Two Toes  was purchased for $160 on 6-6-95 from Patricia Bodenstedt, a Nebraska fur farm, along with 16 other bobcats and Canadian Lynx the same day, many who were then sold. According to USDA papers Two Toes was one of those sold, and was probably replaced by another cat of the same name. We're told by former staff that Carole often replaced cats that were sold or died with other cats given the same name, which saved her paperwork and kept her from having to change the names on their cages. 

USDA papers list the bobcats as Two Toes, Crazy Horse, Selena, Levi, Cloud Dancing, Apache, 2 Tiger Lilly's, one of several Cleo-Cat-Tras, and 2 unnamed bobcats. Of these, 4 were sold. Of the 6 Canadian Lynx bought that day, 1 died, 4 were sold, and one named Picasso was also probably sold as he does not appear on her 1997 inventory. 

Carole says, "Don had driven to Omaha Nebraska to purchase some Canadian Lynx kittens and wanted some bobcat kits as well....". They obviously purchased the lynx kittens to sell and sold 4 of the bobcat kittens as well.  If the intention was to rescue cats, they would have come home with the older cats about to be killed for their fur, not tiny kittens. Unless you believe that you purchase cats to sell them or raise them in your house and make pets of them, these 17 cats were not rescued.

The Evolving Stories

Wildlife On Easy Street 1997

"a female Bobcat born 4/24/95 and came to live with us along with Levi, Two Toes, and eight other Bobcats in June 1995."

Big Cat Rescue (present)

"Two Toes was rescued from a fur farm and came to live at Big Cat Rescue, along with Levi and eight other Bobcats, in June 1995. She got her name because two of her toes are white. (...) Most of our bobcats were rescues from fur farms.  The deal our Co-Founder made with the three fur farms we discovered in the U.S. was that he would pay top dollar for every cat and kitten they had as long as the fur farmer would agree to never buy and breed cats again for slaughter.  It came at a time that the public outcry was against the fur industry.  Many of these animals were purchased at auctions where the uncaring owners were dumping the cats with no concern about their welfare. There is much controversy over whether we did the right thing by paying the ransom for these cats.  We still accept many unwanted cats each year, but do not pay for them and typically require that their owner surrender their license, in an attempt to keep people from just trading in their cats each year for a newer, cuter model.  We have to turn away more than 100 cats each year due to a lack of space and funds and the lack of regulation of the exotic pet trade. Read more about our Evolution of Thought HERE"