The Friends of the Gilmer Animal Shelter (FOGAS) raised $2,954 in their recent silent auction for the Animal Shelter.

Events like these are key to operating the shelter as Shelter Director Daniel Laukka reported it was only due to donations that the shelter was able to reduce cat and kitten adoption fees in 2015 which increased adoption rates from 30 in 2014 to 435 since then. This year alone, the animal shelter has reported rescuing 17 dogs, 3 cats and 13 kittens to date.

The funds raised by the silent auction and similar events are used by FOGAS to help vet pets chosen from GCAS for transport to a rescue organization in New Jersey by neutering, spaying, vaccinating, deworming and providing professional veterinarian services and medications as needed.

The auctions highest bid hit $100 for an “Atlanta Zoo Basket” which contained 4 admission tickets, a $40 MasterCard gift card, dog soap, and a dog scarf. The event involved over 20 volunteers and even saw FOGAS pay for Shane’s Rib Shack to cater for the event.

According to recent posts by Laukka

In 2016, The Gilmer County Animal Shelter took in 847 cats and kittens. 326 of these cats and kittens were rescued. 193 were adopted. 6 were reclaimed by an owner. We still have one cat left from 2016. The euthanasia rate for cats and kittens was 32% for 2016, which is down from 39% last year and 88% the year before.

In 2016, the Gilmer County Animal Shelter took in 1,213 dogs and puppies. 919 of these dogs and puppies were rescued. 136 of these dogs and puppies were reclaimed by an owner. 59 were adopted.  There are still four dogs at the shelter from 2016.

These are just a handful of statistics that volunteers at FOGAS say change lives for both animals and people. FOGAS needs volunteers to assist with fund raising, grant writing, benefit organization, set up, and take down.

Volunteers continue to support the shelter, but the shelter also needs people who are looking for animals to adopt. Events like these continue to show the vast number of animals in need of families, in need of homes, in need of you.