Rocky Mountain Architecture

I got to visit the Wild Animal Sanctuary on my trip to Colorado, located just outside of Denver. The Sanctuary was such a unique experience, getting to see these beautiful creatures up close but knowing they're being treated with the respect they deserve. The facility is nothing like a zoo. Just walking through, one can tell that the animals are the priority, not the people. The Sanctuary has over 650 big cats, bears, and other exotic animals, rescued from abusive private ownership and rundown roadside zoos. We even got to meet some tigers from the Netflix Docuseries Tiger King, who were seized in a government raid after Joe Exotic was arrested on charges of animal cruelty and violations of the Endangered Species Act. The Wild Animal Sanctuary, one of the few USDA approved facilities, has relations with the US government to work towards removing these animals from harmful or dangerous situations that are against the law. (Ironically, the Tiger King zoo is in Southern Oklahoma, which somehow makes me feel like I have an attachment to the story.) It's so heartwarming to see the same tigers that were suffering are now chubby and contented. Some of them had never had the opportunity to run in their entire lives until they were brought to the Sanctuary. And the best part is the fact that the Sanctuary is only a tiny part of the organization. They've also created a refuge in southern Colorado of over 9,000 acres for the animals to live on (compared to the Sanctuary's 950 acres). The Refuge is as close we can get to giving them an opportunity to return to the wild, providing them a "forever home." I loved visiting and hope to continue supporting animal rights in the US.