The Bay Area animal welfare organization Berkeley Humane is launching a rapid-response foster care program to protect cats and dogs during emergencies, the organization announced this week.
The FIREPaws program, or Fosters in Response to Emergencies, aims to reduce overcrowding in public shelters and support regional evacuations by recruiting and training Bay Area citizens to quickly provide pets with safe shelter and care during natural disasters and emergencies.
The program comes in response to an increasing number of large-scale disasters, an upcoming wildfire and extreme weather season, and a shrinking pool of available foster homes, according to a statement from Berkeley Humane.
FIREPaws participants will attend monthly and quarterly training workshops teaching them packing and preparedness protocols, methods for handling stressed or traumatized animals, and evacuation procedures, the organization said.
Under FIREPaws, an SMS and email alert system will notify participants when they are needed in response to an emergency. The organization will then match animals to participants based on capacity, experience, and location, as well as provide participants with crates, food, medications, ID tags, and 24/7 veterinary backup.
FIREPaws plans to host a public information booth on Aug. 23 featuring interviews with Berkeley Humane foster team members, pet meet-and-greets, and adoption stories as part of the organization’s annual adopt-a-thon at 2700 Ninth St., Berkeley.
“Every foster home is a lifeline,” foster manager Jill Cooney said. “With FIREPaws, we can save more lives, faster.”
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