“We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.”
— Immanuel Kant
Last month, a very kind couple arrived at the shelter with a litter of puppies. They explained that they had been caring for the five-week-old pups for a week or so. We were all saddened to hear that someone tied the pups in a garbage bag and left them on the side of the road, in front of the couple’s home. They would have ignored the bag, but thought they saw it moving. Carefully opening the plastic bag, the couple discovered sad, hungry, filthy puppies inside. The pups were hungry and terrified.
Who does that? Not only could the puppies have died an agonizing death but somewhere there is a mother dog mourning her missing puppies – a mama dog who likely will be having another unwanted litter in the future.
This litter was extremely lucky because the couple that found them cared. They stopped, they bathed them, and they fed them.
How often do we drive by a cardboard box or bag on the side of the road? Sadly, I now wonder how often there are puppies or kittens in that box.
As I am writing this, a nice couple walked into the shelter with a crate holding two puppies. They said they were driving and looked out their window and saw the crate with puppies in the woods. They turned their car around to investigate. Two small and social puppies sitting in a crate with a blanket looked up at them with relief in their eyes.
“I have two rescue dogs and two rescue cats…I felt bad when I saw them, they could’ve died there,” said Angela Franks.
Every day, another homeless dog or cat arrives at the shelter “damaged”. By that, I mean they come in shot, hit by a motor vehicle, tossed out of a car, or abandoned in the woods or by the road.
Staff and volunteers are continually confused as to why people would hurt or abandon an animal when there are resources around such as the Aiken County Animal Shelter (ACAS) and FOTAS. We have an easy to use site where we can post your pet to rehome at no charge. The County also offers vouchers to help assist those who cannot afford to fix their pets and FOTAS helps through our Fix a Pet program. There is absolutely no reason for the countless litters we see discarded and neglected in our community.
The shelter takes in 300 to 500 dogs and cats each month. The struggle is finding homes for all these pets and yet it is so very easy to prevent these high numbers. Kitten season is quickly approaching and the staff is already preparing by stocking up on formula, baby bottles and supplies. Soon we will have kittens coming in around the clock and never enough foster homes to bottle feed them.
We are desperate for foster homes for litters of puppies and kittens as well as foster homes for those recovering from medical procedures. If you are interested in fostering or becoming a volunteer, please contact FOTAS at info@FOTASaiken.org or stop by the ACAS.
— By Kathy Jacobs, FOTAS Programs Coordinator
