Thursday, August 30, 2012

FOTAS Seeks Help for a Family in Sudden Need


Some faiths assure us that God will not place a burden upon us greater than we can bear.  If true, there is a young woman (she turned 27 this week) whose huge heart caused God to call upon her for help. 

FOTAS found out about Taisha, and her new family of five children and one dog, last Monday because the dog, a Jack Russell she named BJ, had been seriously injured in the road. 

Two months ago, Taisha didn’t have any children, or a dog.  The last dog she rescued found its way to a new home, allegedly by a child who stole him.  When Taisha finally found her dog, he was in good care, and she didn’t have the heart to separate him from his new family. Oh, that big heart!

A friend asked Taisha to rescue BJ. She and her dad had just moved to a 3-acre property.  BJ was neglected and abused.  There was talk of dumping him.  BJ arrived at Taisha’s home, starved and scared of everyone, hiding in her closet.

A couple of weeks later, the five children arrived.  The fifteen-year-old, we’ll call Tanya, called Taisha because she and her three half-brothers ages 6, 8, and 9, and little half-sister, 5, had been evicted.  The mother, an addict, was gone, incapable of caring for them, and Tanya was terrified that the siblings would all be separated. 

Taisha and her dad took the five children in.  Beds were donated; clothes and school supplies acquired, with help from Christ Central and Taisha’s church.

Then Taisha’s dad crushed his finger at work and was put on temporary disability, allowing him to be home nights during their transition. 

Tanya had never liked dogs, but the uprooted adolescent, and the little abused dog bonded.  BJ loved the children and learned to play, chasing a foam football that he had yet to learn to bring back. He was a new dog.

The accident occurred because BJ followed Tanya to the school bus.  When she boarded, BJ chased the bus and was hit by a bread truck. Taisha came home from the store to find her neighbor with BJ wrapped in his jacket.

Taisha drives a scooter and doesn’t have a car.  She didn’t have the money to pay for “services-when-rendered” at the vet clinics she called.  Ultimately, she was referred to Aiken County Animal Control. 

Chief Bobby Arthurs could have had the injured animal picked up for disposal.  Instead, he called FOTAS.  FOTAS agreed to loan Taisha a crate and the estimated $1,000-1,500 for BJ’s surgery.  Taisha followed the officer with BJ to the animal clinic on her scooter.  She will repay FOTAS in biweekly installments. 

“Things just keep falling into place,” she says.  This is a young woman worth investing in, we say, part of a responsible, animal-loving county.

BJ After Surgery
BJ came home on Thursday morning. 

To help lighten Taisha’s burden, you can send a check to PO Box 2207, Aiken, 29802, or donate to BJ’s Fund on our Website.



FOTAS Volunteers work with the AIKEN COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER, 411 Wire Road.  For more information, contact “info@fotasaiken.org” or visit FOTAS on line at www.fotasaiken.org

Aiken County Animal Shelter:  “By the Numbers”


August 13th thru 26th

Received: 137 dogs and 87 cats
Adopted: 13 dogs and 8 cats
Put down: 89 dogs and 83 cats

Aiken County Shelter “Pets of the Week” are HALF PRICE*!



WESLEYTerrier mix 2.5 yrs. 51 lbs. 
He’s a little bit gimpy, but sweet as he can be.  Only  $35!

PRECIOUS  – Adult female tabby with big blue eyes.   
What else could you call her?  $35.
 
*All adoption fees include: Spay/Neuter, heartworm test, all shots, worming, and microchip and are half price thru 9/8/12!

Sunday, August 26, 2012

FOTAS Begins Year Four with an Annual Meeting and Celebration


On August 18th, FOTAS celebrated its volunteers, accomplishments, and its vision for the future at our third annual meeting for members.  The meeting highlights are worth sharing for those who wonder what we have been up to.
The 2012 FOTAS Annual Meeting was billed as a “Potluck Snack Celebration,” and nearly forty stalwart members braved the midday heat on the grounds of the County Shelter.
Borrowed tailgate tents were pitched in front of Herby Brown, the 1979 Airstream converted to FOTAS’ signature Rescue Waggin’, and the podium was the ramp to C.A.T.S. (Cats at the Shelter), a lovely adoptable cat colony, another FOTAS contribution to the County Shelter.
Three tables covered with food, iced beverages in coolers below, entertained the attendees until the meeting was called to order. 
The FOTAS treasurer report was an appropriate launch to the meeting/celebration: FOTAS has no debt, and no real overhead as an all-volunteer organization.  This allows all of the money raised, after expenses, to directly benefit the county’s homeless animals.
In addition to Herby and C.A.T.S., here are some additional ways FOTAS has invested over $75,000 in the county Shelter to date:
·       Commercial Laundry Equipment
·       Large dog Play Yard
·       Stainless Steel Cage Banks for surgical recovery
·       Grooming tub and table
·       Platform Scale
·       Renovated the Autoclave for surgeries
·       Toys, treats, food, flea & tick treatments and shampoo
·       Kennel decks and Kuranda beds to get the dogs off the concrete

FOTAS has also raised enough money to fulfill its commitment to the County in the MOU for the new shelter construction: the county makes the funds for the building a priority and FOTAS pays for the Architectural and Engineering costs.
 FOTAS has over 1000 members and roughly 75 active volunteers with both lists still growing. Our volunteers realize FOTAS’ mission by:

·       Making shelter animals more adoptable with training, exercise and TLC;
·       Fostering mamas and puppies or kittens, babies without mamas, and special needs cases;
·       Organizing and staffing fundraisers like our benefit breakfasts, golf tournament, Hunter Pace, Giving Parties, and, of course the grand event: Woofstock Festival of Mutts and Music (to be augmented this year by better weather, a Mutt Strut and, we hope, another Motorcycle Ride-to-Woofstock on 11/10/12);
·       Staffing adoption events at Petsmart and local businesses;
·       Establishing and expanding our Spay Neuter Assistance Program (SNAP) to target local communities; and,
·       Maintaining our database, website, social media, thank-you-note and canister program, and writing this column.

In short, FOTAS is volunteers and donors.

The meeting ended with the introduction of two new board members, Frank Townsend and Joanna Dunn Samson, our own banker and lawyer to help steward our growing pains. 

FOTAS’ mission is, in part, to help the Aiken County Animal Shelter be a healthy, happy place where no adoptable pet has to go to die. 

Last year 5,011 unwanted animals came into our shelter, FOTAS helped the county shelter save 1,652 or 33%.  Now that’s worth celebrating.

  FOTAS Volunteers work with the AIKEN COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER, 411 Wire Road.  For more information, contact “info@fotasaiken.org” or visit FOTAS on line at www.fotasaiken.org

Aiken County Animal Shelter:  “By the Numbers”


FY 11-12
City of Aiken
Aiken County
Imp. Dogs/Cats
656
5,011
Ret. to Owner
143
307
Trans /adopted
159
1,345
Euthanized
376
3,808

Aiken County Shelter “Pets of the Week” are HALF PRICE*!

MAY – Lab mix, 42 lbs. A real doll and your new best friend for only $35!
KINDLE – Baby male Siamese mix.  He’s a rare beauty for only $35

 

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Plans for the New County Shelter Beckon County-wide Involvement


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



COWBOY – 1 yr. “Singing Chihuahua!”  You sing; he sings.  Cute as a bug for only $35!

 Aiken County Shelter “Pets of the Week” are HALF PRICE*!

DIABLO – Baby male tabby.  Bold gray stripes and white mittens.  Too cute for only $35. 

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Volunteer Family Marks FOTAS ‘Making a Difference’ for 3 Years


It was 1999, and Marcia and her teenage daughter, Samantha, were at a local veterinarian’s when they spotted the notice of urgent need for two homeless dogs on the wall.  Having recently moved to Aiken with their equestrian experiences and equestrian dreams, they had a farm and decided that they could save the dogs.
Unfortunately, the clinic had just shipped the dogs to the county shelter, so Marcia and Sam set out Wire Road to rescue them.  At the shelter, when they told the woman seated beyond the glass window what they wanted, she acted as if recovering the two dogs was not just impossible, but absurd.  The dogs could not be found and she would not bother to ask anyone to look.  That was 1999.
For ten years, Marcia, husband Dan and Sam, would recoil in horror at any mention of the Aiken County Animal Shelter. 
Then, around 2006 or ’07, one woman chose to challenge the status-quo regarding homeless pets.  She was serving on a policy committee for county animal control and was appalled at the prevailing attitudes about our public shelter.  The woman began by walking one dog, proposing one volunteer policy, recruiting one animal advocate, at a time. 
Then a transfer policy, one dog or cat saved, an entrenched attitude, one ally, one risk, one favor, and one miracle at a time, FOTAS was born, summer 2009, already teamed with a renewed and reenergized county shelter staff. 
One day, Marcia and Sam see the article about FOTAS and the Aiken County Animal Shelter in the paper.  The story tells how badly foster homes are needed for puppies and kittens.  It quotes the shelter’s commitment not to euthanize healthy litters that are fostered.
“We can do that!” the mother-daughter team decide, and off they go to join the cause.
That was seven or eight litters, lots of lessons and many stories ago: like the promise that if they kept a puppy they were out of the fostering business…well, except for Misty May who Sam adopted because she had to.
“That’s the only one we ever kept,” Marcia says sheepishly. Then she gives credit to their Chow-cross, Nina, who says, “No more dogs!” and means it. 
Samantha’s career has taken her and Misty May to Florida, but Marcia and Dan carry on. Their vacant barn hosts the litters and the fallow garden pen makes a secure play yard. 
In the last three years, the couple has learned that a determined dog can climb a 10-foot barrier to escape a box stall; that a normally sweet stray can be pretty fierce about protecting her pups; that not all babies survive; and, that the job comes with enough joy and miracles to be worth it.
“Any day you save a dog’s life is a good day,” Marcia says.
On Friday, Dan and Marcia hooked their double-axle pickup to Herbie Brown, the FOTAS Rescue Waggin’, to haul nine lucky dogs to catch a transfer north.
Now that’s Making a Difference! 



Aiken County Animal Shelter:  “By the Numbers”


For July            2012    vs.  2011
Received
449
461
Adopted Cats
18
7
Adopted Dogs
34
46
Transferred
41
12
Euthanized
(72%)  324
(81%)  373

Aiken County Shelter “Pets of the Week” are HALF PRICE*!


BRANDY – 1yr. Lab mix. Affectionate, energetic, intelligent.  Highly trainable great pet!   $35!



JESSE – 1yr, gorgeous green-eyed tabby, already spayed.  Come get her for $35!

*All adoption fees include: Spay/Neuter, heartworm test, all shots, worming, and microchip and are  
half price thru 9/8/12!