Week of 8/3/10 Humane Happenings

Cactus garden and Memory Bench

This week, the Sierra County Humane Society & Desert Haven Animal Refuge wishes to acknowledge Sierra County Soil & Water Conservation District for the part they play every year in the beautification of the no-kill domestic animal sanctuary. For the past several years, Desert Haven has received seedlings and small container plants - all of them carefully chosen for our desert climate - courtesy of the SCSWCD. The sanctuary volunteers plant and care for them. At this time of the year, many bushes are flowering all along the trails of DHAR and around the animal and bird habitats and the recent rains have been a blessing.

As visitors and volunteers alike enjoy their scent and their beauty, the DHAR staff makes a point to mention how generous the SCSWCD has been to the sanctuary since it opened its doors several years ago. A very special thank you goes to both Mary Jo Fahl and Bonnie Freeman of the Soil & Water Conservation District. We appreciate their friendliness through the year and especially their helpfulness when we order the seedlings, courtesy of SCSWCD.

Bootz cleaning up outside Paws & Claws Thrift Shoppe

Paws & Claws Thrift Shoppe continues to be a great local destination for thrifty shoppers, E-bay sellers and also for those who wish to find a very special item, perhaps vintage, antique or simply unusual. The great majority of P&C patrons acknowledge the hard work involved in keeping the store open for business four days a week. We are literally a recycling point-of-contact for the community. We sift through the donations that are dropped-off; we pick out the best as we trash the rest, always keeping in mind what is most in demand within our small community of folks who come from all walks of life. As more and more “lake visitors” from out-of-town patronize our store, especially on week-ends, we keep their needs and special interests in mind as well - not an easy task for our volunteers, since available space and dependable manpower are at a premium at P&C Thrift Shoppe.

A retail shop such as ours is extremely labor intensive and not for everyone, but it has its rewards. We run a tight ship at P&C, under strict policy and procedures. Absolutely no one receives any type of salary. Sierra County’s animal welfare organization operates the shop and its profits benefit the community in many ways. The success of P&C Thrift Shoppe is intimately connected to the success of Desert Haven, which could not operate without the funds generated by the shop.

We need helpers this summer at P&C Thrift Shoppe in TorC, also dog walkers and kitty cuddlers at Desert Haven. We also need office help on Tuesdays. Interested in giving us a hand? Contact us at 575-894-2639, 894-2778 or 740-4100. You can also visit us at www.DesertHavenAnimalRefuge.com and www.DesertHavenAnimalRefuge.blogspot.com. Become a fan of DHAR at www.Facebook/com/deserthaven.