FOTAS     3/30/2012 9:33 PM   

Let's suppose that you, or someone you know, are considering adding a new dog or cat to your home, or, better yet, you have already decided. We hope that you will head out to Wire Road to the Aiken County Animal Shelter to seek that special pet. The ...

FOTAS column     1/20/2012 8:57 PM   

Herbie Brown's story began three years ago this month with the first transfer of Aiken County Shelter dogs to a no-kill shelter in New England. Since then, Mark Choper and the drivers for Fairway Horse Transport have helped FOTAS save literally hundr ...

FOTAS   Feature Column   1/8/2012 12:31 AM   

In selecting "The Officer" as the 2011 Person of the Year, the Aiken Standard's New Year's wish was "that 2012 can be a year of healing and a year of growing." The wish specifically acknowledges a community and a family stunned by tragedy and deep in ...

By BEN BAUGH   Staff writer   1/2/2012 8:57 PM   

The third annual FOTAS Hunter Pace is scheduled for Saturday at 10 a.m. at Three Runs Plantation. The event serves as a fundraiser for the Friends of the Aiken County Animal Shelter and includes a luncheon and silent auction, which will have more tha ...

Submitted article     12/24/2011 12:32 AM   

If Christmas is a time for giving peace and love special attention, then it is Christmas all year at the home of Fran and Don Bush. Many may already know Fran from Booklovers Bookstore, located in Country Square at the corner of Huntsman Drive and Hi ...

Submitted article     12/4/2011 12:31 AM   

"There is no place like home for the holidays" is our theme for the holiday season this year, borrowed from the popular Christmas song originally performed by Perry Como in 1954. The greatest joy that comes from working with our Aiken County Animal S ...

Submitted article     11/12/2011 5:41 PM   

There is an old teaching tale about four blind men who encountered an elephant. The first blind man clasped the elephant's trunk and declared, "Why an elephant is just like a fire hose!" The second blind man, running his hands around the elephant's l ...

Submitted article     11/5/2011 1:14 AM   

The volunteers who set up the site that evening fended off pessimism about the next day's weather: a front was bringing clouds, rain and chilly winds. That the sun visited, and the wind only teased, felt like a special blessing on the day of Aiken's ...

Submitted article     10/29/2011 11:32 PM   

"First, you need to know how hard it is to find a vet tech who will work in an animal shelter," was Sandy Larsen's response to the question about Lisa Temples' first three months at the Aiken County Animal Shelter. Larsen has been a shelter vet tech ...

Submitted article     10/22/2011 11:36 PM   

Oh, FOTAS, how far we have come! In June 2009, a few of us held a benefit breakfast for the Aiken County Animal Shelter. We stood in parking lots, sold tickets and made out-of-town friends buy them for bookmarks. We raised more than $2,700, our symbo ...

Submitted article     10/16/2011 1:03 AM   

When you read or hear about "The Shelter," think, "Aiken County Animal Shelter." It is located right next door to the Aiken SPCA on Wire Road. There is a big, beautiful sign at the entrance donated by a Friends of the Aiken County Animal Shelter memb ...

Submitted article     10/8/2011 9:54 PM   

A woman arrived at the FOTAS booth at the "Wild Read" Festival. She had just finished walking her dog and then a shelter dog on the "Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound" trail at the county shelter. We had five adorable shelter puppies up for adoption, two br ...

Submitted article     10/1/2011 11:51 PM   

It began with children from the neighborhood. They saw the large, golden dog tied to the front of an empty dwelling with nothing but a nylon ski rope. They saw that the rope was eating further and further into the flesh of his neck each time he lunge ...

By HALEY HUGHES   Staff writer   10/1/2011 12:31 AM   

Boulder, Colo.-based Animal Arts is studying the needs of the Aiken County Animal Shelter to determine whether it is best to proceed with an expansion or other alternatives to better serve the community and the animals that end up at the shelter. Fir ...

Submitted article     9/24/2011 6:20 PM   

Friends of the Aiken County Animal Shelter's vision is that the Aiken County Animal Shelter never has to euthanize an adoptable pet. The current euthanasia rate is about 74 percent, so it might seem like an unrealistic fantasy but FOTAS was created i ...

Submitted article     9/18/2011 12:31 AM   

Here's a letter that arrived last week: Sandy, This donation is for the Rudy Memorial Fund from Skyler (shelter name Grizzly). I met you and Rudy in May 2010, looking to adopt a shelter dog. You helped me over a couple of visits, and we settled on Gr ...

Submitted article     9/10/2011 12:30 AM   

Since Rudy's passing last week, people witnessed Whitey curled on the cat house patio looking with large aquamarine eyes at Rudy's makeshift grave. There is a message in her vigil. Rudy made his rounds daily to the patio of Cats at the Shelter (C.A.T ...

Submitted article     9/4/2011 12:31 AM   

Submitted article From FOTAS' beginning, residents of Cedar Creek were ready to dig in and help at the County Shelter. They became the heart of our adoption and transfer programs; so, in spite of increased intake, we reduced the euthanasia rate signi ...

Submitted article     8/27/2011 12:30 AM   

This week, let's look at the bright side. There's a bright side? Yes, brightness emanates from the plight of far too many abandoned, neglected and abused animals, all generated by our growing Friends of the Animal Shelter community. Let's start with ...

Submitted article     8/20/2011 11:38 PM   

When we asked Emilie why she chose to dedicate the Houndslake pool party celebrating her ninth birthday as a benefit for the Aiken County Animal Shelter, she said that she really likes animals, and 500 animals were euthanized in June and they don't h ...