Goathouse News
What we have achieved and what we have not in 2019… And what we need to achieve in 2020!
Posted February 15, 2020
Dear Goathouse Family,
2019 was a hard year, to be expected because of the important changes we are working on, but also a year full of hope and good achievements. The most exciting news is that we are working with some wonderful people to open a Goathouse Veterinary Clinic and an Education Center…to help the kitties and help children and adults to learn about animal behavior, nutrition, health, communication and training. We have professional, qualified people that enthusiastically are joining us in this new endeavor! I sure hope that we will be able to make people see that cruelty is never acceptable or excusable! We will keep you posted as things come together.
With your help we added 125 new sustainers reaching 18% of the basic monthly cost to care for the kitties the way they should be cared for. This means that we still need to add at least 2,300 new sustainers that can give us from $10 to $20 per month…. And we could breath.
We lowered the population by finding good homes for 204 kitties, Cat Tales Cat Café alone placed 75 of our sweet Cats in loving families, including one very special cat, Wendy. She came to us in January 2014 with a broken pelvis and foot from a trauma that had already healed misaligned and caused her to limp. She had to have an emergency C-section because her kittens weren’t able to pass through her pelvis. After spending almost 6 years with the Goathouse, she finally found her forever home.
Sadly, we cannot take in all the kitties that need our help…. It is heartbreaking but we have to say no to so many. Sadness and pain is so much a part of life with creatures whose life is shorter than ours. I lost my Cowboy, my partner and companion of 18 years… he was a Norwegian Mountain cat, with an incredible ancient soul….
We need to be more active with our fundraising and recruit some good people that would become part of our Fundraising Committee; we still are only a few people working to keep up with an Organization who became big very fast. We will be looking for people to join a Promotion Committee, a Record keeping/veterinary and Shelter Manager Committee and the adoption Committee; we need a Manager for the Refuge and staff. I really hope to be able to soon spend more time in my studio; I feel that I still need to say some things with clay and found or fabricated objects.
We are searching and working to install a new Director for the Refuge that can keep all this coordinated and functioning, I am too old for it!
Many of our kitties are old, need dental surgeries and special care…. And many are still young and healthy and need families to love them. Some are still kittens playing and romping around in the Kitten Cabana. Many of our older kitties are forever residents, with health issues coming up, especially dental surgeries. If their mouth hurts they don’t eat and their whole body becomes weaker; it is so painful to see them suffering. Due to the costs of the surgeries ($800 to $1200 per cat), unfortunately, sometimes we must just give them pain medications until we can collect enough money to help them with the needed surgery. We need to come up with money for 16 old cats…. And I hope you will help us.
Thank you for all you have done and do for these great creatures and to help us! I have not invented yet a new, more significant word to express our gratitude… one day I will….
Much love,
Siglinda, the kitties and all the strong humans of our family
Become a Sustainer
Posted February 04, 2020
It takes thousands of dollars every month to take care of hte 200 kitties at the refuge that have been given a second chance at life. Some months the vet bills can be much more if something urgent comes up or if a cat needs a dental procedure. Please help us get through the winter months with a generous donation. Here is a sampling of our monthly expenses…plus maintenance, staff, etc.
Cat Food $ 4,000
Vet Bills $ 4,000
Vet Supplies $ 1,600
Utilities $ 2,000
Litter $ 1,200
Do you remember our 2 special kitties Omero, who is blind, and Cheetah, who had only partial use of his hind legs due to a trauma to his spine suffered two months prior to being brought to the refuge? These cats are doing so well, are best friends and as happy as can be. Neither lets their physical differences prevent them from zipping around and doing cat things. They would not have survived a shelter and the Goathouse was able to give them a real quality of life they deserve.
I have never been so moved as when watching two cats who would most assuredly not have survived if taken to another shelter play with each other on a screened porch. The one has no eyes; the other has only partial use of his hind legs due to a trauma to his spine suffered two months prior to being brought to the refuge. These cats, Omero and Cheetah, are as happy as can be. Neither lets his physical differences prevent him from zipping around and doing cat things. Omero stalks bees, apparently through the sound of their wings, and runs and climbs like any other cat. Cheetah earned his name because he moves so fast in his special way, using his front legs to pull himself along in a seated position. When he first arrived at the refuge, Cheetah was seen by a veterinarian for the spinal injury and was told there was nothing to be done because Cheetah had been kept without care for two months prior to his arrival at the refuge, and his spine had healed out of alignment. That did not stop the refuge founder, artist Siglinda Scarpa from providing physical therapy for him daily. In addition, Cheetah has received acupuncture and laser therapy from Dr. Christie Mozzachio, and energy therapy from John Griffin of the Rhine Research Center and from me. The effort has paid off; Cheetah can walk some now. Next week he will be taken to Dr. Miller, orthopedic specialist and owner of Triangle Veterinary Hospital in Durham, to see what can be done to help support his spine so that he can walk more easily. The Goathouse Refuge seeks the advice of the NCSU School of Veterinary Medicine as well as Dr. English of the Ophthalmic Veterinary Specialty Hospital. It is impressive and heartening to see how traditional veterinary medicine and holistic and complementary medicine work hand in hand to meet the special care needs of the cats.That brings me to the point of this article. It’s easy to point out flaws and deny your support because of those flaws. However, you could just as easily decide to be part of the solution and help transform this special place with your support. I am part of a new wave of staff members, board members, and volunteers who are dedicating a tremendous amount of time, energy, effort, and love to the Goathouse Refuge because we know that what really matters is the cats. We are passionate about the cats. We want these furry paragons of strength, power, grace, and affection to be happy and healthy, and we are going to extraordinary lengths to help make that happen. We need you because the transformation is not possible without funding. I invite you to be part of the new wave, to help us make improvements to the organization and to the facilities that will enable the refuge to be its best. You can show your support in so many ways. I have listed just a few below:• Be a sustainer. Make a monthly contribution of any size using http://www.goathouserefuge.org/become-a-sustainer/. Funding we can count on helps us plan. Even $10 a month would help.• Donate money to the refuge through PayPal, which can be accessed through the “Donate” tab on the shelter’s website at http://www.goathouserefuge.org/donate/.• Donate money to the refuge by mailing a check payable to the Goathouse Refuge to 680 Alton Alston Road, Pittsboro, NC 27312.• Contribute directly to the cats’ veterinary care by mailing a check to Jordan Lake Animal Hospital at 50-B Chatham Corners Drive, P.O. Box 909, Pittsboro, NC 27312.• Volunteer as an adoption counselor at the refuge on Fridays, Saturdays, and/or Sundays.• Hold a cleaning supply drive for the refuge at a grocery store or retail supercenter near you. (No Lysol, please. It’s bad for the cats.) • Volunteer at a supply drive to hand out the wish lists and load the truck.• Donate or rent a truck for hauling the items from the supply drive to the refuge and help the supply drive organizer.• Represent the refuge at festivals and other events.• Organize a fun run or other competition and donate the participant registration fees to the refuge.• If you own a business, donate a percentage of your sales to the refuge once a month.• Use your talents as a carpenter or contractor to help make repairs and updates to the refuge’s many buildings.As I said, there are so many ways to get involved and support the refuge. Other options are listed on the refuge’s website. Please join our team and help the Goathouse Refuge become a truly purrfect paradise. By Kelly Bolz, Goathouse Vet Tech
Posted by The Goathouse Refuge on Saturday, June 1, 2019
Please help us continue to help others like them by becoming a sustainer. As little as $10/month can help make a difference.
Thank you!
THANK YOU for Making our New Year’s Matching Campaign a Success!
Posted December 31, 2019
Donations to our New Year’s Matching Campaign have reached 100%! Thank you for donating, and thanks to our friend who gave us the matching challenge for the Holidays and to start the New Year with serenity: $8,000 has become $16,000 as a result of your generosity!”
