The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.

Mohandas Gandhi

The following is a prayer request from Bev in Sawmill Hollow.

PRAYER REQUEST FROM BEV TO ALL WHO HAVE DONATED TO THE SAWMILL STRAYS

I need to provide a better shelter for the growing pups. The time, energy, and money isn't the problem. It's spending all three on property that isn't mine. I'm asking everyone to join me in prayer that God, will provide a solution. Either to let the owners of the lease, sell it to me, or provide me with another answer, hopefully one that my ears will hear (over the barking). Thank all of you that have given to the 'babies', it would have taken me forever to do it on my own. I hope some of you have seen "Hotel for Dogs" maybe if you have, then you will know why I do as I do.

Love to all Bev

So if you are of the praying persuasion, please send a few her way, or perhaps a few happy thoughts for her and the animals. I think she is planning a fence around the shed the animals have been staying in, the pups are growing and wandering out of the shed, but have been staying fairly close by at least at this point. Bev is limited by the current weather, and her concern about putting a fence on property that isn't her's. But her main concern is the health and well-being of the animals. She has to deal with the limited resources of the community and the limits we all have on our personal resources.

Thank you so much for your prayers and reading our blog.

My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am.
~Author Unknown

Bev calls these little fellas in the box,the Three Musketeers. "One for All, All for One".

More puppy close ups.

Thank you, again for your donations to Save the Sawmill Strays. Bev has heard back from two of the vets she contacted. She thinks she will work with the vet she normally takes her animals to. The price for the spaying and neutering services looks very similar to what is charged in the St. Louis area. Small dog neutering is $55, large dog $65. Small dog spaying is $75, large dog $85-$95. There is an additional charge of $25 if the animal is pregnant or in heat. Cat neutering is $35 and cat spaying is $65 plus an additonal $25 if the cat is pregnant. So that's the update on the anticipated costs for each animal.

Safely deposited in my paypal account, earning 1.8 % interest is $548.50. There was $478.50 donated through the Chip In and an additional $70 donated but not through the chip in. We had $20 in cash and I mailed that to Bev with 2 disposable cameras, so she can take some more photos. She will use the cash for whatever expenses she may have, such as a phone card, straw for the shed where the dogs are staying or to buy supplies to build a carrier. Whatever she needs to use it for.

Bev recently received a letter from a local woman who works with the Humane group. She helps Bev out with food for the dogs and cats but there is no room in the shelter.

"I've been thinking much about the animals the people deserted in the trailer. I'm hoping no one calls the dog warden. If you have been reading the paper, you know the Commissioners are cracking down on people who neglect or abuse their pets, but they do no better by putting them to a painful death by carbon monoxide poisioning at the landfill." She ends the letter to Bev by saying "I will do what I can to help you."

Prayers for Bev as she continues to take care of the abandoned animals, her own animals, and her numerous jobs that occupy her time. More updates will follow.

God is really only another artist. He invented the giraffe, the elephant and the cat. He has no real style, He just goes on trying other things.
- Pablo Picasso



Ok, equal time for the cats, more information later!

"I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive."
- Gilda Radner






I'll be telling you more about these puppies in the coming week. Bev mailed me the disposable camera, it arrived today, so I visited my local Walgreens for their same day processing. And here they are. Another camera is in the mail to Bev, and I'll be sending her these prints this week. Awwww aren't they cute. Oh and we have kittie pictures, too! Stay tuned.

Dogs are miracles with paws.
~Attributed to Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy (SARK)

And all the people who have donated to our cause and kept us in their prayers are miracle workers as well.

Thank you to our recent donors.

Pam Carriker - Springfield, Missouri

Connie Holso - Cody, Wyoming

Doreen Cosenza - Chestnut Ridge, NY

Toni Tomei - Los Alamos, NM

Cindy Lantier - Redlands, CA

Bev reports that she mailed a roll of film earilier this week, we'll get them off to be developed and post some more photos. Also she mailed letters to the area vets to check on prices for neutering services. So we are making progress. The weather should be better in the next day or so as well. Thank you to all for your support.

Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can't, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it.

--Robert Frost



My middle school students would always struggle when it came time to write. Now, I don't claim to write well, I'm just not afraid to do it. I'd rather write 100 letters before I make a phone call. I always told them to just pretend you're talking to someone. You can talk pretty well. Just write down what you would say.


Now you may know folks who write just like they talk. No putting on airs. When I get Bev's emails I just love 'em. It's like you are right there with her on the mountain as she tells you a story or shows you a treasure.


Here are some excerpts from an email she just sent. First it gives you a status update on our Sawmill Strays and a little bit of the flavor of Miss Beverly.



I had sent her the weather report from the weather channel comparing Welch with St. Louis, she was worrying last night about our strays.

I like your report better, I'm glad for you all. The news on tv tonight said we were in for below 0 tonight and the next couple of nights.

When I went grocery shopping for mrs. s, I went and got 2 bales of straw for the babies, I didn't leave her until nearly 7 and went straight up the hill and gave all the dogs up there straw and closed the shed door for the mom and pups.

It was so freezing cold then, but when I came out a couple of hours later to come to work, it felt like the wind had quit and felt a little warmer, but not down here in town, it feels the same if not worse.

There's a flock of ducks in the Tug river behind the parking building, the crazy things, they didn't fly south last winter either. I don't get it. I don't think that river has frozen since Sid Hatfield was shot at the courthouse, but if it does it will serve those crazy ducks right.

Better get some work done.



Don't ya love her!

We make a living
by what we get,
but we make a life
by what we give.
-Winston Churchill

We're at $509 + Bev's $170 = $679.

Thank you to our recent donors

• The Filla Family - St. Louis, MO
• In honor of Jan Post from Designs At Large
• In honor of Martha Crouser from Designs At Large
• SueAnn Lommler - Sandia Park, NM
• Iris Soscia - St. Louis, MO/Las Vegas, NV
• Barbara Biggs - Hamilton, AL
• Nicole Austin - San Jose, California
• Edie Evans - Zebulon, NC
• Jennifer White - Whitefish Bay, WI

ArtbyChrysti's 29 Days of Giving

A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog."

London, Jack American author (1876-1916)

Mixed Media artists, digital scrapbookers, collage artists everywhere check out ArtbyChrysti's 29 days of giving .

Chrysti has been giving away really cool stuff during her 29 days of giving. I am inspired by the amount of time and effort put into her well thought out blog posts. They each come complete with photos, art work and appropriate quotes. Today we are featured. And anyone who donates at least $1.50 to our chipin will receive one of her digital downloads for free. I'll forward your email to her and she'll send you the download. Is this amazing. Chrysti is a wonderful artist that I met last year on-line and got to meet in person last summer at the ZNE Convenzione. I hope to take one of her classes this spring.

Here is what Chrysti says on her blog.


"In an effort to help them both, and the poor animals that Bev saved — I am offering up a free colored digital collage sheet of choice (except the inching along sheet) to anyone who donates at least $1.50 to her cause. and anyone can enter to win my giveaway, which is 10 ..count em 10… printed collage sheets (my choice) and 1 digi sheet of your choice (except the inching along sheet)- so even if you can’t contribute, you can still win. Let Donna know when you chip in, you want a collage sheet or let me know that you donated, and I’ll check with her. Chip In by clicking here! Donna doesn’t even know I am doing this yet — How fun! "

So.....go on over to Chrysti's blog, tour around, check out her art work and photos and be amazed, I am every time I view her work and see her published in some of my favorite magazines.

Thanks so much everyone!

Sawmill Update

Have you read Greg Mortenson's book "Three Cups of Tea" ? Mortenson was frustrated by the inability to bring immediate change to the Korphe Village in the Karakoram Mountains of Pakistan. So much had to be done, including building a bridge. Mortenson's was extremely frustrated. The Village Chief assured Mortenson that they had lived 500 years without a school and that they would be alright as the project came to be. ( Well, I paraphrase poorly) But I can't help but relate the book to the Sawmill Strays.

It's been just since January 9th or so that I went live with this blog and since then people from all over St. Louis, Troy, Missouri; Baltimore, Maryland; Manassas, Virginia; and Raleigh, North Carolina have donated and we have raised $405, I don't know what I hoped would happen, but I am impressed by the love in the world. We're surrounding West Virginia with love. It's hard for me as one who "wants it now", and is an immediate gratification kinda girl to wait. Wait for weather, wait for snail mail, wait for God's time.

This is Princess. Her owners did not have her spayed. Since 2007 there have been 33 puppies born to Princess and/or her offspring. WE can't blame Princess for that. So how can we help.

The dogs you see in this blog are what I have come to call the "Sawmill Hollow Strays". They live up the road from my friend Beverly on Sawmill Hollow Road in McDowell County, West Virginia. Their owners abandoned them Labor Day 2008.The family moved out of their trailer, and left the animals. Since then, Bev has been going to the property everyday and feeding the animals, cleaning up their living space, hauling in straw to help keep them warm.

Bev has 10 dogs of her own that she adopted after a WV shelter closed. You can read more about Bev and how I came to know her here. Save The Sawmill Strays

There are not adequate facilities in McDowell county to help these pets in the way that "Big City, high-tech" folks (like myself) would like to see happen. In St. Louis I would contact the Humane Society of Missouri, Randy Grim's Stray Rescue or The Open Door Animal Sanctuary in Jefferson County.

The only resources available to Bev and the Sawmill Strays are a dog-catcher with the county commission, a gas chamber and a no-kill shelter filled to capacity. Many times the animals are shot and left to die in the woods. But, Bev, you have all of us.

If you have read some of our previous posts you found that Bev and I became friends while I was a mission trip with my church group. Since that time in July 2007 Bev and I have remained in contact via the internet. Bev emailed me about how she was thinking about using her savings to have the pets neutered. She was worried, since she is very spiritual/religious woman, that God might have a problem with her not giving to her usual "formal" religious organizations that she usually donates to. We discussed it and decided that God surely would smile on a woman who is helping his creatures that have no one else. I immediately wanted to drive to Welch WV, 562 miles and help her. Ok, let's be real. What could I really do when I got there. She has to prepare her home to bring in the puppies, prepare some dog runs to house the adult dogs. Not much lumber is going to fit in the back of the VW bug. So this is the way I thougth I could help. Bring her story to all of you and ask all of us to work together and help as we are able.

Bev reports that she and her dad have been trying to get some dog runs set up, she has taken more straw up to the abandoned lease, she is getting boxes ready to bring the puppies home. She needs to write letters to area vets asking for prices for neutering surgery. Calls to the vets in her area are long distance. Bev uses phones at her neighbors or at one of her part time jobs at an area church.

Since January 9 we have collected $405 and Bev has saved $170. That's $575! I'll be checking with Bev to see if she would like us to send her a phone card, and we will be reimbursing her for the surgeries and for supplies for the dog runs as she incurs them.

Bev is finishing up a roll of film on a disposable camera and will be sending it to me, so we can post more photos of the pets and her work. Right now she says it is very bitter cold ( and if you live in the middle latitudes of the plain states this week, you know that feeling) and it is difficult to work outside.

So please help as you are able, share this post with all you know. If you are a praying kind of person, please send one, priority, for Bev and the Sawmill Strays.

$385

People amaze me everyday! We're at $385!

$360

We've made it to $360, thanks to Martha Johnston in Baltimore, MD, Martha is an old college friend and a huge animal lover! (well we aren't old really)

I'm not a Rocket Boy, ( the October Sky movie was about the fellows who lived in McDowell County, WV) but let's see. We have $360 + Bev's $170 puts us at $530!

Ya'll are doing a great job! thanks!

We're at $320

Brenda Guillory in St. Louis http://www.slowfoodstl.org/page/2/ just sent us up to $320 + Bev's $170 = $490. ($50 was donated that did not come through our chipin).Thanks, Brenda!

We're at $295

We're at $295

Thanks to Lisa Thompson - St. Louis, MO, Lisa is the Vice-President of this group in St.Louis and a public school teacher http://www.mcustl.org/mcu_c4.php

Thanks to Bruce Cannon of Troy, MO, he and his wife are animal lovers, they have 4 cats and 3 dogs, several they have adopted from terminally ill folks. ( Bruce, I would find that a great comfort to know my dog was safe if I were too sick to take care of him or her.)

Hey, we need some names!

Help name the Sawmill Strays

Help Bev name the Sawmill Strays!
You know how it is, when you get to be 50 and have had pets all your life, you start to run out of really good pet names. Well, Bev has probably had a few more pets than most of us, and she reports she is running out of names.

Offer up some suggestions for names! I'll be sending Bev a disposable camera so she can get some shots of the , now well fed dogs, who still need to be "fixed" and we'll have a vote.

In the meantime, post your name suggestions in the comment box, and forward to your friends and family!

Social Media Rulez!



http://bonniebluedenim.blogspot.com

We're at $220

Thanks to Jan Clinite for her donation!

http://www.janclinite.com/

Save the Strays with your spare change!

Here is advice from Bev for all of America's pet owners.

"My dream is that there be a state or county law passed, that if you own a pet, it has to spayed or neutered, as soon as it became of age. You only pay the surgery once and you can do it as eaily as how I was going to do it, by saving your coin change. Cut back on soda pop and sugar cakes, cigarettes, lotto tickets, something that you can do without for a little while in order to save so many lives. Just look if they had spayed Princess, they could have saved Samantha and her 13 litter mates from being born, saved Bear, Fats and their brother and other 6 litter mates from being born, saved the pups that Bear gave birth to and they died, could have saved the 3 pups born during Labor Day weekend and the 7 new pups, how many does that make? Just having Princess spayed in the first place. See what I mean. All these dogs were born, just since you, Donna, were here in July 2007. All those dogs could have been spared just by saving change. That's my dream." .....Bev, Sawmill Hollow

Bev, I did the math as best I could, and I have added up 33+ puppies born since July 2007 as a result of not having one animal spayed.

Our goal is to raise funds to help spay and neuter the dogs and cats abandoned on a lease near her home. Please help however you can, $1, $2, $3...whatever you can afford. We're at $170, and Bev has saved $170 by the methods she mentions above. Help us make the world a little better place, in Bev's small part of the world.

Thanks!

Double your money!

Received a 2 AM email from Bev, she works cleaning the movie theatre in the town, and the manager lets her check email on the work computer. I had reported to her that we had $170 already and commented about the power of prayer....and the caring loving folks in the world; her email back reported that $170 was the exact amount she had saved. I don't know how long it took her to save it, but we just doubled her money and doubled the number of lives she can save. You all are amazing! So with Bev's investment we have $340.

Bev will be contacting area vets by mail, remember calling vets in her area is a long distance call. Bev also will be building a carrier so she can safely transport the animals in her truck.

I'll keep you posted! Thanks again, all of you!

$170

Thanks to Beverly Brickey St. Louis, Missouri

We now stand at $170

$120 and growing

Thank you for your generous support, we are at $120.

Carl Nettercutt
http://flickr.com/photos/bengalsfan1973/


Chrysti Hydeck
http://chrysti.wordpress.com/


Jen Hoekel
http://www.senniger.com/attorneys/bios/Jennifer_Hoekel.php


The Gregory Family
http://360.yahoo.com/profile-nqXlzcA9cqha8cAjQkRZMT5WGQ--?cq=1

Save The Sawmill Strays

Seek justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your neighbor.



That is what Beverly does.

I met Bev on a church mission trip to West Virginia. She has the most incredibly clear blue eyes, and I know when you look deep within, you see the face of God.


















Our task was to replace her roof. Which we did, and I thought I would head on home and have happy memories of the trip, but what I found was a "soul sister" as we came to call each other as the week progressed. A city girl and a coal miner's daughter, with so much in common. A love of life, God and animals. Seeking fair play and justice for all of God's creatures.

We took that trip in 2007, and Bev and I continue to remain in contact. I admire her perserverance, love of life, her caring and loving soul.

Bev lives a very simple life, she is a mountain woman with simple needs. She works several jobs to maintain her independence. She adopted 10 dogs from a local shelter when it was closing, knowing that she would be able to handle them and keep them fed and cared for. They each have their own pen, while not fancy, are safe and clean. They are her life.

Now we come to Saving the Sawmill Strays.

Bev lives in Welch, WV, up a mountain road called Sawmill Hollow. Folks there own the house or trailer and lease the land from the owner. An unusal concept for those of us in the city. The lumber company or coal mine or other entity own the land.

One of Bev's neighbors up the hollow have abandoned their "lease", moved out, perhaps there was a divorce, but the people only come by once every month or so. They have left their animals at the lease without food or water.

Most of us might call animal control, knowing that the animals would be picked up and put up for adoption. ( Where does that happen, let me know.) In St. Louis, where I live, I would contact Stray Rescue or the Humane Society of Missouri or The Open Door Animal Shelter. Stray Rescue and Open Door are no-kill shelters. In Welch, there is a dog catcher working with the county commission office, Bev does not want to contact them, as they use a gas chamber. Often the animals are just shot by people on the mountain. There in one NO-Kill shelters in her area and it is always filled to capacity.

Bev has been going to the "lease" every day and feeding and watering the animals. One of the area animal control groups send food her way and others have donated money to help her feed these abandoned pets. There are 4 adult dogs and 8 puppies, 2 adult cats and 2 kittens. Bev, discovered the puppies in the last few months and has been feeding and caring for them. Since the weather has turned bitter she has decided to bring them to her small home to care for.

How can we help?

My wildest dream is for Bev to be able to start a No-Kill Shelter. That's my wild dream and maybe her's as well, but what she wants to do right now is spay and neuter the 4 adult dogs as soon as possible, and then generate some income to have the pups spay and neutered when they are old enough. Maybe out of this will grow the dream of a No-kill shelter. Perhaps in our semi-wild dreams we can generate income to build some additional kennels on Bev's lease, so that these animals can stay safe.

We are hoping that animal lovers all over the world will help us with a donation to our "Chip-In" account. I trust Bev, but you all don't know her. I am hoping that those of you I have met "on-line" will trust me.

She has discovered a local source that will assist low income families in paying for spay and neutering services. Those funds are drying up, and may not be able to assist with 11 dogs. She is going to check with them. She may be able to afford to pay for one of the dogs surgeries from money she has saved. My plan is to work with Bev, sending her payment for the first surgery and then additional payments after she sends the receipt for the previous surgery. This may not really be necessary, but I wanted the internet community to know that I am making every effort to insure that the money goes for the animals. I know that Bev will use it for the animals. I'm hoping in my wild dreams, for enough money to help build a few more kennels.



But first things first! We hope to raise $1,100 which would be more than enough to cover the surgeries and help with food and gas and a phone card. Bev does not have a phone and uses the phone at one of her part time jobs at a local church. The calls to the vet are long distance. The distance from her home to the vet, not close.

So much to tell.

At the top of the page is a photo of Bev with Samantha ( one of the Sawmill Strays) it was taken in 2007 when we first met Bev, the other shots are very sad and show the condition of the animals after Bev discovered them abandoned. She has since cleaned up the property and area where the pets were kept at the abandoned home.






















You can contact us at sawmillstrays@sbcglobal.net and find out more about us and who we are at http://bonniebluedenim.blogspot.com/

PS I've been in communication with Bev ( who checks email at her part time job at the local theater and at the library, computer class, and other venues around town.) and she thinks it would be cool to have each donor submitt a name for the dogs and cats, then we'll have a drawing for naming rights. Great idea, Bev!

PS-2 Chip In Clarification. When you link to chip in it shows my email and Board of Religious Organizations. I also have a chip in for www.brostl.org a non-profit group I work with. Your donation will go specifically for The Saw Mill Strays, I'll work on cleaning up the link language. Thanks!

PS3..this link is fixed, either way it goes to the correct account, thanks for your patience.