Woods Humane Society said it needs more foster homes in order to help the many homeless kittens in the community that are too young or too under-socialized to come to the shelter yet.
“We need as many foster homes as possible right now,” says Woods Intake and Foster Coordinator Kelsey U’Ren.
U'Ren said that June is historically the height of kitten season on the Central Coast, and this year is proving to be no different. She says Woods Humane Society has 104 kittens in foster homes right now, with more requests coming to them daily.
Over the course of the month of May, the organization provided foster care for 147 kittens.
Woods North County Customer Service and Volunteer Coordinator Hannah Lowe said that kittens must be at least two pounds and around eight to 10 weeks old in order to be spayed or neutered and made available for adoption.
Until then, they require the around-the-clock care of a foster family. Lowe said that Wood's greatest need in the North County location is for foster volunteers to be willing to bottle-feed. Kittens under the age of four weeks require regular bottle-feeding until their teeth have grown in and they are able to eat solid food.
Meanwhile, at the San Luis Obispo location, U’Ren said, “We are specifically looking for fosters who want to help socialize ‘spicy’ kittens and get them more comfortable around people and sounds.”
In both cases, Woods Humane Society provides all foster supplies, training and support to its foster families.
To help local community members determine whether fostering is right for them, Woods Humane Society has created a foster page on its website, which includes links to the foster application forms for both the SLO and Atascadero shelter locations and other information.
