By Lauren Means
Six million three hundred thousand. That’s the approximate number of companion animals the ASPCA estimates to enter U.S. shelters each year. While this number has decreased in recent years, it still equates to approximately 920,000 shelter animals being euthanized EVERY YEAR.
One step being taken to prevent this is increasing awareness of fostering. National nonprofit, Petco Love, and charity footwear collection, BOBS, from Skechers are leading the charge by advocating for the lifesaving power of fostering.
They hope to inspire animal lovers nationwide to foster as a part of National Foster a Pet Month in June. In a 2021 interview, Susanne Kogut, president of Petco Love, explained why establishing National Foster a Pet Month was an important step to increase participation in fostering saying, “Temporary fostering not only provides a home environment which is beneficial to the overall physical and emotional health of a pet but provides time for these pets to get adopted instead of being euthanized for lack of space.”
According to a survey by American Pet Products, if just two percent of the 85-million pet-owning households fostered one pet a year, we could eliminate preventable euthanasia in America’s shelters, saving the lives of 800,000 shelter animals at risk of euthanasia.
Fosters open up spaces at the shelter to give even more adoptable animals a second chance at an incredible life. There are many types of fostering including longer-term fostering, crisis fostering, medical fosters, and even overnight and day-date fostering.
One common misconception is that animals that need to be fostered have medical needs. While there are many animals needing a medical foster, there are so many that are healthy and just need somewhere to stay while working through the adoption process. Some may be too young to be adopted while others may have anxiety and kennel stress.
There are some foster animals with medical needs like ones recovering from an illness, those who might be underweight, and those recovering from surgery. If an animal has a contagious illness, ranging from skin conditions to respiratory or intestinal illnesses, they need a foster to keep them isolated while they are being treated and also administer medications. Animals who are underweight need to be fed specific diets and be monitored closely for illness.
If an animal is recovering from surgery, severe injuries, accidents, or abuse, they will need to be cared for in a quiet, low-stress environment. They may have limited mobility, need wound dressing changes, and might have trust issues in a large kennel setting.
There is also crisis fostering. This is when a pet parent is experiencing a crisis like domestic violence, eviction, hospitalization, homelessness, or incarceration and there are temporary fosters available to help care for the animal while the person is working through the crisis.
Some shelters, like the Nashville Humane Society, also offer overnight fostering and day-date fostering. These are very short-term, low-commitment fostering opportunities where you can bring a shelter animal home for a night or take them home for a day visit. It gives the animal a chance to have much-needed time outside of the shelter and in a loving environment.
No matter how much time you have to offer, fostering an animal in need will provide a bridge to their forever home.
Adopt a Pet
For more information on PetcoLoves Foundation visit https://petcolove.org/events/be-a-foster/.
For more information about Nashville Humane Society’s foster program visit https://nashvillehumane.org/foster.
