Revelation Gardens
dog and cat sanctuary
About Us
Why we do what we do
The following simple story speaks to why we do what we do.
A sparrow was seen on the ground with its legs in the air. When asked what he was doing he said, “I heard the sky is falling so I have come to help.” The visitor laughed saying, “You can’t stop the sky from falling with those scrawny legs!” The sparrow replied, “One does what one can.”
Our efforts to reduce the number of pets in the system is a small number compared to the vastness of the issue, but even in small measure a difference is being made.
Our primary purpose is to help animals in our care learn to trust and live happy, healthy lives for the rest of their lives.
Our secondary purpose is reducing the need for rescues
As a society we can continue to care for homeless, abused, and surrendered pets, but if we don’t look at the underlying causes, the number of animals will continue to grow. For this reason our secondary purpose is to provide community outreach and support.
We do this through a three-pronged approach:
- By offering sanctuary to surrendered, abandoned, and abused pets we reduce the number entering the overburdened pet shelter system. We also intend to expand so we can provide owners who are nearing death or entering long-term care assurance their pet will be cared for.
- Through community education we meet with pet owners and offer resource alignment for bridging the gap between best practices and what is doable for families and individuals.
- Utilizing online toolkits as a resource for pet owners who may be dealing with stress and emotion overload, we aim to reduce the cause of abandonment and abuse. Our toolkits utilize evidence-based methods such as mindfulness, art, journal-writing, music, and movement and weave them together with neuroscience, health education, and spirituality creating personalized toolkits.
We believe it’s important to measure our impact. We do this through statistics, surveys, and video stories about our rescues. You can see our statistics below.
The images below show a snapshot of our statistical impact to-date in 2019 followed by our overall impact from July-Dec 2018. These data are recorded in the Shelter Animals Count.
Since Revelation Gardens was formed in July 2018 we have had the following successes:
- 26 pets were kept out of the shelter system
- 25 received vaccinations and medical care
- 23 were provided spay/ neuter surgeries
- 2 were reunited with their owner through a partnership with the Benton Co Animal Shelter
- 2 were transferred to other rescues
- 1 severely neglected dog was rescued through our community outreach program
- 1 feline was saved from euthanasia
- 3 were given love and proper burial at the end of their life when they would have otherwise died on the streets
All data is generated from intake and individual care records.
We have a 0% euthanasia rate and a 100% live release rate. As a sanctuary it isn’t our practice to adopt out our rescues. This is shown statistically as an intake and transfer in which is then offset through an outtake adoption.
Since July 2018 we have used euthanasia in three cases due to repercussions of serious illness. Rest in peace Princess, Kiki, and Roscoe. Baby Luna and Autumn Rose died of natural causes. All were buried with dignity and love and are laid to rest on our sanctuary grounds.
Contact us if you have questions or would like more information
The Revelation Gardens Board of Directors
It is important for a nonprofit charity to have proper oversight and accountability. One way we do this is through our Board of Directors. Learn more about them below:
Dawn Harris, Founder, President & Secretary
Dawn is passionate about creating a safe world for companion animals. Her background in grief and loss, psychology, and education provides the foundation of Revelation Gardens creating a home-like environment so cats and dogs heal and thrive.
Dawn earned a Master of Education from Vanderbilt University and a Bachelor of Art in Psychology with a focus on grief and loss from the University of Nevada, Reno. She has 36 years of experience in administration, creative design, program development, website management, and budgeting and has worked with rescues since she was 3 years old. Dawn provides the knowledge, experience and passion needed to lead a nonprofit public benefit corporation.
She lives in West Tennessee with her husband and the 22 rescued cats and dogs of Revelation Gardens
Gail Humphrey, Treasurer
Gail has a long and varied background with a lot to bring to the table (jack of all trades and master of none). Her work history includes restaurant manger, air traffic controller, paralegal, administrative assistant, working with the Dept. of Human Services and self-employed in direct sales, just to name a few. She was a member of the Tennessee Federation of Business and Professional Women, serving as an officer in several capacities for 10 years, including local President, State Treasurer and State Vice-President and State President, which were Board of Director positions. This provides her with the background to serve on the Board of Directors of Revelation Gardens. She is married and has a rescue German Shepherd, Dusty, who provides her with plenty of challenges. She lives on the Tennessee River where she enjoys her hobbies of boating, kayaking, hiking, crafts and reading. She has rescued dogs at her country setting for the past 25 years and can’t imagine a life without a furry baby!
Amber Geaudreau, Board Member
Andrew Wheatley, Board Member
Ellona Bateman, Board Member
Linda Zanaty, Board Member
Lori Vanscyoc, Board Member