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All posts for the month April, 2014
It never seems to fail that when I think everyone has lost their mind and their compassion for everyone and everything around them I get one of “those” phone calls. I know it is a bit melodramatic but there it is. Sometimes it just is.
We have seen an increase of kids having birthday parties and instead of gifts for themselves they ask for donations for the animals instead. I don’t know if the kids have the idea or if it is just the parents teaching their kids that they should help in the community and give to those who are in need. In this case homeless animals. For whatever the reason these kids are learning to think of others instead of just themselves.
I had the mother of one of these kids call today. It has been a rough couple of days for my morale here and I needed her call today. What a great thing for kids to learn. She wanted to know what were the priorities on our wish list. She wanted to be sure the other parents knew what we needed. She said the kids were excited to go shopping for the animals.
Faith in humanity restored, for today at least. One day at a time.
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Easter is approaching.
Easter bunnies, chocolate, baby chicks, egg hunts, and lots of bunnies and chicks surrendered to shelter in the following weeks.
It is somewhat of a tradition. Go get a bunny or a baby chick for Easter. A plush toy bunny or chick is fantastic, the real live versions eat, poop, chew and require care. A lot of care. It happens every year. A month or two after Easter here comes the bunnies and the baby chicks now young chickens or better yet roosters. The feed stores sell hundreds which I am sure is a low estimate this time of year for Easter presents. All little kids want a real Easter Bunny or a cute little fuzzy chick or baby duck.
The baby animals are cute and while they require a lot of care themselves they also grow up to be a lifetime commitment. This doesn’t always happen. Many times the once cute baby animals are turned loose to fend for themselves or they are surrendered to shelters. Many don’t make it through their first year of life.
Be part of the solution. Buy a stuffed bunny for an Easter present this year.
Better yet…..
Make a donation to your favorite animal rescue or shelter this Easter and help the animals that were purchased as presents get forever homes.
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We have the same thing happen this time every year.
Someone goes out to open the gate and sees a box, or hears
kittens crying. Every year without fail. It began for us today. One of our staff members went out to open the gate for the line of cars and saw the white cardboard box and heard the kittens crying inside.
Their eyes aren’t open yet, they are YOUNG and covered with fleas (of course). Kittens this young are a huge amount of work and often are not healthy which ends all of the best efforts in the death of the kittens. Sometiimes they are just too little to fight back and their little bodies can’t take it. This is always VERY hard on the staff or volunteers who took on the task of being the foster mom. It is sad to watch an animal that you have put that much dedication and emotion into not make it. We don’t usually foster really young kittens or puppies for that reason.
But here we are and now we have seen them and they are nursng…..
This was written today by Patricia Kendall who found the kittens today…
Today there was a box of kittens left at the gate. They couldn’t be more than a couple days old, still have the umbilical cords. This is not some new, shocking occurrence, but it always gets to me.
Creates all kinds of mixed feelings.
Do you not know what else to do? You can’t wait the extra half hour …until we are open? Are you just trying to take the easy way out? At least they brought them to gate. They now have a drastically lower survival rate since they have been taken from their mother, but that is a reality they don’t have to hear, but one we have to deal with.
They are next to my desk, in a box, on a heating pad, and after eating are sleeping peacefully. It gets quiet enough in here I can even hear one snoring. So now I have to hope that they survive. And if they do, that they get adopted since 4 out of the 5 are black.
It’s situations like this that make my job rewarding and worth doing while making it so difficult to deal with at the same time. It makes me very grateful to the people with warm hearts who are trying to do the right thing. The ones who volunteer and spend their time doing the dirty work of cleaning up after 60+ animals because they want to. The ones that spend their nights trying to come up with ideas for fundraisers, and how to make them happen. The ones that give up their weekends to walk dogs and get them out of the kennels and spend hours mowing to maintain the property.
The people we are so grateful for, and the ones who make me wish I could more.
Good or bad I will keep everyone posted on their status…
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