28th Anniversary Celebration Fundraiser A Success
May 6, 2020
On Tuesday, May 5, the supporters of Turpentine Creek came together to celebrate our 28th anniversary. Due to our temporarily closure due to COVID-19 the celebration was moved online, but it was still a wonderful day of like-minded animal lovers getting together to support our Refuge.
Although our official anniversary was May 1, we decided to host our celebration on May 5 due to the pop-up national fundraising day #GivingTuesdayNow – a national day of giving to help support nonprofits during COVID-19. Throughout the day we featured live video, enrichment, games, memory posts, and of course a fun, engaging environment for our supporters to show their support of our mission.
Without your support and donations we could not do what we do daily, nor could we save the lives of survivors of the big cat trade.
Initially, we had set a goal to raise $28,000, but some of our supporters stepped up and offered various matching donation that equaled $23,450! Because of this, we changed our goal to $42,000 the day before our event! Our supporters rallied behind us to not only meet that goal but also surpass it! In total, we raised $50,598 in a single day of giving!
We offered 63 items on our online auction, most of which were items made by our animals such as paw paintings, boomer ball key chains, and spool flowerpots. These unique items were very popular and overall our auction raised $10,637, which is over 20% of our total raised throughout the day!
These donations are a much-needed boost to our finances. With our temporary closure, our income has dropped over 35%. We luckily had some money set back incase of emergencies but that amount is quickly being depleted. We have reduced our expenses to help manage costs but are still running at a deficit.
It costs approximately $140,000 – $150,000 per month to just maintain our most basic expenses such as salaries, utility bills, and buy basic supplies. Luckily, Tyson has donated enough meat for us to provide our basic big cat diets, but we still have to purchase produce for the bears and meat for our animals on special diets. We are also paying for medicine for our animals and the supplements that go on the food.
Thank you to everyone who has been supporting us over the last 28 years. You have helped us with our mission, saved lives, and are helping us create a better future for big cats in need. Hopefully, in the near future laws will be passed and facilities, like ours, will no longer be necessary.
We still need your help, please consider setting up a recurring monthly donation to help us get through our COVID temporary closure at www.tcwr.org/donate
In the face of the abuse and neglect thousands of exotic cats and bears experience around the country, Turpentine Creek acts as a forever home and place of refuge. Currently home to 88 animal residents, most of which have been victims of the exotic pet trade or entertainment industry, we are constantly working to increase public awareness about the plight of big cats in captivity. 
Animal cruelty of all shapes and sizes is heartbreaking and detrimental. Turpentine Creek works alongside other Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS) accredited facilities and animal welfare organizations to put an end to the suffering of exotic animals in captivity. But, most importantly, our mission would not be possible without our supporters and visitors who become advocates for the animals that cannot speak for themselves. Please lend your voice to these animals by reaching out to your Senators and Representatives to let them know you want to end private ownership and animal abuse. The Big Cat Public Safety Act would do this and is just waiting to be voted on. 
Roadside zoos exist all over the country with one motive: money. Many are found along busy roads, meant to be a quick stop for tourists. But, they can also be drive-through safaris, traveling zoos, and petting zoos. They usually give an interactive experience, luring people in with the options to feed animals or engage in hands-on interaction. Sometimes, roadside zoos are disguised as “sanctuaries” or “rescues”. These titles create the illusion that these facilities are rescues, and that by partaking in their activities, you are helping the animals. Animals in these facilities are not rescues but bought from notorious breeders or bred by the facilities themselves.
Roadside zoos often employ people with no education or expertise in the care of animals. Because of the lack of knowledge, the living conditions for the animals tend to be horrifying. To conserve money and space, animal enclosures may be built with no thought of the needs of the species. Oftentimes, animals have no escape from the weather. In some cases, the enclosures are not big enough for them to move or even stand to their full height. Some enclosures may experience crowding, causing stress if not managed properly. Enclosures may not be cleaned on a regular schedule, leading to an excess of feces and rotting food. This becomes a breeding ground for insects and bacteria that spread disease.
Exotic felines have very particular, and expensive, dietary and nutritional needs. Because of the large price tag associated with a proper diet, animals in pseudo-facilities are oftentimes malnourished, developing health issues. They may be overfed, underfed, or not fed on a regular basis at all. If an animal does become ill, there is typically a high mortality rate due to many symptoms of illnesses or diseases not being recognized or being treated improperly. Proper medical care is typically nonexistent due to the lack of knowledge and steep price of veterinary care and medicines. These questionable tactics lead to sick animals suffering for a long period of time before they receive treatment, or even pass away.
Since there are so many of these roadside zoos, how does one differentiate a true facility from a roadside zoo? Sanctuaries are strictly that, a sanctuary, or place of refuge for animals who have been abused or neglected. AZA zoos have a breeding program in place called Species Survival Plans. These plans aid in conservation of animals whose populations are extremely low in the wild. We understand that it can be difficult to know the difference on your own, so Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge has created a 
The popular Netflix series “Tiger King” ended on a bit of a cliffhanger for the animals: what happened to them when Joe Maldonado-Passage (Joe Exotic) went to jail? The series filmed from 2014 to 2020. During that time, Joe continued to breed and sell cubs to buyers. Shortly before he went to jail, he sold his property and animals to Jeff Lowe. He sent some animals to a rescue in Colorado but the rest remained the property with Jeff.
This does not mean that we will rescue from active breeding facilities. It is our policy to not take cubs from places like this. If we rescued cubs directly from breeders who are still “in the business”, we would sadly only be helping them by freeing extra finances and space that they can breed even more cubs. This is truly a double-edged sword; we do not want cubs to live in such dismal places, but ultimately, we would only be causing more suffering and contributing to the Big Cat Trade. On the other hand, if a breeding facility closes, we are able to step in. We have used our resources to shut down and rescue from breeding facilities in the past, such as our 
From the bottom of our hearts, we want to say, “THANK YOU!,” to everyone who supported us on NWA Gives Day last Thursday, April 2! Because of your generous donations, personal fundraisers, and the amount of time you spent sharing our posts and spreading the word, we were able to raise $20,289 for our animal residents! That is even more than you donated last year when things were “normal!” All of your contributions will be supplementing what is typically brought in by visitors while we are closed to the public.
We wanted the day to be focused on thanking you for all the support you have already given us. Because of that, we tried to give you extra live video content and get more creative than ever with our giveaways. We hope you had a blast participating because we had so much fun interacting with you! 
Thank you again for standing with our animal residents in this time of sickness and false kings. Your kindness not only cares for those who call the Refuge home, but also brings insurmountable joy and hope to our team. Thank you for being a light. 
We’ve been looking forward to this day for some time now. Today, April 2, is NWA Gives Day, always known for providing 12 hours of giving from 8 AM – 8 PM. This year, we have set a goal to raise $25,000, but things are going to look pretty different than they have in the past. 
You have shown up for our animal residents during this trying time either monetarily or by sending words of support, sharing our social media posts, and tuning into our videos. Even though the world is…indescribable right now, you are still educating, still advocating, and still thinking about the exotic animals we have rescued. We know many of you are missing us right now; you had plans that have already been postponed, or you have an upcoming visit to the Refuge that you’re unsure you will get to go through with. From 8 AM – 8 PM on Thursday, April 2, we want to give you the chance to feel like you’re right here with us. We want you to forget about your troubles and fears, even just for a moment, and have fun. 
You can also create a personal fundraiser on Facebook. This allows friends and loved ones to donate on your behalf. 
You can give directly through the NWA Gives official website 
Every day, at the end of our workday, our animal care team goes around and talks about their daily pawsitive. They each share one thing that happened during the day that made them smile, laugh, cry tears of joy, or just helped them make a bad day great. Some days this is easy to do, others it can take a little extra effort to find a positive through tears of sorrow, but every single day they share that pawsitive no matter how big or small it might be.
Now, most of the time, our pawsitives revolve around our big cats “Daniel played with the enrichment I made” “Abigail chuffed at me” “Selbit grumbled and rolled over when I said hello” but they can be other things too “Today I got to spend a little extra time talking to my best friend” “My cat Gizmo gave me headbuts when I was feeling a little lonely” “I found a beautiful rock that just sparkled so brightly in the sunshine”. Your pawsitive is your own and can be a range of things that make you happy.
We will continue to bring you fun, engaging, enriching content while we are temporarily closed to the public. We hope that with this, we can make your day a little more fun and positive. Please consider helping us through this financial hardship by donating the cost of admission, $25, so that we can keep providing our animals the best care possible.
For the first time in 28 years, Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge has shut our doors to the public. We will temporarily be closed at least until April 1, where we will reevaluate the situation and make the call whether we will reopen or continue to stay closed for another period of time. This was a very difficult decision for the Refuge to make. We are just coming out of winter, a time where we have few visitors and funds begin to run low. Usually, Spring Break visitors boost our funds to help us make it to the summer, when we have the most business. Over half of our income during March and April comes in through admissions and lodging. To shut our doors risks financial hardship during this time, but a larger risk is allowing visitors to come from all around the country and/or world and potentially expose our team to the Coronavirus (COVID-19).
Our top priority is caring for the 89 animals that call the Refuge home. Above everything else, we are a big cat rescue, that is our number one priority and it has to take precedence over all other things. If one person at the Refuge were to get the virus, the animals’ care would suffer and the entire team would be quarantined since we all interact in close quarters on a daily basis. If everyone were to get sick, who would care for the animals? Much like healthcare workers, we would continue to care for the animals despite our own health issues.
UPDATE: A tiger at the Bronx Zoo has tested positive for COVID-19 and many of the other big cats, including tigers and lions, are showing symptoms as well. We have taken even more precautions to protect our animals and team members from COVID-19 in recent days.
Although we cannot come into your homes and fill it with boxes, scents, and spices, we are going to be offering digital visual enrichment for all of you in the form of extra videos on our social media accounts. This visual ‘enrichment’ should help make your time in quarantine and social isolation a little more engaging and fun. Feel free to join us and enjoy this human enrichment made by our team of enrichment experts.
Together we will weather this storm, and we are lucky enough to have an amazing group of supporters who rally behind us when needed. They have already begun to step up and we know they will continue to support us to the best of their abilities until it is safe to reopen our doors. Thank you for your support, we will be seeing you virtually in the upcoming days and in-person once all of this settles down.