Help Save The Mark's Ark!!
Donation protected
Hi all,
This is really hard to write, and we are writing this out of desperation, so please bear with us and we hope you take the time to read our story.
As you know, James and I run The Mark’s Ark by ourselves. We are a husband and wife; a two person team. We both work full time, and have 3 dogs, 6 cats and a cockatiel (all rescues) of our own to take care of, as well as the rescue animals that come into our home. We started our group on the 6th of April 2012, after taking in Ginger Kitty, a stray kitten a friend found at her work place. We had always wanted to start our own rescue group ‘one day’, but Ginger Kitty forced us to jump in head first.
The second reason we started our rescue group was that we realised (albeit a bit late) that we couldn’t adopt them ALL, but we could help save more than we could keep.
The last three years have been tough financially. When we started our group, we didn’t have any funds behind us, didn’t know what we were doing and were basically winging it for the animals. Those in rescue know it’s not only time consuming but financially draining, as your outgoings are always more than your incomings.
This year has been a turning point for us. We have 10 cats in care, waiting for adoption. Three of them we have had over a year, the others for nearly 6 months. We have a further 2 ‘Ark Cats’, that will live out their days at The Mark’s Ark; Kitty who was surrendered to a pound at 18 years old, and Wilma, who is terrified of everyone except us and was returned to us after being adopted as a kitten and in her new home for just a year.
Two weeks ago, despite any rational thinking, we took in two senior dogs. They had witnessed their elderly owner pass away, and were then left in the house alone by themselves for 2 weeks (unbeknownst to a family member living interstate, who had been told they were being looked after by the owners sibling.) Betty and Celti are 14 & 11 years old respectively, and were understandably very stressed when we removed them from their house. They wouldn’t have coped in a pound situation, and our friend was not able to take them back interstate with her after the funeral. So despite having no funds and too many cats in care, we took them on. Whilst they were very loved and well looked after by their late owner, they do require emergency dental work and vaccinations before being rehomed.
All of this sounds like normal stuff in the rescue world, which believe me, it is. The curve ball we have been thrown, is that since January this year, illness has left one of us unable to work, so we are living on one wage. Looking after all the animals in our care, trying to pay our current vet bill as well as normal living costs has become too much of a struggle on one wage, and we are finally asking for help.
Currently, our vet bill is $2,906.50. Projected vet work needed for animals in care comes to $1,292.20. Cost of running The Mark’s Ark is currently approximately $200 per week for food and litter, plus worming, flea treatment and vet work. Currently we receive regular direct debited donations of $100 per month. It’s not hard to see that these figures are not sustainable, particularly on one wage. We used to just make the discrepancy up ourselves, however due to only having one wage at the moment, we just don’t have the funds.
So we are asking for your help. We are hoping you can spare even just $10 for The Mark’s Ark. All donations over $2 are tax deductible. We need to raise $4,500 to pay off our vet bill and to vet work the animals in our care (Please see figures below). If you don’t have any money to give, perhaps you could do a fundraiser at work or school or with your friends? Any help to reach our goal would be so appreciated. Could your work give us a corporate sponsorship? Could you have a garage sale and donate the funds to The Mark’s Ark? Any donation over $2 is tax deductible and it’s nearly the end of the financial year!
So what happens once you raise this money you ask? Obviously, we will pay our vet bills and get vet work for the animals in our care. We will then be pushing to adopt out the 10 cats in our care, because despite how much we love them, they deserve their own home. Before taking on any further animals, we need to work at having money in the bank as we can’t go on like this, and we are very close to closing The Mark’s Ark. We need to be able to pay our vet bill quickly, and asking for help really is the hardest thing for us to do.
If you’ve read this far we commend you! Thank you for your time and for your support. Please share our message far and wide.
The animals thank you for your help.
FIGURES
Current outstanding vet bill: $2,906.50
Required vet work for animals in care:
Holly, Kingston, Oreo, Duchess –
4 x cat vaccinations $160.00 ($40ea)
Kitty –
1 x cat full blood work $180.00 (requires testing due to weight loss)
Betty & Celti –
2 x senior dogs; both require:
· Vaccination x 2 (1 each) $100.00 ($50ea)
· Heartworm test x 2 $ 80.00 ($40ea)
· Consult fee $ 40.00
· Intestinal worming $ 20.00 ($10ea)
· Pre anaesthetic blood test $300.00 ($150ea)
· Urgent dental surgery $700.00 ($350ea)
· Microchip COO $ 17.90 ($8.95ea)
Total vet work required: $1,597.90 (not currently undertaken)
Total cost of current & required vet bill: $4,504.40
Please email [email redacted] with your transaction details for a tax deductible receipt.
This is really hard to write, and we are writing this out of desperation, so please bear with us and we hope you take the time to read our story.
As you know, James and I run The Mark’s Ark by ourselves. We are a husband and wife; a two person team. We both work full time, and have 3 dogs, 6 cats and a cockatiel (all rescues) of our own to take care of, as well as the rescue animals that come into our home. We started our group on the 6th of April 2012, after taking in Ginger Kitty, a stray kitten a friend found at her work place. We had always wanted to start our own rescue group ‘one day’, but Ginger Kitty forced us to jump in head first.
The second reason we started our rescue group was that we realised (albeit a bit late) that we couldn’t adopt them ALL, but we could help save more than we could keep.
The last three years have been tough financially. When we started our group, we didn’t have any funds behind us, didn’t know what we were doing and were basically winging it for the animals. Those in rescue know it’s not only time consuming but financially draining, as your outgoings are always more than your incomings.
This year has been a turning point for us. We have 10 cats in care, waiting for adoption. Three of them we have had over a year, the others for nearly 6 months. We have a further 2 ‘Ark Cats’, that will live out their days at The Mark’s Ark; Kitty who was surrendered to a pound at 18 years old, and Wilma, who is terrified of everyone except us and was returned to us after being adopted as a kitten and in her new home for just a year.
Two weeks ago, despite any rational thinking, we took in two senior dogs. They had witnessed their elderly owner pass away, and were then left in the house alone by themselves for 2 weeks (unbeknownst to a family member living interstate, who had been told they were being looked after by the owners sibling.) Betty and Celti are 14 & 11 years old respectively, and were understandably very stressed when we removed them from their house. They wouldn’t have coped in a pound situation, and our friend was not able to take them back interstate with her after the funeral. So despite having no funds and too many cats in care, we took them on. Whilst they were very loved and well looked after by their late owner, they do require emergency dental work and vaccinations before being rehomed.
All of this sounds like normal stuff in the rescue world, which believe me, it is. The curve ball we have been thrown, is that since January this year, illness has left one of us unable to work, so we are living on one wage. Looking after all the animals in our care, trying to pay our current vet bill as well as normal living costs has become too much of a struggle on one wage, and we are finally asking for help.
Currently, our vet bill is $2,906.50. Projected vet work needed for animals in care comes to $1,292.20. Cost of running The Mark’s Ark is currently approximately $200 per week for food and litter, plus worming, flea treatment and vet work. Currently we receive regular direct debited donations of $100 per month. It’s not hard to see that these figures are not sustainable, particularly on one wage. We used to just make the discrepancy up ourselves, however due to only having one wage at the moment, we just don’t have the funds.
So we are asking for your help. We are hoping you can spare even just $10 for The Mark’s Ark. All donations over $2 are tax deductible. We need to raise $4,500 to pay off our vet bill and to vet work the animals in our care (Please see figures below). If you don’t have any money to give, perhaps you could do a fundraiser at work or school or with your friends? Any help to reach our goal would be so appreciated. Could your work give us a corporate sponsorship? Could you have a garage sale and donate the funds to The Mark’s Ark? Any donation over $2 is tax deductible and it’s nearly the end of the financial year!
So what happens once you raise this money you ask? Obviously, we will pay our vet bills and get vet work for the animals in our care. We will then be pushing to adopt out the 10 cats in our care, because despite how much we love them, they deserve their own home. Before taking on any further animals, we need to work at having money in the bank as we can’t go on like this, and we are very close to closing The Mark’s Ark. We need to be able to pay our vet bill quickly, and asking for help really is the hardest thing for us to do.
If you’ve read this far we commend you! Thank you for your time and for your support. Please share our message far and wide.
The animals thank you for your help.
FIGURES
Current outstanding vet bill: $2,906.50
Required vet work for animals in care:
Holly, Kingston, Oreo, Duchess –
4 x cat vaccinations $160.00 ($40ea)
Kitty –
1 x cat full blood work $180.00 (requires testing due to weight loss)
Betty & Celti –
2 x senior dogs; both require:
· Vaccination x 2 (1 each) $100.00 ($50ea)
· Heartworm test x 2 $ 80.00 ($40ea)
· Consult fee $ 40.00
· Intestinal worming $ 20.00 ($10ea)
· Pre anaesthetic blood test $300.00 ($150ea)
· Urgent dental surgery $700.00 ($350ea)
· Microchip COO $ 17.90 ($8.95ea)
Total vet work required: $1,597.90 (not currently undertaken)
Total cost of current & required vet bill: $4,504.40
Please email [email redacted] with your transaction details for a tax deductible receipt.
Organizer
The Mark’s Ark
Organizer
Melbourne, VIC