Monday, December 29, 2014

GOOD MORNING GOOD NEWS -- December 29, 2014






Who isn't happy at Rikki's?   The turkeys showed their appreciation on Christmas by talking to the visitors on our tour.  They're saying THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for saving our lives !!!  And THANK YOU for not serving us and our cousins on your table !!  All turkeys should have the chance to be as happy as these guys and gals at Rikki's Refuge !!!!!  

“Had an amazing time with my family this Christmas! We were SO HAPPY!”  Benjamin Cloth, the hooman in the video !!

Merry Christmas everybody ...... this really was the best Christmas ...... Santa got it right!



Conference with a cat

Strolling along with the tour


The turkeys were in fine form today .... following the tour ..... talking and saying thank you for having a cruelty free Christmas!

Inter-Species Friendships aren’t just for the birds at Rikki’s.  The diversity of friendship and love always amaze our visitors.  Cats and dogs.  Horses and cows.  Donkeys and cats.  Chickens and dogs. 

The sun was streaming down one everyone Christmas Day, it was a gloriously marvelous day in so many ways.




STOP !!!
We interrupt this newsletter
for some fabulous late breaking news !!!!


Rikki's Refuge $32,768 Double Donation Challenge!
IT’S BACK ....  END OF THE YEAR DOUBLE DONATION CHALLENGE!
NOW through MIDNIGHT 12/31/14

WOW we never know what number our fantastic supporters will pick !!!!!   This is short notice ... but all TAX-DEDUCTIBLE donations from right this second ... thru Midnight Wednesday .... will be DOUBLED .... but only up to $32,768 ...  it’s a magic number to be sure !!! 

If we can meet this challenge ..... and we can win all the sponsors money ....  all $32,768 .....  if we can leave them NOTHING to go on vacation with .....  

YOUR generosity will support ALL the animals with ALL their needs for FIFTY Days !!!

Normally YOU would need to donate $1300 to take care of all 1300 animals for ONE DAY ......   

NOW a Donation of ONLY $650 ....  
          will provide every possible need for
                every animal here for a WHOLE DAY !!!!

BUT WAIT ....  if a WHOLE day is too much .... 
You can support the animals for 12 hours for ONLY $325  !!!

or 8 hours for $216 !!!

$108 will support EVERYONE for FOUR HOURS !!!

and did you know a donation of only $27,
                when doubled, will support EVERYONE for an HOUR !!

If $27 is our of your budget, 12 ½ cents, when doubled, will buy a MEAL !!!

And that means $1 will buy EIGHT MEALS today !!!

Don’t miss out ....   DOUBLE YOUR DONATION NOW !!!!   

ON-LINE AT

CHECK OR MONEY ORDER MAILED TO
Rikki's Refuge
PO Box 1357
Orange  VA  22960
(envelope must be post marked by 12/31/14)

CREDIT CARD BY EMAIL:
(name, type of card, card #, exp. date, cvn, donation amount)

DROP OFF IN PERSON AT RETAIL IN FREDERICKSBURG:
(by 12/31/14 please!)
Rikki's Refuge Re-Tail
3503 Lafayette Blvd
Fredericksburg  VA  22408
(MON-WED: 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM)


WOW WAS THAT EVER EXCITING NEWS ....
Now back to our regularly scheduled newsletter !!



our peaceful loving cows want you know .... It’s a LIE ....  you’ve seen it on billboards .... it’s one big lie ....  the cows are NOT asking people to eat chickens ....  they agree with the chickens and shall stand in line with them in protest ... Friends don’t let Friends eat Friends !!!!

Christmas was such a beautiful day!  All the hairy and feathered animals wanted to be out frolicking.  The hooman animals loved strolling with the sun warming their bodies and the animals warming their hearts.

Betty .... loves tours

Betty came to us from New York City.  She was roaming the streets and a call went out for Animal Control to pick up this poor lost kitty.  Well Betty was not impressed.  She snarled and tried to elude the officer.  She was finally caught on the end of a rabies pole.  That’s a long handle with a nose on the end that you can get around an animals neck, keep them secure and keep them at a distance so they can’t bite you.  It’s used as a last resort when catching an animal, or when one fears the animal will bite.  Well ....  Betty, once again, wasn’t impressed.  When the officer got her into a cage and was attempting to remove the noose ... Betty bit.  That’s called a provoked bite in the animal biz.  I mean, like really, come on, if the aliens dropped in, chased you down, noosed you, tried to put you in a cage ..... would you fight for your life?  Would you bite? 

At any rate, the rules are the rules and any animal that bites may not be adopted back out into the city.  It may be taken by a rescue organization that is out of state.  But it will not be allowed to live in the state. 

And so Betty sat on death row.  Two things saved her life for a few days, long enough for that second chance to happen.  Being a stray she couldn’t be killed right away, there is a period of time an animal must be held to give the owner a chance to find it.  This varies from 24 hours in some places to 10 days in others.  And she was on a quarantine hold because she bit.  So in that cage she would sit, for ten long frightening days, as she saw the others being taken from the death row cages and killed. Can you imagine how that must feel? 

Some one at the shelter fell in love with her.  They were desperate to save her.  They knew somebody who’d heard of us from a friend who’d visited .....   and they sent an email asking if she could come live with us. 

We specialize in critters with issues.  The rejects of society.  The ones nobody wants.  The ones who have thumbed their nose at hooman society and will likely be put to death for their comment. 

And so shortly after Betty got out of bite quarantine, we signed all the waivers about a dangerous biting cat, and Betty got into a carrier and her rescuer drove her to Rikki’s Refuge.

While she was doing her quarantine here she was restless.  No matter where you are coming from, when you come on the property you have to go thru a quarantine here.  We make sure you’re up to date on everything and you have no nasty worms or fleas or anything to spread around.  I know it’s scary to get out of a cage in one place, and have to be in another one here for two weeks.  But it’s one of those lesser of the two evil things we have to do.  It protects everyone. 

Our quarantine is as friendly as it can be.  They have a spacious building, with big windows, all cages have a window view, where they can look out and watch the other residents.  They usually feel the peace and joy here, none of that terror in so many pounds, the joy of animals who’ve found a real home, a place they can call home forever, a place they are appreciated, not just counted off as one more number.  A place they aren’t seeing others frightened and dying. 

This quarantine period also gives us a chance to get to know our new residents.  To learn their purrsonality.  To figure out where they will be happiest living.  Would they want to be adopted to a regular home?  Do they want to live in a cat house with other kitty friends?  Are they mascot, free range, material?  Do they want to be near people or not?

Betty was lovely.  Though we’d made note to be cautious she may be a biter, we never say any aggressive moves.  Oh, I forgot to tell you.  Before she’d arrived, they’d given her the name Bitey.  It was after we got to know her better that she became Betty.  I think she likes that better.

Anyway Betty hates being confined.  Is it because of her ordeal on death row?  Or had she always grown up in the streets in New York City?  Who knows, she’s not talking much about her past life. 

At Rikki’s she loves being a free range mascot.  She’s made herself a special next in our tool shop.  Almost every out building here has a kitty door.  That’s cuz once upon a time a long time ago, somebody was missing for dinner one night.  We searched and we called and we were really upset.  We finally found him in the tool shop.  Somebody had been working, and the kitties love to help with all the chores, and he’d found a nice place to take a nap .... and been shut in.  So to keep that from ever happening again, we put kitty doors everywhere. 

Betty doesn’t like other cats too close to her territory and she patrols her area.  She loves the cows and the horses and the donkeys, especially the donkeys.  She loves spending time with them.  And she loves visitors.  She will only come in the 9th Life Center a couple nights a year when it’s really cold ... like below zero.  Other than that, she says thank you but no thank you, I’ve got a purrfectly fine and beautiful thick coat and I’m happy right here !!

Moo moo moo how are you






Here’s a Contest YOU can Win !!!
Click on the doggy’s nose to enter !!
Enter (YOURSELF and RIKKI'S REFUGE) for a Chance to Win the Daily Kibble Spread the Love Contest - Simply fill out the Daily Kibble form (email, first name, zip code and Rikki's Refuge) by December 31, 2014 to enter for a chance to win a $1,000 Cash Donation for us and a Mystery Pet Product Prize Package (worth more than $100) for Yourself!  



GGP gets up close with the donkeys !

Bebe and Bub the elderly donkeys had a wonderful day
Did I mention the sun?  We had the most beautiful sun streaming on us for the Christmas tour -- after days of rains and mushy grounds -- we were blessed with the most beautiful of days.

The feeling of love and good will you get from the animals while interacting is truly a wonderful Christmas gift.

Takin a selfie with BeBe.   She’s so loving, her gentle kindness just draws you in, no one can resist her. 

Nums is a highlight of Christmas ..... and any tour day !!

Baby gets some scritchin
Baby and her twin sister Stripey are Rikki’s mascots, they like to sleep in the hay with the donkeys, though in cooler months they spend the night with a hooman in their rv.  They’re not real picky, who ever is opening a door at the right time, they’ll run in with !!

Moose is the most glorious bloodhound ever !!!

Angelina .... she's been with us 16 years.  She came as a frightened 8 month old who’d lived most of her life in a shelter.  She was a fear biter and growled when people got close.  She was happy with male dogs and got along well as long as she was allowed to be in charge.  Female dogs she will not tolerate.  It took her a couple years to warm up to people, and to this day she’s only real friendly with those she knows very well.  It always makes us happy to see her come out and greet visitors, even if she’s not getting close enough to be patted.  We’re happy she no longer hides in the back of her house and snarls and trembles in fear.   She’s a good girl, she just needs an environment that’s right for her and people who accept that she will always prefer to be with dogs and not with hoomans. 


Woof Woof Woof ....
my name is Boomer and I'm BEGGING for YOU VOTE today !!!
Click on MY Nose to Vote ---  Rikkis Refuge, VA, USA 



Patrick

Thank you God for lettin the sun shine on us all today

A couple of the geese follow the "save water....bathe with a friend" rule!

Somebody fell in love with Rocky

Feline Fields

Sharing Some Christmas Love

Baby on the top shelf, Panther on the lower one.  Both have been here for just about forever.  Though friendly and wonderful and in Cat House #1, the Friendly and Adoptable, they love it right where they are.  They hate being indoors.  Love the weather no matter what it is.  Will play in the snow and even the rain sometimes.  Especially Baby, she loves water.  She splashes in the water bowl and loves to throw water out at other kitties.  Baby is also a sprayer.  She’s a girl, though you’d never guess from her husky handsome looks, and she’s my top sprayer in #1.  Many of them in here are, lovely wonderful kitties, just can’t resist that urge to spray !!!!  

Cats Playing, Turkeys Displaying, Geese Walking

Meet Smoky Joe!  See that beautiful winter coat?  That huge neck ruff?  Don’t you just want to snuggle your face into that ruff?  And in the summer he’s an ordinary short hair tabby !!!  He came in the winter one year.  That summer when he lost all that beautiful long hair and his marvelous ruff, I checked with his previous mom, yup ... he’s done that every year of his life !!

Cat Magnets

Norman finds a friend


Bahhhhhh



This little kitty loves to watch the reflections of everybody in the tv screen - she was entertained during the entire reception !!

Mr Mister takes center stage at the reception

Duke sniffing out the nums table

Tangy sharing Christmas Cheer ... or was that Purrrzzz ?

The food was good, but the company was better

I just know there something good up there ... I can’t see it .... but I sure can smell it

Tangy Doing Happy Dance For Whip Cream

Tangy walks Duke over to visit Mary

Duke fell asleep after a belly full of cookies

Christmas Kitty Love

Tangy Sharing Nums ThanksLiving
This video was from our ThanksLiving Celebration last month .....  it’s the perfect explaination of why YOU belong at Rikki’s Refuge’s Life Center if you love sharing !!!

It makes us SMILE when we make YOU happy !!

Thank you to everyone who helped with the tour/reception yesterday at the Refuge.  It was my first visit and having recently moved to Charlottesville from out of state, it was such a wonderful way to spend the afternoon.

I was so impressed with everything:

Overall, it was such a peaceful, stress-free environment  - such a rarity and such a gift to all of the animals.

The volunteers who took time on Christmas Day to show us this wonderful space.

Thank you to Melissa for her excellent tour guide abilities - I was impressed that she has the ability to keep her ears open to everything and catch everyone’s questions and make sure they were answered.

The animals - it was incredible to me that not one animal seemed stressed.  Even some of the shy dogs didn’t seemed stressed to me.

Loved the escorts through the tour - the cats, geese and turkeys.

The grounds - really impressed on how the space is laid out and the housing.

Thank you again for such a perfect Christmas gift.

Sincerely,
Nancy
P.S.  Thank you for the goodies at the reception - very tasty!


THANK YOU EVERYBODY
FOR MAKING OUR 17th CHRISTMAS
AT RIKKI’S REFUGE
HAPPY AND MEMORABLE
!!!!!





THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME TO
SAVE SO MANY LIVES
... with your support we’ve been able to save so many animals ... it’s only with your continued support that we can continue to care for them each and every day ....  Thank you for your kind and generous support for food, medicine, doctors, cleaning supplies ... and love !!

Without YOU

none of us would be here

looking forward to the New Year !!
THANK YOU !!!!!!
Your donations saved every one of us and will keep us all alive the rest of this year and into 2015 ....
And remember EVERY DONATION, up to $32,768 will be DOUBLED thru the end of the year !!!!   Please HELP US stock the pantries now so we don’t struggle thru the winter !!!!   Take the Opie Pledge and promise to work each and every day to make the planet just a little bit better.  If the pictures of the animals you have saved in this issue have made you smile, please take a few moments to make a donation so we can keep them smiling!!!  www.RikkisRefuge.org/FeedMe 

Love,
    Opie


Just say DOUBLE IT NOW !!!   www.RikkisRefuge.org/FeedMe

PS I want you to know something very important.  We always spend your funds very wisely and frugally.  We buy the basic necessities, we buy generic in bulk, volunteers drive many miles, donating the cost of gas, to get the best deals, we use day old produce, recently expired products, others left over construction materials and recycled products. 

We don’t need luxury, we don’t need the best ... we just want to save lives and create a world of happiness and contentedness.

When we can meet our basic needs, we are happy ... so very happy.

Thank YOU for making that happen.


Join us on
Facebook:         www.facebook.com/RikkisRefuge\
                  www.facebook.com/vincent.cat
                  www.facebook.com/Kerry.Hilliard
Rikki’s Web Site: www.rikkisrefuge.org
Blog:             www.rikkisrefuge.blogspot.com/
Help the Animals: www.rikkisrefuge.org/FeedMe
Re-Tail:          www.facebook.com/ReTail.org
   our thrift store
   Location:  3503 Lafayette Blvd, Fredericksburg VA 22408  
   Phone:     540-891-5300
   Hours:     10 am - 6 pm Monday - Saturday
              noon - 5 pm - Sunday