Animal Fostering

A Combative Approach to Overpopulation in Animal Shelters

Tag Words: Overpopulation in animals shelters; pet overpopulation; irresponsible breeding; irresponsible pet ownership; animal shelters; rescue groups; foster; fostering programs; adoption; adopting; college students and fostering

Authors: Hanna Canfield, Courtney Lee, and Ashley D’Aversa with Julie M. Fagan, Ph.D

Summary

Overpopulation of animal shelters is a huge animal welfare issue today. Due to irresponsible pet-breeding and pet ownership, there are millions of homeless animals. It is the responsibility of animal shelters to provide safety and shelter for homeless animals while trying to find them permanent homes. Unfortunately, due to the high volume of animals being abandoned, shelters cannot hold all of the animals and resort to either euthanasia in public shelters, where they are obligated to take in all animals that enter the facility, or turning away any new animals, as is the case for many private, no-kill shelters.

Fostering programs are essential to combating this issue. Anyone, from experienced volunteers in rescue groups to the everyday citizen, can be a foster parent depending on the rules that vary from shelter to shelter. Our service project plans to target a group known for pet abandonment in the hopes of changing their behaviors and attitudes about pet ownership. This group is college students. New Brunswick experiences a high rate of animal abandonment due to students buying pets while living off-campus and then not knowing what to do with them once they have to move out.

Rather than discouraging students from having pets at school, we want to encourage them to choose fostering as an option, so that they will have the experience of pet ownership, and know exactly where they can return their pet should they not be able to adopt it when they move out. To raise awareness we are creating a Facebook page with all shelter, rescue group, and pet ownership information, because Facebook is one of the most utilized forms of communication among college students today, and we want our message to be accessible and updatable for many years to come. (HC)

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxwX3JcJNic&feature=channel_video_title

I. The Causes and Effects of Shelter Overpopulation

One of the many issues facing companion animals today is that of shelter overpopulation. Our project targets the problem of overpopulation in animal shelters and how fostering can combat these problems. We want to look at how fostering helps counter the issue of overpopulation and increases companion animal survival rate. In order to look at this issue thoroughly it is important to look at where the problem stems from.

A. What are Shelters?

First, what are shelters? Animal shelters are facilities or organizations whose purpose is to give a temporary home for lost, abandoned, or stray animals ranging from dogs and cats, to rabbits and ferrets, and even horses depending on the resources they focus on. Their ultimate purpose is to reunite owners with lost pets and place sheltered animals in new permanent homes with people that can afford them and provide them with a loving environment. Shelters are admirable institutions that provide extremely important services to the community and animal world, but they are faced with many challenges. The greatest of these challenges is that there are just too many pets to accept all of them into their facilities.

B. What is meant by shelter overpopulation?

In order to properly understand this issue, a few terms need to be clarified. The issue at hand is not pet overpopulation, but shelter overpopulation. This specific term refers to a situation in which the total number of animals impounded substantially exceeds the carrying capacity of shelters in a community and the rate at which sheltered animals can be placed in adoptive homes.1 This is an important distinction to make because many believe that overpopulation means that there are not enough homes to hold the millions of homeless animals. However, there are actually more than enough homes, just not enough people are willing to choose to adopt from a shelter. Statistics say that seventeen million Americans acquire a new pet each year, which is more than double the number of shelter animals. Unfortunately, only 3.5 million people, or about 20 percent of those acquiring new pets, choose adoption.2 The rest choose to buy their pets from pet stores, breeders, or other sources.

What it comes down to is that only about a quarter of shelter dogs and cats are adopted every year. There is just not enough demand to combat the growing problem. In several facilities, animals are euthanized as a form of population control. I spoke to a representative, who chose to remain anonymous, from The Edison Animal Shelter (Helping Hands for Helpless Paws), a municipal shelter that is required to take every animal that appears at their doorstep from Edison, Metuchen, Piscataway, and Woodbridge New Jersey, about overpopulation issues in their shelter. He told me that overpopulation in their shelter has been an ever-present issue throughout the six years he has been employed there and undoubtedly before that. The unfortunate response to this problem is that they euthanize “unadoptable” dogs and cats to keep open space in the facility.3 Each year between 6 and 8 million animals are brought to shelters, roughly 3 to 4 million shelter animals, which accounts for a little less than half of the overall animal population in shelters, are euthanized.4, 12 While many dogs or cats that fall under the category of “unadoptable” are animals with supposed vicious tendencies or severe injuries,3 the greatest shame is that these animals that are euthanized are not always necessarily sick or injured, many have simply been at the facility too long. As Janet Hunter, a woman who has dedicated many

years to the capture, neutering, and release of homeless cats, says, “It’s hard to determine who is unadoptable until you have given them a chance.”5 And often the roughly week long holding period that some animals go through before they are either given a cage or are euthanized is not enough time, and too stressful a situation to really determine their personalities.

C. Euthanasia

Some may try to argue that euthanasia in shelters is not a pressing issue because, statistically speaking, the occurrence of this method has decreased in the past 30 years and has remained relatively low.1 What this statistic fails to illustrate is that the reason for this is not that more animals are being adopted or that more owners are reclaiming their allegedly lost pets, it is because shelters are not taking as many animals. Public, or municipal, shelters are generally required to take any animal that appears on their doorstep, while private shelters have the option to set a limit for how many animals enter and will not take anymore. As more and more animals are being abandoned, getting lost and not reclaimed, or are born as strays, shelters are being bombarded with new animals to take in and close their doors to many animals because they just cannot hold anymore.

According to Kevin Fischer, assistant manager of The Humane Society of Ocean City, a private no-kill shelter, there is no issue of overpopulation in their facility because once they have reached maximum capacity they stop accepting animals.6 This situation is arguably just as bad as the high euthanasia rate because the animals that are not admitted are most likely going to continue living as strays and are at greater risk of dying from being out on their own. On the Humane Society of the United States official website, they even have a warning aimed at individuals that take the time to bring in a stray that they find. They advise people that rescue an animal to understand that the animal care and control agencies have limitations, and that if an animal is badly injured, it is more likely that a shelter will euthanize them to put them out of their pain than pay for an expensive surgery. The warning also informs that even mildly injured animals may only be held for the mandated holding period time, and may be euthanized at that point. This is, they explain, due to budgetary and space limitations that force shelters to make sometimes painful decisions about how to utilize their minimal resources.7 This statement represents the sad truth that many animal lovers and good Samaritans need to realize before they take in a stray and are looking for a place to bring them. Shelters face enormous limitations because not enough of their boarders get adopted for them to keep up with constant influx of abandoned animals.

D. Reasons for Overpopulation: Irresponsible Breeding

In order to fully grasp the issue of shelter overpopulation specifically, it is essential that we explore the underlying problems that have contributed to the increase in the number of stray or surrendered pets. These include irresponsible breeding, choosing not adopt, and the issue of “the disposable pet.” Irresponsible breeding is an enormous issue. 35% of pet owners refuse to spay and neuter their pets often leading to accidental breeding.2 The families that then are given the task of caring for the resulting litters that are produced often end up leaving the full litter at the doorstep of a shelter or veterinary office when they realize they cannot afford them.

As a hospital attendant in two different veterinary hospitals, I have seen nearly 50 kittens enter the facility, left on the doorstep by an irresponsible owner that did not know what else to do with the kittens that they had no resources to care for. In one veterinary office, I witnessed a 7 year old German shepherd giving birth to her fourth intentional litter for the same irresponsible owner. The owner’s reasoning for continuing to breed her was that he wanted “good working dogs” to sell. He started off on the wrong foot though, clearly not understanding the complications that the mother’s age would have on the puppies’ health. More than half of the puppies were stillborn. These individuals that do not understand responsible breeding techniques, and bring more puppies and kittens into the world that they, in most cases, would never be able to afford to care for are ignorant and irresponsible. Pet owners such as these simply exacerbate the overpopulation issue, because for every one of their poorly bred puppies that finds a home it could be taking the place of a healthy shelter dog seeking a family.

Janet Hunter helps many rescue groups in the initiative referred to as TNR, which stands for Trap, Neuter, and Return. She takes hundreds of feral, or “community” cats every year to spay and neuter clinics in Pennsylvania in order to have them neutered and given their vaccines, so that they can be returned to their outdoor home that they have been used to for so long rather than taking them to a shelter, where they fear they would be euthanized for allegedly “unadoptable” behavior when really they have a fear and uncertainty towards people.5 The fact that several hundred cats can be trapped and taken to be euthanized suggests what an enormous problem it is that so many people refuse to spay and neuter their pets.

The issue with choosing not to adopt, as discussed earlier, is clear. Pet owners continue to support breeders and puppy mills that bring more and more animals into the world, while leaving healthy animals in shelters with no home, and less prospect of ever being adopted. Many people will choose to buy their pets from these sources so that they can get a pure-breed. Finding pure-bred dogs and cats from shelters and rescue groups is easy nowadays, though many people do not seem to realize this. According to Janet Hunter, just about every single breed has a shelter or rescue group. She found two full breed Siamese cats born outdoors in a neighbor’s backyard and brought them to a woman that runs a Siamese rescue.5

However, when prospective pet owners are ignorant of this possibility, they resort to unreliable sources. When puppy stores, puppy mills, and irresponsible breeders are the source for a pet, not only are they aggravating overpopulation issues, but they often come with a multitude of health issues. Again, as a hospital attendant I witnessed an especially sad case involving a Bernese Mountain Dog puppy purchased from an untrustworthy source. His owner wanted a pure bred Bernese, and went to the first breeder he found online. This puppy was the result of a seven year old female being bred with her one year old son. That fact alone is enough to discredit the breeder, but there were other problems. The puppy that had been purchased only one week previously to being brought into the clinic was extremely lethargic, and a few simple tests showed that it had Giardia in his feces. Conditions like this are common in poor breeding facilities. The breeder had provided the new pet owner with false documentation about the dog’s lineage and sold him for only $500. These are all indicative of a breeder that is in the business to make a quick dollar. The puppy should not have been born to such an irresponsible person, and sold to an individual who could have adopted a non-inbred and healthy dog from a trustworthy shelter instead.

As horrific as this situation is, it almost pales in comparison to the awful conditions in puppy mills. In its most basic definition, a puppy mill is like a dog factory. The intent is simply to produce the most dogs in the shortest period of time to generate the most revenue. Breeding mothers are bred constantly with little to no recovery time between litters. This constant physical stress takes an immense toll on the mother and when she inevitably becomes too tired and worn out to produce another litter she is euthanized, as she is no longer useful to the mill. The puppies subsequently are placed in completely unsanitary environments. Owners of mills want to maximize their profit by minimizing the effort it takes to upkeep puppy care, so they are often placed in cages with wire floors so that the waste will fall through instead of gathering. These wire floors often injure their paws causing lacerations. They also live with little food, water and socialization to minimize effort and cost, and veterinary care is usually almost completely neglected. As a result these dogs are severely unhealthy, hosting anything from hereditary diseases to bacterial and viral infections resulting from the unsanitary and cramped conditions. They also tend to have bad socialization skills and distrust people.8 These are the dogs that are often shipped to pet stores, and uninformed pet buyers will buy these puppies not understanding the terrible conditions they have come from.

Choosing to give money to these sources simply adds fuel to the fire because these puppy mills and irresponsible breeders are able to afford to remain in business and will continue to create revenue as long as prospective pet owners refuse to explore better alternatives. Sheer ignorance on the part of prospective pet owners has led to the sad statistic of almost three out of every four shelter animals not being adopted.

E. Reasons for overpopulation: Irresponsible Pet Ownership

Finally, the issue of the “disposable pet” is a huge one. This refers to the individuals that simply abandon their pets outdoors, or leave them on the doorsteps of veterinary offices and shelters for many reasons. These reasons include, but are not limited to, when a family moves, a new baby is born, they do not want to train the pet, there is a lack of money, or there is an allergy. This issue could be avoided if only people would think before buying. People need to understand their resources. They need to realize that a pet is an expensive and time consuming undertaking. They must also understand before bringing a pet into the house the health issues and allergies of each family member. This basic understanding would greatly help combat the overpopulation of animals in shelters because abandonment rates would probably diminish significantly.

Janet Hunter says that there is a huge issue with homeless animals in the New Brunswick and Piscataway area because several irresponsible students from Rutgers will abandon their pets when the school year is over, not knowing who should bring it home or where to bring it, or how to handle the financial burden when the school year is over and they no longer have the support of their roommates.5

In addition there are certain groups of individuals known to contribute the most to the shelter overpopulation issue. The numbers of people that relinquish their pets and have unsterilized pets are directly correlated to income levels of pet owners. In the Indiana study, it was proven that about one out of every four cats that were relinquished was done so by families living on less

than $20,000 a year.1 Similarly, this is the group where unsterilized pets are most common. In my experience working in veterinary hospitals, I have seen the financial struggles of the clientele. Several pet owners can barely afford the basic check-up and the rabies shot that is necessary to make their pet legal. These individuals therefore will often opt not to spay or neuter their pet based on monetary restrictions. This is a cause and effect issue. These individuals that cannot afford to sterilize their pet are more likely to end up with unexpected litters that they will surely not be able to afford and will most likely need to relinquish. This emphasizes once again just how imperative it is to be prepared for pet ownership. Families that cannot afford basic care for their pets should not have animals, but very often do.

1. Marsh, Peter. Replacing Myth with Math: Using Evidence-based Programs to Eradicate Shelter Overpopulation. Concord, NH: Town and Country Reprographics, 2010. Print.

2. "Pet Overpopulation." American Humane Association | Home. Web. 16 Oct. 2011. <http://www.americanhumane.org/animals/adoption-pet-care/issues-information/pet-overpopulation.html>.

3. Anonymous Representative. "The Edison Animal Shelter (Helping Hands for Helpless Paws)." Personal interview. 16 Nov. 2011.

4. "Pet Statistics." ASPCA: We Are Their Voice. ASPCA. Web. 16 Oct. 2011. <http://www.aspca.org/about-us/faq/pet-statistics.aspx>.

5. Hunter, Janet. “The Benefits of Adoption and Fostering, and how Rescue Groups help.” Personal interview. 19 Nov. 2011.

6. Fischer, Kevin. "The Humane Society of Ocean City." Telephone interview. 7 Nov. 2011.7."What to Do If You Find a Stray Pet : The Humane Society of the United States." The Humane

Society of the United States : The Humane Society of the United States. Web. 12 Nov. 2011. <http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/what_to_do_stray_pet.html>.

8. "What Is a Puppy Mill." ASPCA: We Are Their Voice. ASPCA. Web. 16 Oct. 2011.12. "Companion Animal Overpopulation." In Defense of Animals. Web. 16 Oct. 2011.

<http://www.idausa.org/facts/overpopulation.html>.

II. What Fostering Does to Help

While the underlying issues of shelter overpopulation need to be considered, there are ways to make the lives of animals that are already in the mix of homelessness or shelter-life better. The most effective way is by attempting to reduce shelter overpopulation. An excellent way to do so, besides the adoption of the animals, is to foster them in good homes. Fostering is the process of placing animals in temporary homes until they are adopted, or just for a short period of time. This time period varies widely, but is often undefined and flexible for most shelters.

A. What are the benefits of this program?

Fostering has many benefits. It is a particularly helpful process for shelter puppies that need training, and kittens and cats that need socialization to grow to trust humans. Living in cages and not having the one on one time with a human or family makes it impossible for them to get

proper one on one time. Having a temporary home, with a family that is willing to take time them, will make them more desirable for a family looking to adopt them for good.

While they do usually have a clean environment in shelters, they live in cages where there is no room for them to get the exercise they need. In one veterinary office I worked for, we were boarding an employee’s bullmastiff while she sought out a new home for him when she could not afford to take care of him anymore. Over the weeks he became increasingly dog aggressive and would jump on people upon entering the cage. Being trapped in a cage for weeks on end took a huge toll on his normally friendly and happy demeanor, and as such he made a bad impression on possible adoptive families. It is better for new pet owners to see their potential pet in a home environment where they are able to exhibit their normal behavior without the stress of an overcrowded and small environment. They need room to roam and act naturally in order to display how they act under normal day to day circumstances.

In addition to the wonderful effects it has on an animal’s personality and quality of life, fostering programs are also invaluable in reducing the strain of overpopulation on shelter resources. Animals are removed from the facility to make room for more homeless animals. This simultaneously combats the issue of animal shelters having to close their doors to a number of homeless animals. By freeing up the facility more animals can be accommodated and the “need” for euthanasia can ideally diminish. This would hopefully ultimately lead to more animals being placed in permanent and temporary homes, and placed in a facility that they were originally rejected from because of overpopulation issues.

One of the shelters contacted, the St. Hubert’s North Branch Adoption Center, gave us excellent information pertaining to the benefits of having a fostering program. This shelter focuses primarily on the rescue of dogs, cats, and other small stray animals, though there are significantly more cats than dogs at this facility as is common with many facilities. Issues with “feral” or “community” cats in many areas are highly publicized issues that suggest the growing homeless cat population when compared to that of dogs. Fortunately, according to this representative, cats and kittens are the most fostered animals in the shelter.9 These families that are taking them in are making a significant contribution to the animal world, getting more cats off of the streets where they are sadly considered a public nuisance, and into homes where they are well loved.

In addition, fostering has been proven to ease the over-crowding in this facility. There are only two holding cages for the cats at the St. Hubert’s shelter, and when people foster it eases the crowding situation by creating room in the holding cells for more incoming cats, as the shelter is required to take in any animals that are left with them.9 Every foster parent helps in a situation like this, because they are giving another cat a chance at life and permanent happiness.

Even more importantly, according to St. Hubert’s, fostering very often leads to the adoption of the animal.9 This trend was also seen by the Edison Animal Shelter. The representative told me that very often a fostering situation will turn into an adoption.3 This further exemplifies the benefits of fostering, because the ultimate goal for every shelter is to place their animals in permanent homes.

According to Janet Hunter though, the greatest benefit of fostering is seeing the change in an animal as it becomes more socialized. She speaks from her experience with fostering more than fifty cats over the years. She says “you’re socializing it, so that it can be with people, and it can be a loving pet, and that is, right there, a wonderful feeling.”5

B. Why Animal Shelters May Chose Not To Have a Fostering ProgramFostering seems like a flawless solution to the shelter overpopulation problem and has been recognized by many shelters. In fact some shelters, such as The Husky House- Siberian Husky and Fellow K-9 rescue, have a strict fostering policy where they do not operate within a facility; they only offer animals that are currently in the care of volunteering foster families.10 However, some shelters remain set against fostering. In an effort to gain perspective about why any shelter would choose not to take part in this seemingly flawless plan, I performed a phone interview with the assistant manager of the Humane Society of Ocean City (a non fostering shelter), Kevin Fischer.

I asked why they do not sponsor a fostering program. He raised some very interesting points that are likely issues that many shelters could face. Kevin explained to me that since they are a private, no kill shelter, with only semi-municipality, they have full control over when animals are accepted into their facility. If there is no room, they have no obligation to take in new animals like a public, fully municipal shelter would be required to. Therefore, they do not experience overcrowding issues.6

They say that a common problem is that when a person is interested in adopting, they are often deterred from a certain animal if it is in fostering care because it is an inconvenience for them to go visit it, or wait for it be back in the shelter. In essence, this is an inconvenience for both the fosterer and the potential adopter. Kevin said that they prefer to keep all of their animals in one place so that they can allow people to immediately meet and observe them.6 This same issue was brought up by the St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center. They mentioned that their kittens were the most quickly adopted animal in their facility as they often were taken almost immediately upon arrival at the facility before they could be removed to foster homes, suggesting that people like the convenience of seeing their animal the same day that they come in.9

However, there are many flaws in this way of thinking. While animals may be adopted more quickly from the shelter floor, and while it may indeed be an inconvenience for people to go visit the dog or cat they are interested in, it would show significantly more dedication to the idea of pet ownership for the interested party to take the time to visit a good candidate. Also, having a foster parent’s input about the personality of the animal, what it likes, what it does not like, how it gets along with other pets and children, and any other specific points about its personality plays a huge role in finding the perfect pet for an individual and their family, according to Janet Hunter.5

In addition, according to Kevin, Ocean City is a place that does not have a huge number of long term residents. There are a lot of seasonal and temporary residents and that can become a problem for fostering. In their eyes, a successful program involves fosterers that are able to commit themselves for a decent amount of time.6

However, they do not reject all offers for foster care, though they look for highly experienced individuals, employees, or volunteers, which given the types of animals that they allow to be fostered, is understandable. They typically will only foster out animals with medical needs, or kittens that are under six weeks old and need to be bottle fed. Of course, these will need more constant care and attention than the average individual would be able to offer or handle. Kevin explained to me that when an untrained individual takes an animal into their home, the shelter is not able to monitor the animal day by day to determine its medical needs, and they do not feel comfortable with that. The shelter takes on all financial responsibilities for the animals, particularly pertaining to veterinary bills, because it is still technically their property. In the hands of an untrained individual they worry that they may be irresponsible or rack up unnecessary veterinary bills.6

These worries make sense, but a huge issue still remains. It is because of practices such as these that more animals are not being given a temporary shelter home, and that every year, the number of animals being rejected from shelters is remaining high. Additionally, there are plenty of ways to combat this last issue. In my research of shelters that do not foster I found the website for the Edison Animal Shelter where it stated that they do not sponsor a fostering program. I went to speak with them in order to find out why. In speaking with a representative, I learned that their website information was outdated, and that they have very recently begun to foster out their animals due to their partnership with the organization, Sammy’s Hope.3

Sammy’s Hope, an organization targeted at finding forever homes for dogs in shelters, is completely volunteer driven, and is specially partnered with the Edison Animal Shelter. They have a well-organized and effective website that advertises the animals at the Edison shelter.11 Before this group got involved, the shelter would not foster out their dogs because there was not enough demand, and there were not enough experienced individuals willing to help, because like the Humane Society of Ocean City, they prefer to see their dogs fostered by people that have had some training or experience. Sammy’s Hope provided them with an enormous volunteer base of trained people that have significantly helped them to tackle their overpopulation problems. The anonymous representative said that they still have problems with overpopulation, but that since Sammy’s Hope has been involved, cat adoption has increased, kittens do not stay for very long, and puppies are rarely seen in their facility, because they are adopted or fostered so quickly.3 This is a huge step in the right direction, and suggests that the best way to get animals off of the streets, into shelters, and into homes is by raising awareness and getting more organizations and people involved.

In addition, Hope Valenti, Corresponding Secretary of the rescue group CAPIC (Cat Adoption and Pet Information Center), explained to me that this organization is dedicated to the adoption and fostering of cats in order to find new homes for the cats that come through.13 Their Mission Statement is as follows: Our goals are to spay/neuter/return homeless/feral/free roaming cats to their natural surroundings while trying to lower the births of new kittens to the area. We are a group of responsible individuals trying to help lower the cat overpopulation by trap/neuter/return in an humane manner.14 This group thus has a two-fold objective, the first part is to tackle the root of the overpopulation problem, and the second is to find adoptive and foster homes for these cats if they cannot be returned to where they came from.

There are many charitable organizations, such as Sammy’s Hope and CAPIC, that have huge volunteer bases and that are highly interested in animal welfare, making sure that animals find new homes, and that dogs and cats are receiving the best care possible. Euthanasia in shelters is one of the issues that they try to combat. While the Humane Society of Ocean City is a no-kill shelter, they are exacerbating the euthanasia rate by forcing more pet owners to take their pets to public shelters. If they could find a rescue group to partner with, or were more active in seeking trained volunteers, they too could help combat this issue.

3. Anonymous Representative. "The Edison Animal Shelter (Helping Hands for Helpless Paws)." Personal interview. 16 Nov. 2011.

5. Hunter, Janet. “The Benefits of Adoption and Fostering, and how Rescue Groups help.” Personal interview. 19 Nov. 2011.

6. Fischer, Kevin. "The Humane Society of Ocean City." Telephone interview. 7 Nov. 2011.9. Anonymous Representative. "St. Hubert’s North Branch Adoption Center." Telephone

interview. 17 Oct. 2011.10. "Contact." The Husky House-Siberian Husky and Fellow K-9 Rescue. The Husky House-

Siberian Husky and Fellow K-9 Rescue. Web. 29 Oct. 2011. <http://www.huskyhouse.org/conta/>.

11. Sammy's Hope. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. <http://www.sammyshope.org/>.12. "Companion Animal Overpopulation." In Defense of Animals. Web. 16 Oct. 2011.

<http://www.idausa.org/facts/overpopulation.html>.13. Valenti, Hope. “CAPIC Organization.” Personal Interview. 19 Nov. 2011.14. CAPIC. Web. 19 Nov. 2011. <http://www.capiccats.com/>.

III. Behavior Evaluation and Pressures on Shelter Staff

(AD) So now that we have more deeply explored the overpopulation issue and addressed how foster programs are used and perceived to help combat this issue, we will take a look at how dog behavior is assessed in shelters and how fostering takes pressure off of shelter staff in difficult cases. I have experienced first-hand how much pressure the shelter staff at PSPCA in Philadelphia have to experience on a daily basis. Unfortunately it is a kill-shelter, but I am told that at least it is not a gassing shelter and has the heart to induce lethal injection instead. But every single day these wonderful volunteers offer their efforts to try to save the lives of the residents in the shelter. Since they legally have to admit every single dog, cat, or small animal that is being surrendered, space regrettably is the determinant of whether a dog lives or dies.

A. Basic dog behavior tests The dogs that are admitted to the shelter are processed and evaluated by a behavior expert. In this evaluation, they can asses various behavior aspects of the dog and it is most important for potential adopted or foster dogs. While many of them vary, the general tests include evaluation with kids, cats, toys, body touching, and other dogs. In body touching, the volunteer runs their hands down the body of the dog to see if it has any certain areas that they tense up fromtouching. They pick up their paws and apply slight pressure to see if the dog trusts the evaluator enough to not hurt them. Normally paws are sensitive to dogs, but another sensitive area is the neck and stomach because an extremely dominant or fearful dog would not allow an evaluator to

touch those areas. This is because it is threatening to dogs to have another touch their more vulnerable areas sensitive to attack.Another test is for food and toy (resource) guarding. In this test dog behavior experts give the

dog some food and then attempt to take it away while the dog is eating. This test is to assure evaluators that the dog doesn’t believe that they are the most dominant of the pack. Dominant dogs in a pack would be the one to decide when the lesser dominant dogs are allowed to eat and how much they are allowed to eat. So in this test they are evaluating where the dog thinks it stands in terms of dominance. They usually start with a plastic hand to attempt to pull away the food bowl and evaluate if the dog tenses up or bares its teeth at all. If they receive no negative response from the initial test an evaluator may move onto using their actual hand to take out some of the food. They then repeat the same test for toys to see if they have any resource guarding issues with their toys.Generally the test for resource guarding can be reevaluated with another dog to see if they would have any dominance issues with another of the same species. This can be difficult however because many dogs have different dominance roles depending on the type of dog involved. For example, we have two foster dogs at our apartment in New Brunswick. They still haven’t figured out their dominance issues during play because sometimes my dog, Luna, is mostly submissive during play where she is on her back, exposing the sensitive stomach area. However, during play with a bone or rope toy Luna is extremely possessive of her toys and will growl at the other to assert her dominance. It is again hard to evaluate because different dogs will react differently depending on the situation. For example, at my house in New York, Luna will act completely different around our two resident dogs, one Yorkie and one Vizsla. Luna is dominant to the Vizsla yet submissive to the Yorkie, and there have never been any issues with toys in the household. But, in terms of the two foster dogs we have at Rutgers, there have been small quarrels between them due to their questionable dominance. This has definitely been hard to deal with because we must limit the amount of toys available and watch them especially with bones. This could harm the adoptability or even fostering ability of the dog due to these issues.

B. Assessing how a dog interacts with other dogsIn a dog to dog meet, evaluators assess how the dog reacts to another dominant dog and a submissive dog separately. A rule at the shelter is that no dog is allowed completely off leash when they are with another dog in order to minimize the potential for a fight. The leash is just left on the dog in case a fight breaks out, the shelter staff would be able to swiftly break up the fight without risk of injury to themselves. Without the leash, the volunteers would normally have to attempt to grab the dog’s hind legs and lift them up. This changes their center of gravity and the awkward positioning usually stops the dog mid-fight. So in a dog to dog meet, the evaluator will look at how the dog in question approaches the other dog. This is the hardest of all the behavior evaluations to judge how the dog will react. Some dogs, especially if they are strays or abuse cases, do not know how to play or even approach another dog. Some dogs are deemed unsafe to live with other dogs because of this, and this makes it even harder to adopt them out or even place them in foster situations with other dogs.A friendly dog would approach confidently, tail wagging with large drawn out wags. If the tail

is held high and very stiffly wagging it usually is a sign that the dog is unsure of the situation yet is also giving off the signal that they are more dominant. This is only a problem is two dominant dogs were to clash with their personalities and generally is not an issue in the case of two submissive dogs. A friendly dog has its head held high and their nose is sniffing the area around

them. They may even let out a friendly bark, which is actually a unique bark in itself. A friendly bark is usually high pitched and excited, whereas an angry bark is lower pitched and includes a deep growl. An unfriendly dog is described as barking shrilly, rigid body with the tail high and barely wagging or at half-mast and rigid. The dominant dog will appear to stare down the other in an attempt to make the other fearful. There are two types of unfriendly dogs, those that are dominant and those that are submissive and fearful. Both are just as dangerous to a potential adopter or foster parent. A frightened dog could display aggression also, especially if cornered. They would approach with their head lowered, averting their eyes, may bare their teeth, or let out a low growl.

There are also numerous personality types with a potential foster dog that must be taken into account. Some dogs are naturally playful and friendly. But if they haven’t been socialized at all they could be extremely non-social and only crave human attention. My poor foster dog was a mess before the shelter staff worked with her. She was apparently very “shut down” and would sit in the corner of her kennel staring at the wall and showing no interest in other dogs or humans. While we do not know what could have happened to her to cause this, she has made a complete turnaround now. Different personality types means that they could crave only human attention, only dog attention, or both. Thankfully, Luna had changed her mind and wanted both human and dog interaction and this makes her more adoptable as a pet. Some dogs are not respectful of other dogs’ space and so may “set off” normally friendly dogs to attack. This is important to evaluate because again it affects their adoptability so the shelter would be able to make a faster turnaround on more friendly dogs.

C. Assessing a dog’s prey drive and reaction to children, and how fostering can helpAnother assessment is the dog’s prey drive. This is important to assess because some potential adopters have other animals at home, either smaller dogs or cats. One of the biggest problems with stray dogs at the shelters is that they have a high prey drive. This is usually because in order to survive on the streets they have to adapt and chase small animals to get their meals. This is also one of the hardest things to train out of a potential foster dog because it is a deeply-rooted need to survive. Luna, for example, had such a high prey drive that she would attack the cage that my Umbrella Cockatoo was in every single time the bird moved. With a lot of training and patience I could confidently say that Luna now is respectful of the bird as a part of her pack. However, this does not mean that I would ever trust her with the bird alone. This is a problem because Luna had many potential adopters, but they all owned cats. I have not had the opportunity to work with her and cats just yet so she is still not allowed to go to a home with one. There have been numerous cases where a dog has lived with a cat its entire life and then one day just snaps and actually ends up attacking and killing the cat. This is especially difficult because we, as foster parents, are not able to expose the dog to different situations and animals when the dogs are puppies. Therefore, shelter staff generally allows the dog in question to only see the cat while they are on a leash and assess their reaction. If the dog is induced to chase the cat, they make sure to find a home without cats. Fostering the dog would allow the foster parent to actually work with the dog and hopefully change their attitude towards smaller animals. Sadly the shelter staff does not have the time to work with the dog on their prey drive and so the need for a foster home is even greater at this point. This also applies to working on the dog with children, as many adoptive homes have children already. Even worse, the shelter would not want to have the dog returned due to its inability to live with a new child, as it will regress the dog’s

behavior after it is returned to the shelter. The shelter does not actually evaluate a dog’s response to children, just requires that the prospective adopters bring their family in to the shelter before adopting. This creates a problem because many dogs have not had the exposure to children and could destroy their chances for adoption if that dog is too excited for the child to handle. This is also caused by the dog not getting any exercise throughout the day. Dogs in shelters spend most of their lives in the kennels, with only short breaks outside to use the bathroom. This is detrimental to the dog’s adoptability because normally housebroken dogs forget their training when they live in the kennels and this must be retrained by the adoptive homes. Fostering would allow the dogs to either become housetrained or reinforce the housetraining and makes the dog more adoptable.

D. The importance of fostering and similar programs to shelter staffs Especially in the overcrowded shelters, the shelter staff is desperate for foster homes. The Philadelphia ACCT (Animal Care Control Team) has created a foster program along with a Pen Pal program in order to increase the dog’s adoptability and exposure to the public. The Pen Pal program pairs up a shelter volunteer with a specific dog and has the volunteer work with the dog on a daily basis if possible. The fact that one person continually builds up trust and works with one individual dog helps train the dog faster and make it more adoptable. However, there is a limit to what they can do because the dogs are still stuck in the kennels for numerous hours of the day and this ultimately affects their behavior. This is why we would encourage more foster homes to actually place the dog in a household situation to see how they would react. It is beneficial because when prospective adopters visit the dogs they can assess their behavior as it currently is in the foster home. Many dogs are actually returned because once they are out of their kennels and in a home setting they may act completely different. When you foster, you not only save the foster dog’s life but also open up a space in the kennel for another intake dog. The shelter staff is pressured to expose the dog and advertise it for adoption, and this stress is overwhelming as the very life of the dog is in their hands. Shelters are constantly hiring because of their high rate of employee turnover due to these pressures. The staff are relentlessly worried that if a dog does not score high on its aforementioned behavior evaluation that they might immediately be euthanized and never given the chance to find that permanent home.

IV. Choosing an appropriate foster parent

(CL) We have now explored the benefits of fostering programs as well as what traits are required in a potential foster or adoptive pet. The next need that must be considered in the process of placing an animal with a foster family is to assess if the family or individual applying to care for the animal is a suitable candidate. They must be a responsible individual with an understanding of the task they are being entrusted to carry out. Shelters must be willing to open their arms to willing foster parents for the sake of the animal and the betterment of the facility, but have an appropriate interview process to make sure that the individual can be trusted to follow through with every facet of the agreement.

A. Applications

(HC/CL) One solution that a few shelters have adopted for finding proper foster parents is that of an application for a foster position in addition to a contract. The Hope Animal Shelter for

example has a very detailed application for foster family. It asks for the basics, like name, number, address, and occupation. Then it gets more in depth by asking why they want to foster, what is the longest they have owned a pet in the past, what pets they have had in the past and what happened to them. They obtain further information about their qualifications by asking if they know how to crate train, give basic obedience training, and what their training techniques are. Then they want to know about other pets they have, whether these are dominant or submissive, and how many children under the age of 18 they have, and if any family members have allergies. The final part of the application asks what kind of living arrangement they have, if they possess a fenced in yard, and what kind of animal they are interested in fostering.15

While most shelters do not outline such specifics for their foster parents, this is an excellent survey and will definitely provide information about the qualifications of prospective fosterers. With methods like these, finding appropriate families is simplified. This would be a particularly good choice for shelters like The Edison Animal Shelter that desire more experienced fosterers, so they know a little more about the backgrounds of the families that they are entrusting to care for their animals.

B. Experienced versus inexperienced fosterers

Experienced foster parents are generally the preferred option for most animal shelters. This has been made clear through our discussion with places like Edison Animal Shelter and the Humane Society of Ocean City. These programs do not have a fostering application but rely on trained employees or dedicated volunteers, and in the case of the Edison Animal Shelter, partnership with organizations that bring a large volunteer base to them.

There is merit in preferring experienced pet owners, but there are many inexperienced people out there as well that have a strong desire to do something kind for animals living in shelters. This was evidenced in my interviews with multiple off-campus students. I talked to students of different majors and genders, and the response was almost all the same. They were all intrigued by the idea of fostering and thought it seemed like a great idea for college students.

Fortunately, not all fostering programs require experience or trained professionals though. Many shelters, such as St. Hubert’s are more than happy to accept foster parents that are new to the concept. They said that they receive participants of fostering from all of demographics. This includes anyone from single parents to families with children and young adults who have just graduated high school or college.9 These could be people that have never owned pets before, are trying to see if a pet is good for their family, or are maybe in a transition stage in life where a long term pet would not be a good idea. For example, college students would be an excellent target for a fostering program.

Many students living off campus, with complying landlords, bring pets into their houses and apartments for as long as they have their lease. These are often students that miss their pets when they are away at college or would like the experience of having a pet if they never have before, as I discovered in my interviews. It is essential that we bring the knowledge of fostering to these students. Since, again, pet abandonment rates in college areas tends to be high, it would be very helpful to suggest to these students to foster an animal rather than purchasing or adopting

one at the start of the year. It gives them an option to have a temporary pet and they will know exactly where they will go to at the end of the year.

9. Anonymous Representative. "St. Hubert’s North Branch Adoption Center." Telephone interview. 17 Oct. 2011.

15. "Fostering Application." Hope Animal Shelter. Web. 16 Oct. 2011. <http://hopeanimalrescuenj.com/Fostering_Application.html>.

V. Legalities of Dog Fostering

(AD) An important factor to consider when you are going to foster your first pet is the legalities associated with it. A dog especially can cause many different types of damages that you may or may not be responsible for. The shelter usually has a disclaimer stating that the dog’s behavior was evaluated at the shelter and no assurance is provided about the dog’s future behavior. At the time of adoption, a health contract is included stating that the animal was in otherwise good health on the date of adoption as far as the shelter can discern. This is because at the time of adoption, the owner assumes all responsibility for the dog, as the shelter is signing over ownership. The difference in fostering is that the foster parent assumes responsibility for the dog, but the dog is still owned by the shelter.

Dogs (along with any other companion animal), under law, are considered personal property of the owner and therefore have no legal rights as their own. Many animal rights activists would argue otherwise, but this is the current law in the United States. If any damages occur to that dog, whether it is death or injury, the owner is entitled to what the market value of the pet would be. This means that if $800 were paid for a purebred Doberman puppy and 4 years down the line a neighbor accidentally hit the dog with his car causing the animal’s death, one would be entitled to the market value of the pet. The market value, however, would be defined as what a person would normally pay for an animal of that same age and breed. An adult Doberman may be valued less than the market price of the $800 puppy. Also, if the dog is not a purebred then they have essentially no market value associated with them. This is disconcerting, as a person that adopted their dog from the shelter for nothing did not love their dog any less than another person that paid $800 for a purebred Doberman. There is still an intense amount of grief associated with the death of their beloved pet.

There is a new trend following the court system where an owner may be compensated for emotional distress caused by the incident of injury to their pet. Courts generally take this on a case-by-case basis, but some have adopted a new system where there is a set of rights for “non-human household members.” These states include: Alaska, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, New York, and New Jersey. The courts are now attaching a more intrinsic value to the companion animals of the owners, stating that there is even more of a relationship than a mere ownership of a piece of property. This is due to a growing trend of the importance of companion animals in our society.

a) Responsibilities of Foster Parents:Under § 3.2-6546 of Virginia’s State Dog Laws:

H. No pound shall place a companion animal in a foster home with a foster care provider unless the foster care provider has read and signed a statement specifying that he has never been convicted of animal cruelty, neglect, or abandonment, and each pound shall update such statement as changes occur. The pound shall maintain the original statement and any updates to such statement in accordance with this chapter and for at least so long as the pound has an affiliation with the foster care provider.

I. A pound that places a companion animal in a foster home with a foster care provider shall ensure that the foster care provider complies with § 3.2- 6503.

J. If a pound finds a direct and immediate threat to a companion animal placed with a foster care provider, it shall report its findings to the animal control agency in the locality where the foster care provider is located.Taken from: http://www.animallaw.info/statutes/stusvast3_1_796_96_2.htm

Therefore the foster parent is responsible to care for the foster animal, which includes: feed, water, shelter, and general welfare of the animal. These are merely the rights that the shelter has over the supposed foster parent. They have a right to make sure that the dog they are placing in foster will be provided with a suitable but temporary living environment until an adoptive family is found. Also, it should be noted that shelters have to apply for the use of foster home shelters from the commissioner. They have to complete a foster home shelter license that allows them to find volunteers as foster parents. Without this license, the shelter is legally not allowed to utilize foster parents.

Under Kansas Citation: Kan. Admin. Code 9-22-1 - 5 KS ADC 9-22-1 – 5, 9-22-4 Section: Foster Homes

(d) Each sponsoring shelter using a foster home shelter shall develop a plan of veterinary care to be followed by the foster home shelter caretaker. The plan of veterinary care shall be recorded on the form specified in K.S.A. 47-1701(dd)(1)(A), and amendments thereto. This plan shall include the name of the licensed veterinarian the foster home shelter caretaker must contact in case of injury or illness and the name of the party responsible for the payment of treatment and office call charges. The foster home shelter caretaker shall notify the sponsoring shelter of any animal receiving veterinary care within 24 hours of treatment. A copy of the plan of veterinary care shall be filed annually with the commissioner.

(e) A foster home shelter licensee shall not directly accept stray animals or any animal relinquished by its owner. Any foster home shelter applicant or licensee wishing to accept stray animals or animals relinquished by their owners shall apply for and receive a shelter license before accepting these animals. Except as provided in K.A.R. 9-22-5, each sponsoring shelter shall have a physical facility for the intake of stray and relinquished animals and the housing of stray animals. Each manager of a group home shelter shall be responsible for the intake of all animals in the care of the group home shelter. No stray animal may be placed with a foster home shelter until the applicable requirements of K.S.A. 47-1710, and amendments thereto, have been met.

This allows the shelter to establish the rules for future foster parents. For example, some shelters may allow the foster parents to have free dog food that is donated by the shelter. In the

Philadelphia ACCT shelter, they receive numerous food donations that they are unable to use because they have a contract will Hill’s Science Diet. They receive an unlimited supply of Science Diet to feed their shelter residents, yet they are not allowed to distribute it to the foster parents. However, many shelters get donations from pet stores, giving bags of food that are about to expire or have rips/tears in the packaging. The pet stores are unable to sell these bags to consumers, and so instead donate them to local shelters. Foster parents are able to receive these bags for free when they take home their foster dog. Depending on the location of the foster home from the shelter, foster parents are allowed to visit the shelter again and receive more high quality food that the pet stores donate. Philadelphia ACCT also made certain to explain to me that my foster dog had access to free veterinary care, though it would have to be solely at the Philadelphia location. Therefore, if there was some sort of emergency with my foster dog where I had to bring her to a veterinarian near Rutgers, then I would be the only one responsible for the veterinary bill. This is important to note because even though the foster parent has not officially adopted the dog, they would still be responsible for the veterinary bills incurred if the parent chooses to use an out-of-shelter veterinarian. Each shelter that is allowing foster parents to care for their dogs is required by law to fully explain to the foster parent what the shelter’s policy is on veterinary care. It may range from full compensation provided if the foster dog visits any veterinarian, compensation to a certain extent, free veterinary care at specified locations, or no compensation/veterinary care is at the sole discretion of the foster parent.

b) If your dog bit another person

The foster dog is under your care and your control. For example, a shelter cannot ascertain that you are continuing proper training to avoid any warning signs of aggression in their shelter dog. Therefore, once you are responsible for the foster dog’s care you are also responsible for the actions of the foster dog. Conversely, the shelter is also somewhat responsible because technically they still have property ownership over the dog. This again is dependent on a case-by-case basis.

For instance, if you purchase a dog and legally own it, then you would be entitled to full responsibility of the dog. The NJ Bite Law states that if your dog bites a person in any way then the owner is liable to any damages incurred by the bitten person. This is regardless of the location it happened (even if it happened on the owner’s property), and if the owner was even aware that the dog was vicious in the first place. The owner would also be responsible if animal control were to seize their dog and destroy it. If the dog is still allowed to live, then the owner must fill out a form to declare the dog “dangerous” in which they have to follow certain rules associated with it:

- Special municipal potentially dangerous dog license- A sign on the property warning others of the potentially dangerous dog- Registration number given by the municipal clerk tattooed on the dog- If confined outside, it must be in a full enclosure that houses the sides, top and bottom- If taken out of enclosure they must be securely muzzled- Might have to maintain a liability insurance – paid in case the incident occurs again

The dog can only be deemed dangerous if it is determined that the attack occurred unprovoked. If the owner wished to argue that the attack was provoked and the animal was forced to act out of instinct then they may not have to have their dog labeled as a “potentially dangerous dog.”

c) If your dog bit another dog

If the dog in question had bitten another dog then there is a huge gray area that is determined based on what the courts feel is best. For example, there was a case in New Jersey in 1998 that exemplified this situation. An owner sued another because his bulldog trespassed onto her property and attacked her ten year old shih tzu. This caused serious damage to the dog, where the dog had to spend the night in the emergency veterinary hospital in order to receive surgery to repair the torn ligaments and broken bones. Now, if the dog was solely considered property then the case would be the owner of the bulldog destroying the property of the woman, by being negligent and allowing his bulldog to roam free. The woman would have been paid what the market value was for a ten year old shih tzu in compensation for the damages on her pet. This was determined to be about $500, even though the cost of fixing her shih tzu was $2500. But, since they are more recently placing a more intrinsic value on the animal, a different result occurred. The woman ended up getting compensated $2500 for the veterinary care of her dog, paid for by the owner of the bulldog.

d) After interviewing Stacey Seigel and Sandra Jones about the foster dog

Contacting Stacey about the incident, she was empathetic about my situation and asked if I wanted to return the foster dog to ACCT. I of course wanted to find her a permanent home because returning her to the shelter was a death sentence due to the overcrowding. I had asked her about what would happen if my aunt decided to pursue any legal action against my foster dog, and she told me that the dog is still technically owned by ACCT, which is owned by the City of Philadelphia. If she were to pursue any legal action it would be against the City of Philadelphia for any damages occurred to her dog. In general, any legal action against a city municipality requires a lot of time, effort, and money involved attaining a lawyer and traveling to Philadelphia for any court hearings.

Sandra Jones was actually and ACCT foster parent for many years and placed numerous dogs in adoptive homes. She had told me that an official hearing would have to occur in order to determine who was at fault in this situation. She stated that, “While the dog is a foster dog and "property" of ACCT, it was in your control and you were its "owner" for all intents and purposes while you were fostering her. Dogs (especially foster dogs) need complete supervision at all times, and ACCT could claim that you were not watching her as diligently as you should have been (although, you may also have been - there is no inherent proof to either).” She also stated that if my aunt were to institute an action against the City of Philadelphia, the City of Philadelphia may be able to come back and implicate me for negligence. She was unable to give me further advice, however, because she actually represents PSPCA (Philadelphia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) in animal cruelty cases. She was unable to give any sort of further legal advice against the PSPCA because it would violate her attorney code of ethics. Though her legal advice in general was very helpful, and it was great to actually talk to someone that represents the PSPCA. She advised that everyone talks together as adults and realize that there are inherent risks with owning a dog. It was unknown that my foster dog was vicious with other dogs and much as it was unknown that my aunt’s Yorkshire Terrier would try to fight

against a 60lb pit bull over a chew toy. So it seems that because it involves family, splitting the veterinary costs appears to be the best solution so far.

Conclusion

(HC) In conclusion it should be widely known that overpopulation in animal shelters is a huge animal welfare problem we face today. Irresponsible breeding and pet ownership are both ongoing dilemmas that continue to exacerbate this issue. Shelters unable to keep up with the financial and physical strains associated with the endless stream of animals filling their facilities often must make difficult decisions regarding euthanasia of their animals, or turning new animals away. While ideally, we would hope that enough animal lovers and prospective pet owners would be willing to adopt their next pet, the next best thing that we hope for is that we can reach an enormous base of people to encourage a larger population to foster. Fostering programs are hugely beneficial both to the shelters and to the animals that have not experienced the joys of living with a family. Getting animals out of shelters and into the comfort of a home would relieve a great deal of the strain on animal shelters and would make it a more achievable goal to see fewer homeless animals and more pets placed with loving forever homes.

VI. Service Project

The College Student Initiative

Our service project was a two-fold process. Our first part was to write up a ready-to-use fostering program to attempt to get non-fostering shelters to adopt a fostering program that will satisfy their needs and settle the qualms they have about such programs. We planned to offer this program to non-fostering shelters in the area to see what their reactions to it would be, and to inform them of the success of fostering shelters, information that we gathered by writing up a list of questions to ask shelters that did foster (See Appendix). However, many shelters in the area have a program in place, some that accommodate anyone, and others that require fosterers with a certain level of expertise in the field. Even the Humane Society of Ocean City had a program in place for their expert volunteers, despite not having one open to the public. As such, they were not receptive to our formulated program. The Edison Animal Shelter was another shelter we planned to bring our program to, having noticed from their website that they were a non fostering shelter. However, upon visitation, it turned out that they did in fact have a program in place as well. The few other shelters in the state that did not have a program were unreachable by phone or email. Therefore, while it would be excellent to attempt to bring programs to all shelters, we realized that almost all shelters have some form of a fostering program, so we decided to focus on what we believe is the more pressing issue.

We plan to advertise the fostering programs already in place. We hope to gain awareness of fostering programs in the community and to inspire more people to consider this option. Ultimately our aim is to get more animals out of shelters and into homes. This particular idea was inspired by what I learned from the representative from the Edison Animal Shelter. This shelter did not have a fostering program for many years, it was not until the volunteer group, Sammy’s Hope, got involved that they were able to support one. This means that we desperately

need to raise the demand for foster animals. We need to spread the word and make all available people understand what a positive experience it is.

We are looking particularly at encouraging students in a college setting that have the opportunity to live off campus to think about taking in a foster pet. These students have to work around restrictions by landlords or roommate disagreements about whether a pet is a good option for the house, but even despite these hurdles, there is a huge market among students for foster animals. Many college students have the benefit of living with roommates that could take on part of the burden of raising and caring for a pet, and making sure that they are rarely, if ever, alone. They are also an ideal market for this program because they can have the privilege of caring for a pet while avoiding the conflict and confusion about who would become the adoptive owner when the school year ends, or where they should stay for the summer. This also prevents students from releasing their pet into the streets when the school year ends, an unfortunate and not too uncommon consequence of students owning pets at school, who do not know what to do with them. However, for the more dedicated foster parent, it also provides them with the option to adopt at the end of the year if they should choose to do so. Therefore, it is possible that out of this system, many animals will find their forever homes. In addition, since part of the fostering agreement for nearly every shelter is that the facility pays for many of the costs associated with the animal’s health and diet, it is a cheaper option than owning a pet, a huge positive for the class “poor college student.”

We considered many options for raising awareness of fostering programs for college students. Previously at Rutgers, there have been attempts to create clubs dedicated to the fostering and adoption of shelter animals. Unfortunately this program faced adversity, and was not approved as it conflicted with other clubs such as the Seeing Eye Puppy Raising Club. We do not wish to aggravate the University, as it may set back our objective, so we chose not to pursue that issue any further. Instead of attempting to raise awareness in this way, we have decided to go to the internet.

Taking into consideration that our primary target audience is college students, we have chosen to focus our service project through Facebook, an almost ubiquitous medium through which college students communicate nowadays. According to an article by Roy Wells for Socialmediatoday.com, “44.6 million accounts are registered to individuals aged 24 and younger, just over 1/3 of all U.S. Facebook accounts.”16 This is a staggering statistic and suggests that in order to reach this age group, Facebook would be a wise option to consider. This is a medium that people can browse at their leisure and multiple times if desired, and in many cases, are browsing constantly throughout the day. Every day in class, we see students choosing to browse Facebook rather than pay attention to the professor, or spend their time in the computer lab on their profiles in order to procrastinate on their homework and studying. It is a staple in many college students’ everyday lives.

Our Facebook page, entitled Fostering Opportunities of NJ (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fostering-Opportunites-of-NJ/193966074011799) has many aspects to it. It provides guidelines for responsible pet owning and care-taking for those considering fostering, and includes websites and advice for individuals that find stray animals in their area. Most importantly it provides the names, phone numbers, and websites for many

shelters all over New Jersey that offer foster programs (See the Appendix), and the information for CAPIC, one of many volunteer organizations that are in desperate need of support from people looking to make a difference.

Even though our page is very recent, it is already gaining attention. We have invited our Facebook friends to join our page, and already have followers that we have never met, meaning that it is already getting some more widespread attention despite being so new. This is precisely the response that we were hoping for. We tell a certain number of people about our program, they tell their friends, and in little time we will be spreading our message further than we at first thought possible. A Facebook page also presents a long term idea for spreading awareness about fostering programs long after our class has reached completion. This is a page that will live for years and hopefully continue to build up followers to reach more and more viewers. I have also contacted the listserv coordinator for off-campus students and commuters, Debbie, and she has agreed to promote this Facebook page in the next Off-Campus newsletter issue. We are also looking for more ways to gain attention for our group through SEBS, Cook College, and Animal Science programs.

After the creation of our Facebook page, we spoke to a few off-campus residents to see what kind of response they would have to considering a foster program. The response we received when speaking to off-campus students was incredibly positive and many seemed interested in the idea of a Facebook page that provided all of the necessary information for a good foster parent in a single easily accessible online location.

Ultimately, by creating this page, we are raising awareness so that students who are already interested in fostering can easily find contact information for all of the shelters in the area that sponsor a program. With this information, students who have previously considered this option are more likely to follow through with plans to foster, because contacting many shelters will be made significantly easier. It will also be helpful for students that do not know what fostering is, because they will have the resources to learn more about the benefits and responsibilities of such a program, and why it may be a good option for them.

Thus, we believe that Facebook is an essential medium for reaching our target audience of college students as it is a staple in most college students’ lives. Also, in order to create more awareness and enthusiasm for this program, it is necessary to keep all information clear and concise, which was most easily achievable through the creation of an online medium that would be accessible for years after the class ends. Finally, since we understand that very soon we may be leaving the state for jobs and graduate school, we are looking for other people who plan to remain in the New Jersey area for an extended period of time, who will be willing to take over the upkeep of the group. Currently, I am hoping that a member of the Facebook group “RU Pet Rehoming,” created by a previous colloquium group will be interested in the task. I have advertised my page on their group and am hoping for feedback in the near future.

We want to reach as many people as possible though, so we added a second part to our service project. I am enrolled in a Public Speaking course at Rutgers and gave a speech on fostering and adoption. The outline for the speech and the Power Point slides I used to enhance my presentation can be found in the Appendix. This was another perfect medium to spread the

message about animal fostering and adoption, and what students can do to help out shelters and rescue groups. The demographic for this class is largely Communications and Sports Management majors, which I think is a perfect target audience. Through this Colloquium course, we will be reaching an audience primarily of science majors. I want to extend our reach beyond the sciences though, and this was a way to do so. I explained to the class the issue of shelter overpopulation, the problems with purchasing animals from backyard breeders and puppy mills, how fostering and adoption combats these issues, and additional ways to get involved. This provided an overview of the issue that was simple enough to be easily accessible to a broad audience, so that the takeaway message was very clear and hopefully left a lasting impact. I got excellent feedback and many students seemed legitimately interested in the cause and looked up my Facebook page in class.

16. Wells, Roy. "41.6% of the US Population Has a Facebook Account | Social Media Today." Social Media News, Strategy, Tools, and Techniques | Social Media Today. Web. 12 Nov. 2011. <http://socialmediatoday.com/index.php?q=roywells1/158020/416-us-population-has-facebook-account>.

VII. Letters to the Editor

A. HC

Courier News-Letter to the Editor

From Hanna Canfield (Rutgers University student)

Pet Fostering Programs and Their Effects on Shelter Overpopulation:

I would like to raise awareness about a very important animal welfare issue. It is my intention to get more pet owners to be aware of how they can improve the lives of homeless animals everywhere, giving animals a chance to find the comfort and love of a family, and a temporary or permanent home.

Currently, it is believed that there is a pet overpopulation problem in the United States; but in reality there are more than enough homes for all of the stray or abandoned animals if people would only explore the option of adopting their next pet from a shelter before purchasing it from a local pet store or breeder. The true problem that we are facing is that of shelter overpopulation. Animal shelters are essential facilities that provide a wonderful service to the animal world. Their function is to take in animals that have gotten lost, been abandoned, or were born as strays, and to try to find them a new place to live. However, they face an enormous problem; there are simply too many homeless animals for shelters to accept and take care of all of them. The unfortunate response of many shelters is to either euthanize some of their boarders or to close their doors to the endless influx of homeless animals. They do this, not as an act of intended cruelty, but because their resources are stretched thin and in order to provide the best quality of living for their boarders, they need to minimize the population kept within their facilities. There is hope though, and it starts with acts of kindness from people like you.

I want to raise awareness for what we, as a community, can do to alleviate this situation. Understanding what shelters are and that for decades they have faced the challenge of overpopulation in their facilities is the first step. The next is to understand what we, personally, can do to help reduce this problem.

I would particularly like to open people’s eyes to what is known as a fostering program. When one fosters an animal, they are removing it from a sheltering facility and giving it a temporary home. This gives the animal essential individual socialization that would not be possible in a shelter. For example in shelters, there is not enough time in the day to train a young puppy, so if someone were willing to foster the puppy and take the time to house train and teach it basic manners, that would play a significant role in helping it find a home and would ease the daily stress of the shelter employees and volunteers. In addition, many animals in shelters get stressed out in cages and seem to have behavioral problems that they wouldn’t exhibit in a loving and comfortable home. By offering them a place to stay, they are able to show their true natures and are much more likely to be adopted. Even more importantly, as more animals are being removed from facilities to be fostered, more homeless animals can be welcomed in, thus providing a greater opportunity for finding the millions of lost, stray, or abandoned animals loving families.

The best part about fostering is that it is a flexible program and ideal for people from many walks of life. This is a great idea for families that are not sure if they can handle a new pet to give them a taste for what responsibilities come with it. It gives college students living off campus the opportunity to have a pet for a year or two, just until graduation, when their lives become more hectic. Or perhaps someone that gets relocated for their job could foster a pet for as long as they are in one location so that they don’t need to put stress on a permanent pet by constantly moving them.

I urge readers to take a closer look at shelters. It would be ideal for every homeless animal that comes through to find a permanent home and be adopted, though if this is not a good time for you to take on a lifelong commitment to a new pet, an excellent alternative could be fostering. There are so many healthy animals out there in shelters that are looking for a loving family like yours. Additionally there will always be shelters that can suit your needs. If you are one of the many individuals that look for a particular breed when buying a new puppy for instance, please research shelters in your area that may specialize in your favorite breed. You just may be able to rescue your perfect new puppy from a life in a kennel.

Again, I hope that this information will prove useful and that you will consider adopting your next pet from an animal shelter, and know that you have made it possible for another homeless animal to get a chance at a new life.

B. CL

Daily Targum-Letter to the Editor

From Courtney Lee (Rutgers University student)

Animal shelters have always faced the problem of over-crowding. Not until recently has this been a more pressing issue. Since almost all animal shelters are required to take in animals that are called in, these are animals that people spot roaming the streets, the shelters easily reach their maximum capacity. To lessen this problem, many animal shelters provide a fostering program. Fostering an animal is less of a commitment than adopting. Unlike adopting, fostering families only keep the animal until a suitable adopting family is found. Fostering animals drastically helps the shelters and their over-crowding problems. It provides more space for the shelter to handle the new animals that are being called in. Due to over-crowding issues, many animals either have to be put down or do not receive proper shelter treatment and suffer. The shelter provides stray animals with all the required medicines they need to not cause a threat to the public. My group in a Junior/Senior Colloquium course at Rutgers University – The State University of New Jersey is advocating and promoting the benefits of fostering to help these shelters. The goal of our project is to encourage off-campus students to foster and shelters that do not provide a fostering program to consider such a program in the New Brunswick, NJ area. As a class project, my group would create a fostering program based from existing fostering programs from successful shelters to present to shelters that currently do not have a fostering program. In addition, we are going to create a Facebook page to link off-campus students with shelters that do foster. Fostering provides students with the opportunity to have an animal without the full commitment of adoption. We are specifically targeting off-campus students instead of on-campus students because of restrictions of possessing a pet with university policies. By implementing a fostering program to shelters that lack a program and providing a medium to communicate with potential fostering hosts, the over-crowding issue in many shelters will be addressed. This project will not only help out the animals by providing a place for them with a temporary family, but the community as well by providing stray animals a shelter and receive proper vaccinations.

From: ADTo: Jennifer Bradshaw of New Brunswick Patch, jennifer.bradshaw@patch.comRe: Shelter Overpopulation Problem and FosteringI would like to bring the attention to the community that a very serious problem exists. There are millions of animals put to sleep every single day simply because there is not enough room to keep them. Most of these animals are young, have no health problems, and may even be housetrained or taught some tricks. It is a huge problem when you know that your beloved cat or dog may end up as a statistic if you are unable to care for them. From the ASPCA, about 60% of dogs and 70% of cats that enter the shelters are put down. Many shelters are unregulated so this number may even be higher. Shelters are not the cause of this problem; they are simply dealing with it. If any blame is to be established, one must look into a mirror. It is us, the communities of people that appear to not know about this crisis nor care enough to do anything about it. Again, millions of perfectly healthy, young animals are being euthanized and thrown away because of this overpopulation in shelters. The solution is not that difficult to implement, it is merely about trying to make the community aware of the problem and taking responsibility for their actions. Numerous solutions exist such as: creating more shelters, spaying/neutering, law enforcement cracking down on puppy mills, urging people to adopt from shelters instead of breeders, trap-neuter-release programs for feral cats, and fostering animals from the shelter.

One of the easiest solutions is to foster a dog from a local shelter. This alleviates at least some of the stress on the shelters that are overcrowded. Fostering a dog not only saves the dog’s life, but also saves another dog’s life that is now able to take that empty spot in the kennel. It is not meant to be an adoption trial, though many that foster do fall in love with their foster animals and end up adopting. Fostering a dog most importantly removes the dog from the stressful shelter situation, which could completely affect their behavior. So, an apparently hyper and untrained dog in the shelter might act like a perfect angel in a home setting. When shelters are desperately trying to find a home for a dog that is about to be euthanized, many respond saying that they are not ready to take on such a commitment. Many do not know that fostering is even an option so countless dogs and cats are needlessly put to sleep. I would like to raise awareness about this life-saving option and encourage others to foster an animal. Fostering is an easier alternative because the shelter helps pay for food and vet bills, which could amount to about $900 a year as per the ASPCA’s website. This opportunity should especially be targeted to college students, many of whom miss their dogs at home and would love to take the time to foster one. They can network the dog via Facebook and through their numerous college contacts that are available. I would encourage others to visit our Facebook page if they are in the New Brunswick, NJ area to find out more information about fostering. Even calling your local shelter to ask if they have a fostering program would be the first step in solving this crisis. If one person fosters and spreads the word about this problem, then others will be more likely to help and hopefully one day shelter animals would never have to meet the depressing fate of being euthanized basically because no one wants them. I would hope that by bringing more awareness about the pet overpopulation problem that others would be more interested to help save the lives of these wonderful animals.

Appendix:Shelter Contact Information (HC)New Jersey Animal Shelters

Friends of Wayne Animals/Wayne Animal ShelterPhone: 973 694 0767www.fowa.petfinder.com

A New Leash on Life, Inc732 424 2006www.petfinder.com/shelters/NJ163.html

Adopt A Pet732 462 5184www.petfinder.com/shelters/NJ05.html

Angel Pets Animal Welfare Society, Inc732 340 1199http://www.angelpaws.org/homepage.htm

Animal Allies

609 737 2380http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/NJ48.html

The Animal Orphanage856 627 6656http://www.theanimalorphanage.org/

Animal Welfare Association856 424 2288http://www.awanj.org/

Camden County Animal Shelter856 401 1309http://ccasnj.org/

Cumberland County/Vineland SPCA856 691 1500http://members.petfinder.com/~NJ44/HOME.htm

Doodle Rescue Collective973 707 7089http://doodlerescuecollectiveinc.org/

House Rabbit Society- New Jersey732 583 0278http://www.njhrs.com/

Husky House- Siberian Husky and Fellow K-9 rescue908 541 9186http://www.huskyhouse.org/index.htm

Jefferson Township Municipal Pound973 663 3241http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/jefferson.html

Jersey Animal Coalition973 763 7322http://www.jaconline.org/s1/index.html

Little Egg Harbor Animal Rescue- LEHAR609 294 1667http://lbi.net/lehar/

Livingston Animal Shelter973 535 7961http://livingstonlive.org/LCAC/

Maddie Friends Inc856 935 1763http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/maddieandfriends.html

Mid-Atlantic Basset Hound Rescue908 256 0598http://www.midatlanticbassets.com/

Miracles With Paws908 510 5803http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/miracleswithpaws.html

My Pets Place/NJ Volunteers for Animals732 370 9515http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/NJ134.html

Nature’s Refuge732 566 4942http://www.naturesrefuge.com/homepage.html

New Jersey Greyhound Adoption Program908 832 9678http://njgap.com/

New Jersey Schnauzer Rescue Network908 722 2404http://www.njsrn.org/

Noah’s Ark Animal Welfare Association973 347 0378http://www.noahsarknj.org/

PAWS Animal Shelter973 746 5212http://www.pawsmontclair.org/

Pet Adoption League of North Jersey-Warren County SPCA973 584 0095http://www.palpets.org/

Safe Hounds Beagle Rescue, Inc973 729 8431http://www.safehounds.com/

Salem County Humane Society

856 299 2220 http://www.salemcountyhumanesociety.org/

Shetland Sheepdog Placement of New Jersey908 704 1241http://njsheltierescue.org/

Small Animal Veterinary Endowment (SAVE)/Animal Rescue609 921 6122http://www.save-animals.org/

St. Hubert’s Madison Adoption Center973 377 2295http://www.sthuberts.org/page.aspx?pid=354

St. Hubert’s North Branch Adoption Center908 526 3330http://www.sthuberts.org/page.aspx?pid=196

The National Foundation for Animal Rescue877 554 8787 http://www.nffar.org/

West Orange Animal Welfare League973 736 8689http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/woawl.html

Questionnaire for Fostering Shelters (HC/CL) How many animals do you have in your facility? How many dogs, cats, etc?What kinds of animals do you shelter?Of these types, are all candidates for fostering?Which ones are the more popular foster options?What percentage of animals/how many are adopted each year that have not been fostered?What percentage of animals/how many are adopted each year that have been fostered?How many people foster per year?Of these, how many adopt the pets that they foster?If the fosterers do not adopt the animal, how long do they keep them on average?What demographic of people generally foster these pets?How would you say your fostering program reduces the crowding in your facility?Does this make your shelter more efficient?What benefits does fostering have for the animals?Are there any negative consequences?

Public Speaking- Persuasive Speech(HC) Dog Adoption and Fostering

I. What is the problem?

1. In America, between 6 and 8 million homeless animals are brought to shelters every year. And every year half of these animals are euthanized.

2. Animal shelters are admirable facilities whose purpose is to take homeless animals off of the streets and place them in new homes with loving families. Unfortunately, they only have so much space available. In public shelters that are required to take in every dog and cat that comes to their door, euthanasia of older, injured, or un-socialized animals is common. In private no-kill shelters, the facility closes their doors to any more homeless animals, meaning that more animals remain on the streets or are brought to kill shelters.

3. More than 17 million Americans purchase a new pet every year, but only 20% choose adoption, so this remains a huge problem.

Transition: So now it is clear that this is a huge problem and little is being done on the part of pet owners to help fight this issue, but what started this problem?

II. What started this problem?

1. One of the biggest aggravators of this issue is that of irresponsible breeding. Many pet owners refuse to get their pets spayed and neutered either because they believe that surgery is too expensive or they don’t care enough to get it done. These are often the people that end up with more litters than they can handle and abandon the animals or surrender them to already overcrowded animal shelters.

2. Others may refuse to spay or neuter their pets because they want to breed their dogs to sell the puppies and kittens. While there are legitimate breeders, the majority are irresponsible people looking to make fast money.

Transition: There are two particularly bad types of breeders that have made overpopulation such a huge issue, and need to be watched out for, backyard breeders and puppy mills.

III. Irresponsible Breeders: Backyard Breeders

1. A “Backyard breeder” refers to a person that has not spayed or neutered their pets and either purposely breeds them or just allows their pets to breed as they will, and then they either keep these animals or sell them for profit. Whichever route is chosen, both are equally bad. They are simply aggravating the overpopulation issue by bringing more and more puppies and kittens into the world. In fact, almost two thirds of all dogs in the U.S. come from backyard breeders.17

2. These breeders are known for selling animals that are inbred and unhealthy because these individuals do not have the proper grasp on what it means to responsibly breed and care for animals. Often times they are breeding mothers that are too old to be producing healthy litters, and do not provide them with sanitary living conditions.

3. As a hospital attendant I witnessed an especially sad case involving a Bernese mountain dog puppy purchased from an untrustworthy source. His owner wanted a pure bred Bernese, and went to the first breeder he found online. This puppy was the result of a seven year old female being bred with her one year old son. The puppy that had been purchased only one week previously to being brought into the clinic was extremely lethargic, and a few simple tests showed that it had Giardia in his feces. Conditions like this are common in poor breeding facilities. The breeder had provided the new pet owner with false documentation about the dog’s lineage and sold him for only $500. This seems like a good deal for a large breed like a Bernese, but that is often an indicator that the breeder knows that their dogs are not the highest quality and is trying to make fast money off of them.

Transition: As awful as this is, it almost pales in comparison to the conditions seen in puppy mills.

IV. Irresponsible Breeders: Puppy Mills

1. In its most basic definition, a puppy mill is a dog factory. The intent is simply to produce the most dogs in the shortest period of time to generate the most revenue. Breeding mothers are bred constantly with little to no recovery time between litters. This constant physical stress takes an immense toll on the mother and when she inevitably becomes too tired and worn out to produce another litter she is euthanized, as she is no longer useful to the mill.

2. The puppies subsequently are placed in completely unsanitary environments. Owners of mills want to maximize their profit by minimizing the effort it takes to upkeep puppy care, so they are often placed in cages with wire floors so that the waste will fall through instead of gathering. These wire floors often injure their paws causing lacerations. They also live with little food, water and socialization to minimize effort and cost, and veterinary care is usually almost completely neglected.

3. As a result these dogs are severely unhealthy, hosting anything from hereditary diseases to bacterial and viral infections resulting from the unsanitary and cramped conditions. They also tend to have bad socialization skills and distrust people. These are the dogs that are often shipped to pet stores, and uninformed pet buyers will buy these puppies not understanding the terrible conditions they have come from.

Transition: It is clear that these irresponsible breeders are unfit to be bringing more animal into this world, but you may be thinking, “what about the store and breeder animals?”

V. Putting Irresponsible Breeders out of Business

1. Many shelter animals could have come from puppy mills or irresponsible breeders, the main benefit in choosing to adopt from shelters over the other two is that you will not be supporting those agencies. It is important to stop giving money to these bad breeders so that irresponsible animal breeding can have an end in sight, and the number of homeless animals can ultimately decline.

2. In addition, animal shelters have animals’ best interests in mind. They want to see the animals in their facility placed in new homes, and get as many potential pets off the streets as they can. Euthanasia is not their preferred option, but until more people start adopting their pets, it is sadly the route they continue to take in order to ration their resources for the animals they do house.

Transition: So what is it about adoption that makes it such a great option besides fighting irresponsible breeding?

VI. Adoption

1. It is cheaper than buying a puppy from breeders and pet stores. While prices range depending on the shelter, pet store, and breeder, and even from one dog or cat breed to another, it is generally much less expensive to purchase a shelter animal than a store or breeder animal. Pet stores and breeders generally sell their animals for anywhere from $500 to $2000, and sometimes more. Getting an animal from a shelter generally only costs about $50-$250.

2. Also, you can get dogs and cats of any breed from shelters. If you are dead set on getting a certain breed of dog or cat I guarantee there is a shelter or rescue group out there that has what you are looking for. In my research of New Jersey shelters I came across Husky, Schnauzer, Dachshund, and Doodle dog shelters. I also learned that there are Siamese, Persian, and Russian Blue cat rescue groups.

3. You’ll be giving an animal a second chance at happiness. Many animals that end up in shelters have been abandoned by their owners that couldn’t keep them for one reason or another. These reasons could include moving away, a new baby, someone has an allergy, or the animal is too difficult to train. These are animals that just need some love and attention, and deserve another chance to find a good home.

4. When you adopt, you are not only saving your new pet from a life in a cage at a shelter, but you’re making it possible for other animals to come into the facility and have a greater possibility of finding a new home as well. You will also be helping to fight the overpopulation of animals in shelters and making it so that one less animal’s life will end in euthanasia.

Transition: Also, shelters give you options. If you are not sure if you can handle the responsibility of owning a pet, but would like to see if it is for you, try fostering.

VII. Fostering

1. Fostering involves removing an animal from a shelter facility and giving it a temporary home, thus reducing shelter overpopulation. However, it is not an official adoption, and you can play a part in finding it a permanent home. You provide the animal with one-on-one socialization that is essential in bringing out the very best in any animal’s personality. Also, if you are fostering a puppy, you can give it the necessary training it should have to be a great pet.

2. It is also a great option, because shelters often take a huge part in helping with veterinary and food bills. Therefore it is a great option for people that want to own a pet, but may not immediately have the monetary resources to care for one.

3. During this process, you have a few different options. If you decide that you are ready for a pet, you can adopt it, or you may find someone else, a friend or family member perhaps, that is interested in your foster pet who would like to adopt it. If, however, you cannot give it or find it a home, you have the option to bring the animal back to the shelter.

VIII. Conclusion

1. So what it comes down to is that shelters have limited space and resources. They have admirable goals though, and it would be so helpful if everyone would adopt or foster their next pet rather than purchasing it from an unreliable source.

2. To learn more about what you can do to help shelters and rescue groups in New Jersey, please look up “Pet Fostering Opportunities in NJ” on Facebook. I have developed a list of shelters, their phone numbers, and their websites that makes it easy to find places to adopt and foster your next pet.

17. "What Is a Backyard Breeder?" Almost Home Dachshund Rescue Society HOME. Web. 29 Nov. 2011. <http://www.almosthomerescue.org/whatisbyb/whatisbyb.htm>.Power Point Slides for Public Speaking (HC)

By Hanna Canfield

6-8 million homeless cats and dogs enter shelters every year

Half are euthanized because shelters are so overcrowded

17 Million people buy new pets each year but only 20% adopt

Many people refuse to spay and neuter their pets

And then many of these people end up with accidental litters that they can‘t afford or try to sell to make a quick profit

There are two particularly bad (and common) types of breeders› Backyard breeders› Puppy mills

Backyard Breeders

› Account for about 2/3 of America’s dogs

› Leave their dogs and cats un-neutered and allow them to breed indiscriminately

Puppy Mil ls

› Dog factories

› Unsanitary, unsafe, not enough food or water, and little to no veterinary care

A shelter animal could originate from an irresponsible source

Stop funding irresponsible breeders

Fund shelters whose purpose it is to improve the lives of animals

It’s cheaper than buying from a breeder or pet store

You can find any pure-breed dog or cat you want

You’ll be giving the animal a second chance at happiness

You’ll help fight shelter overpopulation, saving the lives of other homeless animals as well

Not sure if you can handle taking care of a pet?

FOSTER!

You give a temporary home to a shelter animal

Shelters will help you pay veterinary and food bills

If you cannot adopt the

animal or find it another

home, you can choose to

bring it back to the shelter

So please adopt or foster your next pet!

To find the names, phone numbers, and websites of shelters and rescue groups in New Jersey…

› Search for “Pet Fostering

Opportunities in NJ” on Facebook

References1. Marsh, Peter. Replacing Myth with Math: Using Evidence-based Programs to Eradicate

Shelter Overpopulation. Concord, NH: Town and Country Reprographics, 2010. Print.

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3. Anonymous Representative. "The Edison Animal Shelter (Helping Hands for Helpless Paws)." Personal interview. 16 Nov. 2011.

4. "Pet Statistics." ASPCA: We Are Their Voice. ASPCA. Web. 16 Oct. 2011. <http://www.aspca.org/about-us/faq/pet-statistics.aspx>.

5. Hunter, Janet. “The Benefits of Adoption and Fostering, and how Rescue Groups help.” Personal interview. 19 Nov. 2011.

6. Fischer, Kevin. "The Humane Society of Ocean City." Telephone interview. 7 Nov. 2011.7."What to Do If You Find a Stray Pet : The Humane Society of the United States." The Humane

Society of the United States : The Humane Society of the United States. Web. 12 Nov. 2011. <http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/what_to_do_stray_pet.html>.

8. "What Is a Puppy Mill." ASPCA: We Are Their Voice. ASPCA. Web. 16 Oct. 2011.9. Anonymous Representative. "St. Hubert’s North Branch Adoption Center." Telephone

interview. 17 Oct. 2011.10. "Contact." The Husky House-Siberian Husky and Fellow K-9 Rescue. The Husky House-

Siberian Husky and Fellow K-9 Rescue. Web. 29 Oct. 2011. <http://www.huskyhouse.org/conta/>.

11. Sammy's Hope. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. <http://www.sammyshope.org/>.12. "Companion Animal Overpopulation." In Defense of Animals. Web. 16 Oct. 2011.

<http://www.idausa.org/facts/overpopulation.html>.13. Valenti, Hope. “CAPIC Organization.” Personal Interview. 19 Nov. 2011.14. CAPIC. Web. 19 Nov. 2011. <http://www.capiccats.com/>.15. "Fostering Application." Hope Animal Shelter. Web. 16 Oct. 2011.

<http://hopeanimalrescuenj.com/Fostering_Application.html>.16. Wells, Roy. "41.6% of the US Population Has a Facebook Account | Social Media Today."

Social Media News, Strategy, Tools, and Techniques | Social Media Today. Web. 12 Nov. 2011. <http://socialmediatoday.com/index.php?q=roywells1/158020/416-us-population-has-facebook-account>.

17. "What Is a Backyard Breeder?" Almost Home Dachshund Rescue Society HOME. Web. 29 Nov. 2011. <http://www.almosthomerescue.org/whatisbyb/whatisbyb.htm>.