February Yard Sale: Date TBD. Please drop off donations 11am-4pm Mon-Sat. Call 207-229-8314 for pick-up info.

Books and Bottles especially needed to help keep us pay for our critically ill kitties and emergency situation!

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Santa took a well-deserved rest after delivering 100 kitties to great homes during our Home for the Holidays adoption campaign. Now it’s Cupid who’s working overtime with all the love matches for our Be My Furry Valentine adoption campaign. With over two weeks left, 27 kitties are already in their “fur-ever” homes. That’s nearly double our goal!

We know you’ll be as happy as we are about little Oscar – the kitten who was a victim of the fire in Wells. He’s been adopted by the veterinarian who cared for him at the emergency clinic in Scarborough.

Carly, our other emergency kitty has made a full recovery and is back in her foster home, as happy as can be. Itty Bitty, who was featured in the paper as our feral office kitty has become quite a favorite. This darling now has her own sponsors and visitors. She has turned out to be a real ham and shows her new friends how much she loves Temptations cat treats served from your hand and chasing the laser light.

To see “ferals” like Itty Bitty interacting with people gives us such joy! Recent arrivals to our spa room are three very feral kitties. They stare unblinking at us, ears flattened, emitting hisses and growls at us. We simply work around them, slowly and quietly, talking gently to them. We know they, too, will learn to trust. It will be a long journey, but it will be a safe one here with us.

Sophie is all kissy kissy, not just because it’s Valentine’s Day, but simply because she is a real love-bug. When she isn’t trying to kiss you, she’s butting her fuzzy head against your head or hand asking for more affection. This beautiful torti has a bobtail which makes her all the more special. She loves people but likes other kitties to keep their distance. She will be a fantastic “only kitty” in a home where there is someone to give her lots of love and attention. Sophie is intelligent, playful and as lovable as they come! She was surrendered to us because her owner didn’t have enough time to devote to her and then had to move.

Sophie is eight years old. Adoption fees for all eight and older are waived. She could be the purrfect Valentine for you so come and meet this sweetheart of a kitty!

A special thank you to Emily and the China Bistro in York for their very successful Save-a-Pet Day benefit buffet on Jan 22! This delicious event raised over $1000 to help us pay our vet bills.

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Flames, smoke and fire trucks terrified the 12-week-old kitten, Little Oscar, as he ran from his burning home on Lindsay Road in Wells on Jan. 16. Sadly his mommy, a lovely young torti named Scarlet, couldn’t escape and perished in this four-alarm fire. The orange tabby kitten collapsed in the snow suffering from acute smoke inhalation. Wells firefighters found him and administered oxygen to him for 20 minutes in the ambulance. We are so thankful for their care and compassion to this little fellow!

Later in the evening Oscar was returned to his family.

Oscar’s health continued to decline. By morning he struggled to breathe. He was too weak to raise his head. Knowing that Safe Haven is a No Kill organization, Oscar’s owner surrendered Oscar to us. Our volunteers rushed little Oscar to the Maine Vet Emergency Center in Scarborough, where their team began emergency care including oxygen, pain medication via IV, multiple x-rays, blood tests and around-the-clock observation.

Emergency care for pets is very expensive, just like for people. Plus, a 50% deposit is required before emergency care begins. Two weeks prior to Oscar, Carly’s emergency care cost Safe Haven over $2,000, and Oscar’s bill is estimated at $2,600. Cost doesn’t change our No-Kill policy, and we stand firm on this. That’s why fundraising is a constant activity for our team, and emergency cases like these make us work all the harder to keep donations coming in, so every Safe Haven cat continues to receive the gift of life and health.

The vets at Maine Vet Referral Center worked their magic on Oscar throughout his week of hospitalization. He had no burns, luckily, but was incapacitated by smoke inhalation. His nostrils and throat were severely irritated and a prolonged lack of oxygen to his brain caused neurological damage resulting in body tremors.

Despite all this, the little fellow’s plucky spirit surfaced. He showed everyone he wanted to live, and that he was able to lick food off his fuzzy orange paw. His spirit moved Dr. Karin Wagner who developed a tight bond with Oscar. When she called me with Oscar’s latest health update, she said. “Oscar spoke to me. Is there a chance I could adopt him?”

Who better to adopt little Oscar than the veterinarian who worked so hard to save him? She could help him regain his health and understand why his gait is so wobbly.

Little Oscar has gone home to live with Dr. Wagner, his new mom. Now he has dog and cat siblings, and is learning how to drink from a bowl without his tremors dunking his shaky face. He’s happy and active and enjoys kitten play. His high level of activity will be his best physical therapy. I could hear great love and joy in Dr. Wagner’s voice as she said, “He’s a tough little bugger. He’s going to do just fine!”

Our community needs No-Kill alternatives for kitties in great need. Safe Haven survives only on contributions from you. Your generosity helps us save hundreds of lives each year.

Your contributions to our Emergency and Critical Cat Care Fund are desperately needed. Click the DONATE button in the right column, or mail a check to PO Box 91, Wells, ME 04090. Thank you!

Please vote for Safe Haven!

Bangor Savings Bank’s 2012 Community Matters More voting has begun! From now until March 5, you can help decide which non-profit organizations receive one of 68 grants.

Note: You do NOT have to be a bank customer to vote!

To vote for Safe Haven, click here, scroll to the “York County” section at the bottom, and type in Safe Haven Humane Society. You can also stop by any of the bank’s 56 branches statewide. (Safe Haven is not listed because we did not receive a grant last year.)

The organization receiving the most votes in each of the eight regions (including write-ins) will receive $5,000 each. The remaining 60 organizations will each receive $1,000.

Please help Safe Haven by voting! Thanks!

Two big events will benefit Safe Haven next last weekend (Jan 21-22).

• Yard Sale 8am-3pm Sat-Sun at Blair’s Auction Barn, Rt. 1 Wells. Please drop off your donations between 11 am-4 pm at our Adoption Center (right next door) 1616 Post Rd. Wells. Call 646-1611 for pickup info.
• Save-a-Pet Day at China Bistro in York, 12-7 pm Sunday. Celebrate the Chinese New Year with a delicious buffet, and all proceeds benefit Safe Haven! Tickets are $12.50 each and are on sale at China Bistro and the SH Thrift Shop. FMI call Emily at 450-5611.

Ongoing events:

• Books and Bottles for Carly Our emergency cat fund is in great need of donations to help cover the cost of her emergency vet bills. Several additional kitties also need ultrasounds. Donate your returnable bottles, books, used ink cartridges, DVD’s, VHS and CD’s to help. Please drop off bottles anytime at our back door, other donations from 11-4pm. Carly thanks you!
  Background: Critically ill on New Years Eve, Carly spent several days in the hospital, and is now recuperating wonderfully in foster care. She’s purring again and things look good for this sweet kitty.
• “Be My Furry Valentine” adoption campaign runs through Feb. 19. Many delightful, sweet kitties are hoping to become your special Valentine. We’ll be open late — until 7pm Mon–Sat — from Feb 13-19 for your convenience. Visit, bring your family, get to know our kitties — and let Cupid work his magic! Adoption counselors will be around to answer questions and help arrange the ideal “love match” for you.

As always, thank you for your support!

Call it the power of a loving touch…

Seriously, Safe Haven does NOT recommend giving any pet as a gift, unless you arranged it with the recipient in advance. But this video is so cute, and the cat’s people obviously took great care not to stress out their pal, and they unwrapped her so nicely… enjoy!

It’s part of our annual Home for the Holidays adoption push. Our goal is finding permanent homes for 100 cats and kittens — about half of our current population. The more kitties that are adopted, the more space and resources we’ll have for new rescues. And heaven knows there are many more stray, abandoned and neglected felines who need us!

Last year’s Holiday Open House was lots of fun and brought out many longtime friends and lots of new supporters, who all seemed to enjoy hanging out with other people who share their love of animals and belief in No-Kill.

Our adoption center is always fun (well, except maybe sometimes when we’re all frantically racing around trying to get everything done!) but the holiday atmosphere is especially warm and loving. Please join us — and spread the word to friends, family and coworkers.

Get instructions here.

Foster volunteer extraordinaire Marilyn is opening the doors of her family’s fostering center to the public. Meet and pet some of the 200+ kitties available for adoption as part of our annual Home for the Holidays adoption blitz. Adoption counselors will be available to help with the paperwork, if you decide to adopt.

Remember, “senior” kitties over age 8 have their adoption fee waived. We just want them to find good homes!

The place is 251 Country Club Rd. in Sanford, this Sat. from noon-4pm. Come and meet Marilyn’s adorable, adoptable kittens and kitties at their wonderful foster home, and get the inside uh… scoop (sorry) on what it’s really like to foster kittens. Call 490-2855 for more info.