FOTAS has been blessed to have many wonderful volunteers and supporters for the past 13 years. There are still volunteers helping FOTAS who started volunteering on the first day. Volunteers form an unbreakable bond and many become lifelong friends. Over time, unfortunately, FOTAS also lost some of its volunteers and supporters.
One of those lost was Stephen Briggs who died last September at the age of 85. He was a Renaissance man whose interest and support of the Aiken County Animal Shelter helped save many animals.
He was born and raised in Wisconsin and after graduating college he entered the family business of manufacturing outboard motors started by his grandfather. This work had him traveling all over the world including Europe, South America and the Middle East where he even spent two nights in a Baghdad prison.
In the mid seventies he left the corporate world when he started an import/export business and expanded to include a freight company. He beat cancer, married his second wife Doris Teeling, and then retired with Doris to Naples, Florida. Never one to sit still, he reinvented himself once again and, with an old friend, opened the highly successful Old Naples Pub and Village Pub in Naples.
Fun and adventure have always been part of Stephen’s life and so he and Doris continued to travel around the world – climbing mountains and doing all kinds of crazy things. In 2003, aged 66, he started riding horses. Stephen and Doris were driving their SUV up and down the East Coast with their two horses and four dogs when they discovered Aiken and Hitchcock Woods.
Stephen became very active in Aiken’s animal community. He had one of his dogs, Serena, receive accreditation as a therapy dog from a very strict therapy organization. Serena has become the highlight of his life and brings comfort to the sick and needy in hospitals, nursing homes and special needs classes in schools. Serena had a gift with autistic children as more than one parent told the Briggs that their non-verbal child would suddenly start talking about Serena.
Stephen became very interested in the shelter and in FOTAS. He and Doris adopted and fostered many animals from the shelter. He was overwhelmed by the number of animals the shelter receives each year. He made it his mission to help FOTAS achieve its goal of never having to euthanize an adoptable pet knowing that before FOTAS, over 90% of all animals brought to the shelter were euthanized and most were adopted.
He realized that not enough pet owners were turning in their pets and there simply weren’t enough adopters available for all the animals eligible for adoption.
Stephen, therefore, took a keen interest in the FOTAS transfer program which involves FOTAS networking with and then transporting adoptable animals to no-kill shelters all over the country. All animals and shelters are carefully examined and it is a timely and expensive process. But it works.
Stephen recognized this and was one of the biggest cheerleaders and financial supporters of the program for many years.
You may be sent home with medications, or your pet may need to be admitted for further investigations and treatment. Just as in human medicine, veterinary accident and emergency services usually operate on a triage basis.
Why is it cruel to keep animals?
Being locked in a cage is cruel. Animals are sentient beings, capable of feeling pain and joy. Read also : Eagles Cheerleaders: Best of Hype Day. When they are locked inside cages or crates, they suffer great suffering, as their movements are very restricted, they cannot engage in any of their natural behaviors, and they have no control over their lives.
Why is it unethical to keep animals in cages? Displacing animals from their natural habitat and keeping them captive in the Zoo is most inhumane. This disrupts the order of Nature. You are doing neither wildlife nor humanity any service by uprooting them.
Is keeping animals in captivity cruel? Animals bred in captivity generally do not have the survival skills necessary to be released into the wild and often have developed such zoochosisâstrong psychological trauma caused by captivityâ that they no longer survive.
Why shouldn’t we keep pets? They are expensive to take care of. Allergies. They create noise pollution. They will damage the house and property.
What to do with an animal you can’t take care of?
Here are some tips to follow if you or your loved one cannot provide proper care for a pet. This may interest you : Which NFL teams do not have cheerleaders in 2022 and why?.
- Ask family members for help. Family members are often happy to dive in and help you take care of your animals at home. …
- Call a pet sitting service. …
- Seek the services of a caregiver. …
- Consider putting your pet up for adoption.
What should you do if you want a pet but can’t have one? Contact the ASPCA to find shelters and volunteer opportunities in your area. If you’re petless because you can’t make a long-term commitment to an animal, but you honestly love pets, fostering a homeless cat or dog could be the perfect option for you.
What do you do with animals you don’t want? The best way to get rid of an unwanted pet is to take it to your local animal shelter. There are many non-profit groups that run shelters for animals that you can no longer care for. By simply opening the phone book or doing an internet search you can easily find one.
What should you do if you can no longer care for your pet? Check with your local experts. Many local animal shelters and rescue groups offer a wide range of resources for struggling pet owners, including temporary foster care, help finding pet-friendly housing, assistance with veterinary expenses, training free or low cost and more.
