What one person can do

Many people say, “I want to help stop the killing of shelter animals, but I’m only one person, so what can I do?”

I want to tell you about one person and show you what one person can do.

Stacy is a 30-sometehing woman from Indianapolis. In the last two months she has helped 25 cats and she is gearing up to help even more.

Stacy has always loved animals and she knew she always wanted to do something to help them, but she just wasn’t sure what that something was until recently. After doing various volunteer functions such as holding leashes at pet adoption events and doing fund raising for groups she decided to try fostering and now she is hooked.

“I’ve always wanted to foster. I think this is the best way to help. The animals have a nice loving home environment and I’m helping the shelter workers,” she said.

The decision to start fostering at this time came because Stacy came to a point in her life where she was able to devote the time and resources to fostering. She even bought her house in January based on how easy it would be to turn the downstairs into a foster only area.

The owner of two dogs, Stacy did not want to cause stress for her dogs or stress for the animals she fosters, so she set up her downstairs as a foster-only zone. While her dogs know the cats are down there, they can’t visit without supervision.

Stacy also knows how to think outside the box. She took sections of plywood, painted them and cut them to fit a large room. She used duct tape to cover the areas where the plywood sections met. In this way she protected the carpet in the room, and she made a floor that is easier to clean. She tacked carpet covered sections to the walls for the cats to climb and she put up shelves for them to rest on. There are toys for playing and even a chair so visitors can sit and cuddle the kitties.

Stacy is currently on her third set of cats since setting up her cat foster room. The first set of eight came from an animal shelter and suffered from upper respiratory infections. Three also had eye issues and needed eye medication. In the past, many shelters killed cats suffering from URIs, but now some progressive shelters find fosters who can take the animals out of the shelter environment and provide them with the care and medication they need to get better.

Taking the eight sick cats freed up kennel space, and meant the cats had someone to provide their medication. Stacy said jumping in with the sick cats was a good way to get into fostering as after learning to give the cats pills and medications the next set of kittens, which weren’t ill, were a breeze to take care of.

She kept those first cats for five to six weeks until they were over their illness and ready to go back to the shelter. She knows for sure that many of them have already been adopted.

The second set of five cats had already been spayed and neutered and just needed a place to hang out. They were being fostered through an animal rescue agency and they all found forever homes within three weeks.

At the time of this interview, Stacy was providing a safe home for a mama cat and her NINE kittens. The cat had given birth at an apartment complex and no one took responsibility for her. A woman in the complex took in the mama cat and kittens and put them in a large dog crate on her balcony, but she knew this was not a good place for the cats to be long term. So, she contacted Stacy who agreed to take them. Since these cats weren’t already sponsored through an agency, Stacy and Nancy, the woman who helped save the cats, asked around and found a feral cat group who would give them coupons so the cats could be spayed and neutered for $10. Others chipped in toys and supplies for the cats. Once they are old enough to alter, Stacy will be working with local rescues to get the cats out at area adoption events. She said she will not let the cats go to new families until after they are altered, although she already has people coming to look at the kittens, which are five weeks old right now.

Stacy has the following advice for anyone thinking of fostering:

*Find an organization to work with, find out what the group offers in terms of financial assistance and help with marketing the animals.

*Think about your situation, the amount of time you can offer to an animal, and how bringing in a foster animal or animals will affect any pets you currently have. In Stacy’s case, one of her dogs does not get along with strange dogs, so fostering dogs was out of the question for her.

*Keep in mind you are the temporary home for these animals. While it is easy to fall in love with all the animals, keeping them means you can’t foster more down the line. Stacy also points out that in her case, she can’t have cats because one of her dogs has high prey drive when it comes to cats. But, being a temporary home for cats satisfies her wish to have a cat and her lifestyle.

*Fostering does not have to be a financial hardship. Some groups provide medical care, as well as food for anyone fostering. So, find out what each organization provides.

*Let your friends know what you are doing. Via a social networking site for animal lovers called IndyPaws.com, Stacy lets people know about her fostering. She has gotten donations of furniture, toys and money from friends she has met on the site. She also recommends letting everyone know about the animals available and ask those people to also pass the word. “I’m amazed at how supportive people have been,” she said.

If providing a safe haven for cats wasn’t enough, Stacy has also set up a separate room for guinea pigs. People rarely think of animals like this in terms of fostering, but surprisingly, many small mammals and reptiles turn up at shelters. Her current guinea pig was taken during a raid on a home that had too many animals which were not getting proper care. The little pig was malnourished and pregnant, even though she was very young. Sadly, the guinea pig gave birth to stillborns, but now she is doing great and thriving on a mixture of fresh greens. Stacy is now looking at another space in her basement where she can devote a greater area to guinea pigs who need a place to hang out.

That’s one person making a difference. What can you do?