July 2014 Sanctuary Newsletter
Greetings Fans,
This is going to be a very short update, we wanted to thank everyone for making our season finale a great one, as they usually are, and thank you for understanding the reason we have become a closed sanctuary. It was finally possible for us to do so. This does not mean we won’t need your financial support, we do still, but it was time for us to become a true sanctuary. That is no public visitors. We do still plan to have the occasional educational tour and event, but not an every Saturday visit. So come and visit this site often, as well as our Facebook page for updates and events.
Welcome: We want to welcome Jaimie Wise, DVM, to our veterinarian team at Yogie and Friends. Dr. Wise is also the owner of Wise Choice Animal Hospital in Shreveport and is well known throughout our community and for her work with exotic animals. She joined our team on May 1st. Welcome aboard Dr. Jaimie!
USDA License: We just received our license renewal from the USDA APHIS in the mail yesterday. Yogie and Friends Exotic Cat Sanctuary has been a USDA Class C exhibitor licensed sanctuary in good standing since 2000. Our fans should take comfort in knowing we follow the rules and regulations and do what is best for our animals.
Sanctuary Upgrades: We have been working very hard at the sanctuary to update, improve, and make necessary repairs to the big cat habitats and the property in general. One improvement we have made is upgrading our existing security cameras that you probably never knew we had, but we were watching you, Lol! and made them where we can now do live video feeds in some of the habitats. That will be fun when we make them available on our website for you to see. The old cameras did their job, which was safety and security for the animals and property. These are just more intense and modern cameras that we can watch near and far. Things are coming along nicely. Thanks to those who are helping make it possible.
Road Kill: We continue to receive phone calls from people asking us to take road kill to feed our animals. We received a call from the Desoto Sheriff just this past week for a horse that got hit by a car and killed. We did not take the animal as a food source. This is something we have never done and never will. We only get our food for our animals, such as whole, non-diseased cows, from local ranchers we know and have worked with for years. We get deer meat, deer bones, deer hide, and never remnants (people leave a lot of meat on the bones) from Cotton’s Grocery and Mac’s Deer Processing Plant only since we know the safety and quality of the deer meat because it is being used for human consumption. And we also use USDA inspected, grass fed, organic, Wagyu beef, from Strube Ranch. So you see we only feed a quality diet to our animals. It is a whole prey diet and it’s not fun to prepare, but the animals are worth it. We would never risk our animals getting a piece of glass or metal in them from a damaged vehicle. Thank you for understanding why we don’t do this. We know you are trying to help.
Facebook: If you aren’t already following us on our Facebook page, then please go and like on us. We are very active on the page and share lots of photos and videos of the big cats as well as sharing upcoming events and educational information of big cats and domestic pets. Please help us increase our fan page like.
Combined Federal Campaign (CFC): If you are a Military member or Federal Employee we hope you will donate to Yogie and Friends via CFC. This program is easy and another good way to give financial assistance to the big cats. We hope you will please consider Yogie and Friends when making your CFC contribution. Our CFC number is 42427.
Financial Support: Your financial support is always needed and much appreciated. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in good standing. We have always been, and remain, a 100% volunteer driven organization. Our normal monthly bills are: Water, Electric, Diesel fuel (truck), phone, and truck insurance. Other bills are liability insurance and vet care when needed. We are good managers of our funds and have no debt. We work hard on this to be good stewards of our money. This is why our donors are so important and we want you all to know how much we appreciate you for your continued support. Thank you!
Recycle Ink Cartridges and Cell Phones: Please consider helping us with our recycling program. Please don’t throw those old ink jet/laser jet cartridges in the trash. Give them to us. We recycle them and get cash for the cats. You can box up the cartridges; put a prepaid label on it that we will provide you, and then drop it off at any UPS shipping facility or they can pick it up at your business. If you need labels, then just contact us and we will get some too you.
Kroger Community Rewards Program: If you haven’t registered your Kroger Plus Card online yet, then you can do so at anytime. Once your card is registered you can go to the Community Rewards Program page, select Yogie and Friends as your charity of choice and then link your Kroger Plus Card to the Rewards program. Every time an enrolled participant shops at Kroger using his or her Kroger Plus card, Yogie and Friends will begin accumulating rewards. In addition, once a household member enrolls his or her card, all linked Kroger Plus cards within that household will begin earning funds for Yogie and Friends. That is if you have selected us as your charity of choice and we sure hope you have. Please make sure you register your Kroger Plus Card on line and then link Yogie and Friends as your charity of choice. This only applies to Texas and Louisiana shoppers for us. Thank you in advance. Our charity NPO number is: 80724
Rescue Roast Coffee and Tea: Is now offering flavors and single serve coffee for your K-cup style brewers as well as Rescue Nuts and other products. We have the coffee, K-cups, and tea available at the sanctuary and the flea market, but you can also go to their website for your selections. This is a fair trade, organic product and available in regular roast and decaf. When you order online please don’t forget to select Yogie and Friends as your charity. We receive $3 from the sale of each bag. http://www.raisemoneyforpets.com/yoandfrexcat.html
Upcoming Events:
13 September 2014 11am-4pm Fall Bake Sale and Fundraiser
Petco, 6596 Youree Drive, Shreveport, LA
Much more to come!
PLEASE spay and neuter your pets. Adopt! Don’t Shop! Also, please continue heartworm prevention all year round and not just in the summer months. Heartworm disease can be transmitted all year.
For the cats!
Jenny
Posted in Monthly Newsletter
June 2014 Sanctuary Newsletter
We are heartbroken to report that our beloved tiger, Morticia, has died.
She had a large mass in her lower abdomen that had to be removed and unfortunately the surgery was more than her beautiful body could take.
We take comfort in knowing we gave her the best care with her almost 14 years with us. This is always very difficult for us here and Yogie and Friends and we grieve for our animals because they are our family.
Morticia June 2000 – 24 May 2014
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:
Because we have had the privilege of enjoying such wonderful supporters for many years, Yogie and Friends Exotic Cat Sanctuary has realized its dream of living up to the part of its name that is often disregarded when speaking casually. Indeed, Yogie and Friends has arrived at a place where we are finally truly able to be a Sanctuary. A Sanctuary, by definition, has biblical roots, but is defined as a place of asylum, refuge and rest. The more modern term refers to an area where animals can take refuge from human interference. Because Yogie and Friends has been open to the public for so many years, we weren’t truly giving our residents a place of refuge from as many humans as possible, yet, the financial support provided by the public was necessary for their very survival, so compromises had to be made. As our cat population ages, we take seriously the commitment of providing a sanctuary for them and for this reason, we have made the difficult decision to close our gates to the general public. As a result, we are eliminating our weekly Saturday hours for general public attendance. Our last public day this season will be June 14, 2014. The general public has two more chances to visit the cats and they are, June 7 and 14, with June 14th being our last day. In lieu of regular public visitors, special tours will be available upon request and by appointment only. We will continue to need support in the form financial donations, and ask that you give in the spirit of knowing you are helping the cats by donating, not visiting! In this attempt to not just talk the talk, but also to walk the walk, we thank you for your understanding and sign off with renewed commitment, For The Cats. Yogie and Friends.
Sanctuary Upgrades: We have been working very hard at the sanctuary to update, improve, and make necessary repairs to the big cat habitats and the property in general. Our climate is very difficult on certain materials so we have been updating things such as the den houses (starting those very soon), new dirt and sod, updating our outdated security cameras with the added benefit of possibly making a live feed on our website, and many other improvements. It takes time, and of course, money. Would you consider sponsoring a new den house? We already have two sponsored. One for Moses’ habitat and it will be called “Jill’s House.” And the one in Morticia’s habitat, which will be called “Morticia’s Manor.” We realize she won’t be there to enjoy the new digs, but it will be used and loved by other tigers. We are building cinder block houses so they will not be subject to termites or other conditions to wear them out. We will be starting with Morticia’s house and then the lions will be moved in there to work on their habitat and so on. Each den house is going to cost $1000 to build. We originally thought $500-$600, but we have to pay for labor on these since they are skills we don’t have. If you’d like to contribute to the cost of each den house, then you can send a check or money order to: Yogie and Friends, 128 Fob Lane, Frierson, LA 71027. Since both our VP and I are military retirees we are able to purchase materials at Lowes and Home Depot with a 10% military discount. That basically saves us the tax. We appreciate any and all help with the cost of the new houses.
Volunteers: We always need volunteer help. You must be 18 or older (17 for active military) to work on the premises and we can really use your help. The most critical task now is heavy work. We will be mixing bags of concrete for the den house pads. We are also moving some dirt into the cat habitats, which are almost finished, and may some sod work. We can always use lawn care help. Things like weed eating, pulling vines off the fences, and some mowing. If you can help we would love to have you. We are working every Sunday beginning at 9am and then every Saturday and Sunday beginning June 21st. We begin at 9am due to the hot weather and work until it is too hot or the work is done. We don’t want our volunteers getting sick from the heat. We will feed you and we also provide you bottled water and Power Ade. Please contact us if you can help.
Kroger Community Rewards Program: The new Kroger Community Rewards Program is now active. If you haven’t registered your Kroger Plus Card online yet, then you can do so at anytime. Once your card is registered you can go to the Community Rewards Program page, select Yogie and Friends as your charity of choice and then link your Kroger Plus Card to the Rewards program. Every time an enrolled participant shops at Kroger using his or her Kroger Plus card, Yogie and Friends will begin accumulating rewards. In addition, once a household member enrolls his or her card, all linked Kroger Plus cards within that household will begin earning funds for Yogie and Friends. That is if you have selected us as your charity of choice and we sure hope you have. Please make sure you register your Kroger Plus Card on line and then link Yogie and Friends as your charity of choice. This only applies to Texas and Louisiana shoppers for us. Thank you in advance. Our charity NPO number is: 80724
Combined Federal Campaign (CFC): We received an e-mail yesterday that we have been approved for the next CFC campaign. This is always welcome news when we get approved. The new campaign has kicked off and we hope if you are a Military member or Federal Employee you will donate to Yogie and Friends via CFC. This program is easy and another good way to give financial assistance to the big cats. We hope you will please consider Yogie and Friends when making your CFC contribution. Our CFC number is 42427.
Financial Support: Your financial support is always needed and much appreciated. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in good standing. We have always been, and remain, a 100% volunteer driven organization. We will NOT pay ourselves for the work we do. We do it for the love of the animals. Our normal monthly bills are: Water, Electric, Diesel fuel (truck), phone, and truck insurance. Other bills are liability insurance and vet care when needed. We are good managers of our funds and have no debt. We work hard on this to be good stewards of our money. We are trying to build up the coffers from the long off season to have funds for any emergency needs that should arise. This is why our donors are so important and we want you all to know how much we appreciate you for your continued support. Thank you!
Facebook: If you aren’t already following us on our Facebook page, then please go and like on us. We are very active on the page and share lots of photos and videos of the big cats as well as sharing upcoming events and educational information of big cats and domestic pets. Please help us increase our fan page like.
Recycle Ink Cartridges and Cell Phones: Please consider helping us with our recycling program. This is something that kids can do as well and they are always looking for ways to help the animals and the environment. This is a great way to do it. Please don’t throw those old ink jet/laser jet cartridges in the trash. Give them to us. We recycle them and get cash for the cats. It adds up fast. The company we use also makes sure that they are recycled in an environmentally friendly way and that is important in so many ways. If you would like to participate in this program it is very easy. You can box up the cartridges, put a prepaid label on it that we will provide you, then drop it off at any UPS shipping facility or they can pick it up at your business if you have UPS pickup at your business. It’s a win-win situation. Help the environment and the big cats. If you need labels, then just contact us and we will get some too you.
Rescue Roast Coffee and Tea: Is now offering flavors and single serve coffee for your K-cup style brewers as well as Rescue Nuts and other products. We have the coffee, K-cups, and tea available at the sanctuary and the flea market, but you can also go to their website for your selections. This is a fair trade, organic product and available in regular roast and decaf. When you order online please don’t forget to select Yogie and Friends as your charity. We receive $3 from the sale of each bag. http://www.raisemoneyforpets.com/yoandfrexcat.html
Upcoming Events:
14 June 2014 Noon – 5pm Big Cat Bash (Yogie Public Visit Finale)
13 September 2014 11am-4pm Fall Bake Sale and Fundraiser
Petco, 6596 Youree Drive, Shreveport, LA
Much more to come!
PLEASE spay and neuter your pets. Adopt! Don’t Shop! Also, please continue heartworm prevention all year round and not just in the summer months. Heartworm disease can be transmitted all year.
For the cats!
Jenny
Posted in Monthly Newsletter
May 2014 Sanctuary Newsletter
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:
Because we have had the privilege of enjoying such wonderful supporters for many years, Yogie and Friends Exotic Cat Sanctuary has realized its dream of living up to the part of its name that is often disregarded when speaking casually. Indeed, Yogie and Friends has arrived at a place where we are finally truly able to be a Sanctuary. A Sanctuary, by definition, has biblical roots, but is defined as a place of asylum, refuge and rest. The more modern term refers to an area where animals can take refuge from human interference. Because Yogie and Friends has been open to the public for so many years, we weren’t truly giving our residents a place of refuge from as many humans as possible, yet, the financial support provided by the public was necessary for their very survival, so compromises had to be made. As our cat population ages, we take seriously the commitment of providing a sanctuary for them and for this reason, we have made the difficult decision to close our gates to the general public. As a result, we are eliminating our weekly Saturday hours for general public attendance. Our last public day this season will be June 14, 2014. The general public has seven more chances to visit the cats and they are, May 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 and June 7 and 14, with June 14th being our last day. In lieu of regular public visitors, special tours will be available upon request and by appointment only. We will continue to need support in the form financial donations, and ask that you give in the spirit of knowing you are helping the cats by donating, not visiting! In this attempt to not just talk the talk, but also to walk the walk, we thank you for your understanding and sign off with renewed commitment, For The Cats. Yogie and Friends.
New Cat House Fundraiser: Would you consider sponsoring a new den house? We already have one sponsor for Moses’ habitat and it will be called “Jill’s House.” We are building cinder block houses so they will not be subject to termites or other conditions to wear them out. We will be starting with the lion pen with our three lions, Batman, Boo Boo and Yogie. That has the most immediate need and then we will go from there. Then we will build Moses, Morticia, Gomez/Putty Tat, and Samson after that. Cinder blocks at Home Depot and Lowes are the same price at $1.43 each 8x8x16 cinderblock. We need at least 158 for the three lion house, concrete, and braces at the top for the roof. Each den house is going to cost $600 to build. We originally thought $500, but prices have increased. If you’d like to contribute to the cost of each den house, then you can send a check or money order to: Yogie and Friends, 128 Fob Lane, Frierson, LA 71027. Since both our VP and I are military retirees we are able to purchase materials at Lowes and Home Depot with a 10% military discount. That basically saves us the tax. We appreciate any and all help with the cost of the new houses.
Grass Sod: We have been purchasing grass sod for the cat pens a pallet at a time. Each pallet cost $300. It doesn’t cover the entire pen, but it’s a good start. We have also been putting more dirt in the pens to build them up from four years of drought. We hope this year we have more rain to let stuff grow. The cats love the new grass. We need a lot more. If you would like to help with this project we could use your help with this as well.
Kroger Community Rewards Program: The new Kroger Community Rewards Program is now active. If you haven’t registered your Kroger Plus Card online yet, then you can do so at anytime. Once your card is registered you can go to the Community Rewards Program page, select Yogie and Friends as your charity of choice and then link your Kroger Plus Card to the Rewards program. Every time an enrolled participant shops at Kroger using his or her Kroger Plus card, Yogie and Friends will begin accumulating rewards. In addition, once a household member enrolls his or her card, all linked Kroger Plus cards within that household will begin earning funds for Yogie and Friends. That is if you have selected us as your charity of choice and we sure hope you have. Please make sure you register your Kroger Plus Card on line and then link Yogie and Friends as your charity of choice. This only applies to Texas and Louisiana shoppers for us. Thank you in advance. Our charity NPO number is: 80724
Combined Federal Campaign (CFC): We received an e-mail yesterday that we have been approved for the next CFC campaign. This is always welcome news when we get approved. The new campaign has kicked off and we hope if you are a Military member or Federal Employee you will donate to Yogie and Friends via CFC. This program is easy and another good way to give financial assistance to the big cats. We hope you will please consider Yogie and Friends when making your CFC contribution. Our CFC number is 42427.
Financial Support: Your financial support is always needed and much appreciated. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in good standing. We have always been, and remain, a 100% volunteer driven organization. We will NOT pay ourselves for the work we do. We do it for the love of the animals. Our normal monthly bills are: Water, Electric, Diesel fuel (truck), phone, and truck insurance. Other bills are liability insurance and vet care when needed. We are good managers of our funds and have no debt. We work hard on this to be good stewards of our money. We are trying to build up the coffers from the long off season to have funds for any emergency needs that should arise. This is why our donors are so important and we want you all to know how much we appreciate you for your continued support. Thank you!
Amazon Wish List: Yogie and Friends has a wish list to help us with feeding ferals/domestic cats in our colonies and foster care, as well as a few administrative items such as printer ink. If you would like to help with anything in this area, then please go to our wish list. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/1IP8XF9GJ5B0Q/ref=topnav_lists_1
Facebook: If you aren’t already following us on our Facebook page, then please go and like on us. We are very active on the page and share lots of photos and videos of the big cats as well as sharing upcoming events and educational information of big cats and domestic pets. Please help us increase our fan page like.
Recycle Ink Cartridges and Cell Phones: Please consider helping us with our recycling program. This is something that kids can do as well and they are always looking for ways to help the animals and the environment. This is a great way to do it. Please don’t throw those old ink jet/laser jet cartridges in the trash. Give them to us. We recycle them and get cash for the cats. It adds up fast. The company we use also makes sure that they are recycled in an environmentally friendly way and that is important in so many ways. If you would like to participate in this program it is very easy. You can box up the cartridges, put a prepaid label on it that we will provide you, then drop it off at any UPS shipping facility or they can pick it up at your business if you have UPS pickup at your business. It’s a win-win situation. Help the environment and the big cats. If you need labels, then just contact us and we will get some too you.
Rescue Roast Coffee and Tea: Is now offering flavors and single serve coffee for your K-cup style brewers as well as Rescue Nuts and other products. We have the coffee, K-cups, and tea available at the sanctuary and the flea market, but you can also go to their website for your selections. This is a fair trade, organic product and available in regular roast and decaf. When you order online please don’t forget to select Yogie and Friends as your charity. We receive $3 from the sale of each bag. http://www.raisemoneyforpets.com/yoandfrexcat.html
Upcoming Events:
14 June 2014 Noon – 5pm Big Cat Bash (Yogie Public Visit Finale)
13 September 2014 11am-4pm Fall Bake Sale and Fundraiser
Petco, 6596 Youree Drive, Shreveport, LA
Much more to come!
PLEASE spay and neuter your pets. Adopt! Don’t Shop! Also, please continue heartworm prevention all year round and not just in the summer months. Heartworm disease can be transmitted all year.
For the cats!
Jenny
Posted in Monthly Newsletter