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    PAWS

    4.3 (19 reviews)
    Open 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

    Services - PAWS

    Animal shelters

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    Reviews With Photos

    Joyce Z.

    As soon as I saw Candice's pictures and read her review for PAWS, I knew I needed to go myself. If I can go 4 hours each way for Hula Pie, I can go 2 1/2 hour each way for elephants. In fact, elephant, tigers, and bears oh my! I was lucky enough to recently attend their special 35th Anniversary Open House - http://aroundthebayandaway.blogspot.com/2019/06/paws-performing-animal-welfare-society.html PAWS is a sanctuary for animals that have often been rescued from abuse in the name of entertainment or exotic trade. All those tricks you see them do is often not because they want to but because they have been trained to fear the consequences of the bullhooks if they do not. Thankfully bullhooks have already been outlawed in California but the trauma remains as demonstrated by the first elephant we met, Nicholas whose story will bring you to tears. Despite it being an open house, aside from a quick glimpse on the shuttle ride up from the entrance, not all elephants were available to spend time with as after all, this is a sanctuary and their needs come first. We did get to enjoy the antics of Mara and Thika who apparently knows that the appearance of shuttle buses means special treats are on the horizon other than their normal bales of hay so they came down the hill to join in the festivities. Although both around the same age, Thika is more timid while Mara seems to be the boss of the two being a long time resident of PAWS since 1990. We got to see Mara walk off with her hay bale so she didn't have to share, be the first to make her presence known for treats by shaking the fence, and then almost swallowing an iPhone in a successful attempt to take a picture of her teeth. She was rewarded with apples, oranges, or bananas donated by visitors acquired through a $5 bean bag toss. On the way back to the shuttle, we passed the black bear and tiger habitat as well and was rewarded with a glimpse when they chose to come down. Remember, animal sightings are bonuses, not guarantees as this is their sanctuary and we are guests. Because this is a sanctuary, it is not open to the public except for a few times during the year - http://www.pawsweb.org/calendar_of_events.html for an Open House or Educational Seeing the Elephant Weekend Getaway. Either way, I feel so honored to see these animals get a new lease on life.

    PAWS Open House - must purchase and reserve tickets several months in advance. They always sell out.
    Carl F.

    For the last 5 or so years my dad has been trying to get me to watch the HBO documentary, 'An Apology To Elephants' and for the last 5 or so years I've strongly declined viewing because I know I'm not emotionally or psychologically equipped to deal with any of the sad animal situations that I know will be presented in what I'm sure is a wonderful and educational feature. Apparently, both Kentucky and California have elephant rescue sanctuaries (I think the doc largely examines the elephants now living at the rescue in Kentucky) but I found PAWS on Yelp, believe it or not, and my Dad made plans to fly in when they host one of their open houses (that requires tickets bought months in advance- they always sell out - so don't just show up unannounced because that's rude) so we could check it out since I refuse to watch the movie. You can purchase entry into the facility for special events but it usually runs in the several hundred dollar range. It all goes to taking care of the animals and the land, so it's not this money-making scheme, but last week someone handed me a $20 bill that I thought was fake because it's legit been so long since I've had that much money in my hand sooo those special tours are unfortunately not in my budget BUT several times a year PAWS hosts an open house event. I think the open houses are 2-4 times a year and extremely limited. It's $50 a person, buy your tickets months in advance, and you also need to be there butt-ass early in the morning (I think we left from my place in San Mateo at 7am to get there right on time) to participate in the event. They bus you up to several of their Elephant habitats and a guide will tell you about each of the elephants' background and lemme tell ya, they are all sad. Particularly Nicolas', who is apparently so aggressive towards any other living thing that he'll likely need to be kept separate from the other elephants forever. He did seem to enjoy being fed and doing his own thing though, so I guess that's as happy an ending as one can ask for. I didn't cry. Which was great. Because I'm a real snot-running down my tear streams and into my mouth when it comes to sad animal stuff. I think maybe because PAWS actively does so much to give these elephants what they've never had, and the animals have sooo much land and care, that it almost makes you think that not all humans terrible, just most, obviously., Even though there's a bus that takes you around, there's still a fair amount of walking and it's outdoors so wearing trainers or hiking shoes isn't a terrible idea. You can't pet the elephants or feed the elephants or anything like that. You're there to hear their stories, observe them from behind the a safety fence, and learn more about their conservation. For $50, it was a grand experience. There's also several rescued bears and tigers on site that have also been rescued and man, if I could be anything, I think it'd be one of those tigers. They looked happier than a pig in clover. They have lots of volunteers on hand for the open house day and you can not only learn a ton about the animals, but there was one table with a Tupperware container FULL of tiger whiskers (for those not in the know, I save and collect cat whiskers... I've got about 8 year of them in a container at home along with whiskers my friends will tape to greeting cards and send me bc they know it is p much the main source of my happiness). I've never been so tempted to steal something in my entire life. The woman running the table even let me open up the tub and hold them and my god my heart was racing so fast but I didn't take anything. And as soon as I put the jar back down my Dad commented that he saw the look in my eyes and could tell I wanted to, but was proud that I refrained. Like a respectable human. Not like the loser ones who were jags to the animals in the first place. Anyway, you should def look up the PAWS website and calendar to see when the next open house is. It's really cool and I'd say the average age of attendees was probably 60, so it's a cool way to support animals but in the company of mature adults.

    Miss Amy p.

    Unforgettable! I treated myself to the Seeing the Elephants tour and I'm so glad I did. The tour I went on just happened to be on rainy day...not a break in the rain throughout the whole day but the staff and Ed, the co-founder, never rushed us or tried to shorten the time of the tour because of the wet weather. Ed answered all of our questions and told really interesting stories about PAWS, each elephant's particular story, and how each one came to be at the PAWS facility. The amount of space they have for the elephants to roam is impressive. You can tell from the facility and from the volunteers and staff that there's a lot of thought and care going into this unique place. If this is your kind of thing, you will definitely want to check out PAWS and the Seeing the Elephants tour. You might hesitate to do so based on the price of the tour but really, it will be something you will remember forever plus your money will be spent supporting a great cause.

    Amy J.

    I came away from their holiday open house impressed that all the employees and volunteers are trying to accomplish a noble deed with little funding and a facility that is in rapid decline. Wasn't sure what to expect of the Galt location. Mostly, it seems to be a temporary spot for animals waiting to be transported to the San Andreas facility. There are several big cats, including lions, tigers and a black leopard. A couple of bears and an amusing monkey round out the bunch. Interaction with the animals is limited to standing a few feet away from the cages. Understandable, considering their fear of liability issues. There was a volunteer or employee outside of each cage who was eager to give information about the animals or the facility. It's been open since 1984 and does the open houses periodically. The San Andreas location was having an open house the weekend after I visited Galt. Sounds like that facility is much newer, with a lot more animals( including elephants). Schedules are available on the website.

    A must see for all elephant admirers and is the only humane way to see elephants in California. There are limited days where the sanctuary is open to the public and tickets sell out quickly. All the elephants, big cats and bears were rescued and are allowed to live out their lives in a peaceful environment, free from being forced to perform or being gawked at by hoards of humans on a daily basis

    She saw us, and waited like this until someone came over to feed her some treats!
    Kimber D.

    Came here on my birthday for a See The Elephants tour, and was very impressed! They really put the animals here first, and do everything they can to make sure their animals are happy. Ed led the tour and it was great to hear everything from his beginnings to creating PAWS with Pat, the experiences over the years, and how the mission continues today. The animals truly seem happy here, and they make sure to never make them feel like they have to perform for the tours coming through. Although, they seemed more than happy to get a glimpse of us knowing they had some extra treats coming their way! Besides the elephant tours, they also have open houses which I will be sure to stop by on next time. They run purely on donations, so if you're a fan of elephants or want to donate to a cause which puts animals first look no further!

    Paws open house May 2015

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    Ask the Community - PAWS

    Hello. Wondering how much walking is involved? My husband uses a cane and can't go long distances .

    Quite a bit of walking is involved I have had 3 back surgeries and that much walking was tough for me to do however they had someone with a car to drive me when the walking got to be too much they were very accommodating just let the know in advance.

    When is this open to the public?

    Technically it's never open to the public they host tours but you have make an appointment well in advance they also provide accommodations for the longer visits it's tremendous and worth it!

    Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

    Review Highlights - PAWS

    Ed and the team are doing an amazing job caring for the animals and advocating for them.

    Mentioned in 5 reviews

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