Miracles Do Come True

If you have been following this blog from the very beginning, you may recall my association with this sanctuary began in the mid 1990’s when I was still in the military. You may also recall the story on how I first started arranging for military students to assist the sanctuary by performing community service work at its touring property.

Anyhoo, for months I’ve been praying for a way for the military students to return once more. The work performed by the students and their supervisors was amazing and it was during this time, the sanctuary really took off. Some of the students work can still be seen today at the sanctuary. Truly it would be a miracle if the students returned because I simply do not know anyone left at my old squadron, and so I have no one to call for help.

Last Saturday, while checking on the progress of the group of volunteers from a Christian University, I saw a vehicle parked along the fence line. When I approached the vehicle, I noticed a family intently looking at one of the tigers. I asked if they would be interested in coming in for a tour. The couple indicated they took the tour last weekend and they wanted to show their parents a tiger living at the sanctuary. The elderly couple was excited about the sanctuary, asking a lot of questions regarding the animals and our operation. It was during this conversation, I mentioned we had several volunteers working at the sanctuary. The younger gentleman indicated he worked for a large company, with about 100-120 volunteers willing to perform work at the sanctuary, if we were interested, and if we could accommodate such a large group.

My ears perked up when he mentioned this large number of volunteers. It was then I noticed he had a military hair cut, and so I was thinking, can this be? A military organization wanting to come out and help the animals? Not believe my luck, I hesitantly asked; what company do you work for? I could not believe my ears when he said he worked for my old squadron and that he was the squadron commander, looking for places where his students could volunteer, so they could develop their leadership skills! And he wanted to know if we could use the assistance of the students on a monthly or quarterly basis!

Wow! Wow! Wow! My prayers were answered!!! So last night, I received a fantastic email from the wife of the squadron commander (also in the military) wanting details regarding the volunteer project. I am hoping to start the military partnership the middle of next month, and really focus on turning the non-touring property around! We are going to weed eat, put up the perimeter fence, paint, and complete whatever projects needing attention. Truly this is a miracle! Even the Wing Commander and his wife want to tour the facility! This is truly a big break needed to help turn around the sanctuary. I also want to tackle the bear enclosure because the bears deserve so much better.

Thank God miracles do come true! Now I am praying for big money for the sanctuary as the financial situation is dire.

International Fund Animal Welfare (IFAW) was contacted today to see if they could provide a grant to cover some of the debt incurred by the previous directors.

As it was told to me, IFAW at first said, go ahead and send us a letter indicating the amount of money you require. Then as the conversation continued, IFAW allegedly waffled on its previous commitment that "they would never abdondon the XXXX animals" by making comments about perhaps it was time to close the sanctuary. IFAW claimed they were at the end of their calendar year and funds would be hard to come by -- but this apparent is not stopping them from going to Iceland where a volcano is spewing ash and rescue animals caught in this natural disaster!

IFAW, in my opinion, was the enabler that allowed the former directors to swindle money from donors. IFAW never checked up on the "grants" they sent to the directors to ensure that the bears, lions, tigers, etc actually received large natural enclosures. They just blindly handed over money. When I sent them an email, warning them of this dangerous situation, they simply shrugged their shoulders and forked over additional dollars to the former directors. Now that the new director is showing them exactly what the money would be used for and is willing to provide proof of payment, IFAW turns its back on the animals. I was promised by an IFAW representative that IFAW would never turn its back on the animals. If IFAW refuses to help the sanctuary during its time in need, then I was lied to. The new director plans to submit a request of funds letter to IFAW anyway, in hopes of at least securing funds for animal feed.

The IFAW representative confirmed to the new director that the former directors are calling IFAW almost every day to complain about the sanctuary. The IFAW representative warned the new director that they (former directors) are never going to leave the sanctuary alone. In my opinion these criminals (former directors) should be rotting in jail after what they did to the animals and should not be allowed to continually hurt the sanctuary with this type of harassment. I pray that some day there will be justice for the animals. I guess we'll find out soon because the OAG wants to meet with the new sanctuary director next Thursday, April 22, 2010.