SAFE HAVEN RESCUE ZOO

**Safe Haven's 5th annual event will be held May 19th 2012 at the Winnemucca Convention Center! This evening includes dinner, live entertainment, auctions, and much more! Call 775-538-7093 or email safehavenwildlife1@yahoo.com for more information and to purchase tickets! Come enjoy a great night and support a great cause!**

Any of the above animals can also be sponsored for a whole year. Sponsorship includes a photo page of your animal, a certificate of sponsorship, an introductory letter, as well as updates during your sponsorship period.

• Mojave Moe-$25
• Cheyenne- $30
• Juno-$35
• Coyotes-$40 each
• Jasper/bobcats- $50 each
• Kiki- $60
• Cougars- $75 each
• Tigers- $200 each
• Lions- $250 each

If you would like to meet our residents in person, tours may be scheduled by calling 775-538-7093 or emailing safehavenwildlife1@yahoo.com to make an appointment. Each tour is guided by one of our staff members, and will explain in detail the story of each of our residents, including that of our most recent cougar rescue, Max. His story is below:

Unfortunately, this story is all too common: Rescuers were summoned this summer in the nick of time to a dingy barn housing dozens of exotic cats. Although conditions in the barn had always been deplorable, the situation worsened when the owner was diagnosed with cancer. Close quarters within the barn had resulted in cats injuring and even killing each other. At least one long dead corpse was removed from below layer upon layer of filthy straw. Food had been provided only sporadically, often in plastic grocery bags which were also consumed by the starving cats. Many went without water. Exotic cats are difficult to care for and most people do not have the knowledge or resources to do so properly. When an emergency occurs such as owner illness or death, these captive animals are often left in dire straits. Working with our sister sanctuaries to place these brave survivors, Safe Haven was privileged to meet Max.

Each Safe Haven family member is unique … Each has a story to tell…

Max’s Story:

The feel of the sun on my face, the earth beneath my paws, the tall grass swaying along my flanks – These are the simple pleasures I never knew I was missing! The first ten years of my life were spent in a cramped and filthy 12 x 12 stall in a privately owned barn warehousing many other exotic cats just like myself. For ten long years I could catch only a glimpse of the outside world, a hint of a fresh breeze, sometimes, through our single grimy window. Although a cougar can live twenty years or more, I had no expectation of that as I watched my fellow inmates languish and sometimes die. Dirty water, not enough food, no veterinary care: it took its toll on us. Sometimes we even lashed out at each other. If I stood on my hind legs to look out the window, I risked injury from my neighbor, a much larger and stronger African lion. Each lonely day passed like all the others – I paced my cramped quarters, I worried about my neighbors, I faced the high stall walls surrounding me and I wondered if there would be food today.

But I am one of the lucky ones, one of the survivors. Rescue came in time and now my life here at Safe Haven is beyond anything I could have imagined! I have room to run and play, to chase my own boomer ball at top speed, to pounce from hiding and scare my laughing caregivers, to dance through the grass and bask in the warmth of a sun so bright I have to squint my eyes. I have a healthy diet and endless fresh drinking water. I can rest well in the clean straw of my protected den – no more nightmares of the long arm of the lion next door reaching out towards me while I sleep! Oh, I still have lions for neighbors, but it is not at all the same. A safe and secure distance away, Kovu and Ifaw are interesting neighbors to watch and listen to. The sights and smells and sounds of Safe Haven, my new family of lions, tigers, servals, coyotes, foxes, bobcats, lynxes, and yes, even another cougar or two, are becoming comforting and familiar. We trade our stories quietly at night, a low trill exchanged between enclosures, a roar at past indignities, a growl at remembered hardship, the peaceful purr of thanks. We all remember and we are all grateful for a Safe Haven future full of joy and happiness.

Keep Max's story in mind and remember that wild animals do not make good pets! Please donate to give other animals like Max a fighting chance at survival!