PETSinc
PETSinc was established in December, 1991 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit, no-kill animal rescue organization primarily serving the Midlands of South Carolina. It was founded by Patricia McQueen and Jane Brundage as an agency to provide an outlet for caring people to re-home abandoned, abused, distressed, and stray animals. The volunteer-only operation became so prolific that a small adoption center was opened in 1993 with full-time employees hired to anchor our programs. PETSinc had become a week-long operation. By 1998, the operation was moved to our present 13-acre site. In 2006, our current 10,000-square-feet adoption center located at 300 Orchard Drive in West Columbia, SC, was opened. In 2010, a low-cost, high quality Neuter Scooter Vet Clinic was opened to provide services for emergency rescues and spaying and neutering surgeries. Added later were expanded provisions for additional veterinary care such as dental services, blood tests, skin treatment, deworming, illness/injury/preventative care, extended hours for the convenience of our clients, as well as networking with nearby rural communities who have little access to high-quality, affordable comprehensive vet care.
PETSinc places over 3,200 animals into adoption or temporary foster homes each year, while our modest adoption center houses approximately 100 homeless animals at all times who are waiting for their forever families. With each dog or cat that is brought to us, we offer basic vetting and grooming plus lifetime registration with our pet identification programs which helps us return lost pets to their owners. Having grown to helping thousands of distressed pets and their families each year through our comprehensive services, we can boast of nearly 80,000 success stories since our humble beginnings in 1991.
Our innovative programs have proven amazingly successful in addressing the root problems which lead to the relinquishment of unwanted pets, resulting in overpopulation at pounds and rescue organizations… and untold misery, suffering, and often death for these unfortunate animals. PETSinc consistently employs new, innovative projects and methods, many unique to animal rescue, fostering, and adoption, that are proving very successful in addressing the problems associated with overpopulation and aiding the stray pets who reach us. Furthermore, PETSinc networks and establishes relationships within our community and adoptive families to bring encouragement, education, and awareness of the responsibilities and challenges of pet guardianship and animal related issues through provisions such as workshops, training, blogs, social media, group-sharing forum, volunteerism (including PTI), roving adoptions, public speaking, community events, school presentations, and more.
Funding for PETSinc comes from our generous friends, supporters, donors, event fundraisers, and our Thrift Avenue thrift store. Our staff is relatively small so the majority of our support goes directly to the care for our animals. Hence, we rely greatly on volunteers who come to the shelter regularly to assist with jobs and on foster families who help us care for our special needs animals or those pets who have been with us for a longer duration while awaiting adoption. We do not receive federal or state grant monies to operate our rescue shelter.