NEW BEGINNING

There will be trouble-shooting and adjustments to make for a long time as we find out what works and what doesn't. But we are here at last. Our critters have a fine, new, clean, spacious, custom-designed 'home', and we have indoor plumbing and hot, running water at last.

Our grand opening day on September 27/08 exceeded our expectations, like the shelter itself.

We never dreamed the new shelter could look as wonderful as it does, and everyone who came to our grand opening was as impressed as we are. We had hundreds of visitors that day. It was so nice to meet friends who have been a voice on the phone or a name on a letter for so long.

We've updated our virtual tour page so you can see more of the new shelter there.

We still have a lot of work ahead of us. We made minor modifications all along the way in building the shelter. That pushed the cost up. But "do it right first time" was our motto! We did what will be most economical in the long run. Now we have to fundraise like crazy to cover unexpected incidentals, new running costs, and still keep our fur-babies healthy and fed. Maybe it's a good thing that we didn't foresee this growth back in 2001 when we started. We'd have sworn it was impossible. But it was possible; here we are! So we'll carry on working, one day at a time, with the same blind faith that's allowed the impossible to happen so far.

If you're interested in the process of how our shelter gradually came together, you can see a diary of it on our Home Stretch page which includes a link to our Katie's Place Must Move page where the whole thing began with a presentation to City Hall, asking for help in obtaining property.
 

Oct 15/08
To nobody's great surprise, there's a bit of a delay in progress. We thought the fencing would be installed by mid-October. Now it's scheduled for the last week of October. Maybe that's just as well. We're digging the shallow trench around the property for the fence ourselves to cut costs and, wow, is that hard work! It's slow going and the delay gives us more time. So it looks like our traditional Halloween vigil (we stay at the shelter for the evening in case of Halloween pranksters) will be held at the old barn again this year -- for the last time! By the time we've checked the fenced perimeter of the new shelter for possible escape holes and have everything completely ready inside, it would be early/mid November that we'll move the animals.

Nov 7/08
The fence installation should be complete by Monday. We're crossing our fingers that nothing comes up between now and then, and we've set the move date for the
cats: November 11. Emptying the old barn will be traumatic for the animals so we hope to have a minimal number of people working there and will try to keep it as
calm and quiet as possible under the circumstances. Once cats arrive at the new shelter over a number of relays and are released into their new quarters, some will
hide, most will be wide-eyed and tense, but a few bold ones will probably enjoy the opportunity to check out a new environment. It's going to be a tough day. In fact, it will be a tough week because of the stress on the animals of moving. But they will be so happy there once they adjust. By Saturday November 15, our first "Open Hours" day in the new place, people can visit the cats IN THEIR NEW HOME!

Nov 12/08
    To our joy and relief, moving day yesterday went even better than we'd hoped. We had envisioned the worst. Rounding up all the cats at the old shelter could have been so stressful for them that we thought there might be some semi-ferals we'd be unable to catch that day. But our cat wranglers have become adept at getting even the most elusive cat into a carrier. The cats themselves were not as upset as we thought they might be, watching their numbers dwindle as their friends were spirited away. It's harder when we need to catch a reluctant cat for a vet trip and must hunt the poor wretch down among all his fellow cats. This time, if the cat we were aiming for dodged the carrier, we nabbed the next one hurtling past; it was all good. By 3:00 every last cat had been transported to the new shelter.
    Relays of volunteers worked efficiently, filling carriers, driving them to the new place and passing them on to the next team who unloaded them into assigned communal rooms. The more timid and sensitive cats crept into corners, convinced we had turned on them. Others looked around tentatively and then settled calmly into new nests. Several were delighted with the adventure and milled around their new rooms happily, poking into corners and peeking out windows. By late afternoon, they had all curled up in newly chosen nests, exhausted by an extraordinary day. We hope the Rescue Remedy we added to their water and the Feliway we sprayed around the rooms helped. This morning, they all seemed calm and confident, and the gregarious ones greeted us as usual.
    We still have a work ahead of us. We're moving things over from the barn box by box. Then we'll have to do the landscaping at the new place. Right now it's just mud outside after all the construction and the rain. And then there's the barn to clean up. But the move is complete and a new era for Katie's Place has finally begun.

Nov 18/08
We were broken into last night. One of our volunteers arrived to do a late shift of cleaning and she caught him in the act. A man had cut through our new fence and cut through the wiring on one of the cats' porches at the back. The volunteer is okay and all the cats are okay. We confirmed that and contacted the police immediately. We just felt stunned and sickened. Our security measures -- the sturdy new fence and all the locks we've installed -- have crumbled like a deck of cards. What could have happened to our volunteer? What could have happened to our cats? Our front door lock was bashed in last summer and Bell Locksmith had to come to our rescue. Our wiring was cut and stolen. The SPCA next door has never suffered this much vandalism to our knowledge; we thought we'd be safer than this. We thought our fence would do the trick (keeping intruders out as well as keeping cats in). What on earth do burglars expect to find inside an animal shelter? We have no cash, no valuable equipment and no drugs. Clearly we are going to have to budget for a higher end security system. Volunteers' and animals' lives are at stake and we MUST be secure, we just have to be! We are scared now.

Dec 12/08
    We've met with a few security companies and we're finding that a good security system requires some prep and some particular arrangements, not the least of which is a phone line to the shelter. We were intending to get a phone (we've relied on our own cell phones to date), but even that has been complicated. The volunteer who's looking after it said, "Telus came by to check out our needs and said that getting the line from the street to the building will require one of those big trucks with the bucket. Also, getting on the roof to the pole thing (technical terms!) where the hydro comes in and the telephone needs to come in will be a bit of an effort. We have no telephone base or whatever it's called, and getting the telephone jack down to the office area will require some effort. Anyway, the man who came couldn't do all the work and couldn't get hold of anyone else. So, on his advice I phoned to rebook the job. They had trouble finding our job in the system and then said the computer showed it had been done. When I said no, it hadn't been done, she transferred me to repairs..." It got more complicated after that. We're pursuing it.
    Meanwhile, we're looking into landscaping. Right now, the building is surrounded by a field of mud. One quote was $3400 for materials to take care of the back yard. Ouch. Then it will still take lots of labour to haul and spread the sand/soil mix, and to haul and lay the sod. It's daunting, but we can't just leave it as mud and dirt. Aside from looking ugly, we'd counted on our long term residents having access to fenced-in, grassy areas. All we can do is narrow it down to the most economical option and proceed. 'One day at a time.' That approach has seen us through so far. Still, we can't help wondering if there will ever be an end to The Beginning. :)

Dec 16/08
We're having a real cold snap now and our lock box froze so we couldn't get in. One volunteer discovered that getting close and blowing on it thawed it. Doing mouth-to-mouth on a lock box is a bit odd so another volunteer suggested building a little cupboard around it and another suggested simply wrapping it in a towel during the cold spell. If you see a wadded up towel attached to our fence when you drop by, that would be it. At least finding a frozen lock box is better than finding a frozen pump. Inside the shelter, it's warm! We'll never again see cats gathered around a heater the way they did at the barn, like a bunch of pathetic little Dickens characters.
 

April 1/09
A growing local security company has taken Katie's Place under their wing. Westridge Security has a soft spot for animals and has offered to patrol our shelter for free during their daily rounds. We couldn't be more delighted. We now have a professional security firm keeping an eye on our shelter when we can't be there. The Bad Guys better watch out now! :)
 

May 27/09
Every now and then some of us have ventured outside and looked with trepidation at the rocky, muddy, hard ground that surrounds our building. The idea of turning that into a landscaped garden has been so overwhelming that we hurry back inside and resume the comfortingly familiar tasks of cleaning and feeding our animals. What to do about the landscaping! The time of year to do it is upon us now! The experts are out of our price range. It's up to us and it's going to take a whole lot of work. When we think it through, we can't grow and maintain a nice lawn. Who are we kidding! So we've got some other ideas for the outside areas.

We've been in contact with a local correctional facility that offered to donate some labour to help us. We've gone back and forth with the people for quite a while and the plans never panned out. Now they're here! We have workers from the facility all week and, if we're lucky, maybe next week too! So far they've filled in the trench around the fence. They've raked the back area level and technically it should be ready for grass seed (we want to try having some grassy areas). One of our volunteers had a bag of grass seed so hardy it's even supposed to grow on concrete. But the workers' supervisor said she tried the 'concrete grass' and it's not any good. We'll research alternative types of grass seed.

We could use a few little bushes and trees for the back area so the cats will have something interesting, some place to play and to 'hide' in. We could use some extra plants. One or two of our volunteers have green thumbs and can bring some plants. At the end of the annual Silver Valley Spring Festival at the Maple Ridge Park last Saturday, the Silver Valley Association kindly donated all their unsold hostas from their plant fundraiser to help with our landscaping! We'll still need more plants though.

We hope the workers from the correctional facility can level the patio stone in front of our wheelchair ramp and put the other two in front of the steps. They've started working on the side yard and plan to get it all level. We'll then put some of our old chain link fencing on the ground for a base that's rabbit proof. That way, our bunnies can enjoy outside access without risk of burrowing out. The area where our gutter pipe drains is becoming soggy and they suggested digging a big pit and filling it with rock. Hopefully they'll do the work. We just need to get the rock. We'll have to order any rock or gravel and have it delivered. It would be cheaper for a volunteer with a truck to pick it up, but timing is critical. Right now, we have labour and good weather. There are areas in front of the building where water drains and those areas will also be dug out a bit with rock put in to keep the water away from under the building. A trench with rock will help that immensely.

We can then put gravel over that and a few plant pots (nothing big enough to look like a litter box to a cat). The front area is being cleaned up and will be worked on further this week. We're trying to achieve a patio/deck look there. There'll be a patio area with some bricks we've got that will attract the sun's heat. There'll be large stones for the cats to sit on. There will be an area with some "wild" grass for the cats to eat, play in and 'hide' in. The rest of the area is very hard and will drain nicely, be easy to care for, and warm in the sun. Some big tree branches that hang over the fence in the front will be pruned. A landscape expert is supposed to be back at work tomorrow and is willing to help us design an area that works with what we have, will be easy to maintain, and still be pleasant for both people and cats. One thing we won't have in the end is a solid lawn of grass. It would be too hard to grow and then maintain properly.

Another job we'll need done is to attach wire around the bottom of the building. Right now, there's a big crawl space underneath the building that cats can scoot into. We'd never get them out until they're good and ready. The workers from the correctional facility probably won't be able to do that. But hopefully they'll help create the memorial area we've dreamed of having. They even have someone who can possibly build benches for it. So that area will also be cleared and leveled. We just have to decide what to put on the ground there.

Whatever the workers can do for us is a bonus. Whatever they can't finish, we'll do ourselves. In the end, we'll have to get out there. We shelter workers / shelter builders will then become experienced shelter landscapers. It'll be stop and go depending on time, money and the weather. It'll be trial and error just like it was with building the shelter. But in the end, we think we'll have a nice looking and usable outside space that the animals and people can enjoy.
 

May 29/09
Good news from a volunteer: "I went to Harvies "Only Rock Inc." (at 23549 Lougheed Hwy, Maple Ridge) and asked about getting drainage rock. We got to talking. I told her what it was for and who we were. She said she had a feral cat that turned up at the place two years ago and had kittens (she found homes for them), but she wants to catch the cat before it has more kittens. So I offered her a live-trap and she's willing to get the cat altered at her own expense. But then she said that since I'd help her with the cat she'd give me one yard of rock free and pay for deliver. Plus, she had half a big bag of grass seed that I was going to buy and she's giving us that for free too! Very nice of her! So today we might be throwing down grass seed."

June 4/09
    More happy news! A volunteer was approaching contractors working on building sites to ask if they might be able to give us some soil. McArthur & Son Excavating pulled up at the shelter today and dropped off a load of soil for free! Now we just have to spread it around our yards.
    There's been good progress. The wire is laid in the bunny area. The gravel has been distributed around the yards (and we'll need more). A small trench is dug around the building and wire goes from the bottom of the building into the trench. Then the wire in the trench is covered with gravel which, hopefully, will be sufficient to keep the cats from digging it out and will also will give us a bit of drainage around the building. The back area is raked and grass seed has been spread there. Let's hope we can keep it moist enough to grow in this hottest June for the last 70 years.

July 19/09
    The workers from the correctional facility have finished their stint with us and they did great work. But a lot remains to be done. We haven't had any updates to offer for a while though. Our optimistic landscaping plans went on the back burner once kitten season hit (and it hit hard). We're up to our eyeballs in new cats and kittens, just as we are every summer. When we built the shelter, we made the time to work on it during the busy summer seasons because we had to get it done. Our animals had to move. But the landscaping is a nice-to-have, not an absolutely-must-have. We've received some lovely plants that are sitting in their pots in our front yard. We keep them watered but we haven't found permanent homes for them yet. We've got a couple of small areas set up nicely for the critters to enjoy once they can get outside. We also have some new grass growing successfully in the back yard, to our delight. We can't have too much grass though. We simply don't have the time to mow it. Whatever we do with the outside has to be as low-maintenance as possible.
    Another snag prior to letting the cats outside is that the gaps between the fencing and the gates are wide enough for a cat to squeeze through (as a couple of them ably demonstrated when they dashed outside, ignoring our admonitions to stay away from the front door). We improvised some cat-proofing around the gates. However, they're still not secure enough to stop a slender and very determined cat. One of our escape artists is adopted now. But we still have Brady. He has hallway privileges because he's such an irrepressible monkey that he drives other cats crazy in a communal room. He is as determined to get outside as we are determined to keep him inside. We'll get it all sorted out. Meanwhile, if anyone wants to adopt a lively, irrepressible monkey, please get in touch.

Nov 11/09
Our animals have been in their new home for exactly a year. It has a lived-in look now, it's comfortable. The cats quickly discovered the pleasures of their roomy new porches on the hot days of summer. We solved a pesky problem of leaky porch rooves so they stay dry now. We still have to cover the sides with plastic to keep the rain out in winter, just like we did at the barn (some things never change). Our escape artist, Brady, has been adopted. But we've learned that our fencing cannot prevent a determined cat from getting out. So we don't feel comfortable giving any of them free access to the grounds until we've managed to get some wiring layed from fence corner to fence corner as a roof. When that will happen, we don't know. Funding is going to be tight since we didn't get our usual major grant this year. Time is always tight between feral trapping, fund raising, and caring for the critters. So for now, our shelter is what it is -- modest and only maginally landscaped but full of heart. We're proud of it. The beginning is behind us now. We'll remove the web pages about finding and moving into our new shelter at the end of this month.
 

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