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We Can’t Replace A Lost Life
Written By: David Stroud - Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society | Issue: 2017/08 - August | Photograph By: Marty Boone
On June 19, I had the privilege and honor of representing the Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society for the sixth consecutive year at the Pawsitively Purrfect Party at the Country Club of Sapphire Valley.
And for many years prior to the past six, the Country Club of Sapphire Valley has served as the grand and gracious host for this event, which also is the single-largest annual fundraiser for the CHHS shelter pets. In addition to their compassion and tremendous generosity, CCSV members also donate their time and stewardship, with three of the past four presidents of the CHHS board of directors coming from the membership ranks of the club.
So to say we have a special place in our hearts for CCSV and their members would be a vast understatement. To say our hearts were broken at the news of that evening’s devastating fire and explosion at the CCSV clubhouse would be an understatement as well. Less than one hour after CHHS staff and I finished clearing out the remaining paperwork, auction items, and other props from the sold-out event and had left for home, I received a phone call that the clubhouse was on fire. Ten minutes after that phone call, the buildings at our shelter campus shook from the impact of the explosion.
Our initial shock and heartbreak were soon added with immense thankfulness when we learned there had been no loss of life among CCSV staff and the firefighters on the scene. If the fire and explosion had happened just a little bit earlier in the evening, the number of casualties would have been unimaginable. While we can re-home a lost animal, and we can rebuild a building lost from fire as CCSV surely will do, we can never replace a lost life. Despite the horrific property damage that occurred, all of us at the Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society are forever thankful and grateful that no lives were lost on June 19.
Established in 1987, 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. CHHS is located on Highway 64 in Sapphire, two miles east of the Cashiers Crossroads and is open 10:00 A.M.-5:00 P.M. Monday through Saturday and noon-5:00 P.M. on Sunday. For more information, visit us online at CHhumanesociety.org or call CHHS at (828) 743-5752.
