Heise: ‘Surrender to Foster’ and ease stress on area cat shelters

There have been an increased number of cats needing new homes as their owners are moving, going into assisted living or, due to the retirement area we are in, passing away.

Many times, family members are not able to keep their cats and call the area shelters, including Sun Cities 4 Paws, to surrender them. The problem is all the shelters are full and many have up to a 4-week wait time for intake. This leaves people with very few options on what to do with their pet.

Unfortunately, many times cats are simply let outside to fend for themselves.

Melissa Penny, a 4 Paws board member and volunteer, developed a program for our organization that shelters across the country have also started using. This program is called Surrender to Foster. It is designed to help keep the cats in the home while we get the cat ready for adoption. Not only does this benefit the cat, as it is a lot less stressful being in the home versus living in the shelter for those few weeks. It also lessens the amount of cats in our shelter, allowing us to help more cats.

The program, Surrender to Foster, will enable us to increase our intake of cats. If you are looking to surrender a cat, and you are able to keep the cat inside your home for 3-4 weeks while we prepare the cat for adoption (cat must be tested for FIV/FeLV prior), please contact our Peoria shelter at 623-773-2246 or email info@4pawsrescue.org for more information.

Editor’s Note: Deb Heise is Sun Cities 4 Paws executive director. 4 Paws is a no-kill cat shelter with adoption centers in Peoria and Youngtown.