Animals left homeless in Montana after sanctuary closes
http://www.krtv.com/news/animals-left-homeless-in-montana-after-sanctuary-closes/
Posted: Dec 20, 2010 9:16 AM by Breanna Roy (Missoula)
Updated: Dec 20, 2010 11:41 AM
Animal care organizations in Montana are looking for permanent homes for more than 1,000 animals after the sanctuary where they lived ran out of money.Plus this story:
The Montana Large Animal Sanctuary and Rescue in Sanders County asked for financial help earlier this month.
National, state, and local animal care representatives stepped in to try and find new homes for hundreds of animals.
"It's a huge rescue. It's a gigantic effort and it's going to take time. We're all impatient to get this done really rapidly," explained Montana Horse Sanctuary founder Jane Heath. "One of the really big pieces [of] this puzzle is that there are about 750 llamas, there are about 100 horses up there - cattle, sheep, goats, emus and other animals, so it's going to take time."
While they won't adopt the animals out until they are in stable condition, those coordinating the effort say it's not too early to apply if you're interested.
The Montana Animal Care Association requests that you email the following appropriate people if you want to lend a hand.
• Llamas: Phyllis Ruana, Montana Animal Care Association president, MACusa@aol.com
• Horses: Jane Heath, Montana Horse Sanctuary executive director, ht@mt.net
• Farm animals: Susie Coston, Farm Sanctuary national shelter director, scoston@farmsanctuary.org
They're also looking for volunteers who can transport the animals.
Safe Harbor Shelter not taking in animals
Closing its doors, at least for a while
By: Liz Nunez
Posted: 09/01/2010
JUPITER, Fla. - Their faces are too cute to resist, but tough economic times have landed many animals in cages.
"We came in two weeks ago and found 9 animals in the back, they (a sign on them) said 'Our mom and dad have lost their jobs, we know you're a no kill shelter and will take care of us,' " said Kay-Lynette Roca, Safe Harbor Animal Shelter, CEO.
After 25 years taking in homeless and abused pets, Safe Harbor Animal shelter, says it is closing its doors, at least for a while.
"We are going to stop taking in animals unless they are critically injured or sick," said Roca.
According to the shelter, it has seen an unprecedented amount of animals recently, about 100 dogs, and more than 350 cats.
"The number of people that are down and walking away from their obligations have tripled, so we're bleeding to death in the hospital too," said Roca.
This year, the non-kill shelter is half a million dollars short of its budget, and needs another million to build a long planned sanctuary in Palm City.
"It's sad, you don’t know what you've lost until it's gone and when we are gone, it'll be too late," said Roca.
Meanwhile, the shelter encourages the public to adopt one of their animals, which are in desperate need of a good home.
If you would like to help the shelter keep its doors open, you can mail donations to:
Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary
PO Box 1843
Jupiter FL 33468
What is sad to report is that many animal sanctuaries do not have a solid operating budget. Instead of operating out of sound mind, too many organizations are operating their non-profit business from their hearts. When an organization takes on one more animal, then another, than another, eventually the organization reaches a point where it can no longer care for any of its animals. This situation almost reminds me of animal hoarders featured on tv all the time. Cats, dogs, and exotic animals are NOT potato chips. You cannot just take in just one more animal and expect everything to be okay. No matter how sad the animal(s)' story may be -- you just can't risk the lives of your current animal residents by taking on additional responsibilities if you are not prepared to do so in advance!
I pray this is a wake-up call to other animal sanctuaries out there--every organization must have a solid operating budget first, with funds set aside for a "rainy day" or financial disaster, before taking in "just one more" animal. Each time an animal is taken in and the budget is not adjusted, less animal feed can be purchased; less animal vet care can be paid for; and less money can be spent upgrading or maintaining animals enclosures/buildings. These are real animal lives people are "playing" with and the sanctuaries' board of directors need to stay on top of things or disastrous events (like the WAO closing) will happen. Anyone can obtain a non-profit exempt certificate from their state government and IRS. Not everyone should operate an animal sanctuary--period.
Case in point: I found this appeal on the internet:
I do not mean to pick on this sanctuary as I am sure this is happening at the majority of animal sanctuaries spread out through the United States. When I found this article right after I wrote my comments above, I just had to include the Wildcat Sanctuary's Pepsi challenge simply because it hightlights what organizations are doing wrong. Simply put, failure cannot be an option when lives are at stake, so please wake up America, or else what happened to the WAO and the two other animal sanctuaries listed in the above stories, can and will happen to your non-profit business!
Case in point: I found this appeal on the internet:
Pepsi Refresh Project
http://www.refresheverything.com/
Overview
The Wildcat Sanctuary just responded to an urgent plea to save 5 tigers, 1 lion, and 3 bobcats in desperate need of a home. We've safely transported them from Texas and now, winter's cold breath is knocking on our door. When it can get as cold as 20 below zero here in Minnesota, heated dens and buildings are critical, especially for tigers from Texas who won't have time to acclimate before winter sets in.So what will happen if the Wildcat Sanctuary does not win the Pepsi Refresh Project contest? Will the former WAO cats go cold and hungry this winter? Or will funds be pulled away from the current animals to cover the care and feeding for the newcomers? This is an excellent example of why sanctuaries need to have a special operational line item budget for these types of situations. Non-profits need to operate less like our Federal government and more like a for-profit business. It may sound cruel, but during a slow economic down turn, businesses need to access their bottom lines and stick to strict budgets until the economy swings upwards once again.
We've already had record snowstorms. Our daily expenses are huge; the food and heating costs keep mounting during the winter months.
Simply put, we need to raise enough money to cover the $3,000/month electric bill, pay for hundreds of gallons of propane for the in-floor heating systems in our three main housing units, and purchase hundreds of pounds of wholesome food for our new residents.
It's critical we provide our cats with a warm, safe place to be comfortable this winter. If you help us keep a wild one warm this winter, it will also warm your heart!
How will the 5K be Used?
Budget Notes: 100% of this grant money will go towards the care and comfort of our newly rescued wildcats during these winter months. No granted funds will be used for administration or human purposes. [Empahsis Added]
$ 3,000 Electric bill for January heat
$ 1,500 Propane for in-floor heating system
$ 500 Food for newly rescued residents
I do not mean to pick on this sanctuary as I am sure this is happening at the majority of animal sanctuaries spread out through the United States. When I found this article right after I wrote my comments above, I just had to include the Wildcat Sanctuary's Pepsi challenge simply because it hightlights what organizations are doing wrong. Simply put, failure cannot be an option when lives are at stake, so please wake up America, or else what happened to the WAO and the two other animal sanctuaries listed in the above stories, can and will happen to your non-profit business!
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| Layla reminds you that you can vote for us to win $5k by texting 104931 to Pepsi (73774). |
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| Tigers Sierra and Ekaterina want to remind you to vote at http://www.refresheverything.com/keepawi |
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| Tiger Sierra says keep voting at http://www.refresheverything.com/keepawildcatwarm to help keep our wild ones warm this season. Help us win $5K for the cats. Thanks for voting. |
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| Harley the bobcat says thank you for voting!! Let's move from 4th to 1st place with more votes: http://www.refresheverything.com/keepawildcatwarm |
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| Layla, at 19, is TWS' oldest resident. She even got up to say thank you for voting!! If you haven't voted today, please do: http://facebook.refresheverything.com/id |
Even Scott Lope, from Wild Animal Repo (more on that later) weighed in on the Pepsi challenge for Wildcat Sanctuary and Jungle Friends. Hmmm....isn't that a conflict of interest?
Scott Lope (Facebook page)
C'mon just do it ... your votes earns the cats so much needed $$$ to keep warm this winter !
Help keep our wild cats warm this winter
Pepsi Refresh Everything
http://www.refresheverything.com/
Vote for the most refreshing ideas to win Pepsi Refresh Project grants for The Planet..
January 26, 2011 ·
Scott Lope
Just takes a few seconds to vote and really means a lot to the monkeys ...
Expand our primate sanctuary to save more abused & neglected monkeys.
Pepsi Refresh Everything
http://www.refresheverything.com/
Vote for the most refreshing ideas to win Pepsi Refresh Project grants for Food and Shelter..
January 26, 2011
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| Kita the tiger is asking for your vote. Even though the top 10 ideas get funding, we want to remain at the top to ensure the cats win the $5K. Thanks for voting. Added yesterday (1.30.11) |
Good news! It appears the WAO animals will remain warm and fed thoughout the cold winter as Wildcat Sanctuary announced on its Facebook page that sanctuary won $5,000 for being in the top ten of organizations voted to receive the Pepsi Challenge monetary award.
Whew! I was worried the former WAO cats might have been left out in the cold!
June 25, 2011
Oh geez, more shameless exploitation to win favor with Pepsi drinkers...
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By Wildcat Sanctuary June 25 Please take a moment out of your day to vote for TWS! Vote at http://www.refresheverything.com/twsinternbunkhouse! Get the Power Vote caps on 12 packs and 20 Oz bottles, they really add up fast! Or Vote by Texting 106802 to Pepsi (73774) to vote from your mobile phone. |
I have been to safe harbor, they have always been a great rescue. I have never known them not to take in an animal, all I can say is they must be full to the max, I was glad to read that they will take in the injured. I know the last year has been poor when it comes to donations, so many people loseing their jobs and homes the rescues are full of homeless pets. I say all rescues need to keep at the least 1yr.ahead with their operating cost so as to always be that year ahead just in case of hard times, then that should give you a year to bank your donations.
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