So, after the whole horrible ordeal with my cat, a thought came to my mind.... What if I open up an animal sanctuary? A place for people to bring in lost/abused/unwanted animals where they will be taken care of until either the owner or someone comes to adopt them. THey will not be killed. Gosh, I KNOW this is a lot easier said than done. But it's an idea. And, I know the place would fill up quickly, but at LEAST it's another option in town. The concept will be similar to Farm Sanctuary.
We could all run it together! I have a soft spot for feral kitties. I'd like to run a farm type facility for the feral colonies or kitties that have been rescued from cat hoarders and can't be rehomed.
I got my dog from a no-kill shelter. When I have extra money I will start supporting them. I'm not "advertising" them, but it's going to sound that way because I'm so impressed by them and grateful for the work they do. http://www.glendalehumane.org/ It's far from a sanctuary, but they are amazing. They rescue dogs and cats from death row and keep them till they find homes. They give them medical treatment, identity chips, keep them groomed, and feed them an ultra-high quality brand food. And potential owners have to take a training class before picking up their pet. They offer a foster-program, which is how I started out with my dog (then fell in love with her and adopted her). And they have a program matching elderly pets with elderly humans. They would be a good model for your sanctuary. The woman who runs it said the key to their success is that they run it like a business. They charge $350 for adoption, and I was glad to pay it because they took such good care of my Sheena and all the other pets. $350 would be high for a smaller town, but a decent price for Los Angeles area.
Best Friends Sanctuary is another cool one I visited outside of Kanab, Utah in November. My husband, who is a lieut. with the volunteer arm of the Humane Society was really upset with your story. I am sorry.
Peachy, is this a serious idea, or an "if only I could" kind of thing? If it's serious, let us know and we'll start looking for resources.
Our grade 7/8 Science and Math teacher would come to join you--this is exactly what she would love to do.
I have been saying the same for months. I fear I'm falling out of love with education (which breaks my heart, actually), and dreaming frequently of opening a shelter. We are paying quite aggressively on the house, and when it's paid for, I intend to leave the profession. Approved by husband.
I am definitely falling out of love with education. I have said to my BF quite frequently that I wish I could do something else with animals. I would do this too. Sometimes those feral colonies CAN be rehabilitated. In my area where I used to live, they would round up the cats and fix them, and then clip their ears and send them back out, since they were unadoptable. The clipped ear was an easy way to see that the cat was fixed if they couldn't catch it. Well, my first kitty I had was a feral kitty that was fixed and clipped and before they could take her back, they realized she LOVED people and was very adoptable. So she had a little knick missing off of her ear.
That would be great. Animals have a place in my heart as well. If I ever had a lot of extra money, one of the charities/organizations I'd contribute to would be towards helping homeless animals (as well as something to help children). They're such innocent little creatures.
Alice, this is a serious idea. I would need to do a lot of research (when my heart is more into it) and look into resources, money, program ideas, etc.
Check out that Pepsi Refresh project. I'm sure you could get lots of votes from your fans here! There have to be grants and things out there. I think it's really amazing idea. It's so sad that there are so many animals that are unwanted or lost. I have really been getting into that show on Animal Planet-Pit Bulls and Parolees. Now she has 200 dogs that she cares for-but she said it costs her $600/day. I also got my baby from a rescue organization and try to support them with donating bleach or something from their list of needs whenever possible.
I think you all would LOVE this place, then... It's called The Gentle Barn. I've been following them for awhile, and they do incredible things... they take in abused, neglected animals, animals who no longer have an owner, or those who no longer have a purpose to the owners and are about to be put down. They animals they take in are those that have too many issues and/or health problems that no one else would want them. And the neatest thing is, they take every kind of animal you can imagine! They have cows, horses, sheep, chickens, pigs, goats, dogs, cats, etc. and they give them massage therapy and whatever medical treatment they may need, and as much love as the animals could imagine to help them recover from whatever abuse or neglect they went through... it is incredible! My favorite thing is reading the stories of the animals... I "liked" them on facebook so I get these daily posts in my newsfeed from them about what their animals are up to, or about a specific animal's history before the Gentle Barn got it and what they did to help it and how it lives now... I just love it! It is also incredible b/c they have these programs for children who are at risk and people with special needs to come and spend time with the animals, too. They get their money from donations, and they charge people who want to visit and hug the animals. Ellen Degeneres is a huge fan, too, so she donates large amounts of money quite frequently. I actually found out about them from her show. Check it out! https://www.gentlebarn.org/
I think Peachyness's sanctuary should be closed off to automotive traffic. That way the cats could run free without worrying about getting hit by cars. Of course that might require an on-site bike repair facility...
My mom wants to do this too! She wants to create "Dog Town" of her own somewhere when she retires--a no kill type sanctuary. We're huge animal lovers and she has taken in two dogs and a rabbit that may have otherwise been put down and I just can't imagine life without our precious pets now. My boyfriend and I also rescued a kitten in the summer of '09 that was found in a pile of awning materials--- the owner of the house was going to take him to the dump with the rest of his scraps! Although the cat is a demon at times (I guess as result of being a wild kitten) he didn't deserve to die... although he almost killed himself by eating some wire last year, but that's another story.... (idiot). Our p is encouraging each teacher to do a community service type project with our class and there is an animal shelter the next county over (where most of our students live) in desperate need that I would love to take on.... any suggestions on how I could realistically do this with second graders or get the school involved? I've never done anything like this before... but if that's your dream, GO FOR IT! If it's in your destiny, it will happen one way or another! (For real, if you ever do get this kind of place going and I have any extra money, I'd gladly donate to such an amazing cause!) :thumb:
On year, my kindergarten class did a service project of collecting dog/cat food for one of our local, no-kill shelters. We mainly just did our class, but when other teachers and kids heard about it, they brought in food too. We collected a huge amount of food, then took it to the shelter and had a tour. It made everyone feel good that they were helping the animals. Maybe we'll try it again this spring.
