economic woes, putting pressure on sanctuaries

pattrice posted today about the impact of the current economic situation on sanctuaries. This is a two-fold concern, at the very least, and one I’d been meaning to post about.

First, money is tighter for a lot of people. As you’d expect, when people have less, they have less to give, and for organizations like sanctuaries running purely off donations, that creates an automatic hardship.

To make matters worse, prices for just about everything have gone up. And I don’t mean a little! The feed, the hay…in other words, some of the basic necessities for a sanctuary have become significantly more expensive during a time when they expect to receive less donations.

If you have some money ear-marked for donating, think about sending it to one of the many wonderful sanctuaries. You’ll be literally putting food in the mouths of rescued animals. And they do love to eat!

pattrice in particular has said that she’s in need. She rarely asks, and given that she’s one of the people who inspired me on my stumbling path towards sustainability, and given that she’s the first person I met who consciously tries to live as freegan as possible…well, I don’t think it is overstating things to say that she probably stretches a dollar further than most of us imagine it can be stretched, and I’m betting she’s also stretched things as thin as they can go before she appealed to us for donations.

Eastern Shore Chicken Sanctuary isn’t the only place in need, of course. And even when money is tight, we can often donate other things, or find other ways to help.

That we’re in the middle of the season of gifting is a double-edged sword. I’ve been working for years on eliminating the gifting among my friends and family, and I’m almost there by now. I’m sure my mom will not be able to accept giving NO gifts though, and so I’ll make it easy – I’ll just list a couple sanctuaries where she and my dad can donate on my behalf. Something we can all at least consider, I imagine!

The good news about this economic situation is that it is hurting the animal exploiters just as surely as it is hurting the sanctuaries.

Of course the animal exploiters will get bailed out by the government. Sanctuaries have no such luxury.