[FEL-L] Sanctuary closing....needs help!!

[Lynn Culver]

> Very sad, but a good case for DO NOT TAKE IN TOO MANY!!! You can never
> count on the donations to keep coming in. Never.  If the money stops 
> coming,
> how long can you get by before this happens?
> ( or is this just a fundraising ploy.....?)
>
> Laura Morin

Not knowing the particulars on this facility, I can't comment other then to 
say, if it is a 501 c 3, it has a board of directors. What are their 
thoughts? Do they agree that closing down the facility is the answer? I 
would like to read an interview with the board members, not just Craig.

Leaving a piece of property full of animal enclosures and no animals? Does 
that make sense? Send the animals somewhere else where new cages will have 
to be built? And then what happens to the assets of the corporation?  They 
have to be given away to another non-profit. Does the corporation own the 
land the cats and bears live on? What exactly is going on here?

Pat may be the executive director running the place, and deciding he needs 
to shut down and get rid of the cats, but considering it has been around 27 
years, and the cages are in place, already housing animals, perhaps a more 
realistic answer is to have the finances and budget overhauled and maybe the 
board of directors needs to remove Pat as executive and find someone else to 
manage the place?

Downsizing might help, outplacing a few of the animals so that theyir income 
matches theri inventory. Maybe some rearranging of the budget, slashing some 
things, etc, might help them make ends meet.

A $15,000 weekly operating budget seems pretty high for 150 animals.
A sanctuary is a business, just like any other. Their income is from public 
donations. Their product is providing homes for cats in need. If they are 
short at the end of the year, then they need to make changes to reduce 
expenses, not shut down.

If this is just a standard fund-raising motivational cry for donations they 
are doing themselves and the sanctuary industry more harm then good.

Lynn