National Reptile Foundation

Message from the founder

"All my life I have worked with animals in one way or another. I started out when I was 9 years old as a volunteer at the Alexander Jr. Museum, helping to take care of the animals they had there. Mostly it was wildlife that was injured too badly to ever be rehabilitated back into the wild.

A few years later my family moved to California. After graduating from high school I became the first paid employee at the Mendocino Coast Humane Society. I worked mostly with dogs, cats, and wildlife rehabilitation, and loved every minute of it.

I also started my own halfway house for homeless animals, Tender Loving Care. I took care of farm animals, dogs and cats, and a number of other critters including reptiles, and other wildlife.

At the age of 21 I developed a number of health challenges that put me flat on my back for a number of years. As I also became chemical sensitive from all the medications I was on, for the most part, I was confined to my bedroom.

During this time I worked on my computer from my room, writing about my experiences with the animals and networking with others over the Internet. This led me to Suzanne, Founder of the Worldwide MAD foundation. With her guidance and friendship she helped me to realize that I was not dying but getting ready to live.

It has been about two years now and I have regained my health. I am no longer confined to my bedroom and no longer a recipient of welfare. I am a productive member of this planet and a contributing member of the MAD Foundation. With the help of funds raised in this manner I'm here to Make A Difference in my own way by the creation of the National Reptile Foundation.

The National Reptile Foundation is a non-profit organization that takes in reptiles that cannot be kept by their owners any longer, or have been found and dropped off at shelters. Sometimes they have just gotten a lot bigger than expected and their owners have to give them up. Our aim is to help reptiles to be as happy and