Page 8 - Harnett Life Fall 2018

er, who gladly shares his large kennel space with his best Rescue has recently become a 501c3 non-profit, and Silm-
friend, Patience, a pitt bull mix who needed part of her on said “We are truly thankful and feel blessed to have so
paw amputated when the family rescued her. many people who believe in us and what we are trying to
do.” The 501c3 status became official in June of 2018, and
Of the 15 cats, nine of them are seniors who have become Silmon said they wanted to recognize Stage Road Animal
a part of the Silmon family due to their previous owners Hospital, along with a laundry list of other local businesses
having to move into nursing facilities or owners who have who “helped us get started this past summer” by donating
passed away. Some of the senior cats include a black cat to a project created by the Silmon family in July 2018 to
named Draco and a gray cat named Vinny, whose owner get a large number of stray cats spayed and neutered. These
wanted to give him up because he ‘meowed too much’ so businesses also donated to help the Rescue “get going with
Silmon took him in. Then there is Easter, the calico cat necessary funds to start our 501c3 non-profit steps.”
who had an inner ear infection that could have been treat-
ed, but her owners wanted to have her put down because For anyone else who would like to help, Silmon said “We
they thought it easier than treating the problem. It was left are always in need of cat food, scoopable cat litter, small
untreated for so long, that Easter was unable to stand. She cat beds, dog food, pine shavings, and basic daily care
now has a permanent slight head tilt but can walk, play, items for the animals.” She said monetary donations will
and live a comfortable life at the Silmons home. go toward funding medical care for the sanctuary animals
“most of which are geriatric and have medical issues,” and
There are six rabbits, including a rescued bunny named funds would also go towards medical care for foster ani-
Ash who is blind in one eye, and is cared for by Jacob. mals. Donations can be made via PayPal to thesilmonfam-
There are six chickens, one named Rockstar, called the [email protected], and more information can
‘circus chicken’ by Timothy, who has trained Rockstar to be found on the Facebook group page listed as The Silmon
ride on his arm as he runs around the yard. There are also Family Ohana Pet Rescue, LLC.
two hamsters, in addition to a bird named Waldo the cher-
ry headed conure, a goose, a guinea pig, a pot belly pig, Silmon said that a rescue is an important part of the com-
a lizard, a snake, and a turkey. Then there is Jelly Bean munity because more than 4,100 dogs and cats are killed
the Magic Pony, a miniature horse named by the children, in shelters across the country “simply because they don’t
Silmon said, acts more like an oversized dog than a horse. have a safe place to call home.” She continued, “Rescues
Also, temporarily residing at the Silmon home are five compassionately shelter lost, abandoned, and surrendered
young cats in foster care “who are undergoing medical pets and re-home those animals into caring environments,
treatments from veterinarians to make them adoptable” so thereby enriching lives through adoption.” She said that
the cats can be re-homed. keeping in touch with the families who adopt the foster
animals is “one of the things that helps push us to keep
The Silmon Family Ohana Pet Rescue, LLC is about 60 doing what we do” and they receive regular updates on
percent self – funded. Silmon said this portion is coming approximately 90% of the animals that are adopted out.
“out of my family’s own pockets” while the other 40%
comes from fundraisers the family sets up, or other dona- “We care about each and every animal that enters our
tions from individuals or businesses. The fundraisers nat- home, and even when they are able to find a new forever
urally include the entire family, and could be raffles or pet family, they still left paw prints on our hearts.”
food drives, or lemonade stands run by the children. The

Page 8 Harnett Life ~ Winter 2018