Kim's K9 Korner

Writen by Guest Blogger
 Kim Ortega, Executive Director of Colorado Puppy Rescue

I know I’m getting older, but really, where did March and April go? 

I’ve lived in Colorado since I was 10 years old.  The saying “April showers, bring May flowers” has always been wrong here.  My experience is that we get wind in March and April and big storms in May.  Along with the storms comes the thunder and lightning.  My dog Raisin is terrified of loud noises to the point that I wonder if her head will explode.  She is now 14 years old and there isn’t much I haven’t tried to make her more comfortable.  Recently, I noticed that PetCo carries a new item called ThunderShirt.  The packaging says that it’s the best solution for dog anxiety.  I’ve decided to give it a try.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

Speaking of wind, I have been worried about the volunteers and fosters that come to my house for intake.  Last year my husband hired a tree trimming service that was doing a lot of work in our neighborhood.  They seemed to do good work till it came to our house.  The end of the story is that they left a large hand saw very high up in our tree.  I have always worried about that saw falling out and seriously injuring someone.  Today, we hired a company that finished the job.  Our tree looks bare but I feel so much better knowing that we wont have limbs crashing through our roof or a saw decapitating  our friends.

A few weeks ago CPR launched a new credit card system.  It’s the type that plugs into your cell phone and swipes the card.  It’s awesome!  We no longer have to pay for an internet service, or have a dedicated printer (with the expense of ink & paper), or a laptop dedicated to the job.  It seems to be a bit more expensive for the merchant account but the ease and mobility is nice.  I think that in the long run, we will be saving money.

We are down to our last couple of bags of puppy food.  I know, how could that happen?  But, every year about this time we have an issue.  I understand that we have made an appeal to the PetCo foundation for a donation and I am hoping to hear a positive result soon.  It may not come soon enough.  So… if we need to make the expenditure of puppy food we are looking at other ways to make up the difference.  One way is that Pfizer a manufacture of vaccines and animal health products has a shelter program that we are trying to qualify for.  If we are accepted, we can purchase our vaccines for a much reduced price.  Also, we qualify for a Colorado sales tax exemption.  I am working on our exemption so that when we do have to make purchases, we can save on the sales tax. 

Our travel expenses have increased also.  Really? You say.  I know our fosters and volunteers are feeling the burden also.  We have some outstanding volunteers that have had to cut back or discontinue working with us because of the costs.  Last month, Volunteer Regina submitted for a grant from PetCo that would fund transportation expenses.  They asked for new and innovative ideas from organizations.  We think that in these hard times and expensive fuel prices, supporting the costs of volunteers and fosters travel expenses would be a great service.  We shall see if they are interested in supporting our efforts.  Thank you Regina.

Last year Volunteer Rhonda was instrumental in helping us acquire a large donation of pet supplies.  Collars, leashes, etc.  Now, we need to make that donation work for us.  Please let me know if you have contacts for garage sales or flea markets that we can attend to sell these items.  I’m open to all suggestions.

I understand that Volunteer Christy has been hard at work updating our data base.  It won’t be long now that we can launch our empty plate dinner fundraiser.  In the past the empty plate dinner has been a great source of donations for the rescue.  This year I would like to see those funds used to replace both our plastic travel crates and our black wire crates.  As your know they are well used and the harsh cleansers that we have to use have taken there toll.  Thank you Christy.

Finally, I would like to thank everyone for a great year so far.  Everyone of you are such a great joy in my life.  It was a year ago this week on the 28th that we lost one of our dear friends Linda Griess.  Many of you remember her, as I do.  Please know that you are a part of something important.  You are wanted and needed.  You have a purpose and by being a part of Colorado Puppy Rescue you are making a difference.