Week of 2/20/12 Humane Happenings

by Eliana Aubin

Tuesday afternoon project at Desert Haven

 The last remnants of the cold winter nights are still with us in Sierra County, and Desert Haven Animal Refuge is once again appealing to compassionate area residents to donate their no-longer-wanted used pillows, blankets and flannel sheets for our little residents. You can drop them off at the front gate of the DHAR property or bring them in person on Tuesday, when the sanctuary is open for visitors. Paws&Claws Thrift Shop will also gratefully accept your contributions for Desert Haven from Wednesday through Saturday, during the shop’s business hours from 11 AM and 4 PM. For more information, contact 575-894-2639.

Our large DHAR dogs love to play tug-of-war with fleecy blankets and fluffy comforters which soon become unusable rags. So, while we use warm comforters and pillows inside the Feline Dorm and the Inn at Dog Town, our staff chooses straw and also donated spoiled hay to keep our larger fur-kids warm inside their Canine Condos and Doggy-Duplexes. We also use bales of straw and spoiled hay as windbreaks inside the canine yards, which is very successful. For several years now, Jeanette Galliard of Albuquerque helps ensure that Desert Haven stays supplied with enough straw to meet most of its needs. Some time ago, local resident Bobby Dawkins donated an entire trailer load of spoiled hay that he felt was no longer safe enough to feed his horses. His donated bales of hay are a huge bonus as they provide soft bedding for the canines of DHAR. We always welcome contributions of bales of hay and straw regardless of their condition. Our team is very resourceful and we gratefully put to use everything that is donated to Desert Haven along the way.

We offer volunteer opportunities both at Paws & Claws Thrift Shoppe and Desert Haven. We always need extra dog Walkers and Kitty Cuddlers at the sanctuary. If interested, contact us at 575-894-1694. We also need a couple of handymen interested in donating some time on Tuesdays. We have several projects in the works, including a small chain link enclosure to build, a 12 ft Old West wooden fence to strengthen, a 10 by 10 Catzebo to strengthen. Resurfacing several sections of the Cat Walks with patio blocks or manageable cement slabs is on our prirority list. If unable to give a hand but wish to help in some way, perhaps you would like to donate materials or funds to help with the projects? Contact us at 575-894-2639. Visit us at www.DesertHavenAnimalRefuge.com. Chat with us at www.Facebook.com/deserthaven. You can also e-mail us at weR4pets@gmail.com.

Week of 2/12/12 Humane Happenings

by Eliana Aubin 

Kim and his new buiddy

 This week, the Sierra County Humane Society and the staff at Desert Haven wish to especially thank all our animal loving friends and supporters in our community and beyond. We are a small and budget-minded animal welfare organization that operates through the generosity of local and out-of-state folks. Thanks to the local newspapers who print our Humane Happenings articles every week, caring people from all over are able to follow our efforts and help us out whenever they can.

With the cold weather lingering in Sierra County, local resident Patty Duffy and her family recently gathered several boxes of goodies for the DHAR fur-kids and also many much-needed warm items to be used by our felines and very small dogs. Then she kindly dropped all of them off at the sanctuary’s front gate this past week-end. Kim Nelson is an out-of-state resident who is spending a few weeks in Sierra County again this year. While in the area, Kim helps us care for the dogs of Desert Haven. He walks them and spends quality time with them almost every morning during Animal Care. When he heard of our recent plea for canned dog food, he immediately came to the rescue. As far away as the little town of Victoria, Texas, one of Desert Haven’s former work campers – who by the way wishes to remain anonymous - learned of our needs for canned dog food through the Humane Happenings and she too helped insure that our DHAR cupboards would not stay empty for too long. The show of support from our animal loving friends from all over has been very humbling indeed. Jim Seery work-camped at the sanctuary in early 2011 and he is back to help out this Spring. When he realized that Shadow the female black lab, was still at the sanctuary, he made it his goal to facilitate her adoption by covering half of the adoption costs. DHAR work camper Jeff Thompson is commiting to cover half of the adoption costs of the Boxer Foxie-Girl, so that she too can be adopted soon.

 This week’s wish list: Handymen needed. We have a small chain link enclosure to build. A 12 ft Old West wooden fence needs strengthening. Our Catzebo needs a complete make-over. We have other projects in the works. Do you have a few patio blocks you no longer need or perhaps you can lay a couple of small cement slabs inside our Cat-Walk? If unable to give a hand, could you donate material or funds to help with the projects? Contact us at 575-894-2639 or 575-894-1694. Check us out at www. Facebook.com/deserthaven and www.Facebook.com/pawsnclaws. You can also e-mail us at weR4pets@gmail.com.

Week of 2/5/12 Humane Happenings

What rewarding few weeks we had at Desert Haven Animal Refuge, the NO-KILL domestic sanctuary owned and operated by the Sierra County Humane Society!

Tudor

DHAR most senior feline, Tudor, was adopted recently. The “Old Boy” is enjoying the last chapter of his long life in Phoenix AZ. Maggie-Girl is settled in her forever home in TorC. Riley, the fun loving kitty everyone had fallen in love with, is starting his new life in Washington State. His plane ticket and adoption fee were both covered by then-work campers Carl and Linda Schmidt who also generously covered half of the adoption fees of Tudor and Maggie-Girl to facilitate their adoption. Loverboy, a feline who has resided at DHAR for the past several years, is the latest little guy to be adopted from DHAR. The latest news from Dogtown: Blue now lives in Albuquerque. Freedom moved to her new home in TorC and Cinder has found his place-in-the-sun in Elephant Butte. Bosom-buddies Chowder and Isis were adopted together and are now enjoying the excitement of country life with their new family in the mountains of southwestern NM.

 Jim Seery work-camped at the sanctuary in early 2011. He adopted Sparky from DHAR before he left to attend his daughter’s college graduation in Michigan last spring. Jim is back and everyone who worked with him last year is thrilled to have him back for a few more months. Jim continues to demonstrate his loyalty to Desert Haven and all its creatures. When he realized that Shadow the female black lab, was still at the sanctuary, he made it his goal to facilitate her adoption. Shadow was less than three months old when she arrived at the sanctuary in 2007. She had been discovered by accident one morning inside a tightly locked enclosure completely surrounded by a seven foot fence. She was frightened, dehydrated and starving. She was hurt but with no broken bones, even though it was obvious that the small pup had been thrown over the fence days earlier. Our black lab girl needs her own loving home and Jim is pledging to cover half her adoption fee to facilitate her adoption. Thanks, friend!

This week’s wish list: Handymen needed. We have a wire fence to build and a wooden fence to mend. Our Catzebo needs a complete make-over. We need patio blocks or someone to lay a couple of small cement slabs. We have other projects ready to go. If unable to give a hand, could you donate material or funds to help with the projects? Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

 Contact us at 575-894-2639 or 813-716-2033. E-mail us at weR4pets@gmail.com. Visit us at www.DesertHavenAnimalRefuge.com.