According to the ASPCA, around 3.9 million dogs end up in American shelters every year, but one student at LHS is doing her part to help. Sophomore Emmalyn Araujo, an avid animal lover, has found dog fostering to be a great and surprisingly easy way to help this problem.
“Fostering isn’t super hard, it’s just like babysitting a dog,” said Araujo. “The shelter gave us certain food to feed them, and all expenses were covered by the shelter. Anybody who can handle fostering a dog, and can have one where they live, can foster.”
Most animals who end up in shelters are strays, rescues, or they’re surrendered due to outside factors. Pet fostering involves providing short-term care for shelter animals who need a home before they are adopted. It’s a great way to save animals from euthanization and the cramped environment of shelter life. Around 1.2 million dogs are euthanized every year, mostly because of overcrowding.
The easiest way to foster an animal is signing up at a local shelter or rescue. This is exactly what Emmalyn and her family did. They signed up at the Hotel for Homeless Dogs, a shelter for dogs based out of Cumberland, and have had several dogs join their home of two dogs, two cats, a hamster, and a gecko.
“We found the Hotel for Homeless Dogs on Instagram, and saw a certain post that said that they needed emergency fosterers for a shipment of dogs that were coming up from down south,” Araujo said. “We decided to sign up and a day or two later we fostered Holly.”
The Hotel for Homeless Dogs main goal is fighting against the heavy euthanasia many shelters use due to overcrowding. Their website says they are, “dedicated to rescuing creatures facing euthanasia in overcrowded county shelters, as well as abandoned animals, litters discovered in fields, those enduring inhumane conditions, and other homeless animals in distress.”
Through the Hotel, Emmalyn’s family have fostered four different dogs over the course of three years, allowing them to find permanent homes elsewhere. Even though these dogs only temporarily joined their home, Emmalyn still managed to develop connections with them.
“One of my favorite memories was last fall, when we brought our foster dog at the time, Holly, to a charity event,” said Araujo. “She fell asleep in my arms and it was so adorable. She was my favorite one.”
She cites the timeliness of the Hotel as another positive.
“The longest dog that we have had, we had for 3 weeks… the overall process isn’t that hard.”
Fostering is a quick and easy, great way to give back to the community. Given their close proximity to Lincoln, going down to the Hotel and fostering is worth a consideration. Following in Emmalyn’s footsteps and fostering from anywhere is beneficial, and absolutely worth trying.
