PO'KITTIES TURNS TEN!
Dana Mayer and Emmy Summers co-founded Po'Kitties on October 15, 2007 as the only TNR (trap-neuter-return) program in the area. At that time, the "Itty-Bitty Po'Kitties Committee"consisted of Elaine Rizzo, Ginny Barton, Judy Davis, Jane Ratchford, Joyce Allen, and Veronika Wilson. Foothills Humane Society agreed to allow us to make Po'Kitties a program under their 501(c)(3) and it remained there until we moved the program to Paws, Prayers, & Promises in October of 2015. In 2007, Foothills Humane Society was saving only 37% of the cats that came in, and we believed that with TNR we could change those numbers. And change them we did! The live release rate (LRR) for cats continued to improve and in 2010 reached No-Kill status for cats with a LRR of 99.78%. The LRR has remained in the 90s to date. We owe much of our success to our cat caretakers. Unlike some TNR programs, where cats are dumped out to fend for themselves, we place cats back where they came from -- their home territory with caretakers -- where they will be fed and cared for daily. We are proud of the fact that others followed our lead, and we are eager to share our knowledge and experience. We worked with the City of Spartanburg's Animal Services and with the Furman University's "PalaCats" group to start TNR programs, both of which have been very successful, and with several other counties and individual groups who are working to start their own TNR programs. We have always provided this service free of charge to the community, because we think it is so important. The cats are spayed or neutered, given a rabies vaccine, and ear tipped before being returned to their home turf. To pay for this, Po'Kitties has received several grants over the years, beginning with $85,000 from PetSmart Charities. This past year we have received grants from Two Mauds, Hub City Animal Project, and The Community Cats Program. We could not do this without our grantors and donors. We are looking forward to our photo contest and gala set for October 14th at the Landrum Depot. We are still accepting photos through this weekend! We are THRILLED to have been able to help the cats in our community for the past ten years and we want this to be a BIG DEAL! So please get your photos in and come to the gala. If you would like to be a sponsor,please call Dana@ 828-243-1852.
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We are sure you remember Norman, the Courthouse Cat. For years, Norman was a beloved figure at the Polk County Courthouse in Columbus. He had many friends and admirers, and usually at least five bowls of food in a row so he could have his choice. He was neutered and had a few teeth pulled years ago by Po'Kitties, thanks to Eric Mack at the Purrrfect Bark (who knew him as Kong), and Norman had a wonderful life with lots of treats and attention.
One night Norman was found in dire shape in the street, and was taken inside for the night by two good folks, and in the morning, we rushed him to Landrum Veterinary Clinic. His friends visited him at the clinic and he was always so glad to see them! He was released and went home with one of his buddies, but it was quickly clear that Norman had suffered severe neurological damage and needed to be with an experienced hospice foster, so we brought him home. Norman was a handsome, particular guy and it grieved him no end that he could no longer properly clean himself anymore. His favorite time of day (and ours) was after supper when we held him steady and gently washed his face with a warm, wet washcloth. We would call "Normie!" and he would come just as fast as he could. He loved that time, purring and turning himself this way and that so we could clean his chin, the sides of his face, the top of his head, and then turning again to be patted dry. When we were done, we announced that he was now "fluffy and cute" which was his signal to cuddle up so we could feel just how fluffy and cute he was. Norman's condition deteriorated until he began to fall over every few steps, but that didn't keep him from eating, and from claiming his favorite spot in the sun every afternoon. He became more and more wobbly, and then earlier this week when he did not want his dinner, we knew his time was close. We know Norman was old but it was hard to tell exactly how old he was because nearly all of his teeth were missing. That evening, he asked to be held and spent 45 minutes lying quietly on my chest. When he wanted down, we placed him in his bed, and he fell asleep. He slipped quietly into a coma and in the morning he sighed once and his spirit flew free. We are so grateful we had the opportunity to get to know this special cat over the last few months and we send our love and thanks to his friends and fans all over, especially his many friends at the Courthouse and his special friend Walt in Corrections. You all made his life worth living. Thank you for caring about him and for him for so many years. What a lucky Po'Kitty. SPOTLIGHT on P3 Consignments – Paws, Prayers, & Promises’ fabulous partner on this incredible journey to help the animals, and their people, in our community.
Have you shopped at P3 Consignments lately? It is our favorite store, and not just because all their proceeds support the animals! They have gorgeous clothing, shoes, accessories, animal accessories, horse “stuff”, art work, jewelry, some furniture, and CATS! Gabe and Winston, the phenomenal greeters and Official Shop Cats, help supervise the kitties in the window, all of whom are available for adoption. This wonderful shop in the middle of downtown Landrum, South Carolina, has everything you need or want, at incredibly low prices. And you may consign or donate your high-end, gently used things to benefit the animals in our community. What people don’t realize it that this is a labor of love for Yvonne and Kelly – they have created and run this gorgeous and successful shop for the animals as volunteers. Volunteers! Like us, they do not make any money themselves, so when you support P3 Consignments, 100% of the proceeds actually do go to the animals. Not only does P3 Consignments support Paws, Prayers, & Promises financially, they have helped us create events and have been the backbone of labor in producing them. They serve as a drop-off and pick-up point for folks in need of cat food, dog food, and cat litter. They host cats and kittens for adoption in their window. They host dog adoption events and have a love of all things dog. They serve as ambassadors for Paws, Prayers, & Promises and have loyally supported us in everything we do. Seven years ago, Kelly and Yvonne managed a local consignment shop that everyone loved. They are always so welcoming and have such great taste. We had many wonderful conversations with them about animals, and discovered they were already involved with animal rescue, fostering and volunteer event programs on the side. So when Paws, Prayers, & Promises was in the works, Kelly and Yvonne decided that the community needed a thrift shop to help raise funds for local animal rescue. It was time for a change! P3 Consignments was born from a proven business plan and a lifetime of love for animals and a commitment to their welfare, bringing a wonderful new focus to the shop. The new venture started in October 2015. In our first kitten season, our initial family of kittens were fostered by P3 Consignments and in honor of our new venture, were named Paw, Prayer and Promise. Each of these kittens was adopted out of the storefront window to great homes, and their mother Gracie got a terrific barn home! Since then many cats and kittens have been adopted out from the window habitat at P3. Everyone loves to see the kitties. P3 Consignments is located at 112 E. Rutherford Street in Landrum, South Carolina. Their shop hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10-5. So please stop by and say hello to Kelly, Yvonne, Gabe, Winston, and the kitties in the window, and support the animals, and their people, in our community. When we say, “We couldn’t do it without P3 Consignments” – we really mean it! Yesterday on Facebook we were tagged in a post from Sarah Reid: "Hey Dana, There's a scraggly old orange cat wandering around Downtown Columbus. He was in the park at the veterans fountain, looks like he was trying to get water but there is not any in it now :( I tried my best to catch him. He would let me get about 5 feet from him and would sit and watch me, but when I moved just a little he would dart away a few feet and sit and watch me again. I tried bribing him with chicken (only thing I had on me) but anytime I tossed a little piece he would run away. He wandered into the courthouse yard. Looks like he stays there or near this Mexican restaurant in town.... anyway, I tried for a while but have to be somewhere. I might try again later if I can find him again but wanted to see if maybe you had some extra traps. Poor guy looks gunky or blind in one eye and he's getting kinda skinny." So this cat was discussed for a little while on Facebook, and we decided that we would try trapping him today and taking him to the vet clinic in the morning to try to help him. We went by there with trap in hand and discovered this: 1 water bowl and 5 food bowls. We laughed out loud. So we went to get our trap and write a note to the folks, and at about that time two gentleman come out of the office building. I told them the plan and they said that "Norman" had been to see Dr. Angel Mitchell in August and he was gaining weight and looking better. ("Norman" was a Po'kitty we had neutered at the old Purrrfect Bark where he was named Kong. Oh well at least he is ear tipped!)
We were thrilled that this cat had been to Dr. Angel Mitchell! These guys told us how everyone knew the "Courthouse Cat" and that they even dressed him up as a pirate on Halloween! And this mellow fellow can now be held (although he would prefer not to be) and how he comes into the office (briefly) at times. Wow, are we impressed! You bet and we walked away with a huge grin and smile on our faces that these folks take such great care of their Po'Kitty, Norman. We want to thank everyone who loves Norman and helps take care of him. Y'all rock! What a year it has been! We started Paws, Prayers, and Promises a year ago and we are very proud of what we have accomplished in this short amount of time to help the animals and their people in our community. We have helped a total of 496 animals and their owners, not including the ones we are helping feed their animals. We helped 27 folks with vet care for their owned animals, 25 dogs and puppies went to rescue, we adopted out 58 cats and kittens, and we adopted out 9 dogs. We also were able to trap, neuter, and return 377 cats in Polk County, NC and Upper Spartanburg Co. SC.
We want to thank all of our donors and supporters for their help, because without it, we would not have been able to manage this and all of this takes money and support. We also want to thank our amazing fosters as without them, we could not accomplish our mission. Last, but surely not least, we want to thank P3 Consignments for all their help in every way..we could not have done it without them. Here is to another year of helping the animals and their people in our community. In case you have been wondering what we have been up to, here is what we have accomplished during the first three months of operation (October 1-December 31, 2015): We got our website and FaceBook page up and running, instituted PetPoint software and microchips for record keeping and to help track animals, got our Board of Directors in place, hosted a very successful fundraising reception, and in general got the business side of Paws, Prayers, & Promises in order. Please, LIKE our Facebook Page, Paws.Prayers.Promises , if you haven't already! We helped 7 owners with vet bills for their pet; placed 11 feral cats in barn homes; facilitated 4 adoptions; transferred 8 animals to a few of our awesome rescue partners (including Blue Ridge Humane Society, Greenville Humane Society, and Carolina Great Pyrenees Rescue); saved a very special dog, Baylon, who had been gunshot and needed an amputation and a foster home; and trapped and re-homed the “Ingles cat and kittens”; spayed or neutered over 100 Po’Kitties -- in total, helping over 140 animals! In partnership with the fabulous, up-scale, destination shop P3 Consignments in Landrum, run by the beautiful and talented team of Yvonne Bebber and Kelly Vinesett, we collected pet food and served over 120 cats and dogs whose humans needed a little help feeding their pets. P3 Consignments also donated over $2,000 in cash to local animal charities, including Paws, Prayers, & Promise,s and continues to serve as a wonderful resource and gathering place for animal lovers in the community. Please “Like” them on FaceBook and come for a visit! We brought Po’Kitties from Foothills Humane Society to Paws, Prayers, & Promises, and have committed to continue to pull feral cats from FHS as needed. We were delighted to welcome the Service Animal Project (SAP) into our organization. These dedicated volunteers find, foster, socialize, test, and deliver shelter dogs to K9s for Warriors (last year 55% of K9s for Warriors dogs came from SAP). They are a true asset to our community and to our disabled veterans nationwide. Please “Like” them on FaceBook! We had two Therapy Dogs certified – Moses and Rosie – and they will be helping us with humane education in the schools and by bringing smiles to our local community members in nursing homes, hospice, and assisted living facilities. Moses will be listening to students read to him in the After School program. Our resources have come to include not just food and vet care for community members in need, but also assistance, advice, and training for pet owners trying to keep their pets or who are having problems or issues with their pet, and serving as a referral source in the event that we cannot help a particular animal by referring their humans to someone else who can help. In addition to information about Paws, Prayers, & Promises and the animals we are helping, our FaceBook page publishes Courtesy Postings for other organizations as well as for Lost and Found animals and other needs in the community. We are working on our Godparent Program, for the pets of humans who are at the end of their lives or who wish to plan for such an eventuality, and on our Seniors for Senior program, matching senior pets with senior humans. We think they can understand each other’s needs in a very special and holistic way. Basically, we have been helping the animals, and their people, in our community in any way we can. So we want to say a big THANK YOU to all the kind folks who have believed in us, supported us, donated to us, prayed for us, and shared our FaceBook posts so we can get our mission jump-started – we couldn’t do it without you! Many thanks, y’all! BENEFIT for Paws, Prayers, & Promises - March 12thMark Your Calendars & Get Your Tickets! We are very excited about our benefit coming up on March 12th at the Landrum Depot! A HUGE thanks to Double Ought for playing music for us ( We cannot wait!) and a huge thanks to Gregg McAlister for the lovely flyer!!! We hope to see you there! Get your tickets NOW! Live Music 5:30-7:30 plus "Heavy" Hors' oeuvres $25 each - $5 bracelets for 2 glasses of wine or beer Get your tickets at P3 P3 Consignments in Landrum, SC or Contact Dana Mayer (828)243-1852 Special Thanks to our Sponsors... And our Donors... Raffle Items offered thanks to... Nature's Storehouse, Tryon, NC Southern Delights, Landrum SC Sissy Boutique, Landrum, SC P3 Consignment Shop, Landrum, SC Biltmore, Asheville, NC Lynn Hannant LifePULSE PEMF Therapy for Horses, People & Pets Brock's Cleaners Thompson's Garden Gallery Expressions Florist Happy New Year! You may have seen our Facebook posts about Baylon, the emaciated pup with the gun-shot wounds and injuries which necessitated amputating her leg. But this post isn’t really about Baylon; it is about our community. Are we angry? Of course – but we are far more proud and thankful. This young dog was shot by only one person. And our entire community is standing up for that dog. Here’s the story. Dave was on a mail-route when the dog approached him. Horrified, he called his wife, Shelley, with the details. She was on the road with their beautiful daughter, Baylon, but pulled over long enough to call Dana, who grabbed Kelly from P3 Consignments and went searching for the dog. Unable to spot her from the road, Dana and Kelly got out to search the woods, and spotted her body lying in the leaves down a hill, so still they thought she was dead. As they approached, she lifted her head and wagged her tail. Kelly carried her as Dana went to get the car. They raced her to Landrum Veterinary Hospital, where Dr. Boone saw her immediately, and determined that while her leg could not be saved, they could try to save her life. Dr. Boone started antibiotics, fluids, and pain meds immediately, and performed the surgery the next day. We posted her story on FaceBook, and got many comments, phone calls, and messages. Our community really stood up for this beautiful dog, and she got prayers, shares, and donations for her vet bill. This wonderful, caring community rallied for that dog, and we know they will rally again when it comes time for her to find just the right home. So instead of the negative, we want to focus on the positive and on the kind, caring community in which we live. This one gun-shot three-legged dog has many friends and supporters, and will go on to live a joyous life in a home and in a community where she is truly loved. In “The World According to Mr. Rogers”, Fred Rogers said, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” We have a lot of helpers to thank. Dave, thank you, for stopping and for caring enough to do something! Thank you, Shelley and daughter Baylon, for finding Dana and asking her to please help Baylon the dog. Thank you Dana and Kelly for searching the woods and for getting Baylon to Landrum Vet. Thank you Dr. Boone for your excellent surgical skills and big heart, and Andi and all the staff at Landrum Vet who have doted on Baylon and helped make her rough days easier. Thank you, Lennie Rizzo, for offering to help us with funds if our community donations fall short. We don’t think that will happen but Lennie, we love you and are so grateful for your generous offer, and for the animals you help in our community. And the biggest thank you is to you, the people in our community. You are the helpers. You are amazing and your support means everything to us and to the animals. This is a perfect example of why we do what we do. We wanted to help the animals and their people in our community, and what a great community it is. Thank you. We look forward to working with you, laughing with you, and living together with you in this wonderful community, in 2016 and beyond. Here are just a few of the comments from our wonderful Facebook community offering their support for Baylon. Please LIKE Us and join the conversation... "I'm so happy to see she's on the mend. I sent her a belated Christmas donation. Thanks for taking such good care of her." "Bless her heart! She looks wonderful!!!" "Yeah!!! So happy she is safe and going in the right direction with people who care" "Prayers answered. From now on, nothing but love for you Baylon." "...much continued healing for this sweet baby dog" "God bless that sweet baby dog... I encourage anyone that can to donate to the continuing vet care for this precious girl !!" Many folks have asked exactly what we are doing, how is it different from other animal charities, and really, just what are we about? Paws, Prayers, & Promises is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, non-profit organization dedicated to helping the animals and their people in our community. We depend entirely on the support and kindness of our community to make the programs we offer successful. Here are just some of the ways we are helping the people and the animals of our community... P3 Consignment Shop in Landrum, SCP3 Consignments is an up-scale consignment shop benefiting animal welfare in our community. A portion of their proceeds helps fund Paws, Prayers, & Promises. Drop in and see them at 112 E. Rutherford Street in Landrum Tuesday through Saturday from 10-5, or call ahead at 864-457-3694 to make an appointment to bring your gently-used clothing and household décor. They welcome big-ticket items like cars, boats, art work, pianos, etc. also! Click Here to Learn More about P3 Consignments Po'KittiesFormerly under Foothills Humane Society, Po' Kitties this is our famed Trap-Neuter-Return program to help with the free-roaming cat overpopulation in our community. Begun in 2007, we have spayed/neutered, vaccinated for rabies, and ear-tipped over 4500 cats so far, and the end is not yet in sight. Adopt a Barn Cat and Save a Life. We have barn cats, fully vetted and ready to make your barn their new home! Please, call Dana @ 828-243-1852 Click Here to Learn more about Po'Kitties Service Animal ProjectFormerly under Foothills Humane Society, the fabulous Service Animal Project program is now under Paws, Prayers, & Promises. Their mission is to bring service dogs and wounded military veterans together, “from shelter dog to battle buddy”. This program supplies many of the service dogs for K-9s for Warriors, a nationally known program helping our veterans. Click Here and LIKE the Service Animal Project FB Page Adoptable AnimalsThrough our various programs, we take cats and dogs into foster homes, give them any needed care and vetting before making them available to approved forever homes. This beautiful girl, Georgia, is waiting for her Forever Home. Click Here to see the Adoptable Animals currently in our program. Godparent ProgramFor folks who are at the end of their lives, or who are entering a nursing facility we have created the Godparent Program. We can place their pets into loving foster homes until they can be adopted into forever homes, or we can supply food and basic vet care for life if a friend or family member is willing to adopt them. Pet Food Assistance ProgramWe collect pet food and give it to anyone in our community who needs it. We need your Pet Food donations to offer this assistance. Please, drop pet food off at P3 Consignments or at Landrum Veterinary Hospital both in Landrum, SC Seniors for SeniorsSeniors understand each other so who better to foster or adopt a senior animal than a senior human? And with our Godparent program, there are no worries about “what to do with Fluffy”. Back Door ProgramWhen there is a need, we try to meet it. If we have willing fosters, we will provide the care for an animal until an appropriate home can be found. If we cannot personally help, we have access to many resources and can make solid referrals. Meet the Paws, Prayers, & Promises TeamOur Board of Directors and Veterinary Advisor are all life-long animal lovers & advocates. We believe in miracles! Click Here to learn About Us and Read our Mission Statement Thank you for your interest in Paws, Prayers, & Promises! Your support of our programs by volunteering and donating is crucial to our success. If you have questions about Paws, Prayers, & Promises, please, contact, Dana Mayer at 828-243-1852 or [email protected] www.PawsPrayersandPromises.org We Believe in Miracles!_Thank you Vince Rooney for making us this gorgeous sign! |
AuthorDana Mayer & Archives
September 2017
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