FOTAS News

FOTAS and USC Aiken Partner on Program that Helps Save Shelter Dogs’ Lives

When you take Dr. Meredith Elzy’s Behavior Modification class at USC Aiken, not only do you learn the key concepts of this psychology therapy in a regular classroom setting, but you also make weekly visits to the Aiken County Animal Shelter to learn how to train homeless dogs. “My role is taking what students are […]

Junior FOTAS Students Prove our Future Looks Good

Last year, a new after school program called Junior FOTAS was started by students at Tall Pines STEM Academy. Two teachers assist the students, including their language arts teacher, Mrs. Busby, who is passionate about helping shelter pets and a FOTAS volunteer, and their math teacher, Mrs. Mastromonico, who’s adopted pets from the shelter and […]

Leadership & Teamwork Make FOTAS Golf Tourney a Signature Event

FOTAS just held its Fifth Annual Playing Fore the Pets Golf Tournament and Helicopter Ball Drop on Oct. 1. The event was bigger than ever, with 176 golfers participating in the tournament and 996 ball drop raffle tickets sold. In just five years, this special event has become the biggest FOTAS fundraiser of the year. […]

Life after Chains

Skye, Queenie, King and Polo: what do these dogs have in common? They are all pit-crosses. They were skinny and dirty, their coats scruffy. None had been spayed or neutered. The females were bred indiscriminately; how many times is anyone’s guess. Three of them tested positive for heartworms. All four dogs were chained to stationary […]

Love Is in the Air at the Aiken County Animal Shelter

Sandra Procter, one of FOTAS’s first volunteers, was walking her favorite dog, Stanley, on the Aiken County Animal Shelter’s trails this week. She stopped to pet Stanley and praise him for his good behavior. As she enjoyed this warm moment with the young Retriever mix, Sandra looked around her and saw something that really touched […]

Aiken PetSmart Cats Get Care and Comfort from FOTAS Volunteers

“I like their purring – I love that sound,” says FOTAS PetSmart Volunteer Twylia Stewart as she strokes the fur of Kendi, a male black kitten who’s just arrived from the Aiken County Animal Shelter. “I also think they sometimes don’t get as much attention from people as dogs do. Everybody loves dogs, including me, […]

Shorter Stray Hold Requirement Will Reduce Kennel Stress

It’s Friday, August 24th and the Aiken County Animal Shelter is full. I make my way to Intake to check out the new arrivals. There are so many in all shapes and sizes: fluffy, shiny, furless, battered, blonde, red and black. They are scared and anxious. It breaks my heart. Near the back in #28, a […]

County and FOTAS Work Together to Keep Dogs Off Chains

The County, FOTAS and other concerned citizens worked together for months to pass a tethering ordinance. Many animal cruelty and neglect cases include dogs permanently attached to heavy chains that limit their mobility and access to food, water and shade or escape from their own waste. But little could be done to prevent people from […]

Abandoned Shelter Dog Now Comforts People in Need

Beth and Gary Bode adopted Buck, a two-year-old Retriever mix, from the Aiken County Animal Shelter (ACAS) nine months ago on Halloween. They had lost both of their chocolate Labs to age-related maladies in 2015 and weren’t sure they were ready to go through the pain of loss again. But there was something special about […]

Feline FIV is a Virus, Not a Death Sentence

Each day as I finish my rounds at the shelter, I leave a list of things to be done for our team of veterinary assistants (three of the hardest workers on the planet!) that includes testing our newest cat residents for Feline Leukemia (FeLV) and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV).  When I come in the next […]