Black Pine Animal Sanctuary - History

History

Black Pine Animal Sanctuary began operating in 1994 as a privately owned for-profit corporation. The earliest educational programming offered was to local pre-schools and primary schools who took field trips to see the animals and learn about them. In the mid-90's the sanctuary added a gift shop and established a regular tour schedule during the summer season for the general public.

In 1998 following the launch of the sanctuary's first web site visitor attendance began a steady increase. In 2004 over 17,000 visitors from all over the U.S. and several other countries visited. In 2003 the sanctuary reorganized and began operating under Professional Animal Retirement Center (PARC), Inc., a 501c3 tax exempt non-profit corporation.

In December 2006 the sanctuary completed a relocation to its current site. The sanctuary is managed by a volunteer board of directors, a paid staff of one full-time director/lead keeper and one part-time keeper, and several long-time volunteer keepers. Additionally, a student internship program provides additional unpaid labor to carry out the non-profit mission.

In April 2010 the sanctuary's Board of Directors officially change the organization's "doing business as" name from Black Pine Animal Park to Black Pine Animal Sanctuary to more accurately reflect the non-profit mission and its policy of no buying, selling, breeding, trading, or commercial use of animals.