Fostering Frenzy
Text by ANYA MONDRAGON and ALLEGRA WEST
FAMILIES SUPPORT LOCAL SHELTER ANIMALS
“W
E WERE ALL PETTING in the work, fostering or adopting an adorthem, and that kitten able fluffy friend from a shelter can bring stood out to us because love and smiles into quarantine life. she would come to us and “They are kind of like a light in my life climb up our legs,” Palo Alto High School if I feel kind of sad or hopeless,” Ho says. sophomore Paula Luna says. “We felt a connection with her.” Pets in Need After adopting a cat from the Pets in When COVID-19 hit, Pets in Need, Need animal shelter a an animal shelter in year ago, Luna decided Whenever I go downPalo Alto, was forced to adopt another one to reevaluate how stairs, I just see my from Mexico just four they could continue months ago. She is just rabbit’s little bobbing to serve the dogs and one of many who has in their care with nose, and it just makes cats taken in pets during uncertainty around the pandemic. how staff could safely me so happy.” come to work. Pets in — ZOE HO, sophomore Bunny bonanza Need focused on re“No matter how locating their animals hard my day is, whenever I go downstairs, I into foster homes, following the strategy just see my rabbit’s little bobbing nose, and established by shelters all over the country, it just makes me so happy,” Castilleja soph- according to foster manager Audra Farrell. omore Zoe Ho says. “We made the push to get all the aniWhenever Ho needs a pick-me-up, she mals that traditionnever needs to look farther than to the fac- ally would stay in es of her three foster rabbits. She is one of the shelter out into many teens and their families in Palo Alto foster care because who have opened their homes to animals in we didn’t know need during the pandemic. when any kind of Ho had never fostered a pet before normalcy was goCOVID-19, yet she now takes care of three ing to come about,” foster rabbits: Ramen, Matcha and Boba. Farrell says. But fostering is no small task. Ho has takDue to the en on the responsibilities of food, ‘bun- strategy’s resoundny-proofing’ her home and researching the ing success, Pets in needs of a free-roam rabbit. Overall, Ho Need ended up rerecommends the experience to other stu- ceiving a surplus of dents looking for a way to help their com- foster applications. munity and escape pandemic boredom. “It’s a great “But it’s also a big commitment be- thing to see peocause you have to be willing to do your ple want to help,” best for this animal,” Ho says. “It can’t be a Farrell says. “They half-hearted effort.” realize that they The last outcome that shelters want is have the time to for a family to foster or adopt when they do something that aren’t prepared. For students willing to put maybe they weren’t
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HAPPY TO BE HOME — An adopted cat bathes in the sunshine. “They [the cats] just eat, sleep, play a bit and sleep again,” Luna said. “I don’t think [the pandemic] has affected them much.” Photo: Paula Luna
24 APRIL 2021
interested in doing before.” But the process of fostering an animal has had to change due to the pandemic. Since in-person visits are no longer feasible, interviews have to be conducted over Zoom. It has presented a unique set of obstacles, such as introducing a foster family’s dog to a shelter dog they would potentially foster. “Those kinds of things, obviously, still need to be done in person,” Farrell says. “Dogs don’t Zoom that well.” Pets in Need has adapted to the new normal, but there are some things that will always hold true –– especially the positive impact finding a dog a foster home can have. “It saves the life of the animal you’re fostering, but what it also does is it opens up space in the shelter for another animal that may need that space who may not be able to go to foster right away,” Farrell says. “It’s a win-win.” v
