Fenced In By Love

Fenced In By Love is about shelters and the wonderful, caring people that run them. They are trying to get the word out this month to everyone far and wide about the good works that shelters do. Wouldn't it be great if all animals had loving homes with families that cared about them? In the world we live in that's still a far off dream. There are far too many homeless dogs and cats roaming the streets and fields wondering if they'll eat again or if they can find a warm dry place to sleep. Think about that in the cold miserable weather we're having lately in many places.

I want to tell you a little about our favorite shelter. It's called Castaway Animal Rescue Effort and it's located here in Springfield.

C.A.R.E. doesn't take surrenders due to space but instead they make visits to the  high-kill shelters in the area and save dogs and cats on death row. Once they're safely in the hands of C.A.R.E. volunteers, they have medical care, good food and a warm place to sleep.

C.A.R.E. has two local adoption centers and also take the animals to various adoption events in the area. Their adoption rate is very high, but none of their rescues will ever have to worry about being homeless again. They have a home for life once they come to C.A.R.E.

We're heading toward spring here in the States and many of us will start plowing thru closets and garages in the yearly rite called 'Spring Housecleaning'. Label a box or shopping bag for your local shelter and as you clean and sort, think about things a shelter can use. It goes way beyond food. Do you have any old collars or leashes lying around that no longer fit or aren't used anymore? What about that toy you bought Rover for his birthday that he refuses to look at.

Do you have some old blankets or throws?  How about those towels you mother in law gave you that are a hideous color and get pushed to the back of the linen closet? A shelter can use all of those. Next time you're at the store and there's a sale on detergent, grab an extra. Shelters do massive amounts of wash every day. They need bleach too.

A lot of us are crafters. We knitters and crocheters all have a skein of yarn that seemed perfect when we bought it,  but we've never found the right project for it. Most of us have lots of little balls of yarn left over from many projects. This year let's try, in between our regular knitting for friends, to use up those leftovers and yucky colored yarns in blankets for shelter animals. It doesn't take much time. They don't care about color or style as long as they have something warm to snuggle into on those long, lonely, scary nights. They can be any size. Cats and dogs come in every size. here are some that I made and donated to C.A.R.E.

You sewers aren't off the hook either. Just this morning I received a mailer from JoAnn Fabrics about a sale on fleece. You can always find a piece of it in the ends bin. Pick some up and sew up some blankets for shelter animals. It takes minutes and means everything to them.

So I am nominating C.A.R.E. for the Fenced In By Love  campaign. If you would like to nominate a shelter go here and read all about it. You can nominate the shelter and or a volunteer. Don't forget that shelters operate on a shoestring and do vast good. Help them out whenever you can and think about things like paper towels and hand sanitizer.

Mostly, don't feel bad for shelter animals. They are the lucky ones. They aren't alone, starving and freezing on the streets. They're on the final step toward finding their forever home.