Want to do this?
I took these pics at a very special Rescue Sanctuary in Victorville that my wife (pictured) and I are board members of. It's not a zoo; it's for caretaking only of rescued cats, so it's open by appointment to invited guests only. And yes, there's a dirt road to get there, so this qualifies as a "Trail Run".
I'm organizing a visit here for Forum members:
Sunday, November 25 between 12 and 4 pm.
Forever Wild is a nonprofit rescue facility that gives a home to these animals, who arrive there in pretty bad shape usually. There are about 21 big cats from Tigers to Bobcats.
Located at a modest private home on the outskirts of Victorville, the couple who run the place take in these cats that nobody else wants. Yes, it's true - cats like these are euthanized daily across the country. Forever Wild is a licensed private facility, one of very few that are certified to provide this kind of care.
This is Kona, an 8 month-old Cougar.
Under the guidance of Fish and Game, Joel and Chemaine give these cats the best care there is until a good, licensed and certified home can be found. They created the Sanctuary about 10 years ago. They're certainly not getting rich either since they pay for it all out of their pocket, and donations.
This is Midnight the Black Leopard.
We can go right up to them and visit. And play with some of the smaller cats like Mountain Lions and Bobcats. And believe me this is enough.
It's good for these cats to have human interaction because they were all raised domestically, and can't go back into the wild.
Here's one of the Bobcats. Fortunately for petting purposes almost all of them are declawed. This is totally illegal to do, but is often one of the reasons they come to the Sanctuary, along with other abuse stories.
Siberian Lynx.
Me and some of the Tigers.
The tigers are an interesting story. Believe it or not it's legal to buy these in many states. When the owner realizes their idiotic mistake, they call up a zoo to take them. Well, zoos require heavy-duty pedigrees with documented breeding. If your animal is not, the zoos will tell you to euthanize it. Reason? They want the bloodlines perfect.
As a result these Tigers are almost all Mutts; there are several different breeds from Bengal to Siberian to Sumatran, etc. - so these individuals are "accidents"!
Scratching these backs, it ain't no Kitty Cat. There is some serious muscle in there. And the size of the paws is bigger than your head, on even the smallest tigers.
Sunday, November 25 between 12 and 4 pm at:
Forever Wild
Joel and Chemaine Almquist
8545 Buttemere Road
Phelan, CA 92371
Forever Wild
Google map from the 15 fwy. When you zoom in on the red pushpin (the destination), you can see the dark brown tiger pens next to the home.
Here's AceTechno's
OC Caravan to Forever Wild thread.
Here's Bobonel's
FOREVER WILD 11-25-07 CARAVAN SIGN UP LIST SAN DIEGO PEEPS AND OTHERS
thread.
The suggested donation is $30. (not mandatory)
Interested List: 118 so far, but plenty of room for you.
12:00 group:
AceTechno
CADavebert
DerKommissar
DesertRat
DominicG
DubbsFJ
Felonious
FJDave
Fjamming
Fjeezee
Gon2srf
Luckystrike
Mattmainster
Mrdvs1
MudLovingFJ
PokerDawg
RicoVerde
RocKrawler
SoCalOcFJ
StHarris
Therelaxer
Tit-Cruiser
Twc13
Underoath
Unknownuserx
Yusuke41
2:00 group: This slot is reccommended because MudLoving and Dominic will have left by then. Also, there is only a 50/50 chance that Thugasaur will show up.
BigDougieDoug
Bigfredhk
Blackcherry
Bobonel
Chatsworth 818
Christianmotox
Dirtchick
Dubsfj
FJC8871
Frogeye
Jeshua
Jdemello
Jwofford
Lucrum
Mir207
RC Tonka
Uphill
Still unassigned (People below; please PM me to get on the 12:00 or 2:00 list):
Aymaestro (3)
Coyotedog(1)
NurseCrickett (1)
Plnfxr320 (4)
StealthFJ (4)
Tubig (1)
Re: For Cali Animal Lovers - very special
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