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The Animal Rescue & Foster Program takes in homeless cats and dogs in Greensboro, and finds suitable homes for them.
By Kelly Simmons, Staff Writer
The two furry mixed-breed puppies lay on their sides on the pavement inside a makeshift cage set up at Lawndale Shopping Center.
Sacked out, their brown eyes closed, the puppies weren't putting on much of a show for potential new owners. But then, at least one of them didn't have to.
By the end of the first hour of the Animal Rescue & Foster Program adoption fair on Saturday, the female puppy had found a home. "Foster parent" Jo Black would be taking only the male puppy home with her that night.
"I'll cry when I take her over and drop her off," said Black, an account executive for a Greensboro advertising agency. "But you know they're going to a good home."
The Animal Rescue & Foster Program is a nonprofit organization that formed in Guilford County almost two years ago. Members - all volunteers - meet monthly, plan fund-raising events and take in stray and abandoned animals.
Sporadically, the group holds adoption fairs - like the one last Saturday - to find homes for the animals. Putting animals on display, they hope, encourages prospective owners to open their hearts and homes to the unwanted pets.
"There are a lot of sad stories," said Sue Lawson, vice president of the animal rescue organization.
There's the mother dog and her 11 puppies found in an abandoned car.
A stray cat was pulled from a drainage ditch where it almost drowned.
A chow-mix puppy was dumped on an abandoned farm.
"Some people bought a new house that came with a pregnant cat," adds Connie Parrish, secretary of the group.
Many calls that come in to the group are from people who find stray cats - many pregnant or with newly born litters of kittens - on their property, Lawson said.
Right now, there are 80 animals in foster homes, waiting for adoption into permanent homes. About 30 of them - 20 kittens and 10 puppies - were on display Saturday in front of All Pets Considered in the Lawndale Shopping Center. All Pets Considered provides support to the group, allowing them to use space inside the store for the pet fairs during the winter and inclement weather.
During the fairs, browsers look over animals while Lawson and other volunteers screen prospective owners. Guidelines for ownership are rather strict.
Cats are adopted only to people who plan to keep them in the house.
"Statistics show they live longer," Lawson explains.
Dogs can go home only with owners who provide fenced-in back yards or large dog pens. Program members don't allow people to chain dogs or leave them in small cages.
All owners must sign a contract promising to get the animal spayed or neutered to, Lawson said. The group spays and neuters animals older than 6 months.
There is no charge for the animals, but the group requests a $25 donation for dogs and cats younger than 6 months and $50 for animals older than 6 months that have been spayed or neutered.
All of the animals have has their first vaccinations, and cats are tested for feline leukemia before they are placed in homes.
Members check back with new owners to make sure they follow the rules.
If they find an animal in an unsatisfactory setting - or learn that the animal has not been spayed or neutered - they can take it away.
In the past 18 months, the group placed 700 animals in area homes, Lawson said. That sounds like a lot but really is a small number compared to the number of animals destroyed annually.
Last year, 11,000 unwanted animals were euthanized in Guilford County.
"I would say the problem is getting worse," Lawson said. "People just dispose of animals so readily." The End.
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