On July 29, 2009, the South Carolina Secretary of State officially approved FOTAS as a charitable nonprofit organization dedicated to the care of the homeless, abandoned, and abused animals consigned to the County Shelter, kicking off the beginning of an extraordinary public/private partnership with the county and a new, comprehensive approach to caring for homeless animals. It was a massive undertaking. At the time, more than 6,000 animals a year passed through the doors of the county’s tiny, antiquated shelter. Only 5% made it out alive.
All of that has changed in the past 11 years. With the opening of the new shelter in 2014, the FOTAS/county partnership solidified and blossomed. FOTAS volunteers are an integral part of the shelter’s operations (it is estimated that FOTAS volunteers provide the equivalent of ten full-time positions). FOTAS donations supplement the shelter’s budget and programs and provide supplies such as leashes, toys, flea and tick prevention, and medicine for heartworm positive dogs. FOTAS has created a network of transfer partners in other parts of the country (where kennels are empty because everyone fixes their pets) where we send dogs (and pay the incurred transport costs) who could not find homes locally. The transfer program saves thousands of animals every year.
We also attack the problem of overpopulation of homeless pets. FOTAS supplements the county’s spay/neuter financial assistance program for county residents who need it, as well as funds to support the TNR (Trap Neuter Return) program to address the problems of community cats. We hire a mobile spay/neuter van to go to hot-spot areas around the county (the FIDO Fix-a-Pet program) to provide free spay/neuter surgeries for citizens who need financial assistance.
Our Home-to-Home program allows folks who can no longer care for their pets to use the power of our social media to find loving homes without subjecting their beloved pets to the trauma of surrender to the shelter (it’s been a huge success during the COVID crisis!) FOTAS works with Animal Control to provide dog houses and humane runners for dogs who are tethered to chains, as well as dog food and other supplies to help folks in a bind.
FOTAS also helps with the improvement of the physical facilities at the shelter. In addition to funding the medical wellness and isolation pod for animals with curable infectious ailments, plans are currently underway for a building that will house two, much needed adoption rooms and a training area.
In 2017, FOTAS was one of ten (out of 14,000) charitable organizations to be awarded the Angel Award by the Secretary of State, which recognizes the most efficient and effective nonprofits in the state. Plus, for the second year in a row, FOTAS and our signature event, Woofstock, received the Aiken Standard Choice Best of Aiken Award.
We have managed to do all of this with only one paid staff member and an army of volunteers. Has it worked? You bet it has. For the past two years, FOTAS and the county achieved their goal of not having to euthanize any adoptable pet.
None of this would have been possible without you, the generous Aiken community, who have donated your time and money and welcomed shelter animals into your hearts and homes.
Thank you and God Bless. Stay safe.
–By Joanna D. Samson, FOTAS Vice President
