Secret Cat Haven
ETA: On August 13 2009, I recieved an e-mail from one of the volunteers kindly letting me know that it is okay to let people know that it is okay to publish the name (Richmond Animal Protection Society or RAPS) and website (www.rapsociety.com) and to let people know that they are located are in Richmond, BC, Canada.
Quote: “It’s true that we don’t publish our street address or exact location, but if people are truly interested, they will call or email us through our website and be provided that information. Our organization has grown and is now more public because we operate the Richmond city animal shelter as well now.”
The organisation always welcome new volunteers and donations, so please do help spread the word if you know of someone locally who are interested in doing so :D
I apologise for the lack of activities here in a while, had just been really busy trying to get the two furry kids to settle down, you don’t want to know the details of what we were doing this morning at 5am ish lol… Let’s just say it involves some… samples the husband had to bring to the vet ^^;
Below is a picture of a secret haven for possibly over 800 kitties.
Interested see some pictures I took from my first visit to this place?
The reason why I am not gonna name or say where this is is because this is not a place for you to dump your cats after you got tired of them! ^^;
It is a no kill shelter mostly for cats who are adult/senior or with conditions which deemed them unadoptable, example cat with health/bowel problems, or social problems etc. Adoption has to be by appointment only and they’re only open for public a few hours on a weekend day.
This kitty has extra toes! He allows visitors to pick him up but will meow when you do so and also when you put him down XD
This place is run by a group of cat loving volunteers and they keep the place running by donations. It has both indoors and outdoors type settings which are enclosed, a laundry area where tons and tons of towels are being washed each day, food and water is always available for the huge population (all spayed/neutered) so it is generally peaceful = no cat fights.
Cats which need to be isolated due to contagious illnesses or if they are new have rather big custom made cages which has their own litter box and other necessities like food, water, basket to sleep in and toys.
Cats are allowed to roam around in the huge enclosed space and many things are built with them in mind, lots of high places where they can climb to and look down at us lowly humans (LOL)
The volunteers actually know most of the cat’s names in there, if not at least a large number of them (over 800 names to remember, imagine that!) We were told while going on a tour with a volunteer that this kitty likes to jump on people’s shoulders lol!.
This kitty has a very curly tail which keeps springing back to it’s curl! And you can see it’s friendly :)
Special patterned kitty under the chair, passerby black kitty wants to be in picture too?
We were told that if we brought treats (we forgot! LOL) the cats will swarm around us ^^;
This kitty looks fiercer in this picture than it really is ^^;
Cats which are unpredictable will have a collar on them as a warning — meaning they may bite or scratch if you tried to pick them up or touch them.
Some cats look very different from the others, take short round guy in the picture below for example, he unfortunately has bowel problems :( he would pee or poo and it’ll just drop off behind him =_=; So he cannot be adopted out, since he would leave his pee or poo around the house unfortunately. He has a sibling who looks more “normal” but also have the same bowel problems, apparently it is a hereditary condition.
White kitty with a black “beard” XD
The cat below is a victim of severe condition of earmites which resulted in him shaking his head so much that blood clot formed in his ears and damaged the cartilage, causing them to become deformed. It enjoyed head scratching and pats like most cats do tho!
I’ll leave you with this cute picture of a cat tail which reminds me of a bamboo shoot ;P
Thanks for sharing this. I would love to visit and possibly donate!
What a beautiful haven for kitties! There are so many people with huge hearts in the world – makes me smile. I do understand why you wouldn’t give out the information on this place, but I think it was on a TV show or the news a while back. Anyway, there are some no-kill shelters around and more all the time because of course, as a result of the recession, people are leaving their animals behind. I wish I could take them all!
Oh my, where is this place?
I would just love to visit and volunteer.
It would be great if you emailed me and told me where this place is. i can be reached here: (e-mail removed)
Thanks loads. =]
(I e-mailed you!)
I love places like this, and wish I were wealthy enough to start my own. Perhaps one day. Thanks for sharing.
What a wonderful place. I feel sorry for the kitties with the bowel problems. I think they could be adopted with diapers!
@pinksnowpeach that’s very nice of you ^^
@Eric Flateyds I hope there’s one in your area!
@amrmo13 If you’re uncomfortable putting your e-mail in, please do a search with google to look for no kill shelters in your area ^^/!
@Cat Lover you’re welcome, you may wish to do a search on the nearest no kill shelter in your area :)
@Cheryl F so sad that animals is given up due to various reasons =_=;/
@Elliot Ray You got mail :)
@C. Frazer good luck! :)
@carole I think the thing is some cats may wiggle out of the diapers and stuff like that and it can get costly if you need to change diapers every single day for the rest of the kitty’s life :O!
Awesome entry – great pictures!
I would also love to volunteer if it’s anywhere near me.
Can you post the general location at least ( Devonshire, Swaziland, Northern California, etc )? Or email me!
This place looks absolutely amazing! Can you email me the information? I’m interested in making a donation, they do a great service. I could never dump my cats either, so no worries about that!
Thanks,
Leah
(e-mailed ya :))
@TWith & mR KitTen Thanks :)
@Kaye I e-mailed you :D thanks again!
@Leah Thank you again!
I would also love to donate! Please email me some contact info!!
Hey, I know this place! When I have the time, I accompany my friend who volunteers here. We bring treats and then hang out and play with all the kitties. And I definitely know the kitty with the bowel problems. He always likes to follow us around, super friendly!
@Rhiannon :) I e-mailed ya :D
@deathbyjava that’s great! :D and i think someone above mentioned that that kitty is most likely a girl ^o^
I love cats! I’ll link to you on my next blog post. :D will that be okay?
@ kilawinguwak sure if you like ^^
Forget volunteering — when can I move in?
@WMDKitty LOL!
This looks like such a great place!
I would love to donate!
If you can will you please email me the info!
Thank you!
@Kelsi just e-mailed you :D!
This is the greatest thing i have ever seen i would love to visit this place and i would def. bring some treats for the kitty’s
p.s. if you would e-mail me info i would love to donate to this foundation
I have oft dreamed of making just such a haven for cats. If you have ANY information on how that one was funded please email me (e-mail edited out). I want to create a safe, healthy non-kill shelter for cats in my area but there is no way I could do it without some kind of funding so I would really like to know more about the shelter pictured above.
This is absolutely wonderful! It made me cry…and whoever the people are who made this beautiful environment happen for these ‘unwanted’ folks..well, I LOVE THEM!
Please email me about this sanctuary, too! Would love to visit there!
This is a great place! People really need to have their pets spayed and neutered because there are too many for us out there already. Bless the volunteers at this place.
Looks like an absolutely beautiful place! Could you email me the information as well? Thanks. :)
than gd for people like you
If you could please e-mail me the information about this place, I would really like to donate funds to the cause! Thank you!
I love kitties!! :D I have 2. I had another sadly I had to put him down last month. I would really like to know where this place is. Could you email some information. I would love to visit it. :D
I love the thought behind helping those less fortunate!
I would like to donate, could you please email me the info :)
Thank you for sharing this secret kitty haven. My husband and I have dreamed of doing a good no-kill shelter, but we don’t have the resources. There was a small one in our little community for awhile, where I volunteered, and adopted 2 beautiful Siamese girls. Unfortunately it was closed. Thoughts about trying to establish another one, but there were too many obstacles re: location, funding, reliable volunteers, etc. Maybe someday in another place we can make it happen. We love kitties, and thank the people who make this very special place happen.
Nice shelter….good job….
Awww WOW that is a beautiful thing…..I commend the person who did this! Awww I would love to visit this place. I love cats, they are the love of my life, I’m so happy that they can go to such a place w/ out being unfairly euthanized.
This is the sort of set up that I wanted to do – on a smaller scale – for older/ problem cats. I contacted a couple of animal charities as I needed them for the funding, but they did not think it would work and were not willing to take it any further. Please let me know where I can send a donation to and if they have regular newsletters etc. I absolutely love it and if I did not need to work, I would be a volunteer there.
Thanks for sharing. This place looks wonderful. My hubby and I are great lovers of cats. We have 7 now and if we had a bigger place I’m sure we’d have even more. The people running this place are awesome and I hope they continue to keep up the excellent work. I especially admire taking in the kitties with problems. We have owned a deaf cat and we currently have a manx who suffers from some incontinence issues so I know it takes lots of extra work and patience to manage these special cats. They need and deserve happy lives and care too though.
Would love to donate. Would you please email me (e-mail edited out) information as to how, paypal account or link. Understand why not listing where located, just want to help, not leave any kitties.
I would love to know where this place is so i could volunteer or donate to it
And i would never be able to throw my kitties out either so i wouldnt be worried about that
I’d be to heartbroken to let them go haha
But i would love to know where it is to possibly go and help or donate please
Thanks for the comments! and e-mails sent to those who requested :)
I would very much like to donate to this place, how might I do that?
Stumbledupon. Would like info to donate. =D Kitties are awesome. Would like to cuddle them all. Loved the pictures. The curly tailed kitty is cute. <3
I run a smaller version of this place we currently have 7 resident cats who will probobly never leave, (but thats ok we love them all) Just like these guys all of ours are either seniors or have behavioral issues. I built a verry simmiler enclosure to the one above off of our bedroom and the cats leave and enter through a cat door I made in the ceiling or we just open the window! They love the trees and the flowers and even have a small pool to putter around in (and yes some of them do on realy hot days)
I just want to thank you very much for sharing the pictures. I love cats , i have three beautiful babies of my own. One of which was rescued from a garbage dumpster, and then i adopted her. So i am thankful for people that love them too and can take care of them like they do in this place. My husband says i would take them all in if he let me and we could afford it! Thank you!!!!
Awww who could get tired of a kitty?? =) I love my kitty to death and, although this place looks very nice and loving, i could never give him up =P I love seeing things like this, people taking care of kitties in need, but its also sad to know that these kitties are unwanted =( i would want them…every single one =)
I would love the information to donate to this place.
I just adore cats. :]
What a wonderful idea for these type of kitties.
special needs. I drove a spec. edu. school bus
for 10 yrs., so tell me about special needs.
Would like to donate to this shelter. can you
forward the info?
God Bless All the Kitty Lovers/Helpers
please tell me where this is!
I have to go there and roll in cats!
I’d really like to know where this place is. have a dream to start my own place like this one day. This is amazing. I’d really like to visit and donate to them. Can you e-mail me the location?
aww thats so cute i have to go there!
The ‘special patterned’ kitty is a Snowshoe – I have one.
I am so happy to see that there is a place like this for kitties that have no home. I would love to be able to send them a donation.
Bless them!
Bet your e-mail fingers are getting sore! If this shelter has a website, please let me know. You may email me about donations. Thanks!