I worked at Tiger Creek Wildlife Refuge (TCWR) last summer in Tyler, TX. Many of you had the pleasure of following along on my journey through photos and posts. While I was there, I had the amazing pleasure of working for Ms. Terri Werner, a beautiful, caring, compassionate, dedicated woman whom had worked for the refuge for 16 years at that time. Every day, she was by the side of the cats that were sick, injured, or needed any kind of care or attention. She was always there when there was trouble for a cat, or an employee or intern needed her guidance or advice. I saw her weep over the graves of 2 cats while I was there, and I saw her eyes tear up as she was talking about those that had passed before them. She would spend hours next to the handsome 8Ball when he was falling ill, and would be by the Vets side when anything was being operated on. I watched as she poured her heart and soul into the refuge, sacrificing her personal time and giving more to animals than any other person Ive ever met. It is so rare to meet someone with that much of a heart. She was always there to greet visitors, and even though she was busy 24/7, she often took the time to lead tours around the facility, providing the visitors amazing stories that made them laugh and cry right along with her. This business is so exhausting and overwhelming, but Terri did it all with grace and poise; something I could only dream of being able to do. Just recently, I was informed of the Board of Directors decision to fire Terri... after 17 years of pure, unwavering devotion. There looks to be a plan in the works to basically turn TCWR into a resort/amusement park of sorts. Not only does this remove the main focus of TCWR, it also takes the time, money, and care that should go to the cats and shifts it elsewhere. There are even talks of putting several of the aging cats down simply because its too expensive to care for them because of their meds and routine vet visits, even though they are living healthy, happy lives aside from their medical needs. Thousands of visitors have had the opportunity to meet Terri and all of these cats, and the history of TCWR will be forever changed without her there. Past interns and employees are fighting to show the board that theyve made a mistake but they have been manipulated to turn their eyes away from the truth. This is saddening, heartbreaking, and terrifying. I encourage all of you to share this story and the link below... watch the video for yourself and see what light she brought to this facility. That light is now fading...
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 15:28:38 +0000
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