I’m Vincent D. Cat and here to make you happy! You are HEROES! You work hard every day and you deserve to smile every day! Those of you working to save us animals hear so very many very sad things. And there’s lots of very glad things too and that’s what we talk about here! All pawsitive all the time! I want my friends to be happy and smile and know there’s a lot of good - including YOU - in this world!! Be kind and pass it on! Please send me your Good New and Fun Stuff to share, personal or global. Let’s keep it fun and interactive!! After all, if we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane! Vincent@RikkisRefuge.orgVOTE TODAY
http://bit.ly/VoteVincent Rikkis Refuge, Orange, VA, USA
The Animal Rescue Site - Shelter Challenge
YOU voted Rikki’s Refuge #1 in Virginia in 2010
Let’s do it again for 2011
quick, simple, free
Your daily vote can win $1,000 - $5,000 for Rikki’s Refuge’s Animals!
YES! We moved up to 0.86% of all votes
holding our place at 7th on the planet
Best Friends, right in front of us, has 0.91%
Come on Team Vincent you CAN do it!
Vote - get your friends voting
you must know someone else you can ask to vote
I'm warning you, you better be voting!
Zoe Marie Spumoni
Thank you for voting for Zoe
she ended her week of voting with 1,104 votes
weekly winners not announced yet
but that sounds like a winner to me!
Bissell MVP Contest
Now running in Week Two for Rikki’s Refuge
Rockie Shirt Monster
Vote daily thru Tuesday January 25th for Rockie
Running on behalf of Rikki’s Refuge
quick, simple, free
Your daily vote could win up to $10,000 for Rikki’s Refuge
Click Rockie to Vote for Rockie
Hi From Rockie Shirt Monster
I was just a day old when I was found in the trunk of a car about to be shredded. I was born w/ corneal ulcers b/c I am missing parts of my upper eyelids. I wasn't supposed to survive. Thanks to my parents hard work & TLC -I am a healthy 10 month old!!My favorite place to be is with my mommy.... Especially playing "shirt monster" inside her t-shirts! Thank you for voting for me. I want to help the animals at Rikki’s Refuge!
ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS
A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.
---Confucius
Action is the foundational key to all success.
---Pablo Picasso
Dreams pass into the reality of action. From the actions stems the dream again; and this interdependence produces the highest form of living.
---Anais Nin
Refuge News
Bill and Bill spent yesterday working on the Quarantine Building. They weren’t able to get in to work till late cuz of the ice yesterday morning. But they still got lots and lots of work done. Soon Soon Soon
All the ice has melted and it’s well above freezing now, kind of drizzly.
Sick hoomans today so we’re really short staffed. If you’re a trained volunteer and can do dishes, laundry, or help with the regular cleaning please come on out. Lena and Sean are both out sick with tummy bugs. Billy was scheduled to be off today cuz his dad’s been sick and he’s taking him to the doc. If you can’t make today, how about tomorrow? We’ll be behind with the last pile of evening dishes to wash and left over laundry.
Mom and me went to Culpeper Pharmacy yesterday. We needed insulin for Buster and Big Red. $48.20. While we were gone the propane man came and left us a bill for $766.14. YIKES, it’s costing a fortune to keep us safe and warm in the 9th Life Retirement, Assisted Living and Psychiatric Center and hospital. It's been so cold this winter, with so many days not even above freezing, and no sunny days to help warm things up, so the furnace is running day and night nonstop. We're starting to get behind on the bills again, we haven't even paid the last propane bill yet, if you could possibly spare a buck or two, I'd really appreciate the help. http://www.rikkisrefuge.org/donate.php
I'm trying to find a good recipe for Fancy Feast Muffins, so I can have a bake sale and raise some money. What do you think? $10 for Fancy Feast Muffin, $25 if I promise not to send you one!
Culpeper Pharmacy
(540) 825-7576 • 261 Southgate Shopping Center, Culpeper, VA
Culpeper Pharmacy has been providing for our furry families’ prescription and home care needs since 2003 (and before that when they had a pharmacy in Orange). Located in the Southgate Shopping Center, next to the Culpeper Regional Library, Culpeper Pharmacy has been proud to help Rikki's Refuge and all their other customers with a full range of home health care needs. From prescriptions and diabetic supplies to Power Wheelchairs, Lift Chairs and more. How can they help you today?
Bill Morris and Gordon Atkins have been taking special care of the critters in the 9th Life Retirement, Assisted Living and Psychiatric Center for almost as long as Rikki's Refuge has been here. Sometimes it's filling a normal prescription. Sometimes it requires research to find the right variation of the medication our veterinarians want for us. Sometimes it's adjusting the dosage for us little guys. Sometimes it's answering our questions. Always it's researching to find us the best possible deal and placing special orders for us.
Bill and Gordon and Culpeper Pharmacy are one big reason we're able to take care of so many on such a short little shoestring.
And, this Christmas, they stretch their shoestring even further. They donated just about a whole month's worth of pharmacy supplies to Rikki's Refuge, all the routine things used by the patients of the 9th Life Retirement, Assisted Living and Psychiatric Center. That amounted to a whole lot of money, hundreds of dollars, and a great big huge help to us at Rikki's Refuge.
Thank you Bill and Gordon for taking care of me and all my special needs and for running such a wonderful business and being so kind and compassionate to all your customers. If everybody knew you, there wouldn't be any other pharmacies for 100 miles around!
Culpeper Pharmacy is good people running a good business. Tell ‘em Vincent sent you!
Live from Vincent Video
Meet Betty the Cat and Ron Herfurth
Fun and Inspiring
A porcupine has approximately 30,000 quills. The quills are specialized hairs and are inter-dispersed with its normal hair. They have a light, spongy center and are tipped with microscopic barbs. It is hypothesized that the quills are lightly-colored in contrast to the animal's otherwise black fur in order to appear striking and serve as a visual warning to potential predators. Baby porcupines are born with soft spines, which harden within an hour. I'm sure mother porcupines appreciate this. Porcupines do not shoot their quills. They do not have this capability. Physical contact with a porcupine is needed in order to be stuck with its quills.
You can take the kitty off the street, but you can't take the street out of the kitty!
Tails of Trivia
Murphy's Oil Soap is the chemical most commonly used to clean elephants.
160 cars can drive side by side on the Monumental Axis in Brazil, the world's widest road.
Lincoln Logs were invented by Frank Lloyd Wright's son.
Music and Motion
Stand on Me!
Did I do something wrong?
What? Oh, Stand BY me!
Quack quack ... I thought you said ........
Meet Snowball
Snowball is a lovely mature lady. She had skin cancer on her ears which required surgery. That's why they are short and round. Skin cancer on the ears of white cats is very common. On kitties who have one white ear and one black ear, like Gideon, you will often see cancer on the white ear but not on the black ear.
Snowball has been with us for about a year and a half, she hails from George. She prefers to spend most of her time inside now and is a resident of the 9th Life Retirement, Assisted Living and Psychiatric Center where she has lots of friends.
Snowball says hi to her special friend, David, from Georgia
Good Times in the News
Meet Laz... the oldest donkey
at the Donkey Sanctuary in Sidmouth, Devon
We've been drawn to some recent press coverage about a donkey called Eeyore from Wilmslow who is thought to be the world's oldest donkey, at the grand age of 54!
Not far behind Eeyore is our oldest resident here at the Sanctuary, Laz. We believe he is now 51 years of age!
He came into our care in 2000 and was the 8,209th donkey to pass through our doors. Now living at Woods Farm, he enjoys a peaceful life surrounded by his friends and is given the expert care he deserves.
This very short video was taken last year when he'd just turned 50 and will introduce you to the wonderful Laz and his carer Nikki Hart, who describes his cheeky nature!
Majority of Americans Believe Pets Have Psychic Powers
by Josh Loposer
Do you feel like your pet always seems to know what's about to happen? You're not alone. According to a new poll conducted by the Associated Press and Petside.com, two-thirds of American pet owners believe their animal companions have a sixth sense that alerts them to future events or gives them insight into their owners.
That's not to say that owners think their pets are all-knowing. Poll participants believed that intuitive powers are limited to specific areas, and the frequency of reported powers varied between species. For example, of the 1,000 pet owners surveyed, 72 percent of dog owners said that their dogs had alerted them to bad weather, while only 66 percent of cat owners said they've received similar forecasts. Forty-seven percent of dog owners and 41 percent of cat owners said they've received a warning about bad news from their pets.
From Earthquakes to Anxiety
Nevada farmer Jim Fulstone says that his Pomeranian, Austin, can detect earthquakes and thunderstorms. "He'll run around in circles and look at you. If you sit down, he'll sit down with you. If you are outside, he will come up to you, run around, look off, sniff your leg, just kind of be there. He's a lot more active," Fulstone tells the AP. "For the quakes, he was very alert and started barking and doing his run-around routine." Fulstone says that Austin gives about a 15-minute warning before earthquakes and 45-minute warning before thunderstorms.
Other owners feel that their pets' sixth sense manifests in a more personal way -- their animals sense when they are sick or upset and actively try to comfort them. Anne Radley of Kansas is one such owner. Radley suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and panic attacks. She tells the AP that when her anxiety is high, her seven pets sense it and all try to cuddle at once. "I have pets all over me. ... It gets a little crowded, but they all do it."
Possible Explanation
Scores of pet owners report similar warnings about weather events, earthquakes, bad news and health issues. But psychic powers may not be the cause; pet owners may simply be interpreting normal animal behaviors as extrasensory warnings. Scientists believe that animals may have the ability to sense changes in barometric pressure, thus alerting them to weather events. Likewise, dogs have clearly shown the ability to detect hormonal changes that signify an upcoming seizure or other kinds of health changes.
Labrador Retriever Comforts Kids in Court
by Jennipher Walters
Amos, a kind and lovable chocolate Lab in Michigan sometimes puts in long days at the courthouse. He's not sniffing for bombs or patrolling the grounds, but he is protecting and serving. Amos works as a canine guardian and comforter of sorts and helps reduce anxiety for children who have to appear in court.
Amos has been trained to sit patiently near children for hours as they either wait to take the stand or testify in court, reports The Detroit News. Recently he accompanied two young victims who each testified for more than two hours against a defendant in a sexual misconduct trial.
The dog is part of the Canine Advocacy Program (CAP), which was launched by Dan Cojanu, who had previously worked as a supervisor of the Victim Services Unit for the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office in Michigan, reports the Detroit News.
The CAP is the first of its kind in Michigan and its services are offered at no cost to law enforcement or the courts. The program is funded by donations. Similar programs exist in California, Washington and Florida.
Amos originally came to the attention of Cojanu when it became evident that he wasn't the best fit for Leader Dogs for the Blind in Rochester, Mich. (Amos pulled too much on the leash.) Cojanu, however, found Amos to be perfect for the Canine Advocacy Program -- friendly with a calm disposition for children and the courtroom.
Despite the success so far, this program is very much in its initial stages and not everyone is as positive about the role of animals in the courtroom. One prosecutor cited concerns about jurors with allergies or a fear of dogs that could risk a decision reversal or children having to testify again.
But Conjanu (pictured left) is convinced. He tells The Detroit News, "Kids seem to feel better when Amos is around. ... The kids usually attach themselves to Amos, and we see the anxiety just plummet. They focus on this big, brown 'huggy' dog, and you can just watch the anxiety disappear."
Interested in learning more about Amos and his work? You can check out the Canine Advocacy Program on Facebook and follow Amos on Twitter.
Cat summoned for jury service
By Gaby Leslie Yahoo! News
A tabby cat has been selected for jury duty in the US after his owners registered him on a state census form.
The bizarre letter was sent to the cat, which was listed in the pets section of the census, by a court in Boston, Massachusetts calling on him for duty.
Cat owners Anna and Guy Esposito wrote to the court asking the family pet, named Sal, to be excused from service because he doesn't speak or understand English.
Mrs Esposito reportedly included a letter from her vet confirming that the cat was a 'domestic short-haired neutered feline' and not human.
However, the request for the cat's exemption was refused by a jury commissioner and Mrs Esposito was told that Sal 'must attend' Suffolk Superior Crown Court.
She said: "When they ask him guilty or not guilty, what's he supposed to say - meow?"
"Sal is a member of the family so I listed him on the last census form under pets but there has clearly been a mix-up."
The Daily Mail reported that Sal could have accidentally ended up on the juror list when paperwork was misread at the last census.
According to the Massachusetts judicial branch website, US citizens who 'do not speak and understand English sufficiently well may be disqualified.'
If Sal's application for disqualification is denied, the cat is expected in court on 23 March.
Duke and Vincent’s Trip to Cod
Cod is a whimisical town where the animals of facebook who’ve taken on hooman personas live. Wayne Morris is your artist and architect of Cod. And now ..... your long awaited trip .... we take you to Cod ..... I hope you enjoy your journey! ..... continued from January 18, 2010 - read yesterday’s blog if you missed the beginning of the story.
Duke: Votes? Vincent can you EAT them?
Vincent: Yes in a sense you can, By Voting for our Refuge.
Duke: A Bone be Nice
Vincent: These votes, Support Rikki's Refuge and we Have so many Hungry Animals in NEED
Duke: So these VOTES HELP Feed US? Can I Vote for A Bone?
Vincent: No Duke, Humans can Vote ONLY! By Visiting Rikki's Refuge They can Find OUT HOW!
Be sure to vote for Duke and Vincent and the shelter challenge, they could win $10,000 which can easily be converted to delicious dinner! Click here http://bit.ly/VoteVincent and enter Rikkis Refuge, Orange, VA, USA it's free, it's quick, it's easy, and it can mean up to $10,000 to help the animals of Rikki's Refuge.
Upcoming Events
Keep current on Vincent's blog!
You are my HERO and I Love YOU,
Vincent
Help me run the refuge!
PS You tell me what you want! Email me at Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org with instructions to change your subscription: additions, deletions or modifications! Subscriptions: Vincent’s VIPs - up to the second alerts about issues at Rikki’s Refuge for those who care and want to be intimately involved. Scheduled as needed. Good Morning Good News - a little something to get you going in the mornings, for those of you who want to keep smiling with us! Scheduled daily. Hairballs - so you know what’s coming up at Rikki’s! Scheduled weekly.
Rikki's Refuge, supported solely by private donations, houses over 1200 animals of 22 species. On line at http://bit.ly/Give-a-gift-to-Rikkis Checks, money orders, cash, items at Rikki's Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960
Rikki's Refuge is owned and operated by Life Unlimited of Virginia, Inc., an IRS 501(c)(3) not-for-profit Virginia Corporation, tax-id 54-1911042. Combined Federal Campaigns #77674, Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign #3163, PetsMart Charities #1377. A financial statement is available upon written request from the State Office of Consumer Affairs.
Learn more www.RikkisRefuge.org and help spread the good word, tell everyone you know about Rikki’s Refuge
