When hurricanes come knocking in the Florida Keys, animals waiting for forever homes in shelters need a hand getting out of Dodge, too.
The Florida Keys SPCA is seeking individuals to volunteer as “hurricane fosters” for the 2022 hurricane season and beyond. Fosters serve as temporary guardians for shelter animals if one or both of the SPCA campuses are evacuated in the event of a hurricane. Volunteers may take animals whether they intend to leave the Keys or ride out the storm at home.
“Even just one makes a difference,” said Tara McFarland, director of operations for the SPCA’s Marathon Campus.
Volunteers are matched with foster animals – from dogs and cats to a range of small animals – depending on their abilities, comfort levels, current pets and other special considerations. In other words, you won’t be matched up with a pet that triggers your allergies or is a threat to your full-time pets.
With two campuses in the Keys – one in Marathon, one in Key West – McFarland said the SPCA is often asked why they don’t just relocate animals from the Marathon shelter to the hurricane-rated and generator-powered Key West shelter. While this is a possibility, she said that shelter space becomes even more critical in the aftermath of a larger storm.
“We want to be able to have the space to open up for free temporary boarding for people who have lost their homes,” she said. “If the shelter is already full of animals, and then we fill it with even more of our animals, and then we have more coming in, it’s compounding the problem.”
For those worried about the cost of caring for an animal for a few days or weeks, fear not: the SPCA will provide all necessary supplies, food and accessories to hold you over. And though most Keys residents fully understand the stress of preparing for a major hurricane, a little extra effort could save a life.
“It’s a scary thing, having gone through Irma,” said McFarland, remembering the shelter’s last-minute scramble to find sufficient fosters for its last remaining animals. “Without exaggeration, we were standing in the middle of the road by the Sombrero Beach Road traffic light with handmade signs that said ‘If you’re evacuating, please take an animal.’ That is the only reason we got all of these animals out of here.”
To start the conversation and learn more about becoming a hurricane foster, visit https://fkspca.org/volunteer/become-a-foster-volunteer/ and fill out the foster application.
