Annual Newsletter 2012

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Dear Friends and Animal Lovers

Seasons Greetings from Love ‘n’ Care Pet Sanctuary (LCPS).  We wish you a joyous and blessed Holiday Season and ask again for your generous support for our multi-cat population.  This time of year we reflect on all that makes us grateful and we want to thank you for your past help and loving donations.  The cats and kittens of LCPS need you now more than ever as it has been a rough year for us.  We know times are tough for everyone, so every donation of any size is appreciated more than you’ll ever know.  We hope & pray that 2013 will be a good year for you and a better year for us. 
 
11 Year Anniversary 

We have been in business for 11 years now!  We currently have 40 cats and kittens and we are at capacity.  We are suffering from the same trap as most no-kill animal shelters.  The senior, semi-socialized, and feral cats are occupying places and preventing us from taking in new, more adoptable cats and kittens.  We have many wonderful, adoptable cats, but the economy is preventing people from adopting.  If you know of anyone wanting a young cat, middle aged cat, or senior cat please send them to us and/or direct them to view our available cats on our website at www.lcps.petfinder.com.
 
Litter Donation from Purina 

This is our good news for the year!  On October 26 Purina generously donated 2 skids of litter to us, which will last us for about 4 to 5 months!  We had to rent a 24 foot truck due to the weight of the litter (4,000 pounds) and drive to Poughkeepsie to pick it up.  It was quite an adventure.  I never drove this big a truck before!  Luckily one of the fellows at the pick-up location backed the truck up to the warehouse so the truck could be loaded.  Later, back at the shelter it took us hours and aching backs to unload the litter, but it was well worth it and will save us a tremendous amount of money.  THANK YOU PURINA!!!!!
 
Community Service  We told you last year about the 6 feral cats we rescued from the property where a senior citizen’s trailer burned down.  Sunshine, one of the elderly orange tabbies became ill and, sadly, had to be put down, but we still have 3 of them.  Ginger, another orange tabby about 5 years old, has become quite friendly and may soon be adoptable!  Angel, the baby from the group, is still extremely shy and would be better off in a feral cat colony, if we could find one that would take her.  Clovis is a very old tabby and we believe he is deaf and almost blind.  He has become semi-friendly and we hope to be able to move him to a friend’s warm work area where he will have a safe and happy home.  If you know of anyone with a comfortable, warm barn or garage who would be willing to provide a home for Angel please let us know.
 
Our Population 

We sadly lost 2 of our senior and elderly cats this year due to old age and kidney failure.  Another cat had Bartonella and could not be cured after several attempts.  She was suffering and the vet said there was nothing else that could be done except to have her live on pain killers the rest of her life.  We decided she was better off going to sleep so she would be out of pain.  So our population is down, but this is certainly not the way we want to reduce it.
 
Adoptions 

We just got 2 cute 11 week old kittens adopted, but these are our first adoptions all year!  This has never happened before so it has been a devastating year for us.  We did give 4 of our older cats to a shelter in Schenectady where they are located in a mall and get a lot of walk-in traffic and those cats were adopted.  Thank you Terri.  We believe our slow adoption rate is because of the older age of our cats, the huge number of available “free” kittens in our area, the high cost of fuel, the uncertainty of the economy, and the lower disposable income of our Greene Country residents.  We pray for an improvement in 2013.
 
Hurricane Sandy 

Even though we battened down the hatches, were prepared with extra cans of gasoline for our generator, and had food and water on hand for our cats the storm petered out before it got up this far north.  We were certainly blessed to have it completely miss us!  We will be eternally grateful for that!

We Need Your Help.  If you would like to help us as a volunteer to set up a feral cat colony, assist with transportation to spay/neuter clinics &/or veterinarians, help to clean the shelter, help to socialize the cats, write a newsletter, write for grants, write articles for the media, or set up fund raising events please call us at 518-239-5901.  We are very under staffed and can use all the help we can get. 
 
Fund Raising

This year we were again approved for both the Capital Region Federal Campaign of the United Way & the Capital Region State Employees Federated Appeal (SEFA).  The Twin Counties Cultural Fund & the Greene County Council on the Arts has again awarded us a grant for a theater arts project & performance spearheaded by our sponsored Project Director & Artist, Margo Mullen – thank you Colette Lemmon.  We have applied to the Regional Food Bank for cat food and have been accepted except for a site visit.  Once approved, that will save us a lot of money for cat food.
 
Please Donate

We would like to be able to micro-chip our cats, but we need extra funding for the equipment for that.  We would also like to start a construction fund to renovate our barn into a state-of-the-art cat sanctuary.  But in the meanwhile we need money for the vet, food, and for our cat sitters.  If you can send us a donation of any amount, it will be very gratefully received and will be put to good use as we have no overhead expenses.  All donations are 100% tax deductible and we will happily give you a receipt.  Our best year for donations was 2009 with $15,302.  This year so far we have received $8,706 which is 12.5% better than last year, but we are still hurting as our population is similar and the costs only go up.  Please make your checks payable to Love ‘n’ Care Pet Sanctuary, Inc. and mail them to 7080 Route 81, East Durham, NY 12423.  Please see if your employer provides matching contributions as this would help us a lot too.  If you cannot donate money we can always use cat food, towels, blankets, sheets, and bath rugs.
 
I know that I am being bombarded more than once daily to donate to some worthy cause and I’m sure you are too, but our coffers are low.  We want to continue providing the best possible care for our cats and service to the community.  The State, County, and Town do not help us at all.  Our local animal control officer deals only with dogs and does nothing to help cats.  The Humane Society will only give us 2 small bags of cat food if we go in to ask.  So – bottom line – we are on our own. 
 
God bless your generosity and best wishes for a Happy, Healthy & Prosperous New Year.
 
Carol Farren, President and Treasurer
Carl Hegney, Cat Sitter and Assistant Treasurer
Kim Burger, Cat Sitter and Public Relations
Love ‘n’ Care Pet Sanctuary, Inc. and all 40 cats and kittens
 
 
KEEP YOUR PETS SAFE DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON  (Compliments of NY City Animal Care & Control)
 
DO NOT:
Feed them table scraps – scraps can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach pain.
Feed them candy and chocolate – these can be very toxic and even fatal.
Give them turkey bones, which can splinter, cause blockages, and intestinal damage.
Ignore them during the busy holiday season – may lead to behavioral problems.
Give them tinsel, ribbons, or other decorations to play with – can cause intestinal blockages which can be fatal.
Give a pet as a gift – the recipient may not want a pet or it might not be a good match.
 
DO:
Buy them a gift.  Specially made dog/cat toys and treats or cat climbers work best.
Shower them with love and attention by playing with them and taking dogs for a long walk on a leash.
Buy a dog license, microchip, and a new collar to keep them identified in case they get lost.
Consider adopting them a playmate once the holiday season is over.  Make it a family event.
Keep them inside and secure from open doors, crowds, and unfamiliar people during holiday get togethers.
Try to stick to your pet’s regular routine and schedule to lower its stress level.

Sincerely,
Carol E. Farren, President and Treasurer
Love ‘n’ Care Pet Sanctuary, Inc.
7080 Route 81
East Durham, NY 12423-1159


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