Did All the WAO Domestic Cats Really Find A New Home?

Since the Cryers, Reiningers, and IFAW have not been truthful about the WAO's past, I have to wonder if this "story" is true or just another "spin feel-good story!"  Were all the cats rehomed?  Or did a few "slip" through the "cracks" and are now fending for themselves.  I guess we'll never really know the truth, now will we?  All I know is that Cryer reported to the Texas OAG in October of this year that there were 24 cats living at the Talley Road property.  

The day when I can finally release the blogs, telling the world what REALLY happened at the WAO is coming soon.  All those who had a part in the demise of so many animals will finally be exposed.  Until that day, the public will only know the spin stories that come out of various animal organizations, like the International Fund for Animal Welfare...

http://www.ifaw.org/united-states/news/last-ones-out-wild-animal-sanctuary%E2%80%99s-feral-cats-finally-find-new-homes

Last ones out: wild animal sanctuary’s feral cats finally find new homes

By: Gail A Brunzo

Posted Mon, 12/24/2012

 

The Wild Animal Orphanage (WAO) in Northwest San Antonio Texas was forced to close due to a financial crisis.

The sanctuary is empty now.

It reminds us of a ghost town with the empty enclosures, quiet machinery and overgrown pathways. The only sound is birds singing in the trees.

After two long years, almost 400 animals from Texas have been placed in permanent sanctuaries throughout the United States.

A task force comprised of The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), the United States Department of Agriculture, the Texas State Attorney General's Office Charitable Trust Division and eleven other groups, obtained placement for the animals.

It was a massive effort with much success, but there were still some animals left behind.

Shortly after Hurricane Katrina cats started showing up at the sanctuary where caretakers provided them with food and veterinary care.

Finding placement for 18 feral and semi-feral cats who had been “Katrina refugees” proved to be one of the most challenging efforts of all.

Phone call after phone call met with refusals to take on the cats.

All had been spayed or neutered but because they weren’t "lap cats", they weren’t suitable for adoption into new homes.

Time was running out.

Although the actual date turned out to be later, the caretakers’ last day was scheduled to be November 30^th.

They despaired of finding placement for the cats and were broken-hearted at the prospect of leaving them behind.

IFAW’s Animal Rescue Program reached out to anybody who could possibly take on these 18 cats. 

Finally, at the 11^th hour, placement was found and it was perfect!

On November 26^th the Humane Society of Williamson County (HSWC) in Leander, Texas readily agreed to take the cats into their Barn Cat Program and would travel the two hours to come get them.

The Barn Cat Program collaborates with those who have a working barn or safe, heated outbuilding.

Having barn cats help keep down the rodent population. It’s a win-win solution; the cats help the property owner, while the property owner provides the cats with a safe place to live and veterinary care.

And, because these cats are already spayed or neutered, the property owner won't have to worry about litters of kittens. The program is ideal for this situation because these cats are acustomed to outside life and probably wouldn’t be happy in an indoor environment.

WAO caretaker, Michelle said,

“We are happy to report that all of the cats are now at the Humane Society of Williamson County!  We spent the weekend of December 1st and 2nd trapping. Amazingly, we managed to capture 15 of the 18 cats, using various methods.

My favorite, by far, was an idea that (fellow WAO caretaker) Mary came up with when one of the traps wasn't tripping, due to damage done to it, earlier, by some of the monkeys.  Mary decided to go `old school’--think of a cardboard box, a stick, and a carrot.  The funny thing is that this trap was the most successful!

After capturing the cats, we put them in one of the chimp buildings for safe-keeping. Gina Benner from HSWC came down on the 3rd to pick them up.  Luckily, she is a ninja-master with the net. They were loaded into `feral cat boxes’, which the Humane Society uses in order to provide a safe spot for the cats to hide in.  The boxes are actually very clever and it was amazing how quickly the cats calmed, once they were placed inside.

We still had three cats remaining at the sanctuary.  Mary and I earned our badges in patience with this lot.  Eventually, we trapped each of them up and put them in collapsible crates in the office.  On December 11th, we drove the cats up to Leander and dropped them off.  Mission accomplished! Thank you so much for helping us out with this.  It is such a relief that everyone found a home!”

HSWC is in the process of testing the cats for diseases, micro-chipping them and updating their vaccinations.

IFAW provided the Humane Society with a grant to help with transportation costs and veterinary care.

HSWC has already had interest in the cats, but plan on really starting to offer them up for adoption starting in January.

Now all the animals at WAO have been placed and we can be satisfied with a job well done.

-GB 

May God Bless Stu in Heaven Forever...

I found this posting on Facebook this morning...

Save The Chimps, Inc. shared a link.

12.21.2012 at 6:45am

 

Save the Chimps Bids a Sad Farewell to Two Beloved Elders

Save the Chimps would like to pay tribute to two of our beloved senior citizens who have passed away in recent months, Stu and Thelma. Both of these incredible chimps endured years ...of unimaginable hardships but thankfully found a  peaceful retirement at Save the Chimps.
We are honored to have known and loved them, and their absence is deeply felt by all.

  http://www.savethechimps.org/stu-and-thelma

My name is Stu

Birthday: 1949 or 1962

Family: Island 11

Mother: Unknown

Father: Unknown

Siblings: Unknown

Stu’s records indicate that he was born sometime between 1949 and 1962, so he may have been as old as 63 or as young as 50.Stu was probably captured somewhere in Africa when he was an infant, and was brought to the United States where he first went to a CDC laboratory in Phoenix, and then ended up at Holloman Air Force Base. It’s possible he was an experimental subject in the early days of space research. In 1967, Stu was transferred to a lab known as LEMSIP, where he lived for the next three decades in a cage no larger than 5’x5’x7’ high, suspended off the ground like a birdcage. For nearly thirty years, Stu never went outdoors, never saw the sun or sky, and never set foot on solid ground. In 1996, LEMSIP closed, and Stu was transferred to New Iberia Primate Research Center, where he lived for four years before being transferred to the Wild Animal Orphanage in San Antonio, TX.

WAO went bankrupt in 2010, and Save the Chimps rescued Stu and three other elderly companions—Mona, Ursula, and Andrea—in 2011. Stu became a member of Doug’s Group, and found friendship with many chimpanzees, including Garfield, Rebel, Emily, Tanya, and others. On one memorable occasion, Stu’s caregivers discovered Stu sitting on Rebel’s back while holding onto a beam over his head. Rebel was bouncing up and down, shaking Stu as he hung onto the bar. Stu laughed and laughed, and their silly antics went on for at least 20 minutes. He may have been an old man, but he was young at heart.

 

Stu spent a happy year on his island home, where he relished the wide open spaces of the outdoors. He endeared himself to his caregivers who fell in love with his spunky spirit. He was pampered and fussed over until his final moments. He passed away due to complications related to respiratory and cardiac disease, surrounded by those who loved him.

 

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May God Bless Stu in Heaven Forever..

 

.I'm just so grateful he died at Save the Chimp and NOT at the WAO.  Knowing that he had a least one year of freedom on an island away from the WAO makes his passing a little easier.  May Stu run wild and free forever...

Born Free Still Refuses to Tell the Truth About the WAO Monks!

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/12/prweb10198780.htm

More than 100 Animals Settling in at their New Home at the Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary Following Its Largest Transfer of Macaques in History

Animals find a happy ending after a lifetime of suffering

.

 .Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary

Washington, D.C., December 4, 2012 (PRWEB) December 04, 2012

The happy ending of a two year saga for 107 macaques and one baboon is finally here. In September, the last group of primates was successfully transported from their former home at the now-closed Wild Animal Orphanage (WAO) in San Antonio, Texas to their new home at the 186 acre Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary in Dilley Texas. Now, as the year comes to an end, Born Free USA reports that the animals are finally all adjusting and settling into their spacious digs – the place they will call home for the rest of their lives.   

According to Tim Ajax, Director of the Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary, "It has been two months since the last group in the transfer arrived, and everyone has settled into their routine. Now cared for in large, open air enclosures the monkeys have made good use of the natural habitat and spend a good portion of each day climbing trees, exploring the ground for insects and tasty new plant shoots, and simply swaying with the treetops in the breeze. Some of these are behaviors they have never had a chance to engage in prior to coming here.”

Ajax adds, “Our new 42 stump-tailed macaque residents have all suffered for years from an allergy condition that caused hair loss and itching and we can see now that it was likely something in the environment at their previous residence since their coats are filling in nicely and there is a healthy sheen to them that was absent before. To see the social, psychological and physical health of these animals turn around, is truly amazing and uplifting.”

Among the 107 animals who arrived, are three babies. All are all doing wonderfully, reports Ajax. “The babies now have room to escape mom's protective clutches to do some safe roaming and appease their innate drive to explore, which is common to all species of primates.”

One of the groups of macaques with a baby is the rhesus group comprised of four males and eight females, including the infant named Reagan. Since they are a cohesive group and very protective of Reagan Ajax and his staff decided to try Chongo, a two year old ex-pet male rhesus, with them to see if he could start learning some monkey social skills, which unfortunately he had never had the chance to learn before. “We set him up in his own area and despite being very human-centered due to having been someone’s ‘pet,’ Chongo is now slowly making progress under the guidance from the adult monkeys. Several females visit him and quietly sit near him to provide reassurance. Transitioning from a confused ‘pet’ to a well-adjusted monkey can be a challenge but the experienced rhesus group is making it much easier for him.”

Adam Roberts, Executive Vice President of Born Free USA, says, “Challenges remain and we need ongoing financial support to provide the very best for them – and the over 500 other residents at the sanctuary -- for the next 20 years. We are thrilled with how readily the residents from the massive move have adapted to their new natural habitat and larger space. It has been an incredible rescue."

It all started on August 31, 2010, when Wild Animal Orphanage (WAO) announced the decision to dissolve its sanctuary “due to overpopulation, underfunding and inadequate housing for the animals.” According to the WAO board, they were in a “do or die situation” and they had to find placement for over 100 macaques, 55 tigers, 14 African lions, 16 chimpanzees, six wolf hybrids, and 20 baboons. Sanctuaries were found for all of these animals, in part through the leadership of the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS), of which Born Free USA is a member.

In 2011, Born Free USA worked for months with WAO and the Texas Attorney General to find a way to help these animals. If Born Free USA did not step in, the large group of primates would likely have been euthanized. Since finalizing the details in November 2011, the sanctuary spent eight months building proper facilities and preparing for its new residents.

The move presented many challenges. In addition to the number of macaques involved, there were other highly complicated issues including: their sensitive social groupings -- 12 different animal groupings with troops as small as three and as large as 28; the age range -- from under one year old to some in their 30s; many physical health conditions from cataracts to skin and age-related bone issues; and a multitude of mental health issues many still suffer from as a result of their captivity prior to their life at WAO. [emphasis added]

Roberts adds “Every day wild animals need to be rescued from ‘pet owners,’ laboratories, roadside zoos, and other abusive circumstances, but this time it is about a large sanctuary having to shut down completely -- a place where these animals were already once saved. Wild animals belong in the wild and these scenarios should never exist at all. Sanctuaries are filled to capacity, costly to run, and are the only aid we can give these animals.”

_________________________________________________________

Okay, what's interesting in that Born Free didn't mention how the macaques allegedly "suffered from as a result of the captivity prior to their live at the WAO."  For those of you have been following this blog, you know that many of the macaques came from a far superior home than that of the WAO and they arrived at the facility in excellent condition.  The WAO is the cause of their mental health and physical problems!!

Case in point:  "Now cared for in large, open air enclosures the monkeys have made good use of the natural habitat and spend a good portion of each day climbing trees, exploring the ground for insects and tasty new plant shoots, and simply swaying with the treetops in the breeze. Some of these are behaviors they have never had a chance to engage in prior to coming here.”  Hmmm... at the WAO the monks had large enclosures, bugs and trees.  So what gives? What the monks were missing was physical stimulus and animal care!  The WAO was a prison for the monkeys, not a home, and I wish Born Free and the rest of the apologetic animal sanctuaries out there would tell everyone the truth about the WAO.  Giving cover to this defunct group is a kin to being murder accomplices!  Tell the truth people about how horrible this place was for the animals!  Since the USDA and the Texas OAG turned their backs on the animals that died in vain, it is up to US to seek justice for these animals by telling the truth!

But sadly, money is more important than the truth...and even though the Born Free received a rather large settlement from the WAO, they are still asking for "ongoing financial support to provide the very best for them."  Funny, Born Free never mentioned the settlement monies they received and stand to receive in the future for the macaques long-time care.  Funny and sad.