<\/a>In this March 26, 2020, photo, Ina Pizzolato Offret is shown with Kelsey, a dog she and her husband, Ron, are fostering at their home in Anchorage, Alaska. Worried that the coronavirus outbreak would cause animal adoptions to plunge, shelters across the country put out the call for people to temporarily foster pets. (AP Photo\/Mark Thiessen)<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
Steele said the initial push there to foster animals came not from the shelter, but the community.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“We had people reaching out to us all of a sudden,” she said. “People just wanted to do something to help. We realized pretty quickly that we could soon be facing a shutdown of our adoptions and got on board.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Shelters have several reasons for pushing to foster out animals, Steele said, including the fear that they might have to stop adopting out animals if people can’t visit them or that they might see an influx of people surrendering animals amid economic woes. But the overriding factor, she said, was concern for workers’ health.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“We need to get to a skeleton staff, stat. We can’t do that if the shelter is full,” she said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Stephanie Filer, spokeswoman for Animal Rescue League of Iowa also noted that shelters are seeing a drop in donations — a normal occurrence during an economic downturn. The Des Moines-based organization and others have also had to cancel fundraising events because of virus containment efforts.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
The good news is that when Filer’s group put out a call for temporary homes for at least 80 cats in their care, it received some 160 applications within 12 hours. She noted that 60% to 70% of people who foster an animal opt to keep the animal permanently.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“A crisis brings out the worst in people and the best in people, so we are thrilled to see some exciting things come from this awful situation,” she said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Since mid-March, the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has seen 1,600 people volunteer to foster, and the Oregon Humane Society in Portland has seen 1,000 new foster volunteers.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
The outpouring comes at a critical time because animals produce lots of litters in the spring, said Dr. Jennifer Scarlett, president of the San Francisco SPCA.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“You have shelter leaders around the country who are just looking at this tidal wave that is coming our way,” Scarlett said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
In Washington, D.C., the Humane Rescue Alliance said more than 1,000 people signed up to foster in a 10-day period this month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
One of those was first-time foster volunteer Katie Lee, who is now caring for Calvin, a 2-year-old terrier mix. A move to working from home during the coronavirus scare prompted her decision, because “at least I’m home a lot.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Ina Offret, of Anchorage, Alaska, agreed to foster 10-year-old Kelsey after a local shelter called saying it had no room for more animals and was desperate to clear space. Kelsey, a poodle mix, joined Offret’s poodle Suzie.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t