Last-chance pet shelter needs a boost

VIRGINIA BEACH

If the abandoned animals at Hope for Life Rescue had a Christmas list for Santa, it would probably look something like this:

- 40 pounds of Purina One cat and kitten food weekly.

- $300-worth of cat litter monthly.

- about $10,000 in donor funding before the year's end.

The money is critical for the animal shelter right now because it would put the facility back in the black. Currently, the no-kill shelter is operating at a deficit of about $10,000.

Since opening in 2002, this is only the second time in its 10-year history that the group has operated at a loss.

That's pretty miraculous, said Pauline Cushman, director of Hope for Life Rescue, considering how much the nonprofit group spends annually on surgeries, treatments and medicines for the abused, neglected and abandoned animals it rescues.

"Anything you can think of, we do it," Cushman said, adding that all the surgeries amount to a little more than $100,000 annually. "Whatever the animal needs, we do."

The facility is operated by an all-volunteer staff. The organization also operates a nonprofit boarding facility next door, Hope's Garden Resort, which helps pay the shelter's operating expenses throughout the year.

But apart from that money, the rest of Hope for Life's funding comes from individual and business donors.

"We need corporate sponsors," Cushman said, adding that the facility receives no city, state or grant funding. "Given the economy, it's been very difficult to finish in the black."

The money allows the animal shelter to continue its work rescuing and placing abandoned animals with new owners.

"We do between 400 and 500 rescues each year," Cushman said. "To us, every life is valuable. They all deserve a chance. Because we get some of the extreme cases, our medical bills just mount up and mount up and mount up."

Many of the animals at Hope for Life have been rescued from other area animal shelters. Three dogs being transferred to the facility are coming from a shelter in Elizabeth City, N.C.

"All of these were on death row," Cushman said. "People know we take special-needs cases so we get calls from everyone."

Other cats and dogs come from animal control facilities in Hampton and elsewhere throughout Hampton Roads. The rest are strays and abused animals dropped-off by individuals. Litters of puppies and kittens are also dropped off, as are animals with medical issues that no one else will accept.

Some of the current crop of hard-luck cases include Miracle, a striped tabby cat with a birth defect causing her hind legs to twist backward. Since being dropped off at the facility recently - she arrived bone thin, covered with fleas and ear mites - the 10-month-old feline has learned to navigate around the shelter, getting around using her back knees for support.

There's another cat - a 1-year-old buff tabby - that was also dropped off after he was struck by a car.

Since then, the young cat sits curled up in various rooms throughout the day care-like facility. There are a number of cat condos and brightly colored tunnels and walkways for the cats to climb, but the injured cat doesn't play on those.

Although the buff tabby is all right physically, Cushman said he has suffered a brain injury and only time will tell if he improves.

Fortunately, time is on his side.

Cushman said all the animals that are brought in can stay as long as it takes to find them a new home, usually a two-month process.

Sometimes it can be much shorter - especially if one of the facility's volunteers takes a shine to a cat or dog they have helped nurture back to health. It's a danger of the job, Cushman said, and most volunteers have several animals they have adopted from the shelter.

"That's the hazard of volunteering here," said Carol Summers, a volunteer who just adopted two of the shelter's dogs. Summers began volunteering with Hope for Life Rescue five months ago, and since then, she has seen the positive impact it has on the neglected animals brought there.

"The animals have a sense of peace when they come here," Summers said. "The change in the animals is incredible."

Since opening 10 years ago, Hope for Life has found new homes for 3,630 cats and dogs. All the adoptions, Cushman said, involve animals that had been given up on and would have been euthanized or abandoned.

But without an increase in donations, Cushman said, the shelter won't be able to continue taking in as many animals as it has. Currently, the facility can handle no more than 75 animals at a time, but facing the current deficit that may become difficult.

"It's hard because we don't have a set adoption fee," Cushman said. "We operate solely on donations."

Rita Frankenberry, 222-5102, rita.frankenberry@pilotonline.com