Animal groups to get $600,000Partnership with ASPCA aimed at saving area's unwanted pets By Jenny Peterson (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Surrounded by dogs of all shapes and sizes, local animal welfare groups gathered Tuesday at the Charleston Animal Society shelter in North Charleston to accept a $600,000 pledge to help save more abandoned and unwanted pets. 
Melissa Haneline Charleston Animal Society Associate Director Kym Kittle says goodbye to Maggie, a 6-month-old Shih Tzu that was going home with North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey for possible adoption Tuesday after a news conference at the Charleston Animal Society on Remount Road. The money, presented by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, will be used to help increase area shelter adoption rates by 10 percent within a year and reach a 75 percent save rate by 2011. "This is not smoke and mirrors" said ASPCA President Ed Sayers. "These are real numbers the community can be accountable to." Charleston County is the eighth community in the nation to partner with the ASPCA on its "Mission: Orange" campaign. The $600,000 can be used in a number of ways, including increasing adoption efforts, offering incentives for spaying and neutering and educating the public about the 10,668 homeless pets that local shelters took in last year alone. As part of the campaign, the ASPCA has sent a team of six employees to Charleston County to help determine which areas need the most work. "The concept is like training wheels. The idea is that you give the community the tools (it needs)," Sayers said, after the presentation. More infoTo learn more about "Mission: Orange," go to aspca.org. "It's unconscionable to have the thousands of animals killed every year," Charleston Mayor Joe Riley said. "We will be a model for the rest of the country." North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey spoke from a personal standpoint. "I came here last time and left with a dog," he said. "All of us working together will make this community even better." A small, black dog sat on his lap, which Summey later took with him for possible adoption. Mount Pleasant Mayor Harry Hallman and County Councilwoman Colleen Condon also spoke at the event. Carol Linville, founder of Pet Helpers, a no-kill animal shelter in James Island, said she wants to exceed the goals set out in the campaign. Sayers said the color orange in the campaign symbolizes how the participating agencies are "looking out" for the animals, like how people look out for an orange cone or orange flag. "We are their voice," he said. "We are their lookouts." Campaign goals The "Mission: Orange" campaign aims to increase the shelter adoption rate by 10 percent within a year and move toward a 75 percent "save rate" by 2011. Ways the money can be used to reach these goals include: -- Increasing adoption efforts. -- Helping with the cost of spaying and neutering. -- Transporting animals to other communities that have a larger demand for adoption. -- Enhancing identification methods by making microchips available. -- Increasing adoption marketing campaigns. -- Encouraging regional animal shelters to spay and neuter animals prior to adoption. |
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Comments
This article has 10 comment(s)
Posted by RTC on April 23, 2008 at 8:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Hopefully they will fire the rude employees and hire individuals with some decent communication skills.
I have had so many people tell me that the people at the shelter were nasty to them, and made it look like they were doing them a big favor by allowing them to adopt a pet.
Posted by TP on April 23, 2008 at 9:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)
That's a shame about the rude employees, but for some reason i'm not surprised. I always recommend Pet Helper's on Folly Road. Good people over there.
Posted by majorjohnson on April 23, 2008 at 10:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I tried to get a red-bone hound there once. I live on 26 acres in the country, and they asked if I would use the dog for hunting. I said I hunt but have never used dogs, but if he showed signs of being a good rabbit dog I might let him. That was the end of me getting that dog. They not only don't approve of hunting with dogs, they don't approve of hunting period and don't give dogs to anyone who admits that they hunt.
Posted by blondjes on April 23, 2008 at 10:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree that they can be rude, when i adopted my cat squirt, they started lecturing me that cats live a long time and are a commitment, i'm an adult and not an idiot! they were talking to me like i was a stupid kid, how about asking me first if i ever had a cat and if i have any quesitons before they start lecturing me, they need some customer service training, if they got some i bet more animals would be adopted, majorjohnson i think thats discrimination that they didn't let you adopt, that dog could have been roaming 26 acres but is probably still in a cage because it might catch a rabbit and they think thats better?, ridiculous!
Posted by RTC on April 23, 2008 at 10:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
That's just wrong, major. Would they rather have the animal be euthanized or given to someone that will give it a good home? I've never seen a dog that wasn't happy with plenty of acreage in which to romp. What do they think hounds love to do? They aren't lap dogs that's for sure.
Posted by forget on April 23, 2008 at 1:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Tried to get a dog from there once. Was told that I had an "unsatisfactory" home for a pet. And that maybe a 10 yr old in the house is not that great an idea. I own my home and have a large fenced yard. But I also work, and I was told that I couldn't leave the child , oops - DOG, unattended until 2:30 in the afternoon when the 10 yr old got home. I also had a lab at the house that they wanted the vet records for. I would have understood if this was a rescued pit bull or something, but it was a daschund/chihuahua mix. So they informed me in front of 15 other people standing around that my application for a pet had been declined. I've bought houses, cars, furniture, etc. and have never been declined before. But I can't have a homeless mutt???
Posted by suec on April 23, 2008 at 3:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I never had a problen with SPCA except for once we wanted ot adopt a kitten. We had to wait until after halloween becuase it was black and they have had problems with satanic cults and pranksters around that time of year. I have adopted several cats there over the years and never had a problem.
Pet Helpers, on the other hand, would not let me adopt a cat becuase I only wanted one and it is "unhealthy for them to not have a companion". pfft whatever.
Posted by Rggr on April 23, 2008 at 4:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If you have a dog that gets out of your fenced yard and ends up there, they will tell you that you can't have your dog back without it being neutered.
Posted by Late27 on April 23, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It is unfortunate that some encountered rude employees. Those who work to save animals are mostly kind and are very serious about and committed to their work. They do not want to adopt an animal out to a home and then see it sent back to the shelter if the arrangement does not work; perhaps this is the reason for a few unhappy experiences. However, these organizations and their volunteers do a tremendous and often heart-breaking job.
I am surprised about the Pet Helpers experience; I am a volunteer there and adopted a cat and had no one tell me that. Maybe this was a cat with special needs or there was some other reason for this. These employees and volunteers have the animals best interest at heart always.
These organizations' missions are simple: to reduce the homeless animal population and to place existing homeless animals in loving, committed permanent homes.
Posted by Late27 on April 23, 2008 at 7:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It is unfortunate that some encountered rude employees. Those who work to save animals are mostly kind and are very serious about and committed to their work. They do not want to adopt an animal out to a home and then see it sent back to the shelter if the arrangement does not work; perhaps this is the reason for a few unhappy experiences. However, these organizations and their volunteers do a tremendous and often heart-breaking job.
I am surprised about the Pet Helpers experience; I am a volunteer there and adopted a cat and had no one tell me that. Maybe this was a cat with special needs or there was some other reason for this. These employees and volunteers have the animals' best interest at heart always.
These organizations' missions are simple: to reduce the homeless animal population and to place existing homeless animals in loving, committed, permanent homes.