R.E.A.L. Cruzan Cats
Rescue. Educate. Adopt. Love.
To keep this work up, we need your help! Please DONATE, every little bit helps! If you are interested in becoming a corporate sponsor to help us succeed in our mission, please email rcc@realcruzancats.org


Tickets:
Join us for
Whiskers & Whiskey & Wine Fundraiser!
Tasting, Cocktail Party, Raffle & Silent Auction
to raise funds for the
St. Croix Cat Sanctuary & Spay/Neuter Clinic
Saturday, January 28, 2023 5-8pmin the beautiful, historic Club Comanche Pavilion
1 Strand Street, Christiansted, St. Croix
Tickets: $75 includes
• curated international tasting flights - your choice of whiskey or wine
• fresh New England oysters • international cheeses and charcuterie • delicious vegan hors d'oeuvres • delicious hors d'oeuvres
• Support your Favorite St. Croix Cat Rescue!
Wine, Beer and Signature Cocktails
available for purchase
Sponsors
Event Sponsors
Club Comanche Hotel St. Croix
Reliable Rentals

Ital In Paradise Chef Chris Monbelly

Castle Hill Lobster Company

Italian VI Trading
Leatherback Brewing Company

Burlington Wine & Spirits

Silent Auction Sponsors
DiningThe Goat Soup & Whiskey

Duggan's Reef

Savant

Too Chez

Castaway's

Beachside Cafe

Jump Up Deli & Dem Tings

The Landing Beach Bar

Flyers Bar and Grill

Blue Water Terrace

Cheeseburgers in America's Paradise

Seaside Market & Deli

Hotels
Cottages By The Sea

Victoria House

Wellness, Beauty & Recreation
Nep2une Scuba Diving

Virgin Kayak Tours

The Reef Golf Course

Beeston Hill Health and Fitness

Soul 2 Soul Intuitive

Lynn's Nails

Ivy Moon Salon

Chandra's Pet Salon

Gifts & Shopping
Mutiny Island Vodka

Adorn

Sonya Ltd.

Gecko Boutique

B Erin Designs

IB Design

Cabin in The Sky Designs

Sampson House

Dooney & Bourke Dandelion Shopper courtesy Laura Dawson

Secrid Ochre RFID Blocking Card Holder Slimwallet courtesy Evan Ziporyn

Ziggy's Island Market

Art & Photography
The Frame Up

Emily St.Amant

Misty Winter Photography

Whiskey Tasting Lineup
INDIARampur Single Malt Whisky
Double Cask • Non-Chill Filtered
Full-bodied aroma of tropical fruits, smooth malty tones, and oaky notes combining to produce an array of flavors. Matured in American bourbon barrels and European sherry casks.
TAIWAN
Kavallan Distillery King Car Whisky
A vatted single malt of sherry barrels and other specially selected barrels named for the King Car conglomerate. The palate has a hint of sweet mango juice with that spicy complexity and gentle warmth on a medium, oily and citrus finish. Awarded Gold Medal at SFWSC 2017.
JAPAN
The Fukano Whisky 10 YEAR
An award-winning rice-based whisky from the island of Kyushu, Japan. Aged for 10 years in ex-brandy puncheons, it's a stellar example of an intriguing and flavorful rice-based whisky.
CANADA
Found North Batch 005
Cask Strength Whisky
73% 21 Year and 27% 8 Year Old Whiskies
Batch: 005 • Bottle: 1983
A powerhouse Canadian wheater blended from two whiskies and aged predominantly in new American oak. Matured in new American oak and ex-bourbon barrels. Distilled and aged in Canada
USA
Rare Character Presents Single Barrel Series Selected by Burlington Wine & Spirits
Cask Strength Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Barrel No. RIO-227. Proof 115.58 Age 6 yrs.7 mos.
USA
Copper & Cask Straight Rye Whiskey
Single Barrel Selection
4 Years Old
Non-Chill Filtered
IRELAND
Redbreast 21 Year Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey
Triple Distilled & Matured in the Finest Oak Casks
The aging process introduces new levels of depth, flavor, and taste creating a complex and rewarding whiskey. Abundantly aromatic. Taste of vanilla, toasted oak, and fruit notes. Long oak & barley finish. Awarded Double Gold at the 2019 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
IRELAND
Bushmills 16 Year Single Malt Irish Whiskey
Rare • Matured in Three Woods
Wine Enthusiast-"Wonderfully succulent bouquet with aeration deeper scents of red fruit, soft malt, paraffin, ripe apple and citrus rind appear. Mouth presence is fully integrated and harmonious; midpalate shows red fruit, apple and butterscotch tastes. Finishes oaky, mild and luscious."
SCOTLAND
Kilchoman Islay’s Farm Distillery Islay Madeira Cask Matured Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Non-Chill Filtered & Natural Color
The Madeira Cask Matured was distilled in May 2016 and matured for 5 years and 3 months in 46 fresh Madeira hogsheads, before being bottled at 50% abv in August 2021 and released in March 2022.
SCOTLAND
The Balvanie 14 Year Caribbean Cask Single Malt Whisky
Extra Matured in Rum Casks
The Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14 year old single malt whisky has been matured in traditional oak whisky casks for 14 years, and then ‘finished’ in casks that previously held Caribbean rum. The result is an exceptional single malt whisky with the traditional smooth, honeyed character of The Balvenie married with notes of toffee and a hint of fruit, with a warm, lingering finish.
Nose: Rich, sweet and creamy toffee on the nose combines with fresh fruit notes
Taste: Rounded with vanilla and sweet oak notes, with a fruity character that develops with time
Finish: Soft and lingering
Wine Tasting Lineup
ILHA Blanc de Noir, Diana Silva 2018Madeira: A white wine made from the red Tinta Negra Mole grape on the island of Madeira. This is not a fortified wine, but a beautiful, crystalline, mineral-driven white wine that is excellent for the table. Best enjoyed with just a slight chill and served with fresh oysters
Paleokerisio, Domaine Glinavos 2020
Greece: Meaning "old fashioned" (paleokerisio), this sparkling revives the well-known traditional semi-sparkling wine of the region. Local Debina, Vlahiko, and Bekari grapes go through skin contact before fermentation, resulting a light amber orange color. Off-dry charming sparkling with flavors of baked pear/apple, orange peels, and mountain spices.
Château Musar, Hochar Pere et Fils 2019
Lebanon: A silky Bordelais-like red wine from legendary Lebanese produce Ch. Musar. Made from 30 year old vines, this is often known as the "second wine" from Ch. Musar. Dark red and black fruits feel like velvet on the palate. There is a fine minerality and elegance with the lingering finish.
Buzet Jarnicoton, Domaine du Pech 2018
Southwest France: A dark and richly colored blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, with black fruits and licorice aromas. Full-bodied, dry, and structured, this blend spends 12 months in cuve, and no SO2 is added. Pair with short ribs braised in shoyu.
Monte Xanic, Cabernet Sauvignon 2020
Mexico: A medium-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon showing red fruits, spice and mocha finish. Aged in new French oak barrel for one year. Grapes are grown in the Guade
Condrieu, Roc d'Ucarisse, Domaine Clos de la Bonnette 2019
France: The Viognier vines from this celebrated appellation are grown on stone-terraced slopes that had been left to nature. The Guiller-Montabonnet family rescued this overgrown vineyard and produce this dry full-bodied white from late harvest grapes. It is fermented and aged with native yeast, with full malolactic fermentation, and aged in used barriques.
Programs
Rescue. Educate. Adopt. Love.
Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Release
If you are interested in learning how to trap or want to get involved to help us end cat overpopulation on island, please email us!
Education
Adoption
To see our cats and kittens currently available for adoption, click here.
Food for Ferals
If you feed cats in St. Croix and need help, please email us
Total Cats & Kittens Adopted
St. Croix Cat Sanctuary & Spay/Neuter Clinic
We recently acquired a 5-acre property in Christiansted and began making plans to build a major cat sanctuary. This means a much needed safe haven for potentially hundreds of homeless cats on island. The goal of Phase 1 is simply creating a clean and safe habitat for approximately 100 cats. This means landscaping, constructing fences, building feeding stations and shelters, and creating the medical infrastructure to keep the cats healthy. These cats are in the nearby Altoona Lagoon and need to be moved as soon as possible to enable and protect the re-introduction of the critically endangered St. Croix Ground Lizard - by moving large colonies of cats into this controlled environment, we will be able to both keep them healthy and potentially find them homes while protecting wildlife on the island.
We are also immediately beginning building a SPAY/NEUTER UNIT with Dr. Michelle Mehalick, to help all of the island's animal rescues with their Trap-Neuter-Release and provide low-cost spay neuter around the island to get the overpopulation of dogs and cats under control.
Landscaping will be done mindfully in consultation with the USVI Department of Planning & Natural Resources division of Fish and Wildlife and St. George Village Botanical Garden. By carefully planning the enclosure, we will be able to protect native birds from the cats. Fencing the upper portion of the property will require approximately 1730 linear feet of 10-foot high coated welded steel fencing on bent steel posts (to keep cats in) and metal flashing around the base (to keep endangered reptiles out.) Feeding Stations and Shelters for feral cats will ensure proper nourishment and give cats shelter from the sun and rain. The first 100 cats will come from nearby overcrowded colonies: they'll be moved to the Sanctuary after being combo tested for Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) and Feline Leukemia (FeLV), microchipped, and spayed/neuteredas needed. This will give us the basis of an ongoing database to keep track of all of the cats and keep them up to date with flea preventatives and vaccines.
Additionally, we will build safe enclosures for FeLV+ cats so they can live happy lives and be cared for, without any risk to the rest of the cats. Intake areas will be constructed to screen new animals and triage senior and at-risk kitties who need extra medical attention. We are partnering with the veterinary teams at St. Croix Animal Welfare Center, Progressive Veterinary Hospital and Sugar Mill Veterinary Center.
This is an ambitious undertaking, one that will fundamentally change the feline situation on the island. But it's just the beginning of what we'd like to do. Looking forward to Phases 2 & 3, we hope to build a Residence for a caretaker and volunteers and a Visitor Center. The property as a whole will be accessible and multi-use: the upper Sanctuary itself will welcome visitors and potential adopters, while the lower Seaside and Lagoon will be open to the public, to be used for fishing, hiking and enjoying nature, with facilities for a small fish stand where local fisherman can sell their daily catch, and boardwalks through the mangroves for the public to enjoy nature walks around the sanctuary. The Seaside and Lagoon are currently used daily by locals, and we will not restrict access to the public in the lower portion of the property, but rather make that portion of the property more accessible. Cat5 Builders, LLC will be helping us with planning and building, donating labor and materials at cost to help us with the actual physical construction.
We estimate the cost of Phase 1 - obtaining permits, clearing the land, cat fencing, bringing water and electricity into the property, and building feeding structures and shelter for the cats throughout the property - to be approximately $115,000. In our first year of operation of the sanctuary, we estimate the direct cost of care for the cats to be approximately $30,000 for food, water filtration, combo testing, vaccination, preventatives, spay/neuter when necessary and microchipping. On top of that we estimate about $15,000 in miscellaneous veterinary costs and medications. In total our goal is to raise $160,000 to establish the sanctuary and support these cats through the first year of operation.
Aside from raising funds, we plan to start a "Voluntourism" program to bring volunteers - everyone from cat lovers, carpenters, welders, landscapers, veterinary students and veterinarians - to St. Croix to help build and operate the Sanctuary. To make this program successful, REAL Cruzan Cats will solicit St. Croix homeowners to donate a 7-day, 6-night stay at their home, condo or villa, as a charitable donation that will directly support the programs of the Sanctuary. The Volunteers will be responsible for getting to St. Croix, but in addition to housing, REAL Cruzan Cats will also engage other local companies such as rental car agencies, restaurants, sightseeing and sporting activities, etc. to offer special deals and discounts to volunteers. These donations will be used to offset costs and allow REAL Cruzan Cats to generate more proceeds that will be used to cover operational costs.


What People Say?
Team

Co-founder & President
Christine is an animal lover and multimedia artist. She enjoys hiking with her dog Margot, macro photoraphy, and composing music.

Vice President
Lana loves dogs and cats, and is the USVI Realtor of the Year with USVI Sotheby's.

Treasurer
Marcia is a retired bookkeeper and lives in North Carolina. She loves to paint in her spare time!








Foster / Social Media Designer
Margi Erway



Veterinarian
Dr. Michelle Mehalick is our superstar vet who probably holds a national (world?) record for fastest spay/neuter surgeries, while making tiny incisions that heal flawlessly! She joined our team in 2022, though she has been our vet since 2015. She also does relief work around the US, using her superpower to spay and neuter as many cats as she gets her hands on!

Veterinarian
Dr. Laura Bailey

Veterinarian
Dr. Stacia Jung

Veterinarian
Dr. Ariel Baumann

Veterinarian
Dr. Kasey Canton

Veterinarian
Dr. Kevin Fallon

Vet Tech
Heather Drake

Vet Tech
Tara Kerby

Vet Tech
Sue Brown

Vet Tech
Jody Gay

Veterinary Assistant
Michelle Maso

Veterinary Assistant
Rasa Glengary

Veterinary Assistant
Dori Puracchio







Asha Colianni

Erin Procter

Pam Moody







Contact
Please leave a message and one of our volunteers will get back to you as soon as possible!
65 Turning Mill Road, Lexington, MA 02420
Mailing (donation items):
R.E.A.L. Cruzan Cats c/o Lana Homnick-Lee, 2101 Company Street Suite #2, Christiansted, VI 00820
Coming Soon: The Sanctuary
59 Mount Welcome, Christiansted, VI 00820