Power to the Kitties!

Electrical upgrades and other improvements are making life better for the residents at the Cat Sanctuary!

Major infrastructural upgrades to the RAPS Cat Sanctuary are nearing completion!

These may not be extremely obvious to visitors, but they are a huge improvement that will make the facilities safer and more pleasant for the residents – as well as for human volunteers and staff.

The upgrades began when a donor committed to fund desperately necessary electrical upgrades.

These electrical improvement were needed for a range of reasons. For one thing, the limited power on-site prevented adequate cooling in summer and heating in winter. The power would frequently shut down from being overburdened in times of high or low temperatures. Area heaters and window air conditioners would prove too much for the current and the entire facility’s power would go out.

Moreover, the power system would not accommodate industrial washers and dryers. This may not sound like a big thing deal to you. But then you have no idea the volume of laundry produced by hundreds of cats! It’s a heap, we assure you. We have now obtained two sets of high-volume washers and dryers, which are going to make an absolute world of difference for our volunteers and staff as we try to keep up with the endless mounds of towels, bedding and assorting feline falderal that needs fluffing and folding.

The upgraded electrical will allow us to provide all the heating and cooling necessary to respond to the needs, especially as climate change seems determined to bring more frequent extreme weather patterns. In addition to the washers and dryers, we will now be able to maximize hot water access as well.

To realize this upgrade, we had to dig a five-foot trench from the power source at the road, 800 feet to the facility. That required bringing in excavators, which was a very big project. (Volunteers and staff have been profoundly patient during this time of upheaval and we appreciate it!)

We realized that the trench presented an additional opportunity. Phone and internet service at the RAPS Cat Sanctuary and the Adoption Centre is verging on medieval! Internet access wasn’t quite like 1990s dialup – but it wasn’t too much better.

We contacted Telus to ask if there was a way to lay fibreoptic cable while the trench was open for the electrical project and they responded in spades! They did it at no expense to our organization. This is going to make a massive difference to the people and animals of RAPS.

Why? Well, aside from the obvious – communication by phone and internet will be more reliable – we will be able to improve security.

We have always had security on the premises, of course, but the new technology will allow us to enhance that. For instance, we will be able to exponentially increase the number of cameras around the perimeter and employ night-vision cameras, which are severely limited at present.

There’s also potential for some more fun applications, too!

We will be able to do more live-streaming. It’s always a hoot to visit the cats during opening hours. Imagine if you could tune in and see the mundane and extraordinary hijinx of the residents at any time – from anywhere in the world!

Maybe you can do a real-life Where’s Waldo thing and pore over footage for the cat you sponsor! In any event, you will be able to see the top-notch care the residents get at this Kitty Club Med!

During the winter season, we hope to turn the Sanctuary into a holiday family destination, with a winter wonderland of lights to brighten the season. Think of a Festival of Lights enhanced by hundreds of furry greeters!

In addition to all this, a separate but related improvement will see the removal of storage bins from the grounds, thanks to new warehouse space we have obtained. These giant storage bins (you’ve seen them on our TV show Pets & Pickers, but they also serve as makeshift lockers for the odds and ends we need for the organization) will finally be taken from the site. That will allow us to reconfigure the parking area, alleviating the always congested car lot area.

Additional, even more visible upgrades are in store, including renovations to the doublewide, which is the intake house for new cats. For this specific project, we need building supplies of all varieties. If you or someone you know has access to supplies, please contact us to make this a reality.

And, of course, all of these improvements add to our budgetary demands, so your support means everything to us.

We’ll keep you in the loop as things progress. 2025 is going to be awesome!