No-kill Animal Shelter Seeks
 Donations for Generator

During recent winter storms C&W Rustic Hollow Shelter was among 250,000 Iowans without power. We don’t ever want to go through a week like that again.

Funds for a generator to power at least one of their buildings are being requested by workers at C&W Rustic Hollow Shelter, a refuge for special needs animals located north of Nashua, Iowa.

Recent winter storms dumped several inches of ice followed by about 20 inches of snow during the course of two storms. The shelter, which houses about 250 cats, was without power for five days.

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Special Needs Animal Sanctuary
holds Benefit & Auction

LITTER BOX CAKE BRINGS $100 BID!!

            C & W Rustic Hollow Shelter, Inc. is a nationally known private, cage-free special needs animal sanctuary for animals located on 190 acres of shelter owned land north of Nashua, Iowa. C & W Rustic Hollow is a refuge for animals deemed 'unadoptable' through other rescue organizations, those with special medical conditions, disabilities, feline leukemia cats, or animals displaced at the death of their guardian. C & W acts as a 'hospice' care facility for many aging animals with residents coming from over 23 states and from rescue and humane societies all across Iowa. Rustic Hollow Shelter. To learn more about Rustic Hollow, visit us on the web at: www.rustichollowshelter.org.

            A very special event was held to help the sanctuary help more animals in need. Our 'Cakes for a Cause' Benefit & Auction was held on Saturday, November 4^th, 2006 at Waverly, Iowa at America's Best Value Inn & Suites, Waverly, Iowa. A huge variety of wonderful items were bid on both in the Silent Auction and Live Auction portion of the evening, and a special Power Point presentation gave the audience a view of life at Rustic Hollow and showed many of the wonderful special needs kits that reside in one or the four sanctuary buildings.. Besides some wonderful items to bid on, there were cakes to be auctioned off, including our famous, and also very delicious....“Litter Box” Cake. You have to see it to believe it. Not to mention, the chance to taste it.....If you are brave enough. We are pleased to note that one of the Litter Box Cakes received a bid of $100 on the night!!!! The event was our very first auction and benefit on this large of a scale and it was a tremendously successful night, with a wonderful outpouring of support from those attending with some high bids and lots of enthusiasm from attendees as well as our wonderful MC, Lori Prokop of Bruce, WS and our two lively auctioneers, Randy Kirchoff and Dennis Kirchoff of Tripoli, Iowa.  What a wonderful evening. We grossed over $7,000 on the event, netting over $5,400. For our first attempt, we were very pleased. We thank the hundreds of supporters who sent such great items for this event. And all of those who volunteered their time to help us in so many ways before, during and after the benefit.           

             We are pleased to note that we, the founders, Carmen and Wanda, got the high bids on three of the four overnighters at Des Moines Hotel, and The Dairy Bed & Breakfast, Ionia Iowa,  and also the Allerton, Iowa, Inn of the Six-Toed Cat! We do look forward to these mini-vacations!!! It is perhaps the most we can get away.

            Rustic Hollow Shelter offers an 'alternative to euthanasia' for many animals who were at the end of their 'chance at a lifetime' without a sanctuary to welcome them. The animals are truly at home and they have all the comforts of a homelike atmosphere, including enclosed outdoor environments for them to go outside in safely. This Benefit & Auction marks the 1^st anniversary of the Hurricane Katrina disaster, and our sanctuary was one of many who took in animals rescued in this disaster. These were special needs animals and you may sponsor one of these Hurricane Katrina refugees or one of our other sanctuary furballs. Help us help more animals in need. For more information go to www.rustichollowshelter.org. Or write us at: P.O. Box 67, Nashua, IA 50658-0067 or call (641) 435-4151

Beyond Katrina-Animals Not Just an Afterthought

            The 2005 hurricane season ravaged the Caribbean and the Atlantic & Gulf Coasts, leaving millions of people stranded and displaced. Along with those millions of people were millions of their guardian animals...their beloved pets. Pets that they had to make a decision about...to leave them or to stay with them through the storms. Pets are a huge part of the family and Hurricane Katrina forever changed attitudes that animals are not 'just an afterthought'. Many people chose to risk their lives rather than leave their pets behind. Many people were separated from their pets. Many were reunited with their pets later....many more were not.

            In the days, weeks and months after Hurricane Katrina unleashed its wrath on the Gulf Coast, members of the animal welfare community from across the country responded in large numbers to help in one way or another. Some groups headed to work with animal Disaster Response teams in the south. Others opened their doors and prepared to take in as many of the flood of animals displaced that they could.

            In October of 2005, three months after the hurricane devastated the south, a group of feline hurricane refugees traveled a long eight hour trip from Louisiana and Mississippi to Iowa, where they took up residence at C & W Rustic Hollow Shelter, Nashua, Iowa. In 2004, another large group of 36 felines headed to this Iowa sanctuary after being displaced in Florida storm disaster areas. C & W Rustic Hollow Shelter joined hundreds of humane associations and rescue groups who brought Katrina animal refugees to their home states.

            C & W Rustic Hollow Shelter is a nationally known special needs animal sanctuary, with animals from 21 states and from all across Iowa. The animals that arrive at Rustic Hollow live out their lives in a cage-free, home-like environment with all the comforts of 'home' including staff and volunteers to 'sit under' the felines, read to the senior canine residents or take them on long walks. What makes Rustic Hollow different from other rescue organizations is that the animals coming to this Iowa sanctuary are deemed 'unadoptable' by other organizations, and are given a 'chance at a lifetime' at C & W. The Hurricane Katrina felines were no different. They were felines with Feline Leukemia and other special needs.

            Rustic Hollow rests in a serene Iowa valley on 190 acres of shelter owned land. Portions of the land are conservation reserve  acres, allowing the land to give shelter to many other animals and birds. For more information on C & W Rustic Hollow Shelter, go to their website at www.rustichollowshelter.org.

            There are still animals being pulled out of the disaster area in the south daily. Some are being relinquished now by pet guardians who no longer are able to keep them with them. Most of these are dogs. If you are interested in adopting any of these animals, now in a Louisiana shelter,  contact us for more information.