In the animal rescue field you meet so many people, so many different personalities, for the most part people are so helpful and caring, but every once in a while you meet someone that no matter how hard you try, there is just no pleasing them.
I had a gentleman walk through my front door and tell me that he had been out live trapping cats for me and wanted to know when he could bring them in. When I explained that I did not have room for them that he needed to contact his local shelter he became very irate. I tried to explain to him that we had lost our shelter to fire in March and that we lost everything. He looked at me and said “that is not my problem it’s yours. You are a rescue and you need to take my cats.” At that point I knew that no matter what I said it was not going to make a difference and remained quiet. He finally left.
I feel that I need to explain to everyone that it is not that we do not want to help, but we are limited as to what we can do. Our animals are all in foster care because we have no facility. The Ark was started for animals that have absolutely no other alternative, Every town contracts with a shelter and if you have an issue regarding an animal you need to contact your local shelter. Your shelter can tell you their policies and if they can help you.
The Ark contracts with no towns, so we are not required to take animals in, but we help where we can. We will never refuse a sick or injured animal. We receive no town or state funding all of our monies comes from donations, fundraising and grants. We are an all-volunteer based group. Most of our volunteers work full time jobs on top of everything they do at the Ark. They work very hard and give endlessly to help the animals in our care. While we are currently limited to what we can do we are very proud of the work that we do.
Building update. We are just waiting for the contractor to start the groundwork. Trusses have been purchased and enough OSB board to cover the new building has been donated by a local company. Check out our Facebook page for more details. We are still in hopes of having a structure up before the snow flies.
We hit another bump in the road recently with our bake sales and warm foods. It seems that someone reported us to the Department of Agriculture. We had the same problem a few years back. I want to assure everyone that we are following protocol with our fundraisers. We have all of the necessary permits and are following proper procedure.
After talking to and visiting with a representative from the Department of Agriculture, we have been given the green light to continue what we have been doing. If any one still has any questions, I would welcome you to stop by and talk to me and I can tell you exactly what is required and show you our permits. We are a very transparent organization we have nothing to hide.
I guess I should say “thank you” for noticing what we do and for keeping us on our toes. This is still a learning process for everyone. Our bake sales raise a lot of money for the sanctuary and we are going to continue to do them.
Even with all of these little bumps in the road, so much good is happening. We have received full payment from the insurance company, the OSB board was donated, we won a $1,000 grant, things are looking up and we are all very excited about what is happening.
Please join us on Saturday, Oct. 11, for a bake sale outside The Hollywood Pet Salon, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. We will be at Took a Leap Farm on Sunday, Oct. 12 for their open house from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. We have a beautiful gift basket for cats on display at the salon raffle tickets are six for $5. We are also selling tickets on a beautiful hand made quilt on display at the salon. Those raffle tickets are $10.
Thank you for your continued support and as always thank you for reading our column.
