Sunday, March 30, 2014

The Morning After
By Joanna Samson, FOTAS Director
as seen in the Aiken Standard 3-30-14 issue

By all accounts, the Grand Opening Ceremony for the new Aiken County Animal Shelter on Sunday was a great success.  

Over 300 people attended the celebration. Six dogs and one cat went home with their new families.  Even the weather complied: by 2:00 the rain had stopped and the temperature had risen.

It was a wonderful day, and I was honored to be a part of it.

Now that it’s over, the difficult and frustrating work of dealing with the County’s overpopulation of unwanted animals must continue.  The stakes are high.

Here are the grim, cold facts:  In the last fiscal year, 4794 abandoned animals passed through the County shelter’s doors. The County and FOTAS were able to save 1581 of those animals.

Do the math, folks:  67% of the animals that came to the shelter had to be euthanized, many of which would have made someone a great pet.  And although 67% is a significant improvement over the 90 – 95% numbers of the past, it is still a dismal number.

“I am worried,” says Annette van der Walt, the County’s Adoption Coordinator, “that people think because we have this brand new facility the overall picture is rosier.  It’s not.  Yes, it’s a healthier environment; yes, adoptions and transfers have gone up, but the intake numbers are so much higher than the adoption/transfer rates.”  She shakes her head.  “That’s heartbreaking.”

In the 45 minutes I was at the shelter last Tuesday, a woman surrendered a lively Jack Russell cross because she was, well . . . too lively.

Then, a man surrendered 15 puppies from two separate litters.  When Sandy Larsen offered the man an opportunity to participate in the County’s low cost spay/neuter program, he dismissed her with a shrug and left.  No doubt, he’ll be back one day in the future with another 15 puppies for which the County and FOTAS will have to find homes.

“It’s been a hard day,” said Brandon Anceume, one of the kind custodians, staring glumly at the intake papers on the desk.  “They just keep coming in.” 

Is spay/neuter the answer?  Yes, it is.  But here’s another cold, hard fact: most experts believe it will take 10 years of a rigorous spay/neuter program to see a dramatic drop in the local intake numbers.

We just can’t wait 10 years!

Today, the County and FOTAS are still obligated, both legally and morally, to care and find a home for those 4800 animals.  

What can we do now?   You are the answer.  Adopt!  Adopt!  Adopt!

Thinking of getting a kitten for your kids?  Adopt from the County shelter.

Thinking of adding a new dog after your beloved canine companion has passed?  Adopt from the County shelter.  

Thinking of adding another dog or cat to your family?  Adopt from the County shelter.  

And now that the adoption experience at the new shelter is peaceful and upbeat, there is no reason to go anywhere else.  Please take advantage of the ½ price adoption special in effect until the end of this month.  Cats are $20 and dogs are $35.

Every time you adopt from the County shelter, you save the life of one of those 4800 unwanted animals, and that, my friends, brings us one animal closer to our goal of never having to euthanize another adoptable animal in Aiken County.
at the grand opening last week, Linda Boatright adopts Tom Brady,
with FOTAS volunteer Bob Gordon and Shelter Chief Bobby Arthurs




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”

Mar. 18, 2014 - Mar. 23, 2014

15 dogs and 4 cats adopted

Year to Date:  

129 terrific pets adopted

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.


ANDY   Shepherd mix,  male, 10 mos. old, 72 lbs  Only $35 


GABLE  Domestic long hair -- male -- 8 mos. old, 5.5 lbs  Only $20



Sunday, March 23, 2014

A Day of Celebration at the new Shelter Ribbon Cutting

A Cause for Celebration
By Jennifer Miller, President of FOTAS
as seen in the "Aiken Standard" 3-23-14 issue

FOTAS was created in 2009 in response to the alarming number of stray and abandoned animals in Aiken County and the hopelessness of their plight.  At the time, because of the sheer number of these animals, “Animal Control” consisted of a futile attempt to reduce the homeless population by euthanasia.
The conditions at the shelter were abysmal.  It was not unusual for 200 animals to be crowded in a dark, airless building built in the 1980’s to house half that number – dogs were often packed 2 to 3 to a cage, and cats were held in small cages in a room the size of a closet in the back of the building.  Because of the open waste trenches and lack of air exchange, it was difficult, if not impossible, to keep the animals healthy. In short, a trip to the County shelter in those days was a near certain death sentence: despite the Herculean efforts of the shelter staff, 95% of the thousands of dogs and cats consigned to the shelter each year had to be euthanized.
Shortly after we created FOTAS, it became clear that any solution to these problems would be short-lived without a larger, better shelter to keep the animals healthy while we worked to find them a home.  Accordingly, the construction of a new shelter became FOTAS’s primary goal.
We created a public/private partnership with the county. FOTAS raised funds through private donations to pay for the shovel-ready plans, architect fees, cage banks, kennels, the cat adoption house and shelter equipment. The county used public funds to build the building. 
Finally, on March 3rd, after years of planning and development, the new Aiken County Animal Shelter opened its doors to the public.

Bucky with his new family, adopted this week
So many people supported the efforts to make our collective dream a reality: County Council, the County Administration, the devoted shelter employees, and the army of FOTAS volunteers who walk dogs, play with the cats, foster puppies, help with transfers and assist with fundraisers. 
We are also forever indebted to you, the members of our community, for your support and financial generosity.
However, the completion of this shelter is just the first step in achieving our ultimate goal to never have to euthanize another adoptable pet in Aiken County.  There is still so much to do. 
  • We must reduce the population of unwanted animals through public education regarding pet responsibility and the provision of affordable spay/neuter services.  The ultimate success of the new shelter depends upon maintaining and reducing current intake numbers. 
  • We must find ways to increase adoptions on the local level and transfers of adoptable pets to our partner shelters in other parts of the country.
  • We must continue to recruit and train volunteers and raise money for future needs.
Please join us today at 2 p.m. to celebrate the grand opening of the new Aiken County Animal Shelter at 333Wire Rd.  We will be serving refreshments, free giveaways, and cutting adoption fees in half.  It will be our honor to share the happiness of achieving this important milestone with all of you in the Aiken community.

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”

Mar. 10, 2014 - Mar. 15, 2014

17 dogs and 2 cats adopted

Year to Date:  

110 terrific pets adopted

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.


FRANCES   Dachshund mix,  female, 1 yr old, 22.5 lbs  Only $35 



FRISKY  Tabby -- male -- 5 yrs. old, 14.8 lbs  Only $35


Sunday, March 16, 2014

A Day of Firsts

A Day of Firsts
By Joanna Samson, FOTAS Director

At 5 a.m. on March 3rd, Sandy Larsen, the County’s Vet Tech, pulled into the parking lot of the new Aiken County Animal Shelter.  Because she was scheduled to feature a couple of the shelter’s residents at 6:20 a.m. on Channel 12, she was the first person to work that Monday morning.

It wasn’t just any Monday morning, however; it was the first day the County’s new shelter was open for business.  Sandy, who shares with Chief Animal Control Officer Bobby Arthurs the notable distinction of being the first and longest employee of the County shelter, was struck at once by the difference in the setting.

“The building was well-lit,” says Sandy, “warm, welcoming.  The old shelter was always dark that time of morning.”

“Then,” she continues, “as I walked from my car to the back door, it hit me.  I could see the dogs in their outside kennels in the Intake Wing.  Wow!  What a difference!  In the old shelter, the dogs would be inside barking like crazy because they were doubled or tripled up in a small crate and stepping on each other.  Here, they were quiet!  It was amazing.”

At 9 a.m., the first volunteers, Caroline Simonson and Sandra Procter, arrived to walk the dogs.  Caroline and Sandra have been FOTAS volunteers for years.  In fact, according to Jennifer Miller, the President of FOTAS, Caroline may well have been the first person to respond to her first calls for help at the shelter when FOTAS was formed in 2009.

When I asked Caroline about her impressions on that first morning, she too was struck by the remarkable change in the dogs.

“They were relaxed.  They each had their own kennel.  They weren’t fighting for space or defending their food.  They weren’t bored - they could lie outside in the fresh air and watch the world go by.”

“Plus,” says Caroline, “at the old shelter, there was one small play area with a dirt surface.  The new shelter has two large, grassy areas.  When we first released the dogs, they went wild with joy - rolling gleefully on the sod.  We couldn’t stop laughing.” 

By noon, all of the adoptable dogs were played-out, and peace had settled over the shelter.  The hounds were particularly happy to stretch out in the sun and snooze.

Then came the magical moment – the first adoption on the first day.  Brooke and Jacob Jones and their beautiful daughter, Charlotte, came to the shelter to look for a family dog. They found her:  Debbie, an affectionate black border collie crossbred with a white nose and a ton of personality.


“It was a perfect match,” says Annette van der Walt, the Shelter’s Adoption Coordinator.  “Debbie and Charlotte bonded immediately.  As Debbie piled into the car with her new humans, Brandon Anceume, the kind and perceptive shelter custodian who introduced the family to Debbie, and I high-fived each other and did the 'Happy' dance from the movie “Despicable Me.”

“It was silly,” says Annette, giggling, “but we were so, so happy.”

It’s a brand new day at the Aiken County Animal Shelter, so come on over: adopt, volunteer, or just visit.  We’d love to see you.



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”

Mar. 3, 2014 - Mar. 8, 2014
9 dogs and 1 cat adopted

Year to Date:  

91 terrific pets adopted

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.


LOLA   Shepherd mix,  female, 2 yrs old, 49 lbs  Only $70 



BEN STILLER  Domestic short hair -- male -- 7 yrs. old, 10 lbs  Only $35



Sunday, March 9, 2014

Moving On Up to the New Shelter

Moving on Up
By Joanna Samson, FOTAS Director
as seen in the Aiken Standard 3/9/14 issue

It finally happened.  As of last Sunday, County staff and FOTAS volunteers had completed the move from the small, outdated, dilapidated shelter to the beautiful new Aiken County Animal Shelter down the road.

The Cat House and the cats had been moved earlier in the week.

Then, on Sunday FOTAS volunteers walked many of the adoptable dogs the short distance to their new quarters in the Adoption Wing, while other FOTAS volunteers moved puppies and older dogs by truck.  County staff moved all of the intake dogs by truck to the Animal Control Wing.

By 3:00 p.m., all the animals had been moved and were safely nestled in their new digs.

It was a glorious, euphoric moment.  FOTAS volunteers and County staff were a little breathless with exertion, but they were all smiles.

And the four-legged residents?  The change was astounding.  The dogs wagged their tails and relaxed in their outdoor runs, enjoying the fresh air.  Despite all the activity and all the people, the shelter was the closest thing to peaceful that a building housing that many animals can be. Really.


Oh sure, there was the occasional hoopla over the escape artist who jumped from kennel to kennel until finally cornered, or the puppies yipping for dinner, or the little Chihuahua cross barking for attention, but by and large, the anxious, high-pitched barking so common in the old shelter because the dogs were all crowded together in close, inside quarters was absent.

I knelt in front of the kennel of an 8-month-old, little white and red pit bull named Pete, who showered my outstretched hand with big, wet kisses.   I thought: “You know what, Handsome? You’ll be okay in this place. Here you’ll have more time and a better chance for some lucky soul to overcome their uneasiness about pit bulls and fall madly in love with you.”  I leaned my forehead against his cage and choked back tears.  

But wait! We aren’t finished! Now that we’ve provided a clean, inspiring, happy community shelter for the animals, we need you, the community, to do your part.

Please: come to your community shelter and adopt your new pet.  Don’t be afraid you will be overwhelmed by despair. On the contrary, you will be able to take your time and find that perfect animal in a hopeful, cheerful setting.  Remember, every pet that finds a home makes space for another animal on the adoption floor, potentially saving two lives.

Please: volunteer your time with FOTAS.  We desperately need volunteers to sit behind the desk to greet the public, answer the phone and help the Adoption Coordinator.  

Okay, meet and greet not your thing?  We will find a job for you that makes you happy: walking the dogs, playing with cats and puppies, grooming, helping with the gardens – there are so many possibilities.

Pick up the phone now and call the FOTAS hotline at (803) 514-4313 or contact us at info@fotasaiken.org, and we’ll get you started.  I promise you’ll be glad you did.


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”

Feb. 24, 2014 - Mar. 1, 2014

9 dogs and 1 cats adopted

Year to Date:  

81 terrific pets adopted

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.


PETE   Pit bull/boxer,  male, 8 mos old, 43 lbs  Only $70 



SIMON COWELL  Domestic short hair -- male -- 7 yrs. old, 10 lbs  Only $35




Monday, March 3, 2014

The New Aiken County Animal Shelter is Now Open -- It's the Place to Be!

The New Community Animal Shelter – the Place to Be
By Joanna Samson, FOTAS Board of Director
as seen in the "Aiken Standard", 3/2/14 issue

This is a big weekend for the Aiken County Animal Shelter, FOTAS and in particular, the 200 animals living at the old county shelter on Wire Road.  They are finally moving to the new County shelter after years of planning and a little over a year of construction.

The new shelter has been designed to properly house and care for the 200 animals that are currently crowded into a space designed 25 years ago for a maximum capacity of 100. In designing the new shelter, the County and FOTAS’ primary focus was to ensure that the animals were housed in a healthy environment to increase their prospects of adoption.

The most important defense against the spread of the disease among the animals in the shelter is proper air exchange and waste removal, so state of the art mechanical and plumbing equipment has been installed to address those issues.

While the physical improvements in the new shelter are noteworthy, the impact on FOTAS volunteers and County staff cannot be overstated; they will no longer report to a dreary, noisy institutional building to do God’s work. 

The new shelter is cheerful – colorful graphics of dogs and cats grace the walls of the lobby, along with inspirational quotes, like “In a perfect world, every pet would have a home and every home would have a pet.”

Volunteers can walk and play with dogs in two spacious playpens, located outside of the adoption wing far from the goings and comings of animal control.  All dogs and cats have access to the outside from their kennel runs or crates, a major improvement over the dark, indoor kennels at the old facility.

This new facility, a testament to the progress that can be made when public entities and private citizens partner to make the world a better place, is a concrete demonstration of the County’s move from euthanasia as its primary means of controlling the homeless pet population to a system based on animal advocacy.  

But this new facility is not a magic bullet to address the distressing overpopulation of unwanted animals in the County. We must continue to reduce the intake numbers at the shelter (4800 last year alone) through systematic, targeted spay/neuter and educational programs. If we do not, the new shelter will also be overwhelmed by the sheer number of the County’s homeless animals. We cannot allow that to happen.


In the meantime, FOTAS and its volunteers will continue to work like the dickens to find homes for the County shelter’s animals through increased foster families, off-site adoptions and transfer programs.

If you are considering adopting a pet or volunteering, now is the time and the new community shelter is the place. When you are adopting, the shelter is a pleasant place for you to meet your prospective new best friend.  As a volunteer, you can walk and socialize the animals, greet potential adopters in the cheerful new lobby, help organize transfers, and man off-site adoptions.  


Call or contact FOTAS today at (803) 514-4313 or at info@fotasaiken.org.  You will be glad you did.


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”

Feb. 17, 2014 - Feb. 22, 2014

6 dogs and 3 cats adopted

Year to Date:  

81 terrific pets adopted

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.


FREDDY   Labrador retriever,  male, 2 yrs old, 51 lbs  Only $70 



BEN STILLER  Domestic short hair -- male -- 7 yrs. old, 10 lbs  Only $35