Note: This article was written before Barbara Reitter’s death on September 26th. Barbara so loved Carnivore Preservation Trust that she requested her memorial be held there. And the other volunteers at CPT so loved Barbara that we can’t imagine Sundays without her good cheer. Throughout her three-year battle with cancer, Barbara found ways to continue contributing her talents to CPT. By example, she taught us how to face life’s setbacks with grace and courage. My respect for her led me to suggest Barbara as a volunteer profile for Breakthrough.

Barbara’s spirit will live on at Carnivore Preservation Trust. Before her death, another volunteer established the Barbara Reitter Volunteer of the Year Award. Barbara is the 1998 recipient. She’ll be a tough act to follow.

If you’d like to honor Barbara’s memory, her family requests that you send donations to CPT in lieu of flowers (CPT, 1940 Hanks Chapel Road, Pittsboro, NC 27312). Or consider volunteering some time to CPT; you’re welcome to call me for ideas (Mandy Matson –919-467-2726).

Most Sunday afternoons you can find Barbara Reitter in a cage. She’s usually surrounded by babies: caracals, servals, ocelots—sometimes even a tiger or a clouded leopard. For the last six years, Barbara -- a Glaxo Wellcome Research Scientist -- has been a Sunday fixture at Carnivore Preservation Trust (CPT). "It’s an organization dedicated to preserving some of the endangered species," she explains. "Although we do have large cats, our breeding emphasis is on rain forest creatures that have been overlooked by zoos. CPT has had a fair amount of success breeding animals others haven’t been able to breed because our animals aren’t exposed to the stresses of a zoo."

Since CPT is not a public facility, the animals aren’t on display. Many of the enclosures are so overgrown with foliage it can be difficult to find the occupants. "The CPT complex is designed for the animals, not for humans," Barbara comments. But since most of the animals have had human contact since they were born, they enjoy human companionship. So a visitor touring the facility may find an attention-craving tiger walking beside him, with only a fence between them.

Although CPT’s breeding emphasis is on small cats, many of the volunteers and visitors are drawn to the compound because of its collection of large cats, which includes tigers, jaguars, leopards, clouded leopards, snow leopards, cougars (which are, technically, categorized as small cats but are physically large) and a lion. Many of the large cats are "rescues," animals that were abused, neglected and/or abandoned by their owners; usually people who mistakenly believed they could tame them as pets. CPT provides its rescues a safe haven for the rest of their lives.

The small paid staff relies on volunteer labor to help care for over 260 animals. Barbara’s first volunteer job was cage construction. Then she started feeding fruit to the omnivores -- binturongs, civets, kinkajous, tayras, grisons and a sun bear. She soon learned to clean the small cat cages, which involved training in handling the animals. "And that’s the end of that story. I just got addicted, and I go out almost every Sunday and do whatever needs doing," says Barbara.

Now she is often asked to feed and socialize the babies. "Being able to handle a baby ocelot or a baby tiger, and have it fall asleep on your lap," Barbara begins, then pauses to find the words, "there’s nothing compared to it. No matter what’s happening, I can go out there and hold a baby animal and I am totally, completely content."

Barbara’s loving attention is good for the animals, too. "We believe the animals that are not going to be released, those that are serving as our breeding stock, are much better off if they are handled by people," says CPT’s Executive Director Nancy Schonwalter. She explains that when animals are used to human contact, they don’t feel threatened when humans feed them, clean their cages or examine them. "It’s really a controversial idea because most places that have wild animals believe the contrary," Nancy comments. "But we think our methods are better for the animals, and they’re safer for the people involved."

Barbara’s favorite animal at CPT is her adopted, one-year-old caracal, Henrietta. A caracal is a small, African grassland cat with distinctive black tufts on its ears. "I adopted a caracal because it’s one of the cats that stays fairly friendly, so I’ll be able to interact with her as she gets older." A minor injury as an infant left Henrietta with a perpetual "wink," which makes her distinctive enough to pick out of a crowd (she shares space with three playmates). Barbara’s weekly visits have given Henrietta a very people-friendly disposition.

Barbara adopted the caracal when she was a baby, and named her in memory of her father, Henry. At CPT, adopting an animal does not mean bringing it home. Adoptive parents make a financial commitment for the life of the animal, and enjoy special visiting privileges. Barbara appreciates that Glaxo Wellcome supports employee volunteerism, and that company donations enhance her contributions. The $500 CPT receives from the GIVE program for Barbara’s volunteer work covers two-thirds of Henrietta’s annual adoption fee; Barbara pays the rest out of her own pocket, and CPT receives an additional donation from the Matching Gift program.

Barbara has found another way to help financially support her favorite cause. An accomplished photographer, Barbara donates prints to CPT’s annual art auction, one of the Trust’s main fundraising events. Three years ago she started creating Christmas cards featuring unusual photographs of baby animals. "The cards are cute and whimsical, and give our supporters a way to share CPT with their family and friends at Christmas," says Lori Widener, CPT’s Director of Development. (These Christmas cards are for sale at CPT; call 919-542-4684.)