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Dear Friends and Patrons:
This will be my last newsletter before the Year 2000 rolls around. In addition, in
the near year, I will provide newsletters only to those who either have e-mail addresses (and
provide same to me), or who donate to The Golden Carrot. I am sorry, but the effort and expense of
regular mail are not justified any longer.
Press here to
receive the newsletters by email
- just provide
your email address and mention the mailing list.
VETERINARY PROBLEMS
I recently took Red and Josh up to Garner Valley to the home
office of
John McConnell DVM of All Creatures Veterinary for much needed dental work. This
cost me a bundle - and let's note that though Dr. McConnell did A LOT OF WORK on them, (these
two nut cases were so worked up at having to leave home that we had to use SEVERAL shots of
tranquilizer to do the needed work) and working on a Sunday, Dr. McConnell still gave me a
DISCOUNT.
The difficulties I've encountered finding veterinarians who will come to the Golden
Carrot is a little astonishing. I even contacted
Dr. Lisa Pierson, who was my vet when I lived in the Palos Verdes area. She was
willing to come out, but due to the fact that she would have to be so far from her own practice for
probably 2 full days, the cost was prohibitive and we held her kind offer in mind while we tried to
find a more reasonable alternative. It looks like we’ll be working with Dr. McConnell, but we
should all give Dr. Pierson credit for her willingness to help.
You may wonder why I don't use a vet who is closer, from Temecula
or Murrietta, only 1 hour away. Well, my efforts to do that have met with the invariable and
uncompromising response "We don't go to Aguanga". This is supposedly a bad area, with lots of
deadbeats, and I believe the vets who came here encountered lost time, and effort, and bad checks.
I don't really forgive them, though - I'm not a deadbeat and hate to be judged by the
behavior of others. I offered Dr. Moore and Dr. Wood, and my feed store, and my farrier as
references - but it made no difference. They don't come to the Aguanga area. OK.
Thank god for Dr. McConnell. Both Dr. Moore and Dr. Wood travel in excess of
50 miles one way for me - but both are chiropractic specialists, and busier than one armed
paperhangers in a windstorm. In addition, both do a lot of work in Northern California and
Dr. Wood does a lot of work in Arizona, so they are not really available, or available
for our needs. Thank god for Dr. McConnell.
DONATIONS - or LACK THEREOF
I am disappointed to report that the
tax deductible status of donations has made little, if any, difference in
the donations made to the Golden Carrot for this year. Total donations to date are $1,780.00.
It is a shocking statistic to me that
MORE THAN HALF of that money comes from TWO individuals - and one
of those DOES NOT have a horse at the Golden Carrot
. At last count, I had 47 entries on my mailing list who either have a horse at the
Golden Carrot, or who have expressed encouragement and an interest in donating.
If each of those potential donors had sent only $5 per
month ($120 per year), the feed bill would have been covered for all horses for FIVE
MONTHS.
Now, that doesn't take into account the other 7 months. It doesn't cover any
farrier expense, or veterinary expense, or cost of lumber and other materials for stall and
paddock repair, or fly masks and spray. It doesn't begin to consider the labor donated by
myself, and Mike Roth. It would just cover the feed for 5 months. But it would be
considerably more than twice what has been donated this year.
Does $5 per month seem like so much?
It means not buying lunch out one day; or giving up one pack of
cigarettes a week; or only buying 2 drinks instead of 3, or just putting your pocket change
in a box every week. And yet, most of the people on my list donate nothing at all.
I am depressed by this lack of interest for a number of reasons. Of course,
every penny of the expenses of these horses is paid out of my pocket. On top of 3 hours
of manual labor EACH AND EVERY DAY, just to clean and feed, and whole weekends devoted to
obtaining hay, and hours every week on the Internet trying to advertise the existence and
need of the Golden Carrot, knowing that every penny I make will be devoted to these
horses is daunting. And I don't dare get sick, or hurt - who will help them then? In
addition, I represented to the IRS that the Golden Carrot was satisfying a publicly perceived
need - I told them the public supported me. I only have ONE MORE YEAR of my provisional
tax exempt status left. I cannot even show that the interest has stayed even, let alone
grown.
Carol Cooling (Web Site Designer) has worked wonders developing ways to
donate that are effort free, and some ways to donate that don't even cost a donor a penny,
all to be accessed on our web site.
I am sorry to report that little, if any, use of these methods has been
made.
I am sorry to report that total strangers in Washington DC and Oregon have
donated, and have e-mailed their encouragement to me, but the local people who are directly
benefiting are unable to do so.
I am sorry to report that the great majority of monies donated to date this
year are from people who don't have horses - some of them never will have horses - they just
believe in me and in the need to provide a safe harbor for deserving animals, and an
educational forum for children.
Perhaps you can tell me what you need from me - what do you want the Golden
Carrot to do - to make donating to it worth your while?
Click here to give me some feedback!
THE INTERNET
Carol Cooling continues to make The Golden Carrot website interesting.
At this point, with about a 1 month hiatus when the counter went down, we have over 420
hits on the site (better than 120 hits per month).
On the DONATIONS page, in light of the previous section, we have numerous ways
to donate including OurBigStore.com, Amazon.com and iGive.com - all places to do internet
Christmas shopping and benefit the Golden Carrot without cost to you.
I've been advised by some interested individuals that the iGive drugstores are
cheaper than many local drugstores, even when you add in delivery. And with regard to
delivery expenses - some people don't shop on line because they think the delivery costs jack
up the price too much. I suggest you check it out and think about it - between the cost of
your gas and time and parking, delivery is much much less than you think. Depending on
what you’re buying, delivery is a couple of bucks - maybe you could consider that the cost of
donating? The holidays approach. I think you’ll be surprised at the variety of things you can buy
on the web - please check it out before you hit the malls, because maybe there are a
few things you can cross off your list, to the benefit of the Golden Carrot.
ADVERTISING
Some people would like me to have a web site address. Well, folks, it
turns out
I can get that name, but it'll cost me $72. Any ideas how I might afford
that?
I've been invited to join the Indio Chamber of Commerce. Other than the
networking benefits (and remember all the breeding farms, and polo people in the Indio area),
one of the nice things the Chamber will do for me is mail my brochure to 950 people and
companies, without cost to myself. Kinko's will make 1000 brochures for me for $98
(black and white, 2 pictures and text).
The cost of joining the Chamber is $97. Any ideas how I might afford
that?
OUR LOCATION - we have to move!
Due to misrepresentations made to us by our landlords, it will be impossible
for Mike and I to buy the property we're currently on. Apparently, the house Mike lives
in is not only illegal, but it can’t be made legal. What ridiculous laws California has, when
in San Pedro people are living on top of one another, and out here, two homes on 21 acres is
not allowed.
We are desperately searching for a place to move
TGC. Our lease is up at the end of February, and our attorney is taking steps to
pursue our legal remedies against the landlords. Of course, the attorney they hired turns out
to be his 'mortal enemy' so chances of settlement are nil. If we are able to find a place to
move - for those of you who can't donate money,
would you consider donating time to help us MOVE? Including those of
you with access to horse trailers? Since a move by ourselves alone would require over 10
trips just to move the horses in my 2-horse trailer? And any strong helpers would be great -
Mike and I know from experience how many holes will have to be dug with a huge
mechanical auger to take down and reassemble the stalls and paddocks. Anyone willing to
help, even for a day (I'll feed you) - please let me know, and the minute we have a plan,
I'll contact you.
Press here if you are interested in helping The Golden Carrot move location.
Just provide your email address and mention that you are interested in helping.
THANKS
At this point
I'd like to take an opportunity to thank those individuals
who've sent money to TGC. Although this newsletter is full of complaints, the money
which has come in is GREATLY appreciated. You all know I took Ladyhawk and Sara on because I
believed I had support - the people who have donated have kept that from being a
totally fatal mistake. In addition,
I'd like to thank Marde Bauerman - in exchange for
a load of manure she’s provided us with another several weeks worth of apples for the
horses.
Also, Gillian Swarbrick has kindly repaired a number
of our horse blankets from last year's damage, as well as donating several sheets and
blankets which were "abandoned" by owners at her repair service. What a workman! She even
took the effort to match the colors of the patches to the blanket! This is a substantial
donation, as those of you who have tried to get blankets repaired will know, and this
year is showing signs of a very cold winter. The extra and well-repaired blankets will really
be needed.
Thanks Gill!
Finally, although at today's writing this is a little premature,
Winnie's Cookies has offered to donate some of their
"seconds" and crumbles to TGC - they're supposed to be en-route now after some delivery
snafus. Believe me, if no one else does, Domino will be DELIGHTED, as he loves
Winnie's!
KIDS PROGRAMS
Lastly, due to school starting again (and soccer season), we haven't had any kids
out since the end of July. That's OK with me though - every single day I had off from work was
devoted to the Lyons kids for 2-1/2 months, and I was tired! I also made a second inquiry to the
Ronald McDonald Foundation on the status of my
application for a grant, and as before, have received no response whatsoever. I would
have thought I'd be at least rejected by now - but who knows, maybe no news is good news. Tha’s all
the news for now, folks. Please get back to me if you can help with our impending move, and please
please please look into internet holiday shopping - it can help the horses and we need
it!
Thanks,
Casey O'Connor
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