With a total of 21 large dogs in its care, 16 of which are currently living in shelters in Stratford and Kitchener, the Humane Society of Kitchener Waterloo and Stratford Perth is in urgent need of foster families to provide the love and temporary homes these pooches need .
On Tuesday, the local humane society put a call out for volunteer foster parents who are able to take in large-breed dogs until they’re ready for adoption.
“We’ve seen an increase in calls from our community to surrender animals into our care as we’ve been moving out of the pandemic,” said Calla James, the society’s director of community engagement and outreach. “We also continue to receive animals as strays. We have 13 animal-control contracts across Perth County and Waterloo Region, so we have a large number of municipalities that we serve and animals come in through there as well.”
Through the humane society’s foster program, animals are matched with families and homes that best match an animal’s needs and behaviors so they can get the individualized attention they need in a less stressful environment until they’re ready to be adopted into a permanent home.
“We’ve just been finding it challenging to find people who are able to, and willing to, take on a large breed of dog in their home,” James said. “Sometimes these dogs can go into a home with other animals, but sometimes they’re not able to. Maybe they’re reactive to cats or they don’t do well with other dogs – they like to be the king or queen of the household, as we would say. So in that case, sometimes it’s hard to find people who don’t have any pets in the home.
“We’re really just doing a blanket callout to anybody who would be interested in fostering large-breed dogs. If you aren’t but you know of somebody who is, we would love for you to … help us get the word out.”
The local humane society provides all of the training, food, supplies and medical care a dog needs while the foster parents need only provide space and lots of love. Those interested in fostering a dog can visit kwsphumane.ca/how-to-help/foster to learn more and submit an application, after which a humane society staff member will reach out to set up a meeting if they have a dog that might be a good match.
For those interested in adopting a dog, the local humane society has reduced adoption fees for certain dogs that have been up for adoption for a while. To see the full list of dogs currently up for adoption, visit kwsphumane.ca/adopt/dogs.