I once read a book entitled: “There’s no place like home: Happiness can be found in your own backyard.” I thought about it the other day when I discovered a little piece of the wild kingdom not far from my home.
Allow me to explain. My 2-year-old daughter LOVES animals… if she could she would transport herself to Diego’s rainforest and ask his family to adopt her. Unfortunately for her she is “forced” to call Wisconsin home (no humpback whales or red-eyed tree frogs here). To compensate for her “exile” to the frozen tundra I have spent countless hours on the road driving her across the region in search of the exotic four-legged friends she so admires. Unbeknownst to me (until now) we didn’t need to travel as far as we did for her to get her animal fix.
“Valley of the Kings” sanctuary located in Walworth County, Wisconsin is a place where retired circus animals, along with abused and neglected animals have found a loving home. The place is teeming with purebred lions, tigers, camels, foxes, goats, ducks (nearly 100), geese and more. The sanctuary is spread out over 10 acres and is dotted with tall wire cages, which house more than 42 big cats, emus and even blind horses.
This wild animal retirement home (of sorts) is the brainchild of Jill Carnegie-Tomasi and her husband, Jim. The couple created the home for abused, abandoned, retired and injured animals nearly four decades ago and in all those years they say they have never had an escape (probably because the animals are so well fed).
One of the “stars” of the sanctuary is Kubwa the tiger. The couple obtained the big cat from a local family who thought it would be great to have a tiger for a pet—that is until they realized that Kubwa liked to chew on the couch and the kids.
To dissuade visits from people who enjoy taunting the injured animals the sanctuary is not open to the general public. Rather, admission if restricted to members of the sanctuary. You can learn more about becoming a member by clicking here.
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