We’re introduced to a ‘foster hero’ for rescued dogs.

Woman takes them in and prepares them for adoption, which has increased amid pandemic

These animals — about 1,500 a year — first need to receive medical care, including vaccinations and spaying or neutering, and often have to be “socialized” before they can be placed in adoptive homes.

Some dogs are scared or shy around humans, owing to abuse and other maltreatment they endured on the streets. That’s where Cadenhead shines again. Cockroft said she is her group’s “go-to” foster parent for dogs that have been traumatized.

“We don’t know why she’s so good at that,” she said. “I often can’t even get close to these (formerly abused) dogs, and within days she has them sleeping in bed with her. She is able to get even the hardest-to-place dog doing well, and they end up getting adopted. We would clone her if we could.”

In nominating Cadenhead for the Petco recognition, Cockroft wrote: “Kathleen writes the most compelling shelter pet bios and takes such great pictures that her foster pets are adopted even faster than our very social shelter dogs. She finds them the most amazing homes and stays in close contact with their new families.”

Even Wilson loves her

On a recent morning, Cadenhead played with her dogs in the backyard of her home on the Northwest Side, a spacious if well-worn green space featuring multiple dog toys and a hole dug by an earlier foster dog.

The canine menagerie includes her own dog Chula — a huge but gentle mastiff mix — and her three current foster dogs, Paddy, Amber and Wilson. Her other owned dog, Murphy,

a Scottie, was at the vet.

Of the three fosters — all of them adorable mutts who’ve required some level of medical care because of their time living on the streets — Wilson is the only one that exhibits some psychic scars from past negative interactions with humans.

A long-haired dachshund/ cocker spaniel mix, he keeps his distance and barks when two strangers arrive. Only occasionally will he tentatively venture forth to take a treat from a stranger’s hand, quickly scurrying back to a safe distance. Only with his foster mother does he trot up to receive affection.

Cadenhead said Wilson let down his guard with her after the first time she bathed him. She has no idea why she is something of a dog whisperer for those that have been hurt or mistreated.

“I have just always come across as nonthreatening to dogs,” she said. “Eventually, they come around, with treats and affection. You almost can see them thinking, ‘I didn’t know people could be so nice.’”

Cadenhead works with a foster dog for as little as three weeks or as long as a year, depending on their medical and socialization needs. (SASPCA, an all-volunteer rescue group funded by donations and fees, pays for the medical care.)

Chula started out as one of Cadenhead’s foster dogs. She came into the rescue group with a broken femur and ended up getting an antibiotic-resistant infection. Cadenhead cared for her for 18 months, changing her bandages and giving her sometimes painful injections.

“After that, she was my dog,” she said.

Cadenhead said that while she loves her foster dogs, she doesn’t begrudge having to give them up to their new adoptive families.

“It’s the most wonderful thing to see them run to their forever families,” she said. “It’s a little sad, but it’s more joy than anything to see how different they are than from before. And, of course, I can go help another one.”

Cockroft said fostering allows shelters or rescue agencies to create space to take in and help more animals. It also allows the dog to get used to home life, away from the noise and stress of a shelter.

A surge in adoptions

Cockroft thought the pandemic would put a dent in adoptions, with people out of work or “hunkered down” at home. But the opposite has happened. Her nonprofit handles about 20 adoptions a week, about double from before the virus. A volunteer struggles to keep up with emails — some 30 a day — from people asking about the application process.

And the nonprofit has had to change how it handles adoptions. Before the pandemic, it set up its kennels and tables on the sidewalk outside of the Petco store at Northwoods Shopping Center, but people started “swarming.” Now, adoptions are handled inside the store, by appointment only and with social distancing.

Cockroft theorizes that the adoption surge comes from people being home all day and longing for animal companionship. She’s hoping it doesn’t subside when folks start going back to work and school.

Cadenhead feels the same and hopes that shelters don’t see an influx of dogs once people start returning to their old routines. Right now, even lesscomely mutts are finding a way into human hearts.

“I had one awhile back who was a nice dog, but she’s wasn’t a looker,” she said. “She got placed in two weeks.”

Like many, Cadenhead, who works in information technology at USAA, is doing her job from home for the time being, which has enabled her to foster more puppies, which benefit from having more human supervision and attention.

San Antonio, which has long had a “stray” dog problem — although a study last year found that most of the 30,000-plus dogs roaming the streets were actually owned — has seen some happy pet-related trends as well.

Lisa Norwood of Animal Care Services said the number of strays brought in to the city’s facility from March until mid-June has declined — from 5,892 last year to 4,405 this year. She believes the drop may be related to so many peoplestaying home and looking after their pets better.

“In the pandemic, one-time errant pet owners may have discovered what wonderful companions their pets actually are, and hopefully that leads to an increase in compassion,” she said.

Because of the virus, all business at ACS, including its foster and adoption program, is done by appointment only.

Cadenhead said she didn’t even know she’d been nominated for the Petco award when an email arrived, telling her she was being recognized. It’s nice, she said, but she really hopes it “gets more people fostering and gets more dogs adopted.”

Both objectives serve to reduce the number of dogs euthanized in animal shelters.

“You don’t have to foster 100 dogs,” Cadenhead said. “Just one or two would make a big difference.”

Cadenhead has two dogs of her own and has fostered almost 100 others. She volunteers with nonprofit animal rescue group San Antonio Save Protect Care for Animals.