Anyone who has driven past our address in the last few months has witnessed a flurry of activity!
As of 8/16/10: Second cat building has begun!
July 2010 - The first Microsoft Meow Manor two-room cat house is up and running (and the kitties love the enclosed porches and all the fun furniture!)
June 24, 2010 - Our fabulous volunteer crew unloaded a truck full of kennel pieces, the start of our wonderful indoor dog kennel system funded by PETCO Foundation! Unfortunately, it needs assembly....
As of 5/3/10: Cat building rooms are getting final touches, including climbing shelves and flooring.
4/7/10: Dog building has walls!!
as of 1/7/10: Interior plumbing has begun; next is heating/ductwork, then electric, all of which are fully funded! All that is left to fund are the dog kennel system (expensive, about $25,000) and the interior fixtures like sinks, toilet, water heater, furnace, dog bath and grooming station, all the little bits and pieces to pull it together into a complete shelter!
Here are photos of the plumbing in the dog building:
and LOOK, the lights are on in one half of the cat building!
as of 12/23/09:
DOG AND OFFICE BUILDING - interior walls going in:
CAT BUILDING: interior walls pretty much finished, both sides:
as of 11/10/09:
The smaller building, which we are calling our Microsoft Meow Manor, is a duplex "cat house" where the adoptable cats can enjoy a life of comfort inside their climate-controlled apartments, and will be able to enjoy the summer breezes on the soon to be completed screened porches. The two halves of the building are completely separate, and each side can comfortable hold at least 6 adult cats or a bazillion kittens (OK, probably more than 24 at once would be insanity). This building was entirely funded by generous donations from cat-loving Microsoft employees, and Microsoft matching funds. Here's how it looked at the beginning of October:
The Cats of Microsoft 2009 fundraising calendar was such a huge success, they are doing it again for 2010 - and we hope to build Meow Manor #2 in the spring!
The larger building is our combination dog kennel building and office space. We have already funded the infrastructure (septic, water, electric to the building, floor, walls and roof). We now need to raise approximately $35,000 to finish the interior with dividing walls, electric and plumbing, heating and cooling system, comfortable privacy kennels, sinks and other appliances, ADA-required bathroom facilities (no, the dogs don't get to use those), doggy bathtub (no, the humans don't get to use that), and all the comforts of home for the doggies. When completed, this building should be able to hold between 10-20 adult dogs, or up to 18 adult dogs and a litter or two of puppies, or up to 10 adult dogs and 5 litters of puppies, or... you get the idea. This is how it looked just one month ago:
Can you help with that last $35,000? If 1000 of you who are reading this gave just $35, we'd achieve our goals! (Or 10 of you could each give $3500 - ha).