If ever a place needed a central spot to unite the people working to turn a tragedy around, it must be Pahrump. Thanks for whoever thought of it and to all who contribute their thoughts, feelings and special items. I hope that someday, when this operation comes to completion, the pole will be erected at Angel's Rest where those of us who have, so far, been unable to help in person can visit it.

Always nice to see familiar faces, too. The kitties are very lucky to have such an uber cat person as Gail there to help!

Gail - I'm so glad to see you and your husband (sorry, his name is escaping me) out there. I wish we could have overlapped some time. Thank you both for pitching in and loving these babies!

Well saldy another baby went to the rainbows bridge last night. Now sweet Petunia you are no longer in pain, no longer suffering from the neglect that had been inflicted on you and all the other fur babies. You are now healthy once again and running and playing with all the rainbows bridge fur babies, I have told my Bogie, CoCo, Smokey, Baby Putter and Cinnamon to take care of you and all the other babies that have passed from the neglect of the FLOCK organization and lavish lots of licks upon you, and that you babies will not be forgotten,

What has happened here is unspeakable. It is a very sad situation.

Nevada10 -

Its only a small comfort after the passing of a fur baby, but at least Petunia had some really great care and love in her final days.

I have had the honor of signing The Pole and I have been told that it will be taken back to Angel's Rest when all is said and done.

The lion sculpture looks great! What a great gift to the memorial. EBC

A lion sculpture is most appropriate for a lion is regal and strong like all these babies who have managed to survive despite what was done to them and for the babies who bodies could not hold on they will not be forgotten. Now they are no longer sick and starving but healthy once again at the rainbows bridge. One cat dying from FLOCK's neglect is one too many and could have been avoided. All the cats that are now sick could have been avoided. FLOCK your organization and all that run it are true evil, and I hope that somehow what goes around will come back to haunt you. And yes I am bitter about this, because everytime we go out there, it breaks our hearts to see this to know this could have been avoided, to know that cats did not have to die, did not have to get contagious diseases, did not have to starve, did not have to have their eyes taken out and sewed shut, did not have to be put to sleep because they were so ill. And still they do not offer any help, do not care. How can they sleep at night these monsters who truly hate animals.

Symbolism is so important and helpful in dealing with the horrors these cats have been through. Would someone please touch the pole for me? From Janet in Cambridge. Thanks.

Honor and peaceful blessings to the Lion Spirits of the courageous kitties who have walked the Rainbow Bridge from Pahrump and the FLOCK hell.... Prayers for them, and for the BF staff and volunteers who are grieving and struggling with trauma and rage. If only there were such a manifestation now at the FLOCK lock-alike "Cats With No Name," in Pine Grove, PA, There CWNN's own Sheri Allen-type nutcase, Virginia Kresge Justiniano, has her fraudulent "business" [institutional hoarding] website up & running again, bragging that she has a new vet, a "Mr. William Ribiero" [Ribeiro?] coming & will be reopening her cat-hoarding, cat-starving and cat-killing 'business' in mid-September. (Her former vet quit in disgust and anger on July 8 2007.) How much more suffering and trauma will this FLOCK-type cat-concentration camp "sanctuary" be allowed to cause? My daughter and myself and the ever-growing number of fellow customer-victims of CWNN coming forward to give testimony to the authorities and to support our case say "enough is too much!" Our legal case against Virginia/CWNN has gone through multiple layers of area, borough, county, and now is with the PA state authorities. The local Hillside SPCA with jurisdiction that should have intervened over a year ago, and has had multiple eyewitness animal-cruelty and fraud complaints directed to them, had completely failed to act. Why? Some Hillside staff have been in an ongoing business relationship with Virginia/CWNN! Financial and interpersonal ties explain why Hillside SPCA staff have protected and enabled Virginia/CWNN - and consistently refused to act until after our claim was filed and it was too late for the hundreds of "disappeared" cats. All that is left now is the residue of cat bodies onsite. Local Animal Control conveniently invoked inaccurate legal technicalities which turned out not even to apply. Animal Control put the ongoing responsibility for investigation and intervention totally onto the Hillside SPCA! Talk about the perfect Catch-22 for doing nothing!! Local-area "Humane" [sic] Societies and Leagues still have Virginia/CWNN on their resource lists and phone-messages as often their sole referral - in spite of many safe, caring & much better referral options. Corruption and collusion is evident all over the area. Has money changed hands?!! We are lucky that Schuylkill County's DA Office investigator verified the criminal fraud portion of the legal complaint filed on 7/20/07 by my daughter Marcy Ellen Andersen [veganmarcy on BF]. The case is in active investigation at the PA state level, and we have moved on to high-level state officials with related legal complaints. However, we need area people to contact us, to help with the next phase: educating the public. People locally and in surrounding areas need to know exactly what Virginia/CWNN actually will be charging hard-earned money for & providing as "services": hoarding and refusal to return animals; maltreatment, neglect and exposure, animal cruelty and death; and endless traumatization to individuals, families, and little children who will never see their kitties again. Virginia/CWNN states she will be back in 'business' with her new mystery 'vet' at the CWNN mobile-van "clinics," as of mid-September. Time for action to get the truth out! This is what people now wish they could have done with FLOCK and Pahrump - this is what we must do, now. If you live in PA, NJ or NY and wish to help get out the word to the public, please contact me: Alice Winfree Bowron, at my regular e-mail address: lupinsgalore@gmail.com or via my BF 'handle" kittychump on the BF network e-mail system. If you live out of the area, contact me anyway; there will be important upcoming tasks for you to help us with. Many of our best supporters came to us via BF - no surprise there! Yes, I am grieving - for all the cats killed by FLOCK & Sheri Allen - and for all the thousands of cats killed by Virginia Kresge Justiniano/CWNN [we have photos!]. But as the great 19th century rights-activist Mother Jones put it so well: "Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living!" Please help us with our fight to save kitty lives!!! Bless the staff at BF - bless the Healing Pole and the Lion Spirits.

kittychump, while I understand your concern with your own situation in Pennsylvania, would you be so kind as to confine your comments/postings to the relevant topic at hand--The Nye County Rescue.

Perhaps you could start your own blog somewhere else on the BF site. Many thanks for your consideration.

It is so sad, and so heartbreaking, and so infuriating. But then you look from the pole into the yard, and you see cats everywhere, getting stronger and healthier day by day. They PLAY, can you believe it, they play. They chase bugs! They have better appetites, and they have begun to demand their dinner as the hour approaches. And to demand attention at any time. There are still underweight cats, but fewer that are alarmingly so, and many that are actually at a healthy weight. With shining coats and curious eyes. The change is truly amazing.

And it doesn't change what happened, or why the pole is there. Or how much is left yet to do. But they don't think about that... they are getting on with their lives, and where is dinner and who wants to scratch my ears?

And you know, I am human, and not a cat, and I don't let go so easily. But I look at them and realize that living in the now is something to work toward.

ratmom - I appreciate your advice. I am not sure how to start a blog but will do so. It's so clear that Pahrump's FLOCK/Sheri-Allen situation is the exact parallel to the one we are fighting: CWNN/Virginia Kresge Justiniano. Luckily we have advice and emotional support from BF's PA Network people. Thanks for your understanding. -- Alice

kittychump, I don't how blogs/forums are started, either, but I'd contact someone via email at BF. I think if you can start something closer to home, you'll be much more successful in getting the momentum going that you need. I wish you the best of luck. It's not a pretty job, but someone's got to do it.

kittychump: if you go to the tab at the top of the page that says "My membership tools", you can create blogs and even your own community! It is very simple and I think that your situation would be well served by having its own community since it is such a complicated story and you are having to repeat yourself all over the network. You could then join your community to any other you think might be appropriate (i.e. your state and surrounding states, animal hoarding, legal issues, etc.). Hope this helps.

Kittychump. I for one am glad that you posted what you did on this Blog, which is in fact related to CATS welfare - just in a different state.

In any case, I am from NJ and was here reading abou tthe poor kittys in Pahrump (which has prompted me to send in a monetary donation to help there since I'm not in Nevada to help physically) and I am glad I got to see YOUR blog about the Pine Grove, PA area.

I'll do what I can!!!!

Thanks for the great support, Romeocat! :) It's tricky to share info on the many layers of the BF website. There are so many forums and blogs and things. Some of our supporters from the Pine Grove/PA area learned about our case from my comments posted on parallel stories and the like. They wouldn't have gone to blogs and things like that - they are very busy with TNR and rescue/etc. They would never have contacted me and provided extremely crucial help and info if I'd only been sharing in a separate blog of my own somewhere else on the BF site. I appreciate any & all connections via BF readers - they're the best - just like you, Romeocat!! ;) -- Alice a.k.a. kittychump

thanks for your encouragement & info, carrie_fosters. i appreciate all instructions; the amount of legal correspondence, document production and case-specific e-mailing i'm already having to do day & night is daunting enough. i will try to find a moment to try to set up a blog - hopefully one people can be aware of on their own without layers & layers to go through. take care

I Have been Helping the cats in Pahrump for a couple of months now. I have been spending most of my time with the FIV and FELV cats. Today When I was visiting my friends I noticed that my buddy Mr. Jones was not there. I asked one of the staff where he was. I was told that he crashed and was taken to the animal hospital in town but he was not going to make it. I just wanted the world to know what a great cat Mr. Jones was. He was a gray and white with long fur. He loved attention and had the softest meow. He loved to be loved in unlimited amounts. He loved cat treats in unlimited amounts. He was this way in spite of his previous treatment before Best Friends. Mr. Jones lived out his final days with good treatment and love from many volunteers and staff and will be missed. He definitely reminded me what unconditional love means. I just want to say to my dear friend I will miss you and someday we will meet on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge..

gclarkins,
I am so sorry for your loss. I know how much it hurts to say good-bye to a friend. But I thank God that you were there to give him back some of the unconditional love that he showed you before he took his journey over rainbow bridge. I know that you will continue on in his memory giving love to those he left behind. Bless you all!

Thank you for this, and for remembering them. Please touch the Pole for me, for ALL cats, everywhere, who are casualties of a callous world. And say a prayer for the time when NO cat will ever have to experience this or any other kind of abuse again.