At front left are Vada Oberlin and Secretary Shirley Auble of SARG presenting a check to Julie Armes of the Oak Ridge Animal Shelter. In back are President Jack Archer, Secretary Jan Baker, Police Chief James T. Akagi, Vice President Sara Moore, ORPD Capt. Mike Uher, Linda Gonda, and Lt. Robin Smith. (Submitted photo)
Shelter Animal Rescue Group recently presented a $10,000 check to the Oak Ridge Animal Shelter from an auction last year, and SARG is getting ready for this year’s auction. It’s scheduled for Friday.
The $10,000 check was from the 2012 Paws for Life Gala Auction. The funds are going to assist the shelter with updating and creating a clinic area to do exams, shots, microchipping, and other general exams. SARG will also use the funds to help some animal owners with surgical and medical needs for their pets, a press release said.
This year’s gala auction is at 6 p.m. Friday at the DoubleTree Hotel in Oak Ridge. The press release said the gala will benefit many programs that help hundreds of dogs and cats in Anderson County.
“We hope to be able to raise as much as we did last year to help where it is so desperately needed,” said Shirley Auble, the longtime “face” of SARG in the community. “However, we cannot do this enormous undertaking without our the community support.”
Visit the website www.pawsforlifegala for more information and to purchase tickets. Contact Gala Chair Sara Moore at [email protected] if you would like to donate.
Andrew Howe says
A couple of months ago my neighbors dog got loose. He found it at our shelter, but arrived after official closing time. Even though someone was still there, they told him he couldn’t have the pet until the next morn.
The next morning he got there at opening hours, only to find his pet had been shipped off to SARG.
Based on that incident, I seriously worry that SARG and our shelter are more out to SELL our pets than to get them back to us safely.
Not that I’m against SARG at all, but something is fully fishy there.
Another tale that should embarrass the heck out of our public servants there:
I called the shelter for weeks about a loose dog in my hood scaring away the deer and creating havoc. I got rude service and zero response. One day at animal control officer was cruising the street so I stopped him and said “You looking for that dog I’ve been calling in about?” He says to me, “I didn’t know there was a problem animal out here.” So I told him exactly where it lives, what it’s name is, what it’s owners name is and told him to go park his car and at least go look at the dog (who was in it’s backyard at the time). He pulled over to the side of the road, waited about 15 seconds, then drove on.
THIS is what we’re getting in regard to animal control from our taxes, btw. Sad. ANOTHER reason people might not want to live here…
I hope the grant money helps the dept actually PERFORM THEIR JOBS effectively, and if my worries are founded about SARG, I hope it also reduces their desire to ship our pets elsewhere within 12 hours to being found.
BTW, “funds are going to ASSIST” in a clinic? For ten grand I can build you a completely new facility. Well, save what’s leftover so I don’t have to hear about how the animal shelter blew through it’s grant money and now needs more tax payer cash because it forgot to stock up on supplies like needles and stiches so it can make use of the new clinic…
robin biloski says
I have been involved in SARG for more years than I can really rmember. They are dedicated to help the many neglected dogs/cats in our community in many ways. The core people in the organization work diligently to provide good homes, raisee money and perform their mission with love and patience. Sometimes animals are turned away as their resouces are simply not there, be it $ or manpower.
Sometimes things don’t always go as planed but that may be due to a communication glitch. Please consider all the good things they have done rather than one instance. Providing the Oak Rdige Animal Shelter $10,000 provided needed air conditioning and I am sure assistance with start up fees for a new vet… could be wrong but good things are coming there and SARG helped.
Volunteer to help to learn about what they do first hand… I think you will be very pleased.
Robin Biloski
CK Kelsey says
Bureaucrats have ruined almost every organization that exist Andrew. They empower themselves and the rank & file people that give so much of their time and heart don’t realize they are being used . It’s become the way of the world. Never trust politicians when they use their power to be part of a charity or organization that was designed to help people .politicians usually just want to help themselves.
johnhuotari says
Andy,
I can comment on our personal experience with SARG, which was very positive. They helped us rescue our dog Lucky about nine years ago. He had been a stray running back and forth across Highway 58 at K-25.
When we rescued him, Lucky, who is a large dog, only weighed 58 pounds and was covered in ticks. While we searched unsuccessfully for his owner, SARG helped us with vet bills, including vaccinations, a spay/neuter operation, and removal of the ticks. After about a month, SARG also helped us find a foster home in Chattanooga.
In the end, we ended up keeping Lucky, and he’s still with us.
I don’t recall that SARG ever asked us for anything. I don’t know if what they did for us is standard, but I know we’ve always been grateful for their help.
susan shor says
I’m sure if you had just contacted the people at SARG, they would have immediately returned your pet to you. Did you even try that? I’m sure this was a miscommunication of some kind. As someone who has fostered dogs for SARG for over five years, I can tell you first hand that this is NOT a money making operation. Everyone at SARG just wants what is best for the animals. Why don’t you try volunteering at the shelter or with SARG to see what’s really going on there, instead of making accusations.
Lauren Biloski says
SARG is one of the
greatest groups in our community. I adopted my puggle, Buster, from them
and he is an amazing dog. They have saved countless lives and I think
before you criticize and make baseless accusations, you need to research
the group you are targeting.
SARG cannot act above the law or take animals from the shelter without
the mandatory waiting period expiring. Your neighbor obviously gave you wrong information or the
mix-up rests with the shelter and not SARG. I invite you to become a productive member of Oak Ridge and
become involved with SARG to see how they work, bring joy to thousands of people,
and save innocent lives. I can’t
comprehend how someone could criticize a group that is helping to save animals
in Anderson County and lower the euthanasia rate; which is above 75%.