I remember March 2, 2014 as clearly as it was yesterday. On that sunny Spring day, Bobby Arthurs, the Manager of the Aiken County Animal Shelter, and a group of FOTAS volunteers walked every single dog from the dark, crowded old shelter to the newly constructed, large, airy shelter a block away. It was a miracle five years in the making—one made possible by FOTAS, a committed County Council, and the full-throated opinion of the Aiken community that the county’s 6000+ homeless animals must have a humane, clean shelter and a chance for a second life.
So many good things have happened in the eleven years since. The new shelter was the first step—the next step required the establishment of life-saving programs to take desperate, anxious, withdrawn, lonely animals and prepare them, mentally and physically, for a new life.
This was no easy task, but FOTAS got to work. An army of FOTAS volunteers descend on the shelter virtually every day to make certain those animals get out of their kennels, walked, and a little love. In 2018, FOTAS funded a medical isolation building. In 2023, FOTAS funded the PAWS building for training, education, and quiet meet-and-greet room for animals and prospective adopters.
The list of FOTAS life-saving programs is long: additional medical care when needed, medical equipment, heartworm treatments, assisting the county with its Trap/Neuter/Return program to reduce the population of community cats, a transfer program to supplement local adoptions, supplemental funding for the county’s spay/neuter vouchers, monthly pet food drives to help citizens in need, a Home-to-Home Program to help owners re-home rather than surrender their pets to the shelter, and training for staff and volunteers to run organized play groups to reduce canine anxiety.
None of this would be possible without FOTAS and its volunteers, County Council, the terrific shelter staff, and you, the Aiken community. Has it made a difference?
It has. Prior to that memorable moving day in March, the shelter took in 6000+ animals/year and euthanized 95% of them. Last year, every adoptable animal was saved. Shelter intake was 5022; 90% were SAVED.
But our work is not done. The high save rate is based on a fragile animal welfare system that depends on generous donations, available county funding, reliable transfer programs, and lots of unpaid volunteers. If a serious natural or financial disaster occurs that significantly affects any one of those things, the 90% save rate will be in jeopardy so long as the shelter’s intake numbers are so high.
What’s the best way to protect the system from future failure?
Reduce the number of animals coming into the shelter. Period. Full Stop.
How do we do that?
Build a dedicated spay/neuter clinic to serve Aiken County. That’s the only way.
Why? Because Aiken county—like everyplace else in the country—is experiencing a critical shortage of low cost spay/neuter is services.
Ambitious?
Yes—but forward-thinking Aiken County Council is meeting the challenge. Using the proceeds from the one-penny sales tax, the County intends to construct and operate its own clinic to make critically needed spay/neuter services easily accessible and affordable for all county residents.
Hallelujah! Stay tuned as the planning and development of the clinic evolves. We’ll keep you posted.
Their lives are in our hands.
Joanna Dunn Samson, FOTAS Vice Chairman