A few years ago, we talked about an old lady named Lynea Lattanzio in California, USA. She loved cats and had adopted thousands of cats at one time. In order to give the cats a happy home, she sold her belongings, including private jets, luxury cars...
A few years ago, we talked about an old lady named Lynea Lattanzio in California, USA. She loved cats and had adopted thousands of cats at one time.
In order to give the cats a happy home, she sold her belongings, including private jets, luxury cars and precious jewelry, just to maintain the huge expenses of raising so many cats.
Now many years have passed, some media interviewed Mrs. Lattanzio again.
Surprisingly, Mrs. Lattanzio, who was in trouble for raising cats, has now come out of the gloom. She now has a farm that houses more than 700 cats, and has become the largest "no euthanasia" cat shelter in the world.
This shelter has excellent facilities and well-organized operations. Over the past few years, Mrs. Lattanzio's farm has quietly become a real paradise for stray cats...
As early as 1992, Mrs. Lattanzio had just divorced her ex-husband. The couple had no children, and her husband left her a villa of more than 300 square meters, a private jet and a luxury car.
In Mrs. Lattanzio’s words, she had a lot of money at that time, but she was not happy.
Until one day, she rescued 15 stray cats, and cats appeared in her life, bringing her unprecedented happiness.
From then on, she got out of control and began to rescue stray cats continuously. By the end of that year, Mrs. Lattanzio had adopted 98 stray cats.
Mrs. Lattanzio adopted more and more stray cats, and her home became more and more crowded. In order to make the cats live comfortably, she moved out of the villa and left the house to the cats, while she lived in a trailer in the yard.
In order to support so many cats, Mrs. Lattanzio did not hesitate to sell off her property, house, private jet, and jewelry. She managed to survive for several years, but in the end it was a drop in the bucket. Mrs. Lattanzio's financial situation became more and more difficult. If the situation worsened, sooner or later the lives of people and cats would be in trouble.
At the critical moment, kind-hearted people in the society extended a helping hand. Some media reported Mrs. Lattanzio’s deeds, and some people began to donate money and materials to her.
In 2014, a well-known photographer took the initiative to take a series of photos for Mrs. Lattanzio to promote her story with hundreds of cats.
"Animal Planet" came to Mrs. Lattanzio twice to make documentaries. Television stations from Japan, Canada, France and other countries also came to interview her and produce related special programs.
Over time, Mrs. Lattanzio became famous, and her situation finally improved. Someone helped her contact professional cooperative organizations, and someone helped her plan a sustainable operation path.
In the end, with the help of many kind-hearted people and organizations, Mrs. Lattanzio bought a large farm covering an area of 48 square kilometers, and this farm was officially planned as a non-profit cat shelter.
According to Mrs. Lattanzio's request, this farm has "no iron cages" and "no euthanasia". All stray cats who come here can enjoy a free, happy, and non-displaced life.
The shelter has 45 employees year-round, recruits a large number of volunteers from time to time, and has annual operating expenses of up to 1.2 million US dollars. The shelter has set up a cat nursery, a nursing home, and an ICU ward.
There are about 700 cats in the shelter all year round. Cats are adopted through various channels, and half of the new cats are suffering from diseases.
They usually receive isolation and treatment until they fully recover, and then go to live with other cats in their permanent area.
Cats in the permanent area live very comfortably. They can choose to live in large and spacious houses, or in trees or any other corner.
Lying on the lawn to bask in the sun every day, it looks like herding sheep from a distance...
When it's meal time, Mrs. Lattanzio calls out, and the cats come back to cook like a pack of wolves.
Foreign reporters come to film and interview, and wherever they sit they are surrounded by cats until they can no longer walk. Mrs. Lattanzio likes to prepare lunch for the cats herself.
The shelter consumes about 140 kilograms of cat food every day, and the more than 700 cats have different tastes. Even if Mrs. Lattanzio and the staff work together, it will take a long time to work.
After the meal, the cats found their own places to rest. It looked like a kindergarten during lunch break.
The life in the permanent residence area is so carefree and the years are peaceful.
The nursing home is a different story. The health of this cat named Hampton has deteriorated rapidly. Its immune system has been damaged and it is approaching the end of its life.
But Mrs. Lattanzio still did not give up on him. She came to see Hampton every day and tried to give him the best care, making the last part of his life as painless as possible.
It can be said that every cat who has experienced pain while wandering can gain unprecedented healing and happiness from Mrs. Lattanzio.
Mrs. Lattanzio said that over the years, she has rescued approximately 38,000 cats, more than 6,000 dogs, and other injured small animals. She simply loves cats and small animals, and cat stars have filled the happiness she once lacked. For Mrs. Lattanzio, it is a great happiness to be able to care for and rescue more cats without worries and watch them live freely.
