OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Animal shelters across the U.S. are in desperate need of people to foster animals.
The Oshkosh Area Humane Society is particularly looking for fosters for their cats. Last week alone, the human society took in 55 cats.
“It’s at a rate unseen before in the last decade I’ve been with the organizations,” said OAHS Executive Director Jessica Miller. “We desperately need adopters, foster homes and supplies.”
Miller cites the COVID-19 pandemic as causing this increase in animals at the shelter.
“We are seeing the ‘after’ effects of the pandemic right now. There was a huge adoption surge at the beginning.”
When people returned to work, potentially with different schedules, many may have found that they could no longer keep their animals.
Additionally, Miller said spay and neuter services were difficult to get during the pandemic due to limited staffing.
Other shelters across the country have reached out to Oshkosh to hopefully transfer some of their animals to a less-crowded shelter.
“But right now all shelters are crowded everywhere,” says OAHS Admissions Manager Jennifer Ollanketo. “It’s very sad because shelters that haven’t euthanized healthy, adoptable animals in many years are now having to make those tough decisions because the animals just keep coming in and there aren’t enough going out.”
OAHS is looking for foster homes to temporarily house some of the cats waiting for room on the adoption floor. Miller says that even if you can only help for a couple of weeks, it would be a great help.
Supplies are also in high demand, as the shelter provides fosters with food, litter, dishes and medicine when they take in an animal. A list of “most needed” items is available on the OAHS website.
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