About
Our Animal Haus began quite by accident, in the fall of 1997. I
had moved to Nashville, TN, as a way of reinventing myself after
spending more than 20 years as a professional rock musician,
songwriter, recording artist, and performer. I was from New York City,
so moving to the country was certainly something of a departure for me.
My husband, a drummer, was from Germany, and we had met there while I
lived there at the end of the 80's. Nashville , to him, may as well
have been the moon.
One thing we noticed right away about Nashville, was the amount of stray dogs roaming the streets, often in packs. I had never seen anything so horrible in all my life, except maybe in documentaries about third world countries. But this was America. I quickly found out that there were precious few alternatives for these poor animals, as no kill shelters were pretty much non-existent.
Our first rescue was a beautiful Dalmatian, named Caesar. I saw him as I drove by a yard sale on a busy street in town. He was tied to a folding table, and somehow I knew instinctively to stop the car and ask about him. The people who had tied him up, and who were selling him, were so nonchalant about the whole thing, and just said, "Seventy-Five bucks.", before I even had a chance to open my mouth. Across the four lane road was a cash machine, and before anyone could say "Garth Brooks", Caesar was in the front sat of my car, and on his way home to meet my husband.
Things have changed a lot since those days. When my father died in 2002, I relocated to Florida as Guardian and caregiver for my Aunt, his sister, who had Alzheimer's, and to look after my mother. Everyone else came along eventually, too, all 33 cats and 25 dogs, via a neat transport company that we found. It was then that we began to use the name "Animal Haus", which eventually became Our Animal Haus, as it stands today. It is a nod to my husband's heritage.
Over the years since being in Florida, we have acquired many birds (I have been a bird owner since 1993), and several horses in addition to more cats and dogs, even 2 cows, and we now have 22+ acres as my mother bought the parcel next door in 2007. Whether it be from foreclosures, divorces, mistakes, abuse, or just complete lack of knowledge, the results are always the same; The animals are the ones who suffer the most in the end because they have no place left to go...so we have let them come here.
For many years we had employees in and out of this place, but after a while it was way too expensive for us to maintain so many workers. We always did everything on our own dime, as I made very good money during the time that I cared for my Aunt. When she passed away in April of 2008, this all changed. we incorporated the next month, and began to take the steps, although slowly, towards becoming a 501(c)3 non-profit. In December, we let go of all but one employee who still helps us with the horses. We are learning to seek out volunteers as well as donations and grants, which it is challenging in this economy. We also have sold quite a bit of music gear to help us along, some of which you will find for sale here.
For now, besides our one employee, my husband and I do all of the work at Our Animal Haus, which would be more than a 24/7 gig if there were more hours in a day, and days in a week. Vacations and holidays are things that happen to other people, not to us. Ahhh, but envy soon gives way to joy, as we look at the happiness on the faces of the many animals that we have been able to help. You can be a part of this, too.
Won't you please help us help them, by making a small donation? PayPal is a secure way to donate without sharing your financial information. You do not have not have a PayPal account to donate.
One thing we noticed right away about Nashville, was the amount of stray dogs roaming the streets, often in packs. I had never seen anything so horrible in all my life, except maybe in documentaries about third world countries. But this was America. I quickly found out that there were precious few alternatives for these poor animals, as no kill shelters were pretty much non-existent.
Our first rescue was a beautiful Dalmatian, named Caesar. I saw him as I drove by a yard sale on a busy street in town. He was tied to a folding table, and somehow I knew instinctively to stop the car and ask about him. The people who had tied him up, and who were selling him, were so nonchalant about the whole thing, and just said, "Seventy-Five bucks.", before I even had a chance to open my mouth. Across the four lane road was a cash machine, and before anyone could say "Garth Brooks", Caesar was in the front sat of my car, and on his way home to meet my husband.
Things have changed a lot since those days. When my father died in 2002, I relocated to Florida as Guardian and caregiver for my Aunt, his sister, who had Alzheimer's, and to look after my mother. Everyone else came along eventually, too, all 33 cats and 25 dogs, via a neat transport company that we found. It was then that we began to use the name "Animal Haus", which eventually became Our Animal Haus, as it stands today. It is a nod to my husband's heritage.
Over the years since being in Florida, we have acquired many birds (I have been a bird owner since 1993), and several horses in addition to more cats and dogs, even 2 cows, and we now have 22+ acres as my mother bought the parcel next door in 2007. Whether it be from foreclosures, divorces, mistakes, abuse, or just complete lack of knowledge, the results are always the same; The animals are the ones who suffer the most in the end because they have no place left to go...so we have let them come here.
For many years we had employees in and out of this place, but after a while it was way too expensive for us to maintain so many workers. We always did everything on our own dime, as I made very good money during the time that I cared for my Aunt. When she passed away in April of 2008, this all changed. we incorporated the next month, and began to take the steps, although slowly, towards becoming a 501(c)3 non-profit. In December, we let go of all but one employee who still helps us with the horses. We are learning to seek out volunteers as well as donations and grants, which it is challenging in this economy. We also have sold quite a bit of music gear to help us along, some of which you will find for sale here.
For now, besides our one employee, my husband and I do all of the work at Our Animal Haus, which would be more than a 24/7 gig if there were more hours in a day, and days in a week. Vacations and holidays are things that happen to other people, not to us. Ahhh, but envy soon gives way to joy, as we look at the happiness on the faces of the many animals that we have been able to help. You can be a part of this, too.
Won't you please help us help them, by making a small donation? PayPal is a secure way to donate without sharing your financial information. You do not have not have a PayPal account to donate.
