Pima Animal Care Center recently issued the following announcement.
Pima Animal Care Center needs community members willing to temporarily open their home to homeless dogs. As the only open admission shelter in Southern Arizona, PACC often operates at max capacity, but the summer months are truly a breaking point. Animal intake numbers skyrocket from June – August, leaving shelter staff scrambling for adequate housing, particularly for medium and large dogs who take up the most room. As of July 16, PACC had 417 dogs in its shelter.
What does max capacity at PACC look like?
Many dogs share kennels with limited space to move around, staff open additional rooms to house animals in pop-up crates, and the explosive surplus of animals entering the facility every day becomes difficult for staff and volunteers to manage.
How can the community help?
Fostering a medium or large dog for even a week can bring many benefits to an animal, who before arriving at PACC probably had the ability to roam freely at home or outside. In the shelter, pets are housed in a kennel, and although they do go out for a walk and get cuddling time, the environment can cause them to become depressed and shutdown. Fostering helps pets feel a sense or normality. Any time spent outside of the kennel helps them heal mentally, physically and emotionally.
Temporary foster placements also free up space inside the shelter.
How do I become a medium/large dog PACC foster?
To become a short-term PACC foster, community members can visit PACC’s shelter anytime during normal business hours, Monday through Friday from noon to 7 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Signing up is easy – all you need is your ID! PACC will provide foster supplies, including food. In addition, for families with other pets at home, PACC will offer counseling on how to manage dog introductions at home.
To meet dogs currently eligible for temporary foster homes, ask a PACC staff member during your visit.
Are there other ways to help PACC?
As a community member, you can help PACC by assisting lost pets in your neighborhood. If you find a dog or cat and can safely keep the pet in your home, consider fostering them while PACC staff works to reunite them with their owners. In addition to keeping pets out of the shelter during this busy period, it can be easier to reunite pets and owners if pets stay in the community where they were found.
Pet owners should keep their pets properly contained during stormy weather and/or have appropriate shelter from the summer heat. The safest way to ensure that your pets don’t run off is to bring them inside during thunder and rain. And please remember to leash your pet!
If a pet goes missing, owners should visit Pima Animal Care Center’s lost & found page to file a report. If you’ve found your pet on the PACC website, note the animal ID number and call us at (520) 724-7222. You may also want to check online and with our rescue partners in the community, including the Humane Society of Southern Arizona and public forums such as Craigslist and NextDoor.
For additional information on fostering opportunities and lost pet resources, visit pima.gov/animalcare and check Facebook for daily pet updates.
Original source can be found here.