Those serving our country are sacrificing enough; they shouldn’t have to sacrifice their pets as well.
To ensure wagging tails and wet noses are part of the welcome home party, an animal loverin South Carolina offers service men and women a pet foster service. Ohio is one of his busier states because of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Steve Albin started the nonprofit NetPets.org one week after Sept. 11, 2001. Since then, volunteers have fostered 20,000 pets, including dogs, cats, bird, horses, ferrets, rabbits, hermit crabs, a goat and a pot-bellied pig.
In the past, military personnel had to find a family member or friend tocare for their pet. If they couldn’t, they would put the pet up for adoption, take it to a shelter or abandon it, Albin said.
During the Gulf Wars, a minimum of 25,000 pets were put to sleep.
“What type of morale builder is that? To go serve and protect you haveto kill your best buddy.”
The program — recognized by the U.S. Department of Defense as itspet assistance provider — allows for military people to leave their pets with foster families who volunteer for NetPets.
The military person doesn’t haveto be entering combat to use this service either. He or she might be relocating for training or attending a special assignment. Many times they might be temporarily moving their whole family to a place that doesn’t allow pets.
“After they fill out the secure form,we start looking for a foster home. We foster the dogs and birds by breed type and/or size, and keep them as close to the pets’ residence as possible,” Albin said.
Once a foster home is selected, pets visit their foster family with their owner.
“We have a meet and greet on the territory of the foster home. We don’t say‘Meet in the park’ because we want to know if there are going to be any issues,” Albin said. “We only have had to change foster homes or go to a second foster home somewhere around 12 times.”
Military pet owners pay for food, grooming and supplies for their pets, but participation in the program is free.
Albin said his nonprofit helps ease minds of those serving our country.
“Pets are part of the family. As soon as the military pet owners come back, they can pick up their beloved pets,” Albin said.
No participant has died before returning to his or her pet.
For more information go to www.netpets.org/militarypet/foster.php#fosthome.
