Help Us Move Our Rescue to Safety!
Tax deductible
Animal Orphans Animal Rescue & Pet Sanctuary, Inc. needs your help!
We are a 501 c3, Non-Profit, 100% No-Kill, animal rescue that specializes in pets with special needs. A large majority of the pets we take in would be immediately put down at most other rescues due to health conditions or behavioral problems. I believe that every pet deserves a chance even if they're not the most desirable. So if an animal doesn't find a home, they spend their entire lives with us. We try to make the rescue as close to home as possible since this will be 60% of our population's permanent residence.
I started this back in 1999 when I rescued a kitten that was born with no eyes. Since then, we have rescued thousands of pets. For the vast majority of this time, I have done it on my own dime. We receive small amounts of donations which helps but since the very beginning I have paid for more than 90% of all cost for: food, utilities, spay and neuters, housing and vet bills. I never minded it. I had a good job for the longest time and the money I spent on the rescue didn't phase me until I got hurt at work, we got hit by a tornado, I was forced to settle even though I have not been released to go back to work, and I'm on a 18 month waiting list for a disablity hearing. After all that, things have become very stressful.
In August of 2016 we were hit by a tornado. It did a massive amount of damage to our roof. For two years I tried to raise funds, but $50,000 worth of damage quickly turned into $250,000 worth of damage, despite all my efforts to mitigate the progressing damage. The upstairs of the old church quickly became unusable and the animals housed there had to be moved out.
The insurance company only covered $7,900 but paid the money to the mortgage company who then refused to pay out to us because we couldn't afford to fix the entire roof. To this day, they are still sitting on the money and have point blank said they have no intention of giving it to us. They have asked for permission to put it towards the mortgage itself; the same mortgage that only $27 out of my monthly payment of $855 actually goes to the principal balance of the loan after 10 years of payments.
The city of Donora then decided to step up and start threatening to fine us or condemn the building. With the threat hanging over our heads, I tried to buy us some more time by pleading with the ordinance officer who then called the Humane Officer. The Humane Officer came in with an search and removal warrant and didn't take anyone because they are all perfectly healthy.
During this time I got seriously injured at work. I was living off of workman's comp. This was also the money that was being used to run the rescue. They recently made me settle which means no more money is coming in. In desperation and with the city threatening to condemn the rescue, I took my settlement money and I bought a new building for the rescue in Monessen, PA. Unfortunately now I don't have any money to live on and I don't have any more money to fix the new building up. I also don't have the money to keep running the rescue.
Now we really need your help! We need to raise the funds to get the new building up to code so that we can move the animals in. We also need to raise enough funds to keep the rescue going in the meantime. It cost $400 a week just to buy food, litter and supplies. This doesn't include medicine, vet bills or utility bills (that's another $2,500). During this transfer from one building to the other, this is creating two sets of utility bills. That means even more costs than normal.
The new Rescue needs a good bit of work before we can get it up to code and move the animals in. This all requires money. We are doing all the remodeling on a shoestring budget, trying to make every dollar stretch but it only goes so far. We have received very generous donations of flooring from The Finishing Touch in Monessen, PA and a utility sink from Beacon in Belle Vernon!
In addition, once we get the animals moved out, the city will require us to tear the old building down or they will fine us. This means we need to come up with $5,000 in order to rent a excavator so that I can tear it down myself because the lowest bid that I was able to get was $95,000. If I had that kind of money I could have saved the building.
I am currently at risk of losing my own house and most of my utilities have shut-off notices. This effects the rescue since I currently house a large number of the animals at my house. What's keeping us afloat is the small amounts of donations that are coming in on a sporadic basis. Just enough to keep food in everyone's bowls.
Washington Humane Society has already stated that if they come in to "Help" they plan on putting everyone down because we house
FeLuk positive cats which they euthanize at their rescue. The stark reality of the situation is they are not going to pay to test everyone to prove that they are perfectly fine when it's cheaper to put them all down even though all my animals are kept separate and quarantined until tested.
Every minute that goes by, the roof gets worse. The animals are currently housed on the lower level and are safe but the water coming in upstairs is starting to leak to the lower level due to all the excess rain. The city wants the building torn down. The humane society wants to come in and put the animals down. We are under attack from all sides and must get them into the new building as soon as possible but we can only do that with your help. Please help me save these unwanted animals and this wonderful rescue!
If you would like to help me out with my bills so I can continue helping the animals, donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/help-me-save-my-house-while-i-save-animals
We are a 501 c3, Non-Profit, 100% No-Kill, animal rescue that specializes in pets with special needs. A large majority of the pets we take in would be immediately put down at most other rescues due to health conditions or behavioral problems. I believe that every pet deserves a chance even if they're not the most desirable. So if an animal doesn't find a home, they spend their entire lives with us. We try to make the rescue as close to home as possible since this will be 60% of our population's permanent residence.
I started this back in 1999 when I rescued a kitten that was born with no eyes. Since then, we have rescued thousands of pets. For the vast majority of this time, I have done it on my own dime. We receive small amounts of donations which helps but since the very beginning I have paid for more than 90% of all cost for: food, utilities, spay and neuters, housing and vet bills. I never minded it. I had a good job for the longest time and the money I spent on the rescue didn't phase me until I got hurt at work, we got hit by a tornado, I was forced to settle even though I have not been released to go back to work, and I'm on a 18 month waiting list for a disablity hearing. After all that, things have become very stressful.
In August of 2016 we were hit by a tornado. It did a massive amount of damage to our roof. For two years I tried to raise funds, but $50,000 worth of damage quickly turned into $250,000 worth of damage, despite all my efforts to mitigate the progressing damage. The upstairs of the old church quickly became unusable and the animals housed there had to be moved out.
The insurance company only covered $7,900 but paid the money to the mortgage company who then refused to pay out to us because we couldn't afford to fix the entire roof. To this day, they are still sitting on the money and have point blank said they have no intention of giving it to us. They have asked for permission to put it towards the mortgage itself; the same mortgage that only $27 out of my monthly payment of $855 actually goes to the principal balance of the loan after 10 years of payments.
The city of Donora then decided to step up and start threatening to fine us or condemn the building. With the threat hanging over our heads, I tried to buy us some more time by pleading with the ordinance officer who then called the Humane Officer. The Humane Officer came in with an search and removal warrant and didn't take anyone because they are all perfectly healthy.
During this time I got seriously injured at work. I was living off of workman's comp. This was also the money that was being used to run the rescue. They recently made me settle which means no more money is coming in. In desperation and with the city threatening to condemn the rescue, I took my settlement money and I bought a new building for the rescue in Monessen, PA. Unfortunately now I don't have any money to live on and I don't have any more money to fix the new building up. I also don't have the money to keep running the rescue.
Now we really need your help! We need to raise the funds to get the new building up to code so that we can move the animals in. We also need to raise enough funds to keep the rescue going in the meantime. It cost $400 a week just to buy food, litter and supplies. This doesn't include medicine, vet bills or utility bills (that's another $2,500). During this transfer from one building to the other, this is creating two sets of utility bills. That means even more costs than normal.
The new Rescue needs a good bit of work before we can get it up to code and move the animals in. This all requires money. We are doing all the remodeling on a shoestring budget, trying to make every dollar stretch but it only goes so far. We have received very generous donations of flooring from The Finishing Touch in Monessen, PA and a utility sink from Beacon in Belle Vernon!
In addition, once we get the animals moved out, the city will require us to tear the old building down or they will fine us. This means we need to come up with $5,000 in order to rent a excavator so that I can tear it down myself because the lowest bid that I was able to get was $95,000. If I had that kind of money I could have saved the building.
I am currently at risk of losing my own house and most of my utilities have shut-off notices. This effects the rescue since I currently house a large number of the animals at my house. What's keeping us afloat is the small amounts of donations that are coming in on a sporadic basis. Just enough to keep food in everyone's bowls.
Washington Humane Society has already stated that if they come in to "Help" they plan on putting everyone down because we house
FeLuk positive cats which they euthanize at their rescue. The stark reality of the situation is they are not going to pay to test everyone to prove that they are perfectly fine when it's cheaper to put them all down even though all my animals are kept separate and quarantined until tested.
Every minute that goes by, the roof gets worse. The animals are currently housed on the lower level and are safe but the water coming in upstairs is starting to leak to the lower level due to all the excess rain. The city wants the building torn down. The humane society wants to come in and put the animals down. We are under attack from all sides and must get them into the new building as soon as possible but we can only do that with your help. Please help me save these unwanted animals and this wonderful rescue!
If you would like to help me out with my bills so I can continue helping the animals, donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/help-me-save-my-house-while-i-save-animals
Organizer
Chris Harr
Organizer
Donora, PA
Animal Orphans Animal Rescue & Pet Sanctuary Inc (Animal Orphans Animal Rescue & Pet)
Registered nonprofit
Donations are typically 100% tax deductible in the US.
