Aransas County Animal Services need fosters this hurricane season

Aransas County Animal Care Services is expecting to call on the community for emergency fosters ahead of an active hurricane season.

An emergency foster is a temporary owner. Someone who adopts an animal for the length of a storm or event of severe weather. This could range from a few hours to a few days, to even a few months depending on the severity of the conditions. Emergency fosters are mainly called upon to look after animals held in outdoor kennels.

Aransas County Animal Care Services posted to Facebook on June 17 asking for emergency fosters to look after the 11 dogs that were in their outdoor kennels ahead of TS Alberto. Thankfully, all were given homes to wait out the storm and some of them even found permanent owners.

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One of those permanent adoptions was for Pluto, a Labrador Retriever. Pluto was adopted by Kaleb Pina and Maikayla Brown who thought it was the right thing to do. The two already have a dog, but once the storm was over they knew they were making room for one more. "I can’t live with myself if we take him back," is what Brown told Pina, who didn't need much convincing to welcome Pluto to the family.

When speaking with Animal Care Services Director Caitlin Frazier she thanked folks like Pina and Brown who opened their doors for dogs like Pluto. Frazier understands that fostering, even if only temporary is not for everyone, but, “It does take patience because some of these dogs do need that going forward." She continued, "We want to make sure that animal fits that home life, we do not want to put anyone in harm's way.”

Frazier mentioned that other severe weather emergency fosters could be needed for include deep freezes, hurricanes and dangerous heat. With hurricanes however, Frazier also mentioned that evacuation plans and emergency locations were in place as well.

If you are interested in becoming an emergency foster you can reach out to your local shelter or facility and have your name added to the list of potential adopters.

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