In need of a home

If a county resident calls the Humane Society of Faulkner County's answering service in the near future, they may hear a message stating it can no longer accept animals at this time due to the lack of foster families.

Shirley Jarmin, HSFC board member, said the volunteer organization relies on foster families to take in rescued or surrendered animals since no HSFC animal shelter exists.

"The problem is there aren't any foster families to take these animals to right now," Jarmin said. "We've got animals living in our thrift store because we have no where to take them."

To become a foster family, an application must be filled out. Jarmin said foster families need a fenced-in yard, have all of their animals vaccinated and spayed/neutered and have enough time to spend with an animal. Then HSFC conducts a home visit to determine which animals will be compatible with the environment. HSFC provides all veterinary care, preventative medicines, food, free obedience training, advice, tips and feedback in exchange for the foster family socializing the animal and promoting it at as many Pet Adoption Saturdays as possible. HSFC holds Pet Adoption Saturdays every Saturday at Pet Smart from 1 to 3 p.m.

"We pay for everything, so there is no cost to be a foster family," Jarmin said.

Becoming a foster family provides the opportunity to experience a pet without the commitment of keeping the animal. Jarmin said the benefits of being a foster family are endless, as long as the foster family loves animals.

"Animals add to anyone's life," Jarmin said. "They are very uplifting."

Jarmin said the lack of volunteers span all areas of the HSFC, including working the thrift store and answering and screening calls from the answering service.

Barbara Huben, a volunteer at the HSFC thrift store, expressed her concern about the lack of volunteers.

"We can't do everything," Huben said. "We just really need more help."

The thrift store, which helps raise money for the HSFC, started closing on Mondays due to the lack of volunteers to run the store.

The answering service poses another problem for the HSFC without sufficient volunteers. Jarmin said the HSFC answering service averages around 20 calls a day and currently has a weeks worth of unreturned messages due to lack of volunteers.

"When we don't have volunteers to screen and answer the phone calls, we can't rescue any animals," Jarmin said.

Jarmin said the answering service alerts her when a call comes in about an injured animal. A few days ago, she received an alert about an injured dog close to Mayflower, dragging its broken back legs down the street.

"We had no one to pick up this poor little dog, and no foster family to take him to," Jarmin said.

Jarmin said some county residents get frustrated when the HSFC cannot pick up animals they find or want to surrender, and she understands.

"I can relate to that frustration," Jarmin said. "What do you do when you have eight or nine puppies appear under your porch, call us and get told, 'Sorry, we don't have anywhere to put the puppies?'"

Jarmin said the problem all comes back to the lack of foster families.

"If we don't have a place to put the animals, then we can't save them," Jarmin said.

For more information on how to become a foster family or volunteer with the HSFC, visit the Web site at www.humane-fc.org or call 329-2361.