New Visitor Education Center
August 18, 2017
Turpentine Creek would like to invite you to help us celebrate the next big step in our evolution as a big cat sanctuary. Although our mission is to rescue abused, abandoned, neglected, and unwanted big cats that are victims of the exotic pet trade, our goal is to also educate the public about the exotic pet trade and prevent the suffering of big cats in captivity.
For over 25 years, Turpentine Creek has been rescuing big cats and educating the public about the exotic animal problem that is in the U.S.A. As we’ve grown as a non-profit our facility has grown with us. We started 25 years ago with a small area full of enclosures, a gift shop, and a small dedicated team. We have since grown to a larger facility with large, open spacious habitats for our animals, a vet hospital, and commissary. We are an ever changing and evolving facility, doing what we can to help protect and care for big cats in need.
On October 27, 2017, at 1 pm, we will be celebrating the kickoff of our newest project, a beautiful new Visitor Education Center. This building will provide better opportunities for us to host groups, schools, and more visitors at the refuge. The new Visitor Education Center is planned to have a small gift shop where visitors can get souvenirs, a multipurpose education space, kiosks with big cat facts, and a small restaurant with big windows so visitors can eat and watch some of the animals that call Turpentine Creek home. 
For years, we have done our best to educate the public about the plight of big cats in captivity, but in recent years we have grown to the point that our current gift shop and the facility cannot properly handle the number of people and groups visiting. Because of this, we have drawn up plans for a Visitor Education Center that would allow us to not only accommodate the people visiting, but expand on the educational aspect of our missions.
Please join us for the ‘ground breaking’ of our new Visitor Education Center. This will be our largest project to date and will change Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge forever. With your help, we can change not only exotic animals’ lives but also human lives.
Come celebrate with us on October 27th and stay the following day for our annual Howl-O-Ween event! It is the only night of the year that you can see our big cats at night. It will be an amazing weekend full of fun and fundraising!