G-8GW6WNVDCH 2301875706914928 From Circus Bears to Sanctuary Dreams: Kati Krouse and the Fight for Exotic Animal Welfare - Animal Posse

Episode 88

From Circus Bears to Sanctuary Dreams: Kati Krouse and the Fight for Exotic Animal Welfare

Published on: 2nd October, 2026

What happens to bears, big cats, parrots, and other exotic animals when they can no longer be kept as pets, used in entertainment, or housed by failing facilities?

In this episode, Dixie sits down with Kati Krouse, founder and executive director of Bears Etc., the nation's first bear-focused sanctuary. Kati shares her journey from a farm kid in Indiana to veterinary medicine, wildlife rehabilitation, and ultimately creating a nonprofit dedicated to giving captive wildlife a second chance.

Together, they discuss the realities of the exotic pet trade, roadside zoos, circus animals, sanctuary life, wildlife advocacy, volunteer training, and what it truly takes to provide lifelong care for animals with nowhere else to go.

You'll also hear how Bears Etc. is preparing to welcome rescued bears, why education is one of the organization's most powerful tools, and how everyday people can help create a better future for exotic animals.

Learn more and support the mission at bearsetc.org.

Transcript
Dixie:

Welcome back, everybody.

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Today we are gonna be taking a deep

dive into the world of exotic animal

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welfare and sanctuaries, and what it

takes to build a lifelong haven for

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animals that have nowhere else to turn.

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My guest today is Kati Krouse, the founder

and executive director of Bears Etc.,

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The nation's very first bear-centric

sanctuary . Kati journey with animals

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started long before Bears Etc.

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From working at a veterinary clinic

as a teenager and studying as a

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vet tech at Purdue University to

volunteering with sanctuaries and

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seeing firsthand the overwhelming

need for exotic animal placements.

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Kati has dedicated her life to

rescue, education, and advocacy.

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Today we're talking about her

journey, the harsh realities of the

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exotic pet trade, and how Bears Etc.

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is providing captive wildlife

with a true piece of the wild.

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Kati, welcome to the show.

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Kati: Hey, thanks.

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Dixie: I didn't know anything about

Bears Etc until you reached out to

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me, and I went and checked out your

Facebook page, and it is just amazing.

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I would like to know if you could take

it all the way back to the beginning

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before you had a sanctuary and before,

like, all your vet tech studies.

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What was young Kati like with animals?

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Did you always know you were gonna

dedicate your career to animal welfare?

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Kati: Oh, yes.

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I grew up on a farm in Northeast

Indiana, and I was fortunate enough to

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know my, some of my great-grandparents,

and I was always trying to tame

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my great-grandfather's barn cats.

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And so growing up on the farm,

also we had a lot of dogs and cats

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dumped on our property, and stuff.

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And so it was, My grandfather

he milked cows until he was in

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a tractor accident, and so then

we just farmed crops from there.

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But there were always animals in our

life, and so I was always catching snakes

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and frogs and, walking in the woods and,

do- doing stuff outside being up there.

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Growing up in the, late '70s, '80s, we

didn't have cable, we didn't have…

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we were farm kids, and so we were

outside doing stuff all the time.

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And so either, playing in the

snow in the winter or, back in

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the woods during the summer.

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My cousin had horses, so

sometimes we would ride horses.

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And all the neighbors really had

cattle both dairy and beef cattle.

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And so I was around animals

basically all of the time.

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And so yeah went into high school

where I could work half a day and go

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to school half a day my senior year,

and I worked for a veterinary clinic,

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and that really solidified it that I

wanted to help save animals, right?

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I wanted to do exotics and wildlife

is really what I wanted to do.

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Little did I know until then

that there was more than becoming

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a veterinarian available.

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We didn't have Google then.

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We didn't have, we didn't

have any of that there then.

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It was, research through books in

the library and stuff like that.

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And so until I went to college

did we really have more of that.

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And so through working for this

veterinarian, I found out about the

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vet tech program at Purdue University.

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And so then, I decided I was gonna

go to vet school or vet tech school.

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So in the meantime, this gal brought

in this Amazon parrot that the

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chimpanzee had broken its wing.

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And I was like, "What?"

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And so then I went and became a

high school intern at what was

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then the Black Pine Animal Park.

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And they were breeding tiger cubs and had

baby monkeys and things of that nature.

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And I was a high school intern

there, still volunteered through

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my freshman year of college.

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And then when I got into the vet tech

program, I wanted to really track

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wildlife and exotics and created my own

internships, went and did an internship

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at the Wildlife Center of Virginia.

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I was a wildlife rehabber volunteer

through the Wildcat Wildlife Center

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there in Delphi, Indiana, which

is about an hour from Purdue.

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And I also worked as a zookeeper during

the summer at the Columbian Park Zoo.

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So really started to get into it

and learning everything I could

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about exotics and wildlife, both,

captive and the wild wildlife.

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And so it really solidified I wanted

to have my own center one day, not

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knowing what it would be at that time.

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And so then I started working for

PetSmart and working in their pet

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care area, so the hamsters, guinea

pigs, fish, all of that stuff, and

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learning all, everything I could there.

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But then I got passed up for a

management position, and I was

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like I can't continue to do this.

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I need something else."

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And so I became a dog groomer, but that

gave me the financial financial ability

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to become a wildlife rehabber again.

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And so I was in Texas at the

time, so I started doing a little

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bit of wildlife rehab again.

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And I was really good at management,

and so I came back to Indiana when my

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sister had my nephew, and I was like,

"I really wanna get back into wildlife."

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And I left PetSmart and started

my own shop and went back to

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volunteering at what had now become

the Black Pine Animal Sanctuary.

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So no longer buying, selling,

breeding, trading, or using

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animals for entertainment.

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And so really learning the plight

of exotic wi- and wild animals in

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captivity, and the amount of animals

that needed placement and what

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the exotic pet trade was and just

everything that encompasses that.

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And I said, "Okay, this is my

niche," specifically bears, because

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I collected teddy bears growing up.

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I had bears all over the place.

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And when I had first started at the

Black Pine Animal Park, I met these

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two retired circus bears, and I learned

about what happens to circus bears.

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And so I was like, "Okay."

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And then coming back and becoming

the manager at the Black Pine Animal

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Sanctuary, no one wants to do bears.

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They dig, they climb they are

smarter than tigers and lions.

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They're smart like primates and

elephants, and they really became my

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favorite animal once again, basically.

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And I said, "I'm gonna start a sanctuary

for bears," because so many sanctuaries

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across the country, they're big cat

focused, they are reptile focused, they

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are parrot focused wolf dog focused.

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Nobody is focusing on bears

out of the exotic pet trade.

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So these are pets living

in people's backyards.

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These are from roadside zoos that are

closing down or being closed down.

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They are retired circus animals.

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Th- They're, they run the gamut.

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And in 2017, I found out that there was

1,000 bears currently needing placement,

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and so that's when we started Bears Etc.

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That's when we got our nonprofit status.

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So we'll be celebrating our 10th

birthday, or our 10th bearthday, our

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10-year bearthday in February of 2027.

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So we're gonna have a bearthday bash,

so we're pretty excited about that.

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So that's where we are today with

everything we've been doing and helping

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pass the Big Cat Public Safety Act,

and just advocating and fundraising and

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everything we can to make this happen.

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Dixie: That's amazing.

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When you first started, you got

into doing the wildlife rehab.

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What made you focus more on just exotics

and the wildlife in general, as opposed

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to going into helping cats and dogs,

since you did train as a vet tech?

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Kati: Really the wildlife that

I grew up seeing in the wild and

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the difference between the two.

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Wildlife rehab and release, yes, that

is great, but working in the veterinary

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hospital, it really opened my eyes to

the number of people that have exotic as

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pets and don't know anything about having

them except for they saw it on YouTube

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or saw it on Instagram or saw it on…

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they're like, "Oh, I got it because

of this," and then they were coming

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in sick on their deathbed because

they knew nothing about them.

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And when wild animals show that

they're sick, that means they're

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really sick, because wildlife

doesn't show that they're sick until

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they're on death's door, basically.

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So trying to save them and do more

education and, when people need help with

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them because they are sick or building a

ha- a proper habitat for them so they can

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thrive, they don't just live, they thrive.

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Like, all of that encompasses

everything that I wanted to do,

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and that's what we're doing.

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Dixie: You said that your eyes

became open to the bears when you

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came across these two circus bears.

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Can we go back to that and

discuss that a little bit?

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Because I don't think a lot of people

understand what's going on with this

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whole, circus, roadside zoo type thing.

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You know- Yeah … I'm not talking about

the animals that are in sanctuaries or

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that are in these zoos that- Yeah, ACC

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Kati: accredited

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Dixie: zoos.

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Kati: Yeah.

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And even then, each one has its- problems,

or just because they're accredited

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doesn't mean that their management are

the best in putting the animals first.

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The zookeepers put the animals first,

obviously but not always is management

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the best at putting the animals first.

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But back to the circus bears bears

will live 30 years in captivity.

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And so when they're performing and they're

sitting for long hours and traveling long

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hours, it just takes a toll on their body.

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There was a study done many years

ago, and I can't remember when,

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but they showed that a bear raised

on concrete or hard surfaces ha-

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has arthritis by the age of nine.

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And so they will live 20 years,

if quality of life is there,

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with arthritis and live in pain.

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What kind of quality of life is that?

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Th- it's not.

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And so traveling, their

bodies aren't used to bumps.

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They're not made for all that.

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If you've ever traveled long

distances, we travel all the time

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doing rescues and, a 24-hour ride in

the car is not always comfortable,

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even if you have comfortable seats.

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So riding on a hard surface in a cage

transported from here to there for,

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eight, nine months out of the year, one,

hurts after a while and the arthritis.

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Number two I saw a fifth generation

wild animal trainer beat one of

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his bears, and I was just like…

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Because he wouldn't do what he

wanted him to do, and he was doing it

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behind the scenes where nobody saw.

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And I was just like, "Oh my

gosh, I can't even believe this."

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And then being, not necessarily some

places starving animals in order

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for them to perform for the food.

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The the elephant, the hooks that they use

on, the bullhooks they use on elephants

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and the pain that causes, intimidating

them when they're little in order for

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them to listen once they're big and tying

them, when they're little so they can't

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move, so that way when they're big they

think they're tied, tight and don't move.

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And just the actual enrichment

of it all and what they

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receive when they're back home.

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They're just fed and put away, right?

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They aren't enriched like they are in

zoos, and they aren't there are things

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that happen behind the scenes that

nobody ever sees while they're on tour.

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Like, how are they treated once

they get back on the property?

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Are they just stuck in the backyard

until next year and just thrown food?

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It just…

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Yeah, there's a lot that goes on behind

the scenes that nobody knows about

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for those animals in those circuses Or

even those roadside attractions when

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you do pay-to-plays at these roadside

attractions when you're, thank goodness

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for the Big Cat Public Safety Act stopping

the, photo prop industry for big cats.

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But they still do it with bears.

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They still do it with wolves.

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They still do it with monkeys.

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They s- they still do it with

other animals, but, they're

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only fed when somebody pays to

have a picture taken with them.

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One of the worst last meal syndromes

I've ever seen was in a Syrian brown bear

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cub that was a part of that photo trade.

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And so they're on- they never get

satiated, especially, in the fall when

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they're going into their hyperphagia

when they're supposed to eat a lot.

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She just act like she was just starving

all of the time, and I just felt so

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bad because of where she came from

because they don't get full meals

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unless somebody is feeding them and

there's a lot of people in line to

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feed them that they get their full

bottles that they need for nutrition.

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And we also see a lot of they don't

feed them enough for them to grow, so

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they can lie about their age and use

them for longer to earn that money.

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We saw that with some white tigers that

Turpentine Creek rescued out of Colorado.

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They couldn't even walk because they

had metabolic bone disease so bad, and

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they lied about the age of the cubs.

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And so it's just really sad

what's happening out there

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for the almighty dollar.

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I won't go to circuses or roadside zoos

or if they offer any animal interaction

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I don't go to them because it's about

the money that animal brings in.

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It's not about the

well-being of that animal.

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Dixie: Yeah, absolutely.

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And when I was a teenager,

I didn't know all that.

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Kati: I didn't either

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… Dixie: I thought it was like,

"Oh, look at these animals.

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These animals love these people.

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They're so well taken care of."

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And so I have to say that is one

good thing about the internet is that

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you got to see all that stuff that's

happening behind closed doors, and it

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really opens your eyes to it and you

realize, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe

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that I took a picture with a cub," or

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Kati: yeah.

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Yeah.

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Dixie: It's really insane.

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How do you come about

the bears that you get?

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Do people contact you?

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Are they rescued?

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Kati: It really runs the gamut.

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Sometimes we have private owners contact

us, they just can't do it anymore.

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One gentleman was dying of cancer and

so we got a phone call from his sister.

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We get USDA, US Fish and

Wildlife, Texas Parks and

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Wildlife, animal control agencies.

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And we actually, Some of the

animals that we take in, there's

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an et cetera part of Bears Etc.

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While our focus is bears, some of

the et cetera animals, we had to stop

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taking in from the public and put

a basically, we will not take from

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the public person unless it's, large

carnivores, so bears, tigers, lion- or

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if it's from a gov- governmental agency.

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We because we were just getting so

many calls for snakes, bearded dragons,

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kinkajous, coati mundis, like all

of these animals that were needing

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placement, and we couldn't sustain that.

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We can't say yes to every animal.

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We have to stay focused, and so

we are not their backup plan.

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"Oh, I'm gonna get this animal,

and if it doesn't work out,

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I'm just gonna call Bears Etc.,

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and they'll take it."

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We are not people's backup plan.

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We have to pick and choose, who we're

gonna take in and or who, how are

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we gonna help find placement for the

animals and things of that nature,

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because we can't say yes to everything.

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But we get a lot of calls, and

it's just increasing as more and

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more places are closing down.

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More and more places are getting

shut down by governmental agencies.

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And yeah, we j- we can help

transport, like our four fo- fox

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that we have, the Fox-Tastic Four.

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We helped with the transport

and networking of the animals

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from an Ashtabula fur farm,

and so we can help transport.

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We've helped several organizations

transport primates and fox and

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skunks and wolf dogs and y- you

know, all of that we can do.

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But we can't always say yes to placement.

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But we can definitely

network and help transport.

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Dixie: How many residents do

you have at the sanctuary?

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And also, since you did mention the et

cetera part of your name, Bears Etc.,

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what are the other resident

species that you have?

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Kati: So our four fur farm foxes,

we have exotic birds and reptiles.

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So we have small and medium parrots.

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We have tortoises.

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W- we have about 70 animals currently.

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Dixie: And how many of those are bears?

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Kati: So we actually have

zero bears right now.

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Dixie: Okay.

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And can I ask

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Kati: why-

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Dixie: So- … there's no bears right now?

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Kati: Yeah.

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The reason being is, one, we started

on a half acre and we now have

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three acres, so we're growing.

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That doesn't mean the bears aren't coming.

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But we also had to make sure

that we had enough volunteers

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when we moved to our three acres.

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We moved an hour away from where

we were before and lost all of

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our volunteers, so we had to start

all over again with volunteers.

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We have to have trained volunteers.

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You can't just have someone

go take care of bears, right?

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So they start taking care

of our birds and reptiles.

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We have five levels of caretakers.

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So we have our, level one, which

are our parakeets and our tortoises.

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Level two are our smaller parrots.

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It's based on how bad can they harm you.

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So some of our parrots, they bite,

and especially if they have multiple

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housed, because they've come

from bad, neglectful situations.

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So then we have our level

three, which are our fox.

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They're multi-housed fox or

single-housed small carnivores, so such

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as bobcats and things of that nature.

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And then we have our level four, which

is our multi-housed small carnivores

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or singly housed large carnivores.

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And then our level five would be

our multi-housed large carnivores.

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And we had to make sure that

we have volunteers trained up

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in order to take care of them.

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That's the first thing.

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We have enough volunteers to

take care of them at that level.

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So are they getting, two

to three meals a day?

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Are they getting enrichment

two to three times a day?

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Are they getting everything

they need to thrive?

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That's the goal.

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We want them to thrive.

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We w- don't want them

to just rescue and live.

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We want them to be able to thrive.

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And we now are to a

place where we have that.

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And the last thing is donations.

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Bears are really expensive to keep.

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They require a lot of enrichment.

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They destroy stuff.

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They're…

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They don't sleep 20 out of 24

hours a day like big cats do.

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They're awake a lot and

very active and very strong.

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Their muscles are nine

times denser than ours.

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And so we have to make sure that things

are secure in order to house them.

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So all that to say they're a problem.

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And we wanted to make sure that

we could be successful with them

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and in order for them to thrive.

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So now that we have appropriate donations

coming in both food-wise and dollar-wise

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we have a partnership with Walmart.

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We get produce and meat

from Walmart every Friday.

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So we have that coming in.

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We have a vendor that we can

get wholesale produce and meat

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from as well that's close by.

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So we have that.

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So it takes planning in order

to take in this type of animal.

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It's not just something you can, you

know, throw in an enclosure and it'll

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thrive like some of your prey species,

your hoofstock and stuff like that.

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Even the tortoises, they require some

sort of enrichment in order to thrive.

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They have digging areas.

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There, there needs to be a whole

plan that people miss out on.

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Sorry, my dog is reverse

sneezing right now.

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There needs to be a whole plan if

you're going to have these animals

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in order for them to thrive.

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You can't just throw a

tortoise in a backyard.

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So every time we think about taking

in an animal we have those plans.

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And to take in bears, we have to

have those plans as well, and we do.

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We have everything available that

we can start taking in bears now.

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Dixie: You mentioned the

different levels of the animals

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and the, for the volunteers.

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When somebody comes to you and they

wanna volunteer, do you train them

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or do you require that they go to

some kind of outside training first?

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Kati: We train them up, and we actually

prefer that you have no experience.

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So that way you don't come with bad

habits or, everybody wants to touch

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and pet and stuff like that, and wild

animals don't necessarily like that.

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And so the expectations of we are pr-

protected contact, that means that there

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is a enclosure wall between you and

carnivores, and so we don't pet the fox.

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And so I interview them

just like job interview.

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We'll do a phone interview, and

we'll bring them out, and I watch

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their body language, and I watch

how they react around the animals.

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And then if they are a good

fit, then we train them up.

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You start by doing diets

and doing the small animals.

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The expectation is you start from square

one with your training no matter what

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:

experience you have because everybody

has to start there in order to be fair.

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:

And then some people that come with

experience, they move up quickly.

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:

Other people that have zero

experience don't move up as quickly.

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:

Some people will never be out here

enough to build relationships with

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:

the fox in order to shift them.

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:

Same with, when we get bears

there'll be special training.

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:

And some people I won't be able

to not necessarily trust, but it

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:

takes a special person to be able

to build those relationships in

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:

order to get them to shift safely.

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:

And it takes two people on the

same shift in order to shift

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:

them safely and double-checking

locks and, having a backup.

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:

There, there's a lot of

things that go into that.

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:

But yeah, not everybody makes it

there at the same amount of time.

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:

We have different structures

of things you need to meet.

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:

Are you grabbing everything

you need to go into enclosure?

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:

Because the more times you have to

open and close that door, the more

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:

likely you are to have an incident.

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:

So do you have all your food?

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:

Do you have all of your buckets?

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:

Do you have all your cleaning utensils?

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:

And then on the way out, did you

bring everything back out with you

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:

that you needed to bring out, or,

did you leave stuff in there that

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:

you're gonna have to go back in

and open and close that door again?

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:

We want the least amount

of times possible, and we

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:

train that from square one…

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:

from day one.

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:

We have double entries on our aviary and

that's where you start learning about

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:

those double door systems and double

locking systems and all of that stuff, so

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:

that way, as you move up, you already have

that muscle memory that, "Okay, do I have

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:

everything I need to go into the first

door and then go into the second door?"

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:

And they're used to doing

that double entry system.

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:

So yeah.

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:

So it's based on the person and

their skills as to how quickly

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:

they move up and if they move up.

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:

And if they're gonna leave us in a

year, like we have some senior students

395

:

right here at the Sam Houston State

University, they're gonna leave us

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:

in six months, and so can I really

take the time to train them up if

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:

they're just going to be leaving?

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:

Unless I have a c- a, long-term

commitment, that is taken

399

:

into consideration too.

400

:

Dixie: Yeah.

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:

And it's funny you mention the whole,

double locked doors and having all

402

:

of your supplies and stuff like that

because, like I know it's hard enough

403

:

for me to train somebody to clean the

cat habitat at our adoption center and-

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:

so I can't imagine like the level of

training that's involved with that.

405

:

And another thing too is do you get

a lot of requests for volunteers?

406

:

'Cause I would imagine it's like we see

in cat rescue all the time is like people

407

:

will come to us thinking like, "Oh, I

just get to play with cats all day."

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:

And we're like- Yes … "No,

it's scooping litter boxes and

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:

it's cleaning up after the cats."

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:

And so-

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:

Kati: It is … it's like- they

come to the interview and sometimes

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:

I'm like hair on fire and just like

I look so disheveled and they pr-

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:

may not want to come work for me.

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:

But I've been out cleaning

enclosures, and this is what it takes.

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:

I may have like stuff all over the

front of me, but this is what's

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:

gonna happen when you work here.

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:

Dixie: Yeah.

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:

That's funny.

419

:

A huge pillar of your mission

is connecting people with

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:

nature through education.

421

:

So how do you approach- Yes … educating

the public about the exotic pet trade

422

:

without shaming them, but rather inviting

them to become part of the solution?

423

:

Kati: I do a lot of outreach.

424

:

I do…

425

:

I have both like grade school,

middle school, high school programs.

426

:

I do rotaries and things of that nature.

427

:

And I talk about, if you were to go out

to, the woods and go hiking or, I talk

428

:

to people about being out in nature.

429

:

Have they ever been to a

park and sat on a park bench?

430

:

Have they ever hiked a trail?

431

:

Have they ever…

432

:

And get that sense of how do they

feel after they've been out there.

433

:

That's what we want people to feel after

they've been here, in the quiet, in the…

434

:

We talk about this a lot,

435

:

the growth that the Houston area

has and the amount of time and the

436

:

frustration that it takes to get to

the Houston Zoo, and that it takes an

437

:

hour to find a parking spot once they

even get to the zoo, and how unhappy

438

:

they are even walking into the zoo with

their kids and stuff because it's so

439

:

stressful going there and doing all of

the things to even get into the zoo.

440

:

Whereas we're like, if you travel

north, you're going against traffic.

441

:

You come out here, it's quiet.

442

:

We only allow so many people on site.

443

:

We only allow, certain things, and

we wanna keep it quiet and peaceful

444

:

because all of the animals that we take

in are neglected and abused by people.

445

:

So we don't want them to have a bad

experience, and we don't want the people

446

:

to have a bad experience, and that's the

peace with what comes by coming out here.

447

:

Even having a work day, people leave

here with smiles after a long day of

448

:

volunteering and it's just because that's

the culture that we've built, that's the

449

:

energy that we want to have out here.

450

:

That's what we want people to experience

either through our programs or, by being

451

:

out here volunteering and what nature

has to offer when you put down the cell

452

:

phones and get away from the electronics

and just sit and watch animals be animals.

453

:

And they get that P-E-A-C-E, the peace of

the wild that we want them to experience.

454

:

Dixie: That sounds amazing.

455

:

For listeners who are moved by your

story and wanna help support Bears Etc.,

456

:

what are the biggest needs right

now, and how can the community get

457

:

involved and learn more about you?

458

:

Kati: Our biggest need is always, like

every nonprofit, is gonna be donations.

459

:

In order for us to continue to

take care of these animals, the

460

:

prices of everything is going up.

461

:

A box of romaine a week, goes

from anywhere from $25 to $30.

462

:

Now it's 30 to $35.

463

:

The cost of everything has gone up.

464

:

We can always use gas

cards to use on rescues.

465

:

We can always use hotel points and

flight miles in order to fly to

466

:

destinations, rescue the animals,

rent a van, bring them back.

467

:

So there are different

opportunities there for those items.

468

:

We're always needing volunteers.

469

:

We have several shifts a week and actually

two shifts every day, five-hour shifts.

470

:

If someone's interested in coming

out and helping animal care, you…

471

:

It's required a one five-hour shift a

week in order to build the relationships

472

:

with animals and to understand how each

animal's, quirks and everything like

473

:

that are, and learning their diets.

474

:

It really takes a consistent being here

in order to do that since we have so

475

:

many different species word of mouth

is always amazing, and that's free.

476

:

Sharing us on your social media follow.

477

:

We're on X, Facebook, Instagram,

TikTok LinkedIn, sharing our story.

478

:

If you work at an organization, if

you go to our website, bearsetc.org

479

:

you can go to our How You Can

Help page and see if your or

480

:

your company you work for matches

donations or pays our organization

481

:

for you to come out and volunteer.

482

:

So organizations like Exxon and some other

companies Kohl's, for the amount of hours

483

:

that you come out and donate, they'll

pay us $12 an hour in donations for the

484

:

day for them coming out and donating.

485

:

Or some businesses, I have a friend's

business that they will pay you t-

486

:

for the day, an eight-hour shift

to go out and work at a nonprofit.

487

:

And so there's different ways like that

you can do, or just matching funds.

488

:

Lindy, Dell a lot of the companies

have donor matching, so if you

489

:

donate through your business,

they will match it 100% up to I…

490

:

like Lindy is up to $15,000 a year

they'll match that you receive then

491

:

a donation match from that business.

492

:

So there's different ways to do it.

493

:

We have a Amazon wish list.

494

:

We have a Chewy wish list.

495

:

We have a Walmart wish list.

496

:

Different things that we're always

in need of for the animals are

497

:

right there at your fingertips if

you're there shopping on Amazon.

498

:

And then we use the box and the packing

paper for enrichment for the animals.

499

:

So even better if you ship us

supplies because it really is

500

:

double duty when you do that.

501

:

So there's all different

ways of hel- to help.

502

:

But spreading the word

liking our organization.

503

:

Every on Facebook, our page is

monetized, and so every like, share,

504

:

comment gets us a penny, and all of

that adds up at the end of the month

505

:

when they send us our donation check.

506

:

So every little bit helps, and so we're

just really appreciative of all the likes,

507

:

comments, shares on Facebook as well.

508

:

Dixie: Kati, thank you so much for

sharing your journey and for the

509

:

incredible uncrom- uncompromising

work that you're doing for animals

510

:

that so desperately need a voice.

511

:

Kati: I'm glad that people support

it so we can do it, because if people

512

:

didn't support us, we wouldn't be here.

513

:

And so their support means

I can do more of this.

514

:

So I really appreciate everybody

that makes this happen.

515

:

It's not just me.

516

:

I just have the hands and feet that do it.

517

:

But I have lots of people

that support this organization

518

:

that keep us moving forward.

519

:

So thank you to them for making this

happen because I couldn't do it alone.

520

:

Dixie: Great.

521

:

Thank you so much for joining me today.

522

:

I really appreciate it.

523

:

Kati: Thank you for having me on.

524

:

I really appreciate it.

525

:

Speaker: To everyone listening, you

can learn more about Kati's work,

526

:

support the sanctuary, and follow

their progress at bearsetc.org.

527

:

Be sure to check out the

show notes for all the links.

528

:

Thank you for tuning in, and remember

to keep fighting for the animals.

529

:

See you next time

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About the Podcast

Animal Posse
A look inside the world of animal rescue
Dive deep into the world of animal rescue with heartwarming stories, expert interviews, and behind-the-scenes insights. From heartwarming adoptions to daring rescues, we'll explore the incredible bond between humans and animals.
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About your host

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DIXIE LOUVIERE

My love for animals has driven me to dedicate the last 20 years to rescue. In 2024, we established a 501c3 nonprofit Unwanted Feline Organization Inc. and are thrilled to be building a cat sanctuary in Washington Parish, Louisiana, where we can offer a haven for cats in need. I thought it would be great for the rescue to have a podcast so Animal Posse was started with the hope of bringing rescues together, getting them more exposure, and finding more animals
homes.