perimeter fencing. BCR ceased physical encounters of any kind between the public and cats housed there in 2003. In 2013, following a 2011 lawsuit, Joseph Maldonado-Passage, aka "Joe Exotic", whose family runs the GW Exotic Animal Park, was ordered to pay Big Cat Rescue $ for using confusingly similar trademarked materials. Joe Exotic attempted to hire a hitman to kill Carole Baskin, Chief Executive Officer of Big Cat Rescue, who had won a lawsuit against him in 2013. Maldonado-Passage has since been arrested and convicted of two counts of murder-for-hire, eight violations of the Lacey Act and nine of the Endangered Species Act. In October 2014, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission inspected BCR based on a complaint and issued a warning for "maintaining a Leopard in an uncovered outdoor cage >1000 sq. ft., without the use of a moat system, and without previously obtaining written approval by the Commission". In March 2019, Big Cat Rescue opened a zoo exhibit without live animals, using augmented reality and virtual reality technologies. Visitors come in person and access the exhibit through a mobile app on their cell phone. In March 2020, Big Cat Rescue temporarily closed to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Florida., and Baskin later announced in a Facebook post that she was considering not opening it to the public, stating; Conservation One of the stated main goals of Big Cat Rescue is to end ownership and trade of exotic felines in the private sector entirely. Big Cat Rescue claims that permit systems are not effective at ensuring animal welfare and campaigns for a total ban of private ownership of big cats regardless of keeping conditions. The center is part of the International Tiger Coalition, which is dedicated to stopping the trade of tiger parts. In 2005, Big Cat Rescue published an action plan to end all captive keeping of all exotic cats, including animals in AZA-accredited zoos bred for conservation. According to the plan, Big Cat Rescue wanted interstate transport of big cats for any reason (including conservation breeding programs) to end by 2012, display of large exotic cats in zoos to end by 2013 and keeping of any exotic cats (including smaller species) in zoos to be discontinued by 2015. In 2015, Big Cat Rescue began campaigning for the passage of a bill in the United States Congress called The Big Cat Public Safety Act (H.R.