Animal sanctuaries vary enormously in quality — from exemplary lifelong care facilities to pseudo-sanctuaries that exploit welfare language while providing poor conditions.
The sanctuary label is unregulated in most jurisdictions — any facility can use the term regardless of its actual practices. True sanctuaries provide permanent, high-quality care for animals who cannot be returned to the wild, with no exploitation of their residents. Pseudo-sanctuaries use welfare language while breeding animals for profit, offering paid contact experiences, or operating as roadside zoos in disguise. Accreditation by GFAS provides meaningful quality assurance.