Latest news with #fostering
CBS News
3 days ago
- General
- CBS News
Miami-Dade animal services pleads for kitten fosters amid surge in newborns, overcrowding
Dozens of newborn kittens in need of homes Dozens of newborn kittens in need of homes Dozens of newborn kittens in need of homes Miami-Dade Animal Services is issuing an urgent call for foster volunteers as the shelter faces a summer surge of newborn kittens and overcrowding among dogs. "These kittens require around-the-clock care," said Gabriella Dominguez, public information officer for Animal Services. "If we can't find a foster family, then they have to be humanely euthanized at the end of the day because we can't just let them starve overnight while nobody is here to take care of them." Fostering makes a life-saving difference Volunteer Stephen Dsida is one of the people answering the call. He began volunteering seven weeks ago, originally hoping to adopt or foster puppies. Instead, he ended up walking dogs and fostering an entire feline family. "I was able to foster a family of six cats, five of whom are kittens," said Dsida. "That's been very rewarding, very challenging. They've turned my house inside out, but in a good way." Neonate kittens, defined as less than 40 days old, are the most vulnerable. They need feeding every two to three hours and a warm environment to survive a substitute for their mother's care. The shelter sees the largest influx of kittens during the summer breeding months, part of a larger national overpopulation crisis. "The best chances for survival with these kittens is to stay with their mother," Dominguez explained. "So truthfully, the only reason you should bring them in is if you can confirm that the mother has passed away." Shelter overcrowded and under-resourced In addition to the surge in kittens, the shelter is severely overcrowded with dogs. Currently, there are about 550 dogs in care, 200 over its ideal capacity of 350. At the Medley location, over 100 dogs are being housed in a facility with no air conditioning, making conditions even more challenging. With limited space and resources, shelter staff members are often taking the tiniest kittens home themselves when fosters can't be found. Community service and emotional support For Dsida, fostering has become more than just volunteer work, it's been emotionally fulfilling. "I think it's a very rewarding experience for people who may not even think they need emotional support," he said. "It's very helpful to get through the day, maybe some tough situations." High school and college students who foster can also receive community service hours. Those interested in fostering can email asdfoster@ or visit for more information.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Yahoo
Sioux Falls Humane Society calls for help
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The Sioux Falls Area Humane Society is overflowing with dogs- more than 130. And now, the organization is asking for help. 2-year-old Stella is one of more than 130 dogs currently at the Sioux Falls Area Humane Society. In a recent Facebook post, the shelter says that it is running out of room for dogs but it won't turn any animals away. Instead, the team here gets creative. Teen sentenced to 20 years for fentanyl death 'So we really need help with fostering. We have 35 animals ready to foster. Donations make a huge difference. So it gives us the ability to help medical care, you know, help feed the animals, and be able to shelter them. And so that is a huge need for us as well.' Jami Gates Grieve, Executive Director, said. To keep the organization running, the Humane Society relies heavily on donations and volunteers. They do everything from keeping the shelter clean to cuddling cats and dogs. 'So we have over 60 staff and we have several hundred volunteers. Us. And we couldn't do without the volunteers. They make a huge difference.' Grieve said. Just a month ago, the nonprofit also created a short-term foster program called 'Rescue Dog Recess.' This allows the dog a day away from the shelter to relax and hopefully get noticed in the community. 'We have a new program, Rescue Dog Resources. So that is a great way to start out where you can come, sign up to be a volunteer and then take the animal out and it's on like a little day trip.' Grieve explained. Whether it's a day trip, a donation or even adoption there are many ways to help animals like Stella. Sioux Falls Humane Society will be hosting an adoption event starting June 13th till the 20th with $50 off dogs 6+ months and older and $20 off cats 5+ and older. If you'd like to take a closer look at the dogs that are currently up for adoption, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
How an immigrant is thanking America through foster care
(NewsNation) — A Ugandan immigrant who arrived in the United States at age 27 has fostered nearly 50 children and adopted three, driven by his own experience of being helped by a stranger as a homeless child. Peter Mutabazi, a single father, began fostering children at age 40 after learning about the number of children in the foster care system. His decision to help was inspired by a man who showed him kindness when he was a child, surviving on the streets by stealing food. 'He said, 'Hey, what's your name?' You know, he didn't say, 'Go away.' He didn't say, 'You thief,'' Mutabazi told NewsNation's 'CUOMO' on Friday. 'That rattled me, because no one human being had ever called me or asked me what my name was.' VIDEO: Retiring UT Police K-9 surprised with tennis ball sendoff The stranger not only fed Mutabazi but also offered to send him to school, seeing potential in the boy when others saw only bad behavior. 'My dad said I will never mount anything. And I believed that. But this man saw the best in me when nobody saw that,' Mutabazi shared. Initially, Mutabazi signed up to foster just one child, uncertain whether he would be accepted as a single Black man. He had never seen anyone like himself in the foster care system, he said. 'Little did I know that truly, I would have as many as almost 50 that have come through my family,' Mutabazi said. His approach focuses on creating a safe space where children can heal from trauma rather than trying to erase their past experiences. He also works to support the biological parents, viewing them not as villains but as people who may lack resources or support. 'My job is not take away their trauma, but create a space where they feel they can thrive, where they feel they can overcome what they've gone through,' he said. Mutabazi, founder of the Now I Am Known Foundation, has a GoFundMe page to raise money for 20 full-room makeovers for foster youth across the country. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Independent
05-06-2025
- General
- The Independent
Welcome to kitten season, when animal shelters need all the help they can get
Strawberry, Blueberry, JoJo and Mazzy were about 6 weeks old when animal rescuers coaxed them out of long metal pipes in the parking lot of a storage unit company. Meatball was a single kitten living in a cold garage with a group of semi-feral adult cats. Spaghetti, Macaroni and Rigatoni, meanwhile, were just 2 weeks old when the good folks of LIC Feral Feeders, a cat rescue in Queens, took them in and bottle-fed them until they were strong enough to survive. Consider these cuties the face of kitten season 2025. Kitten season, typically landing during warmer months, is the time of year when most cats give birth. That produces a surge of kittens, often fragile neonates. Shelters get overwhelmed, especially when it comes to the 24-hour care and feeding of extremely young kittens. That, as a result, triggers a need for more foster homes because many of the 4,000 or so shelters in the U.S. don't have the time or resources for around-the-clock care, said Hannah Shaw, an animal welfare advocate known as the Kitten Lady with more than a million followers on Instagram. 'We see about 1.5 million kittens entering shelters every year. And most of them will come into shelters during May and June,' she said. 'Shelters need all hands on deck to help out through fostering.' Familiarity with fostering animals is high, Shaw said. The act of doing it is a different story. There's a false perception, she said, that the expense of fostering animals falls on the people who step up to do it. These days, many shelters and rescues cover the food, supplies and medical costs of fostering. 'A lot of people don't foster because they think it's going to be this huge cost, but fostering actually only costs you time and love,' she said. Lisa Restine, a Hill's Pet Nutrition veterinarian, said people looking to adopt kittens should take pairs since cats often bond early in life. And how many cats is too many cats per household? 'This is nothing serious or medical but my general rule of thumb is the number of adults in the house, like a 2-to-1 ratio, because you can carry one cat in each hand, so if there are two adults you can have four cats and still be sane,' she said. Square footage to avoid territory disputes is a good rule of thumb when planning for cats, Restine said. Two cats per 800 square feet then 200 square feet more for each addition should help, she said. Littermates, like Macaroni and Rigatoni, are much more likely to bond, Restine said. Kittens not biologically related but raised together often bond as well — like Meatball and Spaghetti. But adopters hoping to bond an adult cat with a new kitten arrival may be disappointed. 'Once they're over that 3- or 4-month mark, it's hard to get that true bonding,' Restine said. Typically, kittens stay in their foster homes from a few weeks to a few months. While statistics are not kept on the number of kitten fosters that 'fail' — when foster families decided to keep their charges — some shelters report rates as high as 90%. That's a win, despite use of the word 'fail,' advocates note. Shaw sees another barrier holding people back from fostering: the notion that it requires special training or skills. That's why she has dedicated her life to educating the public, offering videos, books and research on how it works at her site Companies are coming on board, too. Hill's, a pet food company, runs the Hill's Food, Shelter & Love program. It has provided more than $300 million in food support to over 1,000 animal shelters that support fostering in North America. 'About a quarter of a million kittens, unfortunately, don't survive in our shelters every year,' Shaw said. 'The shelter's going to be there to mentor and support you. So I think a lot of the fear that people have about fostering, they might find that actually it is something you totally can do. It's just scary because you haven't done it yet.'
Associated Press
05-06-2025
- General
- Associated Press
Welcome to kitten season, when animal shelters need all the help they can get
NEW YORK (AP) — Strawberry, Blueberry, JoJo and Mazzy were about 6 weeks old when animal rescuers coaxed them out of long metal pipes in the parking lot of a storage unit company. Meatball was a single kitten living in a cold garage with a group of semi-feral adult cats. Spaghetti, Macaroni and Rigatoni, meanwhile, were just 2 weeks old when the good folks of LIC Feral Feeders, a cat rescue in Queens, took them in and bottle-fed them until they were strong enough to survive. Consider these cuties the face of kitten season 2025. Kitten season, typically landing during warmer months, is the time of year when most cats give birth. That produces a surge of kittens, often fragile neonates. Shelters get overwhelmed, especially when it comes to the 24-hour care and feeding of extremely young kittens. That, as a result, triggers a need for more foster homes because many of the 4,000 or so shelters in the U.S. don't have the time or resources for around-the-clock care, said Hannah Shaw, an animal welfare advocate known as the Kitten Lady with more than a million followers on Instagram. 'We see about 1.5 million kittens entering shelters every year. And most of them will come into shelters during May and June,' she said. 'Shelters need all hands on deck to help out through fostering.' Familiarity with fostering animals is high, Shaw said. The act of doing it is a different story. There's a false perception, she said, that the expense of fostering animals falls on the people who step up to do it. These days, many shelters and rescues cover the food, supplies and medical costs of fostering. 'A lot of people don't foster because they think it's going to be this huge cost, but fostering actually only costs you time and love,' she said. Lisa Restine, a Hill's Pet Nutrition veterinarian, said people looking to adopt kittens should take pairs since cats often bond early in life. And how many cats is too many cats per household? 'This is nothing serious or medical but my general rule of thumb is the number of adults in the house, like a 2-to-1 ratio, because you can carry one cat in each hand, so if there are two adults you can have four cats and still be sane,' she said. Square footage to avoid territory disputes is a good rule of thumb when planning for cats, Restine said. Two cats per 800 square feet then 200 square feet more for each addition should help, she said. Littermates, like Macaroni and Rigatoni, are much more likely to bond, Restine said. Kittens not biologically related but raised together often bond as well — like Meatball and Spaghetti. But adopters hoping to bond an adult cat with a new kitten arrival may be disappointed. 'Once they're over that 3- or 4-month mark, it's hard to get that true bonding,' Restine said. Typically, kittens stay in their foster homes from a few weeks to a few months. While statistics are not kept on the number of kitten fosters that 'fail' — when foster families decided to keep their charges — some shelters report rates as high as 90%. That's a win, despite use of the word 'fail,' advocates note. Shaw sees another barrier holding people back from fostering: the notion that it requires special training or skills. That's why she has dedicated her life to educating the public, offering videos, books and research on how it works at her site Companies are coming on board, too. Hill's, a pet food company, runs the Hill's Food, Shelter & Love program. It has provided more than $300 million in food support to over 1,000 animal shelters that support fostering in North America. 'About a quarter of a million kittens, unfortunately, don't survive in our shelters every year,' Shaw said. 'The shelter's going to be there to mentor and support you. So I think a lot of the fear that people have about fostering, they might find that actually it is something you totally can do. It's just scary because you haven't done it yet.'
