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Thursday, February 11, 2010

S.O.S.: Please save our Sanctuary!

First, an apology about the incomplete state of our website.  Because of an error by our former hosting company, we lost our original website and I’m trying to rush to put up a new one.  Please excuse any links that don’t work (i.e., practically every link in the menu bar), but rest assured I’m working around the clock to fill in all the missing details, especially photos.  There’s so much going on right now that finding time to fix the site is difficult, but I’m trying to make it a priority.

I may be offline for a few days and only able to check my email intermittently.  If you’ve made a donation and I haven’t thanked you yet, or if you’ve emailed to ask a question, I promise an individual reply asap!

No matter how you found this page, you’ve probably heard that Wee Paws is currently in a state of extreme crisis.  It’s literally a life or death situation for many of the animals we care for, so I appreciate your concern and desire to help us find a fast solution.  For the past six years, we’ve quietly operated out of a house in Las Vegas, NV. It’s been a great location with ample room for the cats to have individual space, for two quarantine areas, for an outdoor enclosure, for a separate parrot room—all this, and a large yard for the dogs to run and exercise.  Best of all, we’re conveniently located close to our amazing vet, and we’re in a location near a farm sanctuary where many cats are abandoned and in need of rescue.  Our neighbours are discrete and supportive, and this is the place we feel we’re meant to stay.  Unfortunately, the former owner of the property lost the house to foreclosure, and the house is currently owned by the bank (i.e., Freddie Mac).  Today it went up for sale.  Although we’re allowed to rent the house back from the bank on a month-to-month lease, the house could be sold at any moment and we’ll be forced to move.  We have no way to move two dozen cats, a number of dogs, and some parrots, and it’s just not reasonable to assume another rescue group would take in our animals.  Most of our animals have serious health or behavior problems, and many are elderly and fragile.  They may not survive the stress of a long move, and if we did move, we may be forced to leave our vet and the local businesses who support us with food donations.  The only chance Wee Paws has of surviving is to find a way to stay in our current location.  To that end, we’re either looking for a sympathetic investor who would purchase the property but allow us to remain living in it under a long term lease agreement, or preferably, we need private “alternative” financing to assist us in purchasing the property.  While we can reliably pay a monthly rent or mortgage payment, we do not qualify for a conventional home loan from a bank.  We may be able to provide cash for a down-payment (details are being arranged).

Can you help us realize our dream of purchasing this property for Wee Paws?  Whether you’re an investor, or someone who can assist with financing, or an individual who’d be willing to contribute to our cash fund towards our down-payment, your involvement could directly save the lives of the animals in our facility.  In addition, once Wee Paws is assured of having a permanent location, we can expand our operation to help up to twice as many cats as we help now.  We can continue to offer temporary fostering for families who’ve lost their homes to foreclosure and need someone to care for their cats while they look for a new place to live.  We can also continue to provide free behavioural consultations to reduce the number of cats being surrendered to shelters.  While we primarily consider ourselves a retirement facility for senior cats, we would like to expand to provide pet hospice services, and to assist elderly and terminally ill people who want to ensure their beloved animal companions are cared for in the event of their owner’s passing.  If you want to honor a favorite pet or a family member who loved animals, we’d even consider changing the name of our sanctuary to reflect the wishes of a benefactor.  Make a donation and we’ll let you name our next batch of foster kittens… there are any number of ways you can help and be recognized for your support.  If you prefer to remain anonymous, we’ll be pleased to respect your wishes.

If you’d like more details, please email me and I’ll answer any questions you may have.  The total cost of the property will not exceed $175,000, and the price may be reduced depending on how much cash we can offer as a down payment.

We’re proud of the work Wee Paws has provided to the Las Vegas community, and we want to continue to provide these valuable services.  Please check back over the next few days as I get the website updated with photos and stories of the cats (and humans) we’ve helped over the years.

Make a donation via PayPal or send us email!

Posted by Wee Paws on 02/11 at 05:22 AM
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