Are we our Brother’s Keeper?
- Helen Morrison, Board President, with Nancy Rivet, Board Vice-President
Things have definitely changed lately. It feels like there are a lot of challenges these days.
This is especially true of pets. Over a good span of time, I have gone to White Market in St. Johnsbury, and I sit out front and sell Kingdom Animal Shelter cat calendars or tickets to go into tennis balls for Bark in the Park. I love doing that. I love chatting with folks. I almost always ask them if they have pets…and many launch into stories about their pets. But in the past year or so, I have gotten a number of folks whose face goes a bit sad, and they tell me they can’t afford pets anymore.
I suppose we could take the stance that people who can’t afford pets shouldn’t have them. But they are such a comfort, such wonderful companions. And pets really shouldn’t be only for the well-to-do. It is so true that medical care and food have become very expensive, prohibitively so. And that means for many that the pets they have cannot get the health care they need. And it breaks peoples’ hearts, to watch their pets decline and not be able to do anything about it. Most people love their pets and want the best for them.
At the Shelter, we are trying to help. We are doing this for two reasons. One, it is the right thing to do, to help people do better by their animals, especially when they are facing hard times. It also means that if people can get some financial assistance, they can keep their animals, rather than having to take them to a shelter and surrender them, which can be totally devastating to the family that loves them and counts on their presence in their home. Several years ago, a young woman had called the shelter because her cat was ill and she did not have the funds to take her cat to the vet. She was sobbing at the thought of having to surrender her beloved animal. This phone call gave rise to the idea of helping owners with financial difficulties to keep their animals, that we now know as the Community Fund.
About five years ago, our Board vice president began applying for grants to establish our Community Fund. Over this time, we have been able to help many many people tend to spays/neuters, vaccinations, health exams, simple operations, tend to injuries, get medications. And this has helped ease their minds about the well-being of their pets and let them keep them.
We are committed to using only grants and funds donated to the Community Fund for this and not use money from the General Fund that helps run our Shelter. Volunteers are working on more grants…but as you might imagine, funds are harder and harder to come by. And more and more, we are having to say to folks who call, desperate for help, we cannot help you because we have no more Community Fund money.
I don’t usually make a special plea in our newsletter. But it would be wonderful if we have some supporters out there who could help us with this fund, who could help us be “our brother’s keeper”. It seems the humane thing to do, for the humans and the pets, for folks who aren’t quite as lucky or well off as others are.
Thank you.
Helen and Nancy