Sanctuary Heroes – August Sanctuary Update

Hi Everyone,
The sanctuary is a big place! You can talk about it being almost 50 acres, but that number quickly becomes very real when it becomes necessary to care for all of this land. We often take time to cheer our volunteers who come and work with the dogs and cats, and rightly so. Without you, the animals wouldn’t get the love and care they need to become the best they can be, and eventually find that perfect fur-ever home. But I’d like to take this month’s update to recognize the nearly herculean efforts of our land maintenance volunteers to keep the grounds not only useful, but beautiful.
Needless to say, all of our volunteers, in any capacity, demonstrate a belief in our shared mission, to rescue, rehabilitate, and give the best possible care to dogs and cats in need. And our dog and cat volunteers get to share in joy of working with these special animals every day. But what kind of person sign ups to spend hours of their valuable time to toil in the summer sun pushing lawn mowers, running weed whackers, pulling weeds, and shoveling mulch? And all to support the care of dogs and cats that they may never even meet! I’m amazed every day at the selfless generosity and work ethic of these big hearted individuals.
      
Let me just give you a quick rundown of some of our yard care tasks. The basic open space around the cottages, parking lots, and pavilion, that you all see everyday, takes roughly six to seven hours of mowing and weed trimming every couple of weeks to keep the place usable for staff and volunteers. But that’s just the start! We have two dog play yards that need to be mowed and maintained, as well as almost two and a half miles of dog hiking trails that need to be regularly trimmed up and raked. And to top it all off, there’s several gardens, either established or in process, and other plantings that needing weeding, pruning, and other TLC. It’s a huge undertaking and one that couldn’t happen without the dedication of these volunteers. Thank you Tim, Will, Jeff, Liz, Paul, Jay, Michelle, Margy, Aaron S, Aaron R, Beth, Kevin, Tom, Scott, and Nancy! You’re the best!
And beyond our regular individual land maintenance volunteers, we get visits all year from various groups to do a day of service, with either basic yard care or special projects ranging from cutting new trails and planting new gardens, to putting up and taking down our Christmas lights. These groups, while not able to be on our regular volunteer roster, are nonetheless inspired by the work that happens here and are eager to lend a hand. Though they may never see this, I’d like to recognize UCONN Paws and Claws, Alpha Phi Omega, the UCONN tennis club, the UCONN water polo team, the Mansfield Mustangs, and the Killingy Lowe’s for their group efforts this year.
And if any of you out there wish to join the team, or have contact with a group that may want to put in a good day’s work here, feel free to contact me anytime!
So now on to the comings and goings for the month of August.
The drought of dog adoptions ended, as it often does, with the end of summer vacation. Our lovely Bella went home last week!

Casey

Buster

Glinda

Columbo

Kiki

And of course, there’s always lots of traffic for the cat team. Finding their forever homes in August were Buster, Casey and Truffle, Glinda, Colombo, and Kiki. Arriving to our home this month were Cordelia, Dixie, Emma, Sadie, and a whole lotta kittens: Mitzi, Romeo, Hamlet, Garfunkle, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme.

Cordelia

Dixie

Emma

Sadie

Mitzi

Romeo

Hamlet

Garfunkle

Sage

Rosemary

Thyme

Thank you all so much for everything you do, in whatever capacity, to keep us going. The difference you all make is immense.
Jon Phillips
Sanctuary Director
860-726-8533