In difficult year, Sharon sanctuary's animals in need
How to help
The Valley of the Kings Sanctuary needs help keeping its animals fed and healthy.
People can help in a variety of ways including:
-- Donating money by check or by Pay Pal on the Valley of the Kings website, votk.org.
Checks can be sent to Valley of the Kings Sanctuary & Retreat, W7593 Townhall Road, Sharon, WI, 53585-9728.
-- Cleaning out the freezer.
"We're all guilty of putting stuff in the freezer and forgetting about it," said Jill Carnegie, sanctuary owner. Any beef, turkey, venison or chicken that has not been seasoned can be used, even if it has freezer burn. Also, liver, tongue, heart or any other organ meat from the same animals is appreciated. The shelter cannot use pork or fish.
Items can be put in a garbage bag and placed on the wooden pallet outside of the sanctuary gates.
-- The sanctuary takes road-kill deer but cannot take any other road kill. The sanctuary can also take some dead livestock, but farmers should call for more information.
For more information, call (262) 736-9386, email info@votk.org or visit to learn more.
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Suffering from arthritis and not as mobile as in younger days, Chicar the cougar settles in for a meal.
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A lion feeds on the hindquarters of a roadkill deer at the Valley of the Kings Sanctuary & Retreat in Sharon.
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A hungry lioness feeds on a deer carcass. It is one of many lions at the Valley of the Kings Sanctuary & Retreat that faces a dire situation this year because of a shortage of the meat the animals usually eat.
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Wheelbarrows of donated meat, including roadkill from the area, sit at the edge of the pens at the Valley of the Kings Sanctuary. The lions nearby know its feeding time and started to pace at the edge of their enclosures, waiting for their meal.
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Jill Carnegie, of the Valley of the Kings Sanctuary in Sharon, looks into a trailer that once served as their storage facility for food for the animals. For the first time, the trailer is empty and though the animals still get fed, things are tighter than they used to be.
SHARON — By this time of year, the big refrigerated trailer at the Valley of the Kings Sanctuary & Retreat typically is filled with roadkill deer.
It's not a pleasant image, but it's an important one.
Valley of the Kings is home to 39 big cats and 150 other animals that have been abused, abandoned, retired or injured. They all need feeding, and most of them need meat.
In a news release dated Sept. 12, sanctuary co-owner Jill Carnegie said the sanctuary is in "dire straits."
This year's drought seems to have taken its toll on deer. Carnegie can't explain the lack of roadkill deer in any other way.
Deer go where the best food sources are, and this summer, southern Wisconsin went from a green and lush buffet to a brown wasteland.
The drought will affect the sanctuary in other ways as well. The hoofed animals at the sanctuary eat primarily hay and grain. Because both crops fared poorly throughout the Midwest, experts predict costs could reach record highs.
That translates to higher costs for the sanctuary.
The need for money—and deer—is greater than it has ever been in the shelter's 38 years.
On Friday, the rain kept many of the big cats inside their shelters.
When workers came around with dinner, however, the animals came stalking out. Saucer-sized paws flipped over deer haunches. After olfactory explorations, the powerful jaws and teeth went to work.
Two lions can devour a 160-pound deer in two days.
Carnegie described the tigers as "bottomless pits" when it comes to food.
Feeding the big cats store-bought food could cost as much as $1,200 a day.
Most of the animals at the sanctuary are there because of human folly, vanity or just plain meanness.
Charlie, a sleek and dangerous-looking black panther, had all his teeth and claws removed by a previous owner. Now, Charlie's tongue works constantly in and out of his mouth, and he can only be fed ground food.
There are tigers that were kept as pets. Two lions were formerly part of a tourist attraction. Have your picture taken with the cubs? Of course, but when the cubs became too big to be useful or convenient, they had to go elsewhere.
Several big cats were crippled by malnutrition or by living in enclosures that were too small.
Then there are the bears, civets, wolves, cougars, bobcats, leopards, rare breed cows and foxes that have all found their ways to the sanctuary and need care, shelter, food and entertainment to keep them mentally healthy.
Carnegie knows all of their stories, and she worries about what will happen to them without help.
A few of the animals have sponsors who pay monthly fees to care for the animals.
In an effort to contain costs, the sanctuary is no longer taking hoofed animals such as horses. This summer, she also found homes for 50 horses.
Oct 4, 2012 at 6:40 p.m.
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It's always entertaining to watch the bleeding hearts say something like we CAN'T feed horses to the big cats. Yet, for example, thousands of rats and mice are fed to snakes every day across the U.S. Like most animal rights activists and vegetarians, they let their emotions run their brains, and let thoughts of the large mammals "big eyes" and "beauty" control their logic. That and anthropomorphism just do make make sense, especially in "dire" situations.
Sep 26, 2012 at 7:14 p.m.
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Wow! People, get real here. Before you post know the facts.
None of the meat donated could be used to feed children or any other human for that matter. The donations consist mainly of deer road kill, cows that have died prematurely, and stores that don't want to throw away unusable meat, maybe it fell on the floor or old/and or freezer burned meat.
Valley of the Kings is not a place to bring your horse to be fed to the cats. VOTK will find a home for horses that have been given up on by their owners. VOTK believes animals have a right to live.
Just because people choose to purchase a tiger to have it's pic taken with children doesn't mean that tiger needs to be put to sleep at 6 months old when it is too big to be safe with people. This tiger deserves to live.
VOTK is heaven to animal lovers. Please donate to keep it here.
And don't worry about "hungry lions". The cats at VOTK get fed daily. Somehow they will continue to be fed daily.
Sep 26, 2012 at 4:26 p.m.
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If anybody that posts a negitive response could have the priveledge to work next to these wonderful animals, I think you would change your mind.
Sep 26, 2012 at 10:24 a.m.
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I'd like to think that some of the less than compassionate responses made here were a reaction to the discomfort one feels recognizing that these creatures were treated inhumanely or discarded. It's sad to see them live out their lives in cages, but we deal out mercy as we can to those that cannot live otherwise. So, thanks to Valley of the Kings for trying to assuage some of the hurt and cruelty from these animal's lives.
Sep 25, 2012 at 8:56 p.m.
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thank you for taking care of the animals.
Sep 25, 2012 at 10:04 a.m.
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I have been to the Valley of the Kings. What has happened to some of these animals before they have gotten there is horrible. They didnt' write about all of that in this article. This is probably the best life some of these animals have seen. They should not be put down because some selfish person wanted to have a cute lion cub. I will be sending a check today. They are doing a great thing there.
Sep 25, 2012 at 9:22 a.m.
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Hmmm, gave away 50 abused horses and 39 carnivores go hungry. No! Stop thinking! That's to horribly natural to even consider! If I truly respected and appreciated nature I would never imagine a toothless, declawed animal would live.
Sep 25, 2012 at 9:19 a.m.
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wow, jethrobodean is a piece, thats for sure. He says "Just put the animals down." No big deal, right "Jeth-ro"? What do you want to do then, with the road kill deer? Feed it to the "local kids that need help"? Sure hope you dont have any pets.
Sep 25, 2012 at 9:19 a.m.
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916 comment signifies the depths of maliciousness and depravity that exist within human beings. Not funny, and I have a feeling you actually mean it.
Sep 25, 2012 at 9:08 a.m.
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I have visited this place, and have mixed emotions about it. I found it very interesting, as well as somewhat scary !!
There is no doubt in my mind that these people mean well, and are very devoted to their cause.
However, when you depend on donations and road kill to feed these animals, when times get tough like they are now, you are forced to make some serious decisions...
I hope they can survive.
Sep 25, 2012 at 8:58 a.m.
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916........Thanks for the great laugh this morning!! I agree 1,000%!!!! GREAT POST!
Sep 25, 2012 at 7:09 a.m.
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Is it just me, or does anyone else find it unnerving that there are all these very large, very hungry cats in the county? I assume that there is significant security, but hungry means desperate and willing to do that which is in their nature - hunt for their meals, whatever it takes. Guess I will just not think too hard about it.
Sep 25, 2012 at 6:13 a.m.
Sep 24, 2012 at 11:11 p.m.
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What a waste of money. Put these animals down. Spend the money on local kids that need help.
Sep 24, 2012 at 9:56 p.m.
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They should all be euthanized. While it's deplorable that people are allowed to keep such pets, equally detestable to give good meat to anything other then a hungry person. Especially to a non-native species.
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As far as roadkill deer? I see plenty in Rock County where they spray paint the carcass and let it rot on the side of the road. Looks like it's a simple matter of placing a phone call to Mr. Spoden asking for a phone call everytime a deputy is called to a car-deer collision. To bad we couldn't use this resource for a local animal shelter in these dire times.
Sep 24, 2012 at 9:25 p.m.
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What should have happened years ago did not and these poor animals are suffering because of it. Instead of saying what we should do now to protest them we need to do something now to help those abused live. How can we help these animals is what should be asked not how we should react about about what had happened before. Thank you to the Valley of the Kings Sanctuary.
Sep 24, 2012 at 8:36 p.m.
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Well said 'dustyd'
Sep 24, 2012 at 6:29 p.m.
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If folks would stop messing so much with wild animals like these a host of heartbreaking issues would be resolved. Step one would be to get away from the "bear attack" mentality of hunting magazines. I've actually heard peope in rural Wisconsin expressing concern about being attacked by a cougar. Please google how many people were killed by cougars this year and why it happened. Afterward, you might be a lot more concerned with being struck by lightning. Tell me truthfully outdoorsmen, wouldn't you love to see a cougar or a wolf in the wild? Beginning to respect and appreciate nature rather than killing or conquering it would be a start, normal game animals or varmits excluded. I wish more Wisconsinites would consider the joy of observing and photographing a wild animal in its natural environment instead of shooting it. Predetors have their place in the ecosystem. Wisconsin isn't just a very large deer farm. Even those that disagree with my opinion, and there are many on this blog, please give to these folks so they can clean up the broken lives of wild animals that were "adopted" or otherwise compromised by humans.
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