Man on mission to save exotic cats in Ind.

He finds them with broken paws, rotten teeth and frostbitten ears: a tiger afraid to leave her 5-by-5 foot cage, a lion crumpled in a backyard shed, a cougar discarded in an Indiana snow storm.

Across the country, saving big cats is 65-year-old Joe Taft’s mission.

More than 200 refugees live at the Exotic Feline Rescue Center, located about 55 minutes northwest of the IU campus.

Each had been rescued from somewhere in the United States. Most required medical treatment and some degree of nursing back to life.

The calls never stop.

“I don’t have a problem with private ownership,” he tells visitors. “I have a problem with irresponsible ownership.”

In the next month, Joe and his team will recover five tigers, a lion and a leopard from a defunct amusement park in Angola, Ind.

Pick up the Indiana Daily Student in January to follow their journey.