don't know, So thank you for helping us.

00:48:29
Speaker 1: Share anyway that I can help in the future. I would like to get in contact with you and if you need anything posted or literally anything and everything, please hit me up because I would love to be involved.

00:48:42
Speaker 3: Thank you, thank you, thank you Bobby.

00:48:44
Speaker 1: I'll talk to bye bye