To Give Homeless Pups A Chance Of Finding Their Family, Animal Control Comes Up With A Heartwarming Initiative

Thanksgiving is a time to be with family, enjoy great food, and be grateful for everything we have. But for shelter animals, they have no homes to go to, and no forever family to be with during this festive time.

That’s what the shelter director of RACC – the Richmond Animal Care & Control organization – was thinking about four years ago. Christie Chipps Peters wanted desperately for the homeless pets who lived in the shelter to be able to enjoy the warmth that came with being with family on Thanksgiving.

Richmond Animal Care & Control

So Peter decided to issue a call to the nearby community, asking for temporary foster families to take in dogs over Thanksgiving and give them the pampering and treats they deserve. It wasn’t long before an impressive 35 pets were taken in by foster families, where they enjoyed scrumptious meals and lots of attention and cuddles.

Even people who had never fostered animals before contacted the shelter to take part in the event. And it was such a rousing success than over half of all the pets taken in for Thanksgiving went on to be fully adopted, whether by their foster family or by a guest who had met them! Since then, RACC has run its Thanksgiving foster program every single year.

This year was the fourth annual event of its kind, and almost triple the normal amount of animals get adopted during this time! Fosters are given medication, food, and a crate for their pups, and will return the animals to the shelter the Wednesday after Thanksgiving.

Thankfully, many pets end up not returning and settling in for good with new families. On top of that, the shelter waives the usual fee for adoption when pets are adopted by their Thanksgiving fosters.

It’s a wonderful tradition, and it’s really helping these needy animals find the forever loving homes they deserve!

Feature Image Source: Richmond Animal Care & Control