Catwalk through the rain at the RAPS Cat Sanctuary

Here are some pictures I took during the recent rain storm. As you can see it was quite the flood. Note the new sidewalks that go around to the back of the cabins. They certainly did the job! ~Debbie~

Sola's First Birthday

Hi RAPS,

Well, we're coming up to Sola's (Sparkle's) first birthday so I thought I'd send an update. She is about 75 pounds already, and slowing down a little on her growing (finally!). She is still full of puppy energy but turning out to be a gentle, very responsive dog.

We recently moved from the small island down to Victoria. We're right by an amazing dog park by the beach, so she spends every day playing with other dogs and splashing in the surf. She really is a total delight. Very, very social.

We're enrolled in some dog classes starting soon, so she can go from great to perfect :) Hopefully she'll make some new friends too.

Best wishes,
Catherine, Guthrie and Sola

(Some of you might recall Sola (aka Sparkle) as a puppy at the RAPS City Shelter. Her puppy picture is below).

"Now our family is complete!"

Dear Christie and Carol,

Happy New Year! We'd like to thank you for all the work that you do, and also for helping us find our very loved newest family member. We now feel that our family is complete :)! Max (formerly known as Knack) is a very smart, gentle and kind cat, and of course, the most beautiful of all. We 'd love to share a few pictures of him.

Thank you,

Natalia

Stacking the Puppies

Sunday Visitors to the RAPS Cat Sanctuary

The RAPS Cat Sanctuary has become a busy place on Sunday afternoon during visiting hours. Check out our photos and even a video of a marching cat!

Click here!

More visitors at the RAPS Cat Sanctuary

Rudy dresses for Christmas

Rudy (originally named Rudolph at the RAPS City Shelter) came to the city shelter around Christmas last year. His owners mark the holiday with special doggie-wear!

Simon and Charlie

Hello,

I just got finished reading the newsletter about the Christmas Drive and was just so happy to see what a great response RAPS had. Isn't it wonderful what people can do at this time of year? It also reminded me that I promised to send you pictures of Simon the kitten I adopted. He's a bit bigger now but still just full of playful energy. He's finally learned to use his claws more gently to get attention, however no convincing can get him to stop poking me in the face at 7am if his food bowl is empty! lol

He and Charlie are great friends and the two of them play chase in my house. Charlie learned the hard way Simon doesn't like to be pinned down with all that slobbery love when Simon bit his cheek! Now Charlie chases but doesn't 'catch' Simon.

Hope all is well, can't wait for the training sessions to start up again in Spring. That was so much fun for Charlie!

Take care,
Bonnie

Dexter: The Spirit of Christmas

Dear RAPS, 

Great to hear of all those rescues and happy endings [in the Richmond News]. I have to say our little sweetie (called Ajax in the shelter but renamed Dexter) has brought so much joy into our home. We refer to him as the spirit of Christmas, the embodiment of love and new life.

I was sorry not to rescue Tristan, but when I went back a second time, it was clear to me that Ajax would be better suited to my family, even if he was covered in ringworm. (I'm happy to say,I think we have that under control now.) He's energetic, playful, affectionate and often up to no good, just like my kids. 

We were told he may hide in a closet for the first couple of days when in fact he bolted out of his cage Christmas morning ready to party. Within an hour, he was lying on his back getting his tummy rubbed by both kids at the same time.
I'll try to get a picture.

Happy New Year,
Eve

FLICKR Photos: Name that Cat!

Check out this wonderful photo album of Cat Sanctuary cats!

Thank you so much to Leslie who has done an amazing job adding names.

It gives me a great pleasure (and something to kill the time while I
wait for this baby to arrive) to do this for RAPS.

I miss the kitties so much and look forward to being able to visit in
the new year.

Once again any of the photos I took, can be used to promote RAPS in
any way.

If you can not download a copy off of the FLICKR site directly, just
send me the link to the photo you want a copy of and I will send you
the full sized image.

Most of the photos are about 2304 x 1728 in their original format
size, so they are large and great quality to print.

I have considered the idea of printing and framing some of the images
to auction off in the future to raise funds for RAPS.

In the meantime I'll keep sorting the images I have.

Thanks again.
Barbara

Thanks to Lisa, the big cat room sparkles during the week

This is Lisa and a few of her friends. Lisa works to keep the big cat room at the City Shelter clean for some of the weekday shifts. Thanks Lisa!

Bluey's Ode to Catnip!

Bluey is the RAPS City Shelter cat and feline ambassador! He patrols the place, ensuring that everyone know that we are the Richmond Animal Shelter. However, during the holidays, our Volunteer Coordinator, Debbie, makes a big basket of catnip pillows. On this day, Bluey decided to claim the entire basket! I guess it's payment for all his hard work!

A special thanks to our holiday crafter!

This holiday season several volunteers made crafts and knitting to sell at the local craft fairs and donated the proceeds to RAPS. We'd like send a special THANKS! for all efforts which raised hundreds of dollars for RAPS. Thank you so much! We are blessed to have you (and your handwork!) as a part of RAPS.

City Shelter Open House of Food Drive was a Joy!

Sanctuary Drainage Project is nearly complete

A special 'Thank you" to the Drainage Project donors and to Doug and his time for all their hard work!