Animal Legal Defense Fund : Victory in Animal Legal Defense Fund's Lawsuit to Free Tony the Truck Stop Tiger

Animal Legal Defense Fund : Victory in Animal Legal Defense Fund's Lawsuit to Free Tony the Truck Stop Tiger

Even though it doesn't feel like it . . .

Summer is right around the corner :) The wildcats can't wait for the sun to shine! As a sanctuary we work very hard to provide a wonderful carefree life for our rescues. It isn't easy to ask you to take a 'Leap of Faith' donating to something you can't touch, adopt, pet or play with. But you understand that WCH is not a zoo, but a sanctuary for these precious animals that had no where to go before coming to WildCat Haven. Our donors understand what it takes to run a sanctuary. Sponsoring a wildcat resident does two things. First it allows us to continue to provide the best care possible for our rescues.

And second, it allows the sponsor to see the wildcats that they help support! For $500 you and a friend or loved one will get a behind the scenes tour of the sanctuary. You'll see the residents in a quiet, peaceful setting doing what they do best, being wild! You'll hear Sir with his wonderful, 'woo woo' call as we take you to visit all of the residents. You'll see the bobcats wrestle, the servals jump and play, hear the cougars chirp and Mac and Shirley will greet you with that wonderful tiger chuff!

It's a once in a lifetime experience and one that we only do for sponsors because they make the commitment & understand we need their support to continue our mission of hope and compassion! To sponsor the wildcat of your choice, visit our SPONSOR page. It's easy to do and will make you feel great!  You get to see and understand why we do what we do and become a partner in creating a safe, lifetime home for these incredible wildcats:) So what are you waiting for? Sponsor a wildcat today, you'll be sooo glad you did! 

(there is no direct contact with any of the wildcats)

New Friends . . .

Today was a special day for us. WildCat Haven has always believed that animal causes should work together as much as possible, sharing information, support and knowledge. We were honored to welcome Dr. Laurie Marker, the Founder & Executive Director of Cheetah Conservation Fund & Janet Waggoner, a longtime CCF volunteer to WildCat Haven Sanctuary. Dr. Marker has always been a hero to me, working tirelessly to save the incredible African Cheetah. 

In her own words, Dr. Marker once said,  "I thought if I told enough people about the threat to cheetahs, they would take care of it, but they never did. "[People] were always saying, ‘somebody ought to do something about cheetahs,' but I could never find out who ‘somebody' was. So I went." 

(Janet, Laurie, Renee)

Dr. Marker has dedicated her life to saving these amazing animals and we are so very proud to know her.  As we walked around the sanctuary introducing Janet and Laurie to our rescues, sharing their stories, I realized that in a very small way, we are doing our part, making the world a better place at least for the wildcats we care for. We aren't saving a species, but we are doing what we can to make a difference.  Dr. Laurie Marker has taught us, if you dream it, you can make it happen. Whether it's one animal or an entire species, these are words we all need to live by .  .  .

WildCat Haven Launches the New Website!

We are proud to announce our new and improved website!  Click on the image to see what it's all about.  :)

Spring Showers . . .

I can't tell you how much we all miss the sunshine.  We love living in Oregon but honestly, the rain and cold weather is like a bad dream at this point. :)  Every day I think it's going to break and the sun will come out and stay out, but so far it just isn't happening.

Around the sanctuary, work goes on.  Renee and Aaron are busy cleaning, making sure all the wildcats have clean, dry, fluffy beds of straw to nap on, and soft wood chips to soak up the rain.  Ian has been volunteering, dragging trash, cutting fire hose and helping Aaron with the cougar pen.  Construction for the Wellness Center continues, but we found we have to move some electric wires that run above the roof.  PGE has given us a quote of $2200 for the work, and unfortunately there is no way around it, the wires have to be moved.  Not really something that was in the budget, but we'll come up with the funding somehow.  Something I've learned over the past ten years is we always seem to manage. :)

When I stop and think about what it takes to keep the sanctuary running, I'm incredibly grateful for our donors who believe in our mission.  While some places spend huge amounts to fund-raise or for management salaries, we pinch every penny to make it go as far as it can for our wildcats.  It's our responsibility that the hard earned money our donors send, goes to what they intend, to care for the precious wildcats in our care. I'm proud to say that we do exactly that and together we are making a difference, one rescue at a time .  .  .

Tiger Fun

Such a relief

The dreary weather continues to drag on and it seems as if Spring will never come.  Today we saw a few glimpses of the sun, only to be replaced with dark clouds that rained huge drops and I think even a bit of hail.  Normally I'd be complaining even more, but today the weather was the least of our worries. 

Our newest Caracal, Carrie, hasn't been feeling good and hasn't wanted to eat for the past two days.   Renee has been keeping a close eye on her, but after two days it was time to take her in to the vet.  It never pays to wait and once again, we were right.  An x-ray showed a bone lodged in her intestine, so she went in for immediate surgery.  Thankfully everything went well, and she is now home.  Although a little woozy, she's feeling no pain and we expect a full recovery.  I have to say, I'm happy to go back to only having the weather to complain about :)

Bear & Nairobi in NatGeo Kids Magazine :)

BEAR & NAIROBI IN THE NEWS:)

Woodchips

Looking into the face of despair . . .

When will it end? This is the face most folks don't want to see  or acknowledge. Feral cats, either born on the streets, or cats that one time had a home, thrown away, abandoned. For the survivors, their existence is filled with horrific pain and suffering. Yet people continue to breed and sell cats when thousands end up in shelters with no hope of adoption or worse, left to fend for themselves on the streets. Shame on all of us who turn a blind eye to the animals that suffer in silence.

One of our Directors was contacted and told that a young feral cat was seen missing an eye.  He was trapped and taken in to our vet, where they neutered him, removed what was left of his damaged eye, cleaned up the wound on his ear, treated him for worms and fleas and all after they tested him and found he was FIV positive. 

The surgery and care that we provided will certainly heal his wounds, but to truly save him we need a home.  I'm ashamed to admit, when I was told he was FIV positive, I wanted to put him down. It's a terrible feeling to realize that I've become practical, letting my head rule my heart when it comes to situations like this.  But I know, just how difficult it is to find homes for any cat - let alone one with FIV.  Will some angel step forward to give him a second chance at life? A feral cat with FIV? I have my doubts, but our Director is convinced it will happen and I can only hope that some how this story will have a happy ending.  

When I look into this cat's face I feel so much shame and sadness .  .  . Shame for not doing more, and so very sad, that these incredible souls live life with no hope. Please consider volunteering with your local feral cat groups, Step up, be their voice and help end this suffering, it's the moral thing to do and together we can make a difference.

Kennewick's Jolly Egg

Tigers in the Snow

Howie in the Snow

Tiger Play

Rastafari Loves Her Pool

Happy Valentine's Day!

The ultimate gift . . .

It has to be the most difficult of all decisions we face. The companions who share our lives ask for so little. Food, shelter and love. But what they give to us in return can't be measured. We never really understand the impact they have until it's time to say good bye. My son and his family adopted Nate from OHS when he was a year old. He has spent the next 12 years doing what he does best, being a good boy. But his body was wearing out and even though his spirit was intact, they knew it was just a matter of time. 

This morning Nate let them know that he was ready to say good-bye. He had done his job, being the best boy he could be,  caring for them and teaching them.  His life lessons of unconditional love were shared with a cold nose, wagging tail and a gentle paw on a knee. And when he asked them, they gave him the ultimate gift of freedom and let him go quietly and peacefully while they stood by his side. Nate will be missed so much and remembered for doing what he did best, being a good boy .  .  .

Just makes sense . . .

Salem Friends of Felines has done amazing work over the past seven years finding homes for over 4000 and counting, domestic cats. Jeanie Sloan, one of the original founders has been a dear friend of WildCat Haven even before SFOF's doors opened.  She told me about a three legged tabby that had been returned to them and needed a home. Of course, we can't resist a special needs cat so I headed down this morning to meet him. Over the past years Jeanie has somehow always managed to make room for domestics that we can't keep and I was excited to be able to help her at least a little :) As I walked into the shelter I was touched by the obvious love and care that the animals are receiving. It's a small place but they are doing so much good, these amazing women, working so hard to change the world for the animals they care for! Clean, tidy and filled with warmth and kindness, it's the kind of shelter that makes you feel good when you walk in the door. Anyway, it's no surprise that I left this afternoon with two special needs cats :)  Ivan, the beautiful three legged tabby and Shadow, a sweet Siamese with only three legs who sometimes doesn't use a litter box. It felt good to be able to bring them home, especially after everything Jeanie has done for us.  Working together makes all the difference, and I'm so grateful to Jeanie and the wonderful work that SFOF does each and every day :)

Jolly Ball for Shirley :)

Sometimes . . .

(this isn't abuse? We believe it is)

The squeaky wheel does get the oil. After reading the article about Tigard High School deciding to bring a tiger to their high school basketball game last Friday, I fired off an email to the Principal. Thankfully he was a sensible man and realized that the issues surrounding this would be many and all wrong. He pulled the plug. Bless his heart and kudos to him. 

http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=129550348102212900

Unfortunately, the teacher who was behind bringing the tiger to the school, Sue Suttich remarked in the follow up article, “I was a little confused. It wasn’t like we were going to be abusing the animal or anything.” Seems the teacher needs to be educated, but I wonder if it would even make a difference? Somehow I don't think so :( 

A loss is never easy . . .

Back before WildCat Haven, back before BoBo the bobcat, back when life was as close to normal as it got, my son snatched a kitten from the neighbors across the street. Now any normal mom would be upset and explain to him that we can't go around stealing animals from other people. But poor Ian has a far from normal mom, and I'm sure at some point we were high fiving over what he did :) We had been watching that poor kitten being carried around by the neighbor kids, upside down, by her back legs, getting dragged around and just roughed up. I don't remember the circumstances exactly, but when I got home from work that next day, that little kitten was in our house with Ian and I couldn't have been more proud of my son :) 

That was almost nineteen years ago and a lot has changed in that time. Ian's mom still isn't normal, WildCat Haven was born and in it's 10th year of rescue. Ian is married with a wonderful wife and has a son of his own. That little kitten, Binker, has been part of our family and then Ian's family for 15 years. As she got older, it made sense for her to come live at the sanctuary, where we could keep a close eye on her and give her the medication she needed. Over the past year she has really started to show her age, and the last few weeks have been especially tough. Ian has recently been able to spend some time volunteering at the sanctuary and  yesterday he and Binker shared a hamburger at lunch and reminisced about old times :) It made me realize that even as time passes the bonds we create are still strong.

Today the decision was made to help Binker pass to the other side and free her from the tired, worn-out body that held her incredible spirit.  Knowing it's the right thing to do doesn't make it any easier, but it seems the right decisions never are.  Hugs to you Binker, may you roll in catnip and chase spiders to your hearts content :)

I don't get it . . .

The Tigard Times did an article on WildCat Haven today and talked about how 2011 is our Ten year anniversary of doing rescue work. Which was nice, but in the very same newspaper is an article talking about how the Tigard High School will be bringing in a live tiger for the game on friday. Really? Are they kidding? Can you imagine a school  full of screaming kids and a tiger? It just blows me away that this is something that the school thinks is a good idea.  

“There’s going to be a live tiger,” said teacher Sue Suttich, standing in front of a group of 30 high school students.Her advanced sports marketing class hosts the event every year, and it was their idea to bring the tiger. The tiger comes from the family of a student, Suttich said, who offered to bring the tiger to the basketball game. As the school’s mascot, Suttich said that she has wanted to bring a tiger to the school for years, but this is the first time that one will actually be on hand at an event. “This is going to be way more special than any of the others,” she said.

Of course there is no other information about where the cat is coming from, but I've got a  pretty good idea. It's a small cat world out there and if the cat is coming from where I think it is, this is just the sort of thing this 'rescue' does.

Here are two reviews of the place I'm talking about:
"I was not impressed with this place. While it is neat that they have exotic animals (a lion, tiger, camel, porcupine..etc) they weren't well cared for. They were in small dirty cages and seemed distressed. One rabbit we saw had a vicious infection in it's ears. The place is supposedly an exotic animal rescue operation, could've fooled me. It was quite disturbing. My girlfriend and I were debating making a call to some agency to investigate their operation."

 

"Awful place, yes they do have exotic animals, which is cool. But it stinks so bad there, the cages are small and not well cared for. I felt sorry for these animals and wonder how they got a license to keep them. The animals were dirty and  some had very little shelter from the rain and cold. I will never go back to this place."

When is this going to end? When people stop thinking that wild animals are cool to bring as show and tell. What message is the staff at Tigard High School sending? That a wildcat is ok to bring to pep rallies and games? And by promoting this sort of stunt, exhibitors continue to breed and keep wild animals in small, filthy cages waiting for the next gig. It's all just too ridiculous and frustrating.

And another show is over :)

The 2011 Build, Remodel & Landscape Show is over and done. These shows are important to attend, it gives WildCat Haven exposure to folks who may have never heard of us and gives us the opportunity to sell some great WildCat Haven items like teeshirts and such :)   

Thankfully we have our best gal, Jan Vales, who puts all of the off-site shows together and organizes the wonderful volunteers who give up their week ends to cover the booths! Big hugs to Linda Melton, Cheryl Starr, Jenny Brazie, Sarah and Johan Limbourg, Steffen Estrada, Karin Gannin and Sara Parsons for helping make this event a success!  

We are continually contacted by folks who want to volunteer for WildCat Haven, but 99% of these people only want to work with the animals. When we explain that no one works with the animals other than our staff, we never hear from them again. But the volunteers above who work unselfishly for the wildcats, know that the real volunteer  work is educating the public about our mission and helping raise funds to keep WildCat Haven going. These are the true volunteers and we couldn't do what we do without them. Tigers chuffs and cougar kisses to you all :)

As the New Year arrives . . .

we are excited to celebrate our 10 year anniversary of Hope and Compassion! Founded in 2001 it's been a long journey from those first days to now. But through it all, we have never wavered in our commitment to care for these incredible wildcats that should NEVER be bred and sold. Here is a short video of our two newest rescues and I challenge anyone who watches it to not understand why we do what we do :)

                                                                                                    (Mac says Good Morning)

Where did that Serval go?