The Red and Black

Issue date: 11/18/08 Section: News

Media Credit: WAITES LASETER Donation boxes for the Forgotten Friends canned food drive were set up at Tate on Monday and will remain there through Friday. [Click to enlarge]

Twelve-week-old Suzie needs help to make it through the winter.

Suzie, a dachshund puppy weighing in at a meager five pounds, relies mostly on donations and government funding for her food.

To help Suzie and others like her, Forgotten Friends, an advocacy campus organization that raises awareness for organizations such as the Humane Society, is holding a canned food drive to benefit Athens-Clarke County Animal Control.

"We're trying to get people to donate dog and cat food cans, blankets, toys, treats - whatever people want to donate," said Lauren Miller, a junior from Lawrenceville, who started the group.

Private animal shelters may accept animal food sponsors, Miller said, but government shelters such as ACC Animal Control are forced to rely on federal funding and donations.

"We get between 2,000 and 2,500 animals year-round," said Patrick Rives, the shelter superintendent. "We generally keep anywhere from 20 to 40 animals at a time."

Animals are usually kept for about two weeks before they are adopted, returned home or euthanized, Rives said. Though most of the animals are given away, 10 to 15 percent are put to sleep, he said.

Miller said she is nervous the numbers will increase.

"People are getting foreclosures, and a lot of abandoned houses are getting animals left in them," Miller said, adding, "I think a lot of students get a dog and don't realize that when summer and jobs and internships come, they have to do something with that dog. A lot of students end up returning those dogs."

Rives, whose department deals with animal cruelty cases and strays, said, "As people leave and move and that sort of thing people will bring in their animals. We hear every excuse out there, it's all year-round."

To cut down on animal returns, Forgotten Friends is hosting a class called Finding Fido. Taught by Amanda Crook, owner of the local pet center Pawtropolis, the class will help attendees to learn the animal that would be best suited for their lifestyle.

Even if people do not want to adopt a pet, Miller said she hopes they remember the animals.

"Thanksgiving is a great time to give. People forget the animals and that they are needy, too."

Donation boxes for the food drive will be at Tate this week, and Finding Fido will be held at the Rhodes Animal Science Center at 6 p.m. Thursday. Tickets are available at the Tate Center for $6.

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