Save Canada's Largest Exotic Animal Rescue

Founded in 1995, Little Ray’s Nature Centre is extremely proud to have been providing inspirational, educational programming throughout Canada for over 25 years, all while advocating for responsible pet ownership and aiding the SPCA, Humane Societies, Municipal, Provincial and Federal authorities with the placement of seized and unwanted exotic animals. Little Ray’s now acts as the largest exotic animal rescue in Canada, and has been responsible for the rescue, safe transport and care of 1,000’s of animals that would have otherwise faced euthanasia.  

Today, we need your support. 

We have been drastically affected by Covid 19 and we have been all but completely shut down. We lost March which is our single busiest month of the year and over the past 4 years, March represented 24% to 32% of our gross annual revenue. In March through May we are 94% down in revenue with limited capacity to generate any revenue. We have been almost completely cut off during these unprecedented times and we simply can not turn off the lights off and return when business is back to normal. We have over 800 animals that need heat, cooling, food, veterinary care, enrichment, etc etc. We can assure you that our animals are receiving the same excellent level of care throughout this pandemic, and our veterinary team are still coming every 2 weeks to work with our dedicated animal care staff. So everyone understands we have applied for every government program we are eligible for but the CEBA loan for small business was capped at $40,000. If your payroll was $20,000 a year you got $40,000. If your payroll was $880,000 a year, you got $40,000. We were ultimately eligible for 1/43 of what other small businesses received and we have been waiting and advocating for the government to better supper larger small businesses but no traction at this time.  And through all of this the need for rescues is growing with provincial authorities.

The next couple weeks are absolutely critical for our animals as we navigate the financial perils of close-to-zero income with limited changes in core expenses - our animals still need to be cared for and fed, the building still needs power and utilities, our animal care staff still need to come in and care for the animals, etc. 

Additionally, this came in the middle of our move to our new home in Sarsfield where the animals now reside. Although our animals are there we had to cease construction to be fully open to the public. We are able to open to small private groups but this can only generate enough revenue to cover 25% to 30% of our base operating expenses and know that all of our senior managers are on greatly reduced hours and Little Ray and Sheri have not drawn a salary since March. The new centre that we are building is going to be run under our non-profit that was set up 2018, Foundation For Animal Rescue And Education. This non-profit will be solely devoted to the care and well-being of our animals and the rescue and placement of animals in need of homes all while delivering the same highly educational programming promoting conservation and responsible pet ownership.

The decision to move our nature centres to a non profit model is something that we decided to do at the end of 2018 but with the plans to move to Sarsfield we had held off to make this announcement with our opening in Sarsfield but it makes sense to make this announcement now as we need support to get through this year. As result, we are launching this new campaign under our non profit Foundation For Animal Rescue And Education, or FARE, to help us make it through the year and through Covid-19. This new campaign will allow people to donate through a monthly contribution. We have multiple tiers of programs each supporting different aspects of FARE. 

Donations will 100% go towards the care and maintenance of the animals and the core costs associated with them.

With the regulations required to operate in these unprecedented times and the restrictions being place for public health and safety we are preparing for our nature centres and much of our revenue generating activities  to be shut down until the end of the year. With everything scaled back financially while maintaining the same level of animal care our operating requirement between both facilities is currently just under $70,000 a month. We do anticipate that we will be able to generate $20,000 a month on our own but we need to generate another $50,000 a month to keep the lights on and to be safe we are anticipating we need this for the seven months it will take from June through December for things to start to return to normal for us. 

If you are interested in sponsoring different aspects of the nature centre and our animal care we are now accepting Corporate and Foundation donations to sponsor different areas of the zoo - Have your company's name up on an enclosure, presentation stage, outdoor exhibit, and more and individuals are now able to support us through this monthly contribution program. We need your help as our nature centres struggle to keep the lights on while the reality sets in that our 3 month shut down will be extended through the year. 

We greatly appreciate all of your support over the past 25 years. Whether it was through supporting one of our educational programs or events, or visiting one of our nature centres. All of this has played a critical role in supporting our rescue and conservation efforts both domestically and abroad. Stay safe and please embrace this unique time with your family and loved ones.