Founder and Executive Director “ Pat Craig.“ Pat began saving captive wildlife after learning that thousands of surplus animals were being kept in tiny cages in the back of zoos all across the country with many being euthanized on a daily basis. Pat set out on a mission to help save these animals by building a small rescue facility on his family farm outside Boulder, CO. At age 19, Pat became the youngest state and federally licensed person in the country, as well as the first person to build a sanctuary dedicated to saving large carnivores and other animals.

Pat’s vision has led 44 years later to the oldest and largest nonprofit sanctuary in the world dedicated to rescuing captive exotic and endangered large carnivores that have been abused, abandoned, exploited or illegally kept. Beginning in 2022, Pat saw the need for a wild horse refuge to be created in order to help wild Mustangs in Colorado. He subsequently created the largest wild horse sanctuary in the United States by opening a 23,000-acre facility in northwest Colorado for Mustangs that were being removed from their native ranges by the BLM.

Pat’s 44 years of experience in captive large carnivore rescue, transportation, animal behavior and sanctuary development have led to his becoming a leading expert in the field. He spent more than a decade rescuing PMU horses back in the late 80's and early 90's and has rescued hundreds of horses in need while also operating three separate large carnivore sanctuaries.

Pat lectures regionally and nationally on captive wildlife rescue and transportation, great cat behaviors and diets, and has worked tirelessly toward better protection for these animals. He works hand-in-hand with the USDA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Colorado Division of Wildlife, and many other state and national organizations in the never-ending fight to rescue animals in need. Pat has also worked with Canadian, Mexican, Spanish, Bolivian, Uruguayan, Panamanian and Peruvian, Lebanese and Korean government agencies on large and extremely complicated rescues from within their countries.

Pat oversees and participates in all TWAS operations, including rescues, both within the United States and abroad. Pat has over 44 years of experience in designing, building and operating specialized rescue equipment for use in transporting large carnivores and wild horses and manages the largest fleet of rescue equipment in the country. His expertise in handling large rescues in demanding situations, as well as successfully covering great distances is well known among law enforcement agencies across the U.S.

Pat has a BS in Education from the University of Northern Colorado, and has received recognition and awards from many sources including the United States Secretary of Agriculture Honor Award for service above and beyond to the USDA, the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Humane Association and E-Achievement Award from E-Town Environmental Radio Show. Besides being featured as a modern-day Noah by 60 minutes news, Pat was also a finalist in Animal Planet Hero of the Year selections and currently has two Emmy Awards for educational videos he helped produce.