Animal Planet Hero of the Year Award Contest

Sept. 16, 2009 - PRLog -- If Scott wins it could mean $60,000 to the lions, tigers and other exotic wild cats at Big Cat Rescue!  The economy has hit animal rescue groups very hard, but the big cats have big appetites and they have to be fed.  There are two contests right now that have a combined prize of $60,000 in cash and advertising and Big Cat Rescue has a very good chance of winning with the public's help.

Until Sept. 27, 2009 people can vote once a day for Scott Lope, Operations's manager of Big Cat Rescue, to win Animal Planet's Hero of the Year Award.  Scott had a career in medicine, but gave it up to be a full time volunteer and then staff at Big Cat Rescue.  There is a video of him in action rescuing all kinds of animals in addition to the care he provides the big cats at Big Cat Rescue here: http://www.BigCatRescue.org

"This is great publicity for the plight of big cats and it will provide $10,000 in cash to feed the cats at Big Cat Rescue as well as a much needed vacation for Scott" says CEO and Founder, Carole Baskin.  The public can vote daily here:

http://animal.discovery.com/roar/hero-of-the-year/vote/

Until Sept. 20, 2009 readers can vote daily for Big Cat Rescue in facebook's contest where their votes have gotten Big Cat Rescue into the last round of top 4 charities to win $50,000 in co branded advertising.  The public can vote daily here:

http://apps.facebook.com/voteforacause/

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Big Cat Rescue, a non profit educational sanctuary, is devoted to rescuing and providing a permanent home for exotic (i.e. wild, not domestic) cats who have been abused, abandoned, bred to be pets, retired from performing acts, or saved from being slaughtered for fur coats, and to educating the public about these animals and the issues facing them in captivity and in the wild.