8/9/2004

We are going to have a Memorial Service for our cats that were killed. This service will be on Saturday, August 14 at 11 AM. Everyone is welcome. Please come.

8/8/2004

To read the latest on our tragedy please click here. It is an article that appeared in the most recent issue of the State Port Pilot. The article says the dogs are reportedly in Raleigh and we have it on good authority that they are back in our county and in the same location from which they came when our cats were attacked. Also of special note is Tuesday's (the 10th) court date for Mark Hill who was charged with making threats directed towards SOAR the morning of the attack. This hearing will be in the Brunswick County District Court.

8/8/2004

The webmaster has been out of town in addition to being derelict in his duties. This will change as of Sunday. We have adopted out a lot of dogs recently and we have lots of new ones. Barring anything unforeseen we will have pics of them here tomorrow. Please check back.

7/30/2004

Good news! The owner of the dogs decided to drop her appeal of the dangerous dog designation so that means this designation will stay in effect. We are happy about this and we want to thank each of you that took the time to write on our behalf. We greatly appreciate everything you've done for us.

7/30/2004

And that's not the only good news of the day. Kris Kringle got adopted too. And into a really good family. Kris now has a cute little beagle sister to play with too. He hit the jackpot today. Everyone keep their fingers crossed that Kris goes home and behaves himself because, as much as we love the guy, we hope he doesn't 'boomerang' back to us.

And, Jane Doe, is in a foster home and if things work out will be adopted also. And the same for Bethie, Lindy, and Hershey. It's been a good week.

7/28/2004

SOAR owes thanks to everyone who has responded to our plea for help. There is one person we would like to single out for special thanks. Nancy Janovetz, the owner and proprietor of Paws Place and avowed dog lover. Like you, Nancy was moved and touched by our tragedy.

Nancy's plate is full and then some just keeping Paw's Place running. Anyone who has ever spent time at an animal shelter knows how much work is required. So, even with all that she has to do at Paw's Place Nancy found time to help us too. She came to SOAR and worked on our grounds and facilities and she has written to officials on our behalf and encouraged others to do the same. She's been very helpful. Nancy, thank you.

7/26/2004

Please join our letter writing campaign

On July 2, the morning after the attack, law enforcement officials deemed these pit bull dogs dangerous. Dogs with this designation have to be either confined in a secure building or on a physical restraint and muzzled. These restrictions would be in place always unless their owner appealed them within 5 days. She filed an appeal and the appeal hearing will be on July 30.

It is very important that these restrictions continue. We believe that these dogs will return to SOAR if these restrictions are not in place. And we believe they will kill again whether at SOAR or somewhere else. They are very dangerous to cats, that much is certain, and we strongly believe they are dangerous to people and other animals.

Would you help us in our efforts to keep this 'dangerous dog' designation in place? Please write to the person who will make the decision and let him know how strongly you feel that the safety of our county(ies) will be in jeopardy if he decides otherwise.

His name and address is as follows:

Mr. Donald J. Yousey
Brunswick County Health Department
25 Courthouse Dr. NE
P. O. Box 9
Bolivia, NC 28411-0009

email: djyousey@brunsco.net

7/25/2004

We are starting an FIV awareness campaign. Some kittens and cats have FIV, or Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, and most people are not knowledgeable in just what this means for the cats, or for their owners. This lack of understanding makes it less likely that FIV cats will be adopted. We hope to convince you that adopting a FIV cat can be a very rewarding experience.

We will be doing various things in our awareness campaign but our first action is to provide links to articles and websites that discuss FIV. Please read our first link. It is to an article in the March 2002 issue of Best Friends magazine. Following is an excerpt from this article

"As long as cats with FIV are not exposed to diseases that their immune system can’t handle, they can live perfectly normal lives. And they can only pass the virus on to other cats through a serious, penetrating bite wound. So unless your cats at home routinely tear each other to pieces, it’s not a problem. (And if your cats are tearing each other up, that’s probably a bigger problem!)'

http://www.bestfriends.org/sanctuary/creature/FIV.htm

7/25/2004

Casey has been adopted! Casey went to a good home last week and we're so happy about this. We spoke with Casey's new mom and she said that after some initial adjustment problems he is settling in just fine and becoming very affectionate. Casey deserved a good home and now he has it.

7/24/2004

They've done it again. The Olive or Twist bar has raised over $1,000 for SOAR with their annual golf tournament. That is just great and SOAR is very appreciative. We'll have some more news on this tournament soon but right now we just wanted everyone to know what Olive or Twist has done for SOAR. Thank you Olive or Twist.