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Where does all her income come from? Donations alone seldom are enough to support large Rescues. Anyone know if she won a lottery or inherited a huge fortune?
Where does all her income come from? Donations alone seldom are enough to support large Rescues. Anyone know if she won a lottery or inherited a huge fortune?
There was an estate bequeathed several years ago that helped them purchase some extra surrounding land and fence it.
From what I can tell, the operation of it does come from donations. The net donations appear to be in the several hundred thousand per year range, perhaps approaching $1 million/year.
Basically, it seems it has become big enough and known enough to be a self-sustaining sheltering organization. They have a handful of paid staff in addition to volunteers. What makes it unusual compared to other shelters is just how many cats are housed there at a time, and how they are housed. What makes it unusual compared to various similar places that don't make it and end up shut down is that they appear to have put in place the right policies and people to keep it running well as a sanctuary and keep the cats in good condition. I mean, let's face it, one or two people, no matter how dedicated, could not alone truly care for 700 cats. This woman knows this and has staff and volunteers in place who know what they are doing. Just look at the partnership they are touting on the front page with Petco, where they are building an adoption center inside a local Petco store. That's a big win-win for both entities.
Looking at the numbers, if accurate, it's a pretty efficient organization. The founding is considered to be 21 years ago. The numbers are supposed to be over 20,000 cats and 6000 dogs saved since then. That's over 1000 animals per year on average. Doing that with a budget that right now might only be a million per year, that's impressive.
I still don't know how they keep track of 700 cats though! It's still a little scary. But with the two decade track record, I think they are doing it. Not like the horror stories we see. If things are going poorly, with animals not doing well, that always seems to get out somehow. There are always people out there who will put the condition of the animals above any notion of protecting someone.
It's nice to hear when it works out. My sister called me one day and asked, "When we were growing up, who did we know who would be most likely to become a cat hoarder?" I had no clue. When she told me, it totally made sense because she was a huge animal lover. My sister had been wondering about this childhood friend and googled her. She found a newspaper article about her arrest for neglect, etc, of a crazy number of animals. She had established a rescue, but apparently became overwhelmed. What I don't understand about these people is how they can't see they're doing more harm than good. If they truly had compassion, they would seek other solutions the very moment they weren't meeting the needs of the animals.
I've wondered about that too. All of us who love animals & have pets enjoying the good feelings/emotions/love that they bring to our lives. I think perhaps these people get so caught up in the 'reward' side of the equation that they become blind to the reality of what they are doing. Hoarding is considered a mental illness, and there is probably not a simple answer as to why people let themselves become overwhelmed with an insane number of animals. It's so sad really, and I always hate hearing those kinds of stories.
[quote]Where does all her income come from? Donations alone seldom are enough to support large Rescues. Anyone know if she won a lottery or inherited a huge fortune?
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The story on tv about her said she came from money. She was a beauty queen and she married into a life of private planes and that lifestyle, but she was unhappy. She has never remarried, and her Sister keeps trying to tell her she can't keep up this crazy cat saving lifestyle, but she says "How could I say no to saving a cat or kitten from dying ?"
God bless her. I know the toll taking care of even 8-10 cats put on me, having to make sure I drove over to my shop every evening to feed them, and the expense of the food and gas to get there. It will actually burn you out after a while, and it also takes a toll on you when some of them never show up again, after coming around for months and years. You wonder if you are really making any difference, but you keep going in the hopes you are.
Seriously, if I ever hit powerball there will be a well staffed no kill shelter in my home town.
Now this woman is a proper "Crazy cat lady". I have a lot of respect for her and what she's done with her animal rescue sanctuary. There are so many people out there who want to help rescue animals but when they do they end up overwhelmed, depressed, and eventually an unintentional animal abuser/neglect.
Now this woman is a proper "Crazy cat lady". I have a lot of respect for her and what she's done with her animal rescue sanctuary. There are so many people out there who want to help rescue animals but when they do they end up overwhelmed, depressed, and eventually an unintentional animal abuser/neglect.
Oh, I agree 100%. It can quickly become overwhelming and get totally out of control. It can consume your life and all your money quickly. The problem is, there are just so many little cats and they keep breeding. Before you know it you are overrun by them.
That is why trapping them and spaying/neutering is so important. You also have to realize you can not save the entire world, you are going to only be able to do what you can do, and take comfort in that.
I'm happy that it's working out, but I would not recommend taking on a task like that. It's a constant struggle that most people are not cut out to do. I have 5 cats and they're enough of a handful, mostly because they want attention all the time, even when I'm swamped in college work. If my big fuzzy boy thinks I'm not paying enough attention to him he sits on the mousepad and stares at me.
Again, I think it's great what she's doing. Don't get me wrong. I couldn't do it.
There was an estate bequeathed several years ago that helped them purchase some extra surrounding land and fence it.
From what I can tell, the operation of it does come from donations. The net donations appear to be in the several hundred thousand per year range, perhaps approaching $1 million/year.....
I looked into it a little further and this seems like the "real thing." She's succeeding where so many others became overwhelmed and failed. If only each state in the US had something like this it would be wonderful.
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Talk about a 'crazy cat lady!' I saw something about her several years ago, she's amazing.
I know the toll taking care of even 8-10 cats put on me, having to make sure I drove over to my shop every evening to feed them, and the expense of the food and gas to get there. It will actually burn you out after a while, and it also takes a toll on you when some of them never show up again, after coming around for months and years. You wonder if you are really making any difference, but you keep going in the hopes you are.
