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BEST FRIENDS VOLUNTEERRUN FOSTER PROGRAM IN FLORIDA SAVES KITTENS
Volunteers do so much of the lifesaving work of Best Friends, and in Florida, they’re making it possible to save more kittens through a new foster program. While Best Friends doesn’t have a physical location or hands-on staff in the Sunshine State, we do have people there saving young kittens.
“This is different from anything we’ve done in the past,” says Fraily Rodriguez, Best Friends director of lifesaving centers in the East. “We started by transporting 50 to 70 adult cats at a time from Polk County
In the program’s first two months, about 150 kittens have gone into foster care from the shelter.
Animal Services, but the shelter needed support for very young kittens.” The shelter needed a foster program for kittens requiring bottle-feeding, so that’s exactly what Best Friends set up. Volunteer Jennie Ellis was already helping with transports, and when asked if she’d be willing to coordinate a foster program for kittens, she said yes.
When kittens under four weeks of age come to the shelter, staff contact Best Friends and a foster volunteer picks them up. Best Friends covers all medical care through local vet clinics, and the kittens stay in their foster homes until they’re old enough to be spayed or neutered. Then they’re placed up for adoption online.
In the program’s first two months, about 150 kittens have gone into foster care from the shelter, with the goal of helping 500 in the first year. It’s proof of how powerful volunteers can be when it comes to lifesaving.
Save lives with us where you live. Find out how you can get involved: bestfriends.org/volunteer