FOTAS Bunch Saving One Animal at a Time

Form The Aiken Standard

Submitted Article

This week, let's look at the bright side.

There's a bright side? Yes, brightness emanates from the plight of far too many abandoned, neglected and abused animals, all generated by our growing Friends of the Animal Shelter community.

Let's start with Patty. She had enough problems with a broken down truck, trying to get home; she didn't need to come across the two strays running along the road, but she stopped. While she waited for Animal Control, she worried about the fate of the beautiful, black dogs - obvious sisters - so she called FOTAS.

FOTAS reassured her that there were things she could do to save the dogs. When the officer arrived, the dogs pressed into Patty's leg, and Patty knew that she would do what she could.

Five days later, the two lucky sisters were adopted, together.

Then there was Skidmark. What a name for a dog, but he earned it honestly while jousting with traffic. The officer who went to collect him had to stop so suddenly that he left rubber on the road.

When Skidmark arrived at the shelter, he cowered flat against the floor. The only way the volunteers could take him out for a walk was to either drag or carry him. Things did not look good for Skidmark's adoptability.

Caroline, a FOTAS adoption counselor, dedicated herself to earning Skidmark's trust. Day by day, she taught the dog to walk with her down to the play yard on a leash. He, too, is on his way to a forever home.

When toy poodle Matty Flea was surrendered to the shelter, there was no telling what kind of animal, beside the fleas, was inside the lifetime of mats that layered his entire tiny body.

It took FOTAS volunteers more than five hours over three days to liberate the 5-pound poodle from his prison of neglect. Through the arduous process of cautious clipping, a terribly timid creature blossomed into a playful, affectionate pet.

After a couple of weeks in foster care, Matty Flea, now "Maximus," reigns as prince of his new home, and he romps with friends in doggy day care while his mom teaches school.

We have recently written of Maya, who came so close to a home in New England until an untreated injury sent her in another direction. As Maya's rehabilitation progresses, we have intrepid Nemo, who is in foster care awaiting surgery to correct a birth defect. His foster sister, tiny Nora, needed emergency treatment for a head injury after seeing a vet for chronic diarrhea earlier that day. Poor thing.

The bright side is that all of these animals are in good hands and will soon be fit for their forever homes.

The message is that FOTAS needs your help, and there are so many ways you can give. Donate to the new FOTAS Magic Medical Fund, become an approved foster home, volunteer at the shelter and, most importantly, help us make the new Aiken County Animal Shelter an imminent reality.

FOTAS volunteers work with the Aiken County Animal Shelter, 411 Wire Road. For more information, email info@fotasaiken.org or visit www.fotasaiken.org.

Child's Inspiration Makes World of Difference

From The Aiken Standard

Submitted Article

When we asked Emilie why she chose to dedicate the Houndslake pool party celebrating her ninth birthday as a benefit for the Aiken County Animal Shelter, she said that she really likes animals, and 500 animals were euthanized in June and they don't have a lot of money at the shelter to buy the animals stuff they need.

It is true that the conditions at our community shelter are deplorable. The overpopulation problem peaks in summer and overwhelms the shelter's already inadequate capacity. A heartbreaking number of potentially lovely pets are euthanized week after week, while overcrowding exacerbates the shelter's inability to prevent cross contamination of airborne diseases.

It has been this way for years.

So, it is startling that a 9-year-old knows that too many animals are dying, cares about her community shelter and decides to do something selfless, generous and public about it.

It was Emilie's idea to ask her friends to contribute to the welfare of the animals at the shelter in lieu of gifts. She invited her best friend, Megan, and 15 other friends from school. She provided a special box.

In addition to the contributions by Emilie's friends, a teenager happened by and added dog treats from her car to the box. Another woman donated dog food, and another from the concession stand gave money.

In the end, Emilie collected dog and cat food, toys, treats and more than $210 in cash for the county shelter - an impressive accomplishment for a 9-year-old.

The impact of her initiative goes well beyond these contributions.

Emilie's friend Megan is already planning a "Giving Party," and so are a couple of the other kids who were there. The parents of 15 children were relieved of having to go shopping for someone else's child and buy something that they don't already have, probably don't want and likely don't need.

Emilie's party is not the first Giving Party for our shelter and FOTAS certainly hopes it won't be our last, but it came at a time when we all sorely needed our spirits buoyed. It also raised an unprecedented amount of donations and was in a public venue where it could directly inform and inspire others. Its message is central to FOTAS' mission.

We need everyone in Aiken County and beyond who are served by this shelter to care about it and help to make it the best shelter we possibly can. We must reduce the number of unwanted, neglected and abused animals through responsible pet ownership and affordable spay/neuter and keep those who are adoptable, safe and healthy until we can find them good forever homes.

The message from Emilie's ninth birthday party is that we can only accomplish this together. Now she and her mom are planning to come out to the shelter and play with the dogs and cats. They and all of FOTAS hope that you will find a way to help, too.

FOTAS volunteers work with the Aiken County Animal Shelter, 411 Wire Road. For more information, email info@fotasaiken.org or visit www.fotasaiken.org.

FOTAS Magic Inspires Maya's Medical Fund

From The Aiken Standard

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Maya's story began with FOTAS' plea for temporary foster homes for 30 dogs who were scheduled to be transferred to Connecticut in July. Typical of the FOTAS magic, Wendy saw the need and called Annette who agreed to foster some of those dogs.

In Annette's care, the slender, withdrawn young border collie mix from the Aiken County Shelter blossomed into an alert energetic dog. So when the Connecticut transfer fell though, Annette contacted Mary, her rescue partner in New Hampshire.

In less than a week, a family in Massachusetts looking for an agility dog applied to adopt Maya. It was a perfect match, and arrangements for transport to her new family were set in motion.

That was when Annette noticed the slight limp that crate rest did not heal. Arrangements were already in place for the ride from Aiken to Greenville where Maya would get the van to Massachusetts.

The routine veterinary appointment for her health certificate was the night before her departure. That was when everything changed.

Dr. White checked Maya's leg by radiograph and discovered an old untreated femoral neck fracture that would require immediate surgery followed by extensive physical therapy. The long-term prognosis for Maya was very good, but she would never be a performance agility dog.

Although the prospective adopting family decided to withdraw their application, the team of rescue volunteers that had formed around this dog was determined to give Maya the second chance that she came so close to having.

As word got out, half a dozen FOTAS members raised the estimated cost of the surgery.

Maya's surgery was performed successfully last Wednesday. She will recover in Annette's care as we pursue her physical therapy and the funds to pay for it.

You ask why so much time and money were spent on a damaged dog, when so many sound ones are being euthanized all the time?

Why? Ask Caroline or Denise, Elisa and Jennifer who walked her, Annette who fosters her or Mike who was to drive her to Greenville, Mary who was to place her and the doctors and staff at Aiken Animal Hospital who fixed her. They know this dog.

They are not thinking about the statistics in the abstract, but the one special life that connected with theirs. These are the ones we save - the ones we know, the ones whose lives have touched ours and in whose lives we can make such a big difference.

Yes, we need a new shelter, and that is a big thing. We are going to need a lot of money to do it right, and that is a huge thing.

But for now, why not help with a comparatively small thing that will make an enormous difference, one lovely life at a time? Please donate to "Maya's Recovery" for her renewed hopes for that forever home.

Send to FOTAS and any surplus will go to a FOTAS Magic Medical Fund for the next lucky dog or cat.

FOTAS volunteers work with the Aiken County Animal Shelter, 411 Wire Road. For more information, email info@fotasaiken.org or visit www.fotasaiken.org.

FOTAS Volunteers Make the Difference

From The Aiken Standard

Submitted Article 

 

It can be pretty disheartening when 50 dogs, cats, kittens and puppies come into the Aiken County shelter in one day or 80 are euthanized on a single Monday morning. It has been that kind of summer.

Even with the City and County Spay/Neuter Voucher Programs, the generosity of our local veterinarians' Stomp Out Strays Program (S.O.S.), the intake numbers at our community shelter hit a record high in fiscal year 2011.

Here are the numbers since FOTAS began: 

 

                                     FY '09        FY '10               FY '11

Animals received:         5,283         5,275                 5,466

Animals adopted:            650            701                    714

Dogs transferred:            130            102                     306

Animals euthanized:     4,828         4,541                  3,975

Euthanasia rate:           91.4%           86%                72.7%

 One can speculate about the causes for the increase in unwanted animals: population increase, economic instabilities, with prevailing ignorance and irresponsibility at the fringe. But there can be no doubt about why, in the face of that discouraging statistic, the euthanasia rate is down nearly 20 percent. We can thank our FOTAS volunteers and the shelter staff they support.

Our current shelter is not an attractive site to visit. Even the location of the deteriorating, overcrowded, prefab metal building communicates that it was destined to be a dirty secret - a place where unwanted animals would be disposed of like trash.

Despite the dismal circumstances, for two years Caroline and Denise volunteer at the shelter every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday until all of the dogs allowed out get out.

"It was going to be one day a week for an hour," Caroline said, and Denise laughed. Now they do the volunteer orientations, match people interested in adopting with the right dog and facilitate transfers to no-kill partners up north.

The word is out that the lives of adoptable pets at the shelter are in our hands, and credit for much of the outreach on behalf of those animals belongs to Susan, a volunteer who has been with FOTAS since the beginning.

Susan visits the shelter routinely to see what new animals made it to the shelter's limited adoption areas. She takes a picture of each one and enters it and the description on Petfinder.com, a national website of adoptable animals, accessible from FOTAS' website.

Susan created the info boards on display at TrueValue, Bone-i-Fide Bakery and Stoplight Deli downtown. Her photos appear in this column and frequently help determine which dogs will be accepted for transfers. "I love to hear that someone called the shelter because they saw one of our animals on Petfinder," she said. "It keeps me going."

The euthanasia rate dropped due to the increase in adoptions and transfers; and adoptions and transfers are up because we have FOTAS volunteers and county staff who are making a difference.

Imagine what would happen if we had a shelter where people loved to come!

FOTAS volunteers work with the Aiken County Animal Shelter, 411 Wire Road. For more information, email info@fotasaiken.org or visit www.fotasaiken.org.