Volunteer Initiative for the Scituate Animal Shelter

05/13/2024

CAT ROOM MAKEOVER! Sharing some long-overdue photos of the Scituate Animal Shelter Cat Room, before and after its makeover, and giving some credit where due. After the shelter addition opened a couple years ago, we took the summer off before turning to more minor improvements, such as upgrading storage in both the cat room and the kennel room. Simply ditching the old open shelving in favor of cabinets with doors made a huge difference in tidying up the animal rooms. And then we commenced with sprucing up the animal room most in need of a makeover, the cat room.

NEW FLOORS: In December 2022, the Volunteer Initiative for the Scituate Animal Shelter fully funded new vinyl plank flooring in the cat room, bathroom and dog prep room, at a cost of $2,860 — a big visual improvement over the old worn-out epoxy floors. Much warmer in both look and feel, and easier to mop as well! We added some nice vinyl baseboard as well, with a big assist from Scituate DPW on the installation (thank you Kirk, Russell and Skip!).

NEW CEILINGS: In February 2023, the town council granted us $2,044 of federal ARPA funds to install new drop ceilings in a couple of small areas, replace the old ceiling tiles in the cat room and volunteer lounge, and adjust some office lighting.

SUPPLEMENTAL HEAT: In January of this year, thanks to a single donation from one very generous local couple, we installed infrared heat panels in the cat room, which was always SOOOOO cold in the winter time, as it was not insulated when it was built many years ago (wasn’t required back then). Two flat panels that blend with the white walls and can be controlled from the ACOs’ phones. Cost for the panels and electrical to install them was about $1,600. And do those two slender panels ever do the trick! We’re so happy to be DONE with wearing our parkas and snow boots while volunteering in the cat room during frigid temps! And it’s much healthier for the cats.

NEW CAGES AND STORAGE DECKS: And in March of this year, we put the finishing touches on the improved cat room — brand new cages that provide much more space for the cats in our care and are much less “cave-like” than the old cages, which often hampered our efforts to socialize cats. The units have a removable panel between the two levels, and we have been able to allow cats to live with a companion cat as they await a home, while enjoying plenty of space at the same time. They love to go up and down between levels, and also enjoy having their bathroom and bedroom on separate floors! Each unit also comes with a divider panel, which we can quickly screw in if we ever find ourselves needing to accommodate a lot of cats at once — we can go from housing nine cats in very spacious units, or tighten up to accommodate 15 cats at a time, and remain in compliance with the DEM-mandated minimum cage size for adult cats. And this does not even include the occupancy the new kitten room provides.

The custom cat cages cost $10,750 and were funded in part through private donations, and a $5,000 federal ARPA funds grant approved by the town council. A Rhode Island millwork company donated the storage decks for the new cages, same as they did for our kitten room when the addition was built in 2021/2022. Though the company prefers to remain anonymous, we are very publicly grateful.

A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU to a Scituate couple who wish to remain anonymous, who are our largest benefactors. They gave so generously to the campaign for the shelter addition, and continued to give after the addition was completed. Without their thoughtful contributions none of these recent improvements would have been possible. They saw what their gifts made possible when the addition was completed, and simply asked, “What else is on your wish list?” So, we told them. And they gave more. And then some more. They are like the guardian angels for our cats and kittens, and while we cannot publicize their names, we whisper them privately to all the cats and kittens who come to the shelter and enjoy the fruits of their generosity.

AND THANK YOU to everyone who has donated to VISAS over the years, even beyond our appeals for funding for the addition… you have made all these improvements possible, and made the Scituate Animal Shelter a much more hospitable and comfortable environment for both the humans who work and volunteer there and the animals who are temporarily housed there as they await their homes.

07/29/2023

KITTENS LOVING THEIR CONDO! A little shout-out to the Scituate Police Department and Chief Rollinson for finding available funds in the police department and animal control budgets last year which furnished the cage units for our new kitten room. These special units can house a nursing litter at the DEM-mandated minimum cage size, and also be adjusted to smaller units with the addition of a divider, which will convert each large unit into smaller units that are acceptable to house 1 or 2 kittens at a time, should we ever need to house a lot of kittens at one time. The double-deckers come with an opening in the top floor and a recessed insert, so that we can expand the housing for growing litters, if we’re not too full. And the kittens LOVE IT. Anyone who knows kittens knows they love to CLIMB and the double-deckers give them the opportunity to chase each other up and down, and not just from side to side. And once they’re tuckered out from climbing they enjoy lounging in the hammock that provides a window view. We recently had a litter of three (all since adopted), named Ella, Stella and Fella, shown here discovering their expanded housing for the first time. Ella had an issue with her little front legs that required her to be in braces for a little while, to straighten out her legs and paws. Once she was out of the braces, doctor’s orders called for “maximum exercise and climbing” for her to work her little legs into shape. We set up a shelf at an angle with a couple of scratch ramps to help her climb up and down. Ella‘s the gray kitten, last one to figure out how to get upstairs. But it only took her a moment to figure it out after watching Stella and Fella climb the ramps. They’re all in homes now, and Ella’s doing fine!

02/13/2023

SPRUCING UP THE OLD SHELTER: Thank you to donors who provided additional funding after the completion of the addition, “for whatever else you need,” as several of them noted. We purchased new storage cabinets and shelving, and had new flooring installed in the cat room, bathroom and dog food/medical prep room in December. The original floors in all three areas were badly-worn epoxy, and were replaced with laminated vinyl plank — very durable even for high traffic areas, very waterproof, and also much easier to sweep and mop than the old, rough epoxy.

Thanks also to Mike and Donnie of Pag’s Flooring, who found an opening in their schedule much sooner than we expected and were in and out in less than two days, and to Scituate DPW, who loaned us Skip and Russ to install the vinyl baseboard trim, which we purchased to clean up the edges of the new flooring.

And lastly, thank you to the Scituate Town Council for allocating $2,400 in ARPA funds so that we can update the ceilings as well — two small areas need new drop ceilings installed, but the rest is simply replacing old tiles.

Since completing the big addition last March we have been busy with these smaller improvements, so we continue to ask for donations as we move along bringing the rest of the shelter up to par with the beautiful new addition. Once we’ve completed the ceilings we’ll be looking at improving insulation and replacing a few drafty windows.

Even the smallest donation helps us get closer to funding more manageable improvements like these, so donations of any size are appreciated! Donations can be made online at https://volunteerinitiativeforsas.org/donate, or by check payable to “VI for SAS,” and mailed to: VISAS, 484 Field Hill Rd., Clayville RI 02815. Thank you for supporting the shelter animals!

02/12/2023

ALL DOLLED-UP NOW! We finally put the finishing touches on the shelter addition, thanks to the assistance of Scituate DPW, who took care of two small (but important) exterior needs — the ADA-compliant handrail for the entry ramp, as well as a gutter along the eave. Thank you to Kirk and DPW for picking up our slack on these finishes, and special thanks to Karlton Damota, a.k.a. “The Gutter Guy,” who responded to DPW very quickly after we submitted a request for assistance, and at a discount to Scituate DPW — “for the animals.” We’ll miss the orange caution cones that had previously adorned the entry ramp… goodbye little orange cones! (Just kidding. We love our shiny new handrail!)

09/09/2022

WANTED: FLOORING CONTRACTOR! The Volunteer Initiative for the Scituate Animal Shelter (VISAS) is hoping to fund improvements to the floor in the shelter cat room, which is badly worn from years of use. The Scituate and Foster communities were so supportive during our fundraising for the shelter addition the past couple of years that we are inspired to see to additional improvements in the older part of the building, now that the addition is done. The kennel room is in pretty good shape, but the cat room floors are badly worn. We do what we can on our own (painting, installing shelving and other storage, etc.) but floors require professional help.

We have some funds raised, but will need an estimate to know if we have to raise more, and how much more. The floor is approximately 364 s.f. overall — the main space is approximately 16 ft. x 20 ft., and the sink and fixed storage area is approximately 5.5 ft. x 8 ft. The existing floor is epoxy, and ideally the new floor will be epoxy as well, but we are open to other suggestions that would be suitable for animal housing. If you would like to arrange to visit the site or provide an estimate, or need more information, please email [email protected] or call 401-651-1580.

And please share! We know how busy trade professionals are these days and will need community help locating someone who can do the work. The ideal time for the work would be during the winter, when kitten occupancy is low and the cats can move into the kitten room while their floors are being improved. Thank you!

06/18/2022

THANK YOU DONORS... for helping to fund our new window treatments! We received a surge of new donations a few months back, once we announced we had approval to move into the new office. Several generous donors contacted us directly to ask, “What else is on your wish list?” and provided us with ample funds to see to additional improvements that were not part of the contractor’s scope of work. With these window treatments, we think we are officially DONE with any work on the addition (and we are looking forward to summer weekends that are free of special chores at the shelter like hanging window treatments). These nice light-filtering shades provide just enough opacity to soften the interior lighting. Sincere gratitude to those of you who stepped up to give even more after the contractor’s work was completed.

06/04/2022

THANK YOU TO SARAH AND CDE CAGES! We’d like to acknowledge Sarah at CDE Cages for all her help in designing and manufacturing the new cages for our new kitten room, which were funded by the Scituate Police Department. They are considerably roomier than our old cages, providing plenty of space for larger litters and their mamas. Shelter-born kittens must spend 8 weeks at the shelter nursing before they can be adopted, so having plenty of space for them as they grow is very important to their development. There are six large units which can house six nursing litters, and each unit comes with a divider that will allow us to house more solo kittens or pairs of kittens, should we have the need to accommodate more. Three units also have recessed inserts in the top floor, which will allow us to give a litter of older kittens a two-story unit, to give them more space to climb and play and develop their athletic skills. Thank you for your patience and guidance, Sarah at CDE! We love the new cages! (PS: All kittens featured here have been adopted.)

05/22/2022

THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS! A quick thank you to all of the supporters of the shelter addition who braved the heat and latest COVID variant to see their donation dollars at work at our open house yesterday. We were so happy to meet so many of you and put a face to your generous names, and to hear how pleased you are with the work we did. But we could not have done it without all of your contributions. The organization is really the donors, and we are just managing it on your behalf, and thank you all sincerely for helping us improve life for the animals at the shelter. We wish we had photos, but were having too much fun speaking with you all and sharing your enthusiasm.

05/12/2022

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR SUPPORTERS! Please join us at an Open House at the Scituate Animal Shelter on Saturday, May 21, from 11 am to 1 pm, and see what we built with your contributions! We are very eager to show the new kitten room, play room and office to everyone who supported the project, including anyone who provided in-kind goods or services. Light refreshments will be served, and kittens will provide the entertainment! (And please share with anyone you know who contributed to the project, as we do not have time to do a mailing to each individual. Thank you!)

05/12/2022

A SINCERE AND SOLEMN THANK YOU: To the Gesualdi family, who lost their beautiful daughter Shannon to a rare cancer in November 2020, just six months after Shannon gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Aspen. Shannon grew up right down the road from the shelter in Clayville.

The family requested that donations in memory of Shannon be made to the Campaign for the Scituate Animal Shelter, to help fund the construction of the addition to the shelter. The response was both touching and overwhelming. Gifts in Shannon’s memory pretty much funded the new kitten play room, which has been named in her memory.

The family visited the completed space last week — Shannon’s mom and dad, Karen and Mike, her sisters Jessica and Lauren, her niece and nephew, Lauren’s children Ella and Graham, and the baby whose birth brought the family so much joy, little Aspen, now two years old and as crazy about kitties as her mama was. The children delighted in meeting the kittens and entertaining them for a little while, and the adults delighted in taking in all the mirth and mayhem generated by the kids and kittens.

We regret that the family ever had to consider making the shelter the benefactor of gifts in Shannon’s memory, but we remain forever grateful that in their grief they chose our cause to honor and remember her. It is with sincere appreciation that we can now hold kitten playtime in “Miss Shannon’s School for Shenanigans,̦” a space where the little critters can spend some time out of their cages and out of their mama’s hair, and get acquainted with what life will be like in their forever homes.

(PLEASE NOTE: All of the kittens in the photos are spoken for.)

04/13/2022

A BIG ROUND OF A-PAWS FOR CLAYVILLE ELEMENTARY STUDENTS! What a gorgeous day it was in Clayville, an especially fine day to welcome the Clayville Elementary Student Council back to the shelter with their annual donation, after a two year hiatus. The 4th- and 5th-graders celebrated School Spirit Week by collecting products needed at the shelter from their fellow students. Along with 4th grade teacher Ashley Cardarelli and 5th grade teacher Lori Boutiette, the kids inspected our new office, where they posed for a photo with our little feline friend Iris, and checked out the new Kitten Play Room, where they spent time with tiny Sprout. (Sorry, both kitties are spoken for!) Thank you to everyone at Clayville Elementary who participated. You make us so proud to be part of this community!

03/13/2022

03/13/2022

THANK YOU, DONORS AND DPW! As we wrap up construction on the addition, we are taking advantage of the momentum and attending to some other improvements at the shelter, thanks in no small part to an influx of additional donations received after we announced we were approved to move into the new space. Our favorite and most notable improvement is in the space between the cat room and the new kitten room — the installation of large, deep stainless-steel sinks with high arc spray faucets, and new countertops and shelving. Now we will be able to wash litter pans right between the rooms where they are used, and no longer in the kennel room sink. And we have a much larger work surface for dishing out canned food, medications, etc. This space had previously held the large washer and dryer, which DPW moved to the old kitten room after installing the proper plumbing and dryer venting. The old kitten room was the home of the shelter’s HVAC, so it made perfect sense to convert the entire space into a utility room.

Next came the arrival of the new sinks and faucets, purchased with the bonus donations we received recently, and the new countertops and shelving, which were donated by a millwork company. Thanks to Scituate DPW all of this work is being performed in a very expeditious fashion — UPS shows up with a bunch of boxes, and Skip and Russ from DPW show up next. So far, they have installed new baseboards, the washer/dryer plumbing and venting, modified the plumbing in the cat room to accommodate the new sinks, installed the new sinks, and even painted the old office to prepare for it to become the Meet-and-Greet Room. They are doing all of this between work on more urgent projects, such as snow removal, so I guess we owe Mother Nature some thanks as well, for providing us with a few breaks between snowstorms. So here’s a big shout-out to our Department of Public Works, and to director Kirk Loiselle for reaching out to us when his crew has some availability, and just asking us, “Do you need any help?” Which is just about the nicest thing to hear from our municipal employees!

03/05/2022

A TARDY THANK YOU AND A BELATED HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Deb Quinn, who just raised $725 for the shelter addition project through a birthday fundraisers. And once again... Facebook did not send us any notice, leaving us feeling embarrassed that we didn’t know that another of the shelter’s solid, consistent supporters was celebrating a special day, and doing so in our honor and to our benefit. And then she topped it off with another generous donation this week. Well Deb, we hope you celebrated in the style that befits you! Thank you so much for everything you’ve done to “raise the roof” at the shelter.

(And if anyone out there knows how to make Facebook alert us when someone is hosting a birthday fundraiser, please let us know how!)

03/02/2022

WE ARE APPROVED AND ON THE MOVE! The addition has been approved by the building official, and we are now moving into the new space! First the humans, and then the kittens when some arrive at the shelter. Recent photos included here, after installing some office artwork (funded separately and specifically by “GG,” who wishes to remain anonymous, thank you very much).

We can now get to work converting the old office into a Meet-and-Greet Room / Lounge for the animals to spend time with volunteers and visitors in a more home-like environment. Just some paint and furnishings and we’ll have that room ready.

And we are installing improvements in some other areas. Thanks to ongoing donations, of both cash and materials, we are able to fund new sinks for both the cat room and kennel room (something every volunteer has been wishing for!). Those projects are currently underway.

We are still looking for small donations to furnish the cat and kennel rooms with better quality storage cabinets and shelving. Now that we have the space, we would like to tidy up those rooms as well, and ditch some of the old, warped plastic shelving and storage.

If 25 people give $10 we could purchase a proper metal storage cabinet for the cat room, and no longer have the cat food exposed to pests. That’s next on the list after the sinks! So while the addition is complete, we are still raising funds to address other small needs. If you can help, go to https://www.4kittens.org for details on how to give.

And THANK YOU to everyone who supported this project. We hope to have all the project supporters in for a visit when the weather warms up a bit, and every last paint brush and screw gun and drill bit has been put away.

02/06/2022

THANK YOU NATALIE! We are very blessed that Natalie Welch, a second-grader at the Clayville Elementary School, chose our nonprofit and the animal shelter as the beneficiary of a $500 award she was granted by the Feinstein Foundation. Natalie met us at the shelter today to present her tremendous gift, which she has decided will fund furnishings for the new kitten playroom, and also provide vet care for one cat! We continue to be so impressed with how thoughtful our local schoolchildren are, and hope that one day, when they are old enough, they will come volunteer with us at the shelter. Thank you Natalie, we can’t wait to have you come back to visit once the addition is complete and the playroom is furnished with your generous gift! (PS: Trudy the Kitten is NOT available for adoption, sorry! She’s a little diva and insisted on being in the photo! We do not have any available kittens.)

01/29/2022

THE NEW OFFICE IS UNDERWAY! Last Friday the millwork team arrived to put in the new “transaction station” (millwork term!) and front desk, which includes an ADA-compliant counter for wheelchair access. Special thanks to LX Hausys America Surfaces Division, who provided our very first materials donation back in 2018 for our beautiful new countertops and desktops. We’re happy to finally see their generous solid surface donation in the new space!

01/13/2022

WE’RE FLOORED! Literally and figuratively! The flooring for the shelter addition was installed this week, and we’re so thrilled with it — a much nicer material than the painted floors that were originally specified. One silver lining to some of the delays we faced since construction began is that we had time to raise more money to finance better flooring. THANK YOU to everyone who gave to the Campaign for the Addition to the Scituate Animal Shelter (CASAS), and for those who continued to give after we announced we had met the base bid. The continued giving provided the funds we needed for these beautiful floors, which will be more durable, and also safer for kittens. Thank you also to Herb Melo of Only Wood Floors for his fast — and fastidious — work this week.

We are still raising funds for “the little things” — basic furnishings for the kitten play room, office and bathroom, such as a few freestanding cabinets and a toy chest/bench. Donations can be made by PayPal at www.4Kittens.org, or by check made payable to CASAS and mailed to: VI for SAS, PO Box 5, Clayville, RI 02815.

Thank you for supporting the cause, and the paws!

01/08/2022

THANK YOU... AGAIN... TO SARAH POND! Sarah’s fundraising and toy-making campaign for the shelter addition continues, and today she brought in another $200 donation, along with some goods for the shelter and more of the crocheted cat toys she has been making to sell to benefit the animals. To date, this high school senior has raised a very impressive $1,100+ for the addition! We think everyone would agree Sarah is a remarkable example of our local youth contributing to our community. Whether it’s the kids who bring in $10 from a lemonade stand, or a teen like Sarah who just keeps at it, bringing in more than a thousand dollars, every little donation helps, and we appreciate every single one of them. Thank you to Sarah, and all who contributed, and continue to contribute!

01/03/2022

SOME RECENT PHOTOS OF THE ANIMAL SHELTER ADDITION… Ceilings are in (thank you to “RG” for the donated labor, and to Kamco Supply, who donated all the ceiling materials, valued at more than $2,300!)… trim work is about to be completed, and we are scheduled for floors next week! After that the custom millwork will be completed (office transaction station, desks, custom storage for the new kitten room), and then we’ll be setting up the new kitten cages! Thank you to everyone who supported this important project. More soon!

12/21/2021

A GIGANTIC THANK YOU… to Mark Misto and Kamco Supply Corp of New England, for their tremendous donation of the ceiling materials for the shelter addition, valued at more than $2,300! Kamco’s gift was quite an unexpected surprise for us, and was no doubt influenced by one of our Clayville locals (who prefers to remain anonymous), who donated the labor for the installation of the ceilings. This was quite a surprise early Christmas gift for VISAS and the shelter kittens, who will benefit from the much larger kitten room the addition will provide, which also includes a dedicated playroom for the little ones. And our office space will double. Anyone who has had to squeeze by another person in the current office will know how badly a larger office was needed. Once vacated, the old office will become a lounge for the shelter dogs and their volunteers — a comfortable space for the volunteers to spend time with the dogs when the weather is poor, much nicer and more home-like than the kennel room, where they currently are forced to work with the dogs in unfriendly weather. And a much nicer place for potential adopters to meet both dogs and cats! Thank you Mark and Kamco Cranston — from all of us at VISAS and the animal shelter, especially the animals in our care.

11/02/2021

A FACEBOOK FUNDRAISER FLAW: After some investigation we have confirmed what we suspected — that Facebook does not alert a nonprofit when a Birthday Fundraiser has been created, nor when donations are made to the fundraiser. For this reason we missed three recent birthday fundraisers benefitting VISAS, and we sincerely apologize to Kim, Gabriela and Sacha for our tardy thanks! We became aware of these thoughtful fundraisers only when we received notice that Facebook had transferred money to the nonprofit bank account, and we then did some investigation.

The Facebook Fundraiser is a great benefit to nonprofits, because they do not take a penny of the money donated — it all goes to the 501(c)(3). But there are still flaws, and this is one we certainly hope they are working to address.

Please, if you decide to host a Facebook Birthday Fundraiser to benefit the shelter, share it to this page so we will be aware of it, and we will hop on the birthday bandwagon and share it to the Volunteers page, which, though not a nonprofit page, has a much larger following made up of shelter animal adopters.

And a Belated Happy Birthday to Kim, Gabriela and Sacha! 🎉🎈🎂❤️

09/26/2021

A VERY PERSONAL THANK YOU to my kind, generous, thoughtful Godchildren, who surprised me at a family wedding recently with a donation of $150 for the shelter. This is not the first such donation, nor even the largest, but I was so touched by the unexpected gift that I felt it was time to recognize their generosity publicly. So, all my love and gratitude to Carly (the bride), Ally (the maid of honor), and Tommy (the dancing machine in his awesome suspenders and “Uncle Eddie” white loafers, which always make the entire family chuckle). Thank you to all three of you, I am so blessed and honored to be your Godmother, and congratulations and a lifetime of happiness and love to Carly and her handsome new husband Anthony! (PS, Ally: Fantastic, hilarious speech — you had us all in stitches!) Sincerely, Aunt Johanna

08/08/2021

CLOSING IN: The windows have been installed on the Scituate Animal Shelter addition, and the gable has been clad in vinyl. Things have been progressing a little slower than we’d prefer, but we have to be understanding of the issues in the construction trades that are causing delays nationwide. Now that we are close to being weather-tight we hope things speed up a bit, as construction won’t be hampered by rain. Thank you to Fred and Ivan at Superstructure Builders, and a big shout-out to Kirk and Charlie at Scituate DPW for the power-washing and painting!

07/11/2021

WE NOW HAVE A COMPLETED ROOF! This was a big one, as the trusses had to be ordered… and were backordered… and backordered… and backordered some more. But now that the roof is on the rest of the work should go somewhat quickly, depending on the availability of subcontractors. We had hoped to avoid being under construction during the busiest time of year for those in the construction trades, but alas, ’twas not to be. It has taken us almost seven years to get to this point, and we have certainly learned patience! We can always find a little more, especially when we can see real progress finally happening. Thank you to everyone who donated to the Campaign for the Addition to the Scituate Animal Shelter. We can’t wait to show the place off to you when it’s done!

07/09/2021

RAISING THE ROOF ON THE SHELTER ADDITION!!!! After a delay in construction on the addition to the Scituate Animal Shelter, the roof trusses finally arrived this week and the builders quickly installed the roof and the framed the interior walls before the tropical storm rolled in. Big progress in just one week! If the weather is agreeable they expect to shingle the roof next, and then get to work on the interior finishes. This expansion will provide a much larger kitten room and office, and will allow us to convert the existing office into a dog lounge and meet-and-greet space. Anyone who has visited the shelter’s current kitten room should understand how badly this new space is needed.

When the addition is complete we will finally have the flexibility of space to make improvements to the existing shelter, such as upgrading floors and painting walls. We are still raising money to fund these additional upgrades, which do not fall within the general contractor’s scope.

If you can help with a donation, please visit www.4Kittens.org to make a gift by credit card, or send a check, payable to “VISAS” to PO Box 5, Clayville, RI 02815. Thank you to everyone who supported the shelter addition!