Help Them Heal Giving Day – WE DID IT!

Thanks to your incredible generosity, we exceeded our goal of $75,000, unlocking an additional $25,000 in funding! This means we now have $100,000 to #HelpThemHeal. We are immensely grateful for this wonderful outpouring of support!

The animals at our Sanctuary rely on us for their medical and behavioral needs, especially during emergency health crises, as well as for their routine, everyday care. Your contributions allow us to take on challenging cases and provide the necessary care and love these animals deserve.

Thanks to you, we can continue to care for cats like Wavy Gravy and Aladdin, and dogs like Champ and Brooke, along with so many others. Your generosity ensures that they have the best chance at happy lives full of healing and love.

On behalf of all the cats, dogs, staff, and volunteers at the Sanctuary, thank you for your support and dedication to the special animals in our care!

Read more about some of the animals your gifts will help:

Help Wallace & Totti heal! Our 7th annual Help Them Heal Giving Day Challenge will raise funds to care for the animals at our Sanctuary, like Wallace and Totti here, who have nowhere else to go. If we’re able to raise $75,000 in one day, a generous donor will gift us an additional $25,000! That means a total of $100,000 to #HelpThemHeal. We’ll be sharing stories of the animals in our care – whether they have medical conditions, pronounced behavioral challenges, complications from advanced age, or all of the above. Thanks to your continued support on June 5th, we can #HelpThemHeal.

Wallace and Totti came to us from an extreme animal hoarding case, where nearly 200 animals were found in deplorable conditions. The rescued cats were taken to a local school to be vetted and adopted out. Wallace and Totti were among some of the final few left behind due to how under socialized they were. Because of how fearful they were, it was surmised that they were born into this hoarding case and never interacted with humans in a positive way. Imagine feral cats that have never been outdoors – that was Wallace and Totti.

We knew we had our work cut out for us. At our Sanctuary, we are able to provide them with a clean, spacious, and secure space – something that had never known. We gave them plenty of space upon their arrival so they could start to decompress from everything they had been through. Staff went in just to clean their boxes, feed and water them, and then leave. We are grateful to be able to give the cats we take on the time and space they need to begin the healing process.

We found out that they were very interested in making new kitty friends, often peeking through their screen door to see what was going on with their cohort across the hall. Having them out in a “group room” with other social, yet shy cats, did wonders for them. Socializing and playing with their feline friends, Wallace and Totti started to become more comfortable being close to people. They would witness volunteers and staff interacting with their neighbors and get curious. Slowly but surely, when they were feeling brave, they’d approach volunteers and staff to see if they could join in on the fun. Each tentative, gentle step they took brought them closer and closer to us. We’re grateful to be able to have the space to facilitate these transformations – including making their room their “home base.” Meaning, they can choose to come out into the larger group room to socialize with other cats (or even with people when feeling brave). But if they are in their room, volunteers and staff know it’s “off limits” to humans. That way, if Wallace and Totti get overwhelmed, they know they can run back into their room and us humans will give them space.

With more and more positive interactions, Totti even started to rub against legs and hands. Our Cat Team continues to build upon their trust with touch training where they positively associate yummy treats with petting. We’ve come so far that they will even climb on your lap and enjoy full body pets while licking their treat rewards. Totti also has advanced kidney disease and is on a prescription diet to help combat its progression.

All this work to #HelpThemHeal is made possible by your generous support. Help us unlock an additional $25,000 by making a gift today!

Help Champ heal! Just a few more days until our 7th Annual Help Them Heal Giving Day Challenge on June 5th. This Wednesday we will be fundraising for the animals at our Sanctuary, like Champ, who rely on your support to #HelpThemHeal. If we’re able to raise $75,000 in one day, a generous donor will gift us an additional $25,000! That means a total of $100,000!

Champion came from down south from another rescue who transports dogs up north. In his first home, while he was an incredibly sweet and affectionate boy, he had many reactivity issues around other dogs out on walks. The first-time dog owner was overwhelmed with his reactivity issues, and the “correction based methods” to redirect him only made the matters worse. She was able to take him to training classes until we had a spot open up at the Sanctuary. He came to us in 2022 at three years old. Champion has been thriving at our Sanctuary behaviorally, with volunteers and staff working on every walk to redirect his hyper prey-drive from nibbling on critters.

Prior to his arrival, he had surgery on a broken leg, which involved installing steel plates on the bone. Staff and volunteers noticed limping and favoring that leg, and we took him in for x-rays. Due to the old injury, he has struggled ever since with arthritis. He’s been working with Dr. Michael Sanders at the Valerie Friedman Healing Center on physical rehabilitation therapy and the underwater treadmill to help improve his condition. In consultation with an orthopedic veterinarian, he gets Adaquan injections to help stave off the arthritis.

Whatever Champ needs to help him heal, we’ll be here for him. Will you? Help us unlock an additional $25,000 by making a gift today.