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 WELCOME TO RESQCATS ! 
 
 
 
 RESQCATS is a non-profit cat sanctuary located in Santa Barbara, California, dedicated to the rescue, care and adoption of abandoned cats and kittens. 
 
 
 
 It is my not so humble opinion that God outdid Himself when He created cats. They are small enough to sit on your cold feet without cutting into your already questionable circulation. They greet you in the morning by marching up your body to stand firmly on your chest announcing "can opener time." They bring you presents to honor you. They appreciate what you do for them by purring and rubbing against you as you do it. 
 
 
 
 Many of our cats and kittens arrive very frightened and in desperate need of love and socialization. It is important to personally know each cat in order to find the "purrfect" home. Some kitties will do fine in homes with young children while others may not. Sometimes it is better for a shy or traumatized cat to be adopted out with a more outgoing sibling or playmate. And occasionally, a cat prefers to be the only cat in the house! 
 
 
 
 Quite a few calls I receive at RESQCATS are from people who have just lost their beloved furry friend through death. They are sometimes filled with grief and call because they miss having a kitty around to give the unconditional love they are so good at bestowing upon us. 
 
 
 
 Whether the reason for thinking of adopting a cat or kitten is the loss of your own or the desire to give a furry friend a good home, I would love to hear from you. 
 
 
 
 This site explains what RESQCATS is about and how you can help. For a quick peek of our facilities, visit our cats and kittens at the Online RESQCATS Sanctuary. Many of the kittens you see on this site were once or are RESQCATS cats and kittens themselves. 
 
 
 
 Jeffyne Telson 
 
 President 
 
 805-563-9424 
 
 
 
 email 
 
 
 
 "What matters most is 
 
 how you see yourself..." 
 
 
 
 Copyright Alan Wnuk ||||| The daily hustle got you down? 
 
 God's Little People Cat Rescue on the Greek Island of Syros is looking to hire a live-in caretaker. The job comes with free housing and a salary, according to a post on the organization's Facebook page. 
 
 "PAID JOB OFFER WITH CATS! (this is genuine and NOT a joke — friends, please feel free to verify!)," the posting reads. "A very special position and living circumstance on offer on a little Greek island called Syros (a small paradise no less!)" (Syros is located in the Aegean Sea to the Southeast of Athens, Greece.) ||||| ELIZABETH — Animal trainer Peter Winney wants to bring six lions and tigers to his girlfriend’s ranch south of Elizabeth, but the couple has faced allegations of smuggling cats, according to state wildlife records obtained by The Denver Post. 
 
 Winney was convicted once for bringing two lion cubs into the state without proper documents and charged two other times with having unlicensed animals. 
 
 He said the 2003 conviction was a misunderstanding over paperwork, though it cost him his wildlife license for a year. 
 
 Elbert County commissioners will decide Wednesday whether Winney and Joan Laub, a psychologist, can keep six big cats at a sanctuary they have built in a rural but residential neighborhood, pending state and federal permits. 
 
 At a zoning hearing last month, dozens of area residents criticized the proposal, concerned about safety, property values and whether the scent of lions and tigers would spook nearby horses and livestock. 
 
 “When we settled in this neighborhood, we never anticipated we would be awakened in the predawn hours by a lion’s roar,” said neighbor Ed Steinman. 
 
 No one seemed aware that Winney has been charged three times in cases involving unlicensed lions and tigers, resulting in a dismissal, an acquittal and a conviction. 
 
 “It’s a vendetta thing,” Winney said Monday of the Division of Wildlife. 
 
 Tim Holeman, a spokesman for the division, said the agency is doing a thorough but fair job. “The delicate balance between the needs of wildlife and human activity demands nothing less,” he said. 
 
 Like Winney, Laub also has been charged with offenses involving the state Division of Wildlife, but a Douglas County judge sealed her records in 2004, citing privacy. 
 
 The charges against her stemmed from the cases involving Winney, Laub said, and she was never convicted. 
 
 In August 2001, Winney’s business associate, Adam Fishman, took a tiger to the Elbert County Fair in Kiowa. Turned away, Fishman instead exhibited the cat at the County Seat bar in Kiowa, according to state wildlife records. 
 
 When authorities investigated eight days later, Winney and Fishman could not produce a license for two lions and two tigers they were keeping at another sanctuary. 
 
 Winney said the cats were never his, and the district attorney’s office dismissed the case. Fishman has since left the state and could not be located for comment. 
 
 In November 2001, Winney fetched two sick lion cubs from a faltering sanctuary in South Dakota and brought them to a refuge near Colorado Springs for life-saving care. 
 
 Winney said Monday that he thought he had obtained the clearances he needed from local and federal officials in South Dakota, and his conviction was the result of a poor legal defense. 
 
 After exhausting his appeals, Winney lost his wildlife license. It was suspended for one year, until November. 
 
 In May 2002, Winney and Fishman brought two tigers to a party at Laub’s home in Parker. 
 
 One tiger allegedly pinned down a 2-year-old child, and Winney was charged with failing to have a license for the tigers. State records are unclear about details of the incident, but Winney said no one was ever in danger. He was acquitted by a jury. 
 
 “Oh well, I’m sure I will have another opportunity in the future,” district wildlife manager Gene Abram wrote in a 2003 e-mail to colleagues after Winney’s acquittal. 
 
 Holeman said Winney’s record would not be a factor in any future application for the Elbert County sanctuary. 
 
 “We consider each application on its merits,” he said. 
 
 Winney has touted his experience as an animal trainer in his qualifications to oversee the proposed sanctuary, including two years as “sole handler” for Siegfried & Roy in Las Vegas. 
 
 A spokeswoman for Siegfried & Roy characterized Winney’s role with the showmen as in a “junior capacity.” 
 
 Winney is “not an expert, if that’s the impression,” said spokeswoman Kala Peterson. 
 
 Winney said Peterson’s characterization is inaccurate and just part of Siegfried & Roy’s effort to present themselves as the sole experts in their act. 
 
 “In the cat world when you join the family, you’re in the family, but when you leave you’re no longer part of the family,” he said. 
 
 Staff writer Joey Bunch can be reached at 303-820-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com.
– When Joan and Richard Bowell decided it was time to leave the Greek island of Syros, they first needed to find someone to manage the cat sanctuary they'd established there. God's Little People Cat Rescue, which started with one stray mama cat and her two kittens, expanded to more than 60 cats roaming the Bowells' property as they continued to take in strays. They posted a Facebook ad for a modestly paid job managing the sanctuary—and 40,000 people responded. The ad went viral, spawning headlines about the "dream job" or "purrrfect job," leading the Bowells to explain to would-be caretakers that it would, in fact, often be a difficult job—not only would poop have to be scooped and the like, but "heartbreaking decisions" would need to be made about sick cats. Months later, as the Washington Post reports, the sanctuary's caretaker has been chosen. Jeffyne Telson's husband sent her the ad soon after it was posted in August, the 62-year-old recalls. Telson runs her own cat rescue in Santa Barbara, Calif., only taking in strays; she's adopted out 3,000 cats and kittens over the past 21 years and has kept those who can't be placed at her own small sanctuary. Her application stood out, and the Bowells traveled to California to visit the couple in September. Joan and Jeffyne clicked immediately, and the Bowells offered Telson the job. She'll run the Syros sanctuary for some months, while volunteers run her Santa Barbara rescue, and other finalists for the Syros job will likely then take their own turns managing God's Little People. Meanwhile, the Bowells are looking into expanding the sanctuary, possibly even using it as an international training center for similarly-minded volunteers.