Two cats play at atop a mural at the Bear Den Sanctuary in Bulverde. Credit: Michael Karlis

The San Antonio-area cat sanctuary that recently went viral on social media is now seeking $1 million to fund its expansion.

Bulverde’s Bear Den Cat Sanctuary has launched an ambitious fundraising campaign to open a second location. Its founder, a local woman who only goes by the name Blake for security reasons, wants to use the money to buy 25 to 30 additional acres in Comal County to house homeless cats and combat the area’s feral cat problem.

“Over the past several months, we’ve taken in dozens of cats from the euthanasia list at our local city shelter,” Blake said in a Tuesday Instagram post. “In addition, we have been asked to take in over 1,000 cats. I know that sounds crazy, but there is such a huge need out there.”

Bear Den Cat Sanctuary is at capacity with about 200 cats roaming its three-acre Hill Country site. The San Antonio Feral Cat Coalition, a partner of Bear Den Sanctuary, estimates more than 200,000 feral domestic felines currently reside in the Alamo City.

Bear Den Cat Sanctuary is currently accepting donations on via a “donate” tab on its website.

Money raised by Beard Den Cat Sanctuary will also go to building structures for cats to live in and hiring part-time employees. The shelter will also use the funds to pay for food and medical care, including spaying and neutering the cats, according to Blake.

“[One million dollars] might sound like a lot, and we know it is a big ask, but we’ve crunched the numbers, and that is the minimum cost to start the second sanctuary,” she said in the Instagram post.

Blake is open to the possibility receiving donated land, which she said property owners could potentially write off on their taxes.

Blake started Bear Den Sanctuary in 2021 after she began questioning what type of legacy she wanted to leave behind. The sanctuary is named in honor of her beloved cat, Bear, who went missing and was never found. The shelter has so far garnered nearly 50,000 Instagram followers.

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This article appears in Best of San Antonio 2024.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...