Wacky & Why Wednesday

Thanksgiving-Christmas fundraiser

for Cat Friends Helping Friends at the Cat Blogosphere

and the Rescue Farm
STARTS TOMORROW NIGHT!

Rocky here: I took our blog back from my human artist because she's totally WACKED out, racing around here so fast it makes my head spin! I'm going to tell you more about WHY we chose to help the Rescue Farm and show you some more of their photos ... while my artist cooks noodles & turkey & dressing & more food than even I could eat, takes pictures of our fundraiser products, creates more products, and drives an hour away to pick up the latest ferals she rescued after their hoohaectomies, then drives them to the Rescue Farm ... hey, don't forget to feed me!!

I had to put down my paw about these ferals; I could see from the look in my human's eyes that she wanted to hire them as staff, so I had to remind her of my corporate edict: No more staff! This is the mama of the last two litters of ferals my silly human rescued, and her last two kittens. No more staff from this mama feral! Here they are at the vet, terrified of humans. (Can't blame them.) But once they escape their police trap prison and see their new home on the 40-acre Rescue Farm and meet their new mom & dad Jodi and Matt, these kitties will be happy campers!
The fact that the Rescue Farm helps us take care of feral kitties in our city is only one of the reasons we want to help them. The fact that they give a good home to cats and dogs that are sick or injured or special-needs is another reason. That they've found loving homes so far this year for more than 700 cats & dogs is another. But a big reason is that they NEED help!

Jodi told my mom, "We all know people don't go into animal rescue for the money. We're a 501(c)(3) non-profit so donations are tax deductible, but not having "humane society" or "animal shelter" in our name makes it hard to get donations. Nearly all our income is from adoption fees. Money is always tight."

Each cat they rescue is spayed/neutered, vaccinated, wormed, flea-treated and tested for Felv/HIV -- costing $60. Their cat adoption fee is $60. And this doesn't include food, shelter, medications or surgeries.

Jodi says, "We love cats, and there are so many cats euthanized just because there isn't enough room for them in shelters. We'll never stop rescuing kitties, but we can't possibly recoup the money we spend on their care. We rely on dog adoptions to help pay for cat rescue." Each dog costs $100-$200 to prepare for adoption, and their dog adoption fees are $150-$400, which doesn't cover heartworm treatments or vet care for malnourished, ill, or dogs hit by cars, which Jodi sadly says is "thousands upon thousands."

Last year Jodi & Matt spent $120,000 to operate the Rescue Farm. They brought in $104,000. "Didn't quite make it," Jodi said.

But in spite of their financial struggles, I saw Jodi's face light up as she explained, "Don't get me wrong - we love doing rescue; it's something we'll never give up without a fight. Spending each day helping those who give unconditional love is the most amazing feeling in the world. Working with animals who, on their own, would never have survived, is an incredible gift! We try to make life for our babies "like home" here, but our goal is to find dedicated, compassionate adopters to give our animals a true home so we can bring in more whose 'clocks are ticking'."

I saw Jodi shake her head and lament,"You know, we, as a society, live in a throw-away world. We buy something, then when a newer one comes out, we toss the old and buy the new. We do this with computers and cell phones. We do this with cars and furniture and clothes. Why are we doing this with our pets? What kind of people would do this to their pets?"

And that's why I'm so glad my human artists are helping the Rescue Farm ... and why so many of you, my blogging friends, are joining us in helping them. I mean, it's "There but for the grace of God go I." If my mom hadn't rescued all of us when we were tossed out, I wouldn't be here today and neither would my staff. ... Hmm ... maybe I should rethink that "No more staff" policy ....

Update 8:30 p.m. ....

My human artist just got back from taking the fixed ferals (Fixed? They ain't broke!) to their new home at the Rescue Farm ... and she smells like a barnyard! I'm sitting here waiting for my dinner, and she was out there giving treats to the blind horse Jeremiah, and his seeing eye cow Two Percent. Just look at her making that silly awwwww face and feeding those things treats bigger than my head!!

And if that's not bad enough, this Rescue Farm resident, Alice, got in my human artist's Jeep and tried to come back to Artsy Catsy! I saaaid .... "NO MORE STAFF!!"

Two Percent Tuesday

Only 2 more days to the Artsy Catsy

Thanksgiving-Christmas fundraiser

for

Cat Friends Helping Friends at the Cat Blogosphere

and the Rescue Farm!

Today I'm going to let Jodi tell you in her own words how Jeremiah the horse, and his seeing eye cow, whose name is Two Percent, came to live with Jodi and Matt at the Rescue Farm ....

"In 2001, we heard about a rancher whose wonderful horse, Jeremiah, his companion and riding pal for 9 years, had gone blind from a vaccine reaction. The rancher said he wasn’t going to spend money for 20 more years on a horse that couldn’t “do anything in return.” So, of course, we took Jeremiah.

We doted on him, but he just seemed lonely. We thought it was our lucky day when the police called and asked if we could take a stray horse they found near the highway. She was skin and bone! We named her Lurlene and she and Jeremiah hit it right off. After 3 weeks of vet care, she was a different horse; she was playful and filling out nicely and so happy to be loved! But I woke up one day and went outside to find Lurlene, and a colt, lying dead beside Jeremiah. The vet said she’d been so ill and thin a month earlier, she’d probably already lost the colt, so with no heartbeat they didn’t discover she was pregnant.

The day we found her was Christmas Eve, and Matt & I were so devastated we stayed in like hermits for the whole holiday.

Jeremiah wasn’t himself after losing Lurlene, so we started looking for another horse that needed to be loved. Then came Cody, an 8-month-old male horse who was born with a twisted backbone, and his owners were ready to send him to “sale” (aka slaughter for meat.) We brought Cody to the Rescue Farm and fell in LOVE with him! He was so sweet and loved his treats and basking in the sun.

Because of his defective spine, sometimes he couldn’t get up from lying in the sun and Matt & I would have to get him back on his feet – it often took us hours. After a year, he started having more and more trouble until we were pulling him up every day. One day we tried for hours and hours, but Cody was just done fighting and he passed on. How we mourned our sweet Cody.

We tried and tried to find another special-needs horse, with no luck, and Jeremiah was so lonely. Then in late 2003 our vet called to tell us her neighbor had two newborn calves who needed to be bottle fed because their mother died giving birth. We brought one of them home and named her Two Percent because that was her milk choice.

Two Percent has grown up with Jeremiah and she doesn’t know she’s a cow – she thinks she’s a horse! He immediately fell in love with Two Percent, and she quickly started serving as his “seeing eye cow”! She leads Jeremiah wherever he wants to go, and if Two Percent is led away from him, Jeremiah just panics.

Ironically, we discovered that Two Percent is a hermaphrodite. That means she can’t give milk and can’t have offspring. Hermaphrodite cows, in ranchers’ eyes, can’t “do anything in return” and are killed. If they could see Two Percent with Jeremiah, they would realize what a precious gift she is giving in return for just being loved! And Matt & I have been blessed with two of the greatest big pets anyone could have!"