What Animals To Accommodate
When I started planning for Bear Den Sanctuary, I faced the task of determining the animals I’d accommodate and the space required. While this may seem obvious, I realize its significance three years later. For instance, I found that donkeys and Grand Pyrenees dogs serve as excellent protectors against potential predators. So, the question became, what space would suffice for housing cats, donkeys and dogs?
Budget
With just about any budget, you can be creative in making a Sanctuary for animals. For smaller spaces, you can turn a room in your house or apartment into a mini cat Sanctuary.
Enclosures
Countless online resources provide ideas for cat towers, cubbies, ramps and play stations to enrich the space. Additionally, attaching a ‘catio’ to your house, accessible via a window or screening in an outdoor porch offer safe areas for rescued cats. Check out the omelet site to get your own.
Below are the structures we have at our sanctuary.
Cat Fencing
Cat-fencing your yard is also an option for feral cats reluctant to be confined indoors. My Sanctuary has a reinforced chain-link fence with chicken wire and cement at the base, which prevents cats from escaping and other creatures from intruding. Solutions like PuurfectFence address cat-climbing challenges, including cat-proof fencing systems with overhanging tops to deter escape attempts. All this to say, using your existing space for a cat sanctuary is entirely feasible.
Best Friends Animal Sanctuary
In conceptualizing Bear Den Sanctuary, I drew inspiration from visiting Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah That place is amazing and I highly recommend a visit for any type of animal sanctuary! They save dogs, cats, horses, pigs, birds, bunnies and other animals.
When I went, I got to volunteer at Cat World and spend the night in one of their onsite cabins. My daughter and I even got to take a cat ‘home’ to our cabin to spend the night! Cat World is incredible. The way they designed each cat house is brilliant.
There are numerous rooms in each house with indoor/outdoor access.
Cats are divided up by age, temperament, allergies and other medical situations.
In the center of each house is a storage area for cat supplies, refrigerators for medicines, washer and dryers and sinks.
Each cat room has pictures and names of each cat on a whiteboard with little descriptions about each cat.
Each room is designed a little differently with areas to climb and jump and play and rest.
Best Friends has an onsite medical clinic where animals go for vaccinations, spaying and neutering and all types of medical care.
They also offer a 3-month course called How to Start a Lifesaving Sanctuary. This is an exceptional resource to help people get started in running their own Sanctuary.
The focus of Bear Den Sanctuary is to provide a forever home for unadoptable and feral cats. I knew I needed to buy some land since feral cats are not going to want to live inside a home or a facility. I decided I would also live on the property to oversee caretaking. Knowing my budget, I set out searching for property that would be suitable to fence, add additional buildings for the cats, a safe area for cats, a place where I could live, close enough to area veterinary offices and my own job in town. Honestly it was a tall order!
Choosing The Right Property
The search for the right property to start the Sanctuary took me 2 years. Ultimately the property I selected was much different than the land I originally envisioned but it was just what I needed!
It’s a little over 3 acres, on a cul-de-sac and close to essential services and my job. It has a small house on it with one large shed that served to house the 8 cats I brought over from my previous home.
Local animal ordinances for my county allow for ‘no limit of animals on property as long as they have sufficient food, water and shelter’; another consideration when selecting land to start an animal Sanctuary. I set about fencing the entire property and gating the front entrance.
Now years later, I have no regrets about buying this property and starting the Sanctuary here. One big change in my thinking is that instead of viewing this property as a one and done Sanctuary, I see it as the first Sanctuary…a prototype for how to successfully start the next Sanctuary and learn from any mistakes I make.
Envisioning the next site, I anticipate a larger property spanning 15-20 acres, with adequate fencing, barns, shelters, and guardian animals like donkeys and dogs. (I have no donkeys on the current property, only one cat-loving dog named Dog). A caretaker will live on the property in either a small home or RV or other suitable living arrangement. While exact details remain unrefined, proactive planning guides my vision.
This journey commenced with a simple idea. I kept believing it and speaking about it until the Sanctuary materialized. Likewise, preparing for the next site requires a daily commitment to visualizing and embracing the fulfillment of my aspirations, echoing the sentiments of Pam Grout’s philosophy in her book E-Squared which says our thoughts create our reality. As I remain steadfast in my vision, I extend the same conviction to yours.
