Citizen of the Week

There are Citizens of the Week and then there are CITIZENS OF THE WEEK!!! Tanya Smith falls into the latter category. For two decades, she and her family have operated Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge, rescuing and harboring dozens of big cats and other large-scale wildlife -- lions and tigers and bears, literally. Most recently, they have taken on what is perhaps the biggest rescue operation in their history, 34 tigers, leopards and cougars from a facility near Mountainburg, Ark. These beautiful animals would almost certainly have died in their former location, and Turpentine Creek has plunged into the rescue wholeheartedly despite or because of the challenge. For their work all these years, and for this current rescue -- for which they desperately need contributions, hint hint! -- the Citizen salutes Tanya Smith and Turpentine Creek.