Auckland-based charities are crying out for foster families to look after homeless animals over summer.
Photo: pixabay
Lockdowns and warm weather have led to many animals needing rescues, and for the SPCA that means an oversupply of rabbits.
"We've had some rabbits that have been waiting upwards of 20 days for a foster home," SPCA support services manager Laura Miller said.
"Those are days that they could have spent in a loving family home."
Fosters operate as a temporary step between an animal arriving at a rescue and being adopted.
Rescues often have a network of foster families that will care for an animal for a short period of time until they are ready to go to permanent homes.
They frequently care for the animal while they are recovering from medical procedures or raising young.
"Animals don't come to the SPCA, because their life is going that great, and the shelter isn't also the best environment for them to be in," Miller said.
"Wherever possible, we try and get our animals into a loving foster home."
Chained Dog Rehabilitation and Rescue recently had to put out an urgent call for fosters after receiving a large group of Pomeranian-chihuahua mixes.
The group was separated into pairs and shipped off to foster homes, but trustee Amanda Fraser Jones said they will likely need to be separated further and need specialist care.
"We've got 11 dogs that have been together their whole lives and they're terrified of the outside world. They've never been exposed to a thing. So, they're going to be challenging."
Fraser Jones said the charity needs people who will be able to put in the work required of fostering, rather than seeing it as a step to adoption.
Aside from that the criteria for fostering is wide open - children, other pets or a lack of fencing won't stop people from getting a dog, but Fraser Jones said they need to be ready to learn and work with the dog.
The foster network was invaluable and enabled the rescue to take on dogs at short notice, like the Pomeranian-chihuahua mixes, she said.
"We will occasionally just get situations where we'll have to take a bunch of animals in one night or one day, so yeah, we just need foster homes, give me all of them."