Animal fostering, adoptions thriving in pandemic. But shelters still need your help

A dog named Merrick spent five years at the Humane Society of Greater Kansas City. But in early March, he found his forever home.

The humane society had 11 dogs that had been at the shelter since before 2018. Now, that number is down to five.

During the pandemic, many animal shelters have experienced similar trends: foster programs are thriving and adoptions are up.

"It was just a perfect time to bring an animal home and get to know each other and spend that bonding time together," said Casey Waugh, communications and annual giving manager at Wayside Waifs.

When the pandemic began, the KC Pet Project rushed to free up space at its Kansas City Campus for Animal Care in case the shelter would be inundated with new animals.

"Our goal was to adopt out as many pets as we could and send as many pets into foster homes," said Tori Fugate, chief communications officer at the KC Pet Project. "So we put out a plea for fosters and adopters, and we saw just an overwhelming response of people who wanted to foster animals."

Nearly 900 new people signed up to foster with the KC Pet Project during the pandemic, Fugate said.

From March 16 to April 16, 481 pets were adopted from the KC Pet Project, 260 of them directly from fosters.

Fostering provides more information about an animal's temperament and how it behaves outside of a shelter, so prospective adopters can find animals that fit well with their lifestyles.

"The beauty of that is we get to know how our animals do in a home setting," said Kate Fields, president and CEO of the Humane Society of Greater Kansas City. "And nine times out of 10, people fall in love with the pet and want to keep it."

A "foster fail" is when a foster parent adopts the animal they're taking care of. One such case happened when U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas, fostered a dog named Nala from the KC Pet Project.

"She knew pretty much immediately that her foster pet was not leaving her house," Fugate said.

The pandemic forced shelters to change their procedures and practices.

Wayside Waifs closed its building to the public in mid-March and now is allowing people in on appointment only to use its veterinary clinic and other services. About 75 staff members used to work in the building every day, but now a "skeletal crew" of up to 16 employees works there, Waugh said.

Wayside Waifs has over 1,000 volunteers who help with socializing animals, in the veterinary clinic and more, but for now volunteers are not allowed in the shelter.

"Not having the volunteers there was kind of like not having the majority of the staff there," Waugh said. "It really impacted a lot of people, and I know they are all missing it as well."

The KC Pet Project and the Humane Society have also closed their buildings to volunteers.

"The animals are getting the attention from our employees, but it's always nice to have extra people coming in and walking them and playing with them and giving them that extra support," Fields said.

Shelters are working to continue the work done during the lockdowns. But as people return to work, the KC Pet Project has experienced an increase from about 10 to 15 animals coming into the shelter daily to 30 animals.

The KC Pet Project launched the program Keep 'Em Together, KC in early May to provide resources to keep pets and their owners together.

The program will include a pet food and supply pantry and a financial assistance fund.

"We feel that nobody should have to give up their beloved pet because of financial hardships," Fugate said.

While much has changed for shelters during the pandemic, the needs of the animals haven't.

"There still are homeless animals; they still need medical care," Waugh said. "We still have had to do some emergency surgeries. All the work that was going on three months ago or six months ago is going on today."

All three shelters said that monetary donations are a great way to show support during the pandemic. Donation links can be found on each shelter's website.

"Wayside is here," Waugh said. "We were here for 75 years before the pandemic, and we're going to be here afterwards too, and we need everybody's support to make that happen."