The Goathouse Refuge

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The Goathouse Refuge Potter and sculptor Siglinda Scarpa, a native of Italy, makes her life here with the land and many, many animals.

The Goathouse Refuge is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, no-kill animal sanctuary located in Pittsboro, NC, dedicated to providing cage-free care for cats regardless of age, medical issues or disposition until a permanent, loving home can be found. The cats are housed in a studio building and are free to roam among the artists, staff, volunteers and visitors in a 1 acre, cat-safe enclosure. The refuge is a safe haven for cats who would have been euthanized in over-crowded shelters, for cats that have been considered "un-adoptable," and for cats that were unwanted or abandoned. Please check out our website, featuring our adoptable cats! We are always looking for volunteers to lend a hand. If you have photos of a cat or cats you adopted from the refuge, please feel free to add them. We love seeing the kitties happy in their new forever homes.

We at the Goathouse Refuge have known for years that FIV negative cats can safely live with FIV positive cats. We have s...
10/23/2026

We at the Goathouse Refuge have known for years that FIV negative cats can safely live with FIV positive cats. We have seen the proof because we have almost always had the cats living together beautifully and have never had any issues since they all get along. We have been advocating for FIV+ kitties to adopters and trying to educate the public on this issue. Now there is finally a shelter study that backs this up establishing 0% transmission rate among FIV-positive and FIV-negative cats in the same free-roaming areas.

Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) is a virus similar to HIV that affects cats. Scientists have long argued about whether cats can easily catch it just by living together peacefully or passing it from a mother to her kittens.

This study looked at two cat rescues to find out:

• Living together (Casual contact): Researchers followed a group of 138 cats (some FIV-positive and some FIV-negative) living in the same home for up to several years. Repeat testing showed that none of the FIV-negative cats caught the virus, even after years of sharing space with infected cats.

• Mother-to-kitten (Vertical transmission): Researchers looked at 5 FIV-positive mother cats and their 19 kittens. After the kittens were weaned (stopped nursing), all 19 tested FIV-negative.

The takeaway:
FIV does not easily spread through normal, friendly household contact (like sharing food, grooming, or playing) or from an infected mother cat to her nursing kittens.

We have five wonderful FIV+ cats available for adoption at the Goathouse, whose pictures are shown above. Please come visit them this weekend during visiting hours from 11am-3pm and open your heart to a wonderful new family member.

This beautiful little gray tabby is Meredith. She is part of a litter of 5. They were pulled from a county shelter and b...
10/23/2026

This beautiful little gray tabby is Meredith. She is part of a litter of 5. They were pulled from a county shelter and brought to the Refuge where they are safe and looking for their forever homes. We are still learning about Meredith but she is very friendly. Come meet this sweet girl and see if she could be your new best friend.
DOB: 05/04/2026
Please note, kittens must be at least four months old before they are adopted. Kittens must be at least nine months old before they are adopted into homes with children under the age of six years. We also require kittens to be adopted in pairs until they are five months old, as they are very bonded to their siblings and kitten friends and can become quite depressed and stressed due to the separation.

(Use our website link shown above and choose the donation tab.)The $50,000 Fall Matching Campaign has reached 7%!A very ...
10/22/2026

(Use our website link shown above and choose the donation tab.)
The $50,000 Fall Matching Campaign has reached 7%!
A very generous donor, has offered to match donations dollar for dollar, up to $50,000, releasing funds once a week until the $50,000 is reached.
Thank you in advance for your dedication to the Goathouse Refuge, a safe place for kitties, no matter what! ❤️

This beautiful little gray tabby is Melinda. She is part of a litter of 5. They were pulled from a county shelter and br...
10/22/2026

This beautiful little gray tabby is Melinda. She is part of a litter of 5. They were pulled from a county shelter and brought to the Refuge where they are safe and looking for their forever homes. We are still learning about Melinda but she is very friendly. Come meet this sweet girl and see if she could be your new best friend.

DOB: 05/04/2026
Please note, kittens must be at least four months old before they are adopted. Kittens must be at least nine months old before they are adopted into homes with children under the age of six years. We also require kittens to be adopted in pairs until they are five months old, as they are very bonded to their siblings and kitten friends and can become quite depressed and stressed due to the separation.

This handsome little guy is Kevin 2. He is part of a litter of 5 and the only boy! They were pulled from a county shelte...
10/21/2026

This handsome little guy is Kevin 2. He is part of a litter of 5 and the only boy! They were pulled from a county shelter and brought to the Refuge where they are safe and looking for their forever homes. We are still learning about Kevn, but he is very friendly. Come meet this sweet boy and see if he could be your new best friend.
DOB: 05/04/2026
Please note, kittens must be at least four months old before they are adopted. Kittens must be at least nine months old before they are adopted into homes with children under the age of six years. We also require kittens to be adopted in pairs until they are five months old, as they are very bonded to their siblings and kitten friends and can become quite depressed and stressed due to the separation.

Aurora and her four little babies were rescued by the refuge from a high-kill shelter in 2018 and she is patiently waiti...
10/20/2026

Aurora and her four little babies were rescued by the refuge from a high-kill shelter in 2018 and she is patiently waiting to find her forever home too. We would love for you to come meet her soon and see if she might be the one for you. Approx. DOB: 03/25/2017

Life hasn’t been easy for Cooky: he was dumped at the refuge in the fall of 2022 after likely having lived on his own wi...
10/19/2026

Life hasn’t been easy for Cooky: he was dumped at the refuge in the fall of 2022 after likely having lived on his own without knowing kindness from people up to that point. Understandably he’s still working to overcome his fearfulness, but even so he’s already making big strides with socialization. Perches and high-up places are where Cooky tends to feel most secure, but this boy has curious streak which we’ve managed to use to our advantage, encouraging him to play with wand toys at ground level, followed by some yummy treats. We would love to find an adopter that’s committed to continuing help Cooky come out of his shell. DOB:. 10/1/2020

Handsome Majestic was found as a stray and scanned for a microchip. He did have one, but unfortunately still lost his fa...
10/18/2026

Handsome Majestic was found as a stray and scanned for a microchip. He did have one, but unfortunately still lost his family and was entered into a municipal shelter. The Goathouse rescued him and he came to the Refuge in December of 2022. He is very sweet and friendly, but also laid back: really all this boy wants is a loving home where he can live out his golden years with a family who truly loves him. He gets along fine with other cats as well as dogs at the refuge, although we think he’d also be just fine as an only-cat.

Approx. DOB: 12/05/2012

Dalia was the young Mama kitty of Julio and Jenny. Dalia’s mothering duties are long over and she is ready to find a for...
10/17/2026

Dalia was the young Mama kitty of Julio and Jenny. Dalia’s mothering duties are long over and she is ready to find a forever home of her own. She is a little shy and needs a patient family to build that trust with her.
Approx. DOB: 3/20/21

Interested in adopting a Goathouse cat or kitten? Then please start by completing the following steps required in our screening process:
1) Complete our online adoption application: Visit www.goathouserefuge.org/adoption-application/ to get started!
2) Arrange to visit the cat(s) in person
3) Complete a home visit: Once you confirm that you've visited in person with the cat(s) of interest and completed the online application, your responses will be reviewed by the refuge staff so that a volunteer member of our home visit team can contact you to schedule a virtual visit.

Chucky is a brown tabby kitty was found wandering all by himself. A concerned neighbor found him and brought him to the ...
10/16/2026

Chucky is a brown tabby kitty was found wandering all by himself. A concerned neighbor found him and brought him to the Refuge. Chucky is a really good boy who likes to play with the feather-teaser or wiggle-worm (he tries to steal them & run off, so you gotta hold on tight!). He's starting to trust the volunteers a little more now and will sniff a hand when it's gently held close to him. We know he wants to interact more but he's just a little nervous, so he needs time and patience in a quiet, loving home and he will shine! We highly recommend visiting with him and getting to know his sweet personality!

Approx. DOB: 10/30/2020

1) Complete our online adoption application: Visit www.goathouserefuge.org/adoption-application/ to get started!
2) Arrange to visit the cat(s) in person
3) Complete a home visit: Once you confirm that you've visited in person with the cat(s) of interest and completed the online application, your responses will be reviewed by the refuge staff so that a volunteer member of our home visit team can contact you to schedule a virtual visit.

Address

405 Goathouse Road(updated)/mailing Address 680 Alton Alston Road
Pittsboro, NC
27312

Opening Hours

Saturday 11am - 3pm
Sunday 11am - 3pm

Telephone

+19195426815

Website

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