Welcome Home Piper (Sat. Jan. 2) was a heartwarming story of Mr. Wallace's adopting a dog from our SPCA who does a very fine job helping animals here in Aiken. However, I believe many in our community are confused. The Aiken County Shelter, which is the next driveway down from the SPCA, is not a no kill shelter. Only one in 10 dogs leave the shelter alive. The shelter is hopelessly inadequate built 20 years ago. There are only 13 cages in which dogs are often doubled up that are available for the people to view and those dogs frown. Others wait in back for their turn to move up only possible if ones in front have run out of time or been adopted. Time is short and the dogs keep coming.
The cats don't fare much better. They have even less room in the space of a closet.
The County Shelter needs more room. It needs more everything - blankets, food, you name it, they need it.
Spay and neuter is of course the answer, however with the huge increase in animals those that come must be kept in a humane fashion. The people at the County Shelter do a wonderful job with very little. It's a tough place to work. The shelter now has a small group of terrific volunteers. We need more.
Those may say the County Shelter is funded with tax dollars when tax dollars have never been enough. Now more than ever when people are struggling to feed their families the pets are being turned in or turned out on the street.
There is hope. A small group has created Friends of the Animal Shelter (FOTAS), a nonprofit public charity corporation to help support the Aiken County Shelter.
The SPCA, Molly's Militia and FOTAS all need to work together. The goal is the same, ease the suffering. One last thing when animals are put to sleep, they never wake up. We are killing hundreds a month. Please help and thank you Mr. Wallace for opening a cage for one more.
Edgar T. Cado
Aiken
Those may say the County Shelter is funded with tax dollars when tax dollars have never been enough. Now more than ever when people are struggling to feed their families the pets are being turned in or turned out on the street.
There is hope. A small group has created Friends of the Animal Shelter (FOTAS), a nonprofit public charity corporation to help support the Aiken County Shelter.
The SPCA, Molly's Militia and FOTAS all need to work together. The goal is the same, ease the suffering. One last thing when animals are put to sleep, they never wake up. We are killing hundreds a month. Please help and thank you Mr. Wallace for opening a cage for one more.
Edgar T. Cado
Aiken
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comments and input are always welcome. We appreciate any suggestions or thoughts that will help FOTAS with their goal to help the Aiken County Animal Shelter become a happy, healthy place that never has to euthanize an adoptable pet.