January  2020 

To Whom it May Concern, 

My name is Brenda van den Horn and I am President/Director/ Volunteer at Pets/Friends for Life in St. Thomas, Ontario.  We serve a large area around southwestern Ontario. 

Pets/Friends for Life is a non-profit cat shelter for homeless and abandoned cats and kittens. We currently house and care for over 100 cats at our shelter. We provide veterinary care consisting of spaying/neutering, vaccinations and general health care.  In 2019 we were able to find homes for 270 cats and kittens!  Above all, we provide a safe and caring environment for these cats/kittens in a roam free facility. In 2019, we accepted 375 cats and kittens into our shelter.  Pets/Friends for Life is a no-kill shelter and as a result, many of our cats have been with us for a significant period of time, in some cases several years.  

This year I wish to bring to attention the cats that reside with us for these longer periods of time.  While we wish to ensure that our feline friends are adopted as quickly as possible, some of them end up living with us for years.  These include black furred cats, seniors and non-socialized cats. We currently have 10 long term resident cats (around 3 years with us) who are slowly becoming socialized and hopefully soon adoptable! In some situations, they simply are overlooked for adoption due to their quiet nature. Mr Kitty, Sable, Spike, Thomas, Daisy, Sassy, Doobie, Rose and Kali would be every so grateful for your support!  And so these long term residents require more care: more frequent veterinary visits, food, housing costs, and in some cases careful nurturing so that they learn to trust people again.  Additionally, veterinarian medical costs are higher each year.  Without sufficient funds, we are unable to accept surrendered and abandoned felines.  “Kittens and Mamas” season will soon be upon us yet again.  This puts many cats and kittens at risk of abandonment on the streets if we are unable to accept them into the shelter. 

 We operate solely on donations and fundraisers. We are currently requesting donations of items, coupons, gift certificates, etc. for our major annual fundraiser which this year will again be an online event!   Our “Money for Meows #2” fundraiser will consist of an online Facebook auction over the course of approximately three three weeks of April 2020 (April 4-26)  allowing for a wider audience of bidders! The purpose of this event is to raise funds to help secure our ability to continue to care for these cats and to raise public awareness about pet abandonment, pet surrenders and shelter life.  We would appreciate your consideration in a donation of some kind for our purpose. Every penny that is raised goes directly back into the shelter to care for our cats.  If you require any further information or have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me at 519-439-2239 or call the shelter at 519-631-5757. 

Sincerely,

 Brenda van den Horn,

President/Director

Pets/Friends for Life.   

petsfriendsforlife@hotmail.com

Charitable Registration # 885903609RR0001