Week of 4/19/10 Humane Happenings

Sunny, in her new home after Desert Haven


Desert Haven Animal Refuge, the Sierra County Humane Society owned-and-operated domestic animal sanctuary, is welcoming its newest resident – Emma. This small, 16 to 18 lbs 6 months old boxer mix is a real cutie. Sweet, calm and already with all the good habits that make a dog a pleasure to live with, Emma will soon be made available for adoption. Meanwhile, she is settling down at Dog Town as she connects with the rest of the canine gang while enjoying the wonderful care that each and every resident receives at the sanctuary. With work camper Helen Hasty’s recent arrival and now, Mel and Eve Klein returning soon to Desert Haven, the crew will be almost complete. We can’t thank enough our local animal care volunteers – Pat, Stan, Becky, Steve and Jan, all of them of Hillsboro, Art, Martye, Claudette & Birdie of T or C and E.B. They work together with a small but efficient work camping crew, as they help feed and care for the sanctuary residents.

Are you interested in perhaps adopting a dog or a cat, but you don’t know how to go about finding just the right one for you? Do you want to exercise with a dog at your side but you don’t have one of your own or simply don’t want one just yet? Would you like to extend your circle of animal loving friends? Then, volunteering at DHAR may be for you. You can reach Animal Care Coordinator Reba at 575-740-4100 for more information.


The Sierra County Humane Society continues to collect Bullocks receipts and aluminum cans which, when redeemed, help cover the costs of the Society’s comprehensive Spay-Neuter program. Our $30 and $40 rebates for male and female dogs and cats, respectively, are intended to give an extra incentive to pet owners to have their companion animal sterilized. The major part of the cost of the Society Spay-Neuter program is covered by the proceeds from Paws & Claws Thrift Shoppe in T or C. You can drop-off your Bullocks receipts at Paws & Claws, the T or C library and the Williamsburg Post office. Several nice folks, including Shirley Babe of T or C and CJ Ellis of Caballo Lake RV park also make it a point to collect the receipts from their friends for our non-profit animal welfare organization.

We continue to need dog and cat food, bird and sunflower seeds, also rabbit pellets for the furry and feathered residents of the sanctuary. Our little dependents consume a lot of food every day. We appreciate immensely every cash donation, bag or can of pet food donated by folks who believe in what we do for animals in this area, and who want to help us help them. We can be reached at 575-894-2778 for more information. Write us at POB 638, Williamsburg, NM 87901. You can also check us out at www.DesertHavenAnimalRefuge.com, http://DesertHavenAnimalRefuge.blogspot.com and www.Facebook.com/deserthaven

Week of 4/10/10 Humane Happenings

Snoopy

by Eliana Aubin

Desert Haven Animal Refuge, Sierra County's no-kill domestic animal sanctuary, is owned and operated by the Sierra County Humane Society, the only Humane Society in Sierra County. Several weeks ago, we attempted to answer one of the most frequently asked question brought up by locals and also by seasonal residents as well as tourists who visit Paws & Claws Thrift Shoppe in T or C, the Humane Society operated second-hand store.

Contrary to popular belief, the Sierra County Humane Society is NOT associated with Sierra Animal Shelter or Hot Springs Animal Clinic, two privately owned local businesses. This brings us to another often-asked question we wish to answer at this time. Why is Desert Haven open only on Tuesdays, while Sierra Animal Shelter is open every day of the week, also a few hours on Saturdays?

Sierra Animal Shelter is a for-profit business and as in any other regular business, its purpose is to make money. The folks who work at Sierra Animal Shelter are paid employees and their job is to keep the business open every day of the week, including several hours on Saturdays.

Desert Haven is run by volunteers - even its Executive Director works entirely in a volunteer capacity. Securing dependable volunteers to keep the sanctuary open for visitors on a regular schedule every day of the week, while at the same time maintaining an adequate volunteer work crew to properly care for the residents, is currently not a possibility. It is a known fact that volunteers are hard to come by in this area, no matter what the organization represents and even when the need is great.

Desert Haven compensates for the inconvenience of not being open every day of the week and on week-ends by allowing sanctuary visits for the purpose of adoption. All one has to do is call us at 575-894-2778 or 575-740-4100 for an appointment. These visits can be done at any time of the week, including Saturdays and Sundays. It takes a lot of planning, a tremendous amount of work, dedication and determination, as well as an especially strong love for animals on the part of a number or folks to make a non-profit operation like the Sierra County Humane Society and Desert Haven Animal Refuge run successfully day in and day out.

To learn more about our organization, make a tax-deductible contribution or to volunteer your time for Sierra County’s animal welfare organization, contact us at 575-894-2778 or 575-740-4100. You can also visit us at Desert Haven Animal Refuge in Williamsburg and P&C Thrift Shoppe in T or C. You can also check us out at
http://www.DesertHavenAnimalRefuge.com, Facebook.com/deserthaven or http://www.DesertHavenAnimalRefuge.blogspot.com.

Week of 4/4/10 Humane Happenings

Lucy (known as Sasha at DH) is the picture of contentment in her new home

This week, The Sierra County Humane Society and the folks at Desert Haven wish to acknowledge the nice folks who are dropping off bags and cans of pet food for the residents of the no-kill domestic animal sanctuary. Large or small, their in-kind donations as well as their contributions earmarked for pet food are a blessing. At this time, Desert Haven is housing its largest population of dogs and cats since it opened its doors several years ago, and a lot of food is distributed twice a day to keep this little army of healthy animals fed and happy. A number of folks who patronize Paws & Claws Thrift Shoppe in T or C are making it a point these days to ask us about Desert Haven’s pet food situation versus Walmart.

As our readers already know, since the mega store opened its doors in our area in August 2008, Walmart started to donate their damaged bags of pet food to the Sierra County Humane Society, the only 501-C-3 non-profit animal welfare organization in Sierra County. The donated pet food was earmarked to feed the residents of Desert Haven, the domestic animal sanctuary owned and operated by the society. Because of Walmart’s generosity, Desert Haven became financially able to rescue even more dogs and cats than it had in the past. When a new management came on board at the mega store in the Fall of 2009 and changes were made within its ranks, Walmart’s pet food donations to Desert Haven suddenly stopped, leaving Sierra County’s only no-kill sanctuary with an immediate and totally unanticipated lack of adequate donated pet food to help feed its all-time high number of dogs and cats.

We trust that everyone who embraces the cause of the animals in our area and also those who have been helped by our organization in some way, either through our Spay-Neuter or any of our other community oriented programs, will consider putting Desert Haven on their list of worthwhile causes to donate to.

This week’s kudos go to Mary Roden, who for the past several weeks has visited the 36 kitties at Desert Haven’s Cool Cat Neighborhood every Tuesday, when the sanctuary is open for visitors. Not only does she spend a lot of time with them that day, but she never fails to bring with her either dog or cat food, as she knows how costly it is for a small organization lie ours to properly care for as many companion animals as we currently have, especially in these financially difficult times.

Interested in helping the cause of Sierra County’s companion animals in some way? Visit Desert Haven on Tuesday or contact us at 575-894-2778 or 575-740-4100. For more information on the Sierra County Humane Society, Inc., Desert Haven Animal Refuge and P&C thrift Shoppe, you can also visit us at www.DesertHavenAnimalRefuge.com, and at www.Facebook.com/deserthaven.