Greetings from the Friends of the Animals. We would like to introduce our first newsletter. Our goal with this letter is to share current news,some success stories, current and upcoming events, recognize some special volunteers, and present the current financial condition of the shelter.
The Friends of the Animals is a nonprofit organization. It is funded by donations and operated by a volunteer board.
The shelter is not affiliated with any government agency and receives no federal, state, or county funding.
The shelter does not receive any funding from the National Humane Society. We are a “No kill” shelter. We do not euthanize healthy adoptable animals. There is no “time limit” an animal can remain at the shelter they can stay until they find their adoptive homes. The shelter is operated by volunteers. The volunteers are the backbone of the shelter!
We would like to thank our volunteers who have hosted a fund raiser, taken animals to the vet, walked dogs, answered e-mails, or cuddled kitties. The shelter could not exist WITHOUT our volunteers! A special “thank you” goes out to Kathleen and Greg for their support. They are an inspiration for all the volunteers and board members. Recently Dee and Jim Shotwell volunteered the use of their vehicle and time to pick-up a pallet of pet food donated by Cargill. This enabled us to provide food to our animals and was greatly appreciated! The shelter currently needs more volunteers to host fund raisers, socialize the animals and to maintain the facility. PLEASE VOLUNTEER and make a difference in an animal’s life!!
Because of your continued support we have several animal success stories. One of them is Yukon, a Husky, who found a great home and is doing well with his family! Denver, a Shih Tzu mix, also found a wonderful home and now goes by the name Dusty. Bella was adopted three years ago; she and her parents are enjoying each other greatly. This spring Bo, a blue tick coon hound found a great home after being at the shelter for over 2 years. He had been sponsored by Laurie and Marlee Wallace. By sponsoring Bo for a year they helped defray the cost of his vet bills and alteration. Its only $65.00 to sponsor a dog and $50.00 to sponsor a cat for a year! You can mail a check to the shelter with the name of the animal you wish to sponsor on it or better yet, stop by the shelter and visit the animals and choose an animal to sponsor. They need your help!! Please contact the shelter or mail a check and note on it “sponsor”.
Sheila, a mostly black Flat Coated Retriever, and Birdie, a black and white Pointer mix, co-hosted a fundraiser at Hy-Vee this summer. Their career in the spot-light was short as they have been adopted. Sheila and her litter mate Sheldon came to the shelter as 12 week old puppies after being found on a county roadside in a box in late February during a storm! Your contribution to the shelter will help other dogs and cats too.
With the poor economy, the shelter has noticed an increase in abandoned pets and owner surrenders. Some animals have been literally “left by the door”. When these pets arrive they need all current vaccinations and vet care. This has put an additional burden on the shelter. It costs approximately $3000.00 each month to keep our shelter doors open. This covers: rent of the building, utilities, vet bills and medications, insurance, phone and internet service, trash pick-up, and employee wages to clean kennels and cages daily. We currently have enough funding to be open one more month. Where will our animals live?? Your donation is needed now!!
We are currently running a flower bulb fundraiser until October 23rd. Please see our soon updated website www.foa.thinkhost.com or stop by the shelter during our business hours for more details. This fundraiser allows us to keep 50% of the money collected to go towards the shelter. In October we will begin a fundraiser offering a brochure from Yankee Candles. This brochure features their latest fall/winter scents which would make wonderful gifts! Please stop by the shelter or contact one of our volunteers, to see and smell the new scents and place your order. The Yankee Candle fundraiser will end November4th.Through these fundraisers we hope to raise enough money to cover the high heating bills at the shelter this winter and pay our local veterinarians.
The Friends of the Animals shelter is constantly looking for ways to improve the care for the animals and the financial stability of the shelter. If you have any comments or suggestions on how to improve the shelter, please send us an email at friendsoa@yahoo.com or stop by the shelter. Your input and support is greatly appreciated.
P.S. “A note from the animals” We would like to thank all the volunteers, contributors, donors, sponsors, and adopters! We want to give them a big lick on the cheek and a purr... Please remember that we are still here and need your help! Stop by and see us or send us a note, we would love to hear from you. Thank you from the “Friends of the Animals” shelter.
Friends of the Animals P.O. Box 383 320 w 6th ST. Tipton, IA 52772
Our Black labs are only $50 each to adopt. Stop by and see them. Our hours are Tuesdays 5-7:30pm and Saturdays 1-5pm. We look forward to hearing from you.