Topeka animal shelter at full capacity, woman fosters dog to make room

TOPEKA (KSNT) - Mackenzie Norton is fostering a pit bull named Jezebel while the dog undergoes treatment for heartworms.

Norton has two dogs of her own and says it's her first time fostering an animal. She says it's been a rewarding experience.

"It's very enriching," Norton said. "I love it. Jezebel has been very calm, works really well with our other dogs."

27 News first covered the influx of animals the Helping Hands Humane Society (HHHS) is seeing last month. Margaret Price is the shelter's behavior director and foster coordinator. She says they're almost at full capacity and they need the remaining space for animals that are sick or hurt.

"We took in probably over a 100, maybe close to 150 animals probably in the last week, or a little over," Price said. "So we are still seeing an increase of animals coming in."

Price also says there's several ways to foster. Foster parents can take a whole litter or a single pet, and there are short- and long-term options. HHHS covers all the costs involved.

"If you have enough love and shelter in your home, but you just don't have the finances, hey that's a great way to help us out too and get adopted, 'cause the more we can get them to homes, the more lives we can save here," Price said.

Norton says she'd recommend fostering and the process is simple. She says foster parents have a lot of say in the process. She says she was even able to introduce her dogs to Jezebel before she chose to foster her.

"It's natural to have concerns, but ask your questions because you have a lot of input to the kinds of dogs you work with," Norton said. "What you're comfortable with, what you're not."

Price added not to bring healthy-looking cats to HHHS. She says "they're survivors" and can take care of themselves, and the shelter doesn't have room for them.

She also says HHHS has resources like a food bank and behavioral support for owners considering putting their pet up for adoption. For more information on those resources, click here. For the pet fostering application, click here.

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