#STAYHOMEANDFOSTER movement enlivens social distancing while helping homeless pets and shelters. Here’s how to get involved.  A new movement aims to gets shelter pets into temporary homes during the pandemic.  If you’re looking for a distraction from the anxiety-inducing headlines and an opportunity to be of service while social distancing, why not foster a pet? Fostering not only saves a life, it also decreases stress for both the pet and the person/family stuck at home during this challenging time. 

 #StayHomeAndFoster is a national movement to provide a solution to the countless homeless pets at risk of being euthanized due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. For individuals who are able to welcome a shelter animal into their home while they are social distancing, there has never been a better time to foster a pet. Many animal shelters are having to close their doors or reduce hours to appointment only due to the ongoing health crisis. Making matters worse, we are entering kitten and puppy season, during which animal intake numbers increase exponentially. The greatest fear for most open-intake animal shelters is having to close their doors while not being allowed to adopt out animals, resulting in being immediately above capacity and unable to help incoming pets who need them most.

 “The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented animal sheltering crisis in the United States and homeless pets with nowhere to go are at risk of being euthanized,” said Liz Baker, CEO of GreaterGood.org. “Fostering a pet is the solution, and StayHomeAndFoster.org makes it easy by connecting potential pet foster parents with animal shelters in their local communities.”  StayHomeAndFoster.org  provides those interested in fostering a pet with a universal national form where they can easily register and be connected by GreaterGood.org with one of the thousands of animal shelters across the U.S.  Many of the animal shelters offer foster pet delivery or low contact pet pick up. Fosters are needed for dogs and cats nationwide for two to six weeks.