SSR Nation,
A brief note as we have finished reviewing our May financials.
To start, while there have been social media posts to the contrary, we want to state that these invoices are being paid with funds donated to Shenandoah Shepherd Rescue from the thousands of generous supporters who believe in the mission. Although we do not currently have control of all SSR monies and accounts, we have access to enough for us to ensure proper care for our current dogs. As we have closed intake, all the dogs tagged by JQA are presently being tracked down, vetted, and moved north to what we hope will be loving, permanent homes. Our focus will remain on these dogs until we can open intake confidently and responsibly.
Treasurer's Report - 06/10/2024
In May, vet bills totaling $32,272.77 were paid to 20 different businesses. Foster supplies – largely medications - totaled $1,739.22, and administrative supplies (phone and stamps) totaled $360.24. This included priority postage for some checks sent to facilities who were previously paid by electronic platforms to which the Board does not presently have access. Some of these checks cleared in early June and will be included on our June reports. Only $275 was paid to transport companies in May and that was a payment made out of pledged dollars, because a bill for that amount was accidentally paid with SSR funds rather than pledge money. (This referring to the $25,000 which was promised to Billy's Street Mission, and has been utilized to pay vets for these dogs directly.)
Invoices paid include those for small businesses which were owed for:
Performing initial vetting on dogs JQA rescued
Performing advanced medical procedures when necessary – ie amputation, pregnancy complications, etc.
Spay/neuter of dogs
Boarding dogs and training when deemed necessary
Transporting those dogs either within Texas or north to fosters.
current foster dogs update
We have been paying vet bills and purchasing supplies for dogs who have already been residing with fosters on the east coast. A process has been established so that anyone with an SSR foster dog can request the vet services and supplies their foster dog needs in a way that is trackable, and will be approved and addressed in a timely manner. Final vet checks were arranged – and are still being arranged – for fosters who wanted to adopt the dogs they are fostering for SSR. Some of those dogs need additional shots, or to be spayed/neutered before the adoption can be finalized and we are working on completing that medical care as quickly as possible.
account access and organization updates
We still do not have access to the electronic payment portals. We have multiple teams and our attorney sorting through those matters. We have a team working on locating rescued dogs, scattered throughout Texas, and getting them to locations from which they can be moved north. We also have people sorting through financials. The billing email had more than 750 emails to sort through when first reviewed. Thankfully, while not all of these were bills, there were a lot of invoices that should have been paid sooner and needed immediate attention.
Shenandoah Shepherd Rescue – like most rescues – depends on a lot of small businesses to help care for our dogs and get them ready to be adopted. Those small businesses need and deserve timely payment for their services, which is something we aim to provide going forward. As you might imagine, donated funds have dropped to a trickle, as we only have access to donations sent in via check. Rest assured, these checks are being deposited and put toward necessary dog expenses.
We are choosing to highlight charges for three dogs with this post:
Vicky 3181: Initial charges for Vicky – the "car motor puppy" pulled from PVAS by JQA in mid-May
Elian 3055: Some small and final charges for Elian as we are elated to say he is adopted by his vet tech foster. For those of you who don’t remember, Elian came into SSR in January of 2024. His first visit to the vet included an extensive exam with ultrasound, blood pressure check, infusions, radiographs, hourly EKG monitoring, and extensive bloodwork and hospitalization. He came in with several necrotic wounds to his hips and tail and an open tib/fib exposure and multiple fractures. It was suspected that he had been hit by a car, but there were also mysterious wounds that showed possible abuse. The total cost of his care was over $20,000.00. While the vet healed his wounds, the foster healed his heart. She was an amazing foster and Elian made it through this horrific ordeal and came through a happy dog so we were very happy to pay the final neuter bill allowing his adoption to be finalized by the person he has grown to love and has made him feel safe.
Blue 2635 & Wash 2700: Vet bills for JQA’s SSR dogs Blue and Wash, who were seen by a Virginia vet before they moved to Arizona. There has been question whether we will be covering these invoices- as they are currently SSR dogs, funding for Blue and Wash's continued care has been offered to JQA.
Vicky’s weekly charges for her second week in vet boarding in anticipation of transport:
The total weekly charges for 11 dogs in vet boarding at that facility:
Invoice for Elian’s neuter – the final step in finalizing his adoption:
Invoices for JQA’s dogs from an April vet appointment:
We are thankful to the many vets and other partners who have worked with us on payment timing and have been patient as we have sorted through everything we have found. We will continue our work to catch up, get organized, and move toward an audit to ensure all SSR financials are as they should be, and to provide maximum accountability for the SSR Nation.
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