One Foster Saves More Than 400 Dogs!
There are some people in this world that make life so much better for animals. They work in the background, often without much praise or recognition. At times, the expense is out of their own pocket. They do it for the love and welfare of the animals they save.
Those of us that love animals owe these silent heroes a great debt. Many of the animals they save would not survive without their help.
One such person here in Jackson County is April.
We asked April “In the ten years that you have been rescuing dogs, many of them pregnant moms, how many dogs have you rescued?”
She replied “Oh, I don’t really know for sure – probably more than 400.”
400! Did you get that? We just about fell on the floor! That is an astonishing number! About half that number—200—have been pregnant dogs and their pups. April takes on the pregnant dogs that are so difficult and financially draining for most rescues to manage.
Very often a pregnant dog coming to a shelter is a death sentence for the animal, especially in a high-kill shelter. This is not out of cruelty or any lack of compassion. It is due to the hard choices that must be made in resource management. A shelter operating on a shoestring can’t afford to feed and care for a pregnant dog for the 2+ months of gestation, then care and feed the mom and puppies until the pups are at least 8 weeks old. After the puppies have been weaned at 8 weeks or more, the mother dog cannot be spayed until she is past lactating. This takes yet another 2 months. There is also the ensuing cost of vaccinations and spay/neuter procedures for all of the dogs.
Thankfully, CHS doesn’t have to make those choices. We are lucky enough to utilize fosters to ensure these mothers and babies are cared for properly. CHS supplies all that is needed – food, litter, beds, toys – and will medically care for them until they are ready for their forever homes.
So, how did all of this start for April? About 10 years ago April bought a 10-acre farm in Grass Lake, MI. At the time she had a few dogs, a senior Dachshund and a Pointer, so she thought it would be nice to adopt another dog. She was living alone at the time and had always wanted a Doberman Pinscher. She started looking through the listings on a popular internet site for adoptable dogs—Petfinder.
One way Petfinder lets adopters search for a pet is by breed and zip code. April started her Dobie search. She couldn’t get over how many pages there were for Dobermans. It just seemed endless. Page after page, going through the listing, the reality—the hugeness—of the number of homeless pets there were in world sunk in, in a very graphic way for April. She wanted to make a difference. April then started fostering dogs for many different rescue organizations.
(By the way, she did find her Doberman on Petfinder—a dog named Sunny—a Dobie/English Pointer mix.)
April sold the 10-acre place and about 5 years back bought a smaller, more manageable ½ acre place, still in Jackson County. She calls it April’s ½ Acre Kanine Krazy Kamp. Here she cares for her own much loved 5 family member dogs and does some dog sitting for friends, in addition to fostering rescue dogs needing that safe harbor for awhile.
Since that move she started fostering almost exclusively for Cascades Humane Society’s dogs. Most pregnant dogs CHS take in are sent to April to care for the mom through the birth, feeding, and weening the puppies. April noted that “I like how CHS is involved with the community. They provide me with all the needed food, supplies and support to take in pregnant dogs.”
April was so dedicated, she wanted a specialized area on her property to house her fosters, especially the pregnant mothers and their babies. Her new, 1/2 acre place has a small barn on the property. It had some roughed in electric and insulation, but it was far from finished. April took a significant loan out to complete the barn as a fabulous whelping facility for the dogs. It includes a proper quarantine area and year-round heat and air conditioning. She noted, “It was a challenge to finish the space and make it safe.” Truly, it is a labor of love. April will tell you she loves it!
April, we can’t thank you (and all our foster families) enough! We are so grateful for all that you do and have done for us! So many individuals and families now have a beloved pet they adore because of your efforts. None of it would be possible without our dedicated foster families like yours!
Cascades Humane Society is always looking for fosters! CHS will give you all the supplies you need and when the animals are ready, we will prepare them for adoption. We often need fosters for puppies and kittens (some bottle fed and some just needing to grow before adoption), heartworm positive dogs, or animals needing some time outside of shelter life. Please call our intake desk for more information at 517-787-7387 ext. 115.
