At this time of year when we ask you to continue your membership support, I think it is important to let you know what your contributions mean in the life of an animal which comes to Cocheco Valley. Persephone was brought into the shelter with her right eye protruding from her head, covered with scar tissue and obviously in discomfort. With one good eye she looked to us for help ... then she began to purr.

We can only guess that she was hit by a car or suffered some other blunt trauma to the head which was not treated at the time. Unfortunately, the eye could not be saved and surgery was immediately done by Animal Health Center of Rochester, and Persephone was sent to a foster home to recover. Several weeks later, Persephone returned to the shelter and was placed in a caring home. Love radiates from the soulful look on her repaired face, and her new owner finds her beautiful. The cost to the shelter to help Persephone, was $800.

Maggie is a beautiful and gentle Doberman Pinscher. She was brought to us by a friend of the shelter who rescued her from a breeding kennel in Maine. Maggie had obviously not been socialized and not used to being touched by human hands. She appeared to have been kept in her small kennel twenty four hours a day and must have been fed through the wire mesh of her cage as she was not house trained and she grabbed at fingers as if they were food. Maggie was so terrified that she would not walk into shelter, but had to be carried. If you tried to pet her, she immediately dropped to the ground and stiffened. We carried Maggie outside for a week before she gained enough confidence to walk. We brought her into the office to give her more contact with humans, and for the first few days, she curled up in the comer of my office in the fetal position with her legs so stiff, she couldn't be uncurled. When she did start to trust us more, she began to walk, but walked as low to the ground as she could get, slinking along the floor or grass outside. We introduced her to other non threatening dogs and found that she didn't know how to play with them. She had to be taught. Maggie was in the shelter for over three months while staff and volunteers worked to bring her out of her shell. She is now in a happy home where she prances and plays and knows the happy life of a beloved companion. The cost to help Maggie was over $1,200.

Altough not every animal requires as much care as Maggie and Persephone, it is easy to see how the costs of caring for our shelter animals add up. Multiply the cost of what it took to help just these two animals times the 3,000 animals which come through our door yearly and you can see the challenge we face.

This is what your membership fee allows us to do: to save lives, give pets a second chance and let them bring love into a new home. We were only able to help them because of you.

Last year you responded to our membership appeal with an increased gift. This year we ask you to maintain that gift and if the year has been good to you, to help us do more by increasing your membership. Please fill out the membership form found on our site with your contribution today. Remember, too, to ask your friends and relatives to become supporting members of CVHS. We need ALL of you to succeed!