Wild At Heart
Aspen the cougar
Photo Credit: TWS
The Wildcat Sanctuary (TWS) does not buy, breed or sell any of their cats. TWS is not open to the public and the cats are not on exhibit. Instead, they live in peace, free from exhibition, exploitation and abuse. They live in a state-of-the-art facility on 40 acres in Sandstone, Minnesota with natural habitats, an on-site hospital and temperature controlled bedrooms for when the weather prevents them from going outdoors. While the cats will never know freedom in the wild, the TWS staff, volunteers and donors do everything they can to make sure they can be wild at heart.
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better”
That is pretty much how TWS was built. Tammy Thies, the founder and executive director, laughs when she thinks back to when she started, and considers herself lucky that she didn’t know what she didn’t know, because if she had, she might just have said, “no thanks.” Tammy is also quick to say that she did not do it by herself. Many people have been a part of building TWS into what it is today, and it takes a lot of people to continue to run this state-of-the-art facility. Even though she is the founder, Tammy makes clear, TWS does not belong to her. It belongs to the cats, donors, and the staff and volunteers who keep it running.
Tammy grew up in the Twin Cities. She had animals growing up, though she cringes now thinking about how she treated them - goldfish on her pillow to sleep and frogs in the Barbie dream house. She also developed a strong drive to accomplish all she could. Her parents divorced when she was young, and Tammy lived with her mom. She learned to keep her head down and work hard, because she didn’t want to cause problems for her mom, who was already working really hard. Tammy also liked the praise she got for doing good work. After graduating college early, she started working in advertising and marketing and was recruited to work for Coca Cola. While at a photo shoot that involved two tiger cubs, Tammy’s life changed forever. She was disturbed by how the trainer was treating the cubs when they got tired and stopped cooperating. Tammy decided to make some phone calls about what she witnessed but learned the problem with wildcats in captivity was much more complicated and there weren’t any laws regulating ownership and treatment.
Tammy started volunteering at what she thought were legitimate wildcat sanctuaries in and around Atlanta but learned quickly these facilities were not about caring for the cats. They were about exploiting and making as much money as they could off of them. The cats were living in horrific conditions and were not receiving the necessary care. Tammy said it was not uncommon for her to show up to volunteer and older big cats that were there the week before would be gone and new cubs in their place. When she asked questions, the owner would hand her a cub and ask her if she would help them by taking it home to bottle feed it as a way to shut her up.
At the time, Tammy thought she could address the problem by educating people about the issue. A turning point came when Tammy’s mom gave her an article about Tippi Hedren’s wildlife sanctuary, Shambala. She called the number and Tippi Hedren answered the phone. Tammy ended up going to Shambala where she was disabused of her education plans and convinced to open a sanctuary because there weren’t enough that actually cared about the animals.
Tammy returned to Atlanta, opened her sanctuary and started doing double duty while continuing to work full time. It was the start of a steep learning curve. Tammy moved back to Minnesota when she got a job with a large advertising agency and brought the sanctuary with her. Tammy recalls the U.S. Fish and Wildlife bringing her a surrendered bobcat while at work, and she set it up in a conference room with a note on the door to not enter. Tammy’s colleagues at the ad agency were understanding and supportive, but eventually she was forced to make a decision, because her work with the sanctuary was blending with her work at the agency. Tammy says being forced to make that choice was a godsend, because she wasn’t going to quit, because her paid employment was funding the sanctuary. But she was burning out.
Never Went Without
Tammy spent the next three years volunteering at TWS and burning through her savings, because there weren’t any donors. TWS also had to find a new home, which was not easy. They ran into a lot of NIMBYism or worse. One person actually told Tammy that a bullet was a lot cheaper than all that she was doing for the cats. TWS finally found its current home and those early days were full of hard work, a lot of learning and a lot of sacrifice. But the cats always got the best care that they knew how to give and never went without.
Prada the lion cub. Learn about her and three other cub’s rescue from Ukraine during the war, and their journey to TWS.
Photo credit: TWS
Things are so much better for rescuing and caring for wildcats than when Tammy started. At that time, there were only a patchwork of laws on the books and things varied from state to state. Also, the legitimate wildcat sanctuaries that did exist, didn’t really talk to each other or help each other out when it came to rescuing cats. Today, the federal Big Cat Public Safety Act was recently signed into law, which makes it illegal to keep a big cat as a pet and shuts down cub petting operations. TWS is a member of the Big Cat Sanctuary Alliance (Alliance), which exists to bring an end to private ownership and the commercial exploitation of wildcats in captivity in the United States. Members of the Alliance work together to make sure rescued wildcats are provided excellent care and advocate for policies that support their missions. TWS also is accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, which “helps sanctuaries help animals.”
TWS has also improved how they care for their cats. They have strict no-touch protocols, which means the staff caring for the cats only touch them on an absolutely necessary basis. This is to prioritize the safety of the staff and cats and minimize the risk that staff will start thinking of the cats as pets as a result of petting and cuddling. TWS has evolved into a teaching facility. Being in a rural location, a lot of younger staff working with the cats, only stay for a year or two. When they do move on to opportunities with other sanctuaries and zoos, they take with them what they learned at TWS to improve the field of wildcat rescue and care.
While TWS isn’t open to the public, through their website and social media accounts they offer a “slice of life” to tell the story of the cats living there and have developed a large following. Transparency is key to their work, and it has helped them develop a large and committed group of donors from all over the world. It is the donations from individuals that have helped TWS build the capacity to continue to thrive long after Tammy leaves.
Have you Ever Met You?
Friends and family are an important and constant source of support. Tammy once asked a friend and former colleague from Coca Cola, who has supported TWS since the very beginning, why she’s been so supportive and generous. The friend responded, “Have you ever met you?” A local journalist who thought Tammy was one of the “bad guys” and planned to expose her and TWS came to realize the good work that was being done and became a friend, TWS board member and just retired last year as board chair. Tammy’s mom has been a big supporter from the start doing everything from providing more financial support than Tammy can calculate to helping to stuff and seal fundraising letters. Tammy’s dad was slower to get onboard, but he is now a champion for TWS. Tammy’s husband, who was her boyfriend in the early days of TWS, used to volunteer with the organization. While he doesn’t work at TWS, he whole-heartedly supports Tammy’s life mission.
TWS’s vision is to help create a world where animal sanctuaries are no longer necessary. It is a work in progress. Tammy sees a lot of surrenders ahead as a result of the big cat federal legislation, which is a good thing. But there is still a small exotic cat problem. While their vision will not be realized in her lifetime, she is hopeful that with greater awareness of the problem, there will be greater compassion and care for wildcats living in captivity.
To Learn More
Please visit The Wildcat Sanctuary website to meet the cats, learn more about its history, work and how you can help. You can also visit the Wildcat Sanctuary store to buy some cool merchandise with all proceeds going to TWS. And of course, you can make a tax deductible gift.
