PAWS of Coronado is looking for more foster families to help care for the increasing number of animals in need in Coronado.
“Recently we have had an increase in stray animals brought to PAWS who are suffering from severe medical conditions or who have clearly escaped situations of abuse and neglect,” operations manager, Mikaela Boudreau, said. “We don’t know if these animals are being left in Coronado because their owners cannot afford their care, or if they have been dropped here by rescue groups trying to save them from their painful living conditions, but either way animals with medical or behavioral conditions require significant care before they are eligible for adoption.”
Over the summer, they treated cancer, rehabilitated dogs suffering from extreme starvation, and treated a severe burn all in the same month. Boudreau says intensive medical care like this, along with keeping dogs in the shelter for longer than average times, requires significant volunteer support and fundraising.
However, this poses an issue during the coronavirus pandemic, as they have had to reduce the number of volunteers and cancel fundraising events in order to comply with public health recommendations. PAWS of Coronado is now asking for the community’s help so they can continue to care for animals in need. There are several ways to help the shelter.
“The first and easiest is to make a donation if you are able,” Boudreau said. “Donations to PAWS are what enable us to provide medical care and essential behavioral training above and beyond what is provided in a typical shelter environment, and to ultimately find each animal their perfect forever home. In addition to monetary donations, PAWS is always accepting donations of toys, leashes, collars, beds, blankets, and any other items used or new that help to make PAWS a comfortable temporary home for the animals in our care. PAWS has begun to welcome volunteers back for limited projects… and if you are already a trained volunteer through PAWS now is an excellent time to reactivate.”
PAWS of Coronado takes in animals from a variety of sources. Some are lost or strays, while others are pets of Coronado residents who can no longer care for them. Their capacity to care for animals is highly dependent on the number of active foster families they have.
“Inside the Coronado Animal Care Facility we can care for approximately 20 cats, and 10 dogs depending on the animals’ size and needs, but many more animals are living in foster care while we work to find their forever homes,” said Boudreau. “For example, we have 11 cats living at the ACF today, but many more underage kittens are currently being cared for by our amazing kitten foster network until they are old enough to find their families.”
Boudreau says at the beginning of the pandemic they received an enormous amount of foster family applications. As the pandemic continues, they are hoping to bring more foster families on board.
“Preparing to foster is much like preparing to adopt,” Boudreau said. “Prospective foster parents should reflect on their home environment, work schedule, experience with animals, etc., before submitting a foster application to help us find an animal whose needs match what you are able to offer. It’s also important to note that typically the animals we need fosters for are in need of medical care, obedience training, or behavioral support before they find their forever homes.”
If you are interested in fostering an animal, you can complete an application on the PAWS of Coronado website. If they have an animal whose needs match your ability to care for them, they will contact you via phone and email. During the fostering process, PAWS provides all of the necessary supplies and resources to care for the animal, and continues to provide the foster animal with medical care.
Boudreau says the shelter is grateful that Coronado residents are so passionate about animal welfare.
“We feel supported constantly in our mission to ensure that each animal has a safe forever home by our community who volunteer, donate, adopt, share our adoptable animals online, and even rescue stray animals from the street and bring them to us for care and protection,” Boudreau said.
For more information on how to help PAWS of Coronado, you can visit their website.
