By Crystal Harrell
Coachella Valley Weekly reported on Kitty’s Wildlife Refuge & Rescue in 2022—highlighting owner Kitty Pallesen’s efforts to support all desert wildlife in need with food, water, shelter, shade, and medical attention when needed. Over the years, locals have come to Kitty with animals in need of assistance that veterinarians would not accept or help—garnering a reputation of being a safe haven for wounded animals.
2022 was a devastating year for Kitty, following the confiscation and deaths of her precious handicapped ravens Desi, Molly, Ozzy, Spirit, Cuckoo, Valentine, and Sweetie Pie, and Muninn, her rehabilitated raven for nearly a decade.
Within her refuge, Kitty built an aviary specifically for ravens that cannot be released back into their natural habitat because of their injuries. In January of 2022, she received her first citation from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Ravens are a protected species, just like owls, hawks, eagles, and vultures, however, Kitty had worked with a retired Fish and Wildlife licensed rehabber for many years who did not even know that a license was required for permanently injured non-releasable ravens.
After receiving the citation, Kitty began to undergo the permit process, however, the Fish and Wildlife Department was denying her the permits because she had to apply for the permits before owning the birds.
The federally protected birds had lived in the refuge for a decade without any problems, and Kitty attempted to contact Riverside County Sheriff Department for assistance, but to no avail. In April, her ravens were confiscated and killed after years of rehabilitation and care.
With legal proceedings still underway, Kitty’s story has captivated a group of LA-based documentary filmmakers, who have spent this summer filming at the refuge in hopes to bring awareness of this issue.
Christina Jundt, the director and producer of the project, lives in Los Angeles and works for a production company. She first met Kitty this year while looking for a fun Airbnb experience for a weekend getaway to Palm Springs with a friend.
“We just thought it would be a fun way to spend the afternoon on the way up to Joshua Tree. We came out here and started chatting with Kitty, and she was telling us about her story about the ravens and the ongoing legal proceedings.I was just so compelled and, being a filmmaker, one of my first thoughts was, this would make be an incredible documentary,” shared Jundt.
The film crew consists of Jundt, producer and camera operator Anna Marie Valletta, producer and director of photography Luke Scroggins, and production assistant Freddy Boyd. The crew just wrapped their second weekend of film shoots at Kitty’s refuge, with a couple more planned. The first time the film crew came out, they mostly focused on interviews with Kitty and digging into her story with the logistics of what happened. The second shoot focused on the nature and environment, continuing with interviews and footage of the legal proceedings as they unfold.
“We’re all people who are happy to get our hands dirty and we’re sleeping in the trailer camper that Kitty’s graciously allowing us to stay in for free. We were doing this on a zero dollar budget. It’s a great group, and I think we’re all really connected by loving nature. We’re all friends, so it’s fun being together,” stated Jundt.
There is a flexible timeline in terms of documentary completion. The crew has a couple of film festival deadlines they’re trying to hit, with a short version and longer feature length version of the documentary they want to create. The most important part of the filmmaking process has been accurately portraying Kitty’s struggle and recording it to spread awareness to others.
“I really hope that things improve for kitty. She’s experiencing a lot of hardships. I’d love people to come together to help her financially, or physically help here at the refuge. I’d like for people to take away some understanding of the fish and wildlife process. We are telling the story of the desert, and the beauty and understanding that comes from that. We want to showcase that scope of empathy and a different way of life,” said Jundt.
