MACSPRO needs your input today at this critical point in our history

Note: This email and survey is the most important ever sent by MACSPRO. Please read, complete the survey and email it back. Thank you.

If you don't have enough time to read the whole email, please take less than five minutes to complete our survey at the bottom of the email. 

Agenda for MACSPRO Board Meeting

As of our last board meeting July 12, 2014, we had three dogs at Rivermist (Paris, Stella and Rex), with Sunshine and Chunk in foster.

We took in thirteen dogs (Bear, Jenny, Mini, Lady Blue, Judy, Jade, Taz, Chuy, Bingo, Elvis, Angie, Oreo and Ellie) and adopted out fourteen (Paris, Stella, Sunshine, Chunk, Bear, Jenny, Mini, Lady Blue, Judy, Jade, Taz, Chuy, Bingo and Elvis)

Rex went to foster on Dec 7 but is not house-trained and has been difficult to rehome.

Oreo was adopted on Saturday December 13.

Currently only Ellie is at Rivermist.

We are spending an average of $15 dollars per day per dog plus a “Vet Warranty” of $1.50 per day per dog (for dogs Rivermist considers “at risk for veterinary needs”) as well as any medications or special requests like bathing, walking etc. administered by Rivermist staff. For the month of November, we spent approximately $1,500 boarding and miscellaneous costs at Rivermist plus other veterinary fees.

Jeanne (with Lynn’s help) administers monthly Heartworm and Flea preventative as well as some other meds as necessary.

We still have China at Debendale in Reisterstown where she has been for two years. The kennel has changed ownership and we may have to take her in. She is good with kids, most people and some dogs.

Angie and Knine Rescue, Inc.

Angie our mixed breed, is being fostered by a Knine Rescue Inc. rep in Fort Meade MD. She had eight pups, two stillborn. (Amber, Jasper, Ruby, Jade, Rose and Onyx)

MACPRO has promised to do initial vetting and proposed the adopter pay spay/neuter and split the adoption fee, but to date, we have:

• Paid $232.40 in Boarding and vetting fees to North Star Veterinary in Parkton, NC.
• Transportation was arranged free by North Star. Lynn met the transport in the Baltimore area, brought Angie to Jeanne who then took Angie to Ft Meade for foster.
• Paid about $100 to Hickory Ridge Vet to look at Jasper. The Vet concluded by recommending Angie be kept away from the pups except around feeding time.
• We talked with Knine about their circumstances. They cannot afford kennel costs and foster only. So we propose letting Knine keep the pups and give them all future responsibility of the pups and Angie. We would need to do this in writing.

Knine Rescue also does not have enough physical help, but we can cross-post and we would get more exposure if we do adoption events together

MACSPRO’s current situation is that neither Jeanne nor Joyce can handle the dogs, leaving walking and handling mostly to Lynn, David and Arlene. Ben and Andrea have been able to help out, as well as Corrine and Jeremy on occasion and Carolyn and Keith Figgatt.

Jeanne can be at Rivermist to adopt or foster dogs. With Ben and Andrea’s, or David and Arlene’s and occasionally Deborah and Allan’s help to handle, we have gotten several of our last dogs adopted.

Although Jeanne must cut back by end of year, she is still willing to do a limited amount of IT work.

KUDOS to:

• David and Arlene who have done a fabulous job on our website, keeping up on FB and other media and walking our peibies every weekend.
• Betty who set up some great adoption events and helped organize adoption packets for our new Pei Parents.
• Lynn for all her transports and walking our peibies at least once every week

NEW BUSINESS

If we want to continue, we must have more physical bodies to help. We cannot continue as we are currently doing because neither Jeanne nor Joyce, due to their health/physical issues, can handle the dogs.

Jeanne and Joyce are still able and willing to continue with the administrative work since they are both knowledgeable on the great amount of paper work, emails and phone calls that have to be responded to daily. But we still do not have enough help to transport, take dogs to the vet, do adoption events, etc.

If we close down, excess money in our treasury must go to a Shar-Pei specific cause.

We can distribute this $$ to several breed specific rescues (SP rescue of VA, Op Scarlet, SPR of Florida) this is not a lot of money.

We can talk with Operation Scarlet or SPR of VA-NJ re some type of merger. Although this would not solve our manpower needs, it would help us distribute those needy Pei we still have to other rescues.

What we propose is Joyce again take over the President’s position; Jeanne the Vice-President; Betty Trojan Secretary. Jeanne and Joyce will split the Treasurer’s job as they are already paying all the bills and handling the incoming checks.

If the organization is to continue, younger people need to learn “the ropes”.

Our phone would still need to be active for at least 5 years (by that time all the micro-chipped dogs would probably have “crossed over the Rainbow Bridge”).

There are few, if any, Shar Pei rescues in GA, NC, SC, KY, TN, and a number of shelters will only adopt to rescues due to the previous bad reputation of our breed. So there in no one to take up the slack.

Both Jeanne and Joyce want to continue in operation. Over 1000 dogs have found forever homes in over the 30 years that MACSPRO has been active. But unless other, younger, healthier, people can step up to help, the organization will close. So please now take a few minutes to respond to the survey. Let us know your thoughts.  The survey is available at:  http://survey.macspro.org