Movin' On up!

Although they don’t know it yet, the cats at Caring Fields are about to become residents of a very posh neighborhood!  Over the years the little houses that have been built on the open fields of the sanctuary have been a big hit.  The houses serve as feeding stations and also provide shelter for the cats who wander in and out at will.  In the interest of providing as many comfy retreats as possible, our intrepid sanctuary committee has come up with exciting plans for an entire village for the kitties!

After extensive research, brainstorming sessions, and hoofing it all over town, the committee recently unveiled plans for prefabricated cottages to provide the basis of the new village. These nifty cottages come in a variety of colors and sizes, they are delivered pre-wired for electricity, are hurricane resistant to winds of up to 125 mph, and they are amazingly simple to install!  Oh, and they are the cutest little houses you’ve ever seen. High ceilings with ceiling fans, airy windows, French doors, front porches, shutters, and window boxes will give the houses a charming old-world look.  Plans feature a horse-shoe shaped array of cottages, with solar lamps spaced between the buildings. Pathways with stepping stones donated by supporters will connect the buildings. The centerpiece of the village will be a gazebo with seating for visitors to spend time relaxing and visiting with the cats.

Much of the research and ground work has been accomplished thanks to an all-out effort by committee members Barbara Mueller and Andrea Strine.  The duo has made friends all over town as they have sought out discounted supplies, solicited donated building materials and purchased everything needed for the first two houses.

                             Andrea Strine, Pam Walker, and Barbara Mueller outside one of the cottages

Excitement ran high last week when these first two prototypes were delivered to Caring Fields.  Carol Smith sponsored a lovely blue cottage through her donation, and Jan Brush is the proud sponsor of an elegant steel grey one.  There is still work to be done on both houses, but the sanctuary committee anticipates a ribbon-cutting ceremony in a month or so.

In the meantime, the cats have given a definite “paws up” to the houses, staking their claim to various primo spots on the porches.  And, in true cat fashion, they have also left paw prints on all the windows as they have tried to peek in and check out their new digs. The cottages will remain closed until the floors and inner walls can be finished, despite the attempts of the cats to speed up the grand opening.

                                              Cira, peeking into one of the cottages.  "I want in!!!"

Hands Across the Nation

Don’t you love the idea of people metaphorically joining hands across the nation to help animals?  Through a recent experience I learned that this really does happen.  And I realized an encouraging truth:  The rescue efforts we make at HSAPL are, in fact, one small part of a larger movement that is going on around us; a movement in which individual organizations network to find options for homeless animals everywhere.  My education began on an ill-fated trip to Arkansas a few weeks ago….

The Arkansas adventure was a birthday celebration for my mother.  However, the trip did not go according to plan at all.  As a matter of fact, our timing couldn’t have been worse!  Tornadoes, hail storms and floods hit the Midwest shortly after we arrived.  We pulled up to our vacation cabin in the deep woods, just as the sky prepared to let loose with another round of rain and wind.  As I stepped from the car I was greeted by a friendly dog who trotted over to say hi.  The sweet boxer mix wagged his stumpy tail and offered his head to be petted.  At first I assumed he belonged to the cleaning woman who was preparing the cabin for our arrival.  However, upon closer examination I could see this dog was not well fed.  His ribs were clearly outlined and his fur seemed stretched too tightly over his hips.  The cleaning lady told me that the dog had been dumped the week before and had been surviving ever since on the crumbs provided by tourists staying in the cabin.  I did what anyone reading this post would have done:  I blinked back tears and determined to rescue this dog.

            Jasper with one of his new family members

And so began the effort to find a home for Jasper, as he came to be called.  My first plan was to take him to a local no-kill rescue organization and see if they could place him.  “Local” turned out to be two hours away at the Good Shepherd Humane Society in Eureka Springs.  This organization is the only humane animal organization which exists in that part of the state.  It not only takes in the usual number of abandoned animals, but due to its location in the heart of puppy mill country, it has been slammed by an inordinate number of dogs dumped by the puppy mills as a result of the recent economic downturn.

It isn’t surprising that Good Shepherd didn’t have room for Jasper.  What did surprise me was the enthusiastic helpfulness shown by Diane, a rescue coordinator who works with the shelter, and Marcie, one of the technicians there.  I had never met either of these women, but I felt a kinship right away.  Both of them got to work helping me figure out what could be done with Jasper.  Arrangements were made for Marcie to foster him until transportation could be set up for his onward journey to Florida.  Since the shelters in Arkansas were overloaded that seemed to be the best alternative.  Back in Florida, friends at HSAPL were already sending the word out that Jasper needed a home.

Within a few days a perfect home had been found for Jasper in Jensen Beach.  As plans progressed, complete strangers opened their hearts and their homes to aid in the process of getting Jasper out of Arkansas and down to his new family.  A week after I flew home, Jasper made the journey to Florida by car; driven by a young man who decided to combine a vacation with transporting a needy dog to a new home.  This was networking at its finest!

Jasper is now happily settled with his new family, adored by three doting boys and two doting parents.  The teamwork required in coordinating his journey was truly an example of people reaching “across the nation” to help an animal in need.  What a wonderful reminder that those of us involved in rescue work are part of a grand brotherhood dedicated to saving lives—feline, canine, and more.

Fuzzy, Four-footed, Bundles of Joy

Spring has sprung and, as happens each year at this time, we’ve got kittens!  Lots and lots of kittens.  And every single one of them tugs at your heartstrings and makes you want to kiss the tops of their fuzzy little heads and take them home with you.

As you can imagine, our foster parents are working overtime.  This year we seem to have quite a number of kittens whose feline moms aren’t interested in nursing them.  That means bottle feeding lots of hungry mouths is needed every couple of hours.  It’s exhausting for the foster moms, but you won’t hear them complaining.  Their goal is to get these little ones strong and healthy in time for our Kitten Shower on May 22^nd.

The Kitten Shower has to be my favorite HSAPL event.  For the third year in a row our education center at the sanctuary will be transformed, with chairperson Cindy’s magical decorative touch, into a festive party scene that would make any baby shower hostess proud. Cindy’s co-chair, Liz, will ensure that no organizational detail has been overlooked, and the committee will no doubt whip up some of their secret-recipe punch for the occasion.  Cages filled with kittens will line the walls as foster parents proudly stand by, ready to give details to potential adopters. Kittens will find “forever, homes,”  cake will be served, a raffle will raise a bit of money for the cats, and guests will enjoy tours of the facility.  It’s an afternoon filled with laughter and fun.

Of course the centerpiece of the entire event will be the kittens.  Just in case you’ve forgotten how adorable kittens are, take a look at a few that have come to us over the years:

And now for the details so that you can join us for this party!

WHEN:  Sunday, May 22^nd, 2:00-4:00 p.m.

WHERE: Hobe Sound Animal Protection League, Palm City

COST:     Admission is free, but guests are asked to bring shower gifts of supplies for the cats or a monetary donation.

RSVP:     For more info and to reserve a spot, call Sande at 772-463-9207 

Snip, Snip, Snip!

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we were so successful we could put ourselves out of business?  Strange as it sounds, that is our ultimate goal; to reduce the number of homeless and unwanted cats to the point where, well, there aren’t any unwanted cats!  One way to accomplish this goal is through adoptions; and we had 179 of them last year.  Another way, which offers a long-term solution to the problem, is through our spay/neuter program, known as Operation Catsnip.

Fortunately for HSAPL, Dr. Ries, of Savanna Animal Hospital, shares our interest in reducing feline overpopulation through sterilization. For the past two and a half years, she has performed discounted spay and neuter services for us every Wednesday at her clinic in Jensen Beach.  The process begins each Monday, when volunteers Sande and Peggy, begin assembling the surgery roster for that week.  Up to 20 cats can be sterilized on a clinic day, but the balance of neutering the males (a relatively quick and non-invasive process) must be balanced with the number of females (a more invasive and complicated procedure).  Cats from St. Lucie, Martin, and sometimes even Palm Beach Counties, are added to the list.  Many of the cats come in through the voucher program.  Owners needing low-cost spay and neuter services purchase a voucher for $35 which entitles them to the basic surgery and, for cats over four months in age, a rabies vaccination.    Other cats, known as free-roaming, are brought in by their caretakers to be examined, vaccinated and sterilized.

Wednesday morning, bright and early, technician Lisa joins volunteers Barbara and Sande (taking photo) at Savanna Animal Hospital. Cars pull into the parking lot, dropping off an assortment of carriers and humane traps filled with cats.  The waiting room resounds with the melody of meowing kitties as each cat is assigned a number and a surgery slot. One by one the cats are taken into surgery and by 1:00 p.m. all the surgeries have been completed.  The cats, groggy but awake, head home to recuperate completely.

When asked why she enjoys this aspect of volunteer work, Barbara expressed satisfaction in knowing that she is helping to tackle the overpopulation problem by being part of the process in which cats are sterilized, “never to reproduce again!”  Sande shared that sentiment and added that she enjoys helping people through the voucher program who “care about the problem but lack the resources and/or expertise to anything about it.”  She told of a couple who own a farm and care for 20 free-roaming adult cats and 13 kittens on their property.  One by one, they managed to trap all of the cats and bring them to the clinic to be sterilized. Numerous trips were involved over a period of several months; but the couple can now rest assured that their colony of cats won’t continue to reproduce. 

Through cooperative efforts and a great deal of patience, HSAPL is slowly making progress in the battle to reduce feline overpopulation.  Over the past two years 2,000 sterilization surgeries have been performed through Operation Catsnip.  When one considers that each mother cat produces an average of 4 kittens, the number of births grows exponentially and the sterilization of 2,000 represents the prevention of hundreds of thousands of unwanted feline births. There is still much to be done; but with the help of our volunteers and donors, we are chipping away at the problem, one snip at a time.

To donate to Operation Catsnip or find out more about the program, please call Sande at 772-463-9207.  

Party On For A Cause!

This week's post is a collaborative writing effort.  Many thanks to Laurie Osborn for her contribution to this article.  It runs a bit longer than usual, but we didn't want to leave out a single important detail about our upcoming event!

When I was a little girl I always imagined that the world of grown-ups was filled with parties and balls that were magical and perfect in every way.  Fueled by fairy tales and Disney movies, I would prance around the house wrapped in my mother’s flowing nightgown and a plastic crown pretending I was a princess at the ball.  Of course I never gave a single thought to how these parties were planned or who did the organizing or how it all came to be so magical in the first place.

As an adult, I have learned a number of things about throwing  parties.  First of all, most grown-ups don’t want to get dressed up in ball gowns and crowns.  They prefer to be comfortable and usually somewhat casual.  Second, planning a successful party, especially when it’s a fundraiser, requires a committee of dedicated, creative individuals who devote months to planning before the event takes place.

For the third year in a row, HSAPL is getting ready for an event that is truly magical. Party in Paradise, held at the private island home of a board member, is HSAPL’s second largest annual fundraiser and it is expected to draw a crowd of more than 200 enthusiastic cat-loving supporters.

So what makes Party in Paradise so magical? Picture this: It’s late in the afternoon on an idyllic south Florida spring day. As the sun begins to set and the air takes on a pink, misty hue, party guests arrive on Manatee Island, a private island Shangri-La on the St. Lucie River. Signature tropical drinks await guests as they alight from the golf cart that whisked them over an arched wooden bridge from the real world into the magical world of paradise.

In paradise, the beach is covered in soft white sand; palm trees sway gently in the cool breeze blowing in off the water. Live music sets a festive tone.  Glorious flowering plants flank pathways and terraces leading up to the unique, Balinese-inspired house. Guests indulge at a delicious buffet catered by “Taste” of Hobe Sound and tropical drinks along with beer and wine flow freely from the open bars. Lovely people mix and mingle. The simple words “Tell me about your cat” have the power to transform strangers into friends in paradise.   As the sun sets over the water, guests kick off their flip flops and dance the night away on the beach.

This year, the planning committee has taken Party in Paradise to a new level. At the meetings, I sit in awe as a group of experienced hostesses share ideas and hammer out plans to make this year’s event better than ever. Creative ideas fly around the table, some discarded, others embraced, as the party begins to take shape.  Checkbooks come out as committee members offer to underwrite various aspects of the event.  Since the purpose of the party is to raise money for the cats of HSAPL, underwriting ensures a profit without compromising quality for the party-goers.

As  Party in Paradise approaches and RSVPs start to roll in, I become aware of the fact that the real magic behind Party in Paradise is about much more than a great party in an idyllic island setting. It’s about the incredible generosity exhibited by volunteers and supporters of HSAPL. Not only does this year’s Party in Paradise promise to be one of those magical parties I dreamed of as a girl, it is  another fine example of people working together to make the world a better place for our feline friends.  And that, to me, is  nothing less than magic.

Party in Paradise will be held on March 27^th, 2011 from 5 – 9 p.m. on Manatee Island in Sewall’s Point. Tickets are $125 per person or $1000 for a group of 10. To purchase tickets, please visit our website at www.hsapl.org.  For more information, please call Peggy Hart at 772-221-8250.  Everyone is welcome.

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Saying Goodbye

I’ve been procrastinating, I’ll admit it.  I know this blog needs to be written, but the task is one that is carried out with a heavy heart.  Much of our work at HSAPL is happy and uplifting.  We are dedicated to saving lives, after all.  However, the sad reality is that not every life can be saved.  Dealing with loss is also a part of our experience.  Sometimes the cats that come to us are beyond our help.  The best we can do is to offer them a soft bed and loving care to ease their journey out of this world.  Sometimes their lives have been shortened by previous hardships and they slip away without warning, their still bodies discovered by a volunteer or our executive director, while making the rounds at the end of day.

Whatever the circumstances, every loss is felt deeply, and every life mourned.  Just a few weeks ago I was out at Caring Fields when Pam Walker, our executive director, approached me.  Her usual smile seemed strained and her blue eyes looked a bit red. “We lost one today,” she whispered, her voice catching as she fought back tears.  Forest, a campground favorite, had succumbed to illness, despite having been to the vet the day before.   Sometimes there just isn’t anything to be done but that doesn’t make it any easier to say goodbye.

Every time a cat crosses “the rainbow bridge” a tribute is written and an email sent out.  Often Allison, one of our volunteers, will share an anecdote and a photo with readers, and stories trickle in about that particular cat.  A memorial plaque has recently been created in which each of the deceased cats is honored with a listing.  There is really no way to erase the sadness, but we try to comfort one another and celebrate the specialness of each lost cat.

There are many poems written about death, but I particularly like the following:

A POEM FOR THE GRIEVING...

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn's rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die...

-Anonymous

Feeding Frenzy

If you happen to be out at HSAPL’s feline sanctuary at 8:30 on a Friday morning, you may think the Cat Whisperer has dropped by for a visit—two Cat Whisperers, actually.  Brenda and Gloria, both volunteers, never fail to attract a crowd of about a dozen cats when they step into the campground to begin their morning feeding.  With ears perked and tails waving happily in anticipation, the crowd of cats follows the ladies in a friendly feeding frenzy to oversee the preparation of their breakfast.

Gloria is a 2-year veteran of the drill and comes twice a week, devoting anywhere from 3-8 hours at a time to the care and feeding of her “babies”.  Brenda joined her about 8 months ago on Fridays and sometimes shows up on Tuesdays as well.  Both ladies are filled with energy and enthusiasm, despite the cold mornings or hot, sticky afternoons outdoors that are part of Florida’s unpredictable weather.

Although their work is accompanied by much laughter, “conversations” with the cats, and even singing, both women are actually doing serious socializing during the time they spend at the sanctuary.  When asked why she chose this area of volunteer work, Gloria responded, “I truly feel that I make a difference with the 150 cats that we have and most [of them] will probably never know another home.  My favorite part is, of course, socializing the babies and watching the ferals become sweetie-pies.”  Brenda expressed similar feelings, “The progress the cats are making is [happening] right before our very eyes.  You can see them trying to figure out how to trust us!  . . .Many of them were pets at one time, and since they don’t currently have a forever home, our human contact . . .is making them trust and love people again!”

Such dedication to HSAPL’s mission of helping cats in need is what has enabled the organization to succeed.  Cats who came to us as frightened, skinny orphans, now join the throng of happy kitties who follow the ladies around, seeking breakfast and perhaps a little scratch under the chin.  Carry on, ladies!  We are fortunate to have such cat whisperers as part of our team!

To learn more about volunteer opportunities with HSAPL, please call 772-463-7386