Monday, December 14, 2009

It's Holiday Time Again

Dear friend of animals,

At the Meriden Humane Society we believe all lives are worth saving. Many of our animals come to us after terrible accidents or abuse and our goal is to make them healthy and find them new forever homes. The cost of vet care is rising, making it more and more difficult for us to save the lives of homeless pets.

In the last year we’ve seen many animals with serious medical needs that were saved thanks to your generous donations. Last winter a little cat came to us after falling asleep in a car engine. She was found with wounds covering her whole backside and needed lots of special care to ward off infection. She was named Oozy, for the obvious reason, and staff and volunteers spent more than a month working with her. Throughout her rehabilitation Oozy was always a sweetheart, totally trusting that we were helping her. Finally Oozy healed and was ready for adoption. She found her forever home quickly and her painful past is now behind her.


Oozy

Another sad case is that of Shiloh and Tessa. Both were older dogs found wandering the streets. They were found separately, but as soon as they saw each other at the shelter they went running and didn’t leave each other’s sides the whole time they were with us. Unfortunately they both had massive mammary tumors that desperately needed to be removed. Without the many donations made towards their care, they would not have been able to get their surgeries and their story would not have ended as happily. They were adopted together and are living out the rest of their lives reunited with each other in a new happy home.


Shilo

There was also Sherman, a Japanese Chin whose back was broken after some children tried to ride him, KJ, a handsome white pit mix who came to us emaciated and hurting, and Kiki, a sweet calico cat who needed lots of TLC after having a difficult time nursing her kittens. The extensive care these animals and the many others like them needed was very costly and it is only because of the kind people who make donations that we can continue to do our best to save lives.

Unfortunately, not every story ends as happily, but we have to make every effort to save each and every animal who comes to us. Tag was a loving puppy with trust in his eyes, but when we found him abandoned under a porch, literally starving to death, it was difficult to imagine that he still trusted us after what his previous human owners had done. Despite our best efforts, Tag passed away when his heart gave out following surgery. Thankfully he was able to spend his last few days lying in the sunshine at the shelter, being offered the best foods and given all the attention he could handle. While we couldn’t save Tag, it’s important that we showed him in his last few days that he was loved and that not all people were like the ones who had left him to die. Thanks to your donations, we were able to give Tag the best care possible in his last days. He may not be with us any longer, but he knew that we did everything we could to help him.


Tag

Saving lives is the primary mission of everyone here at the Meriden Humane Society. We will always do our best to help even the worst cases, to save as many lives as we can. However, without your help we cannot continue to provide the level of care our animals need. The helpless animals that come through our doors rely entirely on you and your generosity! We need your help to make happy endings like Oozy’s, Tessa’s, and Shilo’s possible. Please consider making a donation towards the care of our many animals this holiday season. Don’t let the suffering continue. We have many cats and dogs awaiting surgeries, medical treatments, and vaccinations and spay/neuters. A $60 donation will spay/neuter and vaccinate one cat. The cost to spay/neuter one dog ranges from $100-$175. One rabies vaccine costs $17, and to perform testing on one cat costs $20. Surgeries to repair broken limbs or remove tumors can often cost over $500.

We are extremely thankful and gratified for the many lives we have been able to save, but we are also devastated by the animals we have lost and the hundreds we were unable to help due to limited funds and space.

We know that your budgets are tight, and that all of us, sadly including our animals have to do with less, but sick and injured animals can not afford to wait for a better economy!

We thank you for the sacrifices you have made in order to continue your support for our animals and to help us save lives. We hope that you have a safe and happy holiday season and that you don’t forget to put the animals at the Meriden Humane Society on your shopping list this holiday season.

To make a safe online donation, click on the Paypal button at the top of this page. Checks can be sent to The Meriden Humane Society at 311 Murdock Ave., Meriden, CT 06450.

Sincerely,
The staff and volunteers of the Meriden Humane Society

P.S. As a small independent organization we don’t have the resources to host large fundraisers or to put out multiple pledge letters. As you know, this is the first pledge letter you have received from us this year, and it will be the only one. 100% of your donation will be used to help local animals as well as your friends and neighbors, many of whom have either had to surrender their animals to us or have been fortunate enough to be able to adopt new four-legged members into their families from us.

Please remember to vaccinate and spay/neuter your pets.