January 2015 Update
Happy New Year!
Yes, 2015 is now here. We hope and pray that all our fans and supporters had a safe and wonderful holiday season.
Many of you by now have seen the recent accusations about Yogie and Friends Exotic Cat Sanctuary. Some of you have received emails from certain animal rights groups or even a tweet about us. Let us clear up some issues here for you. For one thing we have never had any plans to move our cats anywhere. We have worked harder than ever to meet the ever increasing demands by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, as well as the USDA APHIS. It appears no matter what we have done for improvements it was never enough. You may have seen photos. What you never saw was the complete picture of our animals and the facility. You were only shown progressive bits and pieces. Photos and stories can be made to look any way a person wants them to if they have a particular goal in mind. Due to the fact that we have pending litigation I cannot address in this venue what I truly want to. I really want to address each accusation for you here, but that is best handled in a court of law. Know this. We have the truth on our side and if you choose to remain standing with us in this fight, then we thank you very much. If you decide to believe the accusations and want to turn away from on us we understand. It’s really hard to fight groups that have a lot of money on their side. Many of you have been to Yogie and Friends in person and even most recently our open house on November 29th, 2014 to show you just how much we have done and how good our animals look. In fact, contact Ninna Lopez, from Ninna’s Road to Rescue, who loved the sanctuary and spent the day with us. Or Animal Welfare, Inc. about just how nice our place is. We had a wonderful open house and people loved us and saw how well our animals looked and lived. As a result of these recent accusations we have received threats to both us and our animals. We have found bullet holes in our new privacy fence and several shell casings on the property. We were receiving threats from “fans” on our Facebook page hoping our animals would kill us and that the USDA would take our animals from us. As a result we decided to unpublish our page and get the authorities involved. We don’t have time to fight an on-line battle with people who are hating on us and especially those who have never once been to the sanctuary, let alone even stepped foot in the United States. As a result of these attacks and threats we had to do the unthinkable. We have, under the complete supervision of our veterinarian and her entire staff, moved our big cats out of state. We are now boarding, and yes still caring and supporting our animals, at a friend’s facility out of Louisiana. He has a space on his 16 acres that he allows for boarding. We now spend more time there visiting the animals. They are safe. Again, this is NOT what we wanted for them, but they are safe. Our volunteers are also safe now. We hope you all understand why we moved them. It was only after people threatened them and us and we found evidence of gunshots. How sad this is for us all.
Yogie and Friends knew that one day our big cats would be gone. But, it would have been through natural attrition and death by old age. We had decided years ago not to take in anymore animals because adding to the habitats they had would just lessen the space for those already in place. We have been doing Trap-Spay/Neuter-Return (TNR) of feral cat colonies in the area. We have been doing this for the past 6 years, but have not been doing so as publicly as we have our big cat program. We have been very successful with TNR and help as many as possible. Our goal has always been when the big cats cross the rainbow bridge that we would modify their habitats to provide sanctuary to domestic/feral cats that may be unadoptable or even provide shelter for those who are adoptable until they could find a forever home. We still plan to do so and are in the position to do so. It has always been a part of our mission under the Domestic Animal Project (DAP). There are not enough cat rescues and we wanted to be one to help in that arena.
We despise the fact that a few have chosen to damage our good name and reputation and forced us to move our big cats safely away from here.
Please do not hate us for doing the right thing to protect our big cats. We are very sad they are not with us. They are safe. They are not where the animal rights group wants, but they are our animals, not theirs. We see our cats often and they respond to us and are happy and healthy. It’s us who are not happy.
Yogie and Friends Exotic Cat Sanctuary is still here. We will drop the “Exotic” from our name, as has been our intention when the big cats lived out their lives with us.
We ask that you who know the truth about how good we are remember that truth. Please don’t believe those who have never seen. You’ve known us for 14 years. Please keep us in your prayers. We truly need and appreciate them. Thanks for being there for us.
Jenny, and the Yogie and Friends Gang!
Posted in Monthly Newsletter
December 2014 Sanctuary Newsletter
Greetings!
Thanks to all fans for making our Big Cat Bash a fun and successful event. We had a great time and this was an opportunity for our visitors to see all the awesome changes we’ve made to the sanctuary. The weather was perfect and so were our fans. Thanks again! Maybe we will try another one around Christmas.
The holiday shopping season is here. There are several ways you can help the big, and little, cats when you shop. We know a lot of you shop on-line and there are many ways you can contribute to the sanctuary when you do. Check out what is available when you shop. Many sites give you the option to donate to your favorite charity. I hope you will consider Yogie and Friends when you do.
Gift Wrapping: We are going to be at Barnes and Noble for gift wrapping on December 21st and again on the 24th. Come by and see us. Volunteers enjoy doing this event every year.
Amazon Smile: If you shop at Amazon, then please select Yogie and Friends as your charity of choice under the Amazon Smile program. Everything helps.
Combined Federal Campaign (CFC): CFC is in full swing right now, so if you are a Military member or Federal Employee we hope you will donate to Yogie and Friends via CFC. This program is easy and another good way to give financial assistance to the big cats. We hope you will please consider Yogie and Friends when making your CFC contribution. Our CFC number is 42427.
Kroger Community Rewards Program: If you haven’t registered your Kroger Plus Card online yet, then you can do so at any time. Once your card is registered you can go to the Community Rewards Program page, select Yogie and Friends as your charity of choice and then link your Kroger Plus Card to the Rewards program. Every time an enrolled participant shops at Kroger using his or her Kroger Plus card, Yogie and Friends will begin accumulating rewards. In addition, once a household member enrolls his or her card, all linked Kroger Plus cards within that household will begin earning funds for Yogie and Friends. That is if you have selected us as your charity of choice and we sure hope you have. Please make sure you register your Kroger Plus Card on line and then link Yogie and Friends as your charity of choice. This only applies to Texas and Louisiana shoppers for us. Thank you in advance. Our charity NPO number is: 80724
Facebook: If you aren’t already following us on our Facebook page, then please go and like on us. We are very active on the page and share lots of photos and videos of the big cats as well as sharing upcoming events and educational information of big cats and domestic pets. Please help us increase our fan page like.
Recycle Ink Cartridges and Cell Phones: Please consider helping us with our recycling program. Please don’t throw those old ink jet/laser jet cartridges in the trash. Give them to us. We recycle them and get cash for the cats. You can box up the cartridges; put a prepaid label on it that we will provide you, and then drop it off at any UPS shipping facility or they can pick it up at your business. If you need labels, then just contact us and we will get some to you.
Upcoming Events:
TBD 11am-4pm Holiday Bake Sale and Fundraiser
Petco, 6596 Youree Drive
Shreveport, LA
21 December 2014 10am – 10pm Volunteer Gift Wrapping
Barnes and Noble
Youree Drive, Shreveport
24 December 2014 10am – Closing Volunteer Gift Wrapping
Barnes and Noble
Youree Drive, Shreveport
Much more to come!
PLEASE spay and neuter your pets. Adopt! Don’t Shop! Also, please continue heartworm prevention all year round and not just in the summer months. Heartworm disease can be transmitted all year.
Tim, Jenny, and the Yogie and Friends Gang!
Posted in Monthly Newsletter
November 2014 Sanctuary Newsletter
Greetings!
Thank you fans for making our Fall Bake Sale another successful one. It’s a lot of fun doing them and we appreciate your continued support of our animals.
Some very cool news. Yogie and Friends will have a vendor booth at the 1st Annual Comic Con to be help at the Bossier Civic Center, Bossier City, Louisiana on February 21st. We are excited to be participating at this first ever event in our area. We can’t wait.
With all the recent fighting to Save Our Sanctuary (SOS) we are now forced to purchase a new diet for our animals. If you can help us with your tax-deductible donation toward this we are paying $2000 a month now for food. This is not an easy thing, but we are doing it. We appreciate our fans for all their help. And remember. Yogie and Friends is NOT out of the woods yet. We will let you all know as news comes along.
Amazon Smile: If you shop at Amazon, then please select Yogie and Friends as your charity of choice under the Amazon Smile program. Everything helps.
Holiday Bake Sale and Fundraiser: December 20th from 11am-4pm at Petco, Youree Drive, Shreveport. These are always a lot of fun. Please share with your friends. We always have some awesome items.
Combined Federal Campaign (CFC): CFC is in full swing right now, so if you are a Military member or Federal Employee we hope you will donate to Yogie and Friends via CFC. This program is easy and another good way to give financial assistance to the big cats. We hope you will please consider Yogie and Friends when making your CFC contribution. Our CFC number is 42427.
Kroger Community Rewards Program: If you haven’t registered your Kroger Plus Card online yet, then you can do so at any time. Once your card is registered you can go to the Community Rewards Program page, select Yogie and Friends as your charity of choice and then link your Kroger Plus Card to the Rewards program. Every time an enrolled participant shops at Kroger using his or her Kroger Plus card, Yogie and Friends will begin accumulating rewards. In addition, once a household member enrolls his or her card, all linked Kroger Plus cards within that household will begin earning funds for Yogie and Friends. That is if you have selected us as your charity of choice and we sure hope you have. Please make sure you register your Kroger Plus Card on line and then link Yogie and Friends as your charity of choice. This only applies to Texas and Louisiana shoppers for us. Thank you in advance. Our charity NPO number is: 80724
Facebook: If you aren’t already following us on our Facebook page, then please go and like on us. We are very active on the page and share lots of photos and videos of the big cats as well as sharing upcoming events and educational information of big cats and domestic pets. Please help us increase our fan page like.
Recycle Ink Cartridges and Cell Phones: Please consider helping us with our recycling program. Please don’t throw those old ink jet/laser jet cartridges in the trash. Give them to us. We recycle them and get cash for the cats. You can box up the cartridges; put a prepaid label on it that we will provide you, and then drop it off at any UPS shipping facility or they can pick it up at your business. If you need labels, then just contact us and we will get some to you.
Upcoming Events:
November 29th (Saturday) Noon – 5pm Big Cat Bash
At Yogie and Friends
Last Public Visit at the Sanctuary
Pet Education Project and Holley’s Hopping Habitat will be there to educate visitors on animal care.
Concessions with Hot Dogs, nachos, Hot chocolate.
20 December 2014 11am-4pm Holiday Bake Sale and Fundraiser
Petco, 6596 Youree Drive
Shreveport, LA
21 December 2014 10am – 10pm Volunteer Gift Wrapping
Barnes and Noble
Youree Drive, Shreveport
24 December 2014 10am – Closing Volunteer Gift Wrapping
Barnes and Noble
Youree Drive, Shreveport
Much more to come!
PLEASE spay and neuter your pets. Adopt! Don’t Shop! Also, please continue heartworm prevention all year round and not just in the summer months. Heartworm disease can be transmitted all year.
Tim, Jenny, and the Yogie and Friends Gang!
Posted in Monthly Newsletter