Our Mission

The Tulgey Wood Critter Refuge is dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation, and sanctuary of companion animals, and to demonstrating a way for our humanity to catch up with our technology and share the planet with all living things.

Where are we now with this?

Presently, we are a cat sanctuary with a watch dogs, guard geese, chickens, ducks, geese, a peacock, and 2 burros on a 40-acre property outside Inyokern, California in the Mojave Desert. (We're still in the RV camping phase, so don't get too excited about facilities yet.) Since 1996, alternative architecture has been explored for shelter. The facilities have been powered by a small solar photovoltaic array and wind turbine which were donated by the founder. Vehicles will ultimately be powered by solar, wind, and whatever else is cool, what I call, high-tech-low-tech.

We have been working with the city shelter as we feel that the animals will be best served if we work the problem with the official city shelter. We help with sources for feed donations, created their Petfinder site, and organized the shelter floats for the Empire Fair and Christmas Parades in 2006 and 2007. We have rescued 2 very large feral cat colonies (about 200 kitties) in the 2006-2008 timeframe, and did most of their spay/neuters through the Ridgecrest Animal Shelter programs. I apologize that ferals had to be relocated to our sanctuary because they could not be returned to their former home. One of our latest projects is working with a media arts class at the local college to do a shelter news video which we can use for the website and local cable. Last but not least, I am evaluating a shelter software package so they can minimize paperwork and spend more time with the animals. And of course the Tulgey Wood takes in as much kitty overflow from the city shelter as we can.

Then add a sprinkle of humane education for children of all ages, a dash of visitor tours of the straw-bale, earthen, or domed facility complete with wind and solar power, stir vigorously, et voilá, we can demonstrate how with just a few changes, life can become a sanctuary for us all.

All this exploring of alternative shelter and energy is not meant to be a diversion of our time and resources, but rather a saver of those. The critters need buildings for shelter. So why not check out straw bale or cob or other earth-sheltering? The critters need cool water for drinking and warm water for bathing, power for lights (so their caretakers can see what they are doing), power for washing their bedding and dishes, and refrigeration for medications, vaccines, and special diets. They need heat in the winter, and cooling in the summer. It's all in the choices we make to do the things that have to be done anyway. And for each of these choices, the alternative choice seems to pay for itself by reducing or eliminating certain operating costs involved in maintaining shelter facilities. Which means more funds will be available to help more animals. So why not?

Of course, our main focus will always be the care of homeless pets and changing their plight through education, outreach, and neuter, neuter, neuter. However, we think that the rest of it ties into the main purpose for this reason: if human existence is seen as "them or us," i.e., the environment and our fellow travelers on this big rock hurtling through the cosmos vs. humans, the former will always lose. Humans may not necessarily want to sacrifice the environment to expediency, but the alternative is not mainstream, not familiar, and not visible. Without the demonstration of a lifestyle that is comfortable and attainable yet does not compromise the future of this big, blue ball that we all call home, nothing will change for the better.

Imagine...

a space with a cluster of domes connected by breezeways that form a safe, huge courtyard where kitties can play. Imagine window seats set into thick walls, overlooking wildlife and native flora. Imagine the biggest dome with one great room where there are futons, bookshelves, and coffee tables with a few happy dogs lounging after a good morning run on the trails with their caretakers after the wildlife had gone to bed. Imagine sculpted cat-walks wandering up the interior walls of the dome and cubby holes with kitties sleeping and playing. Imagine a bank of solar panels, wind turbines, and ponds for water collection, our guard-geese, and wildlife habitat. Imagine volunteers and visitors reading and chatting, having an espresso or a cup of tea whilst rubbing the tummies of their new best friends before they take them home, some four-legged, furry friend to warm the foot of their bed and love them always.

Imagine...

if there were more good and caring homes waiting than pets available for adoption, and awaiting adoption here, or someplace like here, was the worst thing that would ever happen to a homeless pet.