Courtesy of the Wagener Monthly
A phenomenal opportunity is coming to Wagener. Beginning on in August, Friends of the Animal Shelter (FOTAS) in Aiken County, in partnership with Pawmetto Lifeline in Columbia, will be offering free spay/neuter surgeries to the residents of Wagener between August and October. Plans are to spay or neuter as many as 75 cats and/or dogs. Numbers will vary depending on the type of animal and its gender. The program is open. Any cat or dog belonging to a resident of Wagener is eligible to participate.
This opportunity has been made available through Pawmetto Lifeline's annual festival, "Bark to the Park." This year, a the April event, Pawmetto Lifeline offered an opportunity for rescue organizations to compete for spay-neuter services in their brand new state-of-the-art facility that just opened this spring. FOTAS volunteers put together a team and pulled out all the stops in their fundraising efforts. Money came in from family and friends locally as well as coast to coast, Florida to England! FOTAS Aiken County took first place and won over $4,500 for spay/neuter at Pawmetto Lifeline.
Mayor Mike Miller has generously offered his office as the site to sign up for this service. Enrollment will begin on Wednesday, August 1st at the Wagener Town Hall. The spay/neuter services areavailable to any healthy cat or dog, male or female, on a first-come-first-serve basis. Pet owners will have to pay a refundable deposit of $7 per pet when they register. On the delivery date, the entire deposit will be refunded if the owner provides a current rabies certificate for the pet to be spayed or neutered. If no certificate is provided, the $7 will be applied to the mandatory rabies vaccine.
Pets enrolled in the program will be transported from Wagener o Pawmetto Lifeline in their Care-A-Van and returned to Wagener he next day. Dates scheduled are:
- Monday, August 20th pick up - return Tuesday August 21st
- Monday September 17th pick up - return Tuesday September 18th
- Monday October 22nd pick up - return Tuesday October 23rd.
Pawmetto Lifeline is located in the Harbison area at 1275 Bower Parkway, Columbia, SC 29212.
FOTAS will be on hand with their Rescue Waggin', "Herbie Brown," to help handle the animals and the paperwork. Refreshments will be available, along with the opportunity to get involved for anyone who would like to see this kind of program continue beyond the dates and funds already available.
FOTAS is excited. FOTAS folks in Wagener are thrilled. County Councilwoman, Kathy Rawls said of this happening, "Five years ago I would have never believed that an event like this would be happening in Wagener, but over the last 2 years I have realized that nothing is impossible with FOTAS. Aiken County is so blessed to have them working for our animals and our shelter. THANK YOU!"