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