If you are on any form of social media and follow any animal related sites, it doesn’t take long to understand that there are LOTS of homeless animals in need throughout the country. Many of the pets adopted at the beginning of the pandemic are now being given up by their adoptive families as they return to work. Every shelter and rescue in Eastern Washington is begging for help and turning dogs, cats, and other small animals away due to lack of space. Many of these animals are being abandoned, left to fend for themselves. They run scared, panicking, and are hit by cars, shot at, attacked by other animals, and suffer as they seek to find food, shelter, and safety.

One of the greatest impacts anyone can make on animal welfare is to spay and neuter their pets. Don’t support backyard breeders and people selling ‘accidental litters’. Instead, adopt through a rescue and consider opening your home for temporary placement of an animal in need by fostering.

At Mikey’s Chance, we work hard to match dogs in foster or adoptive homes based on many things. We evaluate the dogs and get our best understanding of each dog’s need given the information provided and what we observe. We look for homes that match that dog’s needs. Some of the things we consider when placing a dog:

  • Family interest in dog type and size
  • The adopter or foster provider’s activity level
  • The home situation (i.e. Do they have a fence? Do they live in an apartment?)
  • The presence of children and other pets

We do complete reference checks on all adoptive or foster homes, including veterinary references, and we conduct a home check — we don’t look at every nook and cranny of your home, just the common areas where the dog will spend most of its time while in your care.

There are lots of foster situations — homes with pregnant moms, puppies, seniors, dogs with behavioral issues related to lack of socialization or need for more obedience training, dogs recovering from injury or illness. There are also short-term foster situations for people who just want to cover for another foster while they go away for a weekend or a vacation. Typical fostering situations can last weeks to months.

While fostering, everything the dog needs is provided for you — food, beds, crates, toys and other supplies, and veterinary care. We ask that fosters help get their dogs to their veterinary appointments (but other fosters may be able to do that if you can’t) and to promote their dogs in order to assist in getting them adopted. Usually, promotion includes sharing on social media and attending at least one adoption event per month at a local pet store (the events are two hours every other Saturday).

In addition to helping an animal, you’ll meet some great people. Lasting friendships have developed through fostering! Our fosters are connected through our private foster Facebook page, which is a wonderful place to find all the support they need.

We invite you to join us! You can find our foster application on our website at https://www.mikeyschance.com/support-us

Photo by Eduardo Arcos on Unsplash

Suzanne Tosten is a volunteer at Mikey’s Chance. Mikey’s Chance is the 2022 Queer Choice Award winner in the category of “Best Pet Rescue.”

Check out the Mikey’s Chance pet of the month: https://tumbleweird.org/tag/petofthemonth/