Puppy, Kitten & Critter Rescue and Fostering

Unwanted puppies, kittens and other animals are often abandoned in rural areas that have limited, if any, animal control services or support programs. The pets are left to fend for themselves.

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Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society

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Talking to Coreen Herring, volunteer and foster, at the Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society (AARCS) I found out how bad this could be. “With this cold snap we have seen that there’s lots of cases. Like I saw a post yesterday and they needed rescue to take some animals because one of the pups had already frozen to death.”

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AARCS works with rural and remote communities and rescues these animals or provides support programs such as spay/neuter assistance. Many animals who come into their care have to be rehabilitated and treated for various medical issues, porcupine quills, broken bones, parasites, and gunshot wounds.

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Medical treatments can range from $100 to $10,000 and are given to any dog, cat, rabbit or guinea pig in need of them. AARCS provides vaccinations, deworming and permanent identification to animals in their care.

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No matter the costs, they make sure that these animals are not only in good health but also find a home where they can be loved unconditionally.

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Fostering

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Once the animals have had proper veterinary care, they are placed into a foster home, with people and families to look after them until they are adopted.

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AARCS has a list of requirements for their foster homes to both protect the animals and ensure they are well cared for. The first and most important of the list being that they are loved and cared for by the people taking them into their homes. The rest of the requirements being:

• Transportation for vet or shelter for appointments;

• Animals are well fed; and

• Animals will get basic training.

There are plenty of animals with different needs and AARCS’ team will help match you appropriately with an animal in care seeking placement.

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Beyond that, they also have medical and behavioural foster homes for animals that need the extra attention. Anyone can apply to become a medical and behavioural foster home if they have basic knowledge on animals and are willing.

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AARCS provides their foster families taking in these special cases with behaviourists, veterinary team and staff for continuous support.

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Ways to Help

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There are plenty of ways you can help these animals stay out of the cold this Christmas season;

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• Volunteering;

• Fostering;

• Having Fundraisers for AARCS;

• Becoming an AARCS Member;

• Becoming a Sponsor;

• Gifting a Wish List Item; and

• And by Donating.

They always need clean towels in both their locations, Calgary and Edmonton, so people can drop off wish list items to whichever location is closer.