so lets talk about money...

it costs $2500 a month for the barn...that is hay, shavings and feed for everyone. it sure was great of us to save three giant pigs..but those pigs need clean beds, good food and someone to clean up their poop every day. it was so wonderful that we stepped up for pops..but pops needed frequent vet care plus the regular, daily food, bed and clean ups too.

it costs over $500 a month just to ensure our dogs, cats and rabbits are not tortured with fleas. plus there is another $600 month for the canned food that the frail and elderly and toothless need.

it costs over one hundred dollars each time one of our guys needs bloodwork..that doesn't count their daily medications (it is $100 a month just for the insulin for our multiple diabetics) or the surgeries they need when they come in. you think your vet bill for one or two or three animals are high? try adding up what it costs for over 100 who are falling apart from life long neglect at the end of their lives...it works out to about $5000 per month.

and our vounteers all work during the week so mon-friday we have to pay staff to care for everybody..that is close to $3000 each bi-weekly payday.

then there are the costs to have electricity and heat in each building housing our animals..that is another thousand dollars each month.

all total..about $15,000 per month just for the very basic expenses...that's scary.
and we never reach this..but we do survive by backtracking and paying off what we owe because of the big fundraisers, the kindness of our donors and the various grants and corporate gifts that trickle in. the problem is we never know what is coming..something? nothing? every day at the mailbox or the fundraising table, the relief or freak out begins.

far cheaper not to help so many animals...far, far cheaper not to help the ones who are so wrecked...but just because there is an easier and cheaper way to do rescue, does not mean that these old and wrecked animals do not deserve good care.
and if we don't help them... who will?

i refuse to live in a world where 17 yr old al or 15 yr old tess or 36 year old gideon are too old and wrecked to be worth the time and effort and money they cost.

so we struggle along and we freak out a few times a week and personally i thank everyone in heaven and on earth who helps us... cuz i actually have no idea how we keep going. but somehow...so far...we do.

and that is a gawd darn, freaking, utterly amazing, true blue... miracle.

(and i know $15,000 a month sounds totally insane..but really it works out to less than about $150 dollars per month per animal (last count was 130 animals here...some require more, some require less) but averaged out between them all...that is not so bad.)