[Racerbvd]

As many of you know, I have a soft spot for furry little animals, our local (Jacksonville, FL.) Humane Society suffered a major fire.

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/040907/met_9138527.shtml

Humane Society Immediate Needs;

As many of you may already know, a terrible fire swept through the humane society yesterday, destroying the building and killing most of the cats. It has been very traumatic to the surviving animals and those who work for the humane society. They are in desperate need of immediate help. Below you will find a list of everything needed. Please read through the list carefully and see if there is anything that you can contribute. Then, please forward this email to everyone in your address book. Thank you to everyone for helping our Humane Society in their time of need!

Here is a list of what we need first and foremost at the shelter:


Cash, check, or credit card donations! Donations can be made at the Humane Society Thrift Store which is
located at 8328 Beach Blvd. Also, Wachovia Bank has established an account for us. So you can make
donations at any Wachovia Branch to the Humane Society account #2000034081857. Any donation, no matter how small, will help.

We also need:

Blankets, towels, bleach, mops, brooms, cleaning buckets, squeegees, hoses, paper towels, old newspaper, office supplies (pens, pencils, staplers, paper, file folders, etc.), a laminating machine, and copier.

We could also use coolers filled with bottled water and/or sodas.

All of these things can also be donated at the Thrift Store. The Thrift Store is open Monday through Saturday 9-5. It will be open this Sunday (April 8) from 10-5.

Our pet food was kept in the warehouse and was not destroyed by the fire, so we are not in need of any
food at this time. If we do run short, Purina has assured us they will send us what we need.

Please let everyone know that all the animals that survived are doing well, considering what they have
been through. We are still missing two dogs. Should anyone find a lost dog, please take it to a local vet
and have it scanned for a microchip. As previously reported, we are pretty sure most of our cats perished
in the fire. However, we have not been allowed in yet to do a body count (for lack of a better term). Until
we can do that, we are hoping that some may have gotten out on their own. So if any cats are found,
please have them scanned for microchip as well.

I was there at 2:30 a.m. during the worst part of the fire. It was pretty horrific! I have seen and heard
things that I will never get out of my head. When dawn broke, the light of day confirmed just how bad
everything was. All I could tell my staff was "don't look in the windows". You don't want to remember our
animals like that. I wish I didn't look. We did thebest we could given the circumstances. Our surviving
animals have been relocated to our clinic and I am hoping to find either foster or permanent homes for
all of them during the next week. Once I have all the animals situated, then we can regroup and figure out
how/when we can start accepting animals back in. If anyone is interested in fostering or adopting, they
can call me (Karen Padgham) directly at 591-4748. The main phone number to the shelter is currently not working. Obviously, we are not accepting any owner surrender animals at this time. Anyone who needs to relinquish their pet would need to contact Animal Care & Control at 387-8924.

Given everything we have been through, the staff is holding up pretty well. It was very emotional as we
consider these animals part of our family while they are waiting to find a family of their own. The
shelter will be closed at least until Tuesday. The insurance adjuster has to come on Monday and has to
give permission to allow the public back on the property. I'll let you know if our open date changes.
In the meantime, I'm willing to process adoptions or foster situations from home.

Thanks for your help and support!


Karen Padgham

Humane Society


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