As the holiday season and 2012 come to a close, I have a wish for a holiday gift that I bet every one of you shares with me – the greatest gift possible would be for us to be able to save the lives of even more precious pets than we do now and ensure that they are in loving homes for many holiday seasons to come. The reality is that the Richmond SPCA must strive hard to get the funding we need to provide the essential resources to save as many homeless animals as we possibly can. In the year about to end, we will have saved more precious pets than ever before but getting the funds to do so has been, and continues to be, very challenging for us. The economy has caused many people and businesses to cut back and many to prioritize other expenditures than support for animal welfare. Our endowment only provides about one-fourth of our annual operating funding needs, and the rest we need to operate must be raised from our community. That task is not easy.
Every day, we see that there are many more animals that need us, just like those precious Maltese, but securing the financial support to save all those that need us is daunting. We do everything we can to save all the lives we can with every dollar we have but we wish it could be more because there are more animals that need us to save them, to get them healthy and adopted and to provide them with a voice.
The holidays mean warm and beautifully decorated houses, great food and fun times for most of us. But, for many wonderful pets that remain in conditions like those the Maltese dogs were in, life does not provide any love, warmth or nourishing food. Not until they come into the loving, protective arms of the Richmond SPCA. We need your help this season if we are going to save them from these situations of desertion and neglect. There could be no greater way to start a new year than with the knowledge that you have made it possible for the Richmond SPCA to save the life of a frightened, lonely pet whom we would not have otherwise been able to save without your generous year-end support.
As you welcome 2013, please hold your two- and four-footed loved ones close and enjoy every minute with them. Please know how deeply I appreciate your generous help that will allow us to provide that sort of life for another sweet and deserving animal who is now in need.
Robin Robertson Starr is the chief executive officer of the Richmond SPCA. To read her complete biography or that of our other bloggers, please click here. Before submitting a comment, please review our commenting guidelines.
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