So Many Ways to Enjoy Woofstock and Do Good

Truly, it is not that hard to raise $300 dollars. Find 12 people to donate $25, thirty to chip in $10, sixty kind-hearted souls at $5 a head, or mix it up. Given the cause, it should be easy, especially on Facebook, or an email to friends and family about the good their help will do. Plus, there is that possibility of winning the fancy iPad for doing a good thing well.

Raise $300 by Saturday, November 10^th, bring the money to Woofstock, and you are automatically eligible to win the $825 iPad tablet, and get the T-shirts, and have a blast with your dog, your family, your friends’ dogs, or all of the above.  Or you can raise $300, stay where you are, be entered to win, and hope the phone rings. 

Enter the Walk-for-the-Animals Mutt Strut Relay and never leave your home. A “Virtual Walker,” is someone who cares enough to raise or donate money, but will not be present at Woofstock. Virtual Walkers will miss a special festival, but they can be anywhere in the world and support someone here in Aiken, and a very special cause.  There is still time to do it.

Of course you don’t have to raise $300 to participate.  A whole family and all their dogs can parade in the Woofstock Mutt Strut for $25, or one adult for $10, child under 12 for $5. 

Once you have the dogs out, you might want to see if they are the Best Kisser, can perform the Best Trick, or are sporting the Best Costume.  Register for those three contests between 11 and 12 o’clock at Woofstock. 

Three student judges won their titles by entering the Woofstock Essay Contest and answering the question, “What can we do about all the unwanted puppies and kittens?”

Sophia Frank, Christian Madden and Sofia Ferreira will be helping to select the winners of the Dog contests: Best Kisser (11:30), Best Trick (12 noon), and Best Costume (12:30). 

Even if you are not participating in the Mutt Strut Relay and walking for Aiken County’s homeless pets, you can come out for the contests, or just come out and have a blast, with or without a dog.

The Woofstock Festival, a day full of family fun, food, and music, is a huge community event made possible by volunteers, local clubs and businesses, and the residents of Aiken County who love their animals. Every dollar raised, after expenses, will go towards our new shelter.

The vision for the new Aiken County Animal Shelter is a happy, healthy place that is the heart of a responsible, animal-loving county.

Join us at Woofstock on November 10^th.  Enter the Mutt Strut Relay and walk for the homeless cats and dogs. We promise a memorable experience.

Or, if you are busy that day, think about becoming a foster home.  Unfortunately, the need for temporary guardians for puppies and kittens is constant.  Get involved.  It may be one of the most rewarding commitments you ever make. 

  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”

October 15^th thru 21^st    

Received: 48 dogs and 30 cats!

Adopted: 6 dogs and 4 cats

Euthanized: 45 dogs and 41 cats

 Aiken County Shelter “Pets of the Week!” So much LOVE for so little!

  MONTY – 1 yr. Soft, affectionate Lab mix for $70.  Tiny price for a great friend caption

COCONUT- precious young adult female. Yours for only $35

 

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

Social Media Wave Assists the New County Shelter

FOTAS is on the Social Media bandwagon using facebook, twitter, YouTube, BLOGS and the FOTAS website. These tools are used for better communication. Events like the MuttStrut Walk for the Animals at Woofstock on Nov 10th, PetSmart Adoption Days, or the need for dog and cat food or stuffed animals for our shelter pups; all are online.

Our website continues to evolve and is now connected to other Social Media tools.

With your online participation, we could be so much more effective in reaching our audience: all residents and businesses from the entire Aiken County Community. We want to tell you all about current programs, needs, the new County Shelter and the services it will provide.

Social media has a great impact here. It can be fun and easy to spread the word to the entire County.

With 880+ facebook followers, FOTAS can reach upwards of 10,000 people viewing our posts in any given week. Our posts are shared and our message spreads!

How amazing that we can “speak” to you and to people you know and then to their friends and friends of their friends, all from one message posted on our FOTAS facebook page, our website or a Twitter “tweet”. It’s like the Telephone Game without the distortion of the message!

Like Us on facebook to receive FOTAS updates along with friends updates. Follow us on Twitter. Visit our website for more information and direct access to these sites.

Share our latest message! When we post something of interest, like our Capital Campaign, a cute kitten or great dog, share it on your facebook page or with individual friends who may share your interest in animals or just tweet it out. Think of the possibilities and all the people we could reach! If they want to help they can, if not, no harm, no foul. No phone calls or personal pleas for help involved. People can choose to read our message or not. No annoying spam like emails need be sent out through this process.

One of our dogs was adopted by a family in Louisiana due to a shared post! All Events and adoptable animals’ photos are on our website, facebook and Petfinder thanks to Annette, Susan and Elizabeth.

These powerful tools have led to pet adoptions, assistance from and partnerships with other organizations, brought in donations for specific needs and even helped find lost pets. Feel free to tweet messages from @FotasAiken and reach even more people!

Our website has a moving YouTube video tour of our current shelter, as well as fun videos from past events like last years Fall Steeplechase!

Please use these powerful tools to help FOTAS reach the entire Community that the Aiken County Animals Shelter serves.

With your help, we can reach those with the interest and resources to help us attain our biggest goal yet: to build and outfit a new Aiken County Animal Shelter by the end of 2013! Let’s help the abandoned animals of OUR County.

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”

October 8th thru 15^th   

Received: 96 dogs! and 38 cats!

Adopted: 14 dogs and 3 cats!

Euthanized: 32 dogs and 33 cats

Aiken County Shelter “Pets of the Week!” So much LOVE for so little! 

 

BESS-1+ yr Choc. Lab mix Sweet gal Looking to love you! A special price of only $35!

 

CHANCE-3 yr Loyal Australian Cattle -Blue Healer cross. A bargain at Only $35!

 

Mutt Strut at Woofstock for the New County Shelter

Mutt Strut?  Yes, it is an opportunity to do something fun with your family, especially the four-legged members, while making a big contribution to Aiken County’s homeless animals. All of the funds from this year’s Woofstock Festival and the Mutt Strut will go directly to FOTAS’ Capital Campaign for our new Aiken County Animal Shelter.

We will tell you how to get involved (even if you won’t actually march in the Mutt Strut Parade), but let’s look at what can happen if you walk a dog for a cause.

Last April FOTAS participated in a similar event in Columbia.  The fundraiser was for a new facility that offers high-volume, low-cost spay/neuter.  FOTAS had an opportunity to compete with other area rescue groups and win thousands of dollars worth of spay/neuter surgeries.  All we had to do was find sponsors for a dog walk.

FOTAS volunteers contacted other FOTAS members who contacted friends and families all over the world to sponsor their participation in the event. 

FOTAS volunteers walked their own dogs; they walked shelter adoptable dogs; and, they had enough people supporting their efforts to win the competition, and that was just the beginning.

The funds awarded provided FOTAS with an opportunity to launch a pilot for a targeted, subsidized spay/neuter program that we call SNAP: Spay-Neuter Assistance Program.  Due to the need to transport the dogs and cats to Columbia, the Wagener-Salley area was chosen for the pilot.

The project began August 1^st, and before all those SNAP funds are exhausted, nearly 100 animals will have been spayed or neutered.  The number of unwanted cats and dogs that this project will prevent is almost incalculable, especially given that only two intact dogs, plus just two intact cats, can conceivably produce nearly half-a-million offspring in only 7 years. 

It all began with a dog walk.

While SNAP addresses the prevention end of Aiken County’s unwanted animal population, the obligation to collect and house the overwhelming number of homeless cats and dogs that already exist is the other end.  The current County Animal Shelter has no humane way to house them all, or, in spite of our best efforts, to rescue most.  More than 7 out of 10 die there. 

Help is on the way with FOTAS’ Capital Campaign.  The Woofstock Festival is our signature fundraiser and it begins with a dog walk called The Mutt Strut.  All of the proceeds from the Mutt Strut and the Woofstock Festival will go to the Capital Campaign to be invested in our extraordinary new Aiken County Animal Shelter.

Here’s how to participate in the Mutt Strut:

Register to walk, or to be a virtual walker. There are forms on line and around the area.  The fee includes entrance to Woofstock. Get people to sponsor you and win prizes.  Raise $300 and enter a drawing for a 64G iPad.  Get a dog, and come out on Nov. 10^th.

It  all begins with a dog walk, and then good things can happen. Join us, please.

  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”

September 10^th thru 16^th   

Received:  61 dogs and 29 cats

Adopted:     5 dogs and   1 cat

Put down: 16 dogs and 33 cats

Aiken County Shelter “Pets of the Week!” 
So much LOVE for so little!

BOOTSIE - 

BOOTSIE – Shepherd mix.  Young and smart enough to be your best friend!  $70 is a deal!

TINKERBELL -  13 wks. Female tabby.  Big eyes.  Cute as she looks  $35 for kitty, purr-FREE!

 

 

 

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

What Wonderful Wilma Can Teach Us

The FOTAS volunteers and County Shelter staff are pulling for Wilma because she is almost magnificent.

Big, bold, red-gold Wilma came to the shelter as a stray.  That was almost two months ago.  In addition to her seventy pounds, Wilma is young, perhaps two, and part Akita.  Wilma is our story.

On top of Jennifer’s role as FOTAS CEO, she still takes dogs out when there is a lull in volunteer activity at the shelter.  On one of these occasions, Jennifer hooked a leash on the large yellow dog and found herself “water skiing” behind the crazed animal to the exit door.   

It is routine for the FOTAS volunteer coordinators to work with dogs who have never known a leash, or had any human have any consistent expectations for their behavior.  In Wilma’s case, her strength and determination prompted Jennifer to ask the volunteers if Wilma was a problem. 

Given their response, Jennifer called Brad, a professional trainer with Palmetto Dog Club, who went out to the County Shelter to see if he could help.

Brad watched Wilma tow the experienced volunteer, Caroline, toward the door and added a large training chain to the process before leaving the building.  Once outside, when Wilma lunged for another dog, Brad stepped in.

All Wilma knew was, “If you pull me, I pull you,” so Brad made sure she did not pull, even if he had to lift her off her feet to avert traction.  When she tried to jump on him, he corrected her firmly, clearly, and calmly. Pop.

Within minutes, Wilma was looking up at Brad for her next instruction.  After twenty minutes she would heel.  He added super-calm Grover as a walk-along, and after a few pop-corrections Brad had Wilma going for a walk beside another dog.

As he walked with the volunteers, Brad explained how they could continue Wilma’s education.  By the end of their walk when Grover lay down, Wilma lay next to him.  Ultimately, Brad had both dogs with him heeling.  Wilma growled.  Pop.  She stopped.

Brad pressed Wilma really hard.  He pushed her down on the ground.  He was rude to her to see if she would be rude back.  Nothing.

“She’s not mean,” he says, “She just didn’t know anything.  Nothing.  And she has a built-in protective instinct, so with other dogs it’s like she was thinking, I’ll get you before you get me.”

Now Wilma looks for Caroline to come work with her four days a week.  Wilma walked politely past another dog in the hall, and Caroline discovered that Wilma loves to play ball. Given Wilma’s super progress Caroline marvels what could be accomplish if she were schooled every day. 

Wilma is a lot of dog, and she is not for just anyone.  But with the time, the skills, and the dedication to invest in this dog, you will produce a truly magnificent best friend and a devoted protector. 

If you are that special someone, the FOTAS Team wishes you our Wilma to love.  

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”

For June 25th thru 30th 2012  

Received:  45 dogs and 62 cats

Adopted:  6 dogs and 3 cats

Transferred:  25 dogs (A new record!)

Euthanized:  29 dogs and 53 cats

Aiken County Shelter “Pets of the Week”

 All Pets Half-Price thru July 7^th!!

WILMA - 2 yrs, 70 Lbs.  She will remain ½ price because she badly needs a special home! $35 

GROVER – Boxer, 2 yrs.  This sweet gentle boy is eager to please.  Take him home for only $70.

 

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

 

Help Us Win Free Spay/Neuter at Bark to the Park!

There are so many wonderful ways to do A Very Good Thing, but you only have six days left to pick one.  

Friends of the Animal Shelter-Aiken (FOTAS) was founded to help our Aiken County Animal Shelter become a community-centered, community supported facility with programs in which we could all take pride.  We had no idea what a huge project this initiative would become.  With the county, FOTAS is finally stewarding the building of a new shelter.  With our rescue partners and dedicated volunteers, we are expanding adoptions and transfers of our homeless pets.

 

Now, through Pawmetto Lifeline’s Bark to the Park on Saturday, TEAM FOTAS Aiken County can make a huge contribution to the County Spay/Neuter Voucher Program and help us promote  spay/neuter in the most hard to reach areas of the county.

We are counting on your support to achieve one of the top five fundraising spots for area rescues for this event.  There are several ways to help, but whichever one you choose, be certain to note that you are supporting TEAM FOTAS Aiken County:
 

Go to the FOTAS website or to this link: www.supportprojectpet.com/goto/FOTAS 

From there you have the option to:

1.     Join the team ($25/$15 under 12)

2.     Support an individual walker (any amount)

3.     Donate to the team or an individual walker for any amount.

You may write us a check and note that it is for Bark to the Park and we will submit it in your name.  It is tax deductible. If you join the team you can be a “virtual walker” or join us at Finlay Park in Columbia. Just be sure that you make it very clear that you are supporting FOTAS at Bark to the Park.  We want every dollar to count.

Herby Brown, our “new” Dog Rescue Waggin’, will be making his debut at the FOTAS booth.  A 1979 converted Airstream trailer, he has been an amazing collaborative project in the making.  We will have our county dogs available for adoption sporting their new “Adopt Me” vests.

We hope you will come out with your family and your dogs.  The walk and the festival are a blast for dog lovers.  It is barely an hour away.  Directions are available on line or contact FOTAS for more information.

If you do plan to attend, be sure to tell them when you register that you are supporting Team FOTAS Aiken County!  If you are donating, supporting a walker or participating as a virtual walker, be sure to do it as a supporter of Team FOTAS!

Finally, you can help Equine Rescue of Aiken by attending their spectacular spring fundraiser, “Buck the Film,” on Friday, April 13.  There will be a matinee and an evening showing which is accompanied by a party and silent auction. Tickets and information are available on line at  www.aikenequinerescue.com

Have a very good time doing a very good thing: Support Team FOTAS at Bark to the Park and Equine Rescue at Buck the Film.  Happy Easter!  

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

P.S. Come to the Bark to the Park Festival on Sat. APril 14th from 11 to 3 pm $10 for adults, $5 for children 5-12 yrs. Place FOTAS on your entrance waiver to show support for the Aiken County Animal Shelter and help us win free spay and neuter vouchers for Aiken County Animals.

Aiken County Animal Shelter:  “By the Numbers”

For the Week of March 26th thru April 1st 2012

Received: 36 dogs and 26 cats

Adoptions:  15 dogs and 9 cats

Euthanized:  45 dogs and 15 cats

Aiken County Animal Shelter Pets of the Week

TRIXIE – 1+ yr. Gets on great with everyone 

and loves to retrieve a ball!

 

ZENA – 3 yrs.  A sweet little gal who loves her window ledge in the sunlight