On March 27^th, 2008 Big Cat Rescue was honored to host almost 100 visitors from a very special audience. The American Animal Hospital Association was visiting Tampa for AAHA’s 75th Anniversary Yearly Conference held this year in sunny Tampa, Florida.  This specialized group of attendees included veterinarians; practice managers; vet technicians, assistants and support staff; vet students, and family guests.

Thanks to our own Dr. Liz Wynn an earlier site visit with the AAHA leaders and the tour operator made a significant impression.  As a result, the conference offered a visit to Big Cat Rescue as an extra-curricular option coordinated by Eventions of Florida, a Tampa based professional conference management firm.

Ali Brown of Eventions reported that demand to visit us greatly exceeded expectations and requested an additional offering.  On short notice, staff and volunteers rose to the occasion and we proudly toured two large groups from the conference in back to back time slots. The excitement was palpable, as the veterinarians became more fully aware of the broad scope of problems relating to the captive wildlife pet trade. Dr. Wynn spared some time out of her busy work day to meet with the second group and answer technical questions about the peculiarities of caring for exotic cats.

Hosting the American Animal Hospital Association was an exceptional opportunity for us to “spread the word” about the plight of the cats throughout the animal care community nationwide.  Thanks again to Dr. Wynn, Staff and volunteers for making this event an overwhelming success.

by:  Dr. Beth Kamhi