COC Animal Services Happy Tails

11/28/2023

Wylie was brought to the shelter as a stray that no one claimed. He found himself on the E-list, at no fault of his own, on October 13th. For almost the next month, Wiley dodged euthanasia but couldn’t find a home that wanted to love him forever. November 11th, everything changed when a wonderful woman drove from Charlotte to give Wylie the “happy tail” he had been waiting for! Congratulations sweet boy!

11/27/2023

Merida was saved from euthanasia at the 11th hour by her foster family.

“She was given the first shot, but we got there just in time. We planned to only foster her but we (especially my husband) couldn’t let her go with someone else. We love her so much and she fits in perfect here!! 🥰 “

A perfect example of one of the many ways fostering saves lives! Congratulations Merida!

11/27/2023

Maddie Suiter adopted Winnie (fka Nelson) in December 2019.

She says,
“He was afraid of everything and wasn’t quite sure how to be a dog. Safe to say he has warmed up and gotten comfy these last few years. He is still a little apprehensive around new people, but loves other animals. He is such a cuddly boy who loves walks on the beach and lying on his chair in the sun. Thank you for keeping him safe until he could come to his forever home with me!”

Thank you for giving Winnie his furever home, Maddie!

11/20/2023

November is “Adopt a Senior Pet Month”

Columbia Animal Services is offering free adoptions on any dogs age 5 and above throughout the end of the month!

One of our amazing volunteers, Navjot Atwal, shared the story below, highlighting how adopting a senior dog was one of the best decisions that she has ever made! 💕

“I saw Bubba’s photo on the Foster page looking for a short-term Foster to give him a break from the shelter. He had entered Columbia Animal Services in about May and was still there in July. Bubba had a host of issues - a huge mass hanging off of him, a heart murmur, and he was not neutered. At about 9 years old and surrendered, he didn't have many interested adopters and was languishing for some time. My mentor and fellow volunteer, Peggy O'Neil, advocated to get him into a home during the brutal summer heat.

I took my resident dog to meet him, and it was all tail wags after happy greetings. I brought him home thinking he would be with me for a couple weeks while we waited for a rescue to take him.

Immediately, he made himself at home-following my husband and I everywhere, cuddling with a dog a third of his size, and winning over the hearts of everyone he met.

As we learned more about him, we realized he loved to swim, chase tennis balls, and really was a young dog at heart.

He was fully house trained, knew basic commands, and even walked perfectly off leash. He was definitely well-loved and cared for before entering Columbia Animal Services, and I'm truly honored to continue his happily ever after when his previous owner couldn't.

After being around puppies and raising my own, along with my sister’s dogs, I would never pass up a senior dog again. The wisdom, appreciation, and love they give you is cuter than any puppy I've seen!”

11/10/2023

Thank you Cantina 76 - Devine Street for donating an amazing lunch for our staff in honor of Shelter Appreciation Week!
Thank you Animal Mission of the Midlands for organizing this celebration!
And the biggest thank you to our dedicated staff and volunteer members for their compassion and hard-work!🌮🥳

11/07/2023

Take a minute to share some kind words with the shelter staff and volunteers in the comments!

11/05/2023

Please nominate Columbia Animal Services to help us continue providing happy tails!

Did you adopt a furry friend this year that has changed your life? Did you volunteer at a local shelter and fall in love with a new best friend? Do tell! Tag and nominate your favorite organization below for a chance to get them a $1,000 Wish List donation from Chewy!

10/28/2023

Congrats to our incredibly hardworking team of staff, volunteers, community members, and rescue partners! Whether you helped by adopting, fostering, donating, volunteering, or sharing & networking, YOU saved lives! What a great way to end the week!

10/25/2023

🏥The “Darla Fund” is an emergency medical fund provided by Animal Mission of the Midlands that helps ensure that the shelter pets can get lifesaving procedures that may exceed the shelter’s ability to provide. The Darla Fund was most recently used to save the life of Lionel, one of our dogs in foster.🚑

Donate to the Darla Fund here:
https://animalmission.org/darla-fund/

🛟Lionel has a wonderful foster who quickly recognized the signs of a bowel obstruction and got him immediately to the emergency vet to save his life!

💙Lionel is about 4 years old and came to the shelter 6/23/23 as a stray with little known about his history.

💉He is neutered, microchipped, and up to date on vaccines.

🥰Lionel is a Velcro dog that does suffer from separation anxiety and can get destructive if not crated when left alone for longer periods of time.

☀️He loves sunbathing and napping on the porch.

🦴He requires high grade, durable toys as he is a powerful chewer when given toys.

🍽️Lionel will bring you his food bowl when hungry and water bowl if it is empty.

😻👧🏻Due to being dog selective and having shown aggression when challenged by other dogs, Lionel is best suited to be an only dog. He does get along with cats, birds, and children, though!

💤Lionel is relatively low-energy and doesn’t get into much-he just wants to find someone he can spend his days napping next to and snuggling with!

🏡Can you spread the word to help Lionel find the perfect home that he’s always dreamed of?!💕

10/24/2023

Today’s Alumni spotlight is “Archer”.

His mom, Chelsea Ratcliff says,

“We adopted Archer from Columbia Animal Services in early January! He had come in as a stray, and was very quiet for the first few weeks, but as you can see he has become an inseparable part of our family! We love him to the moon and back, and I think he feels the same ❤️”

Message us so we can feature your family’s “Happy Tail!”

Thanks for sharing, Chelsea! Give Archer a big kiss from us! 💋

10/23/2023

We love celebrating a “Gotcha Day”! Enjoy some of our recent adoptions!

10/20/2023

Thank you Kelli Powell for giving Bowie his furever home! Kelli is a board member for the Animal Mission of the Midlands which is a non-profit that provides free or low cost spay and neuter procedures to pet owners in the midlands! She also fosters and volunteers for Columbia Animal Services! Thank you so much for all you do, Kelli! 🧡❤️💛

In the last 12 years, Animal Mission has more than doubled the number of free and low-cost spay/neuter vouchers issued annually in our community, resulting in an 89% reduction in the number of pets euthanized annually at the City of Columbia Animal Shelter.

10/19/2023

Did you know Columbia Animal Services partners with the Heartworm Project to provide life-saving treatment to their shelter dogs? Despite Heartworm being almost 100% preventable, its incidence is on the rise, with some of the highest rates occurring right here in South Carolina. Ask us for more information on finding cost effective ways to make sure your dog is up to date on their heartworm preventatives!

10/18/2023

We would like to give a huge shout out to Nikki Gibbs and Michelle Lynne founders of Rescue Tails Myrtle Beach, SC for working with us to save Daina, Binx, and Gibby! 🤩

David, thank you for fostering Gibby until we can get him to Rescue Tails on Saturday! 💙

We can’t wait to save more lives with the help of this awesome rescue!🙌🏽

At Columbia Animal Services our rescue coordinator and volunteers are always looking for new rescues to team up with to help us save lives! If you have a rescue interested in helping…
Email: [email protected]

In the meantime, consider supporting Rescue Tails Myrtle Beach, SC!

Website: https://www.rescuetailsmb.com
Venmo:

10/06/2023

Charlie’s mom made up a Dr. Seuss rhyme to describe how comfortable Charlie is in her new home.

“I will lay here. I will lay there. I will lay anywhere!” 😂

10/05/2023

Happy Gotcha Day Bowie!

10/01/2023

09/15/2023

Big thanks to the USC group, “Give a Dog a Bone” for stepping up to help save so many of the at risk dogs yesterday! Check them out on Instagram

09/02/2023

Thank you to everyone who donated or shared the donation post!

This week 81 animals came into our system, and 99 left out!

BONUS: we received several shipments of dog treats to help keep our enrichment treat buckets filled, and welcomed several new members to our team!

Tomorrow we will be preparing for a small transport of cats out of Florida in an effort to bring relief to animals/shelters after hurricane Idalia. If you are looking for a new feline friend for yourself or family, come check our cats and kittens at 127 humane Lane! (803) 776-PETS

ALL ADOPTABLE PETS CAN BE VIEWED AT www.columbiaanimalservices.petfinder.com

09/02/2023

Sweet Buster and his Hero 🥰

08/28/2023

Welcome to COC Animal Services Happy Tails! 🐱🐶💕This page is for all supporters of Columbia Animal Services and will serve to highlight the success stories and “Happy Tails” that are a result of the combined efforts of shelter staff, volunteers, fosters, adopters, and community members!

As we all know, shelter and rescue work can result in a lot burnout, tears, and frustration. Sometimes, despite everyone’s best efforts, we don’t achieve the results we all so desperately work for. It is so important to celebrate the wins-big or small to help remind us all why we joined this fight to give voices to the voiceless and save lives! 💪🏽

Feel free to send us shout outs to a particular person or group, foster glow-ups, adoption updates, rescue successes, or anything you think will brighten someone’s day. Reach us via messenger!☀️

Thank you all for any way you help. Remember-If you can adopt, foster. If you can’t foster, volunteer. If you can’t volunteer, donate. If you can’t donate, network and share! We all can make a difference!

To start things off, I hope you all can enjoy some photos of my foster fails that have become cherished members of my family since I began my journey with CAS.