CHALLENGE!!!
An anonymous donor has promised to match the total of ALL sponsorships for ONE YEAR if we can get 100 NEW sponsors between November 1 2009 and December 31, 2009. The amount of money this is for us, is staggering. We have sponsorships for as low as $18 a month for a lifeline sponsorship, $25 for a cat sponsorship, $35 for a dog sponsorship, $35 for a senior animal sponsorship or $85 for a horse sponsorship. Please spread the word and help us get to this goal. We have less than two weeks left! This is very critical to us. We are begging you to sign up for animal sponsorships. We MUST reach this goal and we are very close right now. Remember, they start at just $18 a month.
Sanctuary animal updates:
Since our last update on November 11th, we adopted out about 57 animals! Preston, Tisbury, Snausage, Rosie, Sandy, Brizzie, Buddy, Coal, Dixie, Shayna, Billy, Dory, Ember, Talia, Quigley, Spunky, Kylie, Bingo, Tessa, Inglebert, Kit, Ernie, Akasha, Princess, Droopy, Layla, Gypsy, J.D., Kanga, Friday, Maggie, Daks, Gracie, Redford, Boomer, Barbie, Rosie2, Pork Chop, Tundra, Slugger, Sinclair, Gunner, Panda, Bunny, Max, Nixon, Samson, Redford (again), Huey. We even adopted out eight cats this month! Yay to Sammi, Jesse, Vinny, Pumpkin, Bear, Katie, Vladimir & Virgil.
Stand out adoptions this month would HAVE to be Rosie, Tisbury, Snausage and Gracie. Rosie was a little dog scheduled for euthanasia because she could be so ornery. She arrived in a metal cage where she could not even turn around or stand up! We were shocked. We were told not to handle her but to DUMP HER out of the cage because she was so nasty. Oh my. In a cage like that, totally exposed, who could blame her??? We opened it up and let her make her own way out. Within 20 minutes she was kissing us and friendly. It is true that it took about 20 minutes every time she met someone to warm up and understand they would not harm her, but she was not a nasty dog at all. In fact, Rosie was one of the sweetest and most affectionate dogs (always wanting to cuddle in your lap) that we have encountered. She was adopted and now lives in New York City. Imagine. Truly. Yes imagine. From death row, to Central Park. Imagine.
Gracie was a dog that lived in a home for the first four years of her life and was well loved. Her family lost their home though and they were forced to surrender her to another shelter. When she got there she became a staff and volunteer favorite but the director loved her so much she wouldn’t SHOW her to potential adopters. As conditions at that shelter deteriorated, Gracie spent most of her time in a crate, laying in her own waste. When we got her, this was evident from the raw skin on her stomach from laying in urine. It was terrible. But Gracie was an older dog, did NOT like cats or other dogs and so placing her was quite a challenge. She was adopted, finally, after 8 months here, by a wonderful woman who had been looking a long time for a dog to love. They are a WONDERFUL match and Gracie is doing tremendously well. Happy, and in her forever home at long last. We all get teary eyes thinking of this dog that finally is where she needs to be. We miss her, of course, but life is finally back on track for this wonderful girl.
Tisbury came to us when the owners were forced to consider euthanizing him. Tisbury was a golden but had a bite history and they had tried many things but ultimately were being forced to consider euthanasia for this boy. No shelters would take him with such a history and they couldn’t keep him in a house with children. We considered long and hard about this guy, but his bite history was sporadic and he wasn’t aggressive ‘generally’. Enter Brenda & Ron. They met Tisbury and we explained he had a spotted past. They decided to take him anyway. So far things have NOT been perfect and he HAS displayed the issues that resulted in him coming here (food aggression and collar aggression), but his new family has refused to give up on him and they say they are keeping him no matter what. They use caution with him and work with him every day on his issues, but they have decided that the good outweighs the bad and they are keeping him in their lives. Wow. You don’t find people like this every day. Tisbury could have very well wound up a “lifer” here at Pets Alive. It is amazing that they can see the good in this dog and how loving he is and deal with his other issues. Let’s hope he learns to trust them and get over his negative behaviors. Stay tuned to the online forum updates and we’ll keep you posted.
Everyone who has spent any time at Pets Alive would know Snausage. Originally called “Chained Charlie” because he spent the first year of his life tied to a doghouse with a three foot chain , and shown little or no affection. Again, another dog that had a lot of strikes against him. He was a pit mix, did not get along well with most other animals and had absolutely NO MANNERS what-so-ever. This was a dog that needed a LOT of work. Staff LOVED this little Snausage and he was one of my favorite dogs here, but he was definitely rude as far as doggie manners and he definitely had no house manners. Enter Claudia and Michael. They fell in love with Snausage and we were honest about his needing some work. Their first week at home was really rough as they tried to master house training and some behavior problems, and they came down and worked with trainer Nancy a little as well. But they were committed. As much of a bad boy as this guy was, they were determined to stick it out with him. They’d tell us horror stories about his behavior and then end each note with how much they loved him. Here is the latest update from this week. Again, maybe I’m a sap but I can’t help but get choked up when I see a dog like this find two such wonderful people that see his worth.
“Thor (aka Snausage or Chained Charlie) first got my attention online with his strange, yet adorable look. My fiancee and I both filled out an application to go visit him, and fell in love with him from the first day, although he had his flaws. He was extremely hyper-active, and had no manners. He never listened to any commands and had a tendency to jump in your face and knock you over while doing it. The first week he was home, he eliminated in the house and we had no idea how to fix it. He still had no manners, and we were starting to get worried about whether we might be able to keep him. Regardless, we decided to stick it through and see if he would change. Little by little, the little monster turned into a very important part of our lives. He began to listen better, he even learned not to eliminate in the house. He now knows when too much licking is enough, and has calmed down drastically to a well behaved dog. Training Thor is still under the works, but this little dog’s transformation in about a month or so has been miraculous. We cannot wait to spending the next 10-15 years with him and giving him all the love and care that we possibly can. He really is an amazing dog with a very distinct personality.”
Thank you Claudia and Michael. Thank you so much. We know this has been a challenge and we’re so happy that this young dog will not spend any more time in a kennel environment. I’m so glad he found you.
Intakes:
This past month or so we have taken in 8 dogs from North Carolina, 15 from South Carolina, 1 from Arkansas, 2 from Kentucky, and 9 other local dogs detailed below.
A local vet called us this week, a little four month old pup had been dumped in their area…could we help. Of course. We took little Noel (now name Jingles) in here and she is an absolute cutie-pie.
This month we took in Mufassa – a little, elderly, Chihuahua from the Newburgh Shelter. What wonderful folk over there. They called us and asked if we could help with this dog, before euthanizing. We’re so happy they reached out to us. Mufassa IS a little bit of a difficult case. Very elderly, mean as they come, with about three teeth left. Someone suggested all the other teeth are buried in people’s ankles (laugh) but that may be true. He can be ornery, but once he gets to know you, he settles in and is a sweetie. Well ok, sweetie is a little stretch…but he’s, ummm….tolerable. (grin). Come and meet him. Wear gloves.
Gabby is a huge mastiff that came to us when another shelter was being forced to euthanize her. She is also elderly and can be growly, but mostly she is a lap dog, or thinks she is.
We also took in two dogs from Queens, when their owner died. This poor woman developed cancer and was gone very quickly. She lived for her dogs and would be horrified to learn that they could have been euthanized. If you have not made plans for your pets, no matter HOW old you are – do so. It can be as simple as downloading a form from our website and filling it in and then making sure your lawyer or family are aware of your intentions.
Additionally we took in two dogos. We have a long history of loving dogos at Pets Alive. These two were about to be euthanized, were elderly and had some medical issues. We took them here and they are doing well in our senior room now. They are really affectionate and sweet. Come by and say hello.
Many of you read the story of what we started to call the “pile puppies”. These three female dogs had lived feral (wild), for all their seven months, under someone’s porch. With winter coming the owner decided the best thing to do was to trap them and have them euthanized. Oh no. They were so adorable and so terrified. They never came out of this “pile” of dogs at the shelter they were at. See the before picture when we first were told about them, and now the ‘after’ picture. They are our “kitchen dogs” now and readily come up to visitors offering treats and good will. Little by little they are coming around. We request that you come down and spend some time with them. They REALLY need socialization and we really need your help in getting them to adjust to MANY different faces – not just ours. Please consider coming down and sitting with them for an hour. We will appreciate it, they will appreciate it and you will fill your pool of goodkarma! 🙂
We also took in four cats: Spider, Princess, Stardust, and Pebbles. All of them are owner surrenders or strays that were in need of help. Spider is semi-feral and needs a lot of work. If you have good cat socialization skills we beg you to come down and help us get Spider out of his little shell. We are at a critical point of his development and feel he can go either way right now. With your help he will become a domestic, affectionate, cat. Please consider coming down and working with Spider to ensure his future is in a loving home.
Pets Alive Tour
We put this together to try to show you a mini virtual tour of Pets Alive.
We have SO much work to do and so much maintenance and fixing up,
but I think from the pictures you can tell that we try our hardest and that
“Love is Everywhere”. We hope you enjoy it. Click here to watch.
General Updates:
Want to give someone the gift of a dog this holiday season, without the responsibility of feeding, walking, and cleaning up after the dog? Did you know that shelters fill up in January with puppies and kittens that have been abandoned by people who can’t handle the responsibility of caring for them?
We have the answer. With GiveADog you can give someone you love the joy of following one of our rescued dogs on his or her journey from being alone in a shelter or foster home to the Pets Alive Animal Sanctuary facility to his or her forever home.
The person who receives your gift gets a thank you card and when they choose their dog, a beautiful certificate announcing that they have saved that dog.
They also get an account at GiveADog where they can go to follow the progress of their dog. Once or twice a week they will get email updates about their dog as he or she embarks on the journey to a forever home. Their personal page has the current status of their dog, pictures of their dog, notes about their dog and a place to communicate with us about their dog. They can even see videos of their dog.
You can see a sample of the control panel here. For a full break down of how it all works you can read here.
They will follow their dog’s progress through the journey to Pets Alive, intake and examination, settling in, being matched with another dog, playing and being walked, breed determination, writing narrative about the dog, staff and volunteer care of the dog and how they feel about him or her, different families looking at the dog and finally adoption.
Throughout the process your gift recipient will know that because of your gift, they saved this dog from euthanization and made a difference in getting this dog to his or her forever home.
YOUR gift will genuinely save the life of a dog. You will personally be responsible for making that possible. What better thing can you do with your money at the holidays? Save a life.
It’s a terrific, one of a kind gift for the holidays. And it’s only $39.95 per recipient. And is tax deductible.
Looking for Oreo content? Blogs, press release etc., can be found by CLICKING HERE. Support has been coming from all over the nation for Oreo’s Law. Read these letters of support from Rob Thomas, Michael Mountain, Nathan Winograd, and the nation’s top law professors – they all join No Kill leaders, rescue groups and shelter reformers in support of Oreo’s Law.
We read about this story on Craigslist when one of our members sent it to us. I contacted the owners and heard a terrible story of a hunter that had killed their dog. They are looking for any and ALL information anyone might have that would help them find the person that did this to their cherished pet. I usually do NOT put negative things in the newsletter if I can help it. I try to always make this a positive part of your day but in this case, if this happened to me, I’d want anyone that could help, to help me. The story of Creedence was written by their owners. If you know anything, please help if you can:
My wife and I were hiking on the back of our property with Creedence going up to visit friends. He was running around checking things out like he always does. At 4:45 PM on Saturday November 28th, the dog killer fired the shot that killed Creedence. Five witnesses (2 hikers, 2 hunters and a homeowner) all confirmed they heard the shot come from the same spot. The killer saw through his scope a dog with an orange collar on, not a deer, or a coyote, but a small one year old pet loved by someone. The killer then picked up Creedence by his collar and carried the 40 pound dog across route 6 to a spot in the woods or perhaps a yard. When Creedence did not come when he was called, as he always did, a search with several people on foot and quads searched the whole area this side of route 6 for 5 or 6 hours, and no one found his body. Then the next day, several more searchers on foot and quads searched again for 8 hours never finding his body. At this time we all agreed that Creedence was not shot, but had been spooked and ran away and gotten lost. We then began a big missing dog effort with posters, notifications etc. Myself, my wife and dozens, and dozens of wonderful relatives, friends, neighbors, co- workers, and people we did not even know, drove around for hours and hours every day for 6 days, in agony and worry for his well being. Then on the afternoon of Saturday December 5th, two friends found Credence’s body at a place that had been searched numerous times before. He had been shot with a high powered hunting rifle. Sometime between Monday November 30th and Friday December 4th the dog killer carried Creedence to this place, as it had been searched many times before and the body was now out in the open. The killer was on foot and possibly came from one of the houses on route 6. We buried Creedence up on the hill, with our other 3 dogs from the past, Buddy, Tucker, and Dutch.
Don’t forget our 2010 Pets Alive Calendar is available for sale! You can get it on our CafePress store or in our kennel office! Thanks to Becky for putting this together for us.
Medical Updates: (Written by Janet)
Veruca is a lovely female pit mix. She came to use a year ago October from the hurricane Gustav rescue. She was one of three puppies around 10-12 weeks (although none were littermates) that survived the hurricane and were brought to us. Veruca was adopted along a male from that group. When she was around seven months of age, the owners noticed her limping. Not knowing if she simply hurt herself playing with her brother, they took her to the vet for an exam. As part of a normal protocol and due to the high incidence of such in this area, the vet performed a lyme combination test. Shockingly, Veruca tested negative for lyme but POSITIVE for heartworm. When we learned of this news, we were not only alarmed but baffled. Veruca left us as a 12 week old puppy and in theory heartworm prevention can be started anywhere up to the age of 6 months without testing to rule out a heartworm infection. So how did a seven month old dog who was on heartworm prevention since adoption, test positive? Our vet explained that this must be an extremely unusually occurrence where the mother probably was infected and passed it along to her offspring. He also explained that even if we had tested her for heartworm as a puppy (which is NOT protocol) the test would have come back negative since it tests only for adults and not the larval stage.
Even though we finally had an explanation, we were dismayed over this seven month old puppy that was infected with heartworm. The last thing we heard was that owners were getting quotes for the treatment from a couple different vets and they would then decide who to have the treatment done through. About three weeks ago coincidentally some volunteers ran into the owner and found out that they never had Veruca treated for her heartworm disease. Upon that news, we contacted the owner and stressed the importance of treatment while she is still asymptomatic. When we learned that they would not do so, we were able to convince them that it was in her best interest to surrender her and get her the care she needed. So Veruca has been back with us for two weeks. She is a beautifully sweet submissive girl who just wants to be by your side constantly. We ran bloodwork and started her on pre-treatment medications. Veruca is scheduled for the first part of her adult heartworm treatment tomorrow. Although there is no reason to expect any complications please remember keep Veruca in your thoughts this month!
Leo the red shepherd mix went to see a veterinary ophthalmologist to have his eyes examined. For those of you who know Leo, or at least know OF Leo, you are aware that he can be great with some people and NOT so great with others. Although we do not have an exact age, we are aware he is in the senior category (he is at least 9 years of age but could be as old as 11). Because of the way he stares blindly at people and appears to be caught off guard, we wondered if some of his aggressive tendencies could be attributable to cataracts or other eye-related illnesses. Leo was not the best patient in the exam room, but all in all, the vet was able to perform a good in-depth examination. To our surprise, Leo’s eyesight is actually VERY good for his age. He does have some mild fatty deposits, but that alone should not hinder his vision. So if you are one of the unlucky ones that Leo dislikes, we can blame crotchety old age versus visual impairment.
Maco the chubby, huggable pit bull was found limping in his outside enclosure this month. It appears that his neighbor Tyson has once again caused trouble by ripping Maco’s nail right off. (Would someone just adopt Tyson already? He is a wonderful dog. He just doesn’t like other dogs). Luckily there was no blood and Maco did not seem to be in much pain, especially if you were close enough for him to give you licks and hugs. We did bring him inside and he was started on some antibiotics and pain medication.
In the cat world, this month has been full of fractious feline fun. Some of our feral cats were acting sickly. The problem with treating feral cats is just that….they are FERAL! Wild, untamed, and definitely not in favor of human handling! So it’s always quite the task to try to catch and treat a cat whose least favorite thing is the site of a human…and especially one with a net!
A feral cat who was named “Large Hissing” before arrival to Pets Alive (I know, ingenious name) has had chronic upper respiratory issues. He typically fairs pretty well, but the cat staff noticed that he seemed to be losing weight and that his nose was encrusted with nasal discharge. In our favor, Large Hissing enjoys lounging in one of the cat sheds on the pets alive property. We were able to corner him inside and capture him. He too is getting a good deworming in addition to other medical attention like fluids, antibiotics and steroids. Large Hissing was particularly fond of us shaving mats out of his fur with electric clippers – NOT. Somehow Marcos and I managed to keep all of our fingers!
Molly is a small-framed white and black female that’s been living on the property for several years. Her coat was extremely matted and she looked like she needed some TLC. As a long shot, Marcos and I decided to hang out for their nightly feeding. Most of the other cats took off at the site of us (who can blame them really) but Molly remained at the feeding dish. We approached from separated angles and Marcos was skilled (lucky) enough to net her. We brought her down to our isolation area where we dewormed her for several days. Before her release we actually shaved all the mats out of her fur and applied frontline. She is now back on the property with all her friends.
Wonderful news for Charlie the cat!!! A recheck of his bloodwork has revealed that ALL of his blood values are back within normal limits. He has stopped his antibiotics and is being weaned off of his steroids slowly. As far as being infectious, our vet recommended continuing to keep him isolated for a couple more weeks before he can be safely placed back in the normal population or adopted to a multi-feline home.
Princess is an older declawed cat who is one of our new arrivals along with her sister Stardust. They are extremely timid and during their quarantine period, they were perpetually laying in their beds without much movement. The cat staff noticed that from the very beginning, Princess’ eye was a bit runny. We monitored it for a day or two but then it worsened quickly. I was able to get a look in her mouth (as she was hissing at me) and noticed that indeed her gums were inflamed. We took her to the vet where he removed five of her teeth. She is now back on site but still being difficult with food and taking her meds. Overall, she is looking better but is still quite the handful to treat daily.
Did you see Matt’s Thanksgiving blog:
Giving Thanks.
Barnyard Updates:
The horses and goats all appear to be weathering the winter well, even Glen. Glen did go blind in one eye this past month. We were prepared for that as the eye had been having issues for a while and the vet said eventually he would lose site in this eye. Hopefully he will not also have to lose the eye. Right now the vet feels he is not in any pain but we are monitoring him closely. Glen is a horse in his thirties and we continue to hope he will make it through the winter. He is generally healthy but does have a great deal of medical problems.
He absolutely LOVES living with our two goats though. Glen was never gelded so putting him in with other horses can be tricky, but he can interact with other horses over the fence in many different spots and he has his goats as barn companions. All in all he is a happy horse but we are preparing ourselves that he is failing. We continue to do everything we can to keep him happy and comfortable. He is quite affectionate and loves to greet everyone that goes down the driveway. Be sure to always stop and call to him. He knows his name and when his good eye finds you he will come right over for affection and rubs. Glen has almost no teeth so you can NOT give him treats. If you make a carrot MASH in a blender, you can offer something like that or crushed apples to him but please know that anything large, even cut into small pieces is a choking hazard for this horse. This is a picture of Matt, and me, with the goats and Glen is hanging out in the back!
Latest Media
Matt and I were featured on Animalwise Radio this week to discuss Pets Alive and Oreo’s Law. You can download the podcast or play it on your computer here. (Click on December 11th show).
Last month we were featured on Family Pet Time with Dr. Joe radio show. We spoke all about the sanctuary, what we do, how we do it, our supporters, etc. You can play that here.
Pets Alive has been in the news a great deal this past month. Catch up on our media coverage.
Cat Update:
Debbie and Joyce cleaned the two feral houses this month – in a snow storm and freezing weather! They are amazing. They also built a bunch of extra cat “houses”out of tupperware containers and other unique ideas. The houses really needed it and today we’re installing heat back into one of the feral cat houses. It’s just too cold and these cats have been provided with heat every year so we can’t stop now.
We bought a ventless, SAFE, propane heater (no flame) that mounts on the wall (they can’t knock it off) and are having a propane tank installed outside. Voila. Heat again for the ferals. Let’s hope it is just for them and NOT for all the raccoons and possums that also eat here every night. Anyone know a way to let CATS in but keep wildlife OUT? The feral house has cat doors and an outside enclosure too that also has cat doors to it. The wild animals come in and also help themselves. If you have a suggestion please let us know, otherwise we will continue to get all the wildlife fed through the winter as well! Anyway thank you so much Debbie and Joyce, this was very much needed.
Our cat staff could really use some extra volunteers that want to come in to help clean up the cat rooms every day – litter, mopping floors, laundry, dusting etc. We have our regulars that we are so grateful to, but we could use some extra help each morning. Are you free in the mornings – from about 9:30 or 10:00 to 12 or 1?
Thank you’s
Thanks so much to our Pets Alive Adoption Day teams for this month. To Jan for helping to get the dogs spruced up for their big day out, and to – Mimi, Eileen, Wanda, Connie, Marilyn, Laurie, Jaime, Alison, Barbara, Lauren, Jennifer for escorting the dogs and cats to PetCo and PetsMart. Without their help we would not be able to bring our message out into the community. If you would like to participate in the offsite adoption events, please send email to volunteer@petsalive.com
Thank you Nancy Parker for conducting dog training classes for volunteers and for handling some of our negative follow-up calls! Thanks to Trudy S. for the Christmas adoption Bandanas. Thanks to Peter of Cornell Carpets in Pelham. NY for the donation of carpet samples! Thank you to Fran for selling bunches of the Guardian Angel pins and raising $600 from those sales. Thank you to Pets Alive volunteer Sean Morris recently joined the Navy and is heading off to Michigan. Our good wishes go with you, Sean.
Thanks to Melanie for answering a last minute call and picking up the now famous “Ernie” and driving him to Pets Alive. The rest is history! This was Melanie’s FIRST transport! Thank you Brian M. for braving an ice storm to meet Snowball’s transport and get her to Pets Alive. We are very thankful that you both arrived safely.
A big thank you to our Holiday Photo Team Vera, Cathie ,Tom G., Nicole, Cyndie, and to our Santas Tom F., Donnie, Ken and Matt M. Special thanks to Vera, Cathie and Tom G. , who organized it all and who are working all three weekends to make it happen.
Thanks very much to “Mitch and Kelly’s Christmas Trees” at the Matamoras Driving Range for donating the tree for the holiday celebration, and to Marilyn for decorating it! Thanks to our bakers, Melissa, Tom, Cathie, Lynette Lisa, and everyone else who brought such delicious goodies!
Thanks to Katie for coming in another snow storm to groom the horses and bathe the dogs! Thank you to John Heads for all the repairs around here and the last minute canine transport pick ups!
Thank you to the Orange and Rockland Payment Processing Department. Gloria, Donna, Lori, Manny, Patti, Joe, Sue C., Sue D., Sue G., Joan, Les, and a special thank you
also to Sue D’s daughter Jenny, a high school junior who helped out too. They raised tons of donations for Pets Alive and brought them all to us!
Thank you to Elaine C!! She got her company to donate 9000 vinyl bumper sticker labels and then found a printer to print them for free! Thank you to that printer, Rye Printing, Rye, NY, Peter Nix PNix@ryeprinting.com for doing that for us!
Thank you to Danielle from Churchill’s of Mount Kisco for donating 15 brand new Kuranda beds after she read about Oreo. Thank you so much Danielle.
Thank you to Elaine A. for the huge box of leashes that we use here and the fabulous letter. Thank you to EVERYONE that sent us boxes and care packages this month. Thank you to all the people that heard our tweet and donated much needed space heaters to us this month!
Thank you to our great staff that were scheduled to come in when the big storm hit and STILL made it in. (Janet, Juan, Marcos and Alex). Juan and Marcos, I don’t know what we would ever do without you, and Alex thank you for not only getting here but dragging your husband Mike who worked his butt off all day shoveling, plowing and cleaning. You are all wonderful and we really appreciate you.
Thank you to all our new sponsors that are helping us reach the 100 goal! Especially to Angela who signed up for TEN additional sponsorships (and she already had a bunch) and to Tara Mikolay for signing up for 25 new sponsorships!
Thank you Bekim for coming out to support us at the Desires By Mikolay Fundraiser and giving Matt a very big donation for Pets Alive! He also often shows up here with a truckload of much needed supplies.
Thank you Bobby G from VA for the AMAZING letter, the HUGE donation and your personal note. We so appreciate your help.
Thank you to everyone that donated in honor or memory of Tyler. Your letters were touching and your support so appreciated.
Events and Fundraisers
The biggest thing I can mention this month however would have to be the HUGE donation to Pets Alive from SideWalkAngelsFoundation.org (Mari and Rob Thomas’ charitable organization). Last month they gave us $20,000 and this month they gave us $80,000. That is $100,000 and this donation will ensure that Pets Alive lives another year. This means that we can and will be here next year. You may think that is odd but every month we spend about $30,000 here. We need about $150,000 EXTRA in addition to what we raise in fees and fundraisers on our own, to keep us going. This donation means that we CAN make it to next year now. We can and will. I can not tell you what a relief this is. We are always just a few months away from closing our doors, that is how tight finances always are for us. This donation ensures our survival through 2010. We still do plan on trying to start a capital campaign to develop a medical and adoption building, so if you have any ideas or want to help with that we would love to hear from you. In the meantime we would like to extend our deepest gratitude to SideWalk Angels, and Rob, Mari and Maria and Gil for all that you do for us. If it were not for you, we would have shut our doors many years ago. Thank you so much for this help.
The Desires by Mikolay event was a HUGE success. It raised a total of $13,200 for Pets Alive. We want to thank Tara and Scott and everyone that came down that night to help us out! Rob and Mari (and Sammy!) and Maria and Sheela also showed up as well as many of our biggest supporters. Thank you all so much for making this such a success. The necklaces that were specially made for this occasion will still be available for sale all year long. The women’s design features a disk necklace with a paw center, and the men’s design takes the form of a dog tag. You can purchase them on the Desires website (www.desiresbymikolay.com) and 100% of the proceeds from these pieces are donated to Pets Alive.
Don’t forget our FINAL pictures with Santa this weekend!
Santa has to move on to his other duties next week and so this will be your FINAL chance to get your pets picture taken with him before he and his reindeer fly off. Pictures are just $10 and Santa is VERY patient and VERY jolly. So come on down to the Middletown, NY, Petsmart from 11 – 4, on Sunday the 20th with your pet.
Current Needs:
Paper towels(URGENT!), laundry detergent, (URGENT!), Bleach (URGENT!), Kennel Wash (URGENT!) Kong toys for the dogs, dog treats (small or medium sized), Panacur dewormer (the big bottles of equine liquid has been working well for us!), Advantixx or Frontline for dogs, disinfectant wet wipes, bleach, split keyrings, toilet bowl cleaner, Murphy’s Oil Soap, 3-lb paper trays, and Libman wonder mopheads, Slip leads, empty computer ink cartridges (Staples will give Pets Alive $3 each for the empties). Thank you for your kind consideration on these items!
Please consider helping us continue our mission
of finding homes for animals in need!
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Kerry, Matt and a the staff at Pets Alive. Thank you for the phenomenal job that you do every day. I wish for you all, health and Gods hand upon you. May he continue to keep your heart beating with the love and dedication you show. May 2010 be a prosperous year for Pets Alive, its staff, volunteers and those that have and will continue to donate any way they can. God Bless.
Wow, nice long and positive post. Glad you guys will stay open. And, as usual, very thrilled that you are taking in some kitties. The only thing I know that will help with keeping the critters out of the feral cat house is to put in those doors that are activated by a receiver on a cats collar (you’d have to put collars on the ferals, in other words). I know that’s probably not ideal, but it would probably work, so I thought I would mention it.
Just huge hugs and thank yous from the bottom of my heart for all you do, Kerry and Matt…you two SHINE. I could never do your jobs, but what I CAN do is help, when and where you need it. I love you both for what you do…you are my heroes. Each time I have visited Pets Alive, I have seen nothing but HAPPY EYES! And it breaks my heart that each and every one of those beautiful souls were destined to die on a cold, hard, floor…alone…except for YOUR intervention. Keep doing what you do, and I will be here for you in every way I can. xoxo 🙂