Please help us save our rescue!

I never thought we'd find ourselves in this position but our animal home/rescue/sanctuary of over 4 decades is in trouble. The rent where we have lived for 39 years has gotten so high it's become unsustainable for us now that we are retired and on a fixed income. We've been hit with several financial blows over the past few months, just one right after the other, but this year's rent hike was the straw that has finally broken us. Losing our home is now getting closer and closer to becoming a reality (we own the mobile home, but not the land it sits on). Currently, we have over 20 animals who are permanently residing at our rescue, some of which are special needs. Many were cast-offs, some were strays or came from situations of neglect and abuse. Over the years some were relinquished by good folks who just could no longer keep them. Those who failed to be or couldn't be adopted have had a forever home with us. In addition to domestic animals, we have raised hundreds of wildlife babies over the decades and released them back into the wild when they were ready to go. We also raise pollinator bees and feel very strongly about how important they are to the survival of the world's food production.

We have looked at many different options; selling this place and buying another mobile home on a property elsewhere or moving our mobile home to a small piece of property seems to be the two most viable options. Whatever we do, it has to be viable and sustainable long term, not just for us, but for all the animals here at our rescue. But as it stands right now, no bank will approve us unless we have a decent down payment, and if we decide to move this house, that's a pricey endeavor as well. Our home has had so much work done to it over the years, which is why I am leaning towards moving it versus buying someone else's used mobile....a lot of the mobile/land properties we have looked at all have homes on them that are in pretty sad shape.

My husband Bruce is the official stray cat whisperer, and he is responsible for all the stray cats we have taken in over the years. He has cried alongside me when an injured animal that's been brought to us doesn't make it, and when the old one's pass. I have watched him hold tiny sick babies in his hands and lovingly help me in the middle of the night when I have to get out of bed every 2 hours to tube feed them. He is also the builder of all thing's habitat-related, and he has built some amazing things for the animals here as well as put up countless fences and runs. He can make some incredible things out of nothing, including turning a huge old cigar humidor into a large indoor turtle pond frame for our rescue red-eared slider Lucy. Bruce has a prosthetic arm so it never ceases to amaze me and everyone else who knows him, at all the many things he can do despite the loss of his right hand.

I have spent a lifetime advocating for animals. I was one of the original founders of the Hedgehog Welfare Society, I run several rescue and animal rehab groups on Facebook and prior to the days of Facebook, I was part of several rescue groups on yahoogroups.com. I mentor people from all over the US and at times, abroad, with their animal care issues. I also volunteer my time for the Seattle Ferret Rescue, setting up and creating designs for their online store. You can visit us and see the animals in our care, and even read about our Save the Bees Project here: http://sshalimar16.wix.com/katiesplace

Thank you and God bless you for helping us continue on with this very important work, because in some way, shape or form, I intend to help animals in need until I take my last breath.

"We can judge the heart of a person by their treatment of animals". (Gandhi)