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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Everyone Say Hello to Athenspets!

Everyone Say Hello to Athenspets!

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Hello all- we spent two years with our last charity and decided it was time to move on and give a shot to the arm to a new team, and I am proud to introduce Athenspets!

I’ve spoken at length with their point of contact, Lisa, and let me tell you, the pets are in good hands and under solid leadership with a dedicated volunteer pool. We think that our calendar money (which does not get there until February or March, remember), will provide a nice bit of money for them to expand their operations and to have an emergency fund, much like what was needed for Artie.

At any rate, please read the post below and help welcome Athenspets to Balloon Juice. Baud, keep your pants on, we have company.

Happy dog waits for his bus to a rescue in New York! Athenspets pays for transport.

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Athenspets is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to helping the neediest animals in the Athens (GA) area and the people who love them.

We Have a New Pet Charity! (I assume you'll edit the title) 1
Athenspets works closely with their local municipal shelter. These guys have their hands full! Literally and figuratively.

Athenspets started as an informal website in 2001 to promote the animals at Athens-Clarke County Animal Services, then a municipal shelter that euthanized approximately 70% of the dogs that were impounded. The publicity greatly improved things, so that with little else changing, approximately 80% or more of the shelter dogs were being reclaimed, adopted, or transferred to rescue groups by the 2010s. The cat situation, though, remained dire; from the time the county began running a cat shelter in 2011, more than 50% of the impounded cats did not make it out alive.

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Sunshine gets a bath.

In 2015, Athenspets was incorporated and became a public charity. Volunteers raised funds to start a medical program for the shelter, treating animals with injuries and illnesses rather than leaving them to be euthanized. We also developed a spay/neuter program that both strategically altered shelter animals to improve the outcomes of all of the shelter animals (for example, selecting female animals that were in heat to reduce the associated behavioral problems in all of the animals) and narrowly targeted the owned animals in the community that were at highest risk of adding to pet overpopulation in our area.

This is Gibby. Athenspets began assisting with cruelty prosecutions after Gibby. This is the “after” picture of Gibby. No need to show the “before” version, just picture Walter when John found him.

Despite the incredibly high poverty rate in Athens, where more than 30% of permanent residents live below the poverty line, the community responded to these efforts. By 2019, the last year in which all medical treatment for the shelter animals was overseen by volunteers and funded by donations, the live release rates for the shelter animals had put the shelter on the verge of “no kill” status (which recognizes that open admission municipal shelters will always euthanize some animals since they are legally required to impound whether or not the animal is vicious or terminally ill or injured, and regardless of whether there is space available).

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Not just dogs! Cats lallygagging in the sun.

In late 2019, Athenspets led an effort to overhaul the shelter: to bring in new, progressive management and see that the county funded the shelter at an appropriate level. This effort was successful, and many of the programs Athenspets had set up and taken responsibility for running and funding were transferred to the county. The shelter is now considered a model for Southern open-admission municipal shelters thanks to these efforts.

This is Rambo on the Catio that Athenspets purchased for the local shelter. Willow, Bear, Steve, Tikka, Champ, Samwise are not allowed to see this! Ditto for TaMara’s kitties. I need to learn their names!

Because of these changes, Athenspets was able to move to focusing on keeping animals in good, even if impoverished, homes, reducing future pet overpopulation, and simply being volunteers, while still funding the extraordinary medical expenses of shelter animals, like Raven’s dog, Artie.

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Supervised playtime!

Each year, we cover the cost of spaying/neutering, vaccinating, and microchipping more than 500 owned and community animals. We designed and ran an innovative Community Innovations program in 2020-2021, working to change pet care norms in the neighborhood in Athens that most disproportionately produces dogs that are euthanized at the shelter because of prior physical and social neglect.

Athenspets volunteer works with Bert on his manners.

Funds donated to Athenspets go 100% towards our programs; we have no office space, paid employees, or other overhead costs.

 

Reader Interactions

76Comments

  4. 4.

    WaterGirl

    Hi Lisa!   If you do join us in the comments, do you have an update on how Gibby is doing?

    When John bought his house in an auction several years ago – unable to even see the inside before purchase – he got the keys to his house and discovered Walter, an abandoned, emaciated dog, locked in the house by the previous owner.  Walter went on to have a good life with one of our commenters.  We lost him a couple of years ago, but he lives on in our hearts.

    Maybe we can call this The Walter Fund?

    In any case, I would love to know about a happy second chance for Gibby.

    Here’s Walter with his best friend in his new life:

  9. 9.

    eclare

    Also, I adopted a dog who had been kept at the city shelter while her cruelty/neglect case wound through the courts.  She was the most joyful dog that I have been around.  So unless a dog has attacked a person, there is always hope.

  13. 13.

    la caterina

    Orange kittehs rule!  What a sweet group of puppers, too. In for $50.  Welcome Athenspets!

    Thanks for organizing this WaterGirl er, Cole!

  14. 14.

    CaseyL

    Walter! 🥰 😇

    I am awed by how much Athenspets has been able to do so far, with minimal resources.  Happy to kick in $25.

  15. 15.

    J R in WV

    @debit:

    So good to hear from you !! Long time since I recall seeing your nym…

    I’m surprised to learn that Athens the county is impoverished, with such a huge educational center located there at Raven’s place.

    I hear there’s also a university-type school in the area, too.    ;~)

  20. 20.

    raven

    @eclare: We also have the highest dropout rate in the state. Geographically we are the smallest county in the state and the student population helps keep wages down.

  27. 27.

    wonkie

    Awesome rescue. I live in an area like that and I am ashamed that I am not part of a reform movement here. I am involved in animal rescue and I have ten kittens to place in Puget Sound area homes. All will be fixed and UTD on shots and I will deliver. I am not a rescue and am not receiving help from local rescues because they are overwhelmed. The kittens are part of a largescale rescue of cats from a situation where kindness to a stray resulted in a homeowner trying to care for about thirty cats. A friend and I are catching, fixing and placing cats  mostly to barns. We have removed and place twenty-tow adults, have a few adults left to catch, and have the kittens to place, Meanwhile, five of the kittens are in my bathroom which is not ideal for any of us.

    The kittens are pretty. Some are Siamese mixes, some are tabbies with lots of white trim, and some are a lovely dove gray. One is black with white markings and long hair. There are two runts who will always be small.

    One of the runts:  (1) Facebook

  29. 29.

    MazeDancer

    @J R in WV:

    I’m surprised to learn that Athens the county is impoverished

    I was surprised, too. Thought Athens was an upscale place. Raven’s house was like all of them there.

    Live and learn.

    Also, no paid volunteers?

    That is impressive.

  37. 37.

    raven

    @MagdaInBlack: The silver lining in my wife breaking her foot walking her is that I started taking her to the VFW dog park. She is terrible with other dogs when she’s on the leash but, at the dog park, she’s just a dog!

  38. 38.

    MazeDancer

    @raven:

    Thanks for the article. Depressing.

    And having the steady supply of renters from the University makes it an even more attractive buy for investors.

    ETA: And your Artie is looking gorgeous!

  45. 45.

    raven

    @MagdaInBlack: It’s easy, she’s was so good already. The incredible thing is that she is so trusting and affectionate in spite of her treatment. How do you figure that she can’t handle little noises behind her but, when the morons let go with huge fireworks about a half block away, she is unfazed?

  49. 49.

    oldster

    The Love Shack is a little old place where we can get together….

    Sang some other natives of Athens, GA.

  50. 50.

    raven

    @WaterGirl: Yes, we think they must have beaten her because she also can’t handle it when you have something in your hand. Not great for someone who is trying to use a cane. She also has trouble with floor transitions. We have all kinds of goofy flooring, brick tile, hardwood and oriental rugs. She’s really shy going into the kitchen and won’t go in either bathroom.

  52. 52.

    MagdaInBlack

    @raven: Proximity. The fireworks booms aren’t in the house with her

    Eta: with regard to beating/swatting, this rescue cat I have, La Gordita, ducks if you try to pet her from above. You have to show her open hands and wiggling fingers and she’s fine

  53. 53.

    WaterGirl

    @raven:  Probably good to have a dog that doesn’t want to be underfoot in the kitchen, seems like that is an accident waiting to happen.

    When I brought my first cocker spaniel home – she was something like 4 or 6 months old and she was afraid of grass and cement and hardwood floors and tile.  She had always been in a crate so her paws had never experienced any of that other stuff.

    She got over it, I bet Artie will, too.

  54. 54.

    raven

    @oldster: And we live in Normaltown but Allen’s is gone. Note the proliferation of dogs and Michael in the video.

     

    Let’s go crash that party downIn Normaltown tonight

    Then we’ll go skinny-dippin’In the moonlight

    We’re wild girls walkin’ down the street

    Wild girls and boys going out for a big time

    Anyway we canWe’re gonna find something

    We’ll dance in the garden in torn sheets in the rain

    We’ll dance in the garden in torn sheets in the rainIn the rain

  55. 55.

    raven

    @MagdaInBlack: There is a big field two houses down and it’s ground zero for fireworks especially since the geniuses in the Golden Dome have made fireworks legal all the time.

  56. 56.

    Willow’s Person

    @J R in WV: There is a huge gap between the university/hospital population and the rest of Athens. I was shocked when I started going on ridealongs with the animal control officers in 2017; while I’d lived in Athens for 10 years at that point, I had no idea how so many of the people and their pets lived.

    We are a magnet for homeless folks since Athens does provide better services than many of the surrounding areas, but even many of the folks with homes are living marginally, with 3 or 4 (or more) adults in a single trailer home, people living in condemned ramshackle housing, or in small trailers (like would be pulled behind a vehicle) with extension cords running from whatever the closest electricity source is.

    The university isn’t considered part of Athens-Clarke County for purposes of local taxes, state money based on population, or poverty rate calculations, even though ACC provides the roads and other resources around the university. So it’s a fairly poor county given the population it services (much greater than the 130,000 that officially live here because of dorms and the number of people who commute in).

    Half of the animals we saw at our recent series of community vet care clinics had never seen a vet before; most of the ones who had only did so when there was an emergency. It’s hard to fault the people for this, though–they don’t have better medical care for themselves.

  57. 57.

    persistentillusion

    @eclare: My dog Phoebe was a rescue from a breeding operation, which was probably where she was born.  Kept in a cage, bred frequently enough to damage her pelvis (she sits like an old man with a hind leg thrown out to the side) and she loves everybody.  Never had a sweeter dog!

  58. 58.

    Willow’s Person

    @WaterGirl: Last I heard Gibby was doing great. We had no idea what sort of dog she might be at the time she came in because of her condition (severely emaciated), but she filled out even more than in the photo posted so that she appears to be a bulldog mix.

    A local rescue group pulled her from the shelter about 2 months after she initially came in, placing her in a foster home. A few months later, she was adopted and, in the most recent update I received, she was looking plump and happy :-)

  59. 59.

    oldster

    @raven:

    Great tunes from a great album.

    For some reason, a few weeks ago I pulled up a bunch of old B-52s that I had not heard in decades. It really holds up. “Private Idaho,” e.g., is still as hilarious and danceable as it was in 1979.

  60. 60.

    Willow’s Person

    @wonkie: “I live in an area like that and I am ashamed that I am not part of a reform movement here.” No reason to be ashamed! We each do what we can, and what we can do varies through time, and it sounds like you’re doing a lot! Thank you for stepping forward for the kitties.

  62. 62.

    eclare

    @oldster:   In high school dances in the early to mid-eighties everyone packed the dance floor to do the Rock Lobster dance.  Everyone falling to the floor…

  63. 63.

    oldster

    @eclare:

    And not just in high schools.  Good times, good times.

    I can still fall to the floor, I just have a harder time getting up again.

  65. 65.

    Willow’s Person

    Thank you so much for such a  great welcome! For those of you on Facebook, we’re at @Athenspets – GA. While the website was the core of what Athenspets was for 19 years, in 2020 the county started publicizing the animals for the first time. Because maintaining it was a lot of work (we posted several photos of each animal we could of the 2100 or so that come in each year, together with a story about each), at that point we shifted to a focus on social media.

    I first got involved in animal rescue in 2006, when I adopted the best dog ever, Willow. (Her story is here: https://www.homewardtrails.org/happy-tails/willow-from-fearful-to-fabulous/ .) She’s no longer around, but the three other 35-40 lb female mutts I adopted in the hopes of getting more Willows are, though of course they all insist on having their own personalities. Willow completely changed my life and, because of her, thousands of cats and dogs have gotten a chance they never would have had otherwise.

    I’m honored that Athenspets is your chosen pet charity, and will keep you updated on the animals that benefit from Walter’s Fund. It’s a tough year in the South for animals in shelters, but so far somehow we’ve been able to rearrange the deck chairs fast enough to keep our heads above water (to mix metaphors).

  70. 70.

    pat

    OK, in for $100.

    I see all sorts of dogs being walked on a leash and I have to think, wouldn’t they love to be able to just run?  So happy for the dog parks, where they can!

  71. 71.

    Wolvesvalley

    Welcome to Athenspets! It looks like it’s doing fantastic work.

    Here is $50 in memory of dear Walter.

  73. 73.

    Pennsylvanian

    I know I rarely comment, but I absolutely love this blog and read it every day. The pet rescue mission is just inspiring. So many animals have been treated, saved, placed, transported, sterilized and, above all, loved because of it. Glad to read about the new team. Kicked in my bit. Can’t wait to read updates!

  74. 74.

    raven

    @wonkie: When you post a FB comment folks can see your FB. There is a family  picture there with a discussion about an introduction to Bella. I only asked because I was at an anti-war demonstration in DC where she was the speaker and I found a picture of it where I found myself in the crowd. Now that I look again I think is was your mom or sister

     

    Here’s the picture.

  76. 76.

    WaterGirl

    @wonkie: Me, too!  I got see her speak in a small venue when I was in college.  I will always remember one thing she said because it resonated with me so much.

    I have always had a strong sense of outrage.

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