Attn: animal lovers and writers

My initial thought . . . write a good press release and send it to every newspaper and TV station around.

Also, a poster/bulletin board piece for vet offices and to go in places like Wild Birds Unlimited (even if these animals are not wild). I actually wrote a "clever" poem for a friend who was doing something similar; I'll see if I can dig it out.

And here is the poem. I didn't say it was a great poem, did I? And I'm not sure how you'd use it, but you're welcome to.

We come in hungry, homeless and wet
We come in abandoned as someone’s pet
We come in deep-scarred, beaten and shot
We come in often crippled and sick a lot

We are the ones who no one cared for
We are the ones families wanted no more
We are the product of all those unkind
We are the companions put out of mind

We seek shelter, attention, and a warm bed
We seek sometimes, yes, just to be fed
We seek only friends and respect among man
We seek most of all, a kind loving hand

We ask you to kindly remember our needs
We ask you to show us in word and in deed
We ask you to love us and show some concern
We will be yours, loyal and faithful in return

That is who we are.

(c) 2005

That's a beautiful poem....for a great cause.

Very nice poem, ac. Thank you for sharing it with us.

Nancy, ac's suggestions sound good to me. I'd add radio stations to the press releases list. Good luck! The sanctuary sounds like a great thing.

Nancy said:

AC:

My friend would like to use your poem. Sure it's OK? If so, may I have your byline. If you'd prefer to be incognito here, please PM me.

Thanks,

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I'll PM you. I'm afraid to hand out my real name since I've threatened to eat awatkins's birds so often . . .

That's probably a real good idea. Muwahah.

awatkins said:

That's probably a real good idea. Muwahah.

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Got any bird recipes . . . uh, I mean, bird feeding tips?

Did somebody say something?

Nancy said:

AC:

Hope you don't mind me posting this here, but I wanted to share it. This is the response to your poem from one of the developers of the sanctuary project:

Rhonda,

That is AMAZING. Wonder if we could get permission to paint it on the wall of the visitor's center? Kinda pulls everything we are doing into unforgetable words. I'd love to see us use it on the website, again if we could get permission...

I told her that you are giving permission, but to be sure to include your byline and copyright.

Hope that's OK.
N

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Wow!! That's a great letter! Congrats, ac! Nancy, if they do paint it on the wall, do you think we could get a picture? I know this is waaaay ahead of things, but that would be so cool.

re: ac eating companion birds--I don't think my two feather heads are too worried.

Yes.

So is "plump and juicy".

;-)

I happen to enjoy a good Martini Cockatiel before dinner. Ruffled, not plucked.

But Nancy, the punny possibilities are endless!

Here's a funny story about my Amazon parrot Pancho: One night I was trying to decide what to cook for dinner. I told my husband I thought I'd roast a chicken. Pancho who was sitting nearby, cried, "Oh, no!" in a terribly stricken little voice. He never said that before, and he hasn't said it since. LOL

I guess we really should apologize to Nancy for hijacking her thread (ac started it).

Every thread gets hijacked around here. Someone will start a topic asking "Should I use a prologue or not?" and by page 2 they're discussing whether Orlando Bloom is cuter than Brad Pitt and by page 3 PeeDee will be telling us what kind of toilet tissue he prefers.

And Nancy, if your friends wants to see how nice an animal shelter can be, tell them to come to Nashville. The Humane Association shelter (where both my kittys came from) has to be one of the nicest in the country. I'll find a link and post it.