Howard Baskin Wiki: Facts About Carole Baskin’s Husband

Netflix’s Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness delves into a very interesting aspect in Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin’s feud. Exotic has consistently alleged that Baskin has something to do with her previous husband Don Lewis’ unsolved disappearance. While Baskin’s marriage to Don Lewis is heavily discussed, her current husband seems to be an afterthought. After two contentious marriages, Carole found happiness with Howard Baskin, and they’ve been together for over 15 years. They share a love for animals and keep the Big Cat Rescue legacy alive. With all the attention on Carole Baskin, we’re highlighting her marriage right here in Howard Baskin’s wiki.

Howard Baskin Was a Management Consultant

Howard Gene Baskin was born on May 13, 1950 in Poughkeepsie, New York, where he was raised. He graduated from Poughkeepsie High School in 1968 and went on to acquire his B.S. cum laude from Union College in New York in 1972.

He came to Florida where he acquired his J.D. cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law in 1978. But he went off the legal trajectory to earn an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1980.

Baskin pursued a career in management consultancy, helping companies in their early stages of strategic planning, finance, and operations. He also spent over a decade at Citicorp, in its real estate division.

Since retiring as a management consultant, Baskin has devoted his time to Big Cat Rescue and has also served on civic bodies in Tampa, Florida.

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Howard and Carole Met at a Party

As the story goes, Howard Baskin was at a launch party of “No More Homeless Pets,” hosted at a local aquarium in 2002, when he met Carole Lewis.

Carole had founded Big Cat Rescue with her previous husband, Don Lewis. Don, who disappeared in 1997, was declared dead in 2002, though his disappearance remains unsolved.

The duo’s 11-year age gap couldn’t eclipse their shared love for animals. They hit it off, eventually dating. Two years later, they were married in a beach ceremony.

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Carole’s hippy/cat pattern-dominated fashion sense is considered as eccentric as Joe Exotic’s. At their wedding, Carole wore her signature flower wreath on her hair with a white dress. But normally straight-laced Howard surprised his new bride with a far more outrageous outfit.

Dressed in a caveman costume, Howard arranged to have a goofy photo shoot with his new bride. Pictures of this eyebrow-raising photo shoot, including one of Carole holding the other end of leash around Howard’s neck, have become quite the hot topic on social media since Tiger King premiered.

The newlyweds honeymooned in the Virgin Islands, where they defined their long-term plan to end the breeding and commercial petting of big cats.

Also Read: Carole Baskin Wiki – Facts to Know About the Big Cat Rescue Founder

Howard Helps Run Big Cat Rescue

Don Lewis helped Carole start Big Cat Rescue (BCR) in the ‘90s, but they had clashed over the running of the sanctuary around the time he disappeared. When she married Howard, Carole also found in him a strategic partner to help manage BCR.

Howard’s administrative, financial, and legal expertise and experience were a boon to BCR. He let Carole focus on her advocacy work and guided her in fundraising efforts. With his encouragement, Carole used social media to spread the rescue’s message.

Among his civic body roles, Howard Baskin now serves as the Advisory Board Chairman of BCR. The rescue’s website lists him as secretary, treasurer, and member of the board of directors.

He is often invited to events to speak about the wildlife rescue issues BCR takes up and also he writes about these same issues in various publications.

Howard and Carole Baskin became enemies of Joe Exotic in a trademark infringement lawsuit. Exotic was ordered to pay the Baskins $1.0 million for illegally using the Big Cat Rescue name and logo in his traveling animal show.

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Howard Defended Carole After Tiger King

While Tiger King highlights the issue of big cat petting and abuse across America with its focus on Joe Exotic, viewers also laud it for its unbiased and critical portrayal of BCR. But the Baskins have taken issue with the way Don Lewis’ disappearance was depicted.

Carole immediately refuted various claims related to Lewis and her legal battle with Lewis’ children in an article on BCR’s website. And now, Howard has taken to BCR’s YouTube and social media to defend his wife.

Howard alleged in the video that the makers of Tiger King said the documentary would expose big cat abuse and Lewis’ disappearance would be handled in a respectful way. “Not only did they lie about that, they never even gave us a chance to respond to many of the false claims that ended up in the documentary,” Howard said.

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As for the claims made by Don Lewis’ ex-wife and children, Howard said “Anyone who spends an hour with Carole would come away knowing she didn’t have any involvement in Don’s disappearance.”

In the video, Howard also invited Kim Kardashian, one of the many celebrity fans of Tiger King, to visit BCR’s sanctuary and meet Carole.

On a sweeter note, Howard gave some insight into his marriage saying, “In 15 years of living together, we have never had an argument. We have never even had a harsh word where the other one had to come back later and say, ‘I’m sorry I had to say that.’ We make decisions every week. We don’t always agree. We talk about it. We listen to each other’s reasoning.”

He goes on to add, “I honestly believe I am the luckiest man in the world. I could not imagine having a more considerate and caring spouse.”

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