Martha Anne Tudor’s name is mentioned at the Aiken County Animal Shelter each and every day by adopters and volunteers (her fan club).
A gifted writer and true professional, Martha Anne donates her time and talents to us whenever she can. Thanks to her effective social media posts and vast network of Facebook followers, she helps us save countless Aiken County Animal Shelter animals in need each year.
“If it’s true that your calling is where your deep gladness and the world’s deep need meet, then this is mine,” she said.
Martha Anne has a strong Facebook presence. Her page has a following that ranges over continents. She is respected and followed by a network of followers that includes medical professionals, news anchors, writers, rescues, animal advocates and thousands of animal lovers who share her posts. FOTAS checks in with her daily and we ask her to help with specific shelter animals that urgently need homes.
“My specialties are the ‘unadoptables’ — the old, blind, deaf, and amputated with the odds stacked against them,” she said. “But these posts upend those odds, and nearly every longshot I post gets a home. It’s the details of their stories that open hearts and homes.”
When we give Martha Anne homeless pets to promote, she asks me and the staff questions regarding their personality, their health, their ideal home, etc. — and then she eloquently tells their story in Facebook posts. These posts can sometimes receive hundreds upon hundreds of shares.
It is not unusual to get calls and emails from states all over the country from people who want to know more about these pets. Whether they remind them of their own or connect with the picture or the story, her posts usually get a big response.
“Without the soul-stirring photos taken by volunteers and staffers, my posts would never get read,” she said. “But what makes my words leap off the page are the poignant details of each animal’s story. Maybe a starving mama dog was found protecting her puppies in traffic during a storm; or a 10-year-old family pet is shaking and vomiting in his kennel from being disowned; or a kitten with a mangled leg is heard crying by her dead mother.”
Martha Anne’s friendship with FOTAS began in 2016, when she inquired about a County Shelter dog she wished to help: Wink, a one eyed, heartworm positive pooch. Her Facebook post reached a woman in Nantucket who flew to Aiken just to adopt Wink! This successful adoption started a cherished and successful partnership with Martha Anne that has saved many canine and feline lives.
Martha Anne works fulltime and is a devoted mother to two young women, also world changers. She answers Facebook messages day and night from people all over the world in regard to the County Shelter’s pets in need.
“In decades of rescue work, I’ve never known a team that compares to FOTAS,” she said. “There’s no time for conflict or arguments. Everyone focuses on common goals, with respect and regard for each other. The incredible results are testimonials to the teamwork, and I’m honored to be a part of it.”
Their lives are in our hands.
By Kathy Cagle, FOTAS Programs Coordinator
