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When you’re a pet without a home, the shelter is a scary place — it’s crowded, full of other barking dogs who have no other way to communicate, and worst of all, the humans who help take care of you never stay. It’s estimated that six to eight million cats and dogs enter shelters each year, but only three to four million are adopted. Sadly, this means many pets are euthanized. Five out of ten dogs and seven out of ten cats who were abandoned by their former guardians, or never got the chance to know what it feels like to have a loving home, are put to sleep simply because the shelter system is overcrowded.
Often times, a cat or dog might not seem friendly, affectionate, and sociable, all traits that are appealing to potential forever families, but only because they have never been given the chance to thrive in a home environment. While we can’t adopt every shelter pet who tugs at our heartstrings (ie, all of them), we can foster. Fostering a cat or dog from your local shelter is one of the best ways we can save lives –because we’re giving an animal who’s down on their luck a life-saving opportunity. Fostering also helps to combat overcrowding in shelters. Recently, S.N.A.R.R. Animal Rescue Northeast posted about Carla, the dog in the photos below. We don’t know her full story, but judging by how sad and frightened this pup was by her shelter experience, it’s likely that she was surrendered.
When Carla arrived at the shelter, she hid in the corner of her kennel, too frightened of her surroundings to face anyone.
This sweet girl was so afraid that S.N.A.R.R. couldn’t even do a temperament test. Carla’s only hope would be to find a foster willing to give her a chance of becoming a wonderful, well-adjusted, and adoptable dog.
Well, Carla’s dream came true! Just one day after S.N.A.R.R. posted about her on their Facebook page, a few fosters reached out and she was able to go home with one of them. You can tell by this happy girl’s face that living in a home with a human who loves her means the world to her.
The difference that just one day in a foster home made for Carla shows us just how important a home environment is to homeless pets. Our time with fosters may be temporary, but it truly means the world to them — and hey, maybe your good intentions will lead to a “foster fail,” which is when you end up adopting your foster pet. To learn more about fostering, check out this article.
You can learn more about S.N.A.R.R. Animal Rescue Northeast by visiting their official website.
All image source: S.N.A.R.R. Animal Rescue Northeast/Facebook
Why don’t they have programs like this for the homeless. We seem too care for animals more than humans. I love animals, but humans are also mistreated everyday.
Sadly, this scared behavior in the shelter will get overlooked for potential adopters. If my Hannah girl for some reason ended up in the shelter (hypothetically), she would probably react the same way. She is the sweetest, butterfly, love bug in the world.