EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — El Paso Animal Services is promoting “National Foster a Pet Month” during the month of June, as they have thousands of animals waiting to be adopted.
El Paso Animal Services Public Affairs Coordinator Julie Newbold says “Foster a Pet Month” promotes fostering and encourages the community to help with the thousands of animals they receive yearly.
Newbold says a lot of fostering is based on spaying and neutering because the shelter is unable to legally adopt out an animal if they’re not fixed.
Newbold says the shelter currently has one vet who handles most of the spaying and neutering but it can become overwhelming.
Newbold says fostering can help with spaying and neutering younger animals after they reach 2 months of age.
“We get a lot of puppies and kittens so obviously they can’t be spade until they’re a certain age and we don’t want them to just be stuck here waiting for that spade/neuter and they lose out on that valuable socialization period,” Newbold said.
Aside from spaying and neutering, fostering is also important due to the shelter’s lack of space since they handle thousands of animals yearly.
“We have close to 600 dogs in our care and any kittens or moms with kittens, which I think we have a lot right now, probably around 100 to 200,” Newbold said.
Newbold says any dog can be fostered, especially older dogs and adult dogs with a litter of puppies. However, cats can only be fostered when they’re younger than 2 months of age and adult cats with a litter of kittens.
Newbold adds that kittens should be fostered in twos or threes so they have a higher chance of thriving and gaining socialization skills.
Older dogs can be the perfect fit for someone who has a busy schedule but is still interested in fostering, Newbold said. In some instances, older dogs can be put into “fospice,” which is a program that allows someone to foster a dog until they die.
Newbold says animals need to be fostered for a minimum of two weeks and the person would have to schedule an appointment to be able to return the animal.
“Ideally if they’re young kittens or young puppies, we ask until they are 2 months of age so they can get fixed and vaccinated. For older dogs, we ask for a minimum of two weeks but you do need to schedule an appointment to be able to return,” Newbold said.
Newbold adds that they prefer the animals aren’t returned to the shelter because the ultimate goal is to find them their forever home.
Newbold adds when fostering they go by the “333 rule.” After the first three days, the animal is scared and anxious since their setting has changed. After the first three weeks, they begin to get used to things and develop a routine. After the first three months, they should feel completely settled in.
El Paso Animal Services Foster Coordinator Tiffany Aguirre says those who are interested in fostering animals should expect the first couple of weeks to be challenging.
“Just have patience. A lot of people tend to give up right away. They hear the two-week contract and they’re ready to return the pet and sometimes that’s just not good for the pet. Bringing them back and forth and it just can add a little bit of trauma. Because of that I do encourage people to just be a little bit patient, give them a little more time and you’ll see their true colors,” Aguirre said.
El Paso Animal Services also provides training tips, medical care, food, supplies, vaccines, medications, and anything else that is needed to take care of an animal.
Those who wish to foster should have a valid photo ID, be 18 years old or older, and live in El Paso County.
Those who are interested in fostering can go to El Paso Animal Services’ website by clicking here.
Those who are interested can also go to the shelter in person. El Paso Animal Services is located at 5001 Fred Wilson Ave.
Newbold says they currently have an adoptable pets webpage for those who are fostering where they can promote their pets.
Newbold says they also do “Foster Fridays” where they promote fostered pets every Friday to try to get them adopted.
Those who are fostering can also go to any of El Paso Animal Services’ off-site adoption events to promote their foster pets.
Newbold adds if you do find pets roaming in the community, chances are they have a home, and trying to find their home goes a long way instead of taking them to the shelter.
“Most pets or dogs that you find in your community are only about a mile from their home if they are lost. So just going and knocking on a couple of doors, posting on social media, filing a lost pet report or found pet report on our website, putting up some flyers around,” Newbold said.
Newbold says pets have an 80 percent higher chance of being reunited with their owners if they stay in the community rather than being taken to a shelter where their chances of being reunited with their owner lowers to 20 percent.
Newbold stresses if you happen to find a litter of kittens who look healthy, they should be left alone. For those who do find a litter of kittens, you can head to El Paso Animal Services’ website to follow the correct steps.
Read: Read More