COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – A non-profit animal shelter in the Midlands is doing all it can to give rescue animals a second chance.
Final Victory Animal Shelter is based out of West Columbia.
The shelter has its own building where anyone interested in adopting or fostering could come by, but now they’re taking it a step further to find a forever home for these animals.
“I think a lot of what you get is, people walk around the corner and all of a sudden they see a dog, you see a lot of faces light up. A lot of the kids will go back and get their moms and be like, “Mommy come look at this,” said Michael Sniezek General Manager at Final Victory Animal Rescue.
You could really turn any corner here in the Midlands and find something you weren’t necessarily looking for.
For many, you wouldn’t usually expect to find that friend for life at an antique shop of all places, but sometimes it’s the unlikely spots that bring you exactly what you need.
“We’re trying to bring everybody together because everybody has the same goal. The goal is to get these dogs into households, to get them adopted, keep euthanasia out of the shelters and just get a dog into the perfect home,” said Sniezek.
Final Victory Animal Rescue was out at Ivy House Antique shop this past weekend for their Flea Market Flip.
A four-legged friend isn’t something you’d typically find while out shopping at a flea market, but Final Victory says when they integrate themselves into the community in different ways, that’s when the shelter sees new exposure which leads to more adoptions.
“A lot of the shelters, people know about them, people know about us really well but if we’re going out there and we’re able to talk to people- people that aren’t even thinking about, “Oh hey, I’ve got old linens, I’ve got old bed sheets that I just don’t need. We’re talking with them in the community about what we do. It’s getting our name out there. A lot of people are very sympathetic. They’re dog lovers, it’s a very dog-loving community, Columbia is,” said Sniezek.
The non-profit rescue’s main goal is to give these pets in need, their true “final victory”.
They’ll see a good number of people come to the shelter out in West Columbia looking for an animal but as Michael tells WIS, many don’t know they’re looking for that forever friend until they see a sign.
“You could be driving down the middle of the road, thinking about a dog and then all of a sudden there’s a bumper sticker in front of you that says, ‘Final Rescue Animal Shelter,’” Sniezek said.
Whether that sign is metaphorical or physical, Michael says he sees them all the time.
So why a flea market? Why bring the animals out when the shelter is meant for people to come in?
It isn’t just about having people stop by for a few seconds to say “hi,” and then carry It’s about giving these rescue animals the chance they deserve.
“More of a discussion than anything, just trying to create discussion in the community. The more we can do to bring everyone together on a united front, the more we can help these dogs out,” said Sniezek.
The end goal is the main priority.
Organizers hope that Final Victory can just be one stop along these animal’s journey. They see a nice success rate, but there are still plenty of pets still out there waiting for their forever families.
“For last month, we had 97 adoptions which is amazing. We usually have about 60-75 adoptions a month. We’ve hit 700 adoptions for the year which is awesome,” Sniezek said.
And the only way to keep that number headed in the right direction is by continuing to meet the Columbia community halfway.
“So then we try to invite them in because we want them to interact with the dog, we want them to see how great this dog is,” said Sniezek.
So when you catch Final Victory Rescue out and about, you might be met with some new furry friends.
Notice a spelling or grammar error in this article? Click or tap here to report it. Please include the article’s headline.
Stay up to date with WIS News 10. Get the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and Stream us on Roku, YouTube, Amazon Fire, or Apple TV.
Copyright 2023 WIS. All rights reserved.
