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
nice cat pics.. I love animals
Location and contact information please! Oh my.
chute
My eyes welled up with tears when I started reading about this place, not sad tears, but happy when I read about this wonderful place! I recently adopted an older, “socially damaged” cat from the local pound. I didn’t quite realize this, until I got her home…I came to my own conclusion she had been physically and mentally abused… :( It was then I realized she wasn’t an evil cat, but only a victim of her surroundings…Every cat deserves to have a home; special needs, whether physical and/or emotional. So when I came across this remarkable and special place for cats, it really struck an emotional chord within me!!! I can only hope with more emphasis on such a place like this, that more will be built. God Bless this place, and the loving Guardian Angels who keep it going!!!
Awww. So wonderful. Meagan, you are an an angel too for you sanctuary.
Could you email me location, so I can visit and/or donate. thanks.
i’d love to donate to your cause. how might i be able to do that? thank you for taking in all these cats – what a wonderful thing to do!!!
hey! can you e-mail the location? It’s probably too far from my house to visit but I would love to go by there one day. I want a cat so bad but my parents are allergic! If it’s close by I can even volunteer there! Thank you so much! (e-mail edited out)
Sent e-mails to those who wish to donate or perhaps visit :) thank you!
@Kate I did not take in these cats ^^; It’s by an organization of cat lovers in our area ^^/
You re so cool. Give me an email and I will send you a donation by pay pal.
I would LOVE to make a donation to this place, and possibly even adopt a kitty. Please email me the contact info.
Thanks!
That is unspeakably awesome! i’d like to know where that is / how to visit/donate as well if at all possible!
Could I possibly get the location as well?
shoot i need one of these i have 21 cats
please e-mail me the address of this place and any way to contact them, i would love to look into being a volunteer or if it is too far away, at least donate! thank you so much!
hey, that’s MY cat there !! Where is it ?
I have avoided tings about cats for a long while, too emotional. This reminded me of you Sam. I miss you so much.
x
Ach! Lovely place! We certainly need more of places like this. What state’s it in? Probably the midwest [>.<] but I’d like to volunteer there if at all possible it seems a lovely place! Does it have a website or anything like that? Oh it’s just so lovely!
That is incredible. It’s…truly a sanctuary that should be available in every major city. An unrealistic dream, but it would certainly get homeless animals off the streets. Where can I find this place?
I want to live there :3
This is a delightful article. It is my privilege to volunteer at a similar, but smaller, no-kill facility, in Upstate New York. My job is to “socialize” cats and kittens, helping them become ready for adoption. We have about 100 cats, but the problem is, I want to adopt all of them. Anyway, a response with a mailing address, where a donation could be sent, would be appreciated. Thanks again for a great article.
Can you please email me the address of this haven? Is there a website? ^^
I had a cat, Buddy, when I was growing up who also had that ear deformity (I’m not sure if it was caused by earmites, but he did have blood vessels that wouldn’t function properly). Although, as a small child, I just saw him as a kitty with one crinkly ear. I loved him even more for it. :-)
Great post!
Yet again, e-mails sent to those who wishes to make a donation or see if they can volunteer :) I greatly urge those who are interest in helping out like this do a search for a no kill shelter in your area! Thanks again everyone who cared!
I understand the approach towards keeping this shelter’s location semi secret. However, I would feel blessed if I had the ability to help in some way, does this shelter have a website? If not, it would be my pleasure to help create an online location that would be capable of taking donations & provide adoption assistance. I would enjoy digitizing the cats in an adoption database.. And, I would like to bet that the amount of people willing to help far outweighs the few that are looking for a place to “dump” their cats.
@Eddie Starr you got mail ^^;
It looks like a nice clean well taken care of shelter. We have 3 cats, all shelter cats, one of them has a crumpled ear like the cat near the end of the page. Shumba also had a bad ear mite infection that left his ear very disfigured. We have to treat it with ointment & special mixture of solution for the rest of his life to keep his ear canal from closing up completely.
As Im sitting hear reading and looking at all the pics, both of my cats are sitting and looking with me. I think they may be jelous just slightly :D Email me the contact info and Ill see about donating if I cant volunteer!
A wonderful facility. I worry about stray cats. I’ve taken in 2 but thats the limit I can handle. My mother catches cats that wander around her neighborhood unattended and gets them neutered/spayed.
People think they’re cute as kittens but toss them when the grow up.
Do they have a site to donate funds?
This is amazing! This is exactly what I want to do someday. The people that run this shelter are angels. Could I perhaps have contact info/location of the shelter? I would love to visit it sometime, somehow.
OMG! That’s amazing! That’s a brilliant space for cats!
Our nearest cat shelter is full and can’t take anymore cats at the moment – which is very sad.
I’ve got three cats already and can’t have anymore!
Wowzers! It’s a cat lover’s haven! As so many others have said, I would love to have contact info for this place so I can donate money and/or volunteer my time.
I, too, would love to know the location and website (if there is one) so I can make a donation. I just adopted a cat with adaptive problems and she is coming along nicely.
What a wonderful haven …
Virginia
What a wonderful facility! I too would like to know where this is :(
I would love to donate and visit this place! Do they do internships at all for like over the summer? I would love to come and see this place in real life! Is it possible to get the contact info/location? I would love to give them a call and see how and if they would let me come visit!
I just finished enclosing my covered patio with netting and putting in a cat door. My kitty’s have free reign from about 6 am till 10pm. I have a bird bath and bird feeder very close by for entertainment. They also have in the den a aquarium and a hamster 20 gallon aquarium with a top so they sit and watch for hours. My daughter begged and begged to bring a kitten to my home from her mothers. I said we would give it a 1 week trail period. She has slept in my bed since day one and wakes me every morning by running across my chest at exactly 5:30 . We also rescued a kitty that has only 3 legs but can do almost everything the others do. I never dreamed of caring so much for a cat in my life but they have brought me nothing but joy. I am a amputee on disability since bringing the kitty’s into my life I am much happier and fulfilled.
Can you email me the name, location, address, website, etc.? I would love to make a donation!
OMG~a WONDERFUL place for kittys to find acceptance and peace and more peace. It is lovely and our world is a better place because it exists in it.
What sweeties they are, with very beautiful eyes, thank you for this post. Hopefully more people will have compassion, thank you!
What a great place! My mom volunteers are a no-kill cat shelter with approx. 20-30 cats at any time. Over 800 cats is amazing. If you have the time, please email me the contact info for the shelter. I’d love to check it out! Great post!
wonderful idea, more power to them but how can anybody donate to this? I appreciate you not wanting to divulge the whereabouts but this also prevents people donating… I love the idea of 800 cats just living their lives, accepted for themselves, with time and space to be themselves. How do these guys manage to keep this place going? Wish them love and luck.
How wonderful to know that there are so many caring cat lovers that are prepared to look afterwaifs and strays. Keep up the good work.
I just love the kitties! Can you email me with info on where to donate or adopt?
What a great place! We need more places like this! Thanks for sharing.
*Update: I have e-mailed information to those who requested so they can donate or find out if the shelter is in their area :)
Thanks everyone who commented warmly on this subject!
May I get some information on this sanctuary as well? I would like to donate as well. Good work!
I’d love the info on where to donate as well. Thanks for covering this…I loved the pictures and it makes me happy to know these kitties have a place to peacefully live out their last years…
this is my dream come true…i’ve always said if i ever won the lottery i would create a no-kill shelter just for cats!
can you email me the email or info to send them a pay pal donation?? thanks!
Please send me some info on this place, I have two rescue kittys my self. would gladly take in more if I had the room,unfortunately I don’t but I can and would gladly send donations to help them out with this cause. It is wonderful to know there are still good people out there taking care of the animals others have forgotten or just don’t want. Good luck to them and blessings. Please send me some info so I can send a donation.
I just love this place! I would just love to volunteer at a cat shelter but refuse to take part in any kill shelters.
I love my cats and if I ever hit the lottery….we will have a no kill shelter in my city!
If I am not too late, could you email me a list to see if there is one in my area that I am not aware of. Western NY Rochester area