Yes, it has been several months since I had time to write a new post. The fall was very busy here at the shelter and for the organization too. Our annual fundraiser, "The Doggie Style Show," was held in November and was a success. The only disappointing part was that the venue did not allow us to bring any animals to the event. However, we had lots of food and fun, and a great time had by all! Most importantly, the event raised money to help our shelter dogs and cats.
Then the holiday season was upon us! We participated again this year in the Best Friends Animal Society holiday event "Bring Joy to Your World." The shelter staff also had help decorating the grounds this year. All the dogs and the cats got stockings, and thanks to our generous donors, all got special treats and toys on Christmas. Our volunteers put up lights on the front of the building, put new decorations on our front gate, and helped us string decorations inside the building. It looked very pretty and festive!
Our adoption numbers for December and the year showed an increase over last year, and that is a blessing indeed. The sad thing is that the need for our services--to care for the homeless and unwanted companion animals of Carroll County Arkansas--has not diminished. 2014 was a year when GSHS took in Apollo, a beautiful Great Pyrenees who'd been shot and hit by a car and left to die. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of shelter staff who cared for him, and generous members of the public who donated for his care, GSHS saved Apollo, his leg, and helped him find his forever home!
It was also the year that brought a little Sheltie to us, that we named Timmy. A good Samaritan found Timmy on the roadside with his little belly cut open. Again, thanks to our generous donors and the hard work of staff and our local vets, we saved little Timmy, who is now playing with his new forever family.
2014 was also a year that we rescued animals from abusive situations, from the pit bull we saved from an owner who was planning to beat the dog to death with a hammer, to the cats rescued from an apartment complex where the teens were spray painting them and throwing rocks at them to hurt them, to the multiple dogs and cats simply abandoned in apartments or houses when the tenants vacated, left to starve. We cared for kittens with birth defects, puppies with parvo, cats with respiratory viruses and corona. Despite our best efforts, we could not save them, but we did save more that 96% of the animals that came to us in 2014. In fact, our save rate for 2014 was higher than 2013 and 2012 (we reduced the number of deaths by half). That is a trend that we are all working to continue in 2015.
So far, 2015 has started with the same "bang" that 2014 ended with. In the first two weeks of the year, we have brought in dogs abandoned in a house without food, a cat left by a tenant, and another dog saved by the animal cruelty investigator who had been stuck in a small cage so long that the dog has pressure sores on his bottom and legs and is at least 30 pounds underweight. So far, all of them are responding well to treatment and to lots of attention.
Even though it's a little late for the end of the year, I want to say a special thanks to my shelter staff, who work in often dirty conditions, and still manage to keep the kennels clean and shiny, the animals healthy, and give lots of love and attention (if you don't believe me, come listen to Sandra or Cassie, James, and Jimmy singing to the animals while they work). I also want to say thanks to our board members and volunteers who spend lots of time and energy working so that the shelter stays up and running. Lastly, I want to thank those in the community who don't look the other way when an animal is in trouble, but instead try to find some way to struggle and save the dog or cat.
For all of us who work so hard and struggle so valiantly and wonder if we make a difference, perhaps a little Dylan Thomas will remind us:
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
We are all the "light" for the companions in our care. We are their voice and their advocates. Remember.
I'll try not to wait another 5 months to write. GSHS has lots of fun things planned for the end of winter and spring. We've got a pancake breakfast and a spaghetti dinner coming up, we've got special Valentine's Adoptions planned, and lots of fun things. I hope to see you at the shelter!!
A good pet is a heart song, sung to the rhythm of lifes enduring drum.
Read more at: http://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/gifts_627549
Read more at: http://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/gifts_627549
A good pet is a heart song, sung to the rhythm of lifes enduring drum.
Read more at: http://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/gifts_627549
Read more at: http://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/gifts_627549
A good pet is a heart song, sung to the rhythm of lifes enduring drum.
Read more at: http://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/gifts_627549
The introduction of the poem "Gifts" by M.L. KiserRead more at: http://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/gifts_627549
A good pet
is a heartsong,
sung to the rhythm
of lifes enduring drum.
Enjoy.
Janice
