If there is a cat heaven, it probably looks a lot like this.
"This" being The Cat House on the Kings, the world's largest cat rescue, where more than 700 cats roam a 12 acre plot of land in Parlier, Calif.
Since its founding in 1992, the no-cage, no-kill, lifetime cat sanctuary and adoption center has saved more than 20,000 cats and 6,000 dogs, not to mention the "handful of goats" who also roam the property helping keep the grass in check.
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"I've always felt that, if they don't have a home, at least they have a life," said Cat House founder Lynea Lattanzio in an introductory video about the sanctuary. "To me, it's not a life if they're in a cage. They need to be able to run full speed and climb a tree. That's a cat."
Photographer Christina Gandolfo paid the sanctuary a visit in the Spring of 2013, documenting the shelter as part of a personal project.
"Literally within seconds of kneeling down to take out my camera I had cats on my back, climbing around my hair and up my legs," she told The Huffington Post in an email about the experience of walking around a sanctuary surrounded by nearly 1,000 cats. "It was so clear that they associated people with love, care and attention. And they just couldn’t get enough."
"It takes a lot of manpower and volunteers to keep the sanctuary going," Gandolfo added. "While on one hand it’s cat utopia, you see animals with medical needs (that are being treated) and that truly are craving attention ... I want everyone to know that the cats are all available for adoption!"
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See Gandolfo's photos, below:
Christina Gandolfo
Christina Gandolfo
Christina Gandolfo
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Christina Gandolfo
Christina Gandolfo
Christina Gandolfo
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Christina Gandolfo
Christina Gandolfo
Christina Gandolfo
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Christina Gandolfo
Christina Gandolfo
Christina Gandolfo
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Christina Gandolfo
Christina Gandolfo
Christina Gandolfo
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Christina Gandolfo
Christina Gandolfo
Christina Gandolfo
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Christina Gandolfo
Christina Gandolfo
Christina Gandolfo
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Christina Gandolfo
Christina Gandolfo
Christina Gandolfo
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Christina Gandolfo
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Peacocks Play Tag!
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The Elephant’s Greeting
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The world’s largest land mammals are downright gentle. In their 50 to 70 years of life, elephants come to know one another intimately. The friendliest thing you can do if you are an elephant is to walk toward another elephant with your ears high and folded and touch trunk tips. You might even put your trunk in the other elephant’s mouth. This greeting ceremony gives family and kin group members a chance to reaffirm social bonds, especially after being separated. The longer the separation, the more intense the greeting. An excited reunion among long-lost family or kin groups may include urinating, defecating, trumpeting, screaming, loud rumbling for several minutes, and lots of physical contact. Besides building goodwill, the rambunctious participants may also be swapping information that they need to survive.
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Dolphins: The Most Faithful Caretakers
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When dolphins are sick or in pain, they issue a two-part distress whistle. Sometimes, other dolphins will stop their own calling as if to listen. Within seconds, they locate the victim, rush beneath it, and lift it to the surface so it can breathe. Drowning swimmers who have been lifted to safety report that dolphinian heroes are careful, efficient, and persistent. Dolphins have been known to lift an ailing comrade for each and every breath for days on end and provide intermittent support for weeks.
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Roy Toft via Getty Images
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When Beluga Whales Have Had it Up to Here
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The Zebra Salon
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Poor Giraffes: The Indignities of Just Getting a Drink of Water
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A giraffe’s front legs are so long that its neck is too short to reach the ground. To get a drink, the normally dignified giraffe has to splay its legs, dip its head down, and then hitch back up with a lurching motion. Or, if it prefers, it can kneel down to get water. A drinking giraffe is vulnerable, so to keep its unguarded moments to a minimum, the giraffe drinks quickly.
The Ostrich’s Big ‘O’
Manoj Shah via Getty Images
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