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October,
2006 |
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Dear friends,
By the time
this letter reaches you, chances are that you are handing out candies to
little “monsters” or even to big ones, or that Halloween is all over. I guess
it all depends on our snail mail. The Post Office has been pretty strange
lately: I mailed a package via airmail to Canada which took two weeks to get
there, and something to Germany which took only four days. It seems we have the same
problems with these newsletters. I am sure you still read them, even after Halloween.
October was a very
interesting month for us. ADA Fence finished the eight new outside runs for more
dogs to be able to live at Charley’s Strays, and they are looking
great! There are still some minor things to do to these runs. Mike has been
digging trenches all around so Jim and he can put a piece of fence into the
ground to keep the dogs from digging under and tunneling into the next run.
After that, Jim needs to weld pipes across the top part which is connected to
the barn, and to put a partial roof over it. After all this is done, the
inside conversion of the barn will take place. Here are some pictures:
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I hope this gives you an
idea. All the runs are double fenced, meaning no dogs can get at each other
through the fence. You may be able to see the concrete slab right in front of
the barn, the rest of the runs are left “natural” with ground and whatever
grass or weeds grow in them. The gas tank in front is a bit of an eyesore, but
is needed to heat the small kennel building and the well house.
Here are two more
pictures:
The first run is not
attached to the barn and will be only used in the summer, the rest of
the runs will have a door leading into the inside runs in the barn. We
also have a kind of a “hallway”, we call it “runway” in front as an
extra security precaution, so if a dog escapes out of a run he cannot completely get
out and cause a fight with other dogs which have been let out for their
"play and sniff" time. In the background you can see the big kennel
building with its attached outside runs.
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THE DOG-NEWS:
Our Dalmatian
girl, Sprinkles, long time resident at Charley’s Strays and
companion of hound Yukon, died. She went peacefully to sleep at
Ted’s home. Ted had noticed that she seemed cold. We had some very
cold days up here, and since the vet had told us that Sprinkles
may have cancer, but was too old to really do something about it.
Ted decided to give her a family life for the rest of her days. So
he took her home on a Saturday, and she seemed quiet happy and
content. But she only lasted three days, and then Sprinkles went
to sleep and did not wake up. A nice way for her to go, she is at
peace now. I am glad that I had been there at the Shelter a week
earlier and got to rub her belly when she was walking around the
yard. She laid down on her back to have some of that good belly
rubbing stuff. I feel kind of bad for Yukon, but he may get to
live up at Ruthann’s and Mike’s mobile home this winter. Mike
wants to see how or if Yukon likes that idea. He is the dog who
was very unhappy when one of our supporters adopted him, and
wanted to go back to his old home, our Shelter. I wrote about that
little story a couple of months ago. Yukon is getting very old and
stiff; he is on expensive arthritis medication, but at least it
seems to help. Other than that not much news in the dog section.
Surprisingly no newcomers, and no adoptions this month either.
THE FUNDRAISER:
As you know,
this year we did not have it at the Ramada Inn, because they got
ridiculous with their rent – over $300 for a small room. Cindy
Houston talked to the pastor of a local Baptist Church who agreed
to let us have a huge room for $60. We had all the tables we
needed to spread out all the items for sale, and extra tables for
the beverages and cakes. Jackie Lowney again outdid herself with
the most beautiful baskets filled with the nicest items she could
think of. Cindy Herrick also brought a beautiful basket to raffle
off filled with dog items. Enid Hayes, again, put her sewing
machine to work and also knitted lots of items.
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Cindy Houston
spent a whole day in her kitchen baking lots and lots of dog
biscuits, wrapped them in nice little cellophane packages and made
us not only over $100 selling them, but had a new trick: she sold
them to our visitors and asked them to return the cookies to us
for our Shelter dogs! We got quite a kick out of that, especially
since it really worked! We raffled off one basket from very
expensive Cindy Herrick’s’ basket. Cindy Houston won this one, and
took it apart right then and there; everything usable for our
shelter dogs came back with us to Clinton.
At 1:00
pm our supporter and friend, Al
Smith, did the “lottery” for the prizes. All in all we had 15
prizes to
give away. A very pleasant surprise was when both of the cash
prizes were returned to us! Mary Klayda won the $300 and told us
she always wanted to win this so she could give it back to us, and
she did! The $50 prize went to Chickie Smith, who also gave it
right back to us. Most of the other prizes could be given to our
visitors for them to bring to their friends or neighbors. Several
prizes I mailed to the winners, who should have them by now:
Dorothy Andrews, Roger Ellis, David Parker, Jim Lavita, and
Laureen Alden. Of course, here again, it was mailed via snail
mail. To all of our
visitors and the ladies who made this fundraiser a success, a big
THANK YOU.
By the way,
New England has too many steeples. There are church steeples, city
hall steeples, restaurant steeples, and I would not be surprised
if the local dollar-store has one too. So several of our guests
drove right by the church, and got a bit lost. I promise that I
will draw a good map next year and that we will also put up signs
outside for you to follow!
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 CAT
REPORT –October 2006
The second of
BabyJay’s kittens has been placed – George, the biggest of the boys, is
living in North Yarmouth with a family of four humans and two other
cats. The big laid-back male named Moo Moo welcomed him; the female,
Sassy, stuck her head into his carrier and told him a baby brother was
not what she wanted. George just sat and let her hiss at him.
Within a week, his new person e-mailed that all three cats are good
friends and play together, and George and Moo Moo sleep together and
groom each other.
Rachel, renamed
Molly, seems to be living the good life with Steve and Derek. She has as
long a playtime in the evening as she wants, and as a result sometimes
sleeps through the night, instead of expecting to be entertained again
at 2 a.m.
I’ve had inquiries
from several more people who’ve seen the kittens on the web, but no one
has followed through with an application yet. I wish people who change
their minds would let me know. I don’t know whether I’m supposed to be
treating Simeon, Phineas and John as reserved or whether they’re
available for whoever does apply.
Our senior cats are
doing fine at the moment. Brook is thriving in the kitchen; she eats
pretty much whenever she wants, if Otis, the other kitchen cat, doesn’t
finish the dish before she gets back to it, and is getting plump. On
nice days she goes onto the porch for a while to get some sun (and so
does Otis). |
Evita, Purina/Meg
and Tippy are also eating well and acting content to be living together
in their room, away from the rackety younger ones in other groups. This
time of year, their south-facing room is one of the "pleasantest" in the
house on sunny days, cozy but not too hot.
Ted’s neighbor who
took care of Mr. Tom before he came to us brought her sister, also a cat
person, to visit Tom, Buddy and the other FIV-positive cats. All the
cats were very friendly, and the ladies were much entertained. They
brought some cat food with them, always welcome at my house.
Thanks to Teresa and
family and Roberta Chaves for coupons, to the Charles’ cat for food, and
to all of you for your support. As I tell people when they ask about
adoption fees for cats, we charge no fee, but we always welcome
donations, because we’re non-profit in fact as well as in law.
And, speaking of
donations, a reminder for those of you who pay Maine income taxes: don’t
forget to add a few dollars for the state’s spay-neuter fund when you
fill out your 2006 forms. It’s listed as the Companion Animal
Sterilization Fund tax check-off, and it’s very important. There are
always more requests for help with spaying and neutering than state
appropriations and the tax check-off can pay for, and in spite of this
program and the work done by volunteers and rescue groups, there are
still unwanted dogs and many unwanted cats.
The house was a bit
schizophrenic the last of July and beginning of August. In the living
room, I had the space heater running to keep the kittens’ quarters above
80 degrees; while upstairs, the air conditioner was on to keep those
cats comfortably cool and make it easier for Speedo to breathe (the
humidity wasn’t good for her at all). If you’re wondering whether I was
tempted to move BabyJay and family upstairs and let the upstairs mob
trash the living room, the answer is no. |
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Another long
newsletter, and still not finished. Sometimes I am amazed how much there
really is to write about every month. I hope some of these lines are
interesting to our readers. |
Last, but not least,
our thank you’s to all of the
following people who helped us out so very much again this month, and who
really are the lifesavers of our 50 plus animals: |
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Alice
Winston, Swampscott
Beverly Maheu, China Village
Cindy
Houston, Woburn
Cristine Cardello, Melrose
Cynthia Herrick, W. Newton
Debbie
Schreiber, Waltham
Don &
Chickie Smith, Woburn
Donna
Bering, Lynn
Doris
Lary, Hartland
Dorothy D’Alessandro, Ossipee
Dorothy Eckstein, Medford
Dorothy Watkins, Amesbury
Dorothye Andrews, Warwick
Elizabeth Johnson, Sanford
Elizabeth Snyder, Brockton
Emile
Jorgensen, E. Boston
Enid
Hayes, Halifax
Harriet Snyder, Brockton
Inge
Maiellano, Marblehead
Iris
Martinello, Tewksbury
Irma
Simon, S.China
Jackie
Lowney, New Bedford
James
Lavita, Dennis
Janice
Clowes, Milford
Janice
Solimine, Stoneham
Jennie
Bering, Lynn |
Joe D’Alessandro,
Tuftonboro
Jon & Barb Anderson,
Augusta
Joseph Blake, New Bedford
Joseph Kogut, Upton
Josephine Ford, Holden
Judith Rohweder, Northport
Judy & Al Smith, Belmont
Karen Rapallo, Wakefield
Katherine Collins, Barre
Laureen Alden, Stoughton
Lesley Tucker, Reading
Linda Clish, Bangor
Linda Merriam, Dresden
Lisa D’Alessandro, Raymond
Lois Guay, Westport
Lorena & Harry Clark,
Beverly
Marcia Smith, Bucksport
Marie O’Brien, Pawtucket
Maryann Glover, N.Andover
Marlene Kaplan, Melrose
Marsha Cyr, N. Yarmouth
Mary Klayda, Winchester
MaryLou Dias, Westport
Mildred Walker, Presque
Isle
Nancy Brown, Waltham
Nancy Capone, Wakefield |
Naomi Teixeira, Jay
Pat Thain, N. Billerica
Patricia Caswell, Newport
Paula Wisniowski, Tyngsboro
Phyllis Sherman, Marshfield
Ralph Catignani, Conway
Robert Hull, Lawrence
Roberta Chaves, Medford
Roger Ellis, Holden
Rose Chioccola, Stoneham
Ruth Giusti, Titusville
Rust Pappathanasi,
Swampscott
Sandra Nicholson, Beverly
Viola McDonald, Woburn
Werner Eckstein. Woburn
Willa Rockett, Belmont
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Wishing you lots of ghost and goblins,
take care, and thank you again for supporting
Charley’s Strays |
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Gabriele, Mary, Karen, Ruthann, Cindy, Stan, Mike, Ted and Jim
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