My Nonprofit Reviews

I visit TCWR twice a year and stay onsite. The staff, interns and volunteers are always so nice and helpful, and you can tell that they love what they do and they care very much for each resident animal. I took a tour with the curator, Emily, that I enjoyed very much. She is very good with the animals and they will play with her (on opposite sides of the fence of course) and you can tell that they like and trust her (as much as a wild animal can). This is not like a zoo where the animals pace back and forth and are bored to death. The resident animals have the best food, healthcare, enrichment, and space to run, swim, and nap under a shade tree. Some of the bears even get to climb trees. I highly recommend TCWR to anyone seeking a fun, educational and ethical outing. I can't wait to go back in September.

I first heard about Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge while on vacation in July 2014. I immediately started looking into the place and booked a suite during Veteran’s day weekend. The staff was very knowledgeable and told stories about how each cat was rescued from deplorable conditions. What impressed me the most was that they were working so hard to get all of the animals out of small concrete floored cages and into large grassy habitats where they could run and play and enjoy life. At that time there were still a few animals in the small cages and you could definitely tell the difference in the demeanor of the cats in cages and the ones in habitats. Thor the lion was still on concrete during my first visit. His feet were sore because his foot pads were cracked from walking on cold, dry concrete, and it took him a long time to get up and moving. It broke my heart to see how pitiful his condition was. The staff would put Vaseline on the concrete in hoping he would walk in it and get some relief.
When I returned in May 2015, Thor was in a habitat and thriving. He was running around and playing and appeared to be actually enjoying life. It was during my second trip that I met Duke. He is a very large tiger and was in Thor’s old concrete cage. It was so sad to see him pace back and forth in such a tiny cage. I was so excited for him when he was released into his habitat a few months later.
I recently returned in October 2015 and all animals were in habitats and the concrete cages were gone. The staff talked about how excited they were to be building more habitats so they could rescue more animals, and that no more animals would be housed in tiny cages without grass and room to run. I saw Duke and he looked so happy lying in the grass. All of the animals look happy, and they appear to really enjoy the staff and interns. I never saw a staff member or intern who did not seem to be thoroughly enjoying their job. I believe TCWR is the best place a captive animal could hope for. They strive to make sure that all of the animals are fed, medicated, entertained, and are living the most comfortable life possible and in a forever home. I will be making at least yearly trips (five hours for me) to stay a weekend at TCWR. I tell all of my friends about them. TCWR is my Amazon Smile charity and I ask all my friends and colleagues to use Amazon Smile also. As long as TCWR is rescuing and providing excellent care and forever homes for these majestic animals, I will continue to give as much as I can, as often as I can, to their mission. As long as they truly care about the animals in their care and constantly strive to improve; and because they use all donations to help the animals, Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge will be my charity of choice.