Jul 165 min read

Report from the Treasurer - 07/16/2024

Treasurer's Report - 07/16/2024

SSR Nation,

Adding up our June expenses was both a cause for elation and a bit depressing at the same time. The good news is that we are on track running the rescue and supporting all the dogs that were tagged prior to mid-May. Although we have started courtesy postings, intake remains closed as we have too many dogs still stuck in Texas. You will see how costs for those dogs are adding up below and there are still a few we haven’t been able to bring into the program- despite the fact that they were tagged as SSR dogs. We also paid our first legal bill – there were unfortunately an enormous number of Facebook posts and happenings that kept our attorney busy, and unfortunately as he had to review all incorrect information put out into social media, his hours added up fast. We paid more old vet invoices, got the Chewy, Amazon, VetRX etc orders back on track for the fosters and fospices, settled open boarding invoices and paid to transport 2 dogs north.

We overspent our June monthly income by $64,000.

Vet Bills & Misc. bills

Vet bills were down from May - $28k versus the $30k we paid in the last two weeks of May reflecting the fact that we are paying our vets as soon as we can. We are still finding older invoices from long time SSR vets – one from late December for a local primary vet we use required some additional research, but was paid $986 in early July. We were made aware of another open invoice in early July – for $700 – so we researched and then paid that invoice.

In March, SSR had an auction that brought in about $10,000. Unfortunately, invoices related to some of the prizes remained unpaid as of June 1. Specifically, an $8,500 invoice had been among those flagged by the former head of SSR as fraudulent in one of her April posts, but a closer look showed that it was the cost of the prizes for the auction. Thanks to our generous supporters, that fundraiser was profitable - although $8,500 less profitable once all the bills were paid - but we needed to close it out and get the correct final number by settling the bills due to the company who helped us run the auction, and they were very grateful to finally receive payment.

Boarding

Boarding totaled $10,690 for the month of June and is on track to be almost as much in July. Unfortunately due to our very limited reach now, only two new fosters stepped forward in June and we presently have only two more fosters committed to receive dogs in July. If you have any interest in fostering Audi, Daisy, Freda, Ollie, Ruger, Victoria, Pope, Snowy or Buster, please let us know- pictures and video are on Facebook. These dogs have been waiting in boarding for far too long, and our primary focus is currently getting them into foster homes. It also would help decrease the ongoing overhead expenses significantly to find foster placement for these deserving pups. We did manage to get Princesses and her puppies north in early July, but they were with a Texas based foster- so while we are thrilled they are here and some are finding adopters, their arrival won’t save us much financially.

Ceci 1429

Ceci, one of our fospice dogs, required considerable medical care in late May and early June. Her expenses – paid in June – are detailed below. Her vet also informed us of an unpaid December 2023 invoice that we paid to bring everything Ceci related up to date.

Transport

Transport costs were $4,402 in June- although that doesn’t cover June activity. $360 was the cost to transport Ren and Vicky north. Vicky’s foster has decided to keep her, and Ren has met his adopter who he will move in with after he is neutered in early August. The rest of the balance was due to older invoices from May (and earlier) owed to three small training and transport businesses, and a pre-payment on private transport for Princess and her puppies. Because of logistical issues with their foster, as well as their vaccine history, they were not eligible for public transport which increased their transport costs by about 50% over a regularly scheduled transport. Sadly, before they left Texas we were already generating new costs– those are the $1,600 you saw on our Facebook page as we definitively diagnosed their worm based illnesses and started medicine to get them healthy. They have since perked up, and will be retested in July.

Vets Paid

28 vets were paid in June-reflecting the many states where our fosters live. 17 Chewy orders were placed for foster/fospice dogs along with another 8 for Amazon, Vetmeds, Petsmart, etc.

Regrettably we lost King and Barkley. We paid the final vet bills for their medical issues as well as cremation so that their fosters, who cared for them so well during their end of life, will always have them.

additional Details & Invoices

Below you will find a spreadsheet with the details on the Boarding and the final invoices for Barkley, as well as Ceci’s invoices.

The Board of Directors plus over a dozen dedicated volunteers are working diligently to get everyone vetted and move all the dogs previously tagged into loving homes.

fundraising

One final note before we include some details- after much internal discussion and with input from the many volunteers presently active, the Board has decided that we will periodically post asking for donations to help cover specific expenses. Playing catch up on many more open invoices than we anticipated and caring for all the dogs tagged by JQA in April and earlier is leaving a sizable dent in the funds we have access to, which do not include monies in Venmo or Paypal. While we remain hopeful that we have enough to get all the dogs settled and bring SSR to a place where we can restart intake, we decided as a group that given the level of funds going out to keep all the dogs safe and healthy, periodically asking for help with a specific project is something we need to do. This month we asked for help with the unexpected vet bills for the puppies. We realized that given logistical issues and where they were with their shots, we would have additional transport costs to get them all north. We had not realized that we would have puppies with four different minor medical conditions that required diagnosis and treatment. Of course not everyone had the same things – that would have been too easy and less expensive – so everyone required exams and tests when they presented as lethargic. Generous donors have helped us replenish a portion of what was spent and we are very grateful. Future small projects will also be posted and we will ask for support as needed.

We know that given the urgency of posts and messages of prior SSR fundraisers, we have a lot of trust still to build as the organization is restructured. We can promise, though, that dogs will get care when required. But we also realize that ongoing donations will put us in the best position to reopen intake after we have finished supporting the more than 60 dogs (including fospice) currently dependent on SSR for their care. We understand the urgent state of rescue in the US in the summer of 2024 and remain hopeful that we can place the dogs previously tagged so that we can begin saving more dogs. Closing intake is something that has weighed heavily on us these last 2 months but with the lack of fosters as well as access to our Facebook, Paypal, storage unit, and other resources, we know we are doing what is right for the organization and the SSR dogs at this time.

Thanks for your reading and your support.

Donations to help defray ongoing costs can be made at Donate | Shenandoah Shepherd Rescue (shenandoahrescue.org)