Spring Forward – March Sanctuary Update

Hi Everyone!


What a difference a few weeks makes. From the grey skies, ice, snow, and mud of February, to the warm sun and and first hints sprouting foliage of March. And best of all, that sunshine creeping later and later into the evening. March is of course when we “spring forward.” It refers to daylight savings time, but I also think it captures something of the mood of this time of year. It’s an ambitious time, when ideas that have been getting tossed around and mulled over for weeks, months, or even longer, start becoming concrete plans with real preparations coming together. Obviously, that brings to mind the construction that will be starting here at the sanctuary soon, especially as I start seeing permits and approvals swirling about. But spring ambitions don’t need to be so grand as that. At the sanctuary, the dogs, cats, and humans all have big plans and big goals for this spring. Let’s take a look!

Bootz wants to learn to drive this spring!
Ricky is training to win the Olympic gold in Fetch (we haven’t been able to explain to him how Curling is a “real” sport, but Fetch isn’t).
Yetti is learning how to brush his own hair.
Buck has already accomplished his goal of acing Level 1 class. On to Level 2??
Gidget is working on collecting ALL the toys!
Ripley has been trying so hard to get the printer to work without yelling curses. He has yet to be successful.
Chevelle, Wavy, and Ren are looking to start a band. They’re accepting suggestions for names.
Tom and our fix-it team are working on retrofitting Chelsea House and Henree House with some extra privacy and traffic control for the dogs’ rooms.
And check out our new work surfaces! Much better for cleaning and organization than the old, bulky desks.

Ripley’s Corner Office


Hi Everyone!


You may think that, as a cat, ambition is not a big part of my daily life. On the contrary, I have some very serious goals in life. I’m working hard on finding the perfect napping routine. I’m striving to, one day, catch all those infernal blinking lights on my blue mat toy. And top of the list is to train my staff to bring my food faster. They’re a sweet bunch, and they try hard, but when I say “feed me now!” I mean it! So what are your big ambitions for the year ahead? Might I suggest setting up a regular volunteering shift commitment at the sanctuary, or possibly increasing the one you have? It means so much to us furry guests here to see a familiar face as often as possible. When you don’t have a home of your own (yet!), predictability is a rare, but very meaningful, thing. Being a regular presence in our lives helps us to build trust and soothes our anxiety. And it makes it so much easier for you and us to get to know each other’s individual quirks. Of course, having regular and predictable help around also really helps out the stress levels of the humans here. And who knows? Maybe, with your help, they can hurry up and get me my food a little faster!

Thanks so much!

Ripley

Thank you all so much for whatever way you support us and our mission. We couldn’t do it without you.

Jon Phillips
Sanctuary Director
[email protected]
860-726-8533