Category Archives: Adoption

Adoption, Cats, Dogs, Volunteer

War Stories and the Heartbreaking Sounds of Surrendered Animals

Posted on by Angel Hartline
09
Jun

By Joanna Dunn Samson, FOTAS Director

Summer is a hard time for the Aiken County Animal Shelter. Aside from the beastly heat, the number of animals at the shelter skyrockets during the summer.

This summer is no exception. Last Wednesday, by 3:00 in the afternoon, eight surrendered animals were lined up in crates outside the intake building waiting for a space to open up. It was 95 degrees outside.

Inside, up to 5 dogs are housed in one kennel run in the intake wing because the intake numbers are so high. The shelter accepted 534 animals in may, and the June numbers will be equally as dismal.

Where do they come from? From the County, the City, Edgefield county, occasionally private rescue agencies already filled to capacity, but primarily, they come from private citizens. In May alone, 322 animals were citizen-surrendered—twice as many as in the winter months.

Why so many surrenders this time of year? Are you ready for this?

Vacations! Can you believe it? There are people in this world who choose to surrender their pets to the county shelter when they go on vacation—people who consign their confused and trusting pets to the stress of a shelter environment and an uncertain future—rather than make proper arrangements for their care.

I am haunted by this callous disregard for the welfare of helpless animals.

No question, the solution to this gross overcrowding is to reduce overpopulation through a rigorous spay/neuter program.

Experts estimate that 75% of the pet population must be spayed/neutered in order to see a significant reduction in intake numbers. For that reason, fotas focuses its spay/neuter activities in Wagener, which is a county hot spot for overpopulation, and will continue to do so until we see a difference in the numbers.

Moreover, the county allocates $30,000 for low cost spay/neuter vouchers, and FOTAS supplements that program as well. FOTAS has also raised approximately $20,000 for spay/neuter services through its Woofstock festival and the SPCA’s twilight walk.

In the past 18 months, FOTAS paid the SPCA – Albrecht Center approximately $20,000 to spay and neuter 292 citizen-owned cats and dogs and 238 community cats in its state-of-the-art clinic.

Is it enough? Of course not—it’s never enough. But here’s the thing.

Someone has to be responsible for the 4800 unwanted animals that end up at the county shelter each year, and that someone is the county, with the help of FOTAS.

The county shelter does not have the luxury of refusing to accept an animal because it doesn’t have enough room. Paid for with taxpayer dollars, it has a legal obligation to accept all comers. Quite frankly, it feels like sweeping back the ocean with a broom.

Although the County and FOTAS are making great strides in saving more animals and reducing the euthanasia rate, until rampant overpopulation is checked and the appalling intake numbers come down, our goal of never having to euthanize another adoptable animal is out of reach.

How can you help?

Volunteer at the shelter.

Foster dogs and puppies until they can be weaned and rehomed.

Make a tax-free donation to the cause at www.Fotasaiken.Org.

Most of all: adopt one of the deserving animals in the adoption wing. For every animal you adopt, you save two lives—the pet you adopted and the pet that can be moved to the adoption floor from intake.

Plus, if you adopt before July 28, adoption fees have been reduced by half —$35 for dogs and $17 for cats—so come on over.

PETS OF THE WEEK:

Gina American Bulldog—female, 2 yrs old, 38 lbs. Only $35 

Clark Catahoula Leopoard Dog—male, 2 yrs old, 45 lbs. Only $35

Adoption, Cats, News

What Would the Fox Say?

Posted on by Angel Hartline
09
Jun

by Edie Hubler, FOTAS Director

Okay, okay, this is a column that’s supposed to be about dogs and cats, not foxes. But I had to get your attention, didn’t I. So my article’s title is really “What would the cat say?”

Have you ever thought about why people like cats? Well, I asked one of our current feline residents of the C.A.T.S. (Cats at the Shelter) House at the Aiken County Animal Shelter to give me some reasons. Her name is Trixie, a female tabby, currently looking for her FURever home, but she agreed to be interviewed and is glad to share her thoughts with you:

Cats are cute, cuddly and affectionate (and I am too.) Agnes Bye, Ellie Joos and Carleen Overman, three FOTAS volunteers, visit me and my other cat friends here at the Shelter a lot. They think we are “the cat’s meow.”

Speaking of meow, that’s how we talk. Plus we purr and we chir. We learned to do these things when we snuggled up against our mamas while nursing, during kittenhood. We think of our human adopters as substitute parents. So we’ll purr, chir and meow to them too.

We are great hunters, and sometimes we will bring you a gift of our prey (or a really good cat toy). We like to be praised, just like our humans do.

We also know that sometimes our humans need to be taken care of, so we give them love and treat them like our kittens.

We love to take naps, and someone famous (the writer here told me it was William Lyon Phelps) once said “A cat pours his body on the floor like water. It is restful just to see him.” Yep, and that brings me to the fact that owning a cat often reduces the human owners’ stress level, improves mood, reduces loneliness. Humans tell us it’s very relaxing to sit quietly with a cat, petting and listening to us purr.

We don’t need to be entertained as we are inquisitive — we are quite capable of entertaining ourselves. All we need is a simple piece of string, a feather, an empty box, a cotton ball, an open washing machine, a flushing toilet, squirrels that I can see from the window — we are very curious and much fun to watch.

Many famous people are/were cat lovers—like Marlon Brando, Robert E. Lee, Marie Antoinette, Vanna White, John Lennon, Mark Twain, Cee Lo Green, George W. Bush, Katy Perry, Abe Lincoln and Martha Stewart.

We are meticulous and keep ourselves clean. I could go on and on, but I need to turn this space back to the writer.

Thank you Trixie for selling us on the joys of cat ownership. She didn’t tell you also that by adopting a cat, you would be saving a life. That should make you feel good too!

Here is an offer you can’t refuse — this week (June 15 – June 21) you can adopt a cat from the Aiken County Animal Shelter (333 Wire Road) for just $9 (that is a great discount from our usual $35 fee) — the promotion is called 9 Lives for $9 and we are participating along with many other shelters across the United States. The promotion is supported by the national animal welfare organization Best Friends Animal Society and the Best Friends’ No More Homeless Pets Network, of which FOTAS is a member. $9 covers shots and spay/neuter.

And don’t forget, today is Father’s Day — it’s never too late to honor your dad with another special gift.

And to you—stay cool/be cool, adopt a cat (or two.)

For more information, email info@angelhartlinedesigns.com or visit www.fotasaiken.org

FOTAS Volunteers work with the AIKEN COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER, 333 Wire Road.  For more information, contact “info@angelhartlinedesigns.com” or visit FOTAS on line at www.fotasaiken.org.

AIKEN COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER: “BY THE NUMBERS”

Correction to statistics in last week’s edition:

First Four months of 2014 (January – April):
Received 1088 animals (733 dogs and 355 cats)
Adopted/Transferred 572 animals (521 dogs and 51 cats)
Euthanized 616 animals (308 dogs and 308 cats)

AIKEN COUNTY SHELTER “PETS OF THE WEEK”
**All adoption fees include:  spay/neuter, heartworm test, all shots, worming, and microchip.

GEORGIA — American bulldog, female, 3 yrs old, 37 lbs. Only $70

OREO — Domestic short hair—male—9.5 lbs. Only $9

Adoption, News

Back in Black: the Beauty of a Black Pet

Posted on by Angel Hartline
09
Jun

by Joanna Dunn Samson, FOTAS Director

Black is the chicest of colors. Coco Chanel once said, “A woman needs just three things; a black dress, a black sweater, and on her arm, a man she loves.” Gianni Versace said, “Black is the quintessence of simplicity and elegance.”

The black robes of a judge symbolize morality and justice.

The black robes of priests and pastors symbolize a connection with God.

In the 1960’s, a new generation of young people challenged conventional ways of thinking, and black became the color of individuality and intellectual rebellion.

Black is an artistic color. “Black is a force,” said impressionist painter Henri Matisse, who said he always chose black when he didn’t know what color to lay down on the canvas.

So if black symbolizes elegance, simplicity, justice, spirituality and art, then how come black dogs and cats take 4 times longer to be adopted from a shelter than their lighter counterparts?

The rescue world calls it “Black Dog Syndrome,” a well-known, but little understood, phenomenon. Black dogs and cats are often passed over by potential adopters for a variety of relatively vague reasons, like indistinct facial features and “generic” body types – issues compounded by poor lighting in many shelters – and size: large black dogs are even harder to adopt out.

Here’s an even more perplexing fact: a large majority of the black dogs at shelters who do not get adopted are Labrador retriever crosses, yet year after year, Labs top the list of the most popular breeds in the country. They are friendly, playful and promiscuous in their love of humans. They are goofy, good-tempered animals – an excellent choice for families with children.

Here’s another fact: the traditional black Lab is far and away the most popular and prevalent color of the breed – possessing sleek, muscular bodies that shine like polished ebony.

So why do black lab mixed breeds endowed with the same admirable and lovable qualities have so much trouble finding forever homes?

It makes no sense. Take a tour of any animal shelter, including the Aiken County shelter, and you will often find medium to medium-large sized Lab crosses with bubbly, affectionate personalities, just waiting for a family to love, entertain and protect.

Black dogs and cats are victims of an irrational prejudice and a genetic formula that determines color. Despite negative portrayals in literature and ancient folklore (think black cats and witches or the black hounds of hell), there is not a shred of evidence that black dogs are more aggressive or untrustworthy than their lighter colored brethren. Ninety-nine percent of the time, aggression is a function of abuse and poor training – not a function of color.

FOTAS is a network member of the Best Friends Animal Society, which is dedicated to rehoming shelter animals all over the country, and Best Friends has designated the month of May as national “Back in Black” month.

In honor of this national promotion, the Aiken County Animal Shelter has reduced adoption fees for black dogs to $33 and for black cats to $13 through May 31. This fee covers spaying and neutering, all necessary vaccinations and microchipping.

Two black Shelter puppies, Brooke and Logan, were recently adopted by this young woman and her mother. Why don’t you come on over to the Aiken County Animal Shelter like they did and take home your next best friend. By the end of the day, you will be snuggled up on the couch watching American Idol with a happy black bundle of pure love.

AIKEN COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER: “BY THE NUMBERS”

May 5, 2014 – May 10, 2014
25 dogs and 10 cats  SAVED

Year to Date:
351 terrific pets  SAVED