For more info on any of these animals, you can view a description on our Facebook page.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Pictures
These are some photos I got at my last session-
For more info on any of these animals, you can view a description on our Facebook page.
For more info on any of these animals, you can view a description on our Facebook page.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Meeting
I just returned from tonight's volunteer meeting. We had a decent turnout again tonight with lots of great ideas included.
We have decided to postpone "this spring's" dog walk until next May (2013) to give us more time to plan. This will be our first fundraiser of this kind, and we all decided we needed to make sure to give ourselves enough time to plan ahead to make it successfull. We did not feel as though we had the "active volunteer base" needed to put together such a large event, and agreed to wait until we get more interested volunteers willing to attend meetings and head Chairs and Committees.
After this, we discussed some other fundraisers that we would be interested in hosting this year. Some ideas included:
We have decided to postpone "this spring's" dog walk until next May (2013) to give us more time to plan. This will be our first fundraiser of this kind, and we all decided we needed to make sure to give ourselves enough time to plan ahead to make it successfull. We did not feel as though we had the "active volunteer base" needed to put together such a large event, and agreed to wait until we get more interested volunteers willing to attend meetings and head Chairs and Committees.
After this, we discussed some other fundraisers that we would be interested in hosting this year. Some ideas included:
- Spay & Neuter Clinic
- The President of TCHS has been searching for a local building we can get approved by the Dept. of Agriculture to steralize and use as a Spay and Neuter clinic for the public, and our shelter animals. It will be a low-cost clinic, but not just for low-income families. More on this topic will be discussed upon further discussion at later meetings.
- Calendars
- This was a GREAT idea one of the newer S&T student volunteers mentioned that we do to help raise money for the shelter. We can get some photos of our dogs and cats together to post into a calendar to sell with proceeds benefiting the shelter and its animals. A small blurb can be posted under each photo to tell its story. I love this idea, and can't wait to get started on it for next year.
- Celebrity Autograph Auction
- We talked about somehow accumulating autographed items from celebrities to auction off to raise money for the shelter animals. This was a very interesting idea presented by the VP - Katrina Macey.
- Dog Wash
- We held our first dog wash last July (2011) and it was very successfull and fun. We washed about 30 dogs total and raised a little over $500. We definitely plan to hold one or two more this coming summer. They were easy to plan and easy to put together with a couple of volunteers on-hand. We also offered nail trims. The wash raised money through donation-only. Meaning some people paid $1 for a dog wash and some people gave $50+ for a bath.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Quarantine
In the past, we have had many problems exposing our healthy, adoptable dogs to new dogs coming in incubating diseases such as Parvo. Once a dog is exposed to Parvo, it can remain dormant in the system for up to 14 days before a dog shows any signs of being sick. By then, it's almost too late.
We want to build a quarantine area, as a part of the shelter where incoming dogs will stay for 10-14 days (or until deemed healthy by a veterinarian.) This will prevent any of our healthy dogs from attracting diseases, fleas, etc. from any incoming dogs - and we won't have as many Parvo epidemics roaming through the shelter, making us close down for periods at a time, and losing possible adoptions.
Of course, Parvo is inevidable in places where many dogs are in close proximities for extended periods at a time. Stress lowers the immune system, making dogs more succeptible to illness while at a shelter. Puppies and older dogs are extremely at risk of getting Parvo.
To build a quarantine area, we would need to add about a 4 foot concrete extention to the back end of the shelter. We will need to enclose the area to protect the dogs from extreme weather conditions, and it will need to be completely isolated from the healthy and adoptable dogs.
This is an expensive project, and it will take a lot of time to complete. Many of the 2012 fundraisers will be benefiting this project - and we are looking for groups (fraternities, sororities, youth groups, etc.) willing to donate their time and help us make this project come to life.
If you're interested in helping us raise money for this cause, you can donate using ChipIn.
If you have a group or you, personally are interested in helping us build the quarantine area, please contact me at:
ashly.reed@live.com or linda.francis@webstack.com
We are hoping to get many of the needed materials donated - a list will be available shortly.
We want to build a quarantine area, as a part of the shelter where incoming dogs will stay for 10-14 days (or until deemed healthy by a veterinarian.) This will prevent any of our healthy dogs from attracting diseases, fleas, etc. from any incoming dogs - and we won't have as many Parvo epidemics roaming through the shelter, making us close down for periods at a time, and losing possible adoptions.
Of course, Parvo is inevidable in places where many dogs are in close proximities for extended periods at a time. Stress lowers the immune system, making dogs more succeptible to illness while at a shelter. Puppies and older dogs are extremely at risk of getting Parvo.
To build a quarantine area, we would need to add about a 4 foot concrete extention to the back end of the shelter. We will need to enclose the area to protect the dogs from extreme weather conditions, and it will need to be completely isolated from the healthy and adoptable dogs.
This is an expensive project, and it will take a lot of time to complete. Many of the 2012 fundraisers will be benefiting this project - and we are looking for groups (fraternities, sororities, youth groups, etc.) willing to donate their time and help us make this project come to life.
If you're interested in helping us raise money for this cause, you can donate using ChipIn.
If you have a group or you, personally are interested in helping us build the quarantine area, please contact me at:
ashly.reed@live.com or linda.francis@webstack.com
We are hoping to get many of the needed materials donated - a list will be available shortly.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Photoshoot!
Got some great shots of the dogs on Tuesday. You can view their profiles and other information on the shelter's Facebook page.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Our first meeting of 2012
Tonight (Sunday) was the first volunteer meeting of 2012. We had a somewhat poor turnout, with 5 of us showing up total. Nevertheless, we had a great discussion and managed to come up with a lot of great fundraiser ideas for the upcoming year.
Some of the ideas we talked about incorporating into this years fundraiser schedule included:
Many of these fundraisers would require vendors, demonstrations and other fun things to keep people engaged and excited. If you know anybody who is interested in becoming a vendor at one of our events, please let me know. :)
I'm still working through my notes and getting them organized to write a more "profesh" article about what we talked about. If you would like to share any thoughts and ideas about fundraisers or anything, please comment.
Some of the ideas we talked about incorporating into this years fundraiser schedule included:
- dog wash
- dog show
- selling pet treats
- pet walks (5k run/walk)
- psychic fair
- motorcycle rally
- adoption convention
- "fill a truck" (Hutcheson-Ford)
Many of these fundraisers would require vendors, demonstrations and other fun things to keep people engaged and excited. If you know anybody who is interested in becoming a vendor at one of our events, please let me know. :)
I'm still working through my notes and getting them organized to write a more "profesh" article about what we talked about. If you would like to share any thoughts and ideas about fundraisers or anything, please comment.
Friday, January 27, 2012
We passed!
As some of you may know, last year the Dept. of Agriculture came at us hard with many citations involving our shelter... threatening to close us down for good. Lucky for us, most of the citations were cosmetic, and were easily fixed. We were able to replace an exhaust fan in the kennels so the dogs could have better circulated air, fix the tile in our cat rooms and much more with the donations of our kind Facebook followers. We raised over $1000 in just a week during this crisis to help keep our doors open.
With that donated money, we fixed everything. We were practically DARING the Dept. of Agriculture to come back and see what we've done.
Well, they did just that. And we passed the inspection with FLYING COLORS!!
We still have many more improvements to make, and the first one on our list is adding a quarantine area for new dogs and cats to stay until they are deemed healthy and ready for adoption. A quarantine area would prevent our healthy and adoptable dogs from becoming ill, and would also keep any diseases from spreading among the other animals.
Of course, these projects take MONEY. Something that is very scarce among our shelter all the time. We run entirely on donations provided through the public and we often come very close to shutting down for good due to lack of income. If you're in the Missouri area, please plan to attend our meeting this Sunday at the Days Inn & Suites in St. James. The meeting will begin at 5PM and should last no longer than an hour or so. We will be discussing 2012 fundraisers - and would appreciate everybody's wonderful and creative ideas.
If you're unable to attend, feel free to comment below with any ideas you may have! :)
With that donated money, we fixed everything. We were practically DARING the Dept. of Agriculture to come back and see what we've done.
Well, they did just that. And we passed the inspection with FLYING COLORS!!
We still have many more improvements to make, and the first one on our list is adding a quarantine area for new dogs and cats to stay until they are deemed healthy and ready for adoption. A quarantine area would prevent our healthy and adoptable dogs from becoming ill, and would also keep any diseases from spreading among the other animals.
Of course, these projects take MONEY. Something that is very scarce among our shelter all the time. We run entirely on donations provided through the public and we often come very close to shutting down for good due to lack of income. If you're in the Missouri area, please plan to attend our meeting this Sunday at the Days Inn & Suites in St. James. The meeting will begin at 5PM and should last no longer than an hour or so. We will be discussing 2012 fundraisers - and would appreciate everybody's wonderful and creative ideas.
If you're unable to attend, feel free to comment below with any ideas you may have! :)
2012 Fundraisers - I need your ideas!
As you may know, this Sunday (the 29th) we are having our first volunteer meeting to discuss some fundraisers we hope to accomplish over the year. One of the main ones we were thinking about included a large adoption convention - including a couple of other rescue groups from around the area.
We are going to need a lot of volunteer resources, budgets and much more to plan this out. Luckily, for the first time ever, we are planning this event with other local and experienced rescue groups.
We're hoping to make this event similar to the Bark-B-Que held in Jefferson City last year - with lots of vendors, food, training demos and, of course, adoptable dogs and cats. Any vendors are welcome to come offer their services - booth prices have not yet been stabilized (we may or may not discuss the issue at this Sunday's meeting.) Anybody with pet-related services or projects are welcome to contact us to book a booth.
-Dog treats
-Cat/dog toys
-Pet supplies
-Pet photographers
-K-9 training demos
We're hoping to book as many people as possible to make this event a success - and hopefully an annual event. We will need a lot of publication (newspapers, radio ads, etc.) to help spread the word.
If you're in the area, and are interested in attending this Sunday's meeting - it is held at the Days Inn & Suites hotel in St. James, MO. We will begin at 5 and the meeting should last no longer than an hour or so. Sign up here to become a volunteer.
Be sure to "like" the shelter's Facebook page as well!
We are going to need a lot of volunteer resources, budgets and much more to plan this out. Luckily, for the first time ever, we are planning this event with other local and experienced rescue groups.
We're hoping to make this event similar to the Bark-B-Que held in Jefferson City last year - with lots of vendors, food, training demos and, of course, adoptable dogs and cats. Any vendors are welcome to come offer their services - booth prices have not yet been stabilized (we may or may not discuss the issue at this Sunday's meeting.) Anybody with pet-related services or projects are welcome to contact us to book a booth.
-Dog treats
-Cat/dog toys
-Pet supplies
-Pet photographers
-K-9 training demos
We're hoping to book as many people as possible to make this event a success - and hopefully an annual event. We will need a lot of publication (newspapers, radio ads, etc.) to help spread the word.
If you're in the area, and are interested in attending this Sunday's meeting - it is held at the Days Inn & Suites hotel in St. James, MO. We will begin at 5 and the meeting should last no longer than an hour or so. Sign up here to become a volunteer.
Be sure to "like" the shelter's Facebook page as well!
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