When you were a kid, did you tell everyone that when you grew up you were going to have a farm and take all the un-wanted cats and dogs there so they would have a place to live? Do you still say that? Do you watch the commercials with the sad dog and cat pictures and think to yourself, “I wish I could make a difference?” Do you already have a pet or two and know that there is more room in your heart for another, but, not enough money in your checking account to take on that responsibility? Fosters at Paws and Prayers share all of these thoughts. They have taken their desire to help animals and turned it into the largest foster based rescue in Ohio. Last year, Paws and Prayers placed 1,460 cats and dogs into new loving forever homes. When most people think of a pet rescue or shelter, they imagine cold, brick buildings with kennels lining the walls just full of barking canines and hand whacking kitties. Adopters from Paws and Prayers, however, are met with an entirely different experience. Every animal in their care is in a foster home, save for a few cats ready to be shown at the cat sanctuary at the Chapel Hill PetSmart. Adoption events are held every weekend at various pet store locations where anyone looking for a pet is met with cage-free kisses and a happy (human) face ready to tell you about the animal they are handling.
“The way we operate is this: we take the animals that have been at the pound the longest. We bring them into our homes, help them get reacquainted to a life with a family that loves them and then we see them on to their forever homes. After that, we are able to rinse, wash and repeat for the next animal down on its luck. It’s a cycle of love and life-saving that just can’t be beat,” explains Alecia Waddell, foster of three years.
Leah Swanson, foster since August 2010, likes to see it a different way: “These are neglected souls that have been reborn into loving, caring homes.” Part of Paws and Prayers’s mission is to rehabilitate the “unwanted” cats and dogs that pass through the thresholds of their network of foster homes. That “rebirth” that Swanson mentions is seeing a scared dog trust again or bringing a starved cat back to life.
In addition to the pets that accept you just as you are, Paws and Prayers' network of around 60 fosters offers a support system that can’t be beat. They laugh together about dogs with oversized ears, celebrate the adoption of a pet long overdue for its new home and they mourn together when an animal just can’t be saved; like the daschund mix they had taken after she had been in labor for two days and abandoned by her owners. So, if looking for a new friend or just a new challenge in life, Paws and Prayers is a great place to check out. It’s where volunteers have lots of fun playing with puppies, senior cats and everything in between, do good for themselves by fulfilling a need to nurture or help out their community, and do more for others by helping the people of their community find new friends, and the animals new homes.
To learn more about Paws and Prayers, visit their website at PawsandPrayers.org where you can also see a list of upcoming events and available animals. There you will also find an application for those wishing to foster. Paws and Prayers can also be found on Facebook and Twitter. Have any questions? Feel free to email info@pawsandprayers.org to find the answer.
