‘Bursting at the seams’
Nonprofit animal rescue in Tuolumne County seeks adopters, dog-walkers, land zoned for shelter
Friends of the Animal Community, a nonprofit organization formed in 2001, is currently “bursting at the seams” with dogs and cats available for adoption in the POST-COVID lockdown era, Darlene Mathews, president and founder of FOAC, said Tuesday in a phone interview.
The pet rescue outfit, based in East Sonora, is seeking adopters, dog-walkers, and 1 to 5 acres of donated land zoned for an animal shelter facility, Mathews said.
“It’s POST-COVID lockdown,” she said of what’s causing the influx. “A lot of people adopted animals during lockdown. Now, everything has opened back up. People are busier again. Some of the folks are looking to unload the pets they adopted. This is a national trend. Not just Tuolumne County.”
USA Today reported on the trend back in May for a story headlined, “Everyone wanted a puppy when the pandemic began, but now those dogs are being returned.”
The trend has been hard on the youngest dogs in some states.
Aron Jones, executive director of Moms and Mutts Colorado Rescue in Sheridan, Colorado, told USA Today her organization “couldn’t rescue enough dogs to meet the demand” when the pandemic began early last year.
This year, however, Jones said the amount of returns has doubled what they normally accept in a year. Many of the animals are about a year old.
In Tuolumne County, FOAC has taken in more than 400 animals from January to August. The organization would probably have taken in 300 rescued pets by mid-august in a typical year, Mathews said.
The nonprofit currently has 65 dogs and puppies and 55 cats and kittens available for adoption, Mathews said.
“We have a small facility, but we still adopt out 700 to 800 pets a year,” she said. “We are currently looking for land for expansion, due to the number of pets we rescue each year.”
Mathews said the organization’s dream is to become a sanctuary on 1 to 5 acres where animals could live out their lives, including senior and medi
cally compromised pets.
“We would be thrilled to get a piece of land zoned correctly for a shelter facility for animals,” she said.
Friends of the Animal Community has partnered with the Sierra Conservation Center state prison outside Jamestown on the Prisoners Uniting People & Puppies, or PUPP, program for the past three-and-ahalf years, Mathews said.
Inmates at the prison have trained more than 150 puppies for adoption through FOAC thus far.
“We have to house those dogs,” Mathews said. “That’s another reason we’re bursting at the seams.”
The organization has resources to help new adopters take care of their new pets, Mathews added.
“Fosters are needed to provide temporary homes,” she said. “If people don’t have a place to keep a dog, we’ll provide a kennel, food, and medical expenses. All they do is care for the animal.”
Mathews said FOAC is also short on volunteer dog-walkers and seeking six to eight who can walk animals six days a week.
The organization is at 14841 Mono Way in East Sonora. For more information about FOAC, to make a donation, or to adopt an animal, go to www.foac. us, call (209) 533-3622, or email Mathews at darlene4paws@msn.com.