Through the Eyes of a Child
By Joanna Dunn Samson, FOTAS Director
as seen in the "Aiken Standard" 4-27-14 edition
Eavesdrop on any group of world-weary adults bemoaning the state of modern youth, and you will likely hear something like this: “Kids these days! They’re spoiled and lazy. All they care about is video games, Facebook, selfies, and hanging out.”
If you happen to be one of those folks fretting about our future generation - fret no more: I have good news. Aiken kids do care about making the world a better place.
How do I know this?
I have had the honor of reading the essays submitted for consideration in Meg’s Essay Contest, a contest sponsored by FOTAS as part of the Woofstock festivities and open to local students in Grades 1-5.
FOTAS asked contestants to respond to questions developed for each age group.
Six-year-old Luke Vincent wrote the winning response to the Grade 1 & 2 question. “My pet is my best friend . . . because she is so cute and pretty!” he writes about his cat. “She is so silly and lazy,” he adds.
I love that. He loves his cat despite her faults; he loves her unconditionally.
Fourth grader Reece McCarthy writes, “I think we should have a dog because when you are sad, they help and lick you . . . and,” he continues, “since I am a boy, you can play soccer with them.”
This last addition impresses me. No rational parent can deny the benefit of allowing a young boy the opportunity to blow off steam and develop his physical coordination at the same time?
Another 4th grader winner, Hope Dyches, takes a worldly approach. “[Even though] . . . we already have 9 dogs, . . . there are so many at the shelter that need loving homes,” she writes, appealing to her parent’s obvious commitment to helping the shelter’s thousands of homeless animals.
She shrewdly points out how adopting another pet will aid her development and benefit her parents: “If you let me adopt it . . . I will be well behaved and keep my room clean.”
Nine dogs already!!?? God bless her - not only is Hope a smart, strategic thinker, she is gutsy.
5th grader Reagan Houck writes an impressively researched and sophisticated response to why spay/neuter is important to the Aiken community. She dispels the myths (the pet will get fat and lazy, the procedure is too expensive), and highlights the health advantages (happier, stress-free pets who are content to stay home).
She cites statistics: 150,000 animals a year end up homeless, and this startling fact – one cat’s offspring can produce 2,072,514 kittens over 8 years!
She appeals to our emotions: “Nobody likes seeing a poor cat or dog in the street because they are homeless. They need a home, too.”
Hubert Humphrey once said:
Every child is an adventure into a better life – an opportunity to change the old pattern and make it new.
This year’s winners of Meg’s Essay Contest - Luke, Reece, Hope and Reagan demonstrate the wisdom of that observation.
I, for one, am happy and relieved to leave our collective future and the future of Aiken County’s homeless, abandoned and neglected animals in their hands.
The winners of Meg’s Essay Contest will be the student judges for the Woofstock Dog Contests (Best Kisser, Best Trick, Best Costume, Best Hairdo/Non-Hairdo, Best Singer/Talker/Howler) at Woofstock on May 3rd at the new community shelter (10:30 - 3:00, at 333 Wire Road.) Bring your family, enter your dogs and join the fun. See you there.
FOTAS Volunteers work with the AIKEN COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER, 333 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”
Apr. 13, 2014 - Apr. 19, 2014
30 dogs and 10 cats SAVED
Year to Date:
255 terrific pets SAVED
THANK YOU AIKEN COUNTY COMMUNITY!
Aiken County Shelter “Pets of the Week!”
**All adoption fees include: spay/neuter, heartworm test, all shots, worming, and microchip.
LEOPOLD American bulldog, male, 1 1/2 yrs old, 59 lbs. Only $70
SPUG Domestic short hair -- male -- 5 yrs old, 14 lbs 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.