Humane Society of Wilkes
P.O. Box 306, North Wilkesboro, NC 28659
336-838-9588
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Newsletter for March, 2003
March Humane Society MeetingOur next general membership meeting will be held on Thursday, March 13, at 7:00 PM at the Wilkesboro Methodist Church. We will have a speaker from the North Carolina State Animal Response Team (S.A.R.T.). In most cases, people who have to leave their homes due to disasters such as flooding or fires and go to shelters are not allowed to take their animals. This often forces people to leave their pets to fend for themselves. S.A.R.T. has emergency plans in place and they coordinate agencies dealing with animals in these disaster situations. S.A.R.T. will present a slide show and discuss how local volunteers can assist by keeping or transporting animals belonging to displaced families. This will be a very interesting and informative program, and everyone is cordially invited to attend - and bring a friend! Needed ItemsWhen you do your spring-cleaning and have some old towels or blankets that you no longer need, please consider donating them to our local animal shelter. They need them to use for bedding for the animals. You may drop them off at the animal shelter, or at either of the local veterinary hospitals. Your thoughtfulness will be very much appreciated. Adoption Committee UpdateWe are very pleased to have placed 25 dogs and 9 cats since October. We added two new places to our list of adoption fair locations. In October we had our first adoption fair at Wal-Mart (4 dogs and 1 cat). In November we had our first adoption fair at the Wilkes County Library (2 dogs and 5 cats). We also returned to Lowe’s Home Improvement in October and had 5 adoptions there. These are all locations to which we will definitely return. With the coming of cold weather we had to shift our focus away from outdoor adoption fairs to other avenues for placing pets. We publicized pets that were available for adoption by advertising in the newspaper, placing fliers at local businesses, and updating photos on our web page weekly. We also were able to place some dogs with purebred rescue organizations. Unfortunately, no matter how many animals we place there will always be more who need homes. So, when the weather improves, we will be having 2 adoption fairs each month. We will need lots of volunteers; please consider helping. All adoption fairs are announced on our web page www.humanesocietyofwilkes.org. If you need further information about adoption fairs please contact Arlene at adoption@humanesocietyofwilkes.org. Hidden Oaks Dog ParkThe Humane Society of Wilkes has begun a campaign to raise $20,000 to pay for the construction of a dog exercise park at Cub Creek in Wilkesboro. This park will consist of a pleasant and functional double-fenced one-acre site. The park will contain a walking trail, a water spigot for thirsty pets, a free run exercise area and slalom course, benches, picnic tables, and trees and shrubs. Plaques will be placed to acknowledge donors. Upon completion the park will become part of the Wilkesboro park system and be covered by the town’s liability policy. The park will be named: Hidden Oaks Dog Park – Established for the Enjoyment of Dogs and Their People. The park is named in memory of Barbara Absher Eldridge. At the time of her tragic death Barbara had a popular grooming and boarding business, Hidden Oaks Boarding and Grooming, and was well known by pet owners in the county. She was also an active member of the Humane Society of Wilkes, and served on the board of directors. Barbara’s parents, Charles and Audrey Absher and their family are making a generous donation in memory of Barbara; they invite everyone who knew Barbara to contribute in Barbara’s memory and in honor of their pets. Your tax-deductible donations may be made as memorials or honoraria for people or pets. You may purchase fencing ($10 per foot), benches ($200 each), picnic tables ($500 each), shrubs ($35 each), and trees ($100 each). All members of the humane society should have received an informational packet in the mail. Anyone who would like to request an additional packet can do so by contacting us at P. O. Box 306, North Wilkesboro, NC 28659 or by e-mail at fundraising@humanesocietyofwilkes.org. In addition, if any humane society members know of people who might be interested in learning more about the park, or contributing to the park, please let us know their names and addresses and we will gladly mail information to them. Send this information to: P. O. Box 1144, North Wilkesboro, NC 28659 or to fundraising@humanesocietyofwilkes.org. Your help and donations are greatly appreciated. Humane Society of Wilkes Foster Dogs Available for AdoptionThe adoption committee currently has several puppies and a dog in foster care; they all need loving homes. Beagle Mix Puppies – Deb Zelensky took Casey, a beagle mix and her 4 puppies that were born at the shelter, into her home for foster care. Casey and two of the pups have been adopted, but there are two female puppies left. They are approximately four months old now, and should grow to be small to medium size dogs. Though Casey was clearly a beagle mix, the pups don’t look much like beagles. One looks very much like a Brittany and the other more like a collie or shepherd mix. Call Deb at 670-9415 for more information. Lab Mix Puppies – Sheila Smith is now fostering four lab mix puppies. They are affectionate and playful, and need permanent homes as soon as possible. All these pups have the classic soft eyes and large head of Labradors and are all or mostly black. One pup, affectionately known as “Runt” , has just been released from the hospital where he spent several weeks recovering from a broken leg. Runt has beautiful tan markings similar to a Rottweiler or a Doberman. Call Sheila at 696-7991 for more information. Boxer Mix Dog – Riley is a lovable two year old boxer mix in foster care with Blair Hancock. He has a brindle coat of deep rusty brown with black stripes. He has such a lovable personality that he was a favorite of the adoption committee and shelter staff. We brought him to an adoption fair in January and could not bear to return him to the shelter, so he went home with Blair until we can find a suitable home for him. He will be a great dog for an individual or family looking for an affectionate pet who will be totally devoted to them. Call Blair at 667-5684 for more information. If you would be interested in becoming a foster home for the humane society, please call Arlene at 973-8343. Humane Society of Wilkes Foster Dog Success StoriesOver the last few months, we have found homes for some of our foster dogs from last summer and fall. Corky, the last of the lab-chow litter of seven fostered by Blair and Arlene since last June, was adopted by a great family in December. The poodle Marley and her seven puppies all found good homes in December, thanks to the efforts of foster mom Donna Peterson. The Chihuahua mix puppy Miguel was also adopted along with one of Marley’s puppies in December. Miguel’s mother Lady has been diagnosed with cancer, so she has been adopted by Blair to be loved and spoiled for the rest of her life. Fund Raising CommitteeThe fund raising committee performs the vital function of planning, organizing, and implementing projects to financially support the work of the Humane Society of Wilkes. Without their work, we would have to severely curtail our adoption work, our spay neuter program, Kind News, and other projects – and might not be able to survive! Through a combination of factors - members being transferred and moving, other members having job conflicts, to name a few – our fund raising committee needs to recruit some new members and a new chair person. We need people who enjoy the challenge of coming up with new ways to finance our activities, and are able to commit their time and energy to assume leadership and decision making positions. We are extremely fortunate to always have plenty of volunteers who are willing to help with projects after the fund raising committee has done the basic planning. The fund raising committee has always met on Thursday nights, but that could easily be changed if needed to accommodate schedules. If you are interested in helping out in this important area, please contact Margie Edgerton at fundraising@humanesocietyofwilkes.org. 2004 Best Friends CalendarOne of our most fun projects is our annual Best Friends calendar. This is both an important fund-raiser and a way of honoring and recognizing the bonds we have with our pets. Entries for the 2004 calendar are now being accepted. Send your color photos, along with a $5.00 entry fee, to the Humane Society of Wilkes, P. O. Box 306, North Wilkesboro, NC 28659. All entries must be horizontal, and include a pet with or without his people. Include your name, address, and telephone number along with the pet’s name and a little information about the pet. |
Spay NeuterOur spay neuter program continued to grow last year. We helped to pay part of the cost of neutering for 185 pets (40 male cats, 64 female cats, 23 male dogs, and 58 female dogs). Approximately 75% of these pets belonged to families whose annual income was less than $25,000, so we are helping those who are most in need. Without our help, many of these pets might have been allowed to breed, thus increasing the number of puppies and kittens competing for those scarce homes that are available to adopt a pet. The 2002 cost of this program was $6,160. Fortunately, a large part of this cost was covered by the grant we receive from the D.J. and T. Foundation. We hope to receive another grant from them this year; their support has been instrumental in our ability to continue this program at the present level. MembershipWelcome and thank you to all of our new and returning members. We truly appreciate your support.
Note: You newsletter address label shows the date that your membership will expire. If this information is wrong please contact Sylvia Smith at 667-1109. Food Lion Shop and ShareThe Humane Society of Wilkes is now participating in the Food Lion “Lion Shop and Share” program. It is an easy way for you to support the humane society financially – and it doesn’t cost you anything! Food Lion allocates a certain amount of money each quarter for non-profit organizations. Customers sign up to support their preferred organization, and each time they use their MVP cards the organization receives credit for that sale. The funds will be divided up among the organizations in proportion to the amount of sales each group receives. It is easy to sign up. You may go to a local Food Lion store and sign up there in person. Or you may go to the website FoodLion.com and sign up on-line. Just click on the following links:
Since most of us have Food Lion MVP cards, and use them regularly, this is an excellent way to support the humane society. Please take a few minutes to sign up, and ask your friends, relatives, and co-workers to sign up as well. Thanks. ContributionsThe following contributions to the Humane Society of Wilkes have been received from October 1, 2002 to February 28, 2003. Thanks to all of those who have given so generously to support the Humane Society of Wilkes. In Memory of:
In Memory of Pets:
In Honor of:
In Honor of Pets:
General Contributions
Kind News Contributions
Dog Park ContributionsWe have received many generous contributions to the Hidden Oaks Dog Park Fund. Thanks to all for your contributions. In Memory of People:
In Memory of Pets:
In Honor of People:
In Honor of Pets:
General Contributions:
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