Thinking donations for Christmas? Happy Tails is a good choice

Editor:

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This is the season for people to give donations to many local and national charities. If you are an animal lover, like me, you might be looking for the local organization that would benefit the most from your donation. My choice is CSRA Happy Tails Rescue.

Every cent donated is spent on the animals. They are a 501C-3 corporation and all donations are tax-deductible.

Columbia County Animal Care and Control reported that Happy Tails rescued 335 animals from Jan. 1-Dec. 1, 2009. (Columbia County Humane Society rescued three and Molly's Militia rescued five.) All the volunteers work hard to find appropriate homes for both dogs and cats. So far this year, 421 dogs and 156 cats have been adopted. That is amazing!

Currently, the volunteers have 50 dogs and 101 cats in foster care. Plans for the future include:

- purchasing or having donated a large parcel of land, at least 20 acres;

- building a state-of-the-art, no-kill shelter;

- utilize the talents of special-needs adults to assist with the animals as kennel helpers;

- establish a dog park and a walking trail;

- build a boarding facility, open to the public, offering discounted rates for adopted pets. This business would help fund the shelter operation;

- a section of the boarding facility would be available to assist military personnel during training activities or deployments; and,

- all of the above would be very family friendly.

Thank you, Happy Tails, for all you are doing for our CSRA animals.

Leasa Jarman

Evans