Community

We want to send a huge thank you to everyone who donated and participated in our annual Valentine's Day Pet Drawing Fundraiser! Check out our volunteers hard at work and some of the outstanding results. If your photo was hand-drawn, we are saving them for you to pick up here at the shelter until the end of March.

This event raised $1,240 for the animals at SafeHaven while they wait for awesome owners who love them enough to want a custom drawing of their cuteness!

Love. When you find it with someone, your life feels complete. When that person is gone, they stay with you in memories and, sometimes, maybe a bit more. Love works in mysterious ways. It can even lead to an unlikely and unanticipated adoption.

On October 15, 2021, Whitney Ware arrived at SafeHaven on a mission. Her deceased husband had called to her in a dream the previous night and told her to go to SafeHaven. “Indy is waiting for you there.”

At first, we thought, “Well, that's interesting." Then we found out there is a great deal more to the story.

Twenty years ago, Whitney and her mother were dedicated SafeHaven volunteers, fostered animals and served on the Board of Directors. Whitney adopted two SafeHaven dogs, Indiana and Montana. Both dogs had long, happy lives and passed away in 2012. “Indy was my special boy and I still miss him dearly.”

In 1999, Whitney met her future husband, Ron, at a friend’s party in Corvallis. It was love at first sight. For the first six years, they lived happily in Brownsville near Whitney’s family. But to save her husband’s daily two-hour commute to his work at Western Oregon University in Monmouth, they moved to Independence in 2006. Two more dogs came after Indy and Monty, and at least seven cats added even more happiness to their home there.

Sadly, on February 18, 2020, Ron suffered a heart attack and passed away in the hospital the next morning. What do you do when the love of your life is gone so suddenly? You do what seems impossible at that time. You keep on going with life and living.

Whitney continued to work as clinic receptionist at Central Veterinary Hospital in Monmouth, as she had for the past 14 years. Then, the challenges of Covid restrictions caused Dr. Lindsay to close the clinic’s doors in August, 2020. The following March, Whitney’s parents urged her to move back to Brownsville. The house that she and Ron had owned and loved, ‘the Waterfall House’, was available to purchase again.