Over the last 13 years we have gone into several captive tiger facilities to remove big cats that withstood years of physical abuse and emotional damage from extreme confinement, but the Fur Farm was different. There was no pretense of conservation or education or rehabilitation, there was no public exhibition or attraction. It was simply a concentration camp where Mark Gutman bought, bred, trapped and caged the animals until he killed and skinned them for their pelts. He also collected and sold their urine for trapping lures. It is difficult to believe he ran this operation in this country.
The market for his pelts exists 7 hours north in Ontario at the Fur Harvesters Auction. Starting when he was 20 years old Mark spent 48 years capturing native wildlife for their fur. Hopefully his death will coincide with the death of a business that kills animals just to wear them.
We have and will respond to any request to get a big cat out of a bad place. And given this experience, we are happy to add Fur Farms to our shutdown list.
Tigers in America was happy to provide financial assistance to the Exotic Feline Rescue Center in Center Point Indiana for the transport, enclosure building medical and lifetime care for more than 50 Foxes, Coyotes and Wolves rescued from The Grand River Fur Exchange in Ashtabula County Ohio.
