Treasurer’s Report – 11/04/2024
SEPTEMBER UPDATE
Nation, our September financial update is relatively straightforward. We had a net loss of $17.8k, but the popcorn fundraiser significantly helped to offset expenses. We managed to cover routine costs such as veterinary and foster/fospice expenses, but there were no notable items to report during September.
OCTOBER UPDATE
October was a bit more interesting, but also unfortunately considerably more expensive on the vet bill front. Net P&L was a negative $29k driven by higher vet bills, boarding expenses, and foster expenses. For both months our donations remained low, so we are grateful for every supporter who sends in funds to help the dogs or buys something from our fundraisers!
The higher vet bills are from a few causes. We were presented with 18 unpaid invoices for Penelope, which we had not seen before and we agreed to pay. The vet clinic graciously agreed to accept a partial payment until we could have time to audit all the invoices, but the total due was $4,015, and was ultimately paid. We don’t know where Penelope is presently, as former SSR team members have chosen to hide this information from us despite our attempts to work together. Some of the rumors we have heard are alarming, some are less so and we remain hopeful Penelope will eventually make her way to Virginia/Maryland and be adopted to the right family.
We also settled open invoices for Varro (Buckethead) and Solo, two dogs who have been kept from us in a Houston boarding facility. The total there was $2,385. We have been trying to work with this facility since June without any luck, as these dogs were apparently not listed under an SSR account, and the account owner would not release them to our SSR account. The facility finally reissued the open invoices to Shenandoah Shepherd Rescue – a requirement we had for paying them.
Unfortunately, we still have not been given access to Varro or Solo. We know Solo has made his way north, as we paid his transport bill, but his foster is not in communication with us. Varro remains in Texas to the best of our knowledge.
Eclipse and Mum (Mabel) also made their way north and we paid for both intra-Texas and northern transport. Eclipse is a lovely medium sized shepherd mix and is available on our website.
We have a few dogs in boarding who are in need of a foster home. One is Schön, who was in the most amazing foster home! Unfortunately, she came back when her foster had some bad medical news. Please keep both Schön and her former foster in your thoughts. Our dedicated volunteers are visiting the dogs regularly to help make sure they get lots of time to explore their new world and have plenty of interaction! If you would like to foster a dog, you can find the information on how to apply here!
Our volunteer team is carefully reviewing the dogs currently listed in our database as still dependent on SSR. This includes adoptable dogs, our fospice dogs, and a few whose health needs and records weren’t fully addressed over the past year. Discussions with one such foster/adopter resulted in our learning her dog had been diagnosed with life threatening medical conditions before the adoption was completed, however SSR did not cover any of these costs. We worked with her to sort through bills she paid to save her dog's life and what SSR was responsible for, and we’re happy to report that the adoption was finalized after reimbursement!
ADDITIONAL INVOICES COVERED
For those of you following activity on various Facebook pages not controlled or authorized by the rescue, you may have seen some posts about unpaid invoices from Spring for a non-SSR dog where former SSR staff apparently agreed to cover the pet’s medical expenses. The invoices that had been sent in the early summer started appearing regularly. Nothing on the invoice said SSR – not the name of the person responsible for billing, nor the dog’s name. After repeated social media posts, the Board met and agreed to pay the bills if the vet clinic would reissue them to SSR. We then will include the social media posts as the audit justification for why we agreed to pay something that debatably should not have been paid with funds donated for SSR dogs.
Finally, we continue to pay vet bills for the many (15) fospice dogs SSR has responsibility to support. These are dogs tagged over the years who arrived north only to be diagnosed with terminal medical conditions, making it impossible to find adopters willing to take on the medical costs of a dog with a shorter than expected life span.
We lost one of these dogs, Jersey, in October. She was tagged earlier this year – at age 13 with congestive heart failure due to heartworms. She took five medications. Her last months were filled with lots of love and lots of being told to “please calm down” as she loved living her life. We are thankful for her generous foster who gave time to make sure Jersey crossed the Rainbow Bridge knowing she was loved. The remaining fospice dogs are getting all the regular care they require and their foster families are receiving regular medication shipments thanks to generous donors.
Below are a few invoices we've paid recently:
Penelope’s
Varro’s boarding
Fospice dogs Barnes and Sawyer
Luna – ongoing treatment for dog not ready for adoption due to medical concerns
Non SSR dog invoices
A NOTE TO THE SSR NATION
We want to extend our deepest gratitude to each and every supporter of Shenandoah Shepherd Rescue. Your unwavering dedication means everything, especially as we’ve navigated a challenging time marked by such an incredible amount of misinformation. These obstacles have made our mission even more difficult, but your loyalty and compassion have lifted us up and reminded us why we do this work. Every donation, foster home, adoption, volunteer hour, and shared word of support strengthens our resolve and brings us closer to brighter futures for the dogs who depend on us. Thank you for standing by us and being part of the Shenandoah Shepherd Rescue family—together, we are overcoming these challenges and transforming lives, one dog at a time!
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