14TH Annual Paws & Purrsonality Fundraiser

14TH Annual Paws & Purrsonality Fundraiser

There were games, food, drinks, and fun! We had a blast at our annual FUNdraiser this year and we made $36,500.00 for the medical needs of our kitties. Thank you all who came out and supported us; we couldn’t do it without your loving contributions.

We have partnered with the Department of Human Services EARN program for over a decade now and we used the spotlight of Paws and Purrsonality to recognize some of our employees this year. The EARN program is a wonderful opportunity for single parents to get back into the workforce. Over the years, we have had many folks participate in the program in both our shelter and thrift store. Some, like our Shelter Manager Teri Smith, came to us through the program and found her love of animals fit perfectly with our mission statement. Teri has worked in several roles in the shelter and today holds the title of Shelter Manager, overseeing the shelter and foster programs. We have been blessed with many other employees over the years who have come to care for our kitties through the EARN program. We love that we can care for our kitties and help members of our community at the same time.

Thank you to our generous sponsors this year!

Platinum Paw sponsors

Gail & Tremaine Arkley

Gold Paw Sponsor

South Salem Pet Supply

Silver Paw Sponsor

The Pet Nana

Bronze Paw Sponsor

Tito’s Handmade Vodka

Salem Veterinary Emergency Clinic

I Day Signs

Capitol Toyota

Friend of SFOF Sponsor

Evergreen Veterinary Hospital

Law Office of Eden Rose Brown

Sara L. Butcher Law

Cats like presents too :)

And now you have 4 different locations to drop by and give a homeless cat a much-needed bit of love.

Mud Bay - the new cool pet supply store in West Salem
Pets Unleashed - a wonderful pet supply store in Dallas
South Salem Pet Supply - the warmest hearts, located in South Salem on Commercial
Our own Shelter --- come by and visit with us!

And if you come by the shelter, you can enter to win a beautiful cat tree! With every item you donate to us you can get a raffle ticket! Each raffle ticket gets you closer to winning a prize - an awesome cat tree! This is only for donations made in the shelter, so come on by!

Come by and check it out! Stay a while and pet a cat while you're at it! :)

We will hold the raffle drawing on December 31st so keep an eye out for the announcement!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Shopping on Amazon?

Our wishlist of needed items is at your fingertips --- just click and the items(s) you choose will get sent to our doorstep. Send a cat in need a gift of love while you are on Amazon.

These are simple things that we need all year long, and start running low on. Things like food, sanitizers, and supplies for feeding bottle babies like these babies.

Thank you for thinking of the homeless cats this season as you do your shopping!

Sneaks peeks and behind the scene looks!

---by Jackie, SFOF Shelter Staff

We know most people like to satisfy their curiosity or confirm that everything is aboveboard. It's human nature to question and investigate. We understand this and we always are very open with our supporters and followers. But sometimes people still don't understand fully what goes on in the shelter life. Through no fault of their own of course! They are not living it and seeing it every day, so they can't know the ins and outs like the people working and volunteering here daily. Well, have we got a peek behind the SFOF curtain for you guys!

As we got a sweet little bottle baby into the shelter, we got another call about 6 kittens found in a garbage bag and dumped by a river! This man was walking his dog when it started to get agitated and led him to the 6 kittens, about 4-5 weeks old. Hero puppy! Another foster had been here dropping some kitties off and overheard. She immediately volunteered to take these babies once we got them in. The good samaritan brought them to us as fast as they could. Sadly, one of them had already passed away before getting to us despite the best efforts of couple that found them. The little ones remaining were so happy to be saved from certain death! They are now safely with their amazing foster as they recover!

By this time, we thought everything was calming down and our kitten frenzy was over for the day. Boy were we wrong! A little later, a man walks in carrying a box and informs us that there are 2 more boxes full of abandoned cats on the side of the building. There were 11 baby kittens and 2 adult nursing mamas! Yep, you heard us right. ELEVEN babies and TWO nursing mamas, all in these 3 cardboard boxes. One of the mamas and all the babies looked relatively healthy, but the tabby mama had an open wound on her neck, and her eyes were horrible looking. We, unfortunately, had to separate her babies from her since she wasn't doing well, but the other mama has 5 kittens she is still caring for. Everyone is in foster and doing well. We kept the tabby mama here so she can go to the vet and recover here comfortably.

We wanted people to see what is a fairly regular occurrence at the shelter. Abandoned kitties, unscheduled drop-offs when we don't have the room, injuries, and oh so many kittens. It's not just adoptions and happy days. We have to find space and resources for every cat and kitten, even when we haven't planned for them. As much as we are grateful they are safe now(and the fact that we fall in love with every one of them that comes through here) it doesn't mean it's not tough and heartbreaking to see them come in this way, or worse. And it starts to really skew your view on people. We don't want that to happen so we work very hard to see all the good in people. Like all the amazing humans that support SFOF consistently in any way they can, all the people that help animals(and people) every chance they get, and the ones that have huge hearts and can lend a shoulder to cry on, an ear to hear our ups and downs, or a place to share a laugh with. You all help us every day to see that in the midst of all the unfair pain and suffering we see, there is hope and good in the world! Thank you all! And of course, some good old fashion kitty therapy helps too! They're always willing to snuggle you!