A Beautiful Challenge

Written By: David Stroud - Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society | Issue: 2016/12 - December

Winter in the North Carolina mountains is always a beautiful time, but cold weather, icy roads, and heavy snow pose a challenge to our mission to save lives and provide compassionate care.  

Adoptions drop during this time but the strays we rescue still come in each day, and our expenses soar as we pledge to be a warm and safe shelter from the storm for the abandoned, neglected, and abused animals in our community.

As I write this article, a brave canine named Sarge, a 5-month-old German Shepherd is in our tender loving care, recovering from surgery of a broken hip.  The medical expenses for Sarge have so far exceeded $2,000.  

Caramel, a 10-year-old Jindo mix and the sweetest canine soul we have ever encountered, is currently at our shelter recovering from breast cancer surgery.  Caramel’s medical bills have also reached $2,000.  

We are presently giving lots of love and compassion to Little Buddy, an eight-year-old Chihuahua mix who recently suffered a broken pelvis. 

And we continue to dote on and pamper our beloved Paisley, a four-year-old blind Lab mix we rescued in 2015 after she was dumped on the side of the road. 

Add to that are the nearly 500 other animals we save and care for each year, each one receiving daily nutritious meals, monthly flea/heartworm preventatives, and annual vaccinations.  CHHS also helps reduce pet overpopulation through our spay/neuter program (which has provided low-cost spay/neuter for more than 1,000 animals in the past two years); our “Meals from Monty” program that helps local residents keep from surrendering their pet by providing free pet food; and through our humane education program that teaches local schoolchildren responsible pet ownership and the importance of spay/neuter.

Please consider a tax-deductible gift to fund our lifesaving work and our mission of rescue, compassionate care, spay/neuter and adoption.  You can donate in one of three ways:

• Please mail your check to CHHS, P.O. Box 638, Cashiers, NC 28717;

• You can charge your donation to your credit card by calling us at (828)743-5752;

• You can make a donation on our website by visiting CHhumanesociety.org and clicking on the red “Donate” button on the top right of the home page.

Your charitable donation of any amount is so appreciated, and needed now more than ever.  Thirty dollars feeds a shelter pet for a month.  Fifty dollars will pay for a spay or neuter.  One hundred dollars provides the funds for a year’s worth of vital vaccinations and preventatives.  Gifts of greater amounts will significantly help with the veterinary care for our special-needs animals like Sarge, Caramel, Little Buddy, and Paisley.  These animals are alive today because of our compassionate care and because of your kindness and generosity.  Thank you so much for your support.

Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit no-kill animal shelter that receives no state or county tax dollars, and no funding from any national animal organization.  Established in 1987, CHHS is located on Highway 64 in Sapphire, two miles east of the Cashiers Crossroads and is open 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. Monday through Saturday.  For more information, please contact CHHS at (828) 743-5752 or visit us online at CHhumanesociety.org.