A non-profit farm that takes in old, sick and unwanted pets is making an urgent plea for foster homes in hopes to free up space to take in more animals before the busy holiday season.
SAINTS is a volunteer-run sanctuary in Mission, B.C., which operates solely on donations. Since opening in 2004, it’s taken in more than 700 animals, and is currently home to 112 cats, dogs, pigs, horses and goats.
One of its newest residents is Georgia, an 11-year-old senior small breed dog that was abandoned in a crate in its driveway overnight.
SAINTS says it’s reached “saturation” level and is hoping that people will open their hearts and homes to one of its residents either as a long term foster or permanent adopter.
“The only way that ‘new’ old desperate wrecked animals get in are when our existing guys find adoptive [or] foster homes or they reach the end of their lives,” founder Carol Hine said in a blog post.
Hine emphasizes that most of the animals are elderly and have serious health problems that require specialized care and medical treatment.
SAINTS will pay for medical bills but adopters or fosters must be willing to use its veterinarians in the Mission/Maple Ridge/Abbotsford area.
Its need right now is also critical, because the farm ends up with an influx of animals every year before the holidays.
“The weeks before Christmas are the biggest dumping time for family pets -- too old, too stinky, too dirty, too matted -- basically too unattractively problematic to make it into the happy and festive holiday season,” Hine said.
SAINTS strives for “meticulously well-matched homes,” not because it’s picky, but because it wants to increase the odds that the match will be a success.
As its website reads: “It is not always an easy thing to do but things well worth doing are never easy.”
SAINTS often takes in senior pets that families take to their vet to be euthanized, or animals at local shelters that aren’t being adopted.
Click here to learn more about SAINTS adoption/permanent foster program. You can also sponsor an animal by making a monthly donation, and it is always looking for supplies and monetary help. The farm also runs free tours every weekend.
