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Guardian Angels Animal Rescue 2007 Newsletter"The Purity of a Person's Heart Can Be Quickly Measured by How They Regard Animals" ~Anonymous Well, it's hard to believe that summer is almost upon us! Spring always seems to represent new life & I guess that includes kittens being born as well. We have had a long and tremendously busy winter! It seemed as if we had hardly caught our breath when spring crept in on us with an overwhelming number of kittens born outside even in the dead of winter. I tell myself every day that we have no more room for any more cats/kittens; yet every time I find another nest of kittens out there and I see those tiny little faces look up at me, my heart just melts for them and I just can’t bring myself to leave them out there knowing that their chances for survival are slim. This has been by far the most devastating and heartfelt mission that we have had to endure. Even though during the past several years we have rescued hundreds of cats and kittens, there just never seems to be any end to the long line of homeless cats and kittens out there living under someone’s back porch, or in an abandoned car, or building, or in someone’s garage. Because of the large volume of calls that we receive, we have a hard time keeping up with the demand. Unfortunately, many of these people who call on us for help still feel that it is our responsibility to bear all of the expenses that are involved. Unfortunately, at times, we feel that it just keeps getting harder and harder to continue trying to save the world and, at times, it feels like that's what we are trying to do. We have spent a great deal of time and money in this endeavor; still, as much as this deeply hurts us, we have had to turn people down who call upon us for help because of the expense involved and the shortage of space to hold these animals while they await their fate. All of us involved in this endeavor have been praying very hard for some kind of a resolution or a bigger place that will enable us to help all of these furry creatures of God. Spring has not been kind to us. In March, we received a call for the second time regarding a hoarder in Elgin. We had removed almost 40 cats and kittens from this place just last February. This time we removed about 20 more cats, several litters of kittens and a couple of pregnant female cats. So, in total, we have rescued almost 75 cats and kittens just from that one place. We did manage to get animal control there along with a code enforcement officer who finally red tagged the place. Every one of these animals needed medical care. Hopefully, those people will be charged with animal neglect. Then, in April, our “Cat Mobile” broke down on the way back from dropping off a bunch of cats to be neutered at a Veterinarian in Geneva. We ended up having to be towed, which left us with trying to figure out how to arrange for a ride home for the cats. After 3 long weeks of being without a car I found myself wishing that maybe one morning I would wake up to find that “Oprah” had left a new “Cat Mobile” in my drive way. Instead, I awakened one morning to find that a water pipe had burst in the house, making a big mess and a big expense, leaving me wishing that I had married a plumber. Update on "Cry Baby" the 10-pound Baby Boy! He's still waiting for someone special to adopt him. You can check out a picture of him on our web site, along with others waiting for that special person who may have room in their heart for just one more furry creature of God. We’re still working on placing photos of all of the cats on this web site. We have been in contact with several senior centers putting together a "Senior Foster Home" program in which we place an older cat in a home with a senior. If you know of a senior who you feel might be interested in this program, I’ve enclosed a flyer for you to pass onto them. Because of all of the development going on within Kane County, our wild life is ending up in our back yards. These poor creatures have had their land taken away from them and now have nowhere else to go. I personally have a mother raccoon and her 5 babies living under my deck. I love to watch them when they come out at night and have noticed that the mother raccoon is very attentive to her offspring and keeps them in line. I guess I can attribute my deep concern for these animals to my early childhood, after seeing that movie "Bambi". “Bambi” had such an emotional impact on me! I believe that movie initiated the love and concern that I have for all animals. Another important thing that I would like to mention here is that I have been very upset with some of these so-called "animal trappers." I also am upset with our very own Elgin Courier Newspaper, which, for some unknown reason, has refused to print our letters to the editor or to print any of the several calls that have been made by people regarding cats to their "Speak Out" line. I've enclosed a copy of the letter that was never responded to by the Editor of the Elgin Newspaper. We are a local non-profit organization that consists of just a small group of people. We volunteer our time and money because we believe that animals deserve protection against the wrongs of abandonment, starvation, disease and cruelty. This is the tragic reality of life for countless innocent creatures. The work we do is supported through donations from generous hearts of people like you so that we can continue our efforts to ensure that animals will never be alone, hungry, sick, afraid, or in pain. Donations help with the spaying and neutering for each one of them. The funds raised also provide medical aid and defray some of the cost of caring for these animals while they wait to be adopted into loving homes. Thank you for being part of this work of love. Your kindness and generous support brings new hope to these animals, as it enables us to care and watch over them. Your generous and continued support has meant a great deal to us. We can’t thank you enough! Finally,
we will be having our 3rd annual Garage Sale and an Open
Adoption for our Beautiful Cats and Kittens on September. 15th & 16th (Sat.
& Sun.) from noon to 5:00 p.m. at: Carol
Schultz, Founder of (847) 931-4535
All
Donations Provide Medical Aid & Care of Unwanted & Abused Feral Cats
& Kittens.
Copy of our Letter to the Elgin Newspaper: April 10, 2007 “The
Measure of a Newspaper is how they regard their Readers and our Wild Life
(Cats).” I was somewhat surprised when I recently read a comment in the
"Ombudsman," which stated: I guess that I am having a hard time understanding why you have ignored our letter, as well as the several calls that were made by different people over the past several months to your "Speak Out" line regarding the cat crisis that we have been having in our community. Other newspapers in this same community have published our letters upon receiving them. So, I’m wondering why is it that you seem to ignore something that is happening in our community, something that hundreds of people in our community would be interested in knowing about. I know for a fact that there are hundreds of cat lovers within our community who also care for their well being as we do. I know this because we have been dealing with these people on an ongoing basis for several years now. There isn't a day that goes by that someone isn't calling us concerning yet another cat problem in our community.
This is a copy of the letter sent Feb. 24th, 2007: Letter to the Editor: I'm very disappointed and find it hard to believe that there was hardly any concern or many responses from the public in the newspaper regarding that "unknown" guy who had set the trappers along Tyler Creek. A pet dog became trapped in one while being walked by a young boy. This "animal trapper" could have caused serious bodily harm to a child or a pet. This guy should be made to sit locked in a trapper himself for eternity. I'm also disappointed that none of the several calls that were made to the speak out line regarding cats from De Kalb Co. being brought into Kane County for adoption were ever acknowledged by your newspaper. We have enough cats here in Kane County that need homes. Many people who have lost a cat and may think that it has just disappeared off the surface of this Earth. They must often wonder what could have happened to it. Those people would be interested to know that the chances are that their beloved pet ended up being caught in a trapper by one of these so called "animal trappers," who are called upon to remove cats and kittens that some people find to be bothersome. I would like you to visualize they experience of an animal that gets caught in these trappers. The animals are terrorized and frightened to death. We have recently learned that some of these people who proclaim themselves to be "animal trappers" trap animals and, while they are still alive and conscious in the trapper, drown them in water. Animals have all of the same feelings that you and I may feel, such as love, happiness, fear and pain. They even shed tears the same as we do when they are sad. Several months ago I rescued a cat whose owner had passed away. Whoever handled his affairs had put his house up for sale and tossed the cat outside to fend for himself. The cat had taken refuge in a neighbor’s garage until I was called to remove him. For several months afterwards, this cat actually shed tears every night because he had lost his home and missed the person who had cared for him for several years. |