Shelter from the Storm
It’s Shelter Run time again!
This time, we’re heading to rural Kentucky and West Virginia to help two groups new to our Shelter Run Program.
The groups are:
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Stray Hearts, Martin County, KY. Read their story below.
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A Reason to Believe Animal Rescue, Mingo County, WV. Read their story below.
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We will also be making a pit stop on the way back to Webster County, WV, and the Prevention Intervention Project, who we visited in March of this year. Read their story below.
All three groups are in very rural areas where animals are viewed as things and not beings. They selflessly and tirelessly work to improve the lives of the animals in their communities, often with very few or no resources. The items below would mean the world to them and the animals in their care.
Here’s how the Shelter Run Works:
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We’ve asked these groups for their wish lists, and we’ll be collecting donations for items below
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From food, to building and cleaning supplies, to vaccines and medicines, the wish list encompasses many things we need to provide our beloved companion animals shelter. For many of the animals in their care, outdoor housing while a permanent home is found is an unfortunate reality, and winter is coming soon, so we’ve deemed this drive “Shelter From the Storm”.
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If you’d like to help us provide these animals shelter and basic necessities, please check the list below to what’s still needed, then choose from the paypal buttons for each category.
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The items for which you are donating will not be delivered to you. We will purchase them with the donated funds, and will take them down to KY and WV on October 27-28. Since there are so many large items, we will be purchasing some supplies once we arrive.
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If you wish to remain anonymous, please let us know in the comments section of PayPal.Otherwise we will list your name in the Donor Section below.
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Check back daily to see our Virtual Shelter fill up with much-needed supplies and our donor list below grow!
Thanks to Costco, the National Humane Education Society, and several private donors, we already have a head start. We know this one is a REALLY tall order, but we also know that, with your help, we can reach our goal!
As always, we thank you in advance for your kindness and generosity. There is no way we could fulfill our mission without YOU!
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What We've Collected and What's Still Needed
Stray Hearts began in January 2015, when a concerned couple asked the county judge to help at the Martin County shelter. He agreed, and was appalled at the conditions of the shelter and its animals. Stray Hearts began to help out, and was so successful at rehoming the shelter animals that the county turned it over to them in July, 2016. They have been running it ever since with volunteers on a shoestring budget.
The shelter has now been reformed from a high-kill shelter to a no-kill shelter, a Herculean feat! They have 8 indoor runs for dogs and shelter for cats, but the rest of the animals are currently housed outdoors. The housing and supplies we are collecting for this drive will be an invaluable help to the animals in their care.
The Martin County shelter
before Stray Hearts stepped in
A Reason to Believe Animal Rescue (ARTBAR)
Jessica Hill White, founder of ARTBAR, is a dog magnet in Mingo County, WV, where the homeless animal problem is enormous. She takes in the worst cases, animals with broken bodies and spirits, and gently nurses them back to health so that they can be rehomed. She works full time as a human nurse, has an infant daughter, and, with only about 5 other volunteers, single-handedly helps the animals of Mingo County—we’re not sure when she sleeps!
She is inundated with abandoned and injured animals, yet never turns any away. She is planning on building shelter space for these animals on her property, which is what the cement and tin sheets are for. This drive will be a much-needed boost for ARTBAR and the animals in her care. Tails of Hope also currently provides funding for spay and neuter assistance in Mingo County.
Mason, Jessica's most recent intake,
who she found abandoned and gravely ill.
Webster County, WV and the Prevention Intervention Project
We visited the Webster County Shelter in March of this year, and took down food, vaccines, cleaning supplies, etc. Since then, the county officials have decided that, space or not, they have 5 days to move dogs out of the shelter or they will be euthanized. A wonderful shelter advocate, Rose Cochran, has opened her own property to the shelter dogs who have run out of time, preventing their certain death. But housing them is another issue—they needed shelter fast. We sent down several outdoor kennels earlier this summer and will be taking them igloo dog houses and food on this run as well.
In March we also visited the lovely Karissa Carpenter of the Prevention Intervention Project, and donated igloo dog houses and care packages for the community at that time. Karissa is an absolute angel to the community there, going door-to-door to offer free spay and neuter (for which Tails of Hope also provide funding) and other services to the community pets. We will be taking houses and and supplies to her as well.
Webster County Shelter dogs,
saved from certain death