A Miracle is Needed

I have been so busy, I don’t know if I am coming or going and as a result I am falling behind in my blog postings!

First exciting news – I visited the second site with the volunteer vet and his assistant two weeks ago ( I may have blogged this already). It was exciting to see Sabu (who remembered me!), Sachimo, and Jinx again. I really missed the animals living at the 100+ acre property. I was sad to see the condition the 20 bears were living in – such small 10x10 cages where the concrete shelter took up more than ½ of the enclosure space. I can’t wait to see them move into the larger areas once they are complete. I have got to find the funding to make this happen!

The volunteer veterinarian is from a local research facility (he volunteered to be a consultant on primate issues) and before we went to the second property, we toured the first property so his assistant could see the animals. Now she is hooked! She and her co-worker want to volunteer on a regular basis. Anyhoo, since the vet’s car was low to the ground, I suggested we take my truck. Now picture this, my messy truck, with a cracked windshield transporting the vet’s assistant in the front and the vet riding in the back of the truck…and the weather was in the lower 40’s. The vet was such a trooper! It turned out to be an all-day affair because we were having such a great time meeting the all animals.

Next news – I was able to arrange the sanctuary’s first-ever television commercial. Taping starts tomorrow morning at the tour facility! I am so excited!! Finally, the animals are going to be stars and boy do they deserve the attention. Next week the commercials airs – I cannot wait to see the animals’ debut!

I also participated one day at the local stock show and rodeo event. I think I did a very good job, if I say so myself. It would have been a great event, except the person who was supposed to relieve me was over 1 ½ hours late! Since I was the only one working the booth for the day, I was unable to leave the table for very long, which meant I was unable to use the “facilities” for 12 hours! I barely made it home without an accident. Sadly, my dogs were unable to hold it for 12 hours and so I came home to “dog lakes.” The person who was supposed to relieve me left work at 4:45pm to travel to the coliseum to relieve me. At around 6:35, a voice message was left on my work phone (??? – yeah, as if I was at work) saying the employee was “lost.” Finally, when she arrived at 7:20pm, I had given up hope for relief and decided to pack up and leave even though we were not supposed to leave until the event closed at 9:00pm. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper.

The juvenile community service restitution program is in full swing! The kids got a lot of work done so far after just two visits. Last weekend we mulched 3 tiger enclosures and removed brush and old enclosure panels from the touring path. The place is looking so much better. This weekend we plan to finish our mulching project and remove weeds and overgrown grasses from the touring trail. The Valentine tour will be held on Sunday, so I want to make sure the place looks really good!

I continue to make the primate “enrichment” toys (a paper mache balls containing peanuts donated by Roadhouse, dried fruit, rice cakes, and animal crackers) for the animals – this time I’m using red and pink paper for Valentine’s Day.

I produced my 2^nd on-line newsletter last week. I only have a small amount of e-mail address, but I think I’m making some progress in letting folks know about the sanctuary accomplishments.  http://us1.campaign-archive.com/?u=c95107a9f0dc5a47c9dca4cc7&id=3fb1056ba3 

I’m working on getting Bubba, the white tiger, free pancreas (if the vet decides he needs this for good health) and free bones for all the big cats from a local meat processor. Who would have thought I would ever call a meat packing plant.

The things I do for the animals, huh?

Sad to report that a primate who lost one of his fingers in a fight with another primate was put to sleep due to what the vet believes to be a serious tetanus infection. The primate's name was Brodie and he died on January 29, 2010. I was told the male long-tailed macaque was very sick and the vet recommended euthanasia.

I was told by the new director that all animals are cremated by a cremation company outside of town. I feel so much better knowing they are not put out with the trash and taken to a dumping ground like the other directors did for the deceased animals.

The director is also thinking about putting Mindy, the black spotted leopard to sleep because she has what the vet believes to be a cancerous growth in her uterus. The former directors allowed the growth to grow very large – when she’s walking the growth is not scraping the ground, but when she lays down, it rubs unnaturally and it developed some sores. When I saw Mindy, I saw the large growth, but I could not see any sores, but then Mindy was at the back of the enclosure.

The new director planned on having Mindy put to sleep this Thursday, but I just heard today Mindy was doing better on the medication she was given by the new vet. I was told the new director was not getting her hopes up yet – she doesn’t want to put the leopard to sleep because she helped raise Maverick and Mindy from cub-hood (they were born at the WAO – something the former director never told me) 17 years ago. I am so worried about Maverick because if Mindy is put to sleep, I think he will go down hill fast as he will be all alone at the second property. Sadly, the animal caretakers will only be able to interact with him during feeding and cleaning before they move onto the next enclosure. Maverick and Mindy used to live at the tour facility until 2004 and then they were moved with the surviving jaguar (now dead) to the second property.

The big event is going to be on March 27 at the touring facility. A local radio station will host a rock ‘n roll party during the lunch hour, giving out prizes and free hotdogs & drinks to the touring visitors. All tours will be $2 for adults and children and assuming we get enough items, we will also hold an auction and a rummage sale. 

I was able to work out the radio station deal – there will be continuous advertising during the week, leading up to party day. I just pray all this hard work will pay off.

I plan to continue my door-to-door campaign. I just got to get the word about the animal sanctuary before it’s too late.

For you see, the sanctuary is not doing financially well. I believe the coffers may be empty.

I was told the new director and a board member had an appointment with the bank to see if they could obtain a loan for the sanctuary, to help them get through the winter. On the morning of the appointment, the director called the board member only to learn he was intoxicated. The appointment was cancelled and rescheduled. Last week they went to the bank only to learn the sanctuary could refinance the current loans, but were unable to obtain a loan at this time. The new director put together a business talking paper for the bank and tomorrow the same board member will meet with the bank representatives so as to obtain a lower interest rate on the current loans (vehicles and equipment).. I spent a couple of hours today reviewing the paper because I wanted to make sure she put her best effort forward in order to gain favor from the bank. The director is unable to attend the bank meeting as she will be in Austin, visiting the Texas OAG. I believe she is interested in obtaining records under the Public Information Act. I pray the board member makes the appointment sober, so the sanctuary can benefit from a lower monthly loan payment.

I am working on a couple of grants for the sanctuary, but unfortunately the award will not be several months down the road, assuming of course we even get the award. So, I am praying really hard for a miracle. The animals could really, really use a miracle right now.