The crowning achievement of the public/private partnership between
Aiken County and FOTAS will certainly be the completion of the new Aiken County
Animal Shelter planned for next year.
Three busy years have passed since FOTAS was founded by three women seeking
to make a difference in the welfare of thousands of animals received and
destroyed each year at the Aiken County Shelter. The organization’s progress has been huge, a
direct result of a magical teamwork that evolved among the players: County and
Shelter Staff, Council, FOTAS volunteers, community groups, businesses, and
local governments.
What began as an initiative to address dire conditions at our grossly
inadequate, understaffed, underfunded shelter, has become the very essence of what Gandhi meant
when he said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged
by the way its animals are treated.”
Just substitute “county” for “nation” and you capture the spirit of the
FOTAS/ Aiken County team.
Last Wednesday, FOTAS volunteers sat down with the architects from
Macmillan, Pazdan and Smith to talk about how to convey critical elements of
the project to the public. As the essential
needs of this shelter building project take shape, FOTAS and the architects are
reaching for broad community support through the Capital Campaign necessary to
complete it.
The conversation among those at the table last Wednesday was already well-versed
in the barebones, pragmatic obligations of animal control law. The challenge then became adding principles
of responsibility and morality to animal welfare in our public shelter, then
creating a facility that could act as a hub for Helping to promote those values
throughout the county.
The architects’ initial drawings
reflected their deep understanding of: the way shelter staff work; the animal
control obligations of county government; and, the animal advocacy dreams and
desires of FOTAS members.
First, it will be a humane, healthy environment for homeless animals. It will be a place where minimal staff can work
most effectively and efficiently. The
new shelter will provide access and space appropriate for all the public
demands it must accommodate: the animals brought to, developed within, and
adopted from it.
Adopting lots of animals into responsible, forever homes requires a place
that invites public involvement: volunteers to get the pets ready, and adopters
willing to come to their public shelter to look for a pet. Ultimately, our new shelter will have an open
stable-like feel, and multi-purpose indoor and outdoor spaces for fun and
productive people-pet interactions.
Finally, our new Aiken County Shelter will provide a hub for
county-wide programs that build commitment to spay/neuter and responsible
pet-ownership.
FOTAS is working with the county shelter to improve data-gathering; to
assist funding opportunities for future shelter-based programs; to prevent
unwanted pets; and, to give back to the
larger community.
The new Aiken County Animal Shelter is a beginning, and it will be a
healthy, happy place where no adoptable pet has to go to die, and the heart of
a responsible, animal-loving county.
Join
us. There are many ways to help.
Aiken County Animal Shelter: “By the
Numbers”
For August 6 thru 12, 2012
Received: 66 dogs and 51 cats
Adopted: 10 dogs and 2 cats
Put down: 57 dogs and 33 cats
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|
COWBOY – 1 yr. “Singing Chihuahua!” You sing; he sings. Cute as a bug for only $35!
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Aiken County Shelter “Pets of the Week” are HALF PRICE*!
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| DIABLO – Baby male tabby. Bold gray stripes and white mittens. Too cute for only $35. |
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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.