2015 Rare Life Award Presented to Alana Miller of Blind Cat Rescue & Sanctuary

The Rare Life Award is an annual recognition program created to honor individuals who exhibit courage, leadership, survival, devotion, character and heroism. Candidates are nominated by friends, family and colleagues. Their stories and photos are posted online at www.eaglerarelife.com, where many people vote for their favorite inspirational stories.

The 2015 award received 259 nominees and a record–setting 1 million votes were cast, 11 percent more than for the 2014 award. Miller garnered nearly half the votes, with 467,721, a testimony to her active social media presence, including more than 1 million Facebook fans.

Miller opened Blind Cat Rescue & Sanctuary in 2005 after volunteering for a local animal shelter and seeing blind cats immediately euthanized. “There were no resources or support for blind cats, but I decided I needed to do something,” Miller said. Blind Cat Rescue is a cage–free, lifetime care facility for blind cats and cats with feline versions of leukemia and HIV. Cats are not up for adoption into homes, but supporters have “adopted” them online – pledging financial support to cover expenses, which run about $230 per month per cat. Blind Cat Rescue provides full medical care including vaccinations and dental exams.

There are currently 91 cats at Blind Cat Rescue, which is about their maximum capacity. “We are not hoarders,” Miller said. “We are a responsible shelter, but we can’t save them all. However, 90 percent of the cats we put on Facebook get adopted.”

Part of Miller’s mission is educating the public, including potential adopters or those whose cat goes blind due to an illness. Miller said, “A blind cat doesn’t know it’s blind. They will act like a normal cat. They climb on top of things, scale the curtains … We have several big hamster–type wheels that the cats run on and they can’t see the wheel, but they can jog like nothing you’ve ever seen.” Cats, like humans, are vulnerable to a number of diseases that can cause them to lose vision, including cataracts, glaucoma, traumatic injury, and viral and bacterial infections.

Blind Cat Rescue features a live web stream of the cats 24/7 and a live tour of the shelter on the stream daily. Miller strives for transparency and also enjoys letting her supporters see her opening boxes of food or toys they have sent, so they can see where their donations go.

Eagle Rare spokesman Kris Comstock said, “Alana Miller has selflessly committed herself to helping a whole population of domestic animals that the rest of the world has written off. She has shared their stories and educates the public about caring for these creatures, while dedicating her own life to making sure they have safe shelter and lifelong care. We congratulate and thank her, along with our other winners and nominees, for sharing their rare lives with us. In addition to the cash award, we hope this greater visibility assists them in securing long–term support for their invaluable work.”

Eagle Rare also will donate $5,000 to the charities of choice of the six runners–up, each one embodying a distinct characteristic of a Rare Life: Courage, Leadership, Heroism, Character, Devotion and Survival. Eagle Rare’s prize donations for 2015 total $80,000. This is the fifth year for the Rare Life campaign, and the 2015 awards will bring total grants to date for charities to $240,000.

The six 2015 runners-up are:

Rocky Bleier of Pittsburgh, Pa.: Heroism Award for The Beating the Odds Foundation
Ashley Boyd Gann of Lexington, Ky.: Character Award for Sweet Blessings
Howard Garrett of Freeland, Wash.: Leadership Award for Orca Network
Karen Good of Trail, Minn.: Courage Award for Red Lake Rosie’s Rescue
Brooke Pennypacker of Palm Harbor, Fla.: Devotion Award for Operation Migration
Melissa Phelps of Warsaw, Ky.: Survival Award for Dystonia Medical Research Foundation

For more information on the Rare Life Award or Eagle Rare Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, visit www.eaglerarelife.com.

About Eagle Rare Bourbon
Eagle Rare Bourbon Whiskey is part of the award–winning Buffalo Trace Distillery, an American family–owned company based in Frankfort, (Franklin County), Kentucky. The Distillery's rich distilling tradition dates back to 1773 and includes such legends as E.H. Taylor, Jr., George T. Stagg, Albert B. Blanton, Orville Schupp, and Elmer T. Lee. Eagle Rare Bourbon is a 10–year–old bourbon that has won multiple awards, including five double gold medals from the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. To learn more about Eagle Rare visit www.eaglerarelife.com.

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