ANN ARBOR, Mich. – A Washtenaw County animal shelter needs your help.
Whether it’s a medical emergency or a house fire, Humane Society of Huron Valley offers a temporary emergency shelter program for pets while families deal with a crisis.
It’s called Safe Harbor. This year’s numbers have tripled compared to last year, so the organization is searching for more fosters.
“We’ve recently had an uptick in people who have needed emergency fostering of their animals,” said Communications Director Wendy Welch.
The need is great for Safe Harbor; there are only a few programs like it in the state.
“People have, unfortunately, been hospitalized or they’ve suffered another emergency like a house fire, and they need someone to help with their dog, and we have some space here at the Humane Society of Huron Valley, but we really depend on fosters,” Welch said.
Foster Manager Kaylee Baker said they know the temporary boarding takes a load off pet owners, but it doesn’t work as well for the animal without fosters.
“Whatever’s going on in their (families’) life, it shouldn’t have to be an extra stress trying to deal with their pets,” said Baker. “They’re just taken from their home sort of abruptly, and then coming to this environment can be very stressful on them. So if we can have fosters who could take them right away and not have them be housed here (at the shelter), that usually limits their stress.”
Currently, fosters have to take in more than one pet at a time, but Humane Society of Huron Valley knows there are more people out there who spend a lot of time at home, maybe retired or seasonal, that have space for a temporary pet, a furry friend you can keep company as their family is transitioning.
“We can work with a lot of different fosters in different situations,” Baker said. “If you are that magical person who you know is either working from home or has someone home all the time, that’s really good for a lot of these animals.”
Click here for more information on how to become a foster.
Donate here to help purchase food and supplies for those foster animals.