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enforcement agency will tell you if any complaints for cruelty or neglect have beenfiled. A call to the Better Business Bureau or Chamber of Commerce may beinformative as well. Most states have some type of charity bureau that providesoversight for nonprofits. It’s often part of the Attorney General’s Office.4) How is the sanctuary funded? It takes a great deal of money to run a goodsanctuary, between mortgage or lease payments, staff, veterinary bills, propertyupkeep and food. This is why almost all well-run sanctuaries will require asubstantial donation per cat from you. If they don’t, this could be a red flag and youneed to thoroughly investigate how they are funded. Preferably, the facility will be anonprofit registered with the state and the IRS. If so, request a recent financialstatement. You can always look up the organization, if it’s a 501c3 nonprofit, onGuidestar (www.guidestar.org) to see their latest tax forms (form 990’s). The 990form will list the organization’s revenue, expenses, assets and liabilities. If thesanctuary is not run by an IRS approved nonprofit, find out who pays the bills andhow long have they been doing so. Remember it’s much harder for someone to raisefunds if they are not part of a nonprofit.If you determine that on balance, the sanctuary is on sound legal and financialfooting, you’ll still need to inspect the actual physical facility. Pay close attention to yourfirst impression. Does the place appear to be friendly and adequately staffed for thenumber of cats being housed? Is there literature describing the facility? Walk around thewhole place – not just the part where the feral cats live – and see if the living conditionsfor the animals are clean and spacious as opposed to crowded and unsanitary. Are thefacilities warm and dry? Are sick cats kept separated? How are new cats added – is therea transition period and separate enclosure within the larger space (as there should be) ordo they just toss them right in (as they shouldn’t)? A transition period of at least twoweeks in a confined space is critical if the ferals will have access to outdoor grounds thatare not enclosed.Find out if the sanctuary staff is sensitive to the special needs of ferals andunderstands they’re not just “scaredy-cats.” Look to see that there are lots of places forthe ferals to hide and all the cats have plenty of scratching posts, toys and comfortablenapping places. Ask what kind of food is used and how often the cats are fed. Make surethe animals look bright-eyed and healthy. Other questions to ask include: How do theyhandle sick cats – are there veterinary services available on site? What is their euthanasiapolicy? Do they have a cap on the number of cats they’ll take in? Do they have arelocation program for ferals where they will send a number of them to a barn or the like?If so, what are the guidelines and will your cats possibly be included?Once you’ve inspected the grounds and gotten the answers to all your questions, youcan now make a well-informed decision on whether this is going to be a responsible,healthy place where your cats will live safely and have a good chance of leading a happylife. If you’re not satisfied, don’t settle but keep looking for other alternatives. As thecats’ sole guardian, you’ll be at peace knowing you’ve done all you can to ensure theirfuture well-being.132