Animal sanctuaries have been created to help nontraditional animals that have been abandoned. Every year, thousands of animals of every variety are abandoned. Some are wild animals such as big cats, wolves or wolf-dog hybrids, whose owners discover -- after the novelty has worn off -- that they cannot care for them. Some are primates, such as chimpanzees, who have been used as laboratory animals and have outlived their usefulness to researchers. Others are farm animals unwisely kept as pets and then abandoned when their owners find it impractical to care for them. Still others are circus animals no longer able to perform or entertain. In many cases -- such as dogs bred for fighting -- they have been terribly abused.

Fortunately, in recent years, the plight of such animals has received increased attention. Many fortunate animals have found a safe harbor where they can be permanently cared for by dedicated animal professionals and volunteers, free of neglect or abuse. Simply put, they have found sanctuary.

The sanctuary movement grows

Numerous animal sanctuaries nationwide exist for the sole purpose of providing a haven where nondomestic animals can live out their lives in safety and dignity. While such sanctuaries have existed for quite some time, their numbers have burgeoned in recent years.

Some, like the 1,300 acre Black Beauty Ranch in Texas, are quite large, with significant land holdings where a wide variety of animals such as elephants, bears, horses, and chimpanzees can live in semi-natural surroundings. Others, like Lucky Parrot Sanctuary in Naples, Fla., Service Horse Rescue in Chico, Calif., or Longhopes Donkey Shelter in Bennett, Colo., are specialized facilities, dedicated to the care of a particular type of animal.

The American Sanctuary Association

If you are interested in getting involved in the sanctuary movement, whether as a volunteer, fundraiser, or donor, it is important to be able to identify those organizations that are truly devoted to the compassionate care of animals, as opposed to those that use the name “sanctuary” or “shelter” but are in reality commercial operations that breed animals for sale or operate other for-profit facilities.

Fortunately, this task is made easier by the work of the American Sanctuary Association (ASA), a nonprofit organization founded in 1998 by a dedicated group of people committed to providing a new life for a wide variety of abandoned and abused animals not suited for adoption.

Maintaining high standards

The ASA provides accreditation for those animal sanctuaries that meet its stringent standards. (For a downloadable list of ASA-accredited sanctuaries by species, click here.) These include an absolute prohibition against buying, selling, trading, or auctioning animals or any other type of commercial activity. Member sanctuaries -- which now total 35 -- must also submit to on-site inspections to ensure humane treatment of all animals. All are required to maintain their federal tax-exempt status as charitable organizations, and to obtain and maintain all required city, state and local permits and licenses.

Tippi Hedren: Star power for the sanctuary cause

Among the founders of the ASA is the actress Tippi Hedren -- best known for her role in Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds” -- who serves as the president of the organization’s board of directors. In addition, she is the founder and president of the Roar Foundation, which maintains the Shambala Preserve, a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation that provides sanctuary for approximately 70 big cats on its 80-acre site at the edge of the Mojave Desert, forty miles northeast of Los Angeles. Many of the cats are orphaned or cast-offs from circuses, zoos, and private owners unable to care for them.

In a recent interview with WebVet, Hedren attributed her interest in the sanctuary movement to her film work on the movie “Roar,” during which she worked closely -- sometimes dangerously so -- with lions and other big cats.

Hedren was instrumental in the passage of the Captive Wildlife Safety Act, a federal law that she co-authored and for which she lobbied strongly. Under the Act, which was passed in 2003 and became effective in 2007, the import, export, interstate sale or purchase, and transport of "big cats" across state lines are prohibited.

She has also co-authored a bill with Congressman Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) that will be introduced at the beginning of the next Congressional session, titled the “Federal Ban on the Breeding of the Exotic Felines for Personal Possession Act.” If passed, this legislation will prohibit the breeding of cats other than domestic cats.

Public support + awareness = prevention

Asked what she would most like the animal-loving public to be aware of regarding animal sanctuaries and their work, Hedren answered succinctly: “There is absolutely nothing that we can give wild animals in captivity that they need.”

Abandoned wild and exotic animals account for a substantial percentage of sanctuary animals. Add to that the ill-considered purchase of high-maintenance, long-lived exotic birds and the abandonment of “cute” farm animals that have worn out their welcome, and much of the sanctuary population is accounted for. As Hedren’s colleague, ASA director Vernon Weir, put it: “Sanctuaries would like nothing more than to be put out of business.”

In the meantime, though, support the work of the sanctuary movement with your contributions, if possible, or with your time. It is the least we can do for our forgotten and abandoned animal friends.

Reviewed by Susan E. Aiello, DVM, ELS, and John A. Bukowski, DVM, MPH, PhD

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