Monthly Archives: October 2016

A happy day in Aiken: The FOTAS Woofstock Festival and Derby

By Joanna D. Samson, FOTAS Vice President I am, by nature, an optimistic person, but recently my cheery nature has been put to the test. The nastiness of the presidential election is depressing. The violence in the Middle East is escalating. North Carolina pig farms are polluting the environment. Cholera has broken out in Haiti. […]

Falling in love with a heartworm positive dog

By Joanna D. Samson, FOTAS Vice President You and your family have made a decision: you are ready for a new dog, and you want to adopt your new best friend from the Aiken County Animal Shelter. You visit the Shelter and walk through the adoption pods with a staff member or a FOTAS volunteer. […]

The Hurricane Season

By Joanna D. Samson, Vice President of FOTAS By the time it hit the South Carolina Coast, Hurricane Matthew had been downgraded from a Category 5 to a Category 2 storm; but the 85 mph winds, 10-14 inches of rainfall and extraordinarily high storm surges nevertheless created life-threatening conditions and caused the wide-spread destruction of […]

Why am I here? What did I do?

By Joanna D. Samson, FOTAS Vice President Yesterday, I had a home. I had you. Today I am in a kennel in a place where there are so many other dogs. I can see dogs in the kennels across from me, but I can hear so many more. I can smell their fear and anxiety. […]

Miles to go before we sleep

By Joanna D. Samson, V.P. of FOTAS On Sunday morning, Sept. 2 the sun broke through the clouds, adding heat to an already steamy morning. I arrived at the Aiken County Animal Shelter to help walk dogs, and I was delighted to see so many volunteers at work. There were dogs on leashes, dogs in the […]