Date: 07-01-2012
This life-size bronze statue of Sabrina was just installed over the grave of Sabrina, the matriarch and queen of the sanctuary big cats. She died last November after a losing battle with cancer. She was like a family member to our Chairman, Louis Dorfman, who says,
"Sabrina was the most emotional big cat at the International Exotic Animal Sanctuary, and that quality exhibited itself in great affection and desire to touch and be caressed on days that fit that mood. There were other times when she was in an agitated mood, such as when she was about to come in heat, and on those days she knew she just had to convey her feelings to me, which she would do with only a look that she knew I would understand. I would then respect her wishes and feelings and sit 6 feet away, sharing time and space. We never had any physical conflict or hostile interaction in 17 years. In many ways I felt we both understood a great deal we each felt and thought in a nonverbal communication in unexplained ways.
She even had a very fun-loving sense of humor. Often I would sit with her in her house while she slept. She would be obviously sound asleep and my mind would drift off to various issues. She would sometimes just explode up without warning and hover over me before I could move; then, satisfied that she had sufficiently gotten my attention, she would chuff, and contentedly lie back down and go to sleep.
This sense of loss and heartbreak has been the worst I have experienced. She will always be in my heart and in my thoughts. The days with Sabrina were tranquil, mellow, full of love, and a sense of sharing a very special relationship which I am so privileged to have experienced with such a magnificent, majestic, loveable, and noble being."
She will have an honored place, together with her likeness cast in bronze over her grave, at the top of the sanctuary next to the Nutrition Center where she can be seen for many generations to come.
The pictures below represent some of our success stories in rehabilitating cats that came to the Sanctuary 
either resentful of humans or aggressive towards humans. They did not trust humans and therefore considered humans as adversaries. With our unique behavioral enrichment program based on affection, love, and respect, you can see how their attitudes have changed.
Our Animal Behaviorist, Louis Dorfman, uses no discipline, treating the cats as respected sentient beings, and their response is very rewardin...
