Welcome to the April 7 issue of Shelter Scoop - news from Pima Animal Care Center

When PACC was newly built, our adoptions kennel capacity for dogs was in the 250ish range. That assumes some dogs can be co-housed safely. Most commonly at PACC, our numbers are north of 475. That’s in-house. This Scoop is the great news about our foster family – those of you out in the community who are taking our pups (and cats) out of the shelter for varying lengths of time. Our fosters are a god-send to us and our ability to successfully manage the number of animals coming to PACC.

Each day, I get a series of reports, one of which shows how many animals we have out in foster homes. Here’s an example – note that these are 900+ dogs we would otherwise have to find a way to manage if it weren’t for the great foster program that’s in place.

We have a variety of ways people can foster an animal. The duration can be a couple of hours while you take the dog for a walk in the park, overnight at your home, or for more lengthy periods of time while you actively assist in finding a new home for the pup. Also as you see in the chart, there are fostering opportunities for helping a dog that has been through our clinic as it recovers from medical procedures. The Safety Net program is where you’ll foster an animal while its owner goes through some temporary life-situation that prevents them from keeping it, say their own medical procedure. Safety Net gives the owner the peace of mind that the ‘rest of the family’ is in a good foster situation while they get back on their own feet.

The same kind of matchmaking happens with fosters as with our regular adoptions. We’ll be sure the animal is compatible with what you’ve got going on in your home – other pets, kids – so it’s a safe and good fit.

The number of animals we manage at PACC is daunting. Our goal is to find homes for as many as can safely be placed and to provide a humane setting for those others while they wait for those homes. Our fosters are invaluable to us in meeting those goals and for that we at PACC are truly grateful to all who participate as fosters at whatever level they’re comfortable with.

If you would like to look into joining the PACC team as a foster, please check this link: https://www.pima.gov/2295/Foster-a-Pet-Through-Pima-Animal-Care or come to the shelter to meet with a foster coordinator.