A passion leads to education and a lifework serving animals and communities.

As a young girl who loved bears (and played with My Little Ponies instead of Barbies), Kati Krouse had no idea where her love for animals would take her. Her work has led her around the country, caring for and rescuing animals that have been exploited, neglected, and abused. With years of education and experience, dreams and plans that stretch a mile high, and a heart as big as Texas, Krouse is the founder and executive director of BEARS Etc. (Bear and Exotic Animal Rescue Sanctuary), based out of Walker County. Over her lifetime, she and her husband Ambrose have been a part of rescuing over 500 animals. This includes rescuing seven Asian leopard cats out of Houston and transporting them to a facility in Mississippi; rescuing and relocating five bears out of northeast Texas to Nevada; and moving a Savannah cat to a sanctuary in Oregon. They currently care for a variety of rescued turtles and tortoises, a flock of parakeets, and a number of other animals that make up the “etcetera” of their organization. When she’s not rescuing wild animals, Kati is looking after pets through her business, Dog-E Dude Ranch. The couple moved to Texas in 2014; BEARS Etc. was founded in 2017; and the Krouses have been hard at work for animals all along the way.

How did you get started with animals?

I’m a fifth-generation farmer. I grew up in northeast Indiana. After high school, I went to vet tech school at Purdue and minored in wildlife management and natural resources. My specialty for vet tech school was exotics. I worked at a veterinary hospital. Exotics and wildlife don’t show they’re sick until they’re really sick. I wanted to be the frontline of defense for these animals. Also, during high school, I was an intern at what was then Black Pine Animal Park. It came full circle after vet tech school when I became the manager there. They turned into a true animal sanctuary. They don’t buy, sell, breed, trade, or use animals for entertainment. Becoming the manager opened my eyes to more of the exotic pet trade, not just the pet store part of it. We’re talking about people purchasing tigers and bears for pets; how many backyard menageries there are across the U.S.; and how many people are keeping these animals for pets across the country. There’s such a need for more sanctuaries – specifically for bears. Not many people want to do bears.

Why do you think bear sanctuaries are uncommon?

Bears dig, climb, and are very active. Big cats sleep 20-24 hours a day. They don’t require all the things bears do. Bear’s muscles are nine times denser than man’s, so they destroy things very easily. They’re smart like primates and elephants, so they go and test things. When you build them something new, or give them new enrichment, the first thing they think is, ‘how can I break this?’. And they do! Having dig guards and hot wire – it just takes a lot more. You can build a tiger habitat for $20,000, but it takes anywhere from $50,000-$80,000 to build a bear habitat to contain them. The enrichment to keep them mentally well is an all-day thing as well. A lot of facilities won’t take them because they’re so expensive. They live 30-35 years in captivity, whereas a big cat will only live 15-20.

BEARS Etc. has plans to develop a bear and exotic animal rescue sanctuary. They’re currently searching for the perfect place to build their rescue campus. They’ve identified large plats of land and are hopeful this dream will become a reality through fundraising efforts.

What kind of work do you do?

We work on passing legislation, education, and rescuing animals. I do a lot of speaking engagements. I train animal control officers on how to respond to exotic animal calls. I’m speaking this fall at Texas Animal Control Association. My talks are approved for continuing education credits. We educate the public. We go into schools and talk to kids about how dogs and cats are pets, not bears and tigers.

What is one of the main reasons people take on exotic animals as pets?

The biggest factor is social media – Youtube, Instagram. They see people with these animals and they’re like, “Oh, I can do that.” We’re seeing more and more incidents in Yellowstone [National Park] and places like that where people try to pet the fluffy cows or try to take selfies with mama bears. They’re seeing people interact with these animals on social media and try to do the same.

Tell about some of the animals BEARS Etc. has rescued.

To some, it seems silly that we have a flock of 56 parakeets, but they were released in February 2020 into a park down in Houston. They had no food, and they were freezing cold; at that point, it had been the coldest February on record. [Their release was] part of a ceremony for good luck and good karma. To save these animals’ lives, we went down and caught 56 parakeets, thinking we would adopt them out. In the first four weeks, we lost three to kidney failure. They’d been neglected at the breeder prior to being released. We had to take them to A&M for necropsy. We said, “We can’t adopt these out, because we can’t adopt out a potentially sick animal.”  We kept them all.

We have a one-eyed, one-legged Ringneck parrot. We call her our pirate parrot. They’d seen videos on social media of cats with birds, and then their cat attacked it. One of the tortoises we have was raised in an aquarium. It was only fed head lettuce and lived without UV lights. It has deformities and metabolic bone disease. Those are the animals we take in and provide care for their entire lives. If we can’t place it, we network around the country to find permanent placement through our connections.

What about bears?

I get contacted by zoos and other facilities to help them improve the lives of their bears with enrichment, dietary support, and habitat improvements. I’m consulting with a zoo in Illinois right now with two bears that aren’t getting along to determine if the situation can be workable or if we’ll have to transport one to a new facility because they just won’t get along.

Whenever space is available at sanctuaries where bears are welcome, BEARS Etc. transports rescued bears to safety. According to Krouse, there are currently 1,000 bears in need of placement across the U.S.

BEARS Etc. is also a partner organization of the Big Cat Sanctuary Alliance; this relationship has helped create connections with a network of peers across the country.

What do you see for the future of BEARS Etc.?

First, we want to change mindsets through education by showing people what animals look like in their natural habitats–not the concrete, the caging, or people on social media having them do different things–getting to see them live as wildly as possible. Our slogan is “Giving people and animals a ‘peace’ of the wild.” We want to give them the visuals, the sounds, and that mindset to actually see animals in the wild with large-acreage habitats. Secondly, we want to have an economic impact on our community. To have 50,000 visitors a year–for our small businesses, to eat in our local restaurants and shop in our local stores–that would be amazing. That’s probably one of the things I’m most excited for, being a small businessowner myself. Third, we want to have a place to go where guests don’t have to fight traffic to come see the animals.

Krouse is quick to share that she doesn’t judge those who surrender their animals for placement with BEARS Etc. “I’ve been a licensed wildlife rehabber. I’ve done a lot of different things in the animal world…and saving and changing lives of humans and animals, I think, is my greatest impact, and how I’ll leave the world better than I found it,” she said.

BEARS Etc. is in need of volunteers for animal care, transport, and fundraising. If an individual has (or is aware) of an exotic or wild animal and would like help in re-homing that animal, contact 832-779-0442 or email info@bearsetc.org. Visit bearsetc.org or facebook.com/bearsetc for more information.