Tiny Toes Rat Rescue of New Mexico

08/01/2024

Because it is Tiny Toes Rat Rescue of New Mexico’s 14th Rativersary, today we are launching our annual Rativersary Fundraiser for the entire month of August and all donations are tax-deductible. If you would like to support our 14th year by donating $14 or more to our rescue fund, there are 4 ways you can do that:

#1 Via Facebook:
Just click the “DONATE” BUTTON at the top of this page. Many people say that they can see the button and others say they cannot. If you cannot see the button, please click on the 3 dots (. . . ) near the top of our page to open a drop-down menu. Within that menu you will see an option to donate. If you donate via the Facebook DONATE button our fund will receive 100% of the donation, but it will be a complete mystery as we are never provided with the donor’s name and contact information so that we can send them a “thank you” and receipt for tax-purposes. Some people tell us that Facebook automatically sends them a receipt while others say they do not get one.

#2 Via PayPal:
From your PayPal account send a donation to our rescue fund via our email address [email protected]. PayPal will quickly notify us of the donation, provide us with the donor’s name, and either a mailing address or email address so that we can send a “thank you” and receipt for tax-purposes. I have to confess that illness these past few years has caused me to be late in sending out those “thank you's” and receipts, but they will be sent I promise. PayPal DOES deduct a small percentage of your donation amount as their transaction fee. I guess it proves we have to pay for accuracy and convenience.

#3 Via a Personal Check or Money Order:
Checks and/or Money Orders payable to Tiny Toes Rat Rescue may be mailed to Tiny Toes Rat Rescue of New Mexico, Post Office Box 67571, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87193. With respect, I ask you to please not send checks payable to my name Cherie Jones nor to my husband’s name Chuck Jones. It is Tiny Toes Rat Rescue that I am raising money for. While I am touched by such sweet gestures, I do cut up those checks and return them to the sender right away. Thank you.

#4 Via a Phone Payment to Southwest Veterinary Medical Center:
You may call our rescue’s veterinary clinic at (505) 890-8810 to either make a payment on our bill or have them post a credit to our account. Thank you!

However you want to do it, we thank you so much for the support.

07/30/2024

This human New York Subway rat must have been on the train more than once because the elderly lady in one photo is either unfazed or didn't see the guy....I mean rat. This is SO hilarious.

07/29/2024

✈️ I may need a ride to the airport. 😄

07/28/2024

07/28/2024

Last night I was so surprised and moved to tears when Mr. Magoo licked some food from a bowl when I put it up to his darling face just to see if he would try to. I still had to syringe feed him until he let me know he was done, but at least he seemed to somewhat enjoy the "good 'ol days" when he could eat by himself. God bless this angel. This morning he refused his 7:30 breakfast so I put him back to bed and will wake him in a few minutes to try feeding him again. Since my fingers will be busy, I will instead have to cross my whole heart that he will eat.

07/27/2024

Dog AND Cat Parents......

07/27/2024

* OMAHA, NEBRASKA *
What veterinary clinic do you recommend there for rodents? Someone needs help. Thank you.

07/27/2024

A week ago, we were so blessed when my friend Cindy from Haven for Hamsters Rescue & Sanctuary let us adopt sweet Teddy, a dying hamster she had picked up from a local shelter just hours earlier. Cindy told us sadly that she didn't think Teddy would last very long. Cindy was right. This morning when I went to greet Teddy, the poor sweetheart was dead. Just last night he was so active and happy being petted by Chuck and me. What an angel this wee guy was. We are both in tears and they just won't stop.

07/27/2024

Recently, I've spoken to 3 special ladies who are deeply grieving the loss of their rats. A great many of us have gone through that and will go through it again and again because we just can't live without these sweetest of animals. Well, right after I spoke to the third lady, I was listening to the radio while driving. During a break, one of the station hosts began to talk about grief and said this, "Instead of asking God why He allows us to hurt so much when we lose a loved one we should be thanking Him for allowing us to love so deeply." What a beautiful way that is to look at grief.

07/27/2024

We are two weeks away from the one year anniversary of the 323 small pets being shipped by San Diego Humane Society to the Humane Society of Southern Arizona. Courage is just one of the pets who lost his life.

Thank you to everyone who gave us ideas last month.

Virtual event:
The group that read the names in the fall has agreed to help with the virtual event where the names of the 323 small animals will be read. More to come on this.

In person events in the cities where the tragedy took place:
If you are in the Tucson or Phoenix area and would like to coordinate an in person event please reach out to us.

We have someone in the San Diego area who is planning an in person event (more to come on this as well).

Other ways to honor the small animals:
We are trying to get a design for a shirt that people can purchase with proceeds going to the rescues that took the animals since some people have suggested this.

We will also be posting about a way to honor the animals by donating to your favorite small rescue in their honor.

Be on the look out for more details coming soon.

07/26/2024

My post today about the status of non-profits being "Meta Verified" has now stirred up old drama about the "other" Tiny Toes Rat Rescue which I will explain. In 2010, we received 501(c)(3) non-profit status from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). That involved a mountain of paperwork on our part and took the IRS nearly one year to vet us and give their approval. Sometime later, someone contacted me to ask if we had received his/her donation and I said that we did not. The person sent me proof that they had made a donation to Tiny Toes Rat Rescue, but we absolutely did not receive it. That person who I do not remember now, as it has been many years, learned that someone in Texas had started a supposed (or legitimate?) rat rescue that they named Tiny Toes Rat Rescue. That concerned me, but still I politely contacted the "other" Tiny Toes by phone to let a lady there know that we were already Incorporated and a 501(c)(3) under the same name and that I was concerned about the confusion it would surely cause. The lady I spoke with giggled and said that she did not know we had the same name. Hmmm! So, who starts an organization without doing even minimal research to see if that name has ever been used before and, if so, where it was used? Well, since that time, I have heard that they have gotten a number of donations that the donor had intended go to us. Part of me does not feel good about that, but IF that other "Tiny Toes" really is doing rat rescue (and not just adding to the need for rat rescues by breeding as I was told she is doing) I am glad that they got some support to help rats. What did feel like a red flag to me though is that when I spoke to the woman she said that they were a brand new "rescue." I asked her nicely if she would then rename her rescue so it would not be confused with mine. Surely, each of us would benefit from autonomy right? No. Think about it. THEY stood to benefit from having "our" name. Yeah, so they still go by the same name and it just feels wrong to me. So, please be sure to not get us confused with them. As if that is not enough, a lady right here in New Mexico just 45 minutes from us has told people that SHE runs Tiny Toes Rat Rescue. Again, people have told me that after they met her and she told them that she represented Tiny Toes they gave her funds that they had intended go to us. I am so disgusted that some people can do such things to people who just genuinely want to do good. I bet many other organizations have had a taste of things like this too. I will shut up now.

07/26/2024

We released Woody the gorgeous wood rat today. Godspeed tiny one. Oh, I poured out 2 full bags of rodent feed where I released him. That will give him a head start on stashing some foods for the winter. Umm.....him and maybe 20 others. 😄

07/26/2024

I was greeted by a roadrunner at Lowe's today. What an adorable cutie.

07/26/2024

I received a message from someone today saying that they would not make a donation to Tiny Toes unless we are "Meta verified." I'd like to explain that to become "Meta Verified," non-profits are required to enroll in a Meta program that costs between $15.00 and $350.00 per MONTH depending on which tier is chosen. At even the cheapest tier that would cost us $180.00 for the first year and Meta may raise those rates any time. Aside from the fact that I would rather put that $180.00 toward our veterinary bill, I simply will not support greed. Please, if you are considering making a donation to our rescue or another, don't base it on whether or not we or they are "Meta Verified." Yes, fraud is rampant so please, if you have doubts about us let me give you the phone number of people who know what we are doing. For one - call Southwest Veterinary Medical Center and ask them how often Chuck and/or I go through their doors with rats. In fact, Chuck took in our rat Aggie this morning for tumor surgery and our rat Leia goes in next week for hers. Search for their number on line so you know it is the correct number. Thank you.

07/25/2024

Chuck decided to clean our master bathroom's shower and when he found a bit of mold in some tiny hard to get to areas he said he would need an old tooth brush to get into them. I told Chuck that Mr. Magoo had recently gotten a theft insurance policy on his toothbrush that I brush his fur with daily so he better not get any ideas. 🤣 I am a mama bear! Chuck will need to find another tooth brush because this one is sacred. 😀

07/25/2024

Awhile back I ordered these 1 ml syringes on Amazon for our rats and they are horrible. Don't waste your $ on them. Even with a brand new syringe, medication and liquids get stuck inside about 70% of the time. When I try to push liquids out slowly into a rat's mouth the syringe either sticks permanently and I waste expensive meds I can't get out or when I push harder on the plunger the meds (or foods I feed to Mr. Magoo) will shoot out real fast and splash right out of a rat's mouth. I have got to find something more reliable asap. Do you have any recommendations? Thank you.

07/25/2024

Hamster fun tonight

07/25/2024

Pocket hammie

07/24/2024

UPDATE:
Mikeda was indeed full of cancer and it was absolutely inoperable. She is now out of pain as she was lovingly helped to heaven.
------------------------------
Original Post:

We have our rat Mikeda here at the clinic today for an exam and x-rays. I suspect her belly is full of cancer. And, we have the wood rat here too that was humanely trapped. He will have his tail injury repaired before we release him in a lush area on the Rio Grande River known as the Bosque.

07/24/2024

A butternut squash with carrot lunch for rodent royalty. ❤

07/23/2024

Thank you to the many people who just advised me that the "Donate Now" button is missing from the top of this page. That button has been there for 14 years and I have no idea what could have happened to it, but I will be trying to figure out how to get it back. I wonder if this issue is related to Facebook's switch over to Meta.

07/23/2024

Mr. Magoo just finished his sweet potato and rice lunch. It is amazing that this old angel has not just tolerated, but has even welcomed syringe feedings. Thank God for that or he would have died months ago when he became unable to eat for some unknown reason. When I was feeding Mr. Magoo, Chuck reminded me of something so heartbreaking that it made me cry. Chuck said that he can see how deeply bonded to me Mr. Magoo is and that even before we learned in June 2022 that I had breast cancer he could see that Mr. Magoo was deeply bonded to me even then, but that once I started chemotherapy and it made me so sick, weak, and sometimes even hallucinate that I became afraid of the rats and wouldn't even touch Mr. Magoo. That breaks my heart!!!! Chuck said that he had to give Mr. Magoo extra attention because he saw a big change in him. He could tell that Mr. Magoo's feelings were very hurt and that is awful to hear. How I wish I could do those days over. I know how sick I was and wouldn't wish chemotherapy and months of being unable to eat/drink on anyone. I'm only alive now because of God, chemotherapy, radiation, the implantation of a feeding tube, and surgeries.

07/23/2024

Mr. Magoo is letting me know he wants to be fed. Mommy will get it sweet love.

07/23/2024

Friends, I hate having to say this, but we are back to being low on the very funds that we completely depend on to feed and provide veterinary care to our ratties. To date, we have saved over 1,600 animals. If you believe in our work on behalf of these dear animals, please help us continue by making a tax-deductible donation. Thank you! Here are the ways you can donate to us:
1) Click the Donate button at the top of this page.
2) Donate via PayPal to email address [email protected]
3) Mail a check payable to Tiny Toes Rat Rescue to P.O. Box 67571, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87193.
❤🐭 We appreciate your support of our sweeties. 🐀❤

07/22/2024

* Valrico, Florida area *

07/22/2024

An update on Jericho.

07/21/2024

Mr. Magoo is still feeding well. Thank you for all the loving inquiries about him.

07/21/2024

The other hamster we took in yesterday, who is believed to be dying, is allowing both Chuck and me to pet him. I'm in love. He's so gentle. Cindy Haven for Hamsters Rescue & Sanctuary ...I can't remember...does he have a name?