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. 

Together We Can Squeeze a Dream Out of Reality

Last Thursday, in the County Administrator’s conference room, anticipation filled every seat at the large table.  Represented was a full spectrum of stakeholders there to evaluate preliminary concepts for the new Aiken County Animal Shelter from multiple perspectives.

The architects had assimilated data from numerous site visits and meetings with shelter staff, volunteers, County Council and FOTAS representatives.  They had taken into account severe budget constraints as well as the realities of animal numbers, program demands, and the cultural pride of the Aiken County Community. 

They had researched the most cost-effective options in the field of animal holding facilities.   They were armed with the facts: what works; what constitutes a balance of efficiency and effectiveness; and how those options might converge in a wonderfully practical community animal shelter; no doubt, the last one that Aiken County will see in the lifetimes of those present.

Every perspective imaginable was represented around the table.  There were a variety of engineers, lawyers, project managers, public servants, farmers, city folk, dreamers and those with their feet firmly planted on planet Earth, and the architects.

The group addressed a creative challenge: to take all of the images and information, and then endorse a response to the stark choice facing the Aiken County community’s approach to animal control. 

If you look at last month’s figures (“By the Numbers”), the seriousness of this issue is apparent.  With the exception of feral cats, all animals coming into the shelter must be held for five days.  The shelter was designed to hold 100 animals and 623 came in.  With those numbers, humane obligations like segregation for vicious animals or quarantine for sick animals become a sardonic joke.

Therefore, the factors driving the choice of design concept for the new County Animal Shelter were:

·       Will it be able to humanely address the county’s animal control obligations?

·       Can staffing level operate it effectively?

·       Is the design the most efficient to operate (i.e. utilities and work-flow)?

·       Will it enable necessary program support (spay/neuter, foster, transfer, volunteer)?

·       Will the Aiken County Community embrace it and get involved?

·       Can we afford it?

Thirteen people stayed in the room for three hours discussing the alternatives from these perspectives.  The final decision was unanimous, because it was the best decision.  This team, working together, taking a phased approach, can squeeze a dream out of reality.

Established fact says that if you build a basic, humane, public shelter, the animals will be more adoptable and the community will be more involved in their care.

Our new public shelter is blessed with a lovely tree-filled site, big enough for walking trails, park benches and ball-tosses.  Mother Nature will assist with shade, fresh air and sunlight for a variety of spaces in the “Phase I” design.

We will start with the bare essentials and build from there.  One day, the Aiken County Animal Shelter will be a place where all the two- and four-legged creatures that can, leave better than when they arrived.  

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 2012”

Citizen drop-off:  209 cats & 182 dogs

Officer pick-ups:   73 cats & 149 dogs

Adoptions/ Transfers:  26 cats & 35/45 dogs

Euthanized: 294 cats and 264 dogs or 91%!!!

SASHA- gorgeous ragdoll.  Young, spayed and yours for only $35!

Aiken County Shelter “Pets of the Week”  
Half-Price Special goes until July 7^th!

WILMA- 2 yrs. Big, affectionate and a great watch dog!  Half-price at $35! Take her home!

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

New Year's Wish From FOTAS!

 Here are our 2012 wishes for YOU.

May you ALWAYS make the right move

 

  

May your cup runneth over with love

 

MAY YOU ALWAYS FIND SHELTER FROM ANY STORM

May you remain good looking and looking good.

May you find the perfect diet for your body and your soul.

May you find perfect balance in the company you keep.

May you have as much fun as you can before someone makes you stop.

May the worst thing that happens to you come in slobbery pink and furry TAN.

May you manage to MAKE time for Time Out!

May all the new folks you meet be interesting and kind.

 

May you always know when to walk away... And when to RUN!

 

AND MAY YOUR FRIENDS & FAMILY ALWAYS BRING YOU JOY

May this time only hold good health, peace, prosperity and happiness for YOU and your loved ones and continue in the New Year 2012!

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

What Does Thankful Mean?

Nine dogs were gathered in a large sunlit room on Thanksgiving Day:  Ziggy, a big black Labrador; Zoe Peach, also Lab, yellow and huge; Percy a chubby panda; Pippi, nervous-nellie of poodle extraction; Peedee, a ditch-dog, one blue, one brown eye, and peanut brown coat full of dinks and scars; Rudy, blond shaggy sheepdog; then the babies, three-legged Nemo and Dora the intrepid Beagle, both four months old and rambunctious; and finally, old man Snoopy, one day out of the shelter with dreams of a forever home.

The dogs’ human guardians had taken them for a good run and gone to the Thanksgiving Day Blessing for another special pack of canines with an important job in that very sacred place called Hitchcock Woods. 

Ziggy started it when he gave a big rumbling sigh as he stretched long on the bed and said, “I wonder what it all means, thanks-giving?  Or Blessing?”

Zoe, too lazy to lift her head, her stomach full of breakfast and no treats in the offing, just heaved a big bored sigh, as if to say, “Who cares?”

Eight years earlier, Ziggy, then Zoe, had come as tiny puppies straight from their mothers to the home they now shared.  But the other seven dogs all looked at Ziggy in wonder, then at each other with knowing.

Pippi and Percy were thinking of how they had been left outdoors until their coats matted and bleached in the southern heat holding fleas and filth next to their tormented skin. 

“I give thanks for the groomer, even if she makes me smell funny.  A good roll takes care of that!” Pippi said, she and Percy trying to forget the meaning of neglect. 

“You would have to know what real hunger is,” said Peedee.  He had been found in the road, all eyes, bones and vermin.  The hair had never returned to the places where the ticks had been detached.  He had to learn how to eat like a dog who could count on another meal.

“I remember the way her eyes lit up when she saw me in the shelter cage,” mused Rudy, a dreamy romantic.  “The concrete tormented my bad hips.  Now blessed means a good doctor.”

“Me, too!” cried Nemo.  A birth defect had deprived him of a left foreleg. “I give thanks for being special and blessed with all the help I needed.”  

“I almost died!” squealed Dora, who had been a tiny sick orphan abandoned at the shelter, passed into foster care, then severely injured.  Her battle with pneumonia had lasted more than a month.

Snoopy was quiet.  He had just been brought from the shelter the day before.  He knew the softness of the bed.  The food was plentiful and good.  It was quiet.  He could go out whenever  he needed.  The smell of the Woods still filled his brain. 

“Thanksgiving means being grateful for this home,” he told Ziggy, “And I pray you never lose it.  It is you all who are blessed.”

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 Nov. 14th thru 20th    

Dogs taken in: 58

Cats taken in: 19

Dogs adopted: 12

Cats adopted: 2

Dogs euthanized: 22

Cats euthanized: 18

Aiken County Shelter “Pets of the Week”

SNOW – What a perfect addition to the holidays.  Snow!  Only $20 and he’s yours!

JEWEL – 6 YRS.  A blue-and-brown-eyed special pet who had to be left behind in a move.  Please give her back a loving home.

 

Lisa is One in a Million and We Have Her at Our County Shelter

“First, you need to know how hard it is to find a vet tech who will work in an animal shelter,” was Sandy Larsen’s response to the question about Lisa’s first three months at the Aiken County Shelter.  Sandy has been a shelter vet tech for 30 years.

Sandy was frank about the reason; it’s all the animals that they have to euthanized.  Then of course they have to work most weekends, and the nature of that work has a component of unremitting chaos.

Lisa Temples started her job as the other veterinary technician with the County Shelter the beginning of August.  

Lisa represents another example of the magic at work among those who have taken on the challenge of creating an Aiken County Animal Services Department that represents the pride and responsibility we take in our community.  In addition to an adequate shelter facility, that means people who are willing and able to do one of the most emotionally stressful jobs any animal-lover could imagine.

Lisa has been around animals her whole life.  Her grandfather raised beagles and her family had emus, and other exotic critters. She and her husband have two dogs.

In her interview, Lisa was asked about her attitude towards euthanasia, a responsibility that came with the position.  She had been working at a nursing facility while getting her vet tech certification, so she was no stranger to death, but now she was going to be its agent.

She couldn’t like it, but she could do it, was her response. 

Lisa was also willing to drive the 20 miles to work from Leesville every day.  She’d ruffled feathers at a previous job for being early, so it is no surprise that she will be in the parking lot at 7:45 ready to begin work at 8:00.

Lisa is not all that interested in talking about herself, but she has a wonderful way with the public.  People who get her on the phone can sense that they have someone on the other end of the line who is prepared to help.  Just last week her boss, Bobby Arthurs, got a letter of commendation and appreciation for just such service. 

Jan, the dispatcher notices that Lisa is always busy.  When she finishes one task, she immediately looks for something else to do, even if it was something from which one of her co-workers was pulled away.

Sandy says that for the first time in her working memory she feels like she can go away on vacation, because Lisa is there.  That is after being in the job for three months, in a county facility that is too small to serve even the most basic of its functions effectively.

 

Lisa Temples is everything we need and more than we deserve under current working conditions.  With her contribution to an esprit de corps among the staff, which is miraculous in that environment, one can only imagine how it will be in an adequate facility. 

FOTAS invites you to join the team.

FOTAS Volunteers work with the AIKEN COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER to help the abandoned animals from Aiken and Edgefield Counties in SC, 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 October 17th thru 23rd   

Dogs taken in: 79

Cats taken in: 38                        

Dogs adopted: 11

Cats adopted: 0

Dogs euthanized: 54

Cats euthanized: 42

Aiken County Shelter “Pets of the Week”

BRAVO

 3 yrs old charming gentleman.   

Only $35 includes shots & microchip.

 

DUTCHESS 

Bassett 1yr, 40 lbs. 

Sweet and gentle.

 

Top 10 Spay/Neuter Myths

Reprint from the ARFF Website (Animal Rights Foundation of Florida)

Top 10 Spay/Neuter Myths
 
10. Spaying/neutering my dog or cat will change her/his personality.
Spaying or neutering your animal will make him/her less frustrated and more tranquil. Two changes for the better! 

9. Spaying/neutering my animal will make her/him fat and lazy.
Too much food and not enough exercise will cause weight gain, spaying/neutering will not!

8. A female dog should have at least one litter for health reasons.
There is just no scientific evidence to back this claim. Instead, the research shows that spaying your dog/cat greatly reduces the risk of uterine and ovarian cancer and uterine infection, which are common occurrences in unspayed females.

7. I couldn’t look my animal in the eye if I had her/him spayed/neutered.
Your animal will be able to look you in the eyes for a lot longer if she/he is spayed/neutered. Spayed/neutered animals on average live longer!

6. It’s not natural.
Maybe. But, the bigger concern has to be the hundreds of thousands of animals being killed at shelters because there simply are not enough homes for all of them. Think birth control v. killing unwanted puppies and kittens.

5. My dog/cat is so cute and unique; there should be more of her/him.
Animal shelters are full of cute and unique dogs and cats, most with only a few days left to live. If you think you can help find homes for animals, PLEASE, volunteer with your local shelter and help find homes for those who are already here.

4. I want the children to witness the miracle of birth.
There are many excellent videos on the subject that won’t result in adding yet another litter to the existing population of homeless dogs and cats in our community.

3. We will find homes for all the puppies/kittens.
Do you really know where your animal’s offspring are? And the offspring’s offspring are? The current companion animal overpopulation crises demands that we halt the breeding of dogs and cats until we can find homes for those who are already here.

2. My dog/cat doesn’t run loose, so she/he doesn’t need to be fixed.
Murphy’s Law says otherwise— anything that can go wrong will. Please don’t let your dog or cat be a possible number in the companion animal overpopulation equation. Be certain. Spay/neuter.

1. Just one litter won’t hurt.
An unaltered female dog, her mate, and all of their puppies and their puppies puppies, if none are ever spayed or neutered, add up to 16 dogs in 1 year; 128 in 2 years; 512 in 3 years; 2,048 in 4 years; 12,288 in 5 years; and 67,000 in 6 years (similar numbers apply to cats.)

(information from SpayUSA.).