Exotic Feline Rescue Center shares big cats’ rescue stories

CENTER POINT, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) – Summer vacation is not quite over yet and if you’re still looking for places to go, we have just the place.

The Exotic Feline Center offers tours year round where you get to visit some of the biggest cats.

Since opening in 1991, the center has grown in many ways. From opening a 7-thousand-square-foot vet clinic, to hosting many community events. Long-time Animal Keeper Rebecca Stevenson said having visitors is what keeps the center going.

“The biggest thing about what we do here is educate,” Stevenson said. “Most people think they’re coming in here to see a zoo and they leave here being very educated on what it is that we do here, and where these animals are coming from.”

The center has had several different kinds of animals with different stories. Charlie is a white tiger and came to the center in 2008, from a magic show in Missouri. He was kept in a very small cage on a concrete floor, which was cleaned with undiluted bleach.

This caused Charlie to have chemical burns on his paws. Stevenson says normally a feline’s paws are rough to with hold their weight, but Charlie’s are soft and sensitive.

“We maintain any kind of pain he may be having with some pain killers. But you know it was rough for him, that’s not any way for an animal to be living,” Stevenson said.

Some animals were kept as pets. A leopard named Rodney lived in a home in Long Island, along with his brother. Their owner was arrested and sent to federal prison for a domestic dispute.

Rodney and his brother were then taken to the feline center at six months old. The brother has since passed, but Rodney still resides at the center and is 19 years old.

“Very happy, very spoiled. They came in pretty young but still at six months they’re leopards, so we didn’t get a ton of time where we really got to interact with them. But you know we gave them a lot of attention, all of the great things that they need,” Stevenson said.

Stevenson has been working at the center for 20 years and she says it’s been a great experience to see the animals thrive.

“It is such an amazing thing to watch these animals come in and change into who they actually are. Because when they come in they’re scared. So, a lot of times they show fear through aggression. So, once they start to get use to everything and calm down it’s really an amazing thing to see who they are.”

The Exotic Feline Center does tours everyday from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. For more information you can visit their website .

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