Foster a Pet
MCSPCA Initiates Animal Foster Care Program
Amsterdam, NY, November 14, 2009 - Over one-hundred animals in our area are waiting to be placed at the Montgomery County SPCA Animal Shelter in Amsterdam, as limited space and resources at the facility are preventing their admittance. Many, mostly cats, have been on a waiting list for several months, with the lucky ones receiving basic care by kindhearted residents who are unable to take them in permanently. As winter fast approaches, the prospects for survival for these lost and abandoned creatures diminishes.
In response to this critical need to find appropriate temporary living situations until space becomes available at the Animal Shelter, the Montgomery County SPCA is initiating the new Emma’s Hope Foster Care Program. The organization is now recruiting caring individuals who are willing to share their love and home on a temporary basis with these animals, according to program coordinator Chris Fura, who also serves as vice-president of the MCSPCA Board of Directors. The program is named to honor Emma Hope, an abandoned and injured pup who was recently taken in by the Montgomery County SPCA and fostered by Fura.
“We are seeking volunteers who want to make a space in their hearts and their homes for an abandoned cat, or maybe two, or a mother cat and her kittens. The MCSPCA will provide any medical needs and spaying/neutering during the foster care, and will make periodic checks with the foster home to make sure all is well”, Fura explains.
In order to insure that volunteer foster homes will provide the appropriate setting for these animals, an application and home interview will be part of the process. “While one’s heart may be in the right place, one’s home may not be the best setting for certain cats”, Fura clarifies. “For instance, an ideal foster home for a particular cat might be one with no other pets, or perhaps one with no small children. Also, some animals may have special needs – medications that need to be administered or minor physical therapy. Each foster situation will be considered individually. The foster home is the first step – once a space is available at the Animal Shelter, the foster pet will be transferred to the facility to continue its care until a new permanent home is found.”
Those interested in participating in Emma’s Hope Foster Care Program by opening their homes and hearts to a homeless animal on a temporary basis should contact Fura for an application by emailing info@mc-spca.org.
The Montgomery County SPCA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the welfare of homeless, neglected, abandoned and abused animals in the Montgomery County area.
