Friends of the Shelter is now called Friends of Shelter and Companion Animals and has refocused its efforts in order to better support those companion animals and their owners in need of the types of assistance not already provided. Courtesy/FOSCA
FOSACA News:
For almost 20 years, Friends of the Shelter (FOS) has supported companion animals by assisting with both medical needs and spay and neuter costs; adoption promotion including mobile adoptions and publicity, transporting animals between rescues; offering foster care for very young animals; providing public education and surrender prevention; and supplying our local shelter with financial assistance and volunteers.
As the shelter’s needs have evolved in the past few years, FOS has refocused its efforts in order to better support those companion animals and their owners in need of the types of assistance not provided by the local animal shelters.
Friends of Shelter and Companion Animals (FOSCA) , as we are now called, has vital programs that include financial assistance, advice, and short-term care for companion animals whose owners request assistance with medical problems, behavior issues, housing, or other support due to unexpected life circumstances that, if unaddressed, might result in the surrender or death of their beloved companions.
Additionally, local veterinarians have, for many years, called upon FOS to assist their low-income clients with medical costs as well as occasionally requesting that volunteers assist with care logistics and information for complex medical cases.
FOSCA is able to support these services because of the generosity of its donors and supporters of its fundraising activities. Every year, they organize the always popular Dog Jog and Fun Walk (last weekend in April), offer a Pancake Breakfast supported by the Los Alamos Sheriff’s Posse, publish and sell a Rescue Animal calendar with cute photos and touching stories about rescued pets; and sell calendars and handmade items at the Fall Craft Fair. Pet Pangaea, a generous and long-time supporter of FOS, hosts Santa Paws every Christmas season for pet owners to have their companion photographed with Santa.
The public can support the important work of FOSCA in many ways. For information on volunteering, upcoming events and contact information, visit www.lafos.org, or Like them on Facebook. Those wishing to donate can use PayPal or send a check to Friends of the Shelter, PO Box 455, Los Alamos, NM, 87544. The public also can designate Friends of Shelter and Companion Animals as their charity of choice at Smith’s Community Rewards program or through Amazon Smile. LANL employees may choose to designate donations to FOS as part of the LANL Employee Giving Campaign.