Help Open Sydney's Cage-Free Cat Sanctuary

My name is Quin Whiddon, and I am the founder of Sydney’s Sanctuary.

Sydney’s Sanctuary was a dream I had 15 years ago when I started volunteering at animal rescues. While volunteering and traveling, I would write down ideas of what I would do differently and how I could make an impact. Sydney was my sweet baby that I adored, and to honor him, I decided to name our sanctuary Sydney’s.

Sydney’s Sanctuary will be a cozy, whimsical, fun, stress-free, and most importantly, cage-free environment where kitties can live comfortably until if/when they are adopted.

It is one thing to have a dream and quite another to actually make it a reality. A few months ago, I received multiple messages for help with cat placement all within a few weeks of each other. Katy needed a place to house her cat Stevie for 6 months, and she wanted Stevie to be in a comfortable, open environment with other cats.

Cassie’s daughter needed to rehome Quavo because her newborn was allergic. Lora was looking for an adopter for Ivan because his owner was diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Josh had tenants that moved to another state, and when he went to check on the condo, he discovered that they left behind 2 cats inside! Last week, Madyson contacted me via our website asking for placement for a polydactyl cat they named Mr. Toes because they discovered he has feline leukemia, and they have 2 other cats.

I have never had so many requests for help in such a small timeframe, and it left me feeling hopeless. I told my husband that we needed to do whatever it took to get things rolling.

I am a very spiritual person, and I have always felt that when you are on the path that you were meant to be on, doors open and things just fall into place. In our case, things began happening quicker than I imagined, and while I am excited, I am also nervous and filled with anxiety. We signed a lease and have been remodeling a space, and this is where you come in. We need help to complete our facility and are hoping to open in the fall. We need to raise $250,000, and I know it may seem like a lot, but if just 25,000 people donate at least $10, we could open and start saving kitties and making a difference in Austin, Texas.