Maybe you’re interested in adopting a pet — after all, pets provide companionship and positive mental health benefits for their caretakers — but can’t necessarily make the long-term commitment. There is another way: fostering. 

When animal shelters fill up, foster volunteers can create extra space by opening their home as a temporary home for pets waiting for a long-term adoption. It can be a life-saving act; taking in a foster saves that pet plus frees up space for another animal to stay in the shelters. And as the world emerges from COVID, shelters are seeing an increase in owners surrendering pets. That’s why Greater Good Charities started its “Go Out and Foster” campaign to encourage people — and especially to encourage those who think they don’t have what it takes to foster — to consider the possibility.

“There’s a pet for every situation,” says Noah Horton, COO and spokesperson for Greater Good Charities. “If you’re work-from-home, immobile, retired, work in an office — you’re providing a service. Fostering is a great way to help an animal without the adoption commitment.”

The “Go Out and Foster” program pairs foster volunteers with shelters around the country who are in need. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Greater Good Charities launched a “Stay Home and Foster” campaign, encouraging those who found themselves newly isolated, working from home, looking to help out their community to look into taking in a shelter pet. And now, as the world emerges from the worst of the pandemic, many shelters are seeing a population crisis and dealing with staffing shortages, sometimes simultaneously — making fostering now a more crucial service than ever.

• Learn more about Greater Good Charities’ “Go Out and Foster” campaign and fostering opportunities in your area here.

“We feel like we’ve gone back in time with the overpopulation crisis; we haven’t seen a situation like this for more than ten years,” Horton says. “We’re trying to educate people with urgency of situation and encourage people to take home foster pets. There are lots of different options: short-term, long-term, different species, breeds, ages, medical needs, sizes.”

Through the national effort, which is undertaken in partnership with NBCUniversal Local’s Clear The Shelters campaign, Greater Good Charities and shelters across the country want to emphasize that there are fostering options that can suit most lifestyles. 

“Another myth I would dispel is that it’s too much of a commitment. Shelters will provide you with training, resources — food, litter pan — there are short-term fosters and long-term — any amount of time is life-saving,” Horton says. “And I guarantee if you’re never done it before it’ll change your life.”

So, how does “Go Out and Foster” work?

• “Go Out and Foster” makes it easy for people to help by connecting potential pet foster parents with animal shelters in their local communities.
• “Go Out and Foster” provides a universal national form where those interested in fostering a pet can easily register to help. GreaterGood.org then connects them with one of the thousands of animal shelters across the U.S.
• Upon registration, potential fosters select the animal welfare organization they would like to assist and are matched if there is a foster pet available at that shelter.

Visit GreaterGood.org to learn more about local fostering opportunities.

Follow the hard-working staff at the Dumb Friends League in Denver, CO as they care for their animals with the help of Hill’s Pet Nutrition.

Nearly 140 at-risk dogs and cats will soon find forever homes after being airlifted from overcrowded shelters in Louisiana and Alabama early Tuesday morning.

More than 100 dogs and 25 cats will be taken to nine animal shelters in New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, and Virginia that will help pair the animals with new families.

The rescued animals aboard the plane include dogs who tested positive for heartworms, hard-to-place large dogs and homeless cats.

“Right now in Louisiana, we’re at critical capacity in the animal shelters,” said Rebecca Lirette, Iberville Parish Animal Shelter’s assistant director. “These Good Flight programs truly save lives.”

Lirette says that adoptions in the state are low and transporting animals from overcrowded shelters is crucial for their survival.

Clear The Shelters

clear the shelters Aug 19, 2022 Meet Dobby: Once a Hungry Stray, Now She Needs a New Home

clear the shelters Jun 23, 2022 Clear The Shelters 2022: What to Know to Adopt and Donate

The First Lady of New Jersey, Tammy Murphy, helped to welcome the animals at the airport when they arrived in her state. Murphy was seen petting and playing with several of the animals, including Dobby, a hairless and scabby puppy who was dumped on the streets on Louisiana and left to fend for herself.

“It makes me want to cry,” Murphy said. “I’m really thrilled for these 140 [dogs and cats] who have been so carefully attended to and I think whoever adopts them obviously is going to take great care of them.”

(Credit: Greater Good Charities)

The life-saving pet airlift is the second “Good Flights” mission in NBCUniversal Local’s eighth annual Clear The Shelters pet adoption and donation campaign. The first airlift mission transported 155 cats from South Florida to Massachusetts on August 2, which also helped kickoff the nationwide campaign.

Last year’s inaugural pet airlift flew more than 150 cats and dogs from Louisiana to New Jersey and Massachusetts, where they were adopted into new homes.

Greater Good Charities’ Good Flights program is funded by Hill’s Pet Nutrition and The Animal Rescue Site. Hill’s Pet Nutrition will also donate more than 6,000 pounds of pet food to participating shelters that helped send and receive the at-risk animals.

Since Clear The Shelters began in 2015, more than 700,000 pets found forever families in new homes across the United States.

To learn more about Clear The Shelters 2022 and search for adoptable pets in your area, visit cleartheshelters.com. You can also donate to your local animal shelters and rescue groups by visiting clearthesheltersfund.org.

The 155 at-risk cats that were flown from overpopulated animal shelters in Florida to Massachusetts and New Jersey earlier this month were adopted as part of NBC Universal Local’s Clear The Shelters campaign. 

The flight took off on Aug. 2, the cats received any necessary medical care and were then put up for adoption at Northeast Animal Shelter and MSPCA-Angell. 

Each cat has now found a forever home.

On Aug. 30, at the close of NBC’s Clear The Shelters, another 50 dogs will be flown from Louisiana to New Jersey’s Morristown Airport. The dogs will receive medical care before being put up for adoption at St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center. 

Clear The Shelters is an annual campaign to promote animal adoption and monetary donations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico during the month of August. 

The flights are in partnership with Greater Good Charities‘ Good Flights program, The Animal Rescue Site and Hill’s Pet Nutrition. 

Clear The Shelters is an annual effort with NBC and Telemundo-owned and affiliated stations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. The animal adoption campaign first launched in 2015 and has helped more than 700,000 pets find homes.

Clear The Shelters 2022

clear the shelters Jun 23, 2022 Clear The Shelters 2022: What to Know to Adopt and Donate

clear the shelters Jun 22, 2022 Clear The Shelters Is Back for 8th Year

You can find more information about participating animal shelters, rescues and local adoption events on ClearTheShelters.com or the Spanish-language site DesocuparlosAlbergues.com.

You can also follow Clear The Shelters on Twitter and Instagram to stay up-to-date on this year’s pet adoption and donation news:

• Twitter @ClearTheShelter
• Instagram: cleartheshelters
• Hashtags: #ClearTheShelters & #DesocuparLosAlbergues

To learn more about Clear The Shelters 2022 and search for adoptable pets in your area, visit cleartheshelters.com. You can also donate to your local animal shelters and rescue groups by visiting clearthesheltersfund.org.

A beagle rescued from allegedly inhumane conditions at a Virginia breeding facility is getting a fairy tale ending.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle adopted a 7-year-old dog named Mama Mia, the Beagle Freedom Project said.

Mia and her eight newborn puppies were moved from Virginia to Maryland before getting transferred to a rescue facility in California where the Duke and Duchess of Sussex met their new furry family member, the L.A. Times reported.

Markle personally called Shannon Keith, the Beagle Freedom Project’s founder, and said she wanted to help an older dog, Keith told the L.A. Times.

Markle seems to have a soft spot for rescued beagles. The Duchess, who once described herself as a “proud rescue dog owner,” previously adopted a beagle named Guy and brought him to England when she joined the royal family.

Mia Among Thousands of Beagles Rescued From Envigo Facility

According to the rescue, Mia was among 4,000 beagles ordered to be removed last month from the facility in Cumberland, Virginia, where they were being bred and sold to laboratories that conduct animal experimentation, NBC Washington reported.

Federal authorities have accused the facility, operated by Envigo, of violating the Animal Welfare Act’s “minimum standards for handling and housing the beagles.”

Many of the beagles have been handed over to rescue organizations in the D.C. area, including the Humane Rescue Alliance and Homeward Trails, and to shelters across the country.

clear the shelters Jun 23, 2022 Clear The Shelters 2022: What to Know to Adopt and Donate

The dogs hadn’t played with toys, gone on walks or tasted treats before, Mirah Horowitz, founder and executive director of Virginia-based Lucky Dog Animal Rescue, said in a release.

After successfully finding homes for 10 of the dogs, Lucky Dog Animal Rescue says it took in their second group of 10 beagles on Wednesday.

“We were amazed by the incredible outpouring of support for the first 10 beagles we brought to Arlington,” Horowitz said. “We can’t wait for our next group of beagles to get their taste of freedom.”

>> HUNDREDS OF BEAGLES RESCUED FROM A MASS BREEDING FACILITY IN VIRGINIA ARE NOW BEING CARED FOR IN OUR REGION. [ BARKING ] LUCKY DOG ANIMAL RESCUE BASED IN D.C. HELD AN ADOPTION EVENT AT PET SMART IN ALEXANDRIA YESTERDAY. MORE THAN 4,000 BEAGLE PUPPIES WERE RECENTLY MOVED FROM A FACILITY IN CUMBERLAND WHERE THEY WERE BREAD AND SOLD TO LABS FOR ANIMAL EXPERIMENTATION. SINCE THEN THE BEAGLE PUPPIES HAVE BEEN SENT TO ANIMAL RESCUES AROUND THE D.C. AREA BEFORE THEY FIND FOREVER HOMES. >> WE ENDED UP WITH TEN BEAGLES RANGING IN AGE FROM 10 YEARS OLD TO 5 YEARS OLD. THESE DOGS HAVE NEVER BEEN OUTSIDE THE KENNEL SINCE THURSDAY. WEu2019VE BEEN ABLE TO SEE THEM PLAY WITH TOYS FOR THE FIRST TIME, GO ON WALKS, AND AMAZINGLY SOME OF THEM DONu2019T KNOW WHAT A TREAT IS. >> INCLUDING THE BEAGLES, LUCKY DOG SAYS THERE WERE ABOUT 90","video_id":"2059549763680_662","video_length":"63831","video_provider":"mpx","short_video_excerpt":"","mpx_download_pid_mobile_low":"__QlEKeVchoS","pid_streaming_web_mobile_low":"","mpx_download_pid_mobile_standard":"O3Rn1BPjAQ0v","pid_streaming_mobile_standard":"Zs5FTkkfgLSJ","media_pid":"","alleypack_schedule_unpublish":"","feed_remote_id":"mpx_2059549763680","feed_thumbnail_url":""}' data-livestream="false" data-title="Adoption Event in Alexandria Included Rescued Beagles" data-vidcid="1:14:3127593" data-vidurl="https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/adoption-event-in-alexandria-included-rescued-beagles/3127593/" data-islead="false" data-catnames='{"223863":"News","569":"Local"}' data-tagnames='{"11803":"clear the shelters","33425":"Pets"}' data-customdata='{"ContentPartner":"None","Source":"WEBFM","SyndicationAllowed":"true","mSNVideoCategories":"MSN Video v4 Connector-most watched news","mSNVideoContentSupplierID":"NBC_Local","mSNVideoCountry":"us","subtitle":"nosubtitle","uploadedByTeam":"1","youtubeChannel":"None"}' data-autoplay="false" data-cplay="true">

Lucky Dog Animal Rescue says anyone interested in adopting one of the beagles can submit an adoption questionnaire. The rescue is also planning two in-person adoption events.

• Saturday, Aug. 27, noon to 2 p.m. at PetSmart in Alexandria, Virginia, (3351 Richmond Highway)
• Sunday, Aug. 28, noon to 3 p.m. at PetSmart in Silver Spring, Maryland (12020 Cherry Hill Road)

To learn more about Clear The Shelters 2022 and search for adoptable pets in your area, visit cleartheshelters.com. You can also donate to your local animal shelters and rescue groups by visiting clearthesheltersfund.org.

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