Stay@Home.  That’s the program the Animal Welfare Society in Kennebunk, Maine has started to help loved pets stay in their homes and it’s a super program.  When a low income or elderly community member needs a little help, the shelter will assist with vet bills, boarding, transportation and even euthanasia if necessary.  It keeps pets at home where they belong and reduces the number of pets coming to the shelter.  A win-win for everybody and we are so pleased to be a part of the effort.

Our friends at Peace Ridge Sanctuary came to us again to ask for help with a new and much needed project.  They asked for funds for a “hay bank” for animals of owners that are experiencing a temporary, difficult financial time so that they can keep their animals while they get back on their feet.  This includes elderly folks who may have a particularly hard time in the winter.  These owners take good care of their animals, but may simply need a helping hand during a rough patch.  The May HTR Foundation is all about keeping animals at home with the people who love them and we are happy to help.

Maine Equine is a small group from in and around Houlton, Maine, who are trying to save a herd of endangered Caspian horses from neglect and starvation.  Because the Department of Animal Welfare has taken no meaningful action to help the horses, they asked the May HTR Foundation for funding for brochures to help spread the word and garner support for their cause.  The horses are still in the same situation, but Maine Equine now has the Animal Legal Defense Fund on their team and is hopeful that these animals will not be spending another winter in Aroostook County, Maine with inadequate food and water.

When the LSU Vet School came back to us to ask for more help, we were surprised to learn how many horses were in shelters, being cared for by the Equine Health and the Shelter Medicine vets.  Dr. McConnico was seeing 10-12 new horses every month and the shelters trying to care for them simply didn’t have the resources to provide everything these malnourished/neglected/abused horses needed.   We were happy to provide vaccines and dewormers so that other money could be freed up for medications and treatments.

These happy vet students and their teacher have been taking care of some of the shelter horses.

When Peace Ridge Sanctuary asked for help with a fence for their new dog adoption facility, we were happy to be able to help.  Peace Ridge is unique in that it provides a loving home to over 200 animals, including cows, horses, goats, sheep, pigs and other farm animals as well as dogs.  Their new facility has helped them care for and find new homes for even more dogs.  Just look at what a fine job their many volunteers did with fencing.  And it’s a wonderful exercise area for dogs and people.

The winter of 2015 was a long, cold, snowy one and hay for horses was expensive and in short supply.  Double B Equine Rescue had to replace their 69 year old tractor – we think they were having trouble getting parts for repair – using funds that were earmarked for winter hay.  When they asked the May HTR Foundation for assistance, we were happy to be able to help them purchase enough round bales to get them through the winter.

Twelve hundred feral cats is a lot of feral cats. And left unaltered, would become many more feral cats in short order.  Dr. Wendy Wolfson of the Shelter Medicine Department began taking her students and a large mobile unit to the Louisiana State Penitentiary to spay and neuter these cats in 2014.  With 400 spays and neuters under her belt, she asked the May HTR Foundation for help with the cost of medications and supplies to continue her project.

Working in a large prison presents its own challenges and Dr. Wolfson’s monthly reports never disappointed.  From having to earn the trust of inmates so that they wouldn’t let the trapped cats out of cages to having to reschedule because of the annual prison rodeo to being unable to work as rapidly as usual because the inmate who was best at handling the cats was in solitary for fighting, she was able to alter hundreds more cats in 2015.

The project continues and now includes some of the many dogs on the prison grounds as well.   It’s a hugely successful program and we are proud to have been even a small part of it.