August, 2012 Edition Letter from the Executive Director

We are having a fantastic summer at Saint Frances Animal Center. In fact, this entire year has been amazing! We have so many things to share that we decided it was time for a newsletter; adoption numbers are on the rise, donations are keeping us afloat and new programs and fundraisers have been highly successful! We are so very thankful for such a wonderful ‘2012’ thus far!

If you haven’t had a chance to stop by for a visit, this newsletter should bring you up to speed with everything “Saint Frances”. The staff, volunteers and supporters of SFAC have been remarkable during the changes to the facility, all of our new programs, the increased exposure in our community and all of the many, many ‘full-throttle’ days that we have experienced here lately at Saint Frances! I am so very proud and humbled, of and by, this awesome group of people!

We are gearing up for our 2012 Saint Frances Animal Center Member-ship Drive. Enclosed, you will find an envelope with all the information

needed to become a member. We are working on some fabulous perks including discounts for grooming as well as spays and neuters, really cool window decals (exclusive to SFAC members only), T-shirts, bump-er stickers and much more! If you aren’t already a member, I would like to encourage you to please join us in our mission to save the lives of shelter animals, prevent animal cruelty, neglect, overpopulation and abandonment. One hundred percent of the proceeds from your membership will directly benefit the animals of Saint Frances Animal Center.

Thank you to everyone for your continued support and faith in our organization! ‘Every day is a new opportunity to make a difference in the life of a shelter animal.’ Together we can make a HUGE difference!

Happy summer to all,

Wendy Goude

Late Summer

“FROM THE SCRATCHING POST”

SFAC Neuter-Thon and Spay Day On Father’s Day, June 17th, Saint Frances Animal Center hosted out inaugural cat ‘Neuter-thon’! Forty-five male cats were brought to SFAC by their owners to eliminate their chances of future “fatherhood”. With the help of Dr. Tom Hentges, our Sunday Veterinarian, we were able to expeditiously perform all neuters with an incredible discounted cost of $10 per surgery.

At 8:30, Sunday morning, the cars and cat carriers started lining up, taking advantage of this newly implemented program. By 3:30 that afternoon, all forty five cats had been successfully neutered and then safely re-turned back into their owner’s care. This event was such a success.

After the Neuter-thon, many in the community requested a special day for “females on-ly”. With the Neuter-thon being successful, we decided to have the first ever “Spay

Day” at SFAC!

On Sunday, July 29th, SFAC spayed over fifty cats at a discounted price of only $25. As with the Neuter-thon, the first ever ’Spay Day’ went like clockwork!

Because of these two evens, over 95 cats in our community were spayed or neutered!!!!

In a year’s time, the average female cat can produce up to 4 litters of kittens. A female cat is also able to birth as many as fourteen kittens per litter. With these statistics, per these two events, we kept at least 5,320 future un-wanted kittens from being conceived. WOW!

Saint Frances Animal Center is committed in our mission to end the ever grow-ing cat and kitten overpopulation within our community. In addition to our SFAC Trap, Neuter and Release Program for the feral cats, Saint Frances Animal Center plans to host these Neuter-Thon and Spay Days several times a year. Hopefully, we will begin to end overpopulation and neglect of our Georgetown County cats and kittens.

Second Annual ‘Meow Luau’

On July 28th, Saint Frances Animal Center held its second annual “Meow Luau” at the Island Bar and Grill in Pawleys Island. Despite the 102 degree weather, we had an exceptional turn out and a GREAT time. The owners and staff of the Island Bar and Grill did such a wonderful job accommodating our crowd with a huge spread of delicious appetizers, drink specials and terrific hospitality!

Thanks to all the SFAC supporters and cat lovers who braved the heat to come out for this annual event. All of the money that was donated at the Luau will fund equipment for our new cat porch!

This porch will serve as an outdoor extension off of our current cat room so every cat at SFAC will have the option to be inside or outside whenever they so choose! Fresh air and sunshine makes a very happy kitty! We strive to make our kids as happy as possible during their stay at SFAC so we are so excited to get this project up and running!

Please drop by the Center soon and check out the progress being made on the Kitty Porch! We will post pictures of the new porch in our next newsletter!

Joyce Ferdon is a Georgetown native and resident. She lives in the Historic District of Georgetown with her husband, Ricky and her furry kids, Nestle, Snickers. Twinkle, Angel, Louise and Clark. Joyce is an IS Department manager with Georgetown Hospital System where she has been employed for 27 years. As a SFAC Board member, Joyce is currently serving on the Financial and Fundraising committees. She was the founder of the SFAC fundraiser ‘Paws for Christmas’ which originally started in 1992. Joyce is also an active volunteer with Tidelands Hospice Annual Golf Tournament and the Georgetown Wooden Boat Show. Joyce Ferdon is a life long animal lover and advocate.

Meet one of our new

Board Members

Upcoming SFAC Fundraisers… We have two SFAC fundraisers in the very near future, the 6th

Annual ‘Mutt Strut Festival’ and the 1st annual ‘Dinner By the

River’. We are looking forward to both of these events and

would like to encourage everyone to attend.

Mutt Strut Festival

The 6th Annual Mutt Strut will be held on Saturday, October 6th in downtown Georgetown at Francis Marion Park (located between the River Room and the SC Maritime Museum) on Front Street. This year’s festival will be from 11am– 1pm.

We are changing things a little this year. Instead of having festival-like attractions, we are going to offer more helpful booths which will focus on health, nutrition and overall maintenance of the pets in our community. Saint Frances Animal Center’s 6th annual Mutt Strut Festival will offer

a low cost vaccination clinic, grooming and microchip clinics, commu-nity dog baths, organic dog food and biscuits, high quality leashes, collars and accessories and much more.

Many of our SFAC canines will be at the festival. They will be ready for the right Mom and Dad to come along and sweep them off of their paws! Our dogs can be fully adopted on the day of the event!

Please feel free to dress up your pets and bring them down to the Francis Marion Park. We may not be having a parade this year but...we are still encouraging all ‘mutts’ to strut their stuff! Hope to see everyone and your pooches on October 6th!

On a beautiful Saturday in October, under a drapery of moss, an elegant dinner will be taking place along the banks of a picturesque river. The

setting in itself will be most exquisite, but when we put a glass of wine in your hand and seat you at our dinner table, this night will soon

become one you will not want to forget….

The ‘Dinner by the River’ fundraiser will be the first of its kind for Saint Frances. On Saturday, October 27th,

one hundred SFAC supporters will be introduced to a magical experience!

Dinner by the River will be held on the grounds of Chicora Wood Planta-

tion. This 300 year old plantation sits amongst thousands of Live Oaks on

the banks of the beautiful Pee Dee River. Chicora Wood is one of the most

cherished, serene plantations in the Southeast. We are so very thankful to the

owners of Chicora Wood who so graciously donated their grounds as the

venue for this event.

Chef Douglas Waldroup, a Peter Kump Culinary graduate from NYC, will be our

executive chef for Dinner by the River. He has spent the last several months creating a

perfect menu for this event! Every course presented at this fundraiser will be a signature

dish created by Chef Waldroup. We are very excited about having a chef with such

culinary skills to host our first Dinner by the River.

Due to seat limitations, only one hundred guests will be accommodated. We have

already begun booking reservations for this sit down, full course dinner. Tickets can be purchased for $100 per

guest, in advance only. No tickets will be available on the day of the event. If you are interested in becoming a

part of this first annual Dinner by the River and would like to be seated at the table, please call 546-0780,

Wendy Goude.

DINNER

by the

RIVER

Community Fundraiser for SFAC - Thanks to these great Johnsonville Middle students! Hannah, Bethany, Megan and Teanna.

Ryan Miller, Eagle Scout with Pawleys Island Troop 340, is building our outdoor cat enclosure to receive his scout badge! This enclosure will give all of our cats at SFAC the luxury of being inside or outside. We welcome him and this great project!

In Loving Memory of Helen Shoemaker , who passed

away in August 2012. Helen and her dog, Bailey, were

great friends to SFAC over the years. Helen was one of

the original donation box creators and Bailey is still pic-

tured on many of those boxes. We are currently receiving

in memory donations for Helen and Bailey. If you would

like to contribute call 843-546-0750.

Mrs. Boyd's Prince George Episcopal class visits Saint Frances to learn how to properly treat, take care of and train a pet. The class spent the afternoon touring the grounds and visiting with all of the animals. We enjoyed having these future pet owners on an educational visit to SFAC.

Bone Appetit Cookbook HAS ARRIVED!

Order Today

$10.00

Saint Frances Animal Center

sends 609 cats and dogs

HOME!

Our Adoptions Department led by Lead Adoptions Counselor, Rebecca Ritch, is doing an amazing job in 2012. We have seen 609 of our furry kids go into wonderful homes through adoption,

foster placement and Rescue programs! SFAC has increased our Adoption program by venturing into new places like the Farmers’ Market, Tractor Supply and Wal-Mart. This is in addition to our established adoption events at

Pet Smart in Charleston, Mt. Pleasant, West Ashley and Myrtle Beach. The Adoptions team has also exposed our SFAC animals to many followers on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. In addition, the Adoptions team has set up a Blog specifically for our Saint Frances ani-mals. We are finally becoming a part of the 21st century and it is paying off in leaps and bounds. Because of the hard work and dedication of this Adoptions Team, we are saving the lives of many, many shelter animals and expecting a record number of adoptions for SFAC in 2012!!!!

“Great job, Adoptions Team”

Thank you

to the

Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office

Dara, our infamous Black Lab, is doing fantastic! She was the only survivor of the 3 dogs found in the IP Canal muzzled and bound with duct tape. After extensive tests and surgeries, all results came with great news attached! She is in one-hundred percent great

health. All tumors found in the abdomen were removed and the biopsies found those tumors to be benign. She is indeed our miracle pup!

As many of you are aware, the person allegedly responsible for this heinous crime was arrested by the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office and is currently behind bars We would like to thank the Sheriff and his wonderful team of investigators for their expeditious and thorough job on this case.

Stephanie Eldridge has lived in Georgetown for 10 years. She is married to Chris Eldridge and has two daughters, Maggie (10 years) and new baby Teagan.. Her other "children" include Murphy and Daisy Mae (adopted Boston Terriers from SFAC and NCBT Rescue) and Midas and Millie (adopted kitties from SFAC). Stephanie works as a real estate broker for Watermark Real Estate Group.

Meet another new Board Member

Dara Update...

Cajun and Lady, 2 of our SFAC Alumnus,

strolling down the beach during a daily walk.

They are loving their new lives since being

adopted from SFAC in 2011.

“Looking good, Cajun and Lady!”

SFAC Introduces new Program "Feed Those in Need" An anonymous donor sent 490 pounds of Iams Dog and Cat food to SFAC which will be used in our new 'Feed Those in Need' program. SFAC is now offering assistance to pet owners in our community who are temporarily unable to afford to feed their pets. All food that is donated to SFAC is now used in this new program "Feed those in Need". This program is designed to keep many animals from having to be unnecessarily relinquished into our animal shelter.

Over 100 dogs in our community Received Free Vaccines at SFAC

On May 21st, Saint Frances held its annual Free Vaccination Clinic for dogs. This annual event is sponsored by Ark Animal Hospital and conducted by Dr. Andrews and her staff. We had a record breaking turn out this year with over 100 canines (and their owners) coming to this event! A special thank you to Dr. Andrews and her staff, Terry

Senior and Franc Coker for such a wonderful contribution!

Grooming Now Available

@ SFAC

Please call Becca for an

appointment

(843)546-0780

Franc Coker's wonderful granddaughter, Ella, raised over $800 to help with the medical expenses of Dara, the black Lab. She sold lots and lots of doughnuts from early in the morning to late after-noon to raise these funds. "Good job, Ella!

Walk with the Saints Saint Frances Animal Center’s ‘Walk with the Saints’ program is already exceeding our expectations. We began this program in July

and a month later it has tripled in size! Every Tuesday, a group of volunteers (dog walkers) meet in the SFAC lobby around 9:30a.m. to be paired with a SFAC dog for the weekly walk. Once the walker is paired with the perfect partner, they transport the dog in their vehicle to Front Street. We have been meeting at Bienvenue Home Accents, an incredible shop with great merchandise, located across from the Georgetown Times on Front Street. After everyone arrives at Bienvenue, we go for our weekly stroll through downtown Front Street and along the Harborwalk, stopping at several stores where merchants greet us with cold water and dog biscuits. The locals, tourists and downtown merchants have really enjoyed seeing us every Tuesday! This one hour, once a week, walk has made an incredible impact at SFAC. The exercise, socialization and the change in scenery has been wonderful for our kids. Not to mention, the added exposure they receive on these walks! ‘Walk with the Saints’ has proven to be very pivotal in finding homes …with more than half of the ‘Saint’ dogs being adopted! Did we mention how much the volunteers enjoy the walk??? The kids??? They LOVE it! This once a week event has turned out to be just what the ’dopter ordered… Please join us any Tuesday at Saint Frances, if you would like to do something great for a very appreciative shelter dog. See you next Tuesday!

Saint Frances Animal Center opened our doors to the

community for a full tour and a ‘meet and greet’ on

June 28th and 29th during our Open House. Since many

renovations were completed, we decided it was time to

invite members of our community and share our

accomplishments as well as our future plans for Saint

Frances.

Many could not believe all of the changes that were made in such a

short period of time. In less than a month, every building was

repainted and the dog areas received brand new fencing as well as

new bedding for winter months. All cat rooms are now completely

cage free with themed murals painted on all the walls. We have new

‘cemented-in’ play areas with lots of equipment for our younger

dogs and puppies. We have also created several enclosed grassy play areas with swim-

ming pools for our larger dogs. We have completely renovated our lobby and offices.

We finally have a paved road, with newly painted paw prints, leading to our facility.

Everything here at SFAC looks totally different! Our animals love all of the changes!

Because of the generosity from many local businesses in Georgetown, Saint Frances

was able to complete these renovations at almost no expense. We would like to

thank everyone who helped to make this renovation possible. Please support and thank

the following individuals and businesses for their won-

derful donations to SFAC:

Saint Frances Animal Center’s Open House

Bailey Kendrick moved to Pawleys Island from Greenville, SC in 2001 to work for Georgetown Hospital System, where she continues to work today. She is a graduate of The

College of Charleston. She enjoys being on the Board of Directors and also volunteering for St. Frances. Bailey loves animals and enjoys kayaking, bicycle riding and going to the beach. She is also a volunteer for South Carolina United Turtle Enthusiasts and The Arthritis Foundation.

New Board Member

J & S Flooring

The Shutter Shop

Habitat for Humanity

Sherwin Williams

Benjamin Moore

Keels Culberson Swinnie

Prince George Framing

Thomas Supply

Ready Mixed Concrete

Island Signs

Salvation Army

Carolina Charm

Bienvenue Home Accents

Saint Frances Animal Center would like to thank the

following for their donations to our recent renovation.

Please support these local businesses.

And also a special thank you to these individuals

for their contribution to our recent Open House:

Bradley Floyd , Rebecca Ritch, Jason Cantley , Mike Goude

Bobby Owens, Todd & Cam Welden, Kimmie Marlowe,

Roger Healey, Bryan Cooper, Douglas Waldroup

Joyce Ferdon, Betsy Niles, Kevin Jayroe

Verne Ray and Vicki Grant

SFAC Board of Directors

Doug Jenkins Ruth McLellan

Bradley Floyd Lisa Johnson

Anne Hartis Joyce Ferdon

David Graham Bailey Kendrick

D.I. Wilson Stephanie Eldridge

Anna Lesley Nancy Cave

Non– Profit

U.S. Postage

PAID

Georgetown, SC

Permit No. 408

125 Ridge Street

Georgetown, SC 29440

www.sfanimals.org

(843)546-0780

OUR MISSION STATEMENT

Our Mission is to provide a safe and nurtur-

ing environment for abandoned and mis-

treated dogs and cats until they can be

placed in loving homes. Raising awareness

through public education, community out-

reach and a wellness clinic, we seek to

promote respect for the lives of cats and

dogs by breaking the cycle of abuse, ne-

glect and pet overpopulation in our com-

munity.