Our New County Shelter is Only a Beginning

Let’s start with our vision: Our new Aiken County Animal Shelter will be a happy healthy place where no adoptable pet has to go to die.  Our current facility was never intended for such a lofty mission.  It was erected in 1990 for the disposal of unwanted animals, and as recently as 2008 the euthanasia rate for its residents was 98%.

Over the last decade, the yearly animal intake has fluctuated between a little less than 5,000 and 6,149 (FY05). The current shelter was intended to house 100 animals at any given time.  When over 160 animals come through the door in a week (like last week), that old building was obsolete about the time it opened its doors. We cannot let that happen again.

Working with County Shelter staff, FOTAS has growing adoption program, supported by a few amazingly dedicated volunteers, and foster-care and transfer programs.  Together they have almost tripled the number of animals saved, but these programs cannot save all the animals that deserve to go on living, not even close.

The new shelter was carefully designed for the current reality, but neither will a building be a solution for irresponsible pet ownership and its fallout, wanton breeding of unwanted litters. 

Our new shelter is designed to attract community involvement, but not to incent additional dumping of throw-away pets.  If it fails to inspire collective values for responsible pet ownership, it will become a costlier, prettier disaster than the one we already have.  So what can we do?

The first, most obvious and easiest remedy is to have our pets spayed and neutered.  Once perceived as a costly intrusion into the laws of nature, it is now readily available to every pet owner, regardless of income; and, it known to be healthier for the community and the animals who cannot, and should not, breed.

Just this year, the SPCA Albrecht Center opened its new clinic with nearly limitless capacity for county-wide needs. Coincident with this resource, FOTAS began our Spay/Neuter Assistance Program (SNAP).  SNAP works with areas targeted by County Animal Control to identify, enroll, subsidize, and transport animals to the SPCA facility.  SNAP includes Lenny’s Brigade, which helps residents with “community cats,” feral cat colonies that can easily breed out of control.

The County Voucher Program is offered to those who qualify and want to choose their own participating vet.  Finally, CSRA Life Saver (csralifesaver.com) has two low-cost pet clinics in North Augusta and in Graniteville, next to the Bark Mart.

How can you help, even if you do not need these services?  Tell someone who does.  Let FOTAS or County Animal Services know and we will get the information where it is needed:

Aiken County Animal Services: 642-1537  SPCA Albrecht Center: 648-6863       

FOTAS SNAP: 634-0564 (temp)

Lenny’s Brigade Hot Line:  507-6315

CSRA Life Saver: 979-7268 or 215-0559

Working together on behalf of our animals we can realize the dream, a laudable measure of who we are as a communi

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”

July 15^th thru 19^th, 2013

Brought in:  94 dogs and 59 cats!!

Adopted:  8 dogs and 5 cats 

Put down:    57 dogs and 55 cats!

Aiken County Shelter “Pets of the Week!” 

SPARKLE – Adult tabby.  Sedate and affectionate.  She is a purr-fect lady!  Only $35

 

TIGER – 1.5 yrs.  51 lbs.  Brindle-Lab mix.  Bright beauty.  A joy of a dog.  Only $38!

*All adoption fees include: Spay/Neuter, heartworm test, all shots, worming, and microchip.

Happy 4th Birthday FOTAS

We keep coming back to what Gandhi said: "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."  What about a large rural county; can they be judged as well?  Four years ago this week, Friends of the Animal Shelter, Inc. was created to confront that very question.  How great can a home community be when it is handling thousands of its unwanted animals like refuse?

FOTAS started in 2009 raising money and making upgrades to the existing facility: a roof and floor for the overflow pens, a large dog play yard, a lovely adoptable cat house, laundry equipment, grooming tub, stainless cage banks for surgery patients.  We established a volunteer program, a foster care program, and a transfer program.  We helped Aiken County residents confront the dirty secret that well over 5,000 animals, most of which were adoptable pets, were arriving at the county shelter annually and almost all of them were dying there.  But with all the work that went into our current county animal control facility, everyone who actually went there knew the upgrades were mostly lipstick on a pig.  Aiken County needed, and justly deserved, a new county animal shelter.   

FOTAS, since its inception, has seen itself as an ally and partner of county government.  Animal control is a public obligation, a component of health and safety; animal welfare and advocacy is not. A community has to determine who they want to be, how they want to operate in and on the world in terms of its relationship to the innocents and dependents within it.  FOTAS has given animal advocates in our community a voice and the resources to leverage that voice.  And God smiled upon that effort by providing a team of county employees, elected officials, and shelter staff to join forces with the will of the Aiken County community, and to chart the way to a brand new Aiken County Animal Shelter, along with the programs to support its success.

FOTAS paid for the study to determine the appropriate course to an adequate county shelter.  When it was determined that a new shelter was the only effective and efficient way forward, FOTAS paid $125,000 for the architectural and engineering plans.  This was 25% more than the original figure agreed upon.  The county found the perfect piece of property on the corner of May Royal and Wire Road, and on March 3rd of this year we broke ground with a high-spirited ceremony.  The building is expected to be completed by the end of the year.  FOTAS has undertaken the responsibility to "Fit, Furnish and Finish" the facility.  The Fit, FURnish and Finish fundraising campaign is underway, and there are numerous opportunities to participate and to contribute.  For more complete information, contact FOTAS or go to the website.

We can be excited about our new building, but FOTAS also realizes that a building alone is not the answer.  Without a cultural shift to make responsible pet owners part of the fabric of our community, no building will ever be large enough.  To that end, FOTAS established the Spay Neuter Assistance Program (SNAP) one year ago.   SNAP now partners with the County Voucher Program and the SPCA Albrecht Center and hundreds of dogs and cats have been fixed, meaning literally thousands fewer unwanted animals. 

We have so much to be grateful for in the last four years, and as FOTAS begins its 5th year, so much to look forward to.  This time next year, our new County Shelter will be humming.  We hope to encourage more and more community pride and involvement.  Our vision is that no adoptable pet will have to die there.  FOTAS is one reflection of Aiken County's moral progress - and its greatness.  Join us.  Please help. We still have a long way to go.

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”

The WEEK of July 8th thru 14^th ‘13

Brought in:  73 dogs and 44 cats!!

Adopted:  17 dogs and 1 cat 

Put down:   43 dogs and 36 cats!

Aiken County Shelter  “Pets of the Week”

SISSY  – Hound mix. 1.5 yrs.   A sweet, playful forever friend!  Yours for only $70

 

DALE – Tabby kitten. He is adorable! Your new baby for only $35

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*All adoption fees include: Spay/Neuter, heartworm test, all shots, worming, and microchip.

 

Community Cats Inspire a Community Effort

Early April, a lovely calico cat wandered into a vacant farm and purred her greeting to the farm-sitter.  He could not take her with him when he had to leave, so he called FOTAS.

One FOTAS volunteer took the cat to a local vet to be tested for feline viruses and, as she was pregnant, scheduled her to be spayed Monday morning.  It was Friday, so a second (dogless) volunteer agreed to foster the cat for the weekend, but that night the cat had five kittens.  So the very excellent momma cat and her babies were accommodated in a third person’s guest cottage for seven weeks. 

They named momma cat Nona, and several FOTAS people provided food, litter, toys and company for the feline family.  A second local vet agreed to place and “fix” the five kittens.  Last week Nona found a loving home on an occupied farm.  That’s one way FOTAS brings the community together to make a difference.

Now that summer is in full swing abandoned animals will overwhelm the already overcrowded County Shelter.  So it is opportune to celebrate Lenny’s Brigade and the volunteers who created it as our Month-of-the-Cat points to another need.

Founded by two cat-lovers: Kathy, a retired veterinary cat specialist, and Carol, a retired accountant with a passion for spay/neuter as the best response to animal overpopulation, Lenny’s Brigade extends FOTAS’ Spay/Neuter Assistance Program (SNAP) beyond household pets to stewards of community cats.

 Lenny’s Brigade (named for a stray kitten that didn’t make it, a symbol of too many like him), is a trap-spay/neuter project directed at cat-lovers whose hearts are bigger than their pocketbooks when it comes to stray cats.  Founded in the fall of 2012, Lenny’s Brigade goes where called to help people get the cat colonies they are supporting under control.

The SPCA Albrecht Center also partners with Lenny’s Brigade, providing surgical services and even surgical facilities for Kathy to use when available.  Carol carefully researched trap performance and funded 20 traps, for which she has also sewn covers to help trapped cats remain sane. 

As word traveled, grateful clients have called on Lenny’s Brigade: the owner of the Wagener Feed Store; the New Ellenton Post Office; an elderly man with Parkinson’s who loves every cat that wanders in and is overwhelmed as they multiply; the kindly woman who rescued her neighbors’ abandoned pregnant cat.  She placed the first two litters, but finds there is no place for the third.

Volunteers, too, have responded to the need.  They help identify colonies, or with trapping, or transporting.  There are even vet tech volunteers helping Kathy with surgeries.

Lenny’s Brigade is currently seeking contacts in Warrenville and Gloverville.  They would also love to hear from any other cat advocate groups in Aiken County. 

Lenny’s Brigade “Community Cat” Hot-line is: (803) 507-6315.  If you, or someone you know, are a “Community Cat Ally” call Lenny’s Brigade and you can help make a difference, too.

Our progress shows in “The Numbers” – take a look.

tagline:  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”

We are Making a Difference!

May	2012	2013
Intake	613	510
Adoptions	61	74
Transfers	47	55
Put Down	558/91%	412/81%

Aiken County Shelter “Pets of the Week!” 

 

 

FELIX – Adult tabby. This guy is purr-fect! $35

DIXIE – 1 yr. boxer.  Affectionate, smart and ready to go home with you!  $70  

 

*All adoption fees include: Spay/Neuter, heartworm test, all shots, worming, and microchip. 

Aiken County Animal Services Offers a “No More Homeless Pets” Program

A family moves into a mobile home out in a rural area of the county.  They have a couple of dogs, one indoors and one outdoors.  They tie the outdoor dog up in the yard.  A neighbor dog comes over and impregnates the tethered female.

The mewing sounds come from cardboard boxes, empty buildings and dumpsters.  The county shelter gets overrun with unwanted puppies and kittens.  There are not enough foster homes.  The puppies get sick.  The kittens get sick.  Many caring hearts are broken when the tiny creatures die.

In Aiken County you have no obligation to spay or neuter your pets, so if members of our community allow their animals to breed, and the pregnant animals or their offspring end up at the county shelter, we all pick up the cost.

Currently there are many stakeholders in breaking this tragic, wasteful, irresponsible, immoral cycle.  There are low-and no-cost spay/neuter services like the SPCA Albrecht Center in Aiken and North Augusta’s CSRA Life Saver.  There is the FOTAS SNAP Program currently serving the Wagener area and the Valley, and there is the Aiken County “No More Homeless Pets” Spay and Neuter Program serving qualifying citizens throughout Aiken County.

How does the County Spay/Neuter Program work?  An individual fills out an application providing basic information: name, address, animal data, ownership, liability waivers and household income.  Once qualified by Animal Services, the owner receives a voucher that will be honored by any veterinarian in Aiken County who performs spay/neuter surgeries.

Applications are normally available through any of the following:

·         Aiken County Animal Shelter,

·         Public Works, Department of Social Services

·         County Libraries

·         Animal Control Officers

Applications must be presented in person at the County Animal Shelter to receive the voucher.

There is a $15 co-pay which accompanies the redemption of the voucher with the SPCA Albrecht Center, but the procedure will include a rabies vaccine and micro-chipping.  In some instances even transportation can be arranged.

There really is no good reason to have an intact pet in our households.  There is no reason to allow a female dog or cat to go into heat first, or have “just one litter.”  Male or female, cat or dog, a pet is going to be a happier healthier member of the family, and of the community, if its body’s recurring and incessant demand to breed is gone.

 In the absence of legislated incentives to alter our house pets, it falls upon the entire community to help stem the tides of unwanted puppies and kittens.  If you know of a situation that would be aided by accessible, affordable spay/neuter services, please provide information to the appropriate parties about what opportunities exist and how to access them.

Here is some contact information:

Aiken County Animal Services: (803) 642-1537 or www.fotasaiken.org

SPCA Albrecht Center: (803) 648-6863 or www.spca-albrecht.org

CSRA Life Saver: (803) 215-0559 or (803) 221-8608 or www.csralifesaver.com

FOTAS believes that their lives are in our hands. And, if you are not part of the solution, you may be part of the problem. Please help.

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”

May 13^th thru 19^th, 2013

Brought in:  55 dogs and 41 cats

Adopted:  11 dogs and 6 cats 

Put down:    54 dogs and 56 cats!

Aiken County Shelter “Pets of the Week!” HALF PRICE thru June 8^th!

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PERCY – 5 yrs.  Silver gray with big green eyes.A real lover! 

 MOLLY – 2 yrs. A happy, happy gal! Yours for half-price, only $35! 

 

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*All adoption fees include: Spay/Neuter, heartworm test, all shots, worming, and microchip.