A Holiday Message from your friends at the Goathouse
Posted December 27, 2022
Dear Friend of the Goathouse,
Greetings at this special time of year, when the natural world grows darker, and people respond by lighting up the world with hope and generosity of spirit. Hope and giving are vibrant in all seasons, but never more evident than when they shine through in the deepest of winter, which we mark with the end of our calendar year.
Our donors shine brightly. We simply would not exist if it were not for your caring and generosity. We could not help and give life to all these little hearts without your support. We always think back with the greatest gratitude for all that each of our donors has done for the refuge through these many years. We would not have saved and found forever homes for more than 4,000 kittens and cats; and we would not today have with us approximately 100 cats that are too old, or too scared, or too disabled to adopt out, together with approximately 120 wonderfully adoptable cats for which we are working very hard to find homes.
At this time of year, we know you are deluged with appeals for end-of-year funding, and we are writing to add one more appeal to the stack you may be accumulating. You are on our list either because of adopting a kitten or cat from the refuge, or because you have given us donations, or just because you asked us to add you to our mailing list.
When Siglinda wrote to you early this Fall that the Goathouse was going to change its focus from younger cats and kittens to the older, shyer, and harder-to-adopt-out cats, we hope it was clear that the Goathouse is only changing its focus, from a refuge driven to adopt out as many cats and kittens as possible, to a sanctuary for cats that have no other place to seek solace and care. Thankfully there are many organizations that rescue and adopt out cats and kittens, and we are regularly in touch with them to help with referrals for cats and kittens that are brought to our attention. For the most part the cats we will focus on are older, or semi-feral cats, or cats with special needs. Some of these cats may well be able to be adopted by very adept and resourceful adopters who are willing to attend to their special needs. Many of these cats will never be adopted. There will always be more of these cats. Consider the cats who have been faithful beloved companions for many years, only to be put out in the street or taken to a kill shelter when their humans can no longer care for them. A healthy, cute kitten will likely be adopted out of a shelter. The fate of an older cat, traumatized by suddenly finding itself in a shelter without its loving human, is very grim.
There is a clear mission in this shift of focus. Our goal will be to bring public focus and sympathy to this group of cats, so that these animals receive the dignity and respect they have always deserved and so often have not received. We hope that this new focus as a place of last resort will change the discourse about and treatment of our elderly feline sojourners. Consider the many senior humans who have fallen into similar neglect and disrespect, just because they did not have the ample means or caring family to provide for them. Cats can all too easily fall into this category.
The Goathouse aims to be a caring family of last resort and we will need to continue to reach out to you, our friends and wider family to make this possible. Please, do it with us, be part of the Sanctuary! All of this will, of course, take money. We still must work hard to adopt out our younger cats in the remainder of 2022 and 2023. The donations given to the Goathouse by our friends and donors all go to supporting the Goathouse operations: the shrinking staff and infrastructure, the veterinary care, and the general care and feeding of our feline creatures.
The Goathouse has a noble calling and each of you receiving this appeal is the sanctuary’s future. By far the largest part of the Goathouse’s funding is from individual donors, and the refuge is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, so gifts are tax deductible. Please dig as deeply with your heart as you can to support the refuge this holiday season. However, please know that any support will, of course, be appreciated greatly. Your participation – whether for $5.00, $50, $500 or $5,000 is critical. (If you are a “senior” donor, please see the postscript to this letter which may be especially beneficial to you.)
Thank you, thank you, thank you in advance for your participation and generosity in this end of year appeal! We truly could not exist if it were not for your support. We count on each of you.
You may send a check made out to “The Goathouse Refuge” to the address below. Or you may easily donate online with PayPal, a Credit or Debit Card, or Venmo using the Donate button below.
With warm best wishes to each of you for this Holiday season and a grand New Year to you and for the cats in the Goathouse Refuge and Sanctuary that are in your and our care!
Siglinda and the Goathouse team.
