Inspire Me: Animal foster families step up during pandemic
As COVID-19 keeps most residents sheltering in place, staff and volunteers at Valley Humane Society are doubling their efforts to make sure homeless animals continue to be cared for, even as the organization’s shelter remains closed.
For hundreds of dogs, cats, kittens and puppies, that means sheltering out of place in private homes, where foster volunteers keep them safe and socialized until they’re adopted.
Valley Humane, which serves Pleasanton, Livermore and Dublin, has always depended on its team of 75 fosters to take animals out of its shelter, making room for the continual flow of at-risk dogs and cats the organization rescues from overwhelmed public shelters. With its building temporarily closed due to the pandemic, however, foster care is the only housing option for all these animals, and their numbers keep growing.
Between March 17 and June 1 of this year, 210 animals came to Valley Humane — 28 percent more by this time last year — and all those animals were placed into foster care, resulting in a 21-percent increase from 2019. In addition, adoptions are up 31 percent, from 119 to 156, as many people who planned to adopt during summer move up their timeline to take advantage of being at home.
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