My name is Siglinda Scarpa, founder and primary benefactor of The Goathouse Refuge, a cat sanctuary.  I thought you  might like to know how the Refuge came to be and what the future holds for it.

                      
WHY . . .

    When I was a little girl my father, who sometimes worked late at night, came home with a little gray tabby cat wet and cold and put him under the blankets in my bed. I warmed him up and kept him on my heart until he started purring and for the rest of the night. There was where he slept for the rest of his life. I called him Muci.

    He become sick when he was just about one year old and all my bicycle trips to the veterinarian didn’t save his life. He probably had distemper. The pain of his death was so devastating that I started to bring home and care for as many cats as my mother would allow me to bring into the apartment. I loved animals, especially cats, and many shared my life. Many are not here anymore, but I remember them all.

 
MY DREAM . . .

    So I formulated a dream ... a dream of a sanctuary for cats. This would be another chance — a safe haven for cats that were dispossessed or scheduled for euthanasia by public shelters. In my dream, no cat would be euthanized unless it was suffering with no hope of recovery.

    The Refuge would be a place where even cats that were “unadoptable” could live in comfort, with the care, attention and love they deserve. No cat would be refused due to age, illness or disposition. 

    The ultimate goal for each cat would be adoption into a loving home. But the Refuge would be designed so that they could spend ample periods of time living comfortably, awaiting adoption. In fact, it would be designed so that a cat could spend years, or its entire lifetime, at the Refuge.

    This meant that the cats would be cage-free. Groups of cats would live in large rooms, where they could roam and play without restraint. And, of course, all of the cats would be given human attention and interaction, along with high-quality food and on-site medical care.
 

THE REALITY . . .

    Day by day my dream is unfolding. Though still in its infancy, The Goathouse Refuge has placed many cats and kittens in forever homes and more then forty are permanent residents here. One building has been dedicated for their home and more construction and improvements are planned. The Refuge was founded with my personal resources and with income from my pottery, I find a way to feed and care for all the creatures in transit and in residence.  Along the way some immensely valuable friends and volunteers have joined the Refuge.

    But the long-term success of The Goathouse Refuge, as with any charity, is dependent on the generous donations of you, the public. Additionally, fund-raising events help to support the activities of the Refuge and its affiliate animal rescue organizations, which likewise share in the proceeds.        

    Please take a careful look around this site and see what we are and will be doing. If you believe in the dream and think what we are doing is valuable, please take some time to make a donation ... any amount will help ensure the long-term success of The Goathouse Refuge. And please contact me if you have any suggestions or questions.