The Coopers Rock Mountain Lion Santuary

The debate continues to decide whether or not cougars exist in West Virginia. We do know that a few have been kept as pets and then released when the pet becomes what it should be - a wild beast.

We do have a little known Mountain Lion facility in the state. Below are excerpts from their website at http://www.cougarsanctuary.org/index.html.

The Coppers Rock Mountain Lion Sanctuary is dedicated to Rescuing Abused and Neglected Cougars and is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation located on 170 acres just outside of Morgantown, W.Va.

Who We Are

We are an all-volunteer sanctuary in the mountains of West Virginia. We provide a permanent home to neglected cougars that need a safe haven. We are situated in their natural environment and we make them as comfortable as possible for the rest of their lives. We pay for their care through donations and grants.

Our Community

We strive to reach to the community, to support education about cougars. We encourage volunteer work to help with the maintenance and expansion of the sanctuary, and we provide opportunities for groups to visit the cats. We are also a great way for local corporate donors to give back to the community.

Certification

We are fully licensed by the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. We are recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation.

I would suggest this is a great cause and need your donations. Following is specific information from The Cooper's Rock Mounatin Lion Sanctuary.

Donate Goods/Funds

We are an all-volunteer organization. There is no paid staff at the sanctuary. All donated funds go directly to the support of the mountain lions and the infrastructure of the sanctuary. We are a non-profit organization. Donations are tax deductible in accordance with federal tax codes and where applicable to individuals.

You can mail financial donations directly to the sanctuary. Please make checks payable to "Cooper's Rock Mountain Lion Sanctuary" and mail to :
Cooper's Rock Mountain Lion Sanctuary
Route 1 Box 332-K
Bruceton Mills, W.Va. 26525

If you have a special skill, such as operating heavy equipment or installing electrical systems, feel free to donate services or labor. If you're in the area and can be on call to help with projects on a day or two notice, leave your phone number and help with short tasks periodically.

Goods that we need include office supplies, paper suitable for printers, printer cartridges (for the HP Inkjet 5550), chain link fencing, tools, and stamps. At the moment we also could really use a laser printer and a four-wheel-drive vehicle of some sort. We publish the quarterly newsletter from our homes. It costs approximately $100 to print and publish, plus the cost of stamps every quarter. We currently mail the newsletter out to approximately 125 people on our mailing list, plus extra copies on hand for visitors and to distribute locally, bringing the total printing to nearly 200 copies per quarter. If you'd like to sponsor a newsletter, please contact Mark at mark@cougarsanctuary.org.

If you'd like to donate meat, please call in advance to determine the need. There are conditions on meat donations. The meat must be raw; preferably has bones (occasionally we accept meat without bones but this is not usual); no spices, no pre-treatments, and no built-in pop-up thermometers; and the meat must not be from medicated animals. We prefer to know the source and how old the meat is.

A perpetual need is to expand our capabilities of holding frozen meat. We currently have floor model freezers but would prefer to upgrade to commercial freezers. If anyone can help with obtaining this sort of equipment or building a walk-in freezer with a staging area, we'd really appreciate that. We would like to be able to stockpile frozen meat during hunting season when people are especially generous, but are currently unable to do it.