Open letter to those concerned about the shelter’s foster program:
Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention.
It was not clear from your letter whether your friend was interested in adopting Fluffy, nor whether he or she asked the staff about the dog.
You are correct that unvaccinated animals are not made available for adoption by the public until they have been vaccinated and have completed an isolation period.
However, our fostering program is not used to circumvent those rules.
We place animals in foster homes when they have special needs (for instance, mothers with puppies, and some animals with medical or behavioural conditions). We also use foster homes when the shelter is full. This allows us to take in more animals, as the other option is for those animals to go to the city pound where they may be euthanized. We routinely go above and beyond the call of duty in trying to accommodate these animals to avoid euthanasia. We rely heavily on all our volunteers and your characterization of our foster parent as “so-called foster parent” is inappropriate.
The dog in question, Fluffy, was indeed in isolation and will not be available for adoption until Thursday.
Yesterday, we were presented with one adult and three puppies brought in from an outlying community. We were full, so we temporarily put these dogs in our outdoor overflow pen. The manager then set about to find a foster home for a dog in isolation, so we could free up a space for the new dogs. We have a very small pool of fabulous volunteer foster parents.
A foster parent agreed to take Fluffy until she is ready to go into the general dog kennels. We are most appreciative of this fosterer, who enabled us to accommodate the new family and move them indoors. The foster parent filled out the required fosterer paperwork and at no time filled out an adoption form. She is not interested in adoption, just in helping us out with fostering. The fosterer is no relation to anyone at the shelter.
Should you choose to pursue adoption of Fluffy or any other dog, we would welcome your application. We are also often in need of foster homes, if you are interested in fostering a dog or a litter of puppies.
If you would like further information on any of our policies or procedures, please free to call us at any time.
Tracy Smythe, administrator, and Sarah Steinberg, director,
Mae Bachur Animal Shelter, Whitehorse