5-Minute Interview: Howard Baskin, chairman, Big Cat rescue

HB: No.

Additional thoughts from Howard Baskin:

For 10 years Carole and her daughter operated the sanctuary with only three paid staff and very limited marketing or fundraising. The sanctuary ran deficits every year. She funded by operating a real estate business. The loss of her husband in 1997 and the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and plummeting tourism created times of intense stress that they managed through. In 2002 and 2003, the sanctuary operated roughly at breakeven. In 2003 public donations were only $107,000 and tour revenue was $190,000.