Community News

Happy Paws Haven

We would like to THANK everyone who has contributed to our fundraising campaigns; it is so very very much appreciated. We are still in a critical position right now as usual due to the vet bills and need to urgently raise some funds to pay as we have to find another $7k before the end of November and as usual we are struggling to do so. Each month we spend approximately $16K to cover the basic operating costs. Our average vet spend is approximately $10k, our food spend is approximately $4K/mth, parasite control is about $2K/mth, There is marketing, maintenance, electricity, phones etc etc. It costs us about $250K per year to operate and the animals get the best we can give, all funds are from the generous contribution of our donors and we are primarily run by volunteers. If everyone just donated $2 or $5 and they also asked their friends to do the same, we would be able to get our vet bills up to date and to hopefully renovate the facilities for the dogs and cats which they deserve.

Please spread the word as we really do need your help! Either through PayPal using our email address happypawshaven@bigpond.com or via our bank, the Bendigo Community Bank in South Grafton BSB 633000, Account 130786031 and our account name is Happy Paws Haven Inc. All donations over $2 are tax deductible! We are an ACNC endorsed registered charity! Our ABN is 79928920087, CFN 23496.

We urgently need more volunteers

If anyone who is in Grafton or nearby we really need help urgently!

We are looking for extra help at the moment as we are preparing extra cages in case we have to evacuate, like everyone we have a fire plan but in our case it is a little more complicated as we have 63 cats and 52 dogs that may need to be moved quickly.

If you could help by asking if anyone is able to volunteer even just 3-4 hours on any day of the week it would be great!. Maybe animal lovers who don’t have a family nearby, could come and spend time helping us with the animals at Happy Paws Haven. Any time from NOW would be wonderful. Any time would be awesome. This is our very busiest time, we are open 7 days a week as usual.

We are as always looking for volunteers who are passionate about animals. Clarence Valley Volunteering is also trying to assist us too! We urgently need additional volunteers to help us care for the animals, walk the dogs, groom the cats and to share their love. Dress in your oldest clothes, jeans and a T-shirt is good, with work boots or sneakers, bring a snack and a drink! Cuddling and playing with the animals is compulsory!

We need people to help with office data entry skills and admin skills.

We need people to help with our fund raisers for the love animals.

We also need help with maintenance especially after all these high winds, they have made some damage.

There are all sorts of things that need to be done….

And every bit of help counts. Come and visit to see what we do.

Come and help us with the animals and/or fundraising for their care.

Planned events

We are currently looking at running an Art Competition based around cats and dogs, the Art piece can created using any medium. We have a donor who will put up prize money for the best Art Work and second prize as well. WE are looking for a place to run it over a period of 3-4 days with culminating in a prize giving and fundraising night, some sponsors for some of the other prizes. We will be going out to our social media to ask for artists to participate as well as asking people to attend the prize night with a theme of cats and dogs. If you know anyone who is interested in helping us get this off the ground, sponsoring or has a venue that would be suitable please ask them to contact Sally at Happy Paws Haven on 6644 9936 or vis email or messenger. I would love to involve the schools too.

We’re also planning on launching a crowdfunding campaign soon and I’d love to get as many people as possible involved. We need to raise $10000 to save some puppies from Parvo and pay their bill over a 20 day campaign. To make this a success, we need 5-10 campaign soldiers who can email the campaign to 100 of their colleagues on launch day. It would be wonderful to have your help and that of your friends. To get involved, just email me back or give me a call. Sally at Happy Paws Haven on 0419 404 766 or by email on happypawshavenbigpond.com.au. We would really appreciate it if you would forward this onto your own mailing lists or message your friends so we can more people involved would be wonderful. Thanks heaps from all the animals and friends of Happy Paws Haven.,

Happy Paws Haven volunteers and members meeting  

Our next volunteers and members meeting will be held on Sunday November 24 unless otherwise notified. We are working through the ‘Gain and Retain program’ with Hancock Creative, are learning all about social media marketing and in the process of re-designing our web page to make it more modern and mobile friendly. All our meetings start at 2.30pm and finishing by about 4.30pm. If you would like to become a member of Happy Paws Haven, contact happypawshaven@bigpond.com to get a membership application to fill out, bring it to the meeting. You will need to bring $20 membership fee. We need new fresh ideas. We need a new fund-raising team, people to write our animal stories and what we do for social media so come and join us and contribute to the team at HappyPaws Haven where all ideas are good ideas.

Rescues and surrenders

We are trying to limit the number of animals being rescued as you know. We are still getting lots and lots of calls daily asking for help and we are turning them away as we have not the funds and volunteers at the moment to take any more. It is all about our capacity to care and we are at our limit currently. We have had our first cat rescues for the very first time for a long time. The court restrictions were completed on 24th October. Yes it has been two years!

Adoptions

We had five dog adoptions since the beginning of November but sadly no cat adoptions this week.

Cats and Kittens for adoption this week:

We get all cats vet checked prior to adoption to make sure that we comply to the standards required by any pet shop. We have adopted out well over 1200 cats over the last 12 years and only a very very small percentage having developed any illness as a result of the change in environment but now we are being extremely careful. All our animals are microchipped, immunised and desexed as soon as possible after they arrive. Our rehoming number is 251000043.

Risha

Risha is a member of Rianne beautiful litter 5 kittens. Four are torti girls and Rico who has already got a home the only boy. Their story is we were called to the aboriginal community in Maclean early last year they were having a problem with some community cats who were continually breeding and their kittens. All the queens were pregnant again and they just did not know what to do. So we caught all the kittens and the queens put them into foster care and then got them all desexed. We returned all but one of the queens after they were desexed and kept all the kittens. The queen we kept Rianne is a lovely black fluffy young lady who like her son has already been adopted. All this lovely young cats are very affectionate, love cuddles, happy to be stroked just a very beautiful loving cats. They are all desexed microchipped and immunised now ready for their new homes. 991001000624567

Coralee

Coralee arrived at the house of one of our volunteers not long after someone nearby had moved away. The volunteer asked around the neighbourhood whether anyone owned this beautiful tabby with a friendly nature and no-one came forward. So she bought it to Happy Paws Haven as she could not keep it herself, she had a Jack Russell who was not overly fond of cats!! At first we thought she was pregnant but after a month of observation and being wormed we came to the conclusion that she was not. She is a quiet cat that just seems to blend in without causing any problems. She does not mind living in a multi-cat household and she would also be fine on her own. She is not a demanding in your face cat at all. She is just a lovely gentle cat who is extremely affectionate. She does have an eye that seems to be susceptible to irritation from dust and needs bathing with salt water occasionally. She has also been here for a long time as she is often over looked for some reason and I am not sure why? She has been micro-chipped, immunised and desexed, and is waiting for her new home 900006000156404

Ulric

Ulric came with his two sisters towards the end of last year. Both sisters have already been adopted leaving young Ulric behind. He is beautiful affectionate playful mischievous loving young oriental cat that is curious about everything. He has a wonderful personality. He gets on well with everyone; cats dogs and humans of all ages. He would make an excellent companion as he loves to smooch and just be with you. He is really sweet and delightful young cat. He has been desexed immunised microchipped regularly treated for parasites ready for his new home 991003000082229

Dogs for adoption for this week

We get all dogs vet checked prior to adoption to make sure that we comply to the standards required by any pet shop. All our animals are microchipped, immunised and desexed as soon as possible after they arrive. All dogs are also tested to make sure that they do not have heart worm. We have rescued and adopted out well over 1300 dogs over the last 12 years. Our rehoming number is 251000043

Vinnie

Vinnie and Kevin arrived last week from Casino, their owner and trainer is elderly and has now retired so to help him out we volunteered to take two of his beautiful boys. Like all greyhounds they love to have a play and zoom first thing in the morning and later in the afternoon. In between they prop and stop becoming couch potatoes. These two young men are very well behaved, quiet, affectionate, gentle loving dogs. They would be very suitable as a companion to anyone regardless of their age and wellbeing. They are great pets for anyone with a bad back as you done need to bend down to groom them give them a stroke or a gentle pat. They love being around humans and are low maintenance dogs as they do not require much exercise. They have been desexed, immunised and have a micro-chip. They also have been wormed and treated for all our common parasites. 956000008687486

Callie

Callie and Cassie were surrendered with 4 other dogs came from a local breeder near Grafton. Her grandmother became sick and she decided that she needed to spend more time with her family and could not look after all the dogs at the same time. These little dogs are very timid as they have only known her property and had very little to do with humans other than her family. They are shy but loving little dogs, wanting so much to please, loving affection when they are picked up and cuddled. They are getting more and more curious about the volunteers spending time with them, they play hard to get but once they let you pick them up they cuddle into you to be stroked gently. They are beautiful silver dapple mini dachshunds who have now been desexed microchipped and immunised ready for their new homes. 991003000114714

Sandy

Sandy came to us as the family were moving and could not take him with them. He is a slightly timid young man, but loves being with Missy. He gets on with other dogs and humans. He prefers small numbers not large crowds, he would make the prefect companion for someone who is not that active and prefers to stroll along smelling the roses. He loves going for walks and a swim in the dam. He is really sweet and delightful dog. He has been desexed immunised microchipped regularly treated for parasites ready for his new home 900079000630618

HappyPaws Haven is open seven days a week for animal adoptions. Phone: Sally on 0419 404 766 or 6644 9936 seven days a week, email Sally on happypawshaven@bigpond.com or visit HappyPaws at www.happypawshaven.com.au

Sally Rogers