Please help!
I don't normally post things like this, but this one broke my heart.
Already hurting for cash and donations, Noah's Ark of Fayette County Humane Society on North Gallatin Avenue was burglarized Tuesday, making it the second time in two months the shelter had donations stolen in a break-in..
Overnight on Monday, someone entered the shelter through the front door, made a quick left, entered the office door, and unbolted a safe from inside a cupboard in the hallway. The thief or thieves left with an undetermined amount of cash, a blank checkbook, locks to the back doors and Phil's hoagie store coupons the shelter was selling for $3 a piece to raise money.
"When I came in at 8:15 a.m., this was open," Kennel Supervisor Pam Pahuly said, holding the knob on the front door. "The office door was shut, but it doesn't lock. The safe was gone from the top shelf."
The shelter now lacks $150 that could have been raised by selling hoagie coupons, plus the stolen cash and the cash and change stolen in the first break-in, creating an increased need for monetary and material donations.
To make matters worse, Pahuly said donations have dwindled over the past year, while the number of animals has increased.
"We've gotten more than 4,000 this year," Pahuly said.
"We're struggling here," she added. "We don't have money. A lot of repairs need to be done to fix security."
Without money to afford heating oil, the cold will kill half the animals, Pahuly said.
Shelter volunteer Theresa Linden said they don't have blankets for the animals to lie on. Even if they did, they don't have the warmth for them to dry.
"The babies will die. Other animals will get sick, especially the cats," Linden said.
Some animals, including a litter of nine puppies born on Tuesday, may not have much of a chance under cold conditions, Linden added.
Rising medical bills have also gotten the best of the shelter's funds, and the shelter will not refuse care for someone else's sick animal, Linden said. They need help to pay for medication, she noted.
"People come in here wanting medicine," Linden said. "We try to do what we can. We never refuse an animal."
Inside Noah's Ark, animal cages line the walls and a ringer-washer stands in the corner.
Clothes, used as pet bedding, hang on clotheslines strung from wall to wall.
The old-fashioned ringer-washer is the only device the shelter has to clean pet bedding for the more than 200 dogs and 60 cats the shelter receives each month.
Although the shelter accepts all animals, they end up euthanizing around half, according to shelter volunteers.
Eight-year-old Brittany Pahuly uses the ringer-washer to clean clothes used for animal bedding and has a "kids club" where she and other children play with the animals at the shelter.
She said her heart breaks for the animals, "especially when they have to be PTS," which she said stands for "Put To Sleep."
Four large rooms house cats, kittens, puppies and dogs of every age, color and breed. In one corner cage, "Mama" nurses her nine puppies, born three days ago.
The dog was brought into the shelter pregnant, Linden said.
Across the room, a gray and white adult female cat heightens her back as a sign of affection and meows at onlookers. A sign reading, "I am pregnant" is posted on her cage.
In another room, a large, black dog sits along the wall in his corner kennel, hesitantly making eye contact with visitors. Linden speculates abuse.
Linden said people who bring their animals into the shelter do not offer any type of donation. When asked to make a donation, they simply say they don't have any money, she said.
Volunteers would appreciate donations of dog and cat food, collars, leashes, dog and cat dishes, blankets, litter boxes, paper towels, towels, laundry detergent, bleach, garbage bags, cat and dog toys, lemon cleaner, cat litter, carriers or portable heaters.
Donations can be dropped off or mailed to Noah's Ark at 477 N. Gallatin Ave., Uniontown, PA, 15401. Contact shelter volunteers by calling 724-439-8620.
I know there's lots of animals lovers on my Flist; please send something if you can.
Already hurting for cash and donations, Noah's Ark of Fayette County Humane Society on North Gallatin Avenue was burglarized Tuesday, making it the second time in two months the shelter had donations stolen in a break-in..
Overnight on Monday, someone entered the shelter through the front door, made a quick left, entered the office door, and unbolted a safe from inside a cupboard in the hallway. The thief or thieves left with an undetermined amount of cash, a blank checkbook, locks to the back doors and Phil's hoagie store coupons the shelter was selling for $3 a piece to raise money.
"When I came in at 8:15 a.m., this was open," Kennel Supervisor Pam Pahuly said, holding the knob on the front door. "The office door was shut, but it doesn't lock. The safe was gone from the top shelf."
The shelter now lacks $150 that could have been raised by selling hoagie coupons, plus the stolen cash and the cash and change stolen in the first break-in, creating an increased need for monetary and material donations.
To make matters worse, Pahuly said donations have dwindled over the past year, while the number of animals has increased.
"We've gotten more than 4,000 this year," Pahuly said.
"We're struggling here," she added. "We don't have money. A lot of repairs need to be done to fix security."
Without money to afford heating oil, the cold will kill half the animals, Pahuly said.
Shelter volunteer Theresa Linden said they don't have blankets for the animals to lie on. Even if they did, they don't have the warmth for them to dry.
"The babies will die. Other animals will get sick, especially the cats," Linden said.
Some animals, including a litter of nine puppies born on Tuesday, may not have much of a chance under cold conditions, Linden added.
Rising medical bills have also gotten the best of the shelter's funds, and the shelter will not refuse care for someone else's sick animal, Linden said. They need help to pay for medication, she noted.
"People come in here wanting medicine," Linden said. "We try to do what we can. We never refuse an animal."
Inside Noah's Ark, animal cages line the walls and a ringer-washer stands in the corner.
Clothes, used as pet bedding, hang on clotheslines strung from wall to wall.
The old-fashioned ringer-washer is the only device the shelter has to clean pet bedding for the more than 200 dogs and 60 cats the shelter receives each month.
Although the shelter accepts all animals, they end up euthanizing around half, according to shelter volunteers.
Eight-year-old Brittany Pahuly uses the ringer-washer to clean clothes used for animal bedding and has a "kids club" where she and other children play with the animals at the shelter.
She said her heart breaks for the animals, "especially when they have to be PTS," which she said stands for "Put To Sleep."
Four large rooms house cats, kittens, puppies and dogs of every age, color and breed. In one corner cage, "Mama" nurses her nine puppies, born three days ago.
The dog was brought into the shelter pregnant, Linden said.
Across the room, a gray and white adult female cat heightens her back as a sign of affection and meows at onlookers. A sign reading, "I am pregnant" is posted on her cage.
In another room, a large, black dog sits along the wall in his corner kennel, hesitantly making eye contact with visitors. Linden speculates abuse.
Linden said people who bring their animals into the shelter do not offer any type of donation. When asked to make a donation, they simply say they don't have any money, she said.
Volunteers would appreciate donations of dog and cat food, collars, leashes, dog and cat dishes, blankets, litter boxes, paper towels, towels, laundry detergent, bleach, garbage bags, cat and dog toys, lemon cleaner, cat litter, carriers or portable heaters.
Donations can be dropped off or mailed to Noah's Ark at 477 N. Gallatin Ave., Uniontown, PA, 15401. Contact shelter volunteers by calling 724-439-8620.
I know there's lots of animals lovers on my Flist; please send something if you can.