Post by RealPitBull on Oct 8, 2008 15:03:57 GMT -5
First, "thank you" to everyone for their support, concern and donations. Spindletop is still trying to recover from Ike, although some progress has been made. Below is an update on behalf of Leah and the gang at Spindletop:
The staff is working long days, seven days a week getting Spindletop back on its feet in conjunction with keeping the animals on Spindletop's program. The past few days brought really nice weather so they got a lot done! They've been working on cleaning up the property, securing fences and digging two feet of mud out from underneath a 5,000 square foot building. A Bobcat would make this job a lot easier but it comes with a $700/ month rental fee, so they are doing it all by hand and shovel. At this point they are approximately one-third done with the cleaning project.
The cost of labor is approximately $12,000; covering four weeks, seven days a week. FEMA does not cover expenses related to clean-up, so they are on their own. Currently, FEMA and Spindletop's insurance are going back and forth over who covers damage to the buildings. According to FEMA and Spindletop's insurance company, assistance regarding the repair of some of our buildings (e.g. kennels) is second priority since they are not homesteads. Leah said she fully understand this, of course, but since Spindletop is a rescue for animals this makes things difficult. For now, FEMA and the insurance company are going back and forth as to who is responsible for covering what and how much.
Electricity is on, although it will go out for a full day every now and again. They had some excitement last week when a transformer caught fire. Luckily, there was no damage. To add to the excitement, on Sunday, October 5th Leah got kicked by one of the rescue horses and broke her arm in two places and fractured her hip bone. They were cutting trees on the fence line in order to secure the back of the property so the rescue horses would be safe. Leah thought all the horses had been secured, but one friendly girl followed her and she didn't know it. Leah realized the horse was behind her as a large tree limb was falling. As she smacked the horse's hind to get her moving she turned, saw the limb and kicked at it. The horse didn't mean to kick Leah, but she got the worst of it. The tree limb was not harmed, but Leah was! Leah protected her abdomen with her arms when she saw the kick coming. As a result, she wound up with one clean break and one nasty break. Leah is now out of commission leaving Spindletop down one full working body. Leah said she doesn't have much of a tolerance for pain and that's she's in a lot of it. I'm guessing the staff is keeping their distance. I'm in New Jersey, so I'm safe!
Among the generous donations Spindletop has received in response to our first update (Thanks, everyone!), they received just enough tarps to cover the play yards (Thanks, Zandra). They are expecting some bad weather in the next day or two so they are holding off putting them up until the weather passes. They just got them, so they don't want to lose them already! Also, Kong Company donated 180 Kongs to Spindletop (Thanks, Lauren!) Spindletop is still in need of the following:
Indestructible balls
Nylabones (Perhaps the company will donate?)
3 Gallon water buckets
Cash donation to cover labor expenses
12x12 Tarps
Luck
Again, thank you for your support and generosity! Please know that I let Leah know every e-mail I receive in response to the updates. We'll get another update out soon, please bear with us as Leah is recovering and Spindletop is working overtime on getting back to full capacity.
Sincerely,
Lynne
Friend of Spindletop Refuge
On behalf of Leah Purcell
Director of Spindletop Refuge
The staff is working long days, seven days a week getting Spindletop back on its feet in conjunction with keeping the animals on Spindletop's program. The past few days brought really nice weather so they got a lot done! They've been working on cleaning up the property, securing fences and digging two feet of mud out from underneath a 5,000 square foot building. A Bobcat would make this job a lot easier but it comes with a $700/ month rental fee, so they are doing it all by hand and shovel. At this point they are approximately one-third done with the cleaning project.
The cost of labor is approximately $12,000; covering four weeks, seven days a week. FEMA does not cover expenses related to clean-up, so they are on their own. Currently, FEMA and Spindletop's insurance are going back and forth over who covers damage to the buildings. According to FEMA and Spindletop's insurance company, assistance regarding the repair of some of our buildings (e.g. kennels) is second priority since they are not homesteads. Leah said she fully understand this, of course, but since Spindletop is a rescue for animals this makes things difficult. For now, FEMA and the insurance company are going back and forth as to who is responsible for covering what and how much.
Electricity is on, although it will go out for a full day every now and again. They had some excitement last week when a transformer caught fire. Luckily, there was no damage. To add to the excitement, on Sunday, October 5th Leah got kicked by one of the rescue horses and broke her arm in two places and fractured her hip bone. They were cutting trees on the fence line in order to secure the back of the property so the rescue horses would be safe. Leah thought all the horses had been secured, but one friendly girl followed her and she didn't know it. Leah realized the horse was behind her as a large tree limb was falling. As she smacked the horse's hind to get her moving she turned, saw the limb and kicked at it. The horse didn't mean to kick Leah, but she got the worst of it. The tree limb was not harmed, but Leah was! Leah protected her abdomen with her arms when she saw the kick coming. As a result, she wound up with one clean break and one nasty break. Leah is now out of commission leaving Spindletop down one full working body. Leah said she doesn't have much of a tolerance for pain and that's she's in a lot of it. I'm guessing the staff is keeping their distance. I'm in New Jersey, so I'm safe!
Among the generous donations Spindletop has received in response to our first update (Thanks, everyone!), they received just enough tarps to cover the play yards (Thanks, Zandra). They are expecting some bad weather in the next day or two so they are holding off putting them up until the weather passes. They just got them, so they don't want to lose them already! Also, Kong Company donated 180 Kongs to Spindletop (Thanks, Lauren!) Spindletop is still in need of the following:
Indestructible balls
Nylabones (Perhaps the company will donate?)
3 Gallon water buckets
Cash donation to cover labor expenses
12x12 Tarps
Luck
Again, thank you for your support and generosity! Please know that I let Leah know every e-mail I receive in response to the updates. We'll get another update out soon, please bear with us as Leah is recovering and Spindletop is working overtime on getting back to full capacity.
Sincerely,
Lynne
Friend of Spindletop Refuge
On behalf of Leah Purcell
Director of Spindletop Refuge
I look forward to learning much here