Hey everyone! For those of you who attended BlogPaws, you know how hard it is to even begin to describe how amazing the conference was. For those of you who couldn’t make it this year, you NEED to go next year. It truly was a life changing experience for so many of those involved. You can’t imagine how energizing & inspiring & truly awesome the experience was! I know that there were so many incredible connections made and that there are months worth of stories to be told. This is one of ours and probably one of the most heartwarming of my entire life. This story is one that still makes me smile from ear to ear and makes Nikki tear up. I think it is one that perfectly describes the heart & soul of what BlogPaws is – animal lovers coming together to build an intentional community that will very truly change the lives of animals for the better! Keep in mind that Jo, Nikki & I met only about 10 minutes prior to this occurring! Without further ado, I give you our very own Nikki and Jo of EnlightenedFerret.com (@informedferret on twitter) with an awesome announcement:

What is the full name of your sanctuary?
Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Where is Chimp Sanctuary located?
Just outside of the town of Cle Elum, WA

When was your sanctuary established?
The organization was incorporated in 2003. The chimpanzees arrived June 13, 2008.

What is the mission of your sanctuary?
To provide lifetime quality care for formerly abused or exploited chimpanzees, while advocating for great apes through education and collaboration.

How did you decide which chimps to rescue? Were they all ready to be retired?
Construction on the sanctuary began for a group of five to seven chimpanzees, but the exact chimpanzees had not been identified. In 2007, the sanctuary learned of seven chimpanzees at the Buckshire Corporation in Pennsylvania. Buckshire had tried to place the chimpanzees years earlier in another sanctuary, but that had fallen through. The chimpanzees had been “waiting” for sanctuary within cramped cages in a windowless basement at Buckshire.

Is the sanctuary big enough to add more chimps? Do you plan on doing so in the future?
The building was designed for a group of five to seven, so we are pretty much at capacity. In addition, it can be very difficult to integrate adult chimpanzees with one another. We would like to be able to provide a home for other chimpanzees in the future.

How is your sanctuary run? Is it mostly volunteers?
There are five staff members that do everything from caring for the chimpanzees to grant writing, outreach and construction and about 40 regular volunteers.

Where do you get your funding?
The majority of our funding comes from individual donations. We also receive grants from private foundations and we’ve received some corporate support (from LUSH handmade cosmetics). We do not receive any government support.

Tell us more about your sanctuary. What makes it unique?
There are only a handful of sanctuaries for chimpanzees in North America and each one is unique. We are able to provide very individualized attention to the chimpanzees at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest because the group is small. This also means that we can share the personalities of the individual chimpanzees and our supporters can learn a lot about them. We have a blog that we update almost daily with photos, video and stories, a Twitter account, and Facebook pages, including individual pages for each of the chimpanzees.

Do you have a favorite story you’d like to share?
There are so many! Everyday the chimpanzees do amazing things that illustrate how intelligent, resilient and individualistic they are. We’ve seen remarkable transformations in the less than two years the Cle Elum Seven chimpanzees have been at the sanctuary. For example, when Jamie arrived at the sanctuary there was a large patch on her belly that was plucked down to the skin. Looking at her records, it was clear that she had done this for years. Her hair starting growing back immediately and she hasn’t plucked it out since arriving at the sanctuary. Jamie is extremely intelligent and is constantly up to something – she’s just one of those people who’s wheels are always turning. She creates projects for herself with the toys and other objects that we provide the chimpanzees. It’s heartbreaking to think about the years she spent in the laboratories with nothing to do but pull her own hair out, but we do all we can to make sure she has fun, new things to do everyday from now on.

Is there anything else you’d like us to know?
The sanctuary is not open to the public, but we do share the chimpanzees with people through our website and social networking sites.

Where all are you located online?

Website: www.ChimpSanctuaryNW.org
Blog: www.ChimpSanctuaryNW.org/blog
Facebook Causes page: Cause Page
Facebook Fan page: Fan Page

For the chimpanzee’s individual Facebook pages, search for their name (Annie, Burrito, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, Missy, Negra) followed by “Chimpanzee” (so, Jamie Chimpanzee’s page is: here).

Website: www.petsforpatriots.org
Twitter: @PetsforPatriots
Facebook: Pets for Patriots, Inc. Fan Page

To donate to them, you can find a link to their donate page on our home page under Featured Organization. Also, please tell your local rescue groups and any vets you know to sign up with them! I know it’ll be a great partnership! Let’s help them grow!

What is the name of your organization?
Pets for Patriots

Where is your group located?
Long Beach, New York – though we plan to operate nationally

When was your organization established?
October 2009; one month later we received our 501(c)(3) tax exempt status.

What is the mission of your organization?
Our mission is to consistently give the gifts of fidelity, joy and companionship to both pet and person.

To be more specific, we:
• Facilitate hard-to-place shelter pet adoptions by military personnel
• Improve the well-being of service members through companion pet adoption, a humane way of easing the stresses associated with military life and military transitions
• Foster education and awareness about the state of animal abandonment and neglect
• Educate the military and the public at large about the many physical and emotional health benefits of adult pet adoption

What prompted the creation of Pets for Patriots?
I’ve had a longstanding passion for the plight of homeless animals. Growing up, my family adopted shelter pets only and when I was twelve years old I started a neighborhood dog walking service. Mind you, this was long before these things were such big business: I charged a dollar a day, which included three walks and dinner. Needless to say, this was quite a while ago! But the idea of helping to reduce animal homelessness never left me, and I knew that someday I’d return to it again.

At the same time, my siblings and I were raised to respect and admire the military – not just the institution, but the men and women who sacrificed so much in order to protect our freedom and way of life. Many of our family vacations, which were almost always camping trips, included visits to military museums or historical sites.

I had the idea that I could do something positive for both of these populations – shelter pets and service members – in a way that would benefit each. And I decided that the “someday” of helping homeless animals was going to happen sooner than later. I wrote a business plan to help me figure out how it would all work, and set about putting together a board. The end result is Pets for Patriots.

How is your organization run? Will you actively help patriots find pets to adopt?
Absolutely. We’re just starting to build our shelter and veterinary network. We encourage any patriot in the U.S. to register on our site. If we don’t yet have a participating shelter or veterinarian in their area, we’ll do the legwork to get those in place and direct that member patriot to those facilities. We leave the actual adoption pairing and decision up to the shelter, since they’re the experts in matching pets and people.

How do you get your funding?
Like most charities, we rely on the generosity of the public for donations. Once we’re more established, we’ll seek corporate sponsors and grant opportunities if we think they’re relevant to our mission.

What are some of the challenges you face?
Is it still hard to convince people to adopt rather than buy? Because we just launched in January 2007, one of our biggest challenges is just getting people to know about us. Once they do, we find people really love what we’re about. But converting that enthusiasm into a contribution remains a challenge. We know the economy is tough; our founder is a small business owner and she deals with it, too. We appreciate all donations, no matter how small – or how large!

As for the buy versus adopt debate, we’re seeing new laws proposed around the country to shut down or severely restrict the activities of puppy mills. Over time we think these events will diminish the supply of animals for sale and make adoption a more attractive choice for more people.

Tell us more about your group. What makes it unique?
We are one of the only organizations in the U.S. to focus on adult shelter pets and members of the military, at any stage of their careers and from any branch of service.

These two things truly set us apart. First, we promote the extraordinary value of the ordinary shelter pet; that adult dog or cat that isn’t destined to become a service animal, but still has lots of love and life to give. Second, we accept patriots at any stage of their military careers – active, reserve, inactive reserve, veteran, retired and national guard – and from all branches of the U.S. military.

Do you have a favorite story you’d like to share?
Not yet, but we hope to soon! We’re actively seeking patriots who are interested in adult shelter pet adoption to be among our first great success stories. We know they’re out there; we just need to find each other.

What is the accomplishment your organization is most proud of?
Going from business plan to launch in six months. That tells us that we have the right stuff to make this new not-for-profit successful: determination, persistence and heart.

What are your goals as you expand your organization?
We wish we could single-handedly end animal abuse and homelessness, but we can’t. But we can do our part to elevate the value many people place in companion pets, and we will.

We plan to be national. We envision Pets for Patriots member shelters and veterinarians across the country, each sharing our commitment to permanently rehome needy shelter pets with military personnel. In doing so, we hope to make our military more open and friendly to families with pets – one dog and cat at a time.

What is the one thing that people could do to help your organization the most?
Make a tax-deductible donation, either on our secure site or by check. We can’t do any of our good works without contributions from good folks who love pets and love our patriots. Right now, this is our greatest need.

Is there anything else you’d like us to know?
Small acts can make a difference. Do you have a military neighbor, coworker or friend who needs some emotional support? Tell them about us and about how pets have enormous healing potential. Short on cash, but want to help? Even $10 gets us that much closer to our mission. Love animals, but can’t have one of your own? Consider volunteering at your local shelter, or becoming a foster parent to a pet whose parent is either sick or being deployed. As individuals, we have a great deal of power to make positive change, one small act at a time.

What’s the name of your rescue?
Heart of Texas Labrador Rescue

Where is your group located?
Central Texas, Servicing an area of approximately 150 miles around Austin. Thus we cover Austin to San Antonio up to Waco West towards Fredericksburg and East to Bryan/College Station. And of course all points in between.

When was your rescue established?
1998

What types of animals does your rescue help?
Labrador Retrievers

What is the mission of your rescue?
The Heart of Texas Labrador Rescue is a non-profit 501(c)(3), all-volunteer organization based in Central, TX. Our mission is to rescue Labrador Retrievers and place them in loving forever homes.

How is your rescue run? Is it all volunteers?
Heart of Texas Labrador Rescue is an all volunteer and all foster organization.

Do you have a building or is your rescue work done all through foster homes?
HOTLab Rescue works primarily through foster homes, with dogs placed in local kennels should foster home not be available when a Lab is taken into the program.

Where do you get your funding?
Funding comes from donations to our organization. Being a 501c(3) organization all donations are Tax Deductable.

Tell us more about your group. What makes it unique?
HOTLab Rescue has been characterized as more of an eHarmoney style of matching families with their forever Labs. During our application and interview process we learn more about what a family is looking for. That information combined with the information that we know about the Labs in our program from the foster families allows us to present better matches when a family comes to a private meet and greet. At the meet and greet the family will meet 3-5 Labs that match what they are looking for.

Often times HOTLab is brought in to rescue Labs that shelters would have a hard time placing in their current state. Such as dogs that need heartworm treatments, surgeries and other special needs. Prior to any adoption each Lab is treated for whatever ailments they may have and brought current on their shots.

Do you have a favorite adoption story you’d like to share?
Sophie a young female Labrador whose rescue prompted the formation of Heart of Texas Lab Rescue. Sophie was part of a puppy mill, and as a result, was comfortable around other dogs, but at-tempted to escape all human contact. After several months of slow pro-gress, Sophie encountered a setback and became even more fearful of hu-mans. Seemingly there were no options left for Sophie to live a content, peaceful life and euthanasia was considered. However, before good-byes could be said, we received a call from the person who adopted her “cell-mate” from the puppy mill, Rusty. The adoptive family opened their homes to Sophie as well. Sophie and Rusty were reunited. Sophie and Rusty have both since passed over the Rainbow Bridge.

Is there anything else you’d like us to know?
You can learn more about Heart of Texas Lab Rescue at our website www.hotlabrescue.org additionally you can follow us on Facebook www.facebook.com/HOTLAB and on Twitter as @HotLabRescue where we are the most followed Labrador site on Twitter.

Of course, what really matters most is not what they can offer you but what they are doing for animals in Georgia. The Funny Farm rescues animals of all sorts but their main passion is kitties. I believe they have something nearing 70 cats now after the last rescue (one time not long ago they rescued ALL of the cats due to be euthanized at one shelter that day – no lives lost!) The reason this is so important is that while there are animals dying in shelters every day, cats have the worst of it. I’ve seen statistics saying only 1 in 12 cats will ever find a home. That staggering statistic is incredibly sad but rather than scare people off from trying to rescue them it should get them highly motivated to help great people like those at The Funny Farm. Our philosophy here at ILRA is “The Starfish Effect“: every ONE counts. That being the case, just look at how incredible what the Farm has done is!

Now here’s the part where you can help: they are currently trying hard to raise funds to build a fence around an entire TWO ACRES of their farm. This will be an open area for all of the cats to live & play in and once completed will allow for even more cats to be saved. They’ve currently raised just over $2000 of the $6000 they need to get it all done. Anything you can do to help is greatly appreciated both by them & the rescue kitties! Visit their main page to donate (at the bottom). And now (finally!) I present you with the interview!

What’s the name of your sanctuary?
The farm is called The Funny Farm, and if you have ever been here you understand why. The cat sanctuary is going to be called The Heaven On Earth Rescue Cat Sanctuary. It is being built in honor of all of the kitties who never made it out of the shelter and for those that did.

Where are you located?
We are in Wilkes County, GA. If you draw a line between Athens & Augusta we are right in the middle.

When was your sanctuary established?
The non-profit was established in 2006. That is the year we moved to Georgia.

What types of animals do you help?
We mainly focus on cats, but we have dogs, goats, pigs, ducks, rabbits, 1 rescue horse, a ferret & a guinea pig. There are about 100 animals at the farm.

What is the mission of your sanctuary?
Our mission is to help as many animals as possible. We started PALS (official name of the non-profit) to try and make people aware that they need to provide for their animals if something should happen to them. Most people never even consider that their animals may outlive them. This results in many once loved animals being put in shelters due to no other option.

How is your sanctuary run? Is it all volunteers?
At the moment my husband and I run the sanctuary with the help of my brother-in-law, Marco, and my mother Sharon. We have friends who come over to spend time with the animals, which to me is much more important than picking up poo.

Where do you get your funding?
We have no outside funding aside from donations. When you first open a non-profit it is very difficult to survive because it takes time to qualify for your 501©3 status which makes you unable to apply for grants. A lot of people think that being a 501©3 is what makes a legitimate non-profit. This is just not the case . Luckily our 501©3 is in the works which means soon we will be able to give tax forms for donations.

Tell us more about your sanctuary. What makes it unique?
The Funny Farm is a free-roam sanctuary. We think of our animals more like family than rescues. They, for most part all get along regardless of species. Of course there are a few that need their own space. People are always surprised to see things like a rabbit & cat hanging out together.
We have also set up a program called PALS that allows people to will us their cats so that if something should happen to them, their cat will come to The Funny Farm.

Do you have a favorite story you’d like to share?
I do but it’s not a kitty story. One day I was talking to my brother-in-law on the cell phone and I went outside. Cody, our rescue horse was standing next to the lean-2 we had built for him & the goats. One of the baby goats had somehow jumped up on the doghouse and onto the top of the lean-2 next to Cody, or so I thought. Cody took a step sideways and I realized that the baby goat was standing on Cody’s back! Of course I could not get a camera fast enough, what else is new.

Is there anything else you’d like us to know?
We are truly grateful for everyone who supports what we do. We would probably not have survived the first year if it weren’t for wonderful people who love the critters as much as we do. Thank you all for your continued support.

Colleen & John Palladini
www.gafunnyfarm.org