After a lengthy search, the Madison-Oglethorpe Animal Shelter’s Board of Directors and staff are thrilled to welcome Erica Rollins-Hendrix as our new shelter Director. Visitors to the shelter will already know Erica well as she’s served as our shelter Manager since last summer. Erica has impressed everyone she’s worked with, routinely demonstrating her ability to tackle challenges facing the shelter with professionalism, positivity, and compassion.
Read MoreCLOSED MONDAYS: Except for scheduled surgery appointments.
ANIMAL INTAKE HOURS:
Tuesday through Sunday: 12:00pm to 4:00pm
ANIMAL ADOPTION HOURS:
Sunday and Tuesday: 12:00pm to 4:00pm
Wednesday through Saturday: 12:00pm to 5:00pm
CLOSED: Mondays
New Years Day, MLK JR Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day
SURGERY CHECK IN:
By appointment only from 8:30am - 9:00am
Read MoreThe Madison-Oglethorpe Animal Shelter (MOAS) Board of Directors (Board) has been following the developments in Oglethorpe County closely as the Oglethorpe County Board of Commissioners (BOC) has worked to create and implement local ordinances regarding the control of animals. While the Board applauds the BOC’s efforts towards improving the significant animal control and welfare issues that Oglethorpe County is facing, the Board has repeatedly made it clear to the BOC that MOAS cannot impound animals directly from county code enforcement personnel (serve as an impound facility) and that it is not legally obligated to do so. MOAS does not have the legal authority nor space or resources to act in this capacity.
Read MoreMOAS needs your help! COVID-19 has hit our shelter and our community hard. Thanks to the amazing efforts and networking of staff, fosters, volunteers, and our rescue partners, we have been able to save over 1,800 animals this year despite the challenges we've faced, but now we need YOUR help.
Due to COVID-19, we have not been able to hold our normal annual fundraisers, which our shelter depends upon to raise crucial funds. To make up for this unplanned-for shortfall, we are calling on our heroes – generous supporters like you – to help us raise $50,000 by the end of the year so that we can continue to provide much-needed community services and high-quality care for animals in need.
Donate today at to be one of our heroes because your support is essential to our life-saving efforts; we cannot do this work without you!
Read MoreAt the Madison-Oglethorpe Animal Shelter (MOAS) we serve our community by assuming the responsibility and care of the homeless pet population in both Madison and Oglethorpe counties. We consistently place the health and well-being of our animals as our highest priority. On Tuesday, October 20, 2020, a cat in our care tested positive for a common feline upper respiratory infection (URI), the Calicivirus. This is a low-mortality virus commonly spread throughout high-population boarding, shelter, and veterinary environments. Although we vaccinate every cat in our care for this virus upon intake, we determined that out of an abundance of caution that we should make the difficult decision to close intake and adoptions of any further cats residing in our facility. This decision was carefully made in order to limit the potential spread of the Calicivirus to our adoptable cat population in addition to owned animals coming in for surgery or that would come into contact with a newly adopted cat..
We are taking every necessary precaution, and in addition to seeking advice from the Georgia State Veterinarian and the Georgia Department of Agriculture, we have sought out the advice of local veterinarian partners to determine the best procedures. As only one cat has currently tested positive, it is by no means certain that the remainder of the shelter cat population has been or will be affected. We are awaiting further test results to help evaluate this potential risk. Even if those tests return positive results, it is still not certain that the Calicivirus is the ultimate cause of any URI symptoms. “This is because up to 25% of clinically normal cats will test positive for [Calicivirus] infection via oropharyngeal swab, especially cats from a multiple cat household or those recently adopted from a shelter, pet store, or breeder. Recent vaccination with a modified live vaccine can also cause positive results.”*
Read MoreOur hearts are heavy today at MOAS, as we announce the departure of our amazing Director Shaina Knight. Shaina is resigning to pursue other opportunities, and we know she'll be moving on to bigger and better things, but we can't help but be heartbroken to see her go. Shaina has done an absolutely phenomenal job running the shelter and has achieved so much in the ~3 years that she's been with us. She has dramatically reduced our euthanasia rate, secured numerous grants to provide free spay/neuter surgeries to help reduce pet overpopulation, and has made MOAS a model animal shelter in our region—all while maintaining the utmost levels of animal care. On behalf of our Board, our staff, our volunteers, and our many supporters, I cannot possibly thank Shaina enough for all of her hard work, and I know that we all wish her all of the best in her future endeavors. Shaina is a passionate and skilled animal advocate, and we know that she will be a leader wherever she goes. Shaina's last day with us will be September 7th. We hope that in the meantime you all will contact her or come see her at the shelter and let her know how much she will be missed and thank her for her dedication to the animals in this community.
Read MoreWe are excited to report that our drive-through, low-cost vaccine clinic this past Sunday was a huge success! We were able to vaccinate over 150 animals in just four hours with minimal wait times and a virtually contactless system. We are already taking what we've learned from this initial pilot to work on plans for next month's clinic so that we can be as efficient as possible while keeping everyone safe. We also hope to schedule a mobile vaccine clinic in Oglethorpe County soon. If you're in need of vaccines or additional services that we were unable to offer at our first clinic, check back on our website closer to August for updates on our next one.
Read MoreThanks to our friends at Butt Hutt BBQ, we are holding our first ever Butts for Mutts fundraiser this September just in time for the Labor Day weekend. We’ll be selling 50 Boston Butts smoked to perfection for at least 10 hours by the great folks at Butt Hutt. Each one will be 8-10 lbs in pre-cooked weight and will come with Butt Hutt’s signature mild sauce. We’ll be selling them for $30 with all proceeds going back to help our shelter animals! Learn more online here.
Read MoreDue to COVID-19, we are once again meeting remotely. But we’d still love to have you join! You can join us by phone by calling +1 505-738-1112 and using this PIN: 326 313 203# If you’d prefer to join by video, please email our Board President at boardpresident@moaspets.com for an invite. We hope to see you there!
Read MoreReady for more good news? We are also excited to announce the creation of our new membership program, which allows shelter supporters to donate at whatever level is appropriate for their household while enabling them to see the real impact of their donations and receive some fantastic thank you gifts in the process. We are asking you to help us "Do Work That Matters" this year. As less than 30% of our operating budget comes from county contracts, our shelter animals quite literally depend on donors like you. And that has never been more true than during this time of crisis caused by COVID-19. Not only have we experienced a significant decrease in income due to the shuttering of our clinics, but we have every reason to expect that there will be a large surge of intakes this summer when animals that were unable to be altered due to COVID-19 closures end up reproducing.
Read MoreIn honor of all of the growth that MOAS has experienced in these past few years, we are thrilled to announce MOAS’ new logo representing the modern vision of what MOAS is and will continue to be for our community. It was designed by long-time Bark and Wine sponsor and MOAS foster parent Keith Przybyla-Kuchek, and we cannot thank him enough for his excellent work and advice throughout the design process. At MOAS, we strive to provide a friendly atmosphere where shelter animals receive the care, exercise, and enrichment that they need to remain physically and mentally healthy while they wait for their forever homes. We believe that our new logo helps illustrate the character of our organization, and we hope that you’ll stop by to see it in person soon.
Read MoreWant to attend our May Board Meeting? You can join via phone by calling +1 347-903-7938 and using the following PIN: 661 273 724# If you’d prefer to join by video, please email our Board President at boardpresident@moaspets.com, and we can send you an invite. We look forward to seeing you all there tonight!
Read MoreDue to the need to practice social distancing in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, our April board meeting (previously scheduled for April 9, 2020) has been cancelled. We apologize for any inconvenience, and we look forward to seeing you at future board meetings, normally held on the second Thursday of every month.
Read MoreOut of extreme caution for our staff, and the general public, Madison Oglethorpe Animal Shelter is following recommendations for social distancing due to COVID-19. Please read the following to hear of the changes being made. It is important to us right now to maintain a safe environment and implement practices to protect the health of our community. We will not be accepting any walk-in visitors at this time and we will not allow volunteers back until after April 20th, although this is subject to change as new information comes available.
Our staff will continue to provide our animals with enrichment, daily care, and cleaning. We do not need any additional volunteers while we are closed, but we will post here if we do need extra help.
We will also be canceling or postponing community events and gatherings that are happening during this time period including our vaccine clinics, volunteer orientations, and the Fun Dog Show.
Read MoreDue to the need to practice social distancing in light of the national emergency related to the Coronavirus, we, unfortunately, have no choice but to cancel tomorrow's Rabies Vaccine Clinic. As you can imagine, many of the people that participate in our rabies clinics each month are individuals who are at high risk, and for the safety of our clients and our staff, we felt that canceling this clinic was the only responsible thing that we could do in light of the most recent information available to us. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused to anyone and for the last-minute nature of this cancelation. As you all know, information about the spread of the disease is developing quickly, especially over the last 48 hours. We had sincerely hoped to be able to offer the clinic as we know that so many in our community depend upon this low-cost resource, but we hope to see you all at our April clinic on April 19th. Stay safe out there everyone.
Sincerely,
Sherrie Hines, Board President
Read MoreOur team had an amazing experience at the Dog Days Adoption Event this past weekend. We took 40 dogs up, and 39 of them found homes before the event was over with the 40th having a pending adoption. Thanks to our partners in Connecticut, we didn't have to bring any dogs back, which is excellent because more pups keep coming in every day. We want to say a big thank you to the wonderful folks with Dog Days who organized this event and all of their amazing volunteers. They go beyond the call of duty to make sure that our animals are safe, and well-taken care of throughout the event and find the best home possible.
Read MoreOur friends at Puppie Love® graciously chose us as one of the two shelters that would receive a $5,000 donation to help treat animals in need. Here’s a portion of their press release on their generous donation to our shelter:
“Without our Puppie Love® customers, we could not make this donation happen. Like most shelters, MOAS relies heavily on donations, especially for their medical cases. They just had a 4 month old Beagle puppy (Nicholas, pictured below) surrendered to them with a broken femur and pelvis (requiring surgery), along with testing positive for Parvo. He is currently at the University of Georgia receiving treatment. They are also treating an 8 Year old Hound (Molly, pictured below) that is Heartworm Positive, needs an FHO surgery, and also ACL surgery. Our Puppie Love customers are helping this organization to continue their mission, which is to save as many lives as possible. Learn more about this amazing organization on their Website, Facebook, and Instagram at the links below 😊”
We can’t thank Puppie Love® enough for their generous support!
Read MoreMore and more these days, people want to adopt shelter animals, but they also want an animal that knows basic commands, is perfectly house-trained, and won’t jump up on them, gets along with kids or other animals, etc., etc. At a shelter as busy as ours is, it’s sometimes hard for our staff to know everything that a potential adopter might want to know about an animal or to help train an animal to be able to provide everything that a potential adopter might want. Now, all adopters should be prepared to work with their new pet to develop a routine and train them to meet their own expectations, but the more work we can do to prepare a pet with those skills that are generally sought after, the more likely they are to find a good home and to stay in that home after being adopted.
Read MoreMeet Buster! This pup has had a really hard life so far. We don't know much about what it was like before he came to the shelter as a stray, but it definitely wasn't good. Buster is extremely emaciated (you can see every rib and notch in his spine), he has no body fat to help keep him warm in this colder weather, and he's heartworm positive on top of it all. :(
On the plus side, he's a happy, wiggly pup who loves nothing more than being with people. He's so excited when anyone comes up to his kennel, and he makes a high-pitched barking cry whenever you leave his side. The condition that he's in and the fact that he still loves people so much will just about break your heart.
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