News
Aug 07 2012
Babies needing forever homes
These four babies (see photos below) came to SART at a time when we had no cage available for them to stay safe and bottle fed. One of our volunteers, Colleen, swept them up and took them to her home to nurture and watch over. She did an awesome job – they are very happy, social, wonderful with other cats, love their humans and other humans as well, and have had their first baby shots, wormed, are very litter trained and wanting forever homes. The four are all boys, and it would be so awesome to find homes for them 2 and 2 so that they have a playmate to romp and grow with to be life long friends. Consider them. They are very healthy and happy!
Jul 09 2012
Can you help?
Summertime traditionally sees a drop off of donations to nonprofit groups. Vacations, activities, home repairs, etc., cause people to forget about the monetary help they give others. SART has felt the pinch. Between having to purchase food, pay for medical care and keeping the shelter in good repair we have had to pinch our pennies. So, if you can, send a little our way through PayPal or the mail. It will help with food, meds and medical care to keep our residents happy, healthy and strong! Remember, at SART, anything is everything!
Jun 19 2012
New rooms at SART
Thanks to The Binky Foundation, SART has added two new rooms to the shelter facilities! We were finding ourselves having to use post surgery cages to keep new additions in, due to the fact that we are filled to capacity.
This does not set well with us, because we believe cageless living is much better! Over the winter we put our heads together and saw that we could enclose a cemented area in one of the buildings and make two rooms. We had volunteers come and price out our project, and then I went to the drawing board to find funds to cover this very much needed project.
The Binky Foundation has a project grant application for a specific need for non profit animal shelters – it was exactly what I was looking for! We filled out the grant application, submitted our proposal, and we got it! We thank The Binky Foundation for their trust in us, the support they have shown us by entrusting the funds for our project, and their overall support of animals in need!
Everything fell in order, and we now have all the kitties (20 of them) who had been living in cages, now enjoying the benefit of having a real room to run and play in with windows to sit at and feel the breeze and watch the birds at the feeder right outside! The second room became the new room for our 3 year old girls, (23 of them) which opened up the room by the volunteer center to be the clinic, used for babies and kitties in high need, close to us at all times.
The Binky Foundation made possible a project that snowballed into moving kitties to be better served by all of us, and as a result we have a better functioning shelter – making the care for them more efficient, and their living accomodations more comfortable, for as long as they may be at SART. Check out some pictures we took along the way. Thank you, Binky Foundation!
Thinking about all that has happened with the help of The Binky Foundation made Ches and I want to have a Blessing ceremony at the shelter and our home. We recently moved back into our home after living elsewhere for 15 months since the destruction from the flood. We are back, our home is restored, and the shelter is better than ever. That is alot to be thankful for. Thus, we held a special ceremony blessing the shelter and the property, those who come and go, the animals, and our home. It was closure of an awful period of time. Good things came from all of the destruction, though, and for that we are so grateful!
Thank you to everyone who helps in any way at SART!
Final pictures of our new addition will come soon so you can see the kitties in their new home!
May 29 2012
What Do You Do?
It is the time of year when little ones are appearing from out of bushes, under buildings, and other unlikely places for babies to have to be. It is sad that there are still so many unfixed cats in the area and so, therefore, babies are here. What do you do if you find a litter? If momma is willing, it would be so nice to put the babies in a nice, big box in the garage with momma so that they can be watched over and protected. Make sure momma can get out of the box so that she can have some space when she wants it. Have towels and sheets, fresh food and water for momma, and even a litter box if she will use one. SART can help if there are medicines needed, advice to be asked for, and then, when the kittens are old enough, SART can put their pictures on Petfinder to help find them homes. We will also furnish worming and first innoculations. While in your care, kittens need to be held and talked to and sat with so that they trust and love humans. Momma does as well. Partnering in the care of these little ones helps us so much, because, as usual. we are very full and to overcrowd the shelter is not good for anyone, feline or human. Caring for and loving 340 kitties is quite enough at this point. That is why we are asking for you to help with the litters you find. You can stay in contact with SART through the email on the website, and we will help you find homes in return of your helping us love and nurture the babies so that they will be sweethearts. When it is time, momma can then be spayed by SART and placed in a safe place.
If momma is wild, or absent, and you find babies, do as above, only you will be needing to feed the babies. We can train you how to do this – just contact SART through the email on this website and directions will be sent. And, of course, if any need medical care, please let us know that as well. The same procedure would apply so that when they are old enough, pictures can be taken and homes can be found.
If there are a few strays in your neighborhood, take a proactive approach before babies are born. Gather donations from the neighborhood, live trap the strays and take them to be fixed. You can then release them back into where they know as home, and they will live as they did, protecting your homes from rodents, watching you from a distance and feeling safe and content. Over time, they might even come and visit you without any of the unwanted habits that unfixed cats have. Your neighborhood will be a happier, healthier place and with everyone pitching in, financially it can be accomplished.
Is that asking too much of community members? We don’t think so. Our community depends on everyone working together for the betterment of our homes; caring for the unhomed animals is one of those responsibilities. So, please don’t turn your head….do what you can to help the situation. Over the past 4 years our feline population has dramatically declined in the streets of the city. We have rescued almost 900; we have 340 living at the shelter, we have adopted 462 into wonderful homes, and we have cared for and loved each one as they came through SART. We are making a difference, but with the help of community members partnering with us, we could make even faster progress. We know there are a few neighborhoods that still have a large population. All it takes is fixing them, and over time, the population will go down as these kitties live out their lives without birthing more. And the fixed are fun to be around!
Any questions, please contact us. And thank you. At SART, anything is everything!
Apr 27 2012
Kroger Improves Program
Kroger has been such a supporter of SART over the past couple of years. They have a community outreach program called Kroger Community Rewards. The program is improving and will be much easier for those who want to help SART by pointing to us as the donation you wish for when you shop at Kroger.
Instead of having a special Kroger card for SART now, you can arrange through the Kroger website to have your Kroger Plus card be the indicator of donations to SART. It is a one time set up for you, but then you will not have to remember to bring a card for SART, and load it, etc. It will all be automatic through your Kroger Plus card, while you still earn your points and discounts. It is a very generous program.
Here are the easy steps to register your Kroger Plus card to have SART receive donated funds:
Go to https://customer.kroger.com/login.aspx
(You have to have your Kroger Plus card to register. If you use your phone number at the register to get your Kroger Plus benefits, call 1-800-576-4377, select option 4 to get your Kroger Plus card number, which you must have to register SART as the donated organization you wish to support.) If you do not have a Kroger Plus card, you may get one at any Kroger store at the customer service desk.
When you have your card number, either by having your Kroger Plus card handy or having called the 800 number to retrieve your Kroger Plus card number, sign-in to your account (or register if you have not yet created an online account).
Click on “Community Rewards” and then “Edit Community Rewards Program Information” and input your Kroger Plus card number.
Enter SART’s NPO number, 82047, select SART from list and confirm.
To verify you are enrolled correctly, you will see SART’s name on the right side of your information page.
This seems like many steps, but it only needs to be done once. After you have registered, every time you use your Kroger Plus card or punch in your registered phone number, 4% of your total purchases will be donated by Kroger to SART, EVERY TIME you shop! How amazing is that? Remember, at SART, anything is everything. Please support us in this wonderful ongoing program!
If you have any questions about this process, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
