Dear OPHS Friend,
Happy Halloween! We are grateful the sun is out, the leaves have turned and Fall is in full swing. As you can see by our picture above, we have 50 kittens ready, willing, and more than able to provide love and fun to your household. We really need help getting these fur babies adopted into good homes. Although we take good care of these cutie-pies, the shelter is no place to grow up. They need YOU. If you have room in your heart, please fill out an application online (https://www.ophumanesociety.org/cat-adoption-application) and we'll contact you right away to come in and pick out your bundle of purrs.
So much is happening at the shelter. I wanted to thank you for caring and for supporting our new Kitty City McKay Campus in Sequim. We exceeded our renovation campaign goal and raised $366,000 in 5 months! This will allow us to build out and equip the campus while remaining debt-free.
Due to supply issues and shortage of labor, things are moving along slower than anticipated. However, the accomplishments are many (see pictures below). Additionally, we were not able to get building permits to construct the two storage buildings on site that we needed, so we created an 18 x 20 room addition at the end of one wing instead. This change required us to go through the architectural drawing and approval process again. However, with new permits and drawings in hand, construction of the room addition starts next week!
The pictures below will show you the large catios and roaming rooms we have built and the construction of the huge double-sided cat condos for those cats who don't like their counterparts. Also, we wrote a grant request to ASPCA for surgery equipment and received $20,000 last week! New surgery lights, tables, and equipment will be delivered in around 9 weeks' time. The entire facility was planned around our ability to offer spay/neuter services to low-income families. Currently, the waiting list for such services is over 4 months long.
Let's not leave the dogs out of this conversation. Staff and some wonderful volunteers (Monica and Helen to name a few), and I have been putting the final touches on our new Foster Program. We intend to have MANY animals in homes awaiting adoption as opposed to in the shelter. Having the proper infrastructure and process in place is critical for success. Having a dog in-home allows for their true personality to shine instead of being in a stressful shelter environment with noise and other anxiety-causing stimuli prevalent. Many perfectly stable dogs can go downhill rapidly in a shelter. We must prevent this as best we can. Lessening the shelter population through fostering mimics leading-edge shelters and is quickly becoming nationwide best practices. Fostering is the perfect way for a family to make a huge difference in animal welfare while allowing a time commitment that fits their schedule and lifestyle. More info for fostering is located here: https://www.ophumanesociety.org/foster-program
Again, every Staff member, Board member, and I thank you for your support of time, talent and treasure to ensure the vulnerable animals on the Olympic Peninsula are properly cared for and given a second chance for a happy home.
Sincerely,
Luanne Hinkle
OPHS Executive Director
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Young Volunteer Still Helps OPHS |
Ms. Cassidy Hutt used to volunteer for OPHS with her grandparent's support who live in Port Angeles. Even though she resides out of the area, Cassidy decided to select OPHS as her Paws Teen Club service project. Wanting to garner donations of food and toys, Cassidy (under her mom's guidance) used social media and an Amazon wish list to help her with her mission.
"I told her not to get her hopes up too high because these people don't even know you," shared Linda Hutt, Cassidy's mom. The family was on vacation when the first Amazon package arrived, which they could see through their door's video camera. "We were so delighted watching the deliveries that came every day. When we got home, the whole entryway was full!" 350 cans/bags of dog food, 250 bags/cans of cat food and toys and litter was the result.
OPHS wishes to thank Cassidy and the entire Hutt family for their support of the OPHS animals. To borrow a phrase, "They're eatin' good in the neighborhood," now for sure!
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Subaru Loves Pets. . . REALLY! |
This October was Subaru Loves Pets month. As a result, Koenig Subaru of Port Angeles pledged to support OPHS with $100 for every adoption, up to $3,100!
We are proud to announce that we exceeded that goal by the 15th of the month and will reveal our final numbers when we total this weekend adoptions. Needless to say, this community is crushing it on adoptions. Thank you, Clallam County! We love that you love to save the abandoned, abused, surrendered and stray animals in our care who will love YOU forever!
Clallam County Loves Pets, Too!
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This young pup came to us by a person who found him in a box dumped in her driveway. While we don't know what happened, we suspect he was hit by a car. As he arrived at OPHS he was burning up with fever, and his back legs were not working. He is being nurtured by Angel, our Operations Manager, who has also worked in Vet Services. She is bringing him back and forth to work and caring for him at home 24-7. He is doing much better (fever gone), and we are waiting to do surgery until the optimal time. As he is only 11 weeks old, his growth plate is a consideration regarding the timing. He can't fully support his own weight and may not be able to in the future, but time will tell.
(We named him Grimm because he came to us around Halloween and was in horrible condition.)
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Over 100 Guests Visited the OPHS
Haunted Trail!
A parklike, meandering, wooded dog-walking trail during the day turned more than just a little spooky on the nights of Oct. 22 and 23rd. OPHS staff decorated a 1/4 mile with goblins, ghosts and ghouls for the community to get their fright on. Any donation amount allowed guests to walk the trail as much as they wished and some lucky patrons won prizes full of Halloween candy and gifts. (The trail pictures below were taken during the day.)
Staff are dying to do the Haunted Trail again next year!
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Live actors/staff pictured here, Gretchen, Caleb, Rachel, Suzy, Cody and Kendra. We think Michelle took the picture! |
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OPHS is a 75-year-old, 501(c)(3) organization. The Society is a no-kill shelter and is the only organization on the Peninsula to care for domestic animals of all types, regardless of breed, health or disposition. Donations are deductible to the extent allowed by law.
OPHS IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY NATIONWIDE ORGANIZATION.
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The shelter is open by appointment to the public:
Monday: 11 am to 6:30 pm
Tuesday: 11 am to 6:30 pm
Wednesday: Closed
Thursday: 11 am to 6:30 pm
Friday: 11 am to 6:30 pm
Saturday: 11 am to 6:30 pm
Sunday: Closed
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