This past weekend we made a trip up to a little slice of heaven...for kitties. Caboodle Ranch is a cat sanctuary in North Florida, started by one man with a dream. Craig lives at the sanctuary and takes care of his feline friends, mostly by himself. He does an amazing job and treats all of the kitties like his babies. It was an overwhelming experience.
When we arrived, Craig was just heading out to grab a bite and he told us to make ourselves at home. Chip had been up twice before, so he took me on a little tour. We were greeted by many residents on our travels and no less than 10 kitties followed us on our walk around the property. There are little kitty houses and shelters and lots of watering spots too. While standing by the old mill, an exuberant fluffy orange kitty climbed up my back and perched. He later accompanied me, on my shoulder, while we brought our 3 new arrivals back to their enclosure. They will stay there for the next 4 weeks, getting acclimated to their new home. Once released they will join the 4 others we've taken up from the colony across from UCF. There are somewhere between 300 - 400 cats on the 30 acre sanctuary, all spayed and neutered of course.
I'm so glad that there are people like Craig in the world. We had been dealing with trapping and relocating a TNR'd colony in a hostile environment and the daily stress of it had taken its toll on me. This trip up to Caboodle Ranch came at a time when I needed it most, though it is Bittersweet. It saddened me to see so many friendly cats at the sanctuary and I fear Craig will get overloaded soon, because he will not turn any cats away. He plans to buy more land and expand the sanctuary and get volunteers out to help, so I hope he can do that. He wants to save them all and sadly we cannot. I would love to see the day in our lifetime when someone has to be on a waiting list to adopt a cat (this is happening in England right now).
I know there are a lot of troubles in this world and far worse tragedies than the state of some stray and feral cats, but this is something I can make a difference with...one cat at a time...or 2 or 4 or more...
Of course now I want my own little sanctuary...The Black Cat Ranch. Plans are in the works! :-)
Hop on over to Caboodle Ranch
2 comments:
What a great place - kitty condos and waterfalls, Oh My!! I'd love to visit it sometime! And I can't wait to hear more about this Black Cat Ranch you speak of. My ears perked right up at the mention of it! ;)
Yes, mine too! You must tell us of these plans that are in the works. Of course, we will share in the adventure and enjoy in seeing kitties have a safe plan to live :)
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