Some of our shelter animals in Q4:
Molly and Camera
Izzy and Phil
Kittens
Angus and Willa
Introduction
This newsletter covers the fourth quarter of 2009. Some highlights: We had our Bingo night, and there was great fun, fabulous prizes and it turned out to be a successful fundraiser.
Again, we have many people to thank for generous donations.
Finally, we re–run a couple of stories from the last newsletter about how you can join our email list and Facebook, and we give directions to our shelter (visitors are always welcome).
Feedback about this newsletter is always appreciated; just send a pre–addressed email to the Communications Chair at .
Also: images with a border around them (such as the ones just above) may be clicked to see an enlargement.
AARF Bingo Night
AARF Bingo Night
One of our major fundraising events is our Bingo night, where people can have fun playing Bingo with real cards, win fabulous prizes donated by friends dear to AARF, socialize, eat, drink and enjoy the lovely beach side setting of Roy’s Bayside Grill in Sandy Ground.
You couldn't ask for a nicer setting...
This last November 28th saw a large crowd do exactly that. Once again, Roy's provided dinner, drinks, seating and the beach side views. And the crowd had plenty of opportunities to win: there were 16 games of Bingo and a raffle with many exciting prizes.
Leroy F was the the Grand Prize winner. Congratulations!
Of course, the real winners are the animals. AARF uses the proceeds to meet a budget of approximately $36,000 for the next year. The budget includes expenses for spay/neuter surgeries, education projects and the care of the animals that are brought to the shelter for adoption.
This year AARF has sponsored sterilization surgeries for 189 dogs and cats on Anguilla. Through our adoption program and with a great group of volunteers 250 unwanted or abandoned puppies/dogs and cats/kittens have been placed in forever homes. In addition, AARF continues to staff the shelter and adoption center within Morlens Veterinary Hospital.
Suzie Donahue, AARF President, welcomed the players and introduced two special guests, the veterinarians at Morlens Veterinary Hospital: Dr Rommel and Dr Abigail Umali. She also announced that Morlens now has extended business hours to better serve the public with the clinic now being open from 8–1 Monday through Friday plus added afternoon hours on Monday and Wednesday from 4–6, as well as Saturday hours from 8–12.
Gayle Gurvey, Althea Turner and Suzie Donahue served as Bingo caller and judges, insuring that the games were lively paced yet easy to play.
The Anguilla Animal Rescue Foundation is most grateful to the following businesses and individuals that donated prizes to make this event a success:
Anguilla Sailing School, Caribbean Cable, GB Express, Gordon Cillis, Cuisinart Resort & Spa, Elvis's, Funtime Charters, Geraud's, Lynne Bernbaum, Mango's, Ossia Massage & Esthetics, Pumphouse, Sandy Island Restaurant, Straw Hat, Un Amore, Valley Bistro & World Art.
AARF would also like to take this opportunity to thank all those in the community who continually support and work with AARF to make Anguilla a better place for the animals.
Finally, a very special thank you to Roy and Mandy of Roy’s Bayside Grill for continuing their partnership with AARF and allowing us to use their restaurant and to those who volunteered and attended this event.
Barb
Amanda
Dwight
Carol
Charlie
Abi
Sue D
Sylvia
Rina
Vicky
Sue P
Jake
Thank Yous
AARF received many wonderful donations of funding, volunteer time and much–needed supplies, and we'd like to send special thank yous to those that donated funds, goods, time among other wonderful things! To protect internet privacy, we sometimes choose to use initials.
Mere thank yous can't go far enough to express what these people have provided us. All donations go directly towards the welfare of AARF animals.
Central Superette
The Central Superette in The Valley, just down the road from the gallery graciously allows AARF posters to be put up on their outside window, which is nice. If you pass them, and need a little this or that, please support them for this kindness.
Rubin Rainbow Fund
This special fund was founded 2007 with the specific aim to offer financial assistance for needy puppies, dog, kittens and cats in Anguilla's West End. Funds are used on a case by case basis to help out animals who otherwise would not get care.
The fund provides for vaccinations, worming, spay/neuter surgery, needed care items including food, leashes, collars, flea and tick medications and heartworm pills for puppies, dog, kittens or cats and a feral cat project that includes feeding and trapping for sterilization.
We can't say enough about the difference this fund has made to those in need, as well as helping with humane Trap/Neuter/Release (TN ) work on the West End.
Donations to this fund are kept separate from all other AARF funds, and are carefully tracked. Donations can be made to AARF earmarked for the Rubin Rainbow Fund.
Among others, Ms. Marcia R, Ms. Sara B and Marvin & Judith G. have been fantastic supporters of the fund, and we thank them for donations this quarter. Of course, special thanks need to go to the founder, Sue R.!
Anguilla Hotel and Tourism Association
The AHTA has been helping AARF spread the word by publishing AARF article announcements, for which we are grateful. This takes time and effort to do; they stepped up and decided to help out Anguilla's animals on their own.
The AHTA site, for those unfamiliar, can be found at ahta.ai. This is a beautiful site. It is loaded with excellent information about upcoming events, news articles, information for visitors, and more (including valuable information for those in the tourism business). Definitely: check it out regularly. We think it's a site you will want to bookmark as a favorite.
Anguilla Guide Forum
This is a forum where people from all over the world participate.
Besides having many interesting discussion threads about all things Anguilla (travel, hotels, entertainment, food, and more), the Guide has its very own AARF forum section! The Guide's main page is at anguillaforum.com.
To get to the AARF section, scroll down to "Local Stuff" and look for the section called "Anguilla Animal Rescue Foundation". You'll find many different discussions related to AARF activities. Many, many thanks go to JoAnne for passing along time–critical postings about adoptions and other messages, which directly helps animals needs.
Bookmark the site and make sure to visit often.
Anguilla Lifestyle Guide
Anguilla Lifestyle is another web site that contains loads of interesting facets of Anguilla: things like events, recipes, news, education, heritage, charities, real estate, photos, sailing and other sports, and lots, lots more. It's all presented in a very clean, nice looking and easy to read blog format.
The site is located at anguillalifestyle.com. Look for the Anguilla Animals section under Categories on the left.
Thank you, Janine Edwards (Director of Administration/Marketing).
School Visits
As part of the ongoing Education Program, the Anguilla Animal Rescue Foundation (AARF) visited primary schools (concentrating this time on Grades One and Two) to spread the word about pet care and needs, along with giving key animal safety tips. Penny Hope–Ross of the Education Committee took her dog Maggie as a live prop to work with the students.
Penny started with questions to the student to get them involved and then spoke about how to care for pets: the best type of food to give them, their need for exercise, the importance of water and and the need for a cool place to sleep. She spent some time discussing dog behavior, specifically how to approach a dog and when not to approach one (if it is eating, tied up or has puppies for example). In particular, Penny advised them to watch the dog's posture and body language to gauge whether the dog was agitated or angry.
She then encouraged the children to use their new knowledge to approach Maggie — something nearly all of the children were happy to do, even those not accustomed to dogs.
The AARF adoption and spay/neuter programs were also described to the students who were given the opportunity to share their experiences with pets and to tell stories about them.
To see nice photos of Maggie and some children from a previous school visit (covered in another newsletter), go here.
New, longer hours at Morlens
Last year, the Morlens Veterinary Clinic added Saturday morning hours, and now, to accommodate weekday workers, has added afternoon hours on Monday and Wednesday.
The new hours are:
- Monday: 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
- Tuesday: 8 a.m. – 1 p.m.
- Wednesday: 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
- Thursday: 8 a.m. – 1 p.m.
- Friday: 8 a.m. – 1 p.m.
- Saturday: 8 a.m. – noon
AARF volunteers try to be at the Shelter (which is inside Morlens) from 10 until 1 on weekdays, from 4–6 on Mondays and Wednesdays, and from 9 until noon on Saturdays; this depends on availability of volunteers.
To get to the shelter and the clinic, see the map below.
From The Valley, take the Long Path road towards the East End. After passing the Best Buy supermarket, look for the the clinic on the right side of the road just before the Sandy Hill roundabout (the red dot in the upper right part of the graphic). If you go too far, just use the roundabout to turn around. If you do not have an animal to bring to the clinic, please park across the street to allow parking for people with emergencies and appointments (there is also a music studio attached to the building which shares the parking area).
It's a good idea to call the AARF cell phone at (264) 476–2731 before coming out to verify someone is on duty, or to talk to about AARF–related issues. This phone has voicemail.
For Morlens veterinary business (vet appointments, purchase of pet supplies, etc.), call 497–4600.
Happy Tails
We have several happy tales in this issue of the newsletter. First, we have a happy story of Tinka, a cat that got lucky and now can sit comfortably and watch the goings on out a nice picture window in Canada. Next, we have Mitzy, a local rescue story. Finally, we have another puppy that has been named for a Yankee baseball player; this one lives in Connecticut, and we want to hear how much fun he has when he encounters snow.
Read on for the stories.
Tinka
Tinka was adopted from AARF in the Spring of 2008 and returned in Sept of 2009 because her owner was pregnant and had been advised by her doctor not to clean litter boxes.
AARF contacted Linda who has fostered two other cats for AARF and asked if she would be willing to do a long term foster of approximately 3 months until her owner's delivery — at which time she agreed to take her back as she was well loved by the family.
In early December we found out that the owner had changed her mind and did not want Tinka back. What to do? As you know, it is very difficult to find homes for older cats and dogs, and her foster mom was very concerned as although she couldn't keep her she cared very much for her.
A flier posted at the shelter as well as sent out to AARF Members received no responses. Foster mom Linda was scheduled to leave the island, and time was getting short.
As with so many of our "AARF Miracles" Gayle (the Vice President of AARF) happened to be on the beach one day and spoke about AARF with a couple (Janis and Doug D.). When she told them about Tinka, they got interested and agreed to meet her. And that is how Tinka became a Canadian!
Tinka
Tinka watches Cat TV
The owners gave us this update:
Wanted you to know that Tinka has settled in beautifully. She actually came out from under the bed the very first afternoon and started wandering around and looking for attention. When she knocks something over, however, she takes flight for her safety refuge under the bed. She is very funny.
Last night she slept on the bed for the first time; so I think all is well and she is adjusting. She is such a sweet cat.
The pictures show hanging out by the window. Tinka looks out a back window into our back yard which has many trees and plants...thus many birds. It's the birds she is looking at. [editor note: we like to call this activity: watching cat TV.]
She got a surprise looking out the window...seeing the first arriving snowflakes. This makes her truly a Canadian cat!
AARF wants to send out a special thank you to Linda E., who fostered Tinka. Linda has also fostered other special needs kittens, one of whom she rescued on the road and took care of until the kitten was old enough to be adopted. Linda has also, with the help of a friend from the States, donated much–needed toys and other items for our shelter kittens. All of this on top of working full time.
Thank you, Linda! It is volunteers like you who are the lifeblood of AARF.
Mitzy — a local success story
Mitzy was brought into the shelter on Oct 30 with her two siblings from Viceroy workers, who had been feeding the puppies. When they got old enough to be brought in, they were surrendered to the AARF shelter.
Mitzy was adopted the next day by Lisa, on of the AARF volunteers. Lisa already had two other dogs, but when she saw this puppy, she had to have her.
As Lisa says and she's been wagging her tail ever since.
Mitzy has kept the rest of her canine family busy by playing and pestering them even when they weren't willing to participate. She loves to be held and have her belly rubbed and always wants to be a part of whatever is going on.
Mitzy as a puppy
Mitzy is grown up now
Lucky and Mitzy play a game
Lisa informs us that Mitzy is very sweet, and a bit of a clown. As she is given treats, she takes to hiding them all over the house — in boxes, in furniture, in and under things, etc. So, she is obviously doing great.
As a further happy update, the other Viceroy siblings also got adopted quickly and we are happy to report that all are doing well in their new forever homes.
Jeter
Jeter is living happily on the East Coast with another rescue dog.
Owners Bill and Debbie U. tell us:
Back on Oct 15th, 2009, Debbie and I adopted one of your pups to bring back to the USA. We named him "Jeter" after one of Deb's favorite New York Yankees baseball players, Derek Jeter. We just wanted to share with you a few candid pics we have taken in the past few days.
He has bonded with our other rescue "Guinness" whom is about 5 years old; they have become inseparable friends. I just wanted to share a success story of one of your past tenants who has become one of the family here back in Connecticut.
The only thing that Jeter does not like is our cold temperatures here in the Winter. Wait till he see his first snowfall... it will freak him out!
Guinness chases Jeter
Jeter and Guinness
Wanting a treat
Stay Connected with our email list and Facebook
Besides the AARF web site and newsletters like this, we have two other ways to receive AARF communications. Either or both may be of interest, depending on your desired level of participation.
Aarfupdate email list
The first is the Aarfupdate email list, aarfupdate. It is designed mostly as a one–way posting system: from AARF to the people subscribed to the list. It is set up essentially as a broadcasting mechanism. We use the aarfupdate email list (which we'll call "the list" from here on out) to inform list members about AARF happenings.
Good news, though! We now have a way for list members to talk more freely; it's on Facebook. We have created an entity called "Aarf Anguilla" (we had to call it Aarf Anguilla because there are other AARFs around out there). We discuss our Facebook account a little more here.
Sign on to Facebook (you need a free account) and search for...
Aarf Anguilla
... and become its friend. If you have other people who may want to added as a friend, please pass this along. They should make a request to become a friend of Aarf Anguilla.
This group is the place for news, photos of your animals (hopefully AARF pets :) and jokes Being Facebook, people will post about all sorts of subjects other than AARF!
The Aarf Anguilla Facebook entity is only monitored occasionally by an AARF List Mom. There may occasional postings, but our intent is to use the aarfupdate list for our important postings. So we will concentrate on the list and leave the Facebook site for more casual chatting amongst the Facebook friends.
On a Lighter Note
We end with some astute quotes about cats.
In the beginning, God created man, but seeing him so feeble, He gave him the cat.
A home without a cat — and a well–fed, well–petted and properly revered cat — may be a perfect home, perhaps, but how can it prove title?
If animals could speak the dog would be a a blundering outspoken fellow, but the cat would have the rare grace of never saying a word too much.
A cat is more intelligent than people believe, and can be taught any crime.
I simply can't resist a cat, particularly a purring one. They are the cleanest, cunningest, and most intelligent things I know, outside of the girl you love, of course.
Of all God's creatures there is only one that cannot be made the slave of the leash. That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat.
You can keep a dog; but it is the cat who keeps people, because cats find humans useful domestic animals.
For a man to truly understand rejection, he must first be ignored by a cat.
I love cats because I love my home and after a while they become its visible soul.
There are two means of refuge from the misery of life — music and cats.
There are few things in life more heartwarming than to be welcomed by a cat.
God made the cat in order that humankind might have the pleasure of caressing the tiger.
Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow.
Way down deep, we're all motivated by the same urges. Cats have the courage to live by them.
There is, incidentally, no way of talking about cats that enables one to come off as a sane person.
The smallest feline is a masterpiece.
In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats.
Beware of people who dislike cats.
You will always be lucky if you know how to make friends with strange cats.
With the qualities of cleanliness, affection, patience, dignity, and courage that cats have, how many of us, I ask you, would be capable of becoming cats?
I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.
I have studied many philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior.
A meow massages the heart.
No matter how much cats fight, there always seems to be plenty of kittens.
Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
No heaven will not ever be Heaven be; Unless my cats are there to welcome me.
How we behave toward cats here below determines our status in heaven.
Dogs have owners, cats have staff.
There are many intelligent species in the universe. They are all owned by cats.
No amount of time can erase the memory of a good cat, and no amount of masking tape can ever totally remove his fur from your couch.
As every cat owner knows, nobody owns a cat.
One reason we admire cats is for their proficiency in one–upmanship. They always seem to come out on top, no matter what they are doing, or pretend they do.
I have noticed that what cats most appreciate in a human being is not the ability to produce food which they take for granted — but his or her entertainment value.
As anyone who has ever been around a cat for any length of time well knows cats have enormous patience with the limitations of the human kind.
