Is Joe Exotic dying of cancer in prison?

NEWS AND VIEWS: You remember Joe Exotic, don't you? He is the former private zoo owner, addicted to big cats and breeding big cats who is currently in prison for animal abuse and plotting to murder Carole Baskin the owner of Big Cat Rescue in Florida. His jail sentence is 22 years. There were 17 charges of animal abuse and two counts of attempted murder for hire. Pretty serious stuff.

Joe Exotic. Image in the public domain (assessed).

And he developed prostate cancer but has refused further treatment. He has blood in his urine and his medical consultant is urging him to take further tests to see whether the cancer has spread to other parts of his body.

He has refused and said that he wants to let the disease take its course. He added that he is not frightened of dying and simply wants to see his partner and fiancé, Seth.

He said:

"I want to stay here and just let it take its course. I could care less about dying, my birthday is coming up soon and all I want is to see Seth".

He has been imprisoned for two years and has a long way to go. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2021 one year into his sentence.

RELATED: Joe Exotic was terrified of big cats and wickedly cruel says film producer.

An online fundraising campaign has been started to raise money for his funeral. He's confirmed that he wants his ashes to be scattered at the same place as his late husband Travis Maldonado who took his own life in 2017 aged 23.

While Joe Exotic is seriously ill in prison with the prospect of his cancer spreading, his targeted victim who he tried to murder, Carole Baskin, is enjoying great success at the moment.

Through a committed campaign, she successfully pressed for the Big Cat Public Safety Act which in effect does away with all the kinds of tiger abuse that took place at the hands of Joe Exotic such as raising cubs to be abused at roadside photo sessions and when they grow up to be discarded.

The Act basically does away with the private ownership of big cats and makes it illegal for exhibitors to allow direct contact with cubs. It will protect all the big cats that would end up in private zoos where they're often abused because private zoo owners in America are not infrequently unqualified and unable to care for big cats properly. That's why some of them ended up at Big Cat Rescue.

Private zoo owners should experience jail for three years to find out what it's like to be in cages

NEWS AND COMMENT: Private zoo owners are ignorant. They are uneducated and they are stupid at least in respect of one topic: animal welfare. They don't know what it's like to be banged up in a cage. They think it's all right. They think that if a tiger is born in a cage it accepts the cage (wrong, the need for much space is in their DNA). Another indicator of ignorance. They should go to jail for a couple years or more and feel what it's like. This is exactly what has happened to the notorious Joe Exotic. 

Joe Exotic in prison. Image in public domain.

He's been in jail for almost 3 years. I guess you know why. He was the star of the Netflix documentary which went viral. I guess the world and their dog know about Joe Exotic - real name: Joseph Maldonado-Passage. He is revelling in his celebrity status. Netflix should be ashamed of providing him with the platform to gain celebrity status.

In the follow-up series by Netflix he apparently expressed some sympathy towards the big cats that he kept locked up in his infamous zoo. At one time it was America's largest private zoo. He saw nothing wrong with it at all. He saw nothing wrong in exploiting big cat cubs for photo sessions after tearing them away from their mothers. He saw nothing wrong in killing adult tigers who became redundant for the purposes that he required them i.e. to make money.

RELATED: Joe Exotic gives his zoo to Carole Baskin

At the end of the first episode, I am told that Joe Exotic expressed some regret for what he's done. Being in prison has given him a different perspective on his treatment of the animals at his former zoo over the many years he kept it running. He admits that he now finally understands why it is wrong to keep big cats locked in cages because he knows what it feels like. In his words:

"After being lumped up her three years, I know now how my animals felt. I'm ashamed of myself. I hope I'll get a second chance just like my tigers."

And hearing that annoys me and many others. It's taken him all these years to realise that he has caused distress and pain in these magnificent creatures. And he did it all for financial gain and celebrity. Frankly it sucks and this is the exact sentiment of many other people as indicated by their tweets on Twitter.

it fucking sucks that joe exotic didnt realize how fucked caging animals were until he experienced being locked up in jail, himself. honestly, it made me emotional when he said that.

— SortofUnpleasant🎮🎃(they/them) (@UnpleasantDotTV) November 18, 2021

RELATED: Joe Exotic was terrified of big cats and wickedly cruel says film producer

And yeah, in an act of added irony, one of his old mates in the private zoo business, Jeff Lowe, expresses sympathy towards Joe Exotic for his uncomfortable experience of being in prison. He said that it is a long time to be locked up in prison (2.5 years) but he was perfectly happy to lock up animals in his zoo for many, many years and of course the same applies to Joe exotic. I'm afraid that this is another example of ignorance. It is an example of an unenlightened and abusive approach to animals.

Camilla Long doesn't know the difference between Pen Farthing and Joe Exotic

Camilla Long is a well-known journalist writing for The Sunday Times. She comments on the news and I guess anything that interests her. Today, she has written something which irritates me. I'm sure she doesn't give a damn. In fact it probably pleases her because her provocative articles are meant to irritate and delight at the same time. She is a consummate writer, very bright, Oxbridge educated and blah blah blah. She is talented. But she's got this completely wrong.

Camilla Long. Photo: Twitter.

She is criticising animal lovers and "animal people" who, I presume, are the same species of human. And she can't tell the difference between the behaviour of the well-known animal rescuer, Pen Farthing, who was until the mass evacuation based in Kabul, Afghanistan and the obnoxious but made-for-television personality, Joe Exotic.

I'll tell her what the difference is. Mr Farthing saves the lives of unwanted and discarded animals. He shipped many dogs from Afghanistan to America. This is because American military personnel rescued dogs in Afghanistan and became close to them. When they came to the end of their deployment and returned to America they had to leave their dogs behind. Mr Farthing rectified that problem. He raised considerable funds to ship these dogs to America for a reunion and to allow the dogs to live out their lives happily. He saved lives and did good work. He also ran a vet surgery in Kabul. He founded and ran the best animal rescue organisation in Afghanistan for years. He alleviated pain and distress in animals.

RELATED: Taliban likely to ban dogs but accept cats

He bent over backwards and struggled enormously to save the lives of about 200 cats and dogs during the mass evacuation when the Taliban took over. Camilla Long criticises him for euthanising 32 older dogs at that time because they weren't enough crates to transport them all, she said. She also criticises him for the death of six cats who were tear-gassed after a suicide bomb went off at the airport.

I'm sure Mr Farthing reluctantly euthanised the dogs that she mentions. Sometimes rescue animals have to be euthanised despite best intentions. Under the most dire and critical conditions, Mr Farthing saved lives. If he euthanised these dogs it would have been an absolutely last resort that he was compelled to take. It would have been a humane decision.

RELATED: 25-30 cats at US Embassy Kabul have been abandoned

By contrast, Joe Exotic, for many years, ran the biggest private zoo in America and exploited big cat cubs for financial gain on a treadmill basis. They were used for photo shoots but when they grew up they were redundant. They were surplus to requirements. There were sometimes shot. Basically he was exploiting animals in the most abusive way for many many years. And he is serving a 22-year sentence for plotting to murder Carole Baskin, one of the world's 'animal people'. He is a thoroughly obnoxious individual.

These two individuals are in stark contrast to each other. You cannot say what Camilla Long has written about them which is as follows:

What's the difference between Farthing and the execrable human beings who run roadside tiger parks in America?

Well, I agree about the execrable human beings who exploit big cats and abuse them in the process but as mentioned there is a big difference. There's a big difference between exploitation and saving lives. In fact, they are at the opposite end of the spectrum of our relationship with humans.

Two experts attested that Carole Baskin's missing husband's will is a forgery

NEWS AND COMMENT: This is controversial because Baskin inherited millions it is reported on the BBC website ('Carole was left with millions of dollars'). And her former husband Jack 'Don' Lewis disappeared. Joe Exotic, accused animal rights activist Carole Baskin of killing her second husband Don Lewis, who went missing in 1997. It is strenuously denied and there is no evidence to support the allegation. And she has never been charged. But the sheriff's candid and confident statement puts the cat among the pigeons to use an appropriate analogy.

Don Lewis' children ex-wife and kids allege that they were cut out of his will and their inheritance went to Baskin (source: BBC). Personally I have a lot of time for Carole Baskin and her fight for big cat welfare in the face of a bevy of private zoo owning men in the USA who abused and abuse big cats for monetary gain. These private zoos were and are an abomination. Baskin inherited Joe Exotic's zoo to settle a successful defamation claim. Carole Baskin did not cooperate on Tiger King 2 as the producers behaved badly towards her in the first series.

Tiger King star Joe Exotic threatens to sue BBC over copyright

The BBC used a song created by Joe Exotic on their BBC 2 documentary Louis Theroux: Shooting Joe Exotic. They used a short snippet of the song Here Kitty Kitty, which the BBC claim is permitted under UK law. 

Joe Exotic. Photo: Mail Online.

Joe Exotic's lawyer, Brad Small, from the top US firm Fox Rothschild explained to The Mirror newspaper that their client owns the copyright of the song and that the BBC had not acquired a "master and synchronised licence" for its use. 

They further said that their client was unhappy because he was not getting the money for that licence which should have been applied for. They said that they are confident there will be a resolution by the end of the year. Brad Small says that his client was in fact furious and has threatened to sue for compensation.

Joe Exotic, who used to be America's biggest private zoo owner with numerous lions and tigers and other animals, is now serving a 22 year prison sentence for a conviction of murder-for-hire of Big Cat Rescue Owner Carole Baskin. He has appealed his sentence. Apparently, his sentence has been reduced but we have not been told by how much. Joe Exotic appealed to former president Trump for a pardon unsuccessfully. I believe to that he has also appealed to the current president for a pardon without success.

Carole Baskin was upset with the Netflix documentary series because it painted her in an incorrect light she claimed. For many years she fought against Exotic's excesses and abuses of big cats at his zoo.

ASSOCIATED PAGE:  With Doc Antle finished, Carole Baskin can now push on with her Big Cat Public Safety Act