The cats are all our babies so I think of them as our family members, as our babies. We go in and talk with them and touch them.

Enlightened viewers, welcome to today’s Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants featuring the non-profit animal sanctuary Last Hope Cat Kingdom, the only no-kill animal shelter in California, USA’s Merced County. Unlike typical pounds and shelters which euthanize animals if they have not been adopted after a set period, residents of a no-kill shelter can stay for life.

Our primary goal is to get animals adopted. And we do several hundred adoptions a year. But if the animal is for whatever reason not adopted, they will live out their life here with us.

I just love animals; that’s why I love Last Hope Cat Kingdom.

For my birthday I asked for a donation for Last Hope Cat Kingdom, instead of presents.

I collected more than US$600 for Last Hope Cat Kingdom.

Cats are treasured friends and beloved companions to countless people, and studies have shown that caring for a feline has a constructive effect on one’s health and well-being.

Cats are very smart and they can get you; they figure you out.

And they figure out if you like them or not. If they know that you like them, they’ll be around you. And we can see differences in the kitties. You know, sometimes cats, they look after you the way a human being looks after you. But often, I look in the cat’s eyes, I say, “My gosh,” it’s almost like a person is in front of you.

Co-founded in 2001 by Atwater resident Renate Schmitz and her kindhearted daughter Mona, Last Hope Cat Kingdom rescues, cares for and finds loving homes for cats, dogs and other animals.

From the time she was a child, Mona was always concerned about abused, neglected and homeless animals of all kinds, and wished to have a large space where she could look after animals and give them a good life. Mona’s dream began to take shape in 2002 when she and her mother found a seven-hectare parcel of land in Atwater that could be turned into a splendid home for animals.

First we lived in Winton (California), and my daughter worked in a veterinary clinic where they put so many animals down who were healthy. People didn’t want them. She brought a cat home, and finally we had over 10 cats. And she said we have to get a big place.

She said, “Mama, we have to get a big place to save the animals.” She said, “And it’s so troubling every day to see how many animals get put down because people have no space.” And it took us four years before we finally had a place for the animals where cats can move in.

Mona passed away in 2008. In her memory and to fulfill her dream, Ms. Schmitz, along with a group of dedicated volunteers, has continued and expanded on her daughter's plan to create a large haven for animals.

It began as a cat rescue when Mona started, but she started taking in dogs as well. And we have horses and goats and a pig and some turtles. And really any kind of domesticated animals that are in need are welcome. All animals are welcome.

And our place filled up very fast, because the community called constantly … a woman dies, she has three cats, can you take them? Otherwise they have to be put down. Or a gentleman’s getting sick, and they say, “I cannot take care of my animals anymore, but they’re my best friends.”

And my daughter was always (saying) that animals are our friends, our family. So we helped the elderly people first here. That was always our priority. So, that’s how we filled up our shelter very quick. We had up to 200 cats.

And pretty soon, it started that people called us and said, “You know, we don’t have the money. My cat has a broken leg. Can you help us?” So what my daughter did, she took the animals to the clinic where she worked and she took care (of them). And it felt good for us to help the cat, that the cat survived, and is doing so well.

Feral cats are different from stray cats as they have no contact with humans. Ferals are born to cats who once had a home, but then were abandoned or are the offspring of other feral cats.

The feral cats actually were something very special that my daughter took care of. She started to trap the cats and she actually got our volunteers involved, and sometimes in a day we had 20 cat traps set. In one year, my daughter trapped 800 feral cats. She made sure that the animals all got spayed, that they all got their shots, including rabies shots.

And in some places we released them, but in other places we couldn’t release them, so we found some farmers, who took some animals in and we made sure that they fed them. And right now our dream is, it was my daughter’s dream; we have 18 acres, and it was my daughter’s dream to have everything fenced; the 18 acres so that we can have from the whole (Merced) County the feral cats when people don’t want them. Can you imagine what a difference that will make?

Homeless animals are exposed to the heat and cold, receive no medical care, and do not have a steady source of food. To eliminate suffering, it is important to be a loving caregiver and ensure one’s animal companion does not have babies unless all offspring will be placed in caring homes.

Spay and neuter

Is the key and not abandoning your animals, because a single cat can have many thousands of kittens, or be the sire of many thousands of kittens in his lifetime. So abandoning one non-spayed cat can lead to many thousands of lives that will be brutal and short out on the streets. So spaying and neutering and taking care of your animals is… the main thing here, that’s the key.

In addition to animal rescue, Last Hope Cat Kingdom is helping to develop an innovative community program which protects animal companions and aids young people coping with challenging family issues.

Last Hope is involved in a program…. and it’s in very early stages. We’re working with University of California- Merced and with Merced County to create a program that’s called “Break the Cycle of Violence.” And Last Hope’s part in that is that we will take in animals that come from domestic violence situations, so that they will be safely housed here rather than going to the pound to be put to sleep.

And then the families who have been disrupted, and especially the children, can come out here and visit with the animals. And also they will work with social workers and such out here, so… working with animals has been proven to help children learn empathy, and help them to think of others besides themselves and we hope that this program will make a big difference in the county.

What kind of feedback does the Cat Kingdom receive from those who adopt new feline friends from them?

And we have a lot of people, they come back and show us the kitty or write us the stories, what the kitty is doing, and you can see a lot of people are really in love with the animals. And they’re not only an animal, they are a family member.

And a lot of people when they lose their animals, we meet them too, and see how sad they are, because they lost almost a piece of them. So, it feels very, very good when we adopt an animal out, every time. It doesn’t matter if we adopt 10 out, or if we adopt one in a week. Every one, we feel wonderful that they got a new home, and a safe home.

In the early morning hours of Friday, December 31, 2010, a fire at Last Hope Cat Kingdom that started due to an electrical failure caused extensive damage as firefighters raced to rescue the feline residents. All the cat rooms at the facility had been thoughtfully fitted with doors leading outside, and of the 150 cats living there, approximately 80 were saved, but over 60, many of them seniors, were too quickly overcome to escape on their own and sadly perished.

Upon hearing of this unfortunate event, Supreme Master Ching Hai sent a contribution of US$10,000 to support the rebuilding of the sanctuary, thus helping Last Hope Cat Kingdom continue its wonderful work. On Supreme Master Ching Hai’s behalf, our local Association members presented the check to Renate Schmitz. They also provided a delicious vegan lunch to the sanctuary staff.

Supreme Master Ching Hai, thank you so much for this check for the US$10,000. It will make a big, big difference here in our animals’ lives. We will make more fencing, so that we can save more animals’ lives. We will have more homes for feral cats here. Thank you. If you could be here, I would hug you and thank you..

We have around 50 animals in foster homes now.

So as soon as we recover with everything and rebuild we will be open again for the community; people when they cannot keep the animals and that. We’ll be open again to take the animals in.

It means the world to us to have this gift from you, Supreme Master Ching Hai. We appreciate it so deeply. Thank you.

Thank you Supreme Master Ching Hai!

To express their gratefulness for the support, Last Hope Cat Kingdom created a beautiful certificate of appreciation for Supreme Master Ching Hai.

We have (a certificate of) appreciation from Last Hope Cat Kingdom to Supreme Master Ching Hai. And thank you so much a thousand times.

With sincerest gratitude to the Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association for your compassionate gift to the animals of the Last Hope Cat Kingdom, January 2011, Atwater, California.

Renate Schmitz and Last Hope Cat Kingdom staff, thank you for all you are doing for vulnerable cats and other animals in Merced County. May the sanctuary always be aided in its life-protecting mission through the blessings of Heaven.

For more details on Last Hope Cat Kingdom, please visit:

Noble viewers, thank you for joining us today on Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants. Coming up next is Enlightening Entertainment, after Noteworthy News. May Divine love forever shine on all lives.