Tabby's Place

The Tabby's Place Lobby

Tabby's Place is a cat sanctuary situated in Ringoes, New Jersey, United States, opened in 2003.[1] It can house approximately 100 cats, which come primarily from high-volume public shelters where they have been scheduled to be killed.

Origins

The inception of Tabby’s Place began with a stray brown tabby cat. Jonathan Rosenberg, then Chief Technology Officer at CNET, and his wife Sharon adopted this cat and named him "Tabby". The Rosenbergs lost Tabby fifteen years later to untreatable squamous cell carcinoma.[2] In honor of Tabby, Jonathan resigned from his job, cashed in his company stock options and invested more than US$2 million to create a new 501c-3 non-profit corporation called Tabby's Place.[3] The sanctuary's 500th intake was documented in 2007 in the Westchester Times Tribune.[4] Jonathan Rosenberg currently serves as unsalaried full-time executive director and Sharon as volunteer coordinator at Tabby's Place.

Tabby’s Place cats and personnel are frequently seen in YouTube video shorts and the facility and its residents have been included in programming on Animal Planet's series, Cats 101.[5] The Rosenbergs’ work has been recognized by the New Jersey Veterinary Medical Association, which awarded Jonathan the 2005 New Jersey Veterinary Foundation Award,[6] and the Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association awarded Jonathan and Sharon the Shining World Hero Award in 2009.[7]

Most recently, the "SuperCats" of Tabby's Place were collectively nominated by the sanctuary's volunteers and won the New Jersey Veterinary Medical Association's 2011 Animal Hall of Fame Award.[8] This group of cats continues to distinguish and endear themselves in the profound relationships between volunteers and their feline friends, a critical determinant in the NJVMA's choice in representing outstanding human-animal bonds.

History

The sanctuary was established "to provide refuge to cats in hopeless situations".[9] Located in the small New Jersey town of Ringoes, Tabby's Place houses approximately 100 cats from public shelters where they have been scheduled for, what is misrepresented as "euthanasia," but actually means that they are to be killed.[10] Tabby's Place does not restrict the admission of cats on the basis of age or most medical conditions, nor does it limit medical care and attention to cats generally considered to be "unadoptable," and therefore, unsavable, by the standards of most public animal shelters.

Tabby's Place houses many "special needs" cats, adopting a philosophy that even cats with serious health conditions such as diabetes, Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), neurological disabilities, cancer, blindness and paraplegia should be able to live with dignity, to have a loving home, and to be adopted.[9]

Tabby's Place acts as an adoption center, hospital and hospice for cats,[9] and is a gathering place for staff and over 100 people volunteering at the sanctuary. Over the course of Tabby's Place's first seven years, over 900 cats have joined the ranks of Tabby's Place residents. As of late 2010, over 750 Tabby's Place cats have been adopted, approximately 150 have lived out the remainder of their lives at the sanctuary, and 100 await adoption by qualifying families. Families who are unable to adopt are offered the option of sponsoring or "virtually" adopting a cat.

Future

Chronic overpopulation in companion animals and the perpetual inadequacy of existing proper shelter space severely limits what sanctuaries and shelters can accomplish. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) estimates that approximately 3.7 million animals were killed in the nation’s shelters in 2008;[11] however, there are no reliable measurements of how many cats are actually destroyed because shelters are not legally required to provide this information. HSUS' most recent publicized assessment dates back to 1997, which notes that seventy-one percent of cats entering animal shelters are killed, while less than two percent of lost cats having no identification (such as a microchip) that are taken to animal shelters are ever reunited with their owners.

Tabby's Place houses around 100 cats in a single building, but plans the addition of two more buildings to increase care for a total of 500 residents.[12] Tabby's Place also provides annual open houses where pet owners can obtain microchip implants for their pets and learn from exhibitions and mini-classes in animal behavior.

Media coverage

Sonny and Madeline in Suite B

The physical design of the Tabby's Place building and attention to detail has received considerable media coverage. The New Jersey Monthly[12] described the sanctuary as "palatial", and it was featured in 2009 on the feline design blog Modern Cat.[13] The building includes specialized suites, community areas and enclosed solaria designed for the cats' physical and psychological well-being and is constructed of materials that allow for easy and frequent cleaning.

In June 2010, a USA Today article described a United States Marine stationed in Okinawa, Japan who had been caring for three stray cats when his local animal shelter was being shut down. The cats were scheduled to be euthanized, but the Marine requested help from the Okinawan American Animal Rescue Society, which arranged for the cats' journey from Okinawa to Tabby's Place. The transfer, which occurred in April 2010, was Tabby's Place's first international rescue.[1]

Tashi

The physical therapy Tabby’s Place gives to a paraplegic resident, Tashi, attracted the attention of national and local media, including the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric,[3] Cat Channel,[14] Best Friends Animal Society,[15] ZooToo,[16] the Courier News,[17] and WWOR-TV. Tabby's Place abides by a strict "no-kill" policy.[18]

References

  1. 1 2 USA Today USA Today: "Cat Sanctuary Takes In Trio from 8,000 Miles Away"
  2. ↑ New York Daily News: "How You Can Join the News in Helping Our Four-Legged Friends"
  3. 1 2 CBS Evening News with Katie Couric Tabby's Place on CBS Evening News: "Millionaire Invests in Feline Futures"
  4. ↑ Westchester Times Tribune: "Former Internet CTO Reaches Feline Philanthropic Milestone"
  5. ↑ Animal Planet's Series, "Cats 101"
  6. ↑ NJVMA 2005 New Jersey Veterinary Foundation Winner
  7. ↑ the Shining World Hero Award The Shining World Hero Award goes to the Rosenbergs
  8. ↑ NJVMA Animal Hall of Fame 2011 Winners
  9. 1 2 3 "Tabby's Place: Where Unwanted Cats Are Most Loved". ZooToo. 2008-04-23. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
  10. ↑ Newark, NJ Star Ledger: "Helping Hands: Tabby's Place"
  11. ↑ , HSUS euthanasia statistics
  12. 1 2 New Jersey Monthly New Jersey Monthly: "Mansion of Meows"
  13. ↑ Modern Cat Modern Cat Blog: Spotlight on Tabby's Place
  14. ↑ "New Jersey Sanctuary Rescues Paralyzed Kitten". Cat Channel. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
  15. ↑ Best Friends Animal Society Best Friends Animal Society: "It Took the Network to Find Tashi Sanctuary - Part 1"
  16. ↑ "Hind Over Matter: Paraplegic Cat Learns to Walk". ZooToo. 2008-12-01. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
  17. ↑ "NJ Courier-News: "Paraplegic Feline Has Reason To Celebrate"". Flemington.injersey.com. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
  18. ↑ "New Jersey Network's series, Homeless Tails: "Almost Heaven on Earth"". Retrieved 2010-09-11.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 1/10/2013. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.