Serenity Place Rescue
Where the rescued are halfway home!
December 2013
Happy Holidays
To all of our friends & supporters,
Wishing you all a very happy holiday season
and may the new year bring you and your
families and pets good health and prosperity!
It is hard to believe this year is almost over. For
me, the year began with a breast cancer
diagnosis – something I did not expect at all. It
was discovered during a routine mammogram. I
was so shocked and scared when I learned the
news, I can remember feeling faint. Not only
was I afraid of what lie ahead for Terry and I,
but for all the precious orphans that count on
us every day and especially the ones I care for
medically. I did my lumpectomy surgery 1/21
and unfortunately had a reaction to the
antibiotic I was given. I was pretty miserable
for a few weeks with that, but as time went
on, my healing went well. My prognosis was
good and I have had 2 follow up mammograms
and am cancer free for now.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Pg. 1
Latest News
Pg. 2-5
Events & Thank You’s
Pg. 6
Letters & Success Stories
Pg. 7
Memorial
Pg. 8--10
Waiting for Homes & Adopted Pets
2013
Pg. 11
Wish List
I will definitely be happy to celebrate 1/21/14
with one year cancer-free. Yay! The loving
support of friends and family and of course the
little sweet orphans I care for has meant so
much to me.
Since I have so many goals for Serenity Place
Rescue this upcoming year, which has been my
main motivation to keep positive and keep
going to make sure the many orphans we
rescue go from their "halfway home" to their
"forever home".
We wish to thank all of you for the wonderful
loving help and support that you have given us
during this year. Serenity Place Rescue could
have not continued to achieve the many rescues
that we have successfully accomplished without
your help!
Our usual goal is to save cats of any age, kittens
and some dogs and our special needs
cats/kittens.
But the big news this year is the Katherine St.
Project. A lady who had dedicated her life to
helping cats unfortunately, fell ill. While she
was in hospice, the people that took care of the
cats for her had to drive very far and couldn’t
make it often enough. By the time animal
services was called in, the house was in
deplorable condition. There were 14 cats
inside, a litter of seven kittens and numerous
cats outside and strays she fed. Animal services
allowed Serenity Place Rescue to take the litter
of kittens and three adult cats.
Serenity Place Rescue
pg. 1
December, 2013
While the owner was in hospice, most of the
cats went to a shelter to be impounded for 30
days pending the outcome of the woman. After
she passed away, we rescued the Katherine St.
cats from the shelter. We adopted out all seven
of the Katherine St. litter and all but two of the
14 adults cats that were rescued.
This sad story is why we encourage anyone
with any pets, especially an elderly one, to
please make provisions for them and include a
monetary donation in case something
unforeseen happens to you. For those of you
who have adopted from Serenity Place Rescue,
please work with us before you give your
animal to another owner or make sure your
next of kin knows to contact Serenity Place
Rescue should anything happen to you.
Most of these cats, kittens and dogs have found
wonderful homes, one kitten did a Friskies
commercial due to come out later this winter.
Even with my health problems, we still
managed to place 65 animals. Many of the
animals were real challenges so I am glad we
were able to get them into their forever homes.
You can view all of our pets available for
adoption
on
our
website
at
www.serenityplacerescue.org
under
“Adoptions”. You can also go directly to our
PetFinder
page
at
www.serenityplace.petfinder.com. We show
our adoptable cats and kittens at Petco in
Canoga Park as well as Encino, where they stay
24/7 in the beautiful cat habitat that Petco
donated to us for being Petco partners for ten
years and counting. Petco has really helped us
to get the kitties into some great loving homes.
Events
During the year, we did many Petco Mega
adoption events, including St. Patrick’s Day, a
summer event, a 1950’s theme Halloween
event, the Christmas pet pictures with Santa
and Hanukah pet pictures. We attended the Pet
Expo April 19, 20 and 21 in Orange County. We
also did 2 events with the radio show’s Warren
Eckstein from “The Pet Show” in Tarzana at the
Red Barn, June 22 and November 2.
Terry & Lori and volunteers at the Petco Saint
Patrick’s Day Adoption Event March 9, 2013
at Canoga Park
Lori & Terry at the Petco Halloween Adoption
Event with 1950’s Theme at Canoga Park
Serenity Place Rescue
pg. 2
December, 2013
Warren Eckstein holding Oreo at Red Barn
Event in Tarzana
Terry holding Oreo & Pepper while playing
Santa for pet pictures at Petco
Our main fundraisers continue to be yard sales
where we help raise money for our on-going
veterinary expenses, so please keep us in mind
if you want to donate items for our sales. In
addition, Serenity Place Rescue has partnered
with Pura Vida Bracelets to sell our own
bracelets! Designed with the colors of animals
and blue for life, we receive one dollar for every
bracelet purchased. Order them through our
website or visit puravidabracelets.com and
search for Serenity Place Cat Rescue. Thank you
for your support.
Lori, Terry & Shirley with her hula-hoop at
Red Barn Event in Tarzana
Boogie-Man the cat, Halloween 2013
If you would like to help us continue our
mission in helping homeless cats, we would
very much appreciate donations of any kind.
Please take a look at our Holiday Wishlist (see
page 10) or it is also on our website,
www.serenityplacerescue.org which lists all of
the things we need the most to make sure these
little guys get the best shelter and care we can
provide them until they are adopted. Don’t
forget - all donations are tax deductible, and we
will provide you with a receipt. Monetary
donations in particular are essential for us to
continue to provide them with necessary
veterinary care, especially for the felines with
special needs. We also hope that someday we
will raise enough funds to be able to have a
Serenity Place Rescue
pg. 3
December, 2013
place for the foster and unadoptable cats (semiferal, elderly and special needs) (see wish list).
loved and cared for. We cannot thank-you
enough, we feel like you all are our family.
Thank You
Thank you Scott, the
former manager of Petco
Canoga Park for all his help
and support, who was and
still is so involved in
helping to socialize the
cats and help so many to
be able to get homes. You
are their hero.
Scott with Chase
We sincerely appreciate everyone’s help and
would like to extend a special thanks to Dr.
Susan Milder, Dr. Kamran Nassi, and all of their
wonderful staff for their excellent care and
kindness and compassion. We would also like
to extend a big thank you to Target, Luis and
Xiomara for their generous donations of
cat/dog food that we use for our fosters and
also deliver to help animals belonging to
families in need, the homeless, as well as the
churches and food banks that help them. Your
kindness is much appreciated!
Thank you to the Petco Foundation, for
allowing us to be “guests” in their stores for 10
years and for donating the cat habitats which
have helped us place so many orphans in the
years we have been there. Thank you to the
staff of Petco Canoga Park without all of your
help we could not help and maintain so many
kitties with all the love, care and support you
give them. Thank you to Lauren, the grooming
manager, who grooms the kitties when needed
and has also organized the adoption events
with such enthusiasm, making them so
successful. Thank you Mike Rossi, district
manager of the Petco Canoga Park store for
being there when we needed you and having
the faith in all of us to know we will all make
him proud with the events and our decorating.
Thank you to Petco Encino, especially Daniela
who’s positive attitude and support makes
every day and all events successful and fun and
the staff, and Tony who is our “photographer”
and does a superb job at holiday pet pictures.
Thank you Brittaney and Ana, the cats’ second
“moms” along with everyone else who helps
raise funds and to make sure all the animals are
And to our friends and supporters: John
Holman and Mary; Dee and Kathryn Baker;
Glady; John and Lorene Milligan; Todd
Goodman (for your longtime unconditional
friendship, support and legal advice); Jill Ryther
(attorney, for your advice); Karin (for being a
supportive sister); Marty Meyer for all your
help; Jeanne Toma, Cody Lassen and Nitzan
Bobrov for all the great yard sale items and
generous donations; Michael Bell (for your
longtime dedication to the welfare of all
animals and always being there for support);
Shirley (our wonderful hula hooper who is
always ready to hoop and support our efforts)
and all of our friends and family who have
accepted that a life of a rescuer is always hectic
and never easy.
Also Marina Djuric who
is amazing and without
her we would be lost.
She is our tech-savvy
volunteer
who
maintains our website,
and does whatever else
we need done.
Marina with Boomer
Serenity Place Rescue
(Adopted from SPR)
pg. 4
December, 2013
To Lahari, Anitha and Kankar for volunteering
your time to feed and clean at Canoga Park
Petco twice a week and for giving Ray & Hope
their dream home! Also thank you for the help
with the video for the Petco contest.
Thank you Ellen & Chad for allowing us to have
yard sales at your house and for doing the
newsletter. Last but certainly not least, Paula
and her husband of R & R Printers in
Chatsworth (who have helped us with all our
printing needs and whom we highly
recommend), we truly appreciate your
kindness! And to anyone we may have
forgotten to mention, please forgive us and
know that we are so grateful to you as well!
Also we would like to thank all of you who
adopted pets from us, and gave them loving
homes. It does our hearts well to know they
are loved and happy. We look forward to
hearing from you and seeing pictures you might
have of your furry children! Every animal we
adopt out is always in our hearts and never
forgotten, and we know that they continue to
receive the same love after they find their
“forever home”. We at Serenity Place will
always be there for you if you can no longer
take care of them, need to return them, need
help financially when possible, need advice, or
if you want a new addition to the family!
Once again, we sincerely appreciate everyone’s
help and generosity this year. It has helped us
save so many lives, and we will definitely keep
you updated on what is going on with us and
the events that we do so that more people can
get involved to help save so many more lives of
innocent little animals who have done nothing
but give us unconditional love and everlasting
companionship.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Best Wishes,
Lori Kaelker and Terry Ross
Serenity Place Rescue
Lori & Terry
&
Oreo & Pepper
(Waiting for their
forever home)
CONTACT US
Phone
(818) 999-4022 or (818) 348-4865
E-mail
[email protected] or
[email protected]
Website
www.SerenityPlaceRescue.org
Petfinder
serenityplace.petfinder.com
Facebook
Serenity Place Rescue
Correspondence
6520 Platt Ave# 455
West Hills CA 91307-3218
Serenity Place Rescue
pg. 5
December, 2013
Letters & Success Stories
Ray & Hope
Letters
Hi Lori,
You may remember Ray & Hope, the kittens
born without eyelids. While they are without
sight, they are very happy in their home with
their wonderful family.
I don't know if you remember me and my husband
Doug, but we adopted a cat from you one year ago
today. His name is Billy, and he's a black and
white "cow cat" with one green eye and one blue.
Ray & Hope were featured in a video entry for a
contest with Petco and Ellen DeGeneres. While
Serenity Place Rescue was not among the
winners of the 4,500 rescue entries, the video
shows their sad start and ends with their great
new life.
I just wanted to let you know he's had a wonderful
first year with us! He is such a great cat - everyone
loves him, even people who aren't crazy about
cats. He's just so easy going and friendly. He's also
the smartest cat I've ever known. He will sit down
for treats, and we just taught him a new trick standing up on his hind legs to get a treat!
You
can
view
this
video
at
http://www.youtube.com/edit?video_id=_xOm
Wo_gt2M&video_referrer=watch
or
on
www.youtube.com search for Ray & Hope
Serenity Place Rescue.
We're absolutely crazy about him, and we're so
glad he joined our family a year ago. He's happy to
be here too, and he loves cuddling with us on the
couch.
Thanks for all the work
you do, and for rescuing
Billy so that we could
adopt him!
Cheers,
Katie
Peewee
Henry
Peewee was also featured in last year’s
newsletter. He was underdeveloped and was
emaciated at 6 ounces. Peewee has grown and
although he has neurological problems, he is
such a sweet boy.
Henry was adopted in 2008 (left) and now in 2013.
Here is the latest picture of Henry. He’s part of our
family and loves to snuggle. He even uses a pillow
like a human. We love him!
Serenity Place Rescue
pg. 6
December, 2013
Letters Continued
December 1, 2013
Lori,
Eddie
has
made
huge
strides.
The first is that he has made our bed his bed every
night, curled up all warm with us. Secondly, he
hangs in the den with the dogs when we are in
there and roams the entire house as he pleases. The
dogs pay no attention to him, but yesterday I was
cracking up when one of them came too close to
sniff him and I turned around just in time to see
him all hunched up and
running sideways chasing
the dog! The dog ran to me
for comfort, the cat strolled
away and went about his
business. Just I suspected,
he already rules the house,
just like our previous kitty.
Desiree
Misty
(aka Vespa)
Jarrod
Eddie
- Tracey Goodman
Memorial
We wanted to take a moment to remember
some wonderful people and animals that have
passed away 2013. Desiree (aka Vespa) a very
special needs cat passed away along with Tim,
who had the same affliction as Desiree. Misty,
Jarrod, Guinevere and Bugsey the Dog also
passed away. To Elaine & Jeff, we are so sorry
for the passing of Jasper. From the Katherine St.
house, Orphan Andy passed away from cancer
shortly after his rescue. We will miss Donald
Nelson, someone we had the privilege of pet
sitting for, a true gentleman, who loved and
adored his cat Inga. Sheryl Green a dedicated
fellow rescuer and advocator. You both are
missed.
Guinevere
Bugsey
(Shadow’s litter)
Serenity Place Rescue
Donald Nelson
pg. 7
December, 2013
Adopted Pets 2013
Shadow & her Litter
The Katherine St. Litter
Shadow
Oliver
Lelia
Monkey, Tyger, Sweets,
Miss Kitty & Charlie
&
Fiona (the star of a
Hartel Litter
Friskies commercial)
Other Katherine St.
House Cats Adopted
Cozy
Lacey
Serenity Place Rescue
pg. 8
December, 2013
More 2013 Adoptions
Nana
Maggie
Eddie
(Formerly Molly)
Lulu (Formerly Ms. Meows)
Hobbs
Bugsey
Dixon
Kai (Formerly Frisco)
Wellington (formerly Dexter Pierre)
James
Serenity Place Rescue
pg. 9
December, 2013
Wish List
A few other ideas and “wishes”…
1. Cat food
a. Iams original adult cat dry (orange
bag), any size
b. Iams kitten dry (purple bag), any
size
c. Nutromax adult cat food, roasted
chicken flavor
d. Nutromax kitten food, dry, any size
e. Wet (canned) food: Any by Iams,
Nutromax, Friskies
2. Food/Water Bowls ceramic
or stoneware, 8‐9 inches
3. Litter
a.Prefer Fresh Step Crystals or
Swheat Scoop( wheat Liter), but any
clay or gravel
litter will do (no clumping sand type,
please), any size
b. Litter boxes, any size, with or
without covers
c. Litter scoopers, any type
4. Beds and flat pads for
sleeping
5. Scratching posts
6. Cat toys
7. Cat collars with
breakaway safety feature, assorted
colors for both males & females
8. Advantage or Frontline flea prevention
for kittens and adults, 3 or 6 pack
9. Knox Gelatin 3‐48 package (for bottle fed
kittens)
10. Canned Goat Milk any size (for bottle
fed kittens)
11. Gift cards Petco, Petsmart, Home Depot,
Walmart, CostCo, Target, Ralphs, Arco &
Shell gas cards
1. Monetary donation – of any amount to
help with all of the expenses we incur
while taking care of all the orphans at
our "halfway home" (can donate via
personal check or website via pay pal)
2. Office equipment ‐ computer, monitor,
keyboard, copy machine, 2‐cordless
phones
3. Folding tables ‐ plastic coated, 4’ & 6’ foot
(for adoption events and yard sales)
4. Hand held vacuum ‐ any kind (Dust
Buster, etc.)
5. Donated truck, van, or SUV (for
transporting our animals to veterinary
appointments, adoption events,
delivering adopted pets to their new
homes, picking up donated items for our
yard sales, etc.)
6. Store front for a thrift store ‐ with partial
rent deducted for a tax write off
7. Land – donated for a shelter
8. Mobile home or a 2-3 bedroom home –
donated to be used as a office/shelter for
our orphans
9. Eye medicine – donated by eye physicians
10. Printing services – donated or
discounted printing services for mailings
11. Other services Any person or company
in the following field that can donate
services:
Veterinary, grooming, printing, etc.
Serenity Place Rescue
pg. 10
December, 2013