Carole Baskin

Carole Ann Baskin (née Stairs, formerly known as Carole Murdock and Carole Lewis; born June 6, 1961) is an American animal rights activist and CEO of Big Cat Rescue, a non-profit animal sanctuary based near Tampa, Florida.

She has attracted the attention of local, national and international media outlets to the plight of captive big cats.

Carole Ann Stairs was born on June 6, 1961, on Lackland Air Force Base in Bexar County, Texas.

She expressed an interest in saving cats when she was nine, but she decided against pursuing a career in veterinary medicine after she learned that veterinarians euthanize animals.

At age 14, Baskin reports having been gang raped by three men who lived across the street from her house, claiming that she received no emotional support from her family.

She dropped out of high school and left home with a local roller rink employee.

Baskin then hitchhiked back and forth between Florida and Bangor, Maine, sleeping under parked cars.

She later purchased a Datsun truck and slept in the back with her pet cat.

At the age of 17, Baskin worked at a Tampa, Florida, department store.

To make money, she began breeding show cats and used llamas for a lawn trimming business.

The couple married on April 7, 1979.

Baskin has said that she never loved Murdock and married him only because her parents were disappointed that they had been living together outside of marriage.

She became pregnant in October 1979 and daughter Jamie Veronica Murdock was born on July 16, 1980.

According to Baskin, in 1981, when she was 19, she threw a potato at Murdock as he attempted to attack her.

She ran out of their home barefoot and met her next husband, Don Lewis, on Nebraska Avenue in Tampa.

She and Lewis engaged in an affair while both were still married.

She became one of Lewis's many girlfriends and substantially grew his wealth by helping him buy and sell real estate in 1984.

In January 1991, Baskin married her second husband, Don Lewis, and joined his real estate business.

The pair divorced their respective spouses and subsequently married in 1991.

Baskin claimed that Lewis was obsessed with sex and would frequently fly to Costa Rica, where he had substantial real estate holdings, to have affairs – timing the trips for whenever she was menstruating.

The couple founded Wildlife on Easy Street, an animal sanctuary near Tampa for big cats, in 1992.

Don and Carole Lewis never bred lion or tiger cubs but did breed 3 leopards and some other small cats before realizing the harm it was doing the animals and they stopped all breeding by 1997.

Baskin remains the current chief executive officer of the sanctuary, which she renamed to Big Cat Rescue sometime after Lewis's disappearance in 1997.

She has used social media such as Facebook and YouTube and her "The Cat Chat" podcast to promote activism against private zoos.

In July 1997, Lewis filed a restraining order against Baskin, stating that she had threatened to kill him; the restraining order was rejected.

Baskin said he filed for the restraining order because he was accumulating junk and she would have it hauled away while he was in Costa Rica.

Lewis continued to live with Baskin afterwards.

Lewis told her multiple times that he wanted a divorce, but she did not think he was ever serious about it.

She says he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder months before he vanished.

Lewis disappeared in August 1997 and was declared legally dead in 2002.

A dispute ensued between Baskin and the children of Lewis over his estate, with Baskin prevailing as the primary beneficiary.

The case of Lewis' disappearance is still active as of 2023.

Baskin drew public attention when she was featured in the 2020 Netflix true crime documentary series Tiger King, which follows Baskin's escalating feud with Oklahoma-based private zoo owner Joe Exotic.

Following the release of the series, Baskin received abuse online due to the third episode of the series speculating that Baskin was involved in the Disappearance of Don Lewis, her second husband.

Baskin denied these claims in a post on Big Cat Rescue's website.

Her catchphrase, "Hey all you cool cats and kittens!", also became a meme as a result of Tiger King.

Baskin is also well known for her appearance on Dancing with the Stars, featuring her dancing to a cover of the song "Eye of the Tiger".

She and her husband Howard also appeared in the 2021 Louis Theroux documentary Shooting Joe Exotic.

In 2020, Baskin was cast in season 29 of Dancing with the Stars.

Baskin moved in with Michael Murdock, her boss at the Tampa department store where she worked, when she was 17.