Category Archives: Cats

FOTAS Transfer Program is Vital to Our Mission

FOTAS and Aiken County have developed a network of no-kill rescue facilities in other regions of the Country that are willing and able to take the County’s Animal Shelter dogs, puppies, cats & kittens and place them in forever homes. FOTAS organizes and funds the transport of the transfer animals to the other rescue facilities […]

Community Embraces County Animal Shelter’s Saturday Hours

By Bob Gordon, FOTAS Director of Communications It is Saturday morning at the shelter, and everyone is making final preparations before the doors open at 11:30 sharp. The cats and dogs have been fed and watered, and volunteers have already walked many of the dogs before visitor traffic gets too heavy. The shelter staff and […]

Yeva, a County Shelter “Hall of Famer” speaks out for the Bully breeds

By Joanna D. Samson, FOTAS Vice President When that nice FOTAS lady, Kathy Jacobs, asked me, Yeva, a stray nobody from no place, to be a spokesperson for my kind, I was proud to be asked, because my kind are the most misunderstood and mistreated breed of the canine world: we are the bully breed […]

FOTAS partnership with PetSmart boosts shelter cat adoptions

By Bob Gordon, FOTAS Communications Director Audie Murphy, Felix, Tiffy, Avalon, Kiki, Pip and Pickles are each in their own cat carrier after being examined, vaccinated, microchipped, and given a final flea treatment. Once the pre-prepared adoption forms and other paperwork is checked over and put into folders by Aiken County Animal Shelter (ACAS) staff […]

Why you should spay or neuter your pet

By Joanna D. Samson, Vice President, FOTAS Last year, 4800 animals passed through the door of the Aiken County Animal Shelter. 3000 of those animals were saved. 1800 did not leave the Shelter alive. The vast majority of these animals did nothing wrong. They were victims of owners who brought them into this world and […]

Labor of love, Part 3: You can make a difference

By Joanna D. Samson, FOTAS Vice President Here’s what I know about you: you have a big heart and you love animals (or you wouldn’t be reading this article). You probably have pets at home – maybe a dog or cat or two or more – and those pets bring you and your family great […]

Strictly a labor of love, part 2: Volunteering at the shelter

By Joanna Dunn Samson, Vice President of FOTAS Caroline Simonson and Sandra Proctor walk dogs at the Aiken County Animal Shelter four times a week, as does Ellie Joos, who works with the shelter’s energetic “pibbles” and organizes FOTAS on-site programs. Karen DeCamp walks dogs every Tuesday. Jerri Wesner and Rita Tregnor walk dogs every […]

Strictly a labor of love

By Joanna Dunn Samson, FOTAS Vice President Volunteering at an open admissions shelter is strictly a labor of love, particularly in a place like Aiken County where intake runs consistently between 4500 – 5000 animals every year. No one with a heart can witness the endless procession of abandoned cats and dogs without being profoundly […]

Business Community Rallies for County’s Homeless Animals

By Edie Hubler, FOTAS Director As Jeri Barrett, owner of Herbal Solutions, remembers it, a little brown and white hound dog named Mae was the spark that inspired “Hang One for the Animal Shelter”. Jeri was an exhibitor at the 2014 FOTAS Woofstock event at the Aiken County Animal Shelter. Jeri wasn’t looking for a […]

Aiken Tech Class Boosts Shelter Staff’s Value and Efficiency

By Bob Gordon, FOTAS Communications Director and Volunteer,  The Aiken County Animal Shelter’s (ACAS) staff and a small group of FOTAS foster volunteers are hitting the books hard after hours. During three-hour classes held twice a week at the shelter, staff members are reviewing PowerPoint slides, engaging in discussion, observing animal behavior and practicing their […]