You Can Save A Life By Fostering A Shelter Animal

"Daddy, can I have him..PLEASE?"

"Awww...she's so cute..let's take her home- I've always wanted a puppy."

or a kitten...

Every animal that ends up in an animal shelter has a story..a birth, a mother's love and nurture, siblings... a history...experiences that they can never tell us about. People they've loved, people who've chased them or beaten them...fights they've been in, parks they've played in, toys they've chewed and Sunday morning pancakes from McDonald's they've enjoyed with their families...

The handsome dog in the upper-right corner of this post is Mickey. He was "red-listed" on May 16, 2011. "Red-listed" means he was on the list to die at the shelter..to make room for a new dog.  He was scared...terrified actually. He's a six year-old pomeranian mix. His owner died and Mickey ended up at the Greenville Animal Control shelter in Greenville, SC. This sweet boy had been with his "human" for years...I'm uncertain but I believe he was found alone with his "deceased human"- I don't know how long he was there- mourning his dead owner. He was traumatized after that, still mourning and taken to the shelter with so much noise, strange smells, whimpering and barking of 200 dogs...some dogs who didn't make it out.

Mickey was blessed...he was about to be "euthed"...and someone who runs a rescue group saw him and pulled him. Here he is now...happy in his temporary foster home.

A joyful snooze...enjoying Life!

He looks pretty happy to me...and just think..this photo would have never been taken if someone hadn't stepped up and offered Mickey a temporary home.





This is Mickey and Troy...another dog who would be dead if it weren't for a foster family...:

Dear Reader, the "Dog Pound" is now known as the 'Animal Shelter" and the "Dog Catcher" is now known as the "Animal Control Officer."  Things have come a long way since then...There are many "no-kill" shelters now, thank God...

..but there are STILL "high-kill" shelters...municipal shelters that have little money to keep dogs and cats alive simply because too many come in every day. There's little space when you've got 150 "owner drop-offs" in a day! IN A DAY! Yes, there is a shelter in South Carolina that sometimes gets up to 150 owner drop-offs a day. That number doesn't include the animals that are picked up by animal control officers.

This is heart-breaking but I MUST share it with you. When an animal is brought in by "the dog catcher," it's considered a lost pet and usually has a day or two, sometimes three days to live for the owner to claim it before it is PTS ( Put To Sleep) a.k. a..."euthed" (euthanized...which is the humane way of saying gassed or stuck with a needle).  These dogs and cats have a slightly better chance of getting out of there alive.

The owner drop-offs aren't so lucky. If it's a "high-kill" shelter and there is no space for that animal, no free kennel or cage...that pet that was just taken out of it's home, taken away from it's bed and toys...Fluffy, Fido, Chance or Buddy can be PTS immediately- no questions asked...That's right...as the former "pet guardian" or owner is turning the key in the ignition, Sweet Caroline or Happy Little Sheba is terrified by strangers handling her and probably already crossing what's known as The Rainbow Bridge.

Foster families SAVE lives. People still go to the shelter to adopt dogs and cats..puppies and kittens...but not enough. Rescue organizations can step in and "pull" a dog. They can contact the shelter and say "Hey, I'm pulling Bootsie and Sam- don't put them down" and the dog or cat is saved...This wonderful process is really sped up when private people or groups "sponsor" an animal..donate money in the animal's name to pay for vetting fees such as rabies shots, heart-worm testing and meds, spaying and neutering, etc...plus, these rescue groups are sometimes out-of-state, so transport fees are also taken into consideration.

This is where fostering comes in. The dog or cat has to stay somewhere after it's been rescued. If it stays in the shelter, it's taking up space so a different dog or cat gets PTS...this is horrible but true. Sometimes, private people who can't take a dog will offer to pay for boarding but that only goes so far.
A temporary foster home is needed so the dog can be taken from the shelter and be somewhere safe until it can be transported to the rescue group.

THERE IS A DESPERATE NEED FOR FOSTERS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY!

When you foster, you're helping to save TWO lives- the life of the dog or cat that is being rescued and the one in the shelter you're giving a chance to be seen and maybe live and be pulled or adopted. Two animals are being saved...two.

Please consider it. Find out about it. Spread the word if you can't. Everything you do will somehow save a life.

...and if you're not convinced, here are more dogs who are STILL alive because of fosters:

Mickey the morning he left the shelter and arrived at his foster family. He looks a lot different, doesn't he?

Pearl at the shelter

Neil happy to be alive!

Flower when she was brought into the shelter

Flower with her foster mom looking like she's full of energy!

All these dogs are up for adoption...


If you'd like to foster, simply contact your local shelter and tell them you'd like to become a foster...Many times all you do is provide the home and lots of love...some rescues even provide the food, etc.

You can also contact a local rescue group if you're interested in fostering a specific breed...You CAN save a life...you can save MANY lives over the course of a few years!

The following specific pleas I've put out on Facebook.  If you live in the areas mentioned, by all means, make the contact today! There are many dogs and cats who will be PTS today, tomorrow morning, tomorrow afternoon...you CAN save a life as soon as you make the call or send the email!

" >->URGENT PLEA--T e m p o r a r y  F o s t e r s Needed For Dogs In High-Kill Shelter. ***Greenville-Columbia, SC *** Raleigh-Durham, NC & ***Nashville, TN areas- These Dogs Need You NOW! Rescues Are Willing to Pull The Dogs But W/out Fosters, We Can't SAVE Them! Plz Contact Jennifer Kosanovich Here On FB. "Friend" Her & Send Message About Fostering. Thank You! Plz Crosspost This All Over. The NEED Is RIGHT NOW! "

This is Pearl's foster plea...which is still in place. CLICK HERE TO READ WHAT JENNIFER SAID ABOUT PEARL

" URGENT: HOME NEEDED FOR PEARL-Former Redlisted Greenville Dog.
Trying desperately to help a fantastic dog and an equally fantastic rescue friend. Can anyone adopt, foster or rescue Pearl? Transport is available almost anywhere on the East Coast. If we can find a NJ foster, there is a rescue to help Pearl. Plz read the following bio by Jen Kosanovich and let her know if you can help. TEAM PEARL! "

" ***URGENT PLEA: * SOUTH CAROLINA, *NORTH CAROLINA, *GEORGIA, *PENNSYLVANIA AND *NEW YORK STATES...Temporary Fosters Needed For Dogs In High-Kill Shelter. They Need You ASAP! Rescues Are Willing to Pull THe Dogs But Without The Fosters, We Can't SAVE Them!  PLZ Add Rene Rubenacker Crossposter here on FB as a Friend and Include Message About Fostering. Thank You! Plz Crosspost This All Over. The NEED Is NOW! "

Also needed in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC areas and Greenville-Columbia ,SC areas add Stephanie Pico de Wilsky as a Friend and message her you'd like to be a foster.

>->-> * * A special mention for Hannah Marie's Rescue Angels! They always manage to find room for just "one more" dog and pull it from Death Row. If you'd like to find out more and foster for them, please contact Jennifer Kosanovich or Brenda Lee on Facebook.  Also, it would be great if you could spare even a dollar or two to help them out. The chip-in in the upper right corner is for this incredible rescue.  In a little over a week, they saved 13 dogs from being killed and 11 of them have MAJOR MEDICAL concerns- we're talking thousands of dollars. Please help them out if you can...They've pulled Troy, Neil, Flower, Lady, Matt, Chelsea, Chase/Chance, Princess, Charles, MooMoo, Art, Powder Puff, Jose, Sophie, Bella (GSD), Bella (Pit Bull), Tinkerbelle, Olive and one more who will be named shortly! These dogs came from Greenville, SC aka GCACS.

There are so many wonderful rescues across the country and around the world I wish I could list them all here but if you search for them, you'll be amazed!

On a very sad note, I told you about the money being there but no fosters, rescues or adoptions came through and dogs and cats being PTS...

Honey was brought into a shelter in NYC on June 6, 2011...just six (6) days ago. Her thread states "owner sick"...She was an owner drop off... Click on her photo to read what little they knew about her. The shelter thinks she was about 13 yrs old so she wasn't given any sort of medical evaluation...she was old- "no one wanted her anymore." though people pledged $400.00 in funds for a rescue/foster to pull her or an adoption to go through. At the last minute, someone from Cape Cod was going to adopt her-an email was sent this past Friday, the 10th to the Brooklyn shelter but never answered... how many days did Honey get before she was put down? I think she went down on Friday or yesterday...Four days before she was in her home...four days later gone from this earth...

Rest In Peace, Sweet Honey. We tried to save you.

Sadly, there are more like Honey than there are of Mickey, Pearl, Flower and Neil. Please consider fostering- it's an act of kindness...an act of love.

Thank you,

~ Scully, Dovi, Whiskers, Mickey, Pearl, Flower, Troy, Chaz and Sweet Chance, Augusta and Willis, who didn't make it are asking you to please pass this on.  ^..^   ,

P.S. If you are a rescue group looking for fosters and would like me to include you in this post, please feel free to contact me with the contact info and general locations/areas in which you need fosters. Thanks! 

Also a note from Hannah Marie's Rescue Angels: 
‎"  **All of this was possible THANKS to ALL of you friends for supporting us day in and day out, and a VERY special thanks to our foster parents, we could NEVER do this with out you..Thank you all so very much:))  "Tweet