This Month's Special Request

I have a special request of everyone this evening. You've all been so helpful when various situations have arisen or when somebody has posted a group near and dear to their heart that needed help - you even were great about me going on and on about my baby project (which is going swimmingly, might I add, but that's not on the agenda this evening. <G>). Well, tonight I'm bringing a very special project to you that, while helping others, will also ultimately benefit me, in the long run, believe it or not.

As I've mentioned before, my ym's family runs a small animal shelter in southern Florida. I've also said before that I want to keep those worlds separate. Caden just isn't ready for the Ageless atmosphere yet, not to mention he'd shit a brick if he knew I'd discussed our personal life with my friends. I also need a private place for support, I'm sure ya'll understand that, but, sometimes, I guess, worlds were meant to collide, if only momentarily.

Yes, I've mentioned before how hard core animal this family is and yes, it does grate on the nerves every so often, but that doesn't mean I don't support what they're doing. I'm behind their project and help as much as I can. This is a fledgling non-profit that is still in the process of getting off the ground - even as they care for over two hundred strays on a daily basis, along with rescuing, spaying, neutering, medicating, it's a lot of work that can be stressful by itself. People are very cruel to strays. Since Christmas alone they've had cats purposely hit by cars, poisoned, shot, set on fire, and brutally mutilated. Combine that with the "shoot to kill" mentality of the Fish & Game Commission (Florida is a dangerous place for stray animals) and those who just hate strays and the people that care for them, it's often a dangerous job. In the past few months alone, the shelter vehicle was vandalized, Caden was physically assaulted, the area they use for offices vandalized and today Cade was threatened again, all for taking care of strays.

That said, in the past year or so, the group has been in the process of raising money with which to purchase land out of the state where the animals can be relocated to, cleaned up and then, if possible, adopted out to good homes. Right now they operate out of a 700 foot office space with no land, it's way too small for what they do with these animals. Coupled with the most recent personal threats, moving the sanctuary is of the utmost importance. As of this week they've found a great property in Ohio, complete with outbuildings and acerage. It's perfect. The catch is, all monies that have been donated have been designated towards the removal of the animals to the land and its mortgage payments, NOT the down payment itself.

So, as you can imagine, amidst the care of the animals and the recent threats, they're scrambling to get the funds together. The owner is asking for $1000.00 as downpayment and I've found someone willing to donate half of that if others will be willing to donate to match it or more. Tomorrow a note will go out to the groups current supporters but tonight I'm trying to get a jump on things. I'm asking everybody I know if they'd be willing to donate something, anything, to help with this part of the project.

It doesn't have to be a huge amount, every dollar helps, and, in this case, moving the cats doesn't just benefit them, it benefits my ym as it will take tremendous stress off of him. Working with the animals is an integral part of his life and his therapy, but knowing they're living under these conditions and they can't help them as they want to is very stressful, causing more stress on him that he doesn't need. (no, this is not his job, he's in the legal field, this is a family project, so they all help out - some more than others, of course) Not to mention, once Cade moves, I get to move, so you'll be doing me a great favor too. <G>

So, whether ya love me or hate me, if you care about animals in any way, shape or form, I politely ask that you pay www.itsmeowornever.org a quick visit. Check out the website, swing by the message board, read all about what they're doing, subscribe to the newsletter (edited by yours truly <G>) and if you'd be so kind as to donate, please designate it "Downpayment Donation". If you want you can say that you're a friend of Mia's. I just ask that you not mention Ageless or my name here. We all need a safe place and right now I'd like this place to remain mine, ya know?

I'd like to say that if ya'll went and donated I'd never ask for anything like this ever again but that's just not possible because there will always be people or projects in need, always be emergencies, and there will always be people like me who like to try to help.

:D

Thanks for putting up with my endless blathering and I hope a few of you will consider donating to this worthy cause. ;)

Honey, Dave and I spend between $2,500 and $3,000 a year to feed our motley collection of birds, squirrels, raccoons and even a 3-legged feral cat we've dubbed Tripod. We will go over bills and see how much we can send. Money is tight but it is never that tight.

I've been doing rescue since I was a teen and its always amazed me how much people hate cats. I don't care for them as housepets, so I don't have them. Fine. But *why* if you don't like them must you hurt them?! I've seem them set on fire, thrown from moving cars, pitched in with dogs in hopes they would be slaughered (said dog disappointed them by being a cat lover.) Sometimes you can't even trust someone who says they love cats. We had a guy we thought was a real cat lover who adoped cats from our shelter on a regular basis. He got busted for chucking them off the bridge into the river!!

The entire South is bad for animals and none too good for people. Lack of education, the ability to empathize and general stupidity combine to make people cruel. After living in Mobile, Alabama for 4 years I honestly don't know how any Black person can grow up in the South with any sense of self-esteem. Many shelters sell their animals to labs for experiments and most shelters aren't even that -- they are pounds where the animals can only stay 5 to 7 days. I have a friend in Louisiana who IS a shelter. She and her husband usually have 12 or more dogs and I think they lost count of the cats. Someone has to take them, so the gentle people tend to become overwhelmed.

I can deal with someone who is "hard core animal" because Dave and I are as well. They come first. They have to come first because they are totally at our mercy with no voice of their own.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE -- ALWAYS FEEL FREE TO ASK FOR HELP FOR THOSE WHO CAN'T HELP THEMSELVES!!!

(((HUG)))
Jane

Molly, I'll swing by the site and see what I can do! :)

Molly Hi and God Bless:
I deeply applaud your efforts, wish that there were like you here in Maryland. Things are tight for me, but I will definitely go to the site and see what I can do even if in installments.

Thanks everybody - I know they'll appreciate it. I'll probably never fully understand the emotions attached to what they do and they do it when it comes to rescuing animals - but I appreciate the love and the care they put into them.

People can be so cruel to animals, they don't consider them "real", they're more like "objects". Some of the stories Caden and his family can tell are a lot like what Jane mentioned. Brutal, horrible things that it truly takes a sick mind to come up with are done to these animals. Mix that with the natural elements, such as weather and raging oppossums (did ya'll know that oppossums have all POINTED teeth and ALOT of them?? They're vicious and can do more damage in less than a minute than most animals that are considered "dangerous"?), and these animals aren't safe.

And sadly, especially this morning, the people that don't like others helping the animals can be just as big a detriment. The guys found out this morning that they're being evicted from their residence because they've been caring for strays in their complex, so, in the midst of attempting to secure the land deal, they're having to find a place to live in the interim. We're kind of stunned at this turn of events, on a pesonal level, of course. On the shelter level, this is not a good thing, in fact it could be considered a set back, but they're trying to remain positive, find a new place to live AND keep caring for the cats while carrying on with the plans to relocate.

Thanks again to everybody who has donated thus far!!

(And, um, for those who've asked, the guy on the front page of the shelter site is NOT Caden. That's one of his older brothers, Michael, who is the acting director of It's Meow or Never. The guy in my avatar. . .that's Caden. . .) :)

Hi Molly,

I went over to It's Meow or Never and would HIGHLY recommend that everyone do so. It's a great site and you will *not* be subjected to awful pictures of sick or abused animals. You will, however, see 3 of the most gorgeous men ever to grace the earth. That these men, who are models, find time to desert their mirror to take care of stray cats is amazing. It's wonderful to know that some handsome men are blessed with both a heart and a soul. :)

Raging possums huh? Hey...I like possums, they are one of the most ancient forms of mammal and North America's only marsupial. I've nursed a couple back to health and they are fascinating. Do you know that they really do faint? Their nervous system is so primitive that it overloads and they just pass out. Sometimes they get lucky and get ignored and sometimes they don't, poor things.

Molly, you say you will never understand the emotions attached to what they do... Well, it's a reverence for life that does not judge if one form is higher or more deserving of life than another. Life is so incredibly precious that it must be preserved at all costs.

It is also the knowledge that life is self-aware. You drop a bug in a glass of water and he will fight to live, so will a tiny kitten...so will a human. We are no different in the drive to stay alive. And all of us from bug to human has the ability to feel pain when hurt and hunger when starving. Science is even starting to hedge on the idea that animals can feel emotion. The Detroit Zoo recently announced that it will no longer exhibit elephants because it is 'unethical" to do so. Detroit Zoo Announcement (http://www.freep.com/news/metro/zoo20_20040520.htm)

To be able to understand what another feels is called "empathy." It makes you weep at sad movies and to understand what someone else is going through. Empathy is what runs Agelesslove. Our ability to see another and to understand and to want to help drives us as a species. For many of us it extends beyond to include animals. We are able to understand their fear, or pain and to share in their joy.

To those of us who rescue, we are able to understand that an injured animal feels pain and fear no differently than we do, therefore we are driven to do something to stop the pain and fear. Its a response that probably is felt at a level far deeper than our mind, because many of us have willingly gone into dangerous situations and would do so again. So do fireman and policeman...you don't think -- you just do because you *must.*

I don't know if I've explained it very well, but this is the best I've got today. :) I'm sorry that those where the guys live don't have a little empathy and that they have have move. Sometimes the world just isn't very fair.

Peace,
Jane