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….It is funny how the chance meeting of two people can develop into a combined effort that is far greater than anything either of those two people could have ever accomplished on their own or ever thought they would have been a part of. The beginning of The Friends of the Schuyler County Animal Shelter Inc. (FOSCAS) started with just such a chance meeting. I had a love for cocker spaniels all of my life and had just lost my cocker companion of 14 years to cancer. I met someone who knew someone who knew someone (this is the chance meeting part!) who worked at the Schuyler County Animal Shelter that just so happened to have a stray black Cocker Spaniel available for adoption. I went up to meet this little guy. I was going to try to foster him because I just wasn’t sure I was ready to add another canine member on a permanent basis. At what point do you feel you are not betraying the memory of the family member that you lost? I just didn’t know. Matted, smelly “Spencer,” as the Shelter employee had named him, the shelter employee that was to become the Vice President of FOSCAS, came right out of the shelter and hopped right into the back of my SUV wiggling all over and covering my face with kisses as if to say – “Hey, you are meant for me, and I want to go home with you.” So at that moment, I fell in love with this guy and broke the good and bad news to the shelter employee. I would not be fostering Spencer, because I really wanted to adopt him permanently! (It was only after I got Spencer home that we learned that Mr. Spencer had some real fear aggression issues with strangers!) That shelter employee and I continued to chat and found we clearly had a common love for dogs and after I saw the physical condition of the shelter, a common desire to make a difference there. Our friendship grew and our second inspiration, named Tanner came along. Tanner was one of 8 or 9 puppies that were surrendered at the shelter (a second or third litter of the owner as I recall). All of the puppies were malnourished and some were quite deformed and only three survived past the first couple of days. Tanner was one of the original survivors. At that time I was just becoming aware that the county did not have the funds to provide specialized veterinary care to the dogs at the shelter. So if we were going to save the remaining puppies it was going to be on our dime. Two of the three pups thrived and grew. But little Tanner, well he had his ups and downs and he was so small…He had a rough weekend but with a little vitamin B12 he seemed to turn the corner...we were optimistic…and then less than one week later, he declined rapidly. We rushed him to the vet late on a Sunday afternoon and I remember sitting in the veterinarian’s parking lot with our VP to be, as she held him in her arms frustrated and crying, both of us feeling helpless. I do recall being bothered by a very distinct feeling that the veterinarian’s recommendation not to attempt to diagnose and treat Tanner’s ills was a function of Tanner being a “shelter” dog, but we were inexperienced then and not knowing what we were dealing with and without extensive financial resources we said goodbye to Tanner and helped him over the rainbow bridge. So how did these two creatures inspire us? Spencer, with his behavior issues that I now know would have resulted in euthanasia in most animal shelters but yet whose life has enriched mine so much….And then Tanner, who was treated differently by the “system” simply because he was a shelter dog…These two wonderful dogs, as well as many that came after them, molded what was to become our rescue philosophy. We would treat each dog as an individual, one that was put in our path for us to help in every way we could and we would treat each dog that crossed our path as if he was our own. And so the Friends of the Schuyler County Animal Shelter or "FOSCAS" was born. Who we are now: The Friends of the Schuyler County Animal Shelter, Inc (“FOSCAS”) is a not for profit, 501(c)(3) corporation originally incorporated in December 2004 to improve the quality of life of the dogs housed in the Watkins Glen, Schuyler County animal shelter. We started by simply supplying comfort items like good quality food, blankets, toys and snacks. We then provided assistance in the development of a foster program in order to help more dogs find forever homes. Our foster program utilized a number of volunteers who agree to take into their homes dogs that have health problems, need additional socialization or simply were overcrowding the shelter. As we grew in volunteers and donations we also started funding vaccinations, spays and neuters, as well as the more specialized veterinary care sometimes needed by the shelter residents. In October 2006 we offered to take over management of the shelter from the Schuyler County Sheriff’s department so we could have more influence over the adoption and euthanasia decisions of the shelter. The Schuyler County Legislature approved the transfer of management to us on Monday May 12, 2008 effective June 1, 2008 for a one year trial period. During the year that we managed the shelter, the shelter became compliant with the Ag & Markets law and the euthanasia rate dropped to less than 1%. Only two dogs were euthanized during our management cycle due to aggression that could not be overcome. Additionally adoption standards were raised at the shelter to ensure that dogs were placed only in homes where the commitment necessary to own a dog was well understood. Unfortunately, despite these successes, our contract with the county was discontinued effective August 1, 2009. However, we do continue to maintain several foster dogs, adopted to us upon transfer of the shelter back to the county. Please see our “Dogs Available for Adoption” to learn more about them. Accordingly, donations made to our organization prospectively will go principally to the care for these dogs as well as continue to support veterinary care of special needs dogs adopted out of the shelter over the last several years. We continue to stand by the lifetime commitments we made to all dogs adopted out of the Schuyler Shelter during the time that we managed or volunteered at the shelter. We will be re-grouping in the next six months in hopes of continuing to more broadly help dogs throughout the Southern Tier, including dog owners in Schuyler County who may be turned away by the Schuyler County Animal Shelter or the Humane Society of Schuyler County as well as shelters in the surrounding counties like Chemung and Steuben. We want to thank those who supported us while we attempted to retain our contract with the county including the many foster homes that continue to foster for us and those who wrote letters of support for our efforts as well as those that testified during Public Safety Committee hearings. A very special thanks to Glen Animal Hospital in Watkins Glen and North Shore Animal League on Long Island, as well as Cayuga Dog Rescue in Ithaca, all institutions that believe in and practice a low/kill no/kill philosophy like we did. Regardless of how we choose to re-organize going forward, our low-kill/no-kill philosophy will not change. For those who haven’t met us or don’t know us, please read about our rescue philosophy and commitment to the no-kill/low kill philosophy below. The FOSCAS Animal Rescue Philosophy and Commitments: First, we will treat each dog that comes across our path as if he is our own pet, and each dog’s life that is put in our hands has equal value, no matter the breed, the size, or the behavior. We will not make euthanasia decisions by weighing the “value” of one dog’s life vs. another. Those choices belong to a power greater than ours, a power that has chosen to put some dogs in our path and others not. Second, while we will not call ourselves a no kill shelter, it is our intent to euthanize only:
Third, we will make a commitment to making veterinary care decisions based on the best interest of the dog and will work to raise funds so necessary as well as elective veterinary care is never denied as a result of cost. Fourth,
our commitment to the dogs that cross our path is a life long one and
we will take them back into our care for the duration of their life. |
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