This past May, a shooting range opened only 80 feet from the property line of Goathouse Refuge, a no-kill, cage-free cat sanctuary located in North Carolina.

Since opening, the noise from the range has been constant and quite frightening to the cats, even causing some to become ill and chew on their paws until bleeding as a result of anxiety. It has also caused a huge drop in visitors who are disturbed by the noise, which means that fewer cats are getting adopted. In addition, many of the fundraising events or meetings that used to be held at Goathouse can no longer take place there, causing a huge drop in funding. Their largest fundraising event was not held in the spring because of the situation, an event that usually brings in about $30,000 each year.

As a result of a petition that Siglinda Scarpa, Goathouse’s founder, started against the shooting range, as well as her phone calls to the sheriff’s office and neighbor’s complaints, the shooting range owners began to blast Siglinda and the Goathouse Refuge on a well-known right wing radio station, claiming they were against the second amendment and cared more about the cats than their country.

People even began to break in to the refuge at night and intimidate Siglinda and her cats. Then people began posting on Craigslist offers to drive more than an hour to the refuge to use the cats for target practice.

Finally, though, Goathouse began to prevail with the county commissioners. The sheriff’s office discovered that the noise from the range was well above what county ordinances allow. The range has been silent since then, though the owner is looking into building earthen berms and planting trees to reduce the noise decibel level. As a result of the silence, the cats have been doing much better and have ceased chewing on their paws and one is recuperating after losing his hearing.

The county department for the environment also gave the shooting range 2 citations for causing environmental damage. However, both citations included deadlines to present a plan to remedy the situation by the 22nd of August and yet there is no word of any change.

According to Siglinda, the owner plans to reopen the shooting range in the fall. If the range reopens, Goathouse may have to file a civil law suit, as even the legal noise limit is too much for the cats, visitors and staff and the refuge’s operations have been greatly damaged by the shooting range. Currently, Goathouse is in a dire situation and needs significant funding to meet their needs in the upcoming months. As a result of the dire situation, they are not able to take in any new cats until things clear up and, hopefully, get back to normal.

To donate to Goathouse, visit: http://www.goathouserefuge. org/donate/ .

To sign a petition on behalf of Goathouse Refuge, visit Goathouse Petition

To write letters or emails to the Chatham County Board of Commissioners, visit: http://www.chathamnc.org/index.aspx?page=34 for information. There is an example of one such letter on Goathouse Refuge’s site here