Dear Animal Compassion Networkers,
What a year 2008 was! The year started on a high note with the state closing of
All Creatures Great and Small, the controversial no-kill facility in Hendersonville. ACN volunteers were on hand to help care for the animals and clean the facility after the shutdown, and
30 of these cats and dogs found a safe haven in ACN foster care. (A few are still available for adoption.
See them here.)
Within a month of that huge rescue effort, we opened Pet Harmony, our new pet store for rescued pets (less than 1/2 mile south of I-40 near Province restaurant.) We are thrilled that we've been able to take in several pets that we wouldn't have been able to save if not for Pet Harmony! Despite the economic downturn that hit us so hard in the second half of 2008,
we found really terrific homes for a total of 292 cats and 190 dogs. Of them, 38 cats and 169 were adopted from Pet Harmony. Every day Pet Harmony is making second-chance pets everyone's first choice!
Of course, in keeping with our mission to help animals all across the area, we also hosted 2 Subaru Adoptathon Events in 2008 that resulted in the
adoption of another 141 cats and dogs from twelve different area rescue groups and shelters. We are also proud to be a Founding Lifesaver in Buncombe County's Save A Life Campaign, a coalition of area rescue groups and shelter dedicated to eradicating the euthanasia of healthy, adoptable animals by 2012. Learn more at
www.imalifesaver.org.
But because we will never adopt ourselves out of our local pet overpopulation crisis,
ACN also assisted in altering 1801 local cats and dogs. If you consider how many puppies and kittens each one of these animals would have produced if not neutered, we literally kept tens of thousands of new animals from being born in our area. Way to get to the root of the problem, Animal Compassion Networkers!
Sadly, we have also witnessed numerous families being faced with giving up their pet because they could no longer afford to care for them in this economy. However, many of these families are getting a reprieve after learning about ACN's free Pet Food Assistance Program. Imagine, we are keeping family pets in their homes just by giving their person a little pet food while they are in between jobs. In addition to all of the food we've provided to our own foster animals,
we also provided 6,910 meals to this area's hungry cats and 8,837 meals to local hungry dogs in 2008. A special thank you to all who have made this possible. Suffering comes in many forms, but starvation is one of the cruelest.
Misty and Tiny
Finally, I have to tell you about two little girls who really need you. Misty and Tiny are two 3-yr-old rat terrier/chihuahua sisters who were at the Henderson County Shelter. On the eve of their euthanasia, the shelter director called Ann, our Dog Coordinator, pleading for their lives. An hour later, they were on their way to their new foster home.
Misty and Tiny are taking longer than usual to adopt out (especially for small dogs) because they have to be adopted together. We actually tried to separate them once (for a few minutes inside the same building), but Tiny screamed for her sister and nearly collapsed until we rushed them back together - never to be separated again.
Their foster mom had to go in for surgery this month, so the girls have been staying at Pet Harmony while we look for a new foster home for them. We love having them, but they really need to be back in a home environment soon. If you are able to give them a foster home (or even know of someone who might want to adopt), please respond to this email. ACN provides for 100% of their food, medical and financial needs. They are sweet (and extremely adorable in the little sweaters the volunteers keep them dressed in.) Or come meet them at Pet Harmony. (
Directions are here)
Stay tuned for my next email telling you a wonderful Happy Tail about one of our Pet Harmony habitat kitties (here's a hint - she lost her eye at a very early age, but her new family thinks she's perfect just the way she is.)
Thank you for turning 2008 into a joyous year for the thousands of neglected, unwanted and hungry pets helped by ACN. Your volunteering, donations and support are what made our success possible. There are still so many desperate animals out there waiting for us. I look forward to working with each of you in 2009 to make our community a more compassionate place for every single one of them.
Yours in rescue,
Eileen
