Help create a world where animal sanctuaries are no longer needed.
Strategic Anchors
Human safety is always first
Treat all staff, donors and supporters as special as our cats
Go above and beyond to make our cats happy – always
Customize care for each resident
Keep our cats at “sanctuary weight”
Be proactive with medical care, husbandry, habitats and enrichment
Compassionate end of life decisions are a gift
Inspire advocates at every touch point
By The Numbers
355 wild cats have been provided sanctuary since 1999
16 formal species (including domestic cat, 17 including domestic dog)
20 wildcat species and hybrid varieties since 1999
205 acres of natural habitats
This is Dimitri's story
Dimitri’s a male Bengal tiger who arrived at the sanctuary in 2016. He was six years old at the time and part of the largest national rescue of big cats to date here in the United States.
Dimitri and his two brothers came from a notorious speed breeding, pay-to-play facility in Colorado. When they were cubs, the general public was offered the opportunity to play with them and take photos with them – for a price. You can read more HERE.
When an agreement was reached for the facility to close, that left nearly 100 wild animals in need of a home. The Wildcat Sanctuary agreed to offer a home to four of those tigers – brothers Dimitri, Griffen, Zeke and their aunt Pandora.
We’d been told Dimitri and his two brothers had lived together. But the cages at that facility were barren, small and so depressing.
When we arrived to pick the four tigers up, we were shocked at the living conditions there. We found rows and rows of barren cages housing tiger groups that weren’t spayed or neutered. If only those who paid for the thrill of petting a baby tiger cub saw the life those cubs would live as they grew too big to pet.
Life at the Sanctuary
What an amazing difference for the ‘Tiger Trio’ (as they were soon nicknamed) when they stepped out of their transport trailer into a huge, free-roaming habitat with so much to enjoy! Perches, platforms to lounge on, new toys, trees, tall grass, boulders, logs to climb and a large pool to splash in.
They spent several years as a trio until Zeke passed. Griffen and Dimitri still enjoy each other’s companionship but also display brotherly love with a few wrestling matches.
The brothers are fairly easy going, though Dimitri and Zeke would tend to roughhouse with each other quite a bit. Like typical siblings, they test each other’s boundaries and push each other’s buttons. Sometimes, they just need a time out to reset.
Dimitri’s the darkest of the threesome and looks a lot like his brother Griffen. But their personalities are very different. Dimitri’s much more rambunctious than Griffen.
As years passed, their splash pool became one of their favorite places to hang out. And each year, we plant more and more trees since these brothers love tree trimming their own special tiger way until the lower branches are stripped!
Sadly, brother Zeke passed in 2023. But Griffen and Dimitri remain very close.
Vet Day
Just like your pets, we provide preventative vet and dental care to all of our residents at the sanctuary. Get a closer look at Dimitri’s onsite vet procedure.
How You Can Help
Rescuing younger wild cats is such an expensive commitment since it means a long lifetime of care. That’s why our sponsorship program is so important. It helps provide the best life possible for those we’re able to rescue.
Would you consider becoming Dimitri’s sponsor parent, or even giving a one time donation toward his care? There are buttons at the top of this page that make it easy to do. And, it makes such a difference for him – thank you!
Witness Protection Cats
You know our over 150 special residents that call the Sanctuary home. But did you know we have other special residents that we aren’t able to share with you yet?
As part of the ‘witness protection program’ for ongoing legal cases, we also provide humane housing for those cats still in limbo in the legal process.
We travel hundreds of miles and sign very restrictive contracts with the government and/or authorities to provide the best we can for a cat or many cats that have been seized.
The contracts we sign mean we could house a ‘witness protection program cat’ for months and even years before the court case is determined. During that time, we aren’t allowed to share photos or their stories with the public.
This means we can’t fundraise for their care, habitat, or ongoing expenses. And in 95% of the cases, we receive no reimbursement or compensation from the courts or authorities.
We’re literally asked to make sure these cats don’t exist to our volunteers, donors, or the public, so as not impede the case.
That breaks my heart! The cats we have in the witness protection program are AMAZING! Just as you love all our residents, I know how much you would love these ‘faceless cats,’ too.
And to those of us here caring for them every day, they aren’t
faceless. We know how unique they are. We know what they’re going through is difficult and we know we can make it better for them, even if it has to be done in silence.
That’s why being a Monthly Pride member means so much! Not only do you support the residents you know, but you also support those that need our help quietly to ensure their safety.
We look forward to the day that we can share each and every one of their stories with you!
Goats are famous for their climbing ability, but most members of the field-dwelling goat community can’t put those skills to use. Cue the goat tower. These strange structures serve no real practical purpose, but they’re funny and make for great photos.
A wise looking goat in his tower. (Getty Images)
The idea dates back to 13th century Portugal, when a winemaker decided goats didn’t belong in a field. To provide his goats with a terrain he thought they would enjoy more, he constructed the world’s first goat tower, and the small building came to define the wine estate.
To this day, the vineyard at Quinta Da Aveleda has a goat tower, and they are proud of their unique little role in history, as well as the way they inspired the others. While only a handful of goat towers have popped up around the world, Francisco Guedes Almeida, heir of the Aveleda winemakers, once encountered one by chance in South Africa, unaware of the direct link to his family home.
A goat tower at Fairview Wines Estate in Paarl, South Africa.
“I was doing my master’s degree in wine and traveling the world when I went to this place in South Africa,” Almeida told UOL. “I immediately called my uncle saying: ‘I’m in a place that feels like home. It has a goat tower like I’ve never seen. I’ve only seen it in Aveleda.’ And my uncle said, ‘You’re in Fairview.’ This producer made goat cheese and when he visited Aveleda in the 1960s he asked for permission to build one on his property. We still have his letter today.”
The tower Almeida encountered was at Fairview Cheese & Wine Farm in Paarl, South Africa. As well as this one and the tower in Quinta da Aveleda, there are two famous goat towers in the United States – the Tower of Baaa in Illinois and the tower at Silky O’Sullivan’s Bar in Memphis. There are also goat towers at Ekeby Farm in Moss, Norway, and the Torre de Cabras at Finca el Rocio near Córdoba, Argentina.
There is also a digital goat tower, found in GoatVille on the Goat Simulator video game. While it might sound like a niche market for a video game, Goat Simulator (similar to goat towers) took the internet by storm and the game sold by the millions.
I wrote about goats in trees in Morocco before Enjoy
