Message from Pam Miller, Founder & President:

“A mind committed to compassion is like an overflowing reservoir – a constant source of energy, determination and kindness.” – 14th Dalai Lama

I love this quote because it is such an accurate description of our no kill cat shelter! Because of the energy, determination and kindness of our many volunteers, adopters and donors, SAFE Haven is leading our community with solutions for cat overpopulation and unnecessary euthanasia.

I hope you will be very pleased with this report and the impact YOU have made possible this fiscal year.

Click on the image above to read or download this issue of The Scratching Post (pdf format).

Thanks to you, we adopted 864 cats and kittens this year. This is an increase of 39 over last year.

Through the SAFE Care Feline Spay/Neuter Clinic 2,958 cats have been sterilized. This is an increase of almost 1,100 (from last year) that will not be adding to our overpopulation problem. Most importantly, no one is every turned away from the SAFE Haven’s clinic because they don’t have enough money.

As a transfer partner with six local County Animal Shelters, we responded when overcrowding forced these agencies to start euthanizing for space. In response, we took 276 cats from these shelters, providing them with a chance at a life in a caring home.

We supported 111 families (feeding 287 cats and 118 dogs in the process) with food from our Pet Food Pantry (the only one in Wake County). These owners can provide the pets they love with a much better life because of you.

When hurricane disasters struck in the fall of 2017, SAFE Haven partnered with the Humane Society of the U.S. to take 47 stranded cats and kittens that were airlifted from the disaster areas in Florida and Puerto Rico. We would not be able to respond quickly to events like these without your compassionate support.

Through our TNVR assistance program, we sterilized 459 “community cats”, loaned countless traps and provided education and hands-on help to many colony caretakers.

As you can see, everyone involved with SAVE Haven is determined, has a lot of energy, and works to save lives every day. On the following pages you will read about our programs, services, and the many ways you can help. Please come and join us in this life saving work. We will be very grateful.

With appreciation for everything you do for the animals . . .

Sincere thanks,

Pamela Miller
Founder & President

Read or download this issue of The Scratching Post here!

Message from our President:

Welcome Friends!

I have so much good news to report to you, our wonderful supporters! Thanks to YOU, we have accomplished so much!

I’m happy to be able to begin my update by telling you that we passed a major milestone when we made our 9,000th adoption at the end of January!

Click on the image above to read or download this issue of The Scratching Post (pdf format).

Take a look at the joyful photo inside as Diana and Gregg Zwilling of Wake Forest adopted Hummingbird and Golden Sands. Golden Sands was abandoned at the shelter in a carrier in September of 2017 and Hummingbird was found in a person’s yard as a stray. Even though the average length of stay in our shelter is 4 weeks, Golden Sands waited 17 weeks for Diana and Gregg…but it was worth it!

Volunteers and adopters alike are always interested in knowing where all the cats at SAFE Haven come from. They are all stray, abandoned, injured or orphaned, and here is the breakdown: Of the 872 cats in our shelter last year, 467 were strays found by members of our community, and 236 were transferred to SAFE Haven from the Granville, Franklin, Orange and Wake County Animal Shelters. Finally, 29 were abandoned here, while 44 came from hoarders and 96 came from immediate life-threatening situations.

Beyond serving our community by directly taking stray animals our neighbors have found, SAFE Haven is a friendly place to adopt a cat. Our philosophy is based on an open adoption process that is conversation based, non-confrontational and welcoming. Cats can go home the same day! There are no off-putting home visits! We enjoy hosting families with children! The hardest part for you will be picking your new friend from among the 50 or so we have ready every day!

January marked another significant achievement for SAFE Haven when the 25,000th cat was sterilized at the SAFE Care Feline Clinic. The photo below is Ann Dean and Dr. Jennifer Bledsoe-Nix, owner of the Clinic.

The 25,000th cat was a male, feral cat from Ann and her husband’s feral colony in Dunn. At that location they have a shop and take care of 10 other cats who have also used the clinic. The sign on the cage says “I love my sterile feral. TNVR Saves Lives!” (TNVR = Trap/Neuter/Vaccinate/Return).

At the SAFE Care Clinic, every customer is treated with respect, regardless of whether or not they can pay the already low fee of $85. In fact 30% of the clinic customers receive these services for free or half price. This is thanks to our supportive donors and national leaders in the field of animal welfare such as The Petrie Foundation and PetSmart Charities.

And, we simply can’t say it enough: Our hundreds of dedicated and hard-working volunteers are the key to our success, along with a veterinary and shelter staff of ten. Their $200,000 of time donated to the cats each year goes a long way towards helping us keep our overhead expenses at 17.5%.

Be sure to read about our education programs, our Pet Food Pantry (the only pet pantry in Wake County), and our upcoming events including the largest one of the year…The Tuxedo Cat Ball…all inside this newsletter!

Congratulations to each one of you in the SAFE Haven family on these stellar accomplishments. They could not have happened without you!

With gratitude,

Pamela Miller
Founder & President

Read or download this issue of The Scratching Post here!

Message from our Founder & President:

“Hope, is born of participation in hopeful solutions” – Marianne Williamson, Author

I have heard this quote a number of times recently and it has really stuck in my head because SAFE Haven for Cats has always been about hope.

Based on our life-saving results this past year, most of you believe in hope too!

Because of your involvement, SAFE Haven is leading our community with solutions for cat overpopulation and unnecessary euthanasia.

Click on the image above to read or download this issue of The Scratching Post (pdf format).

This past year:

Thanks to you, we achieved a 46% increase in the number of cats and kittens adopted. 825 stray, abandoned, injured or orphaned cats are alive and happily thriving in their homes.

Through the SAFE Care Spay/Neuter Clinic, 1,859 cats have been sterilized. Best of all, no one is ever turned away from the clinic because they don’t have enough money.

As a partner with 4 local County Animal Shelters, we responded when they were forced to start euthanizing for space. We took 236 cats from these shelters.

We supported 83 families (224 cats and 116 dogs) with food from the Pet Food Pantry (the only one in Wake County). These owners and pets have a much better quality of life because of you.

Through our TNVR assistance program for community cats we sterilized 388, loaned countless traps, and educated with hands-on contributions to many colony caretakers.

As you can see, there are many ways to participate with us in hopeful solutions. On the following pages you will read about actions you can take as a volunteer and advocate. You don’t have to have any special talents just a willingness to help.

With sincere appreciation for everything you do for the animals…

Sincere thanks,

Pamela Miller
Founder & President

Read or download this issue of The Scratching Post here!

Message from our Founder & President:

We are saving lives!

Click on the image above to read or download this issue of The Scratching Post (pdf format).

After all these years, it still amazes me how much people in our community love the cats at SAFE Haven. Every day people from the Triangle take time out of their day to help stray cats. They might come to the shelter and clean up after the cats or bring a stray cat they found to our SAFE Care Clinic. They hold a pet food drive at their place of work or make a cash donation of a few dollars. They volunteer at events around the area to connect other cat-loving people to our work and services. They sew catnip mice to sell at area veterinarian’s offices. They share our Facebook posts with their friends to help spread the word about our mission. They foster orphan kittens that have to be fed with a bottle every 3 hours for several weeks. Sometimes caring people purchase cat food at the store and donate it for our Pet Food Pantry so other people’s pets can eat. Six foot tall construction workers bring us kittens they find on job sites. People stop in the middle of the highway to rescue little kittens. Every day is simply amazing at SAFE Haven because of you—our friends and supporters.

As I reflect back on our last 12 months I am filled with gratitude. Thanks to your help, we have saved many lives, helped reduce feline euthanasia, and advanced the cause of cats as the number one pet in America. Our shared accomplishments are outlined in the Annual Report portions of this newsletter.

Not everything is rosy in animal welfare in our community and there is controversy too. We continue to work towards permanent change in our ineffective local animal control ordinances to allow for the humane management of community and feral cats. We strive to provide free pet sterilization to everyone who needs it, which means more animal shelters in North Carolina need to be able to open high volume spay/neuter clinics. We will continue to try to understand the tragedy of animal hoarding and assist other quasi-rescues who get trapped in an endless cycle of ego, unprofessionalism, and bad decision making.

We still have a lot of work to do as we begin our 23rd year together and we will strive to always be business-like, transparent, trustworthy and to make good decisions for the cats we all love so much.

With great hope for the future . . .

Sincere thanks,

Pamela Miller
Founder & President