All-Creatures.org Weekly Newsletter, August 20, 2025

All-Creatures.org Newsletter, August 20, 2025

Subscribe to our newsletters
Forward to a Friend

Stop Funding the Cage. Stop Funding the Knife.

Bittersweet Victory for Marmosets at the University of Massachusetts

Welcome!

All-Creatures.org Newsletter - August 20, 2025

From the Desk of the Executive Director

Protect Your Furry Family

Yesterday afternoon, I received a call from a close friend’s boss in Athens, GA 1.5 hours after she failed to arrive at work. As her emergency contact, I immediately requested a welfare check from the police department, and the police discovered that she had passed away. Just the night before, she and I had happily been discussing curtains and the future as she prepared to move into a new place. She was healthy and happy. She was so excited and so was I. Because we had lived near each other for decades and were very close friends, we had planned that I would be able to intervene if something happened to her and keep Jazzie and Eddie kitty from going into animal control—but we now live 800 miles apart as I live in Michigan—and it happened before I could stop it. We had both been busy and the emergency plans were not yet updated. Now friends in GA and I in Michigan are scrambling to find a safe solution for them. It is a tender reminder of how fragile and dependent our animal companions are when the unexpected happens.

I share this with you not to seek sympathy, but to urgently encourage each of us to take a quiet moment now to prepare for the ones who depend on us most. Our cats, dogs, and other companions love us with unmeasured devotion; they trust that we will always protect them. One of the most loving gifts we can give them is the assurance that they will be cared for, no matter what. Please take a moment today, tonight, or this week to update your plans—or to begin making them—for their future. Whether with family, a trusted neighbor, or a rescue organization, having something in place ensures they will never be left without a safe place to land. By doing so, we honor the sacred bond we share with them, a bond of love and trust that reflects God’s own care for all creation.

I will be updating my plans this week—please make sure to take the time to do the same or to make plans.

Kindness ~ Tams

4 Gentle Steps to Secure Your Pets’ Future

Choose a trusted caregiver and share your wishes with them openly.
Write it down - put it with your living will and your will and put a card in your wallet.
Review and update often, especially if you move or life circumstances change.
Remember - life can change in a second and none of us are immortal.

Or create a pet trust:

ASPCA: Pet Trusts – a clear overview and FAQs.
Best Friends Animal Society: Estate Planning for Pets – practical guidance and sample considerations.

For over 25 years, Pastor Frank and a handful of small donors have carried All-Creatures.org. Now it’s time for us to carry it forward—together. Be part of the Compassionate Heart Circle.

Or contribute with a Planned Giving Option