By Olivia Harris / Full360 Reporter
Cindy Mazzarella saw the post on Facebook and had to help.
The dog, tied to a fence, would soon be put down. Then, Mazzarella stepped in.
“I saw her picture on a Facebook post, and I wanted to help her. She was tied to a chain-link fence at the shelter,” said Cindy Mazzarella, a former foster with WAGS rescue. “They wanted to kill her next because she was pregnant and ready to give birth any day. They said it’s easier to kill her now before she has all of them. There are statements I never thought I’d hear someone say.”
The reality is that many animal shelters are well past their capacity. When this happens, they are often forced to resort to measures such as euthanasia to free up space for other animals. Sometimes other rescues can intervene and pick up animals before things like this have to happen, but there are many animals that are not so lucky. WAGS rescue is a non-profit organization that pulls dogs out of overcrowded animal shelters, primarily ones down South.
The organization is based in the Bucks County, Montgomery County, and Philadelphia areas of Pennsylvania. The rescue relies on volunteers who foster these dogs out of their homes. This ensures that every dog gets the undivided love, care, and comfort that they deserve until they find their forever families.
“They kept showing the dogs from the shelters, and I really felt like it was speaking to me. I remember my husband said we’ll give it a shot and see how it goes. And two hundred foster dogs later, we are still giving it a shot,” said Mazzarella.
Mazzarella has fostered about two hundred dogs over the past ten years. She has taken in anything from pregnant moms and litters of puppies to adult dogs, behavior cases, special needs, and hospice cases. Each of the dogs Mazzarella has fostered left an impact on her life. S
he has a wall in her home that displays photos of every one of her fosters. Even after so many years and so many dogs, she can still go through and name each one of them. The personal connection and individualized care are just one of many benefits of fostering animals.
“It’s a really nice process to see them come out of their shell and begin to start accepting socialization with people. I got to see with every foster I had them playing and getting to be like a normal cat. That is super satisfying,” Holly Lauer said about her experiences fostering cats.
Lauer is a veterinary technician who formerly worked in shelter medicine for several years. During her time in shelter medicine, she took home several feline fosters. This has given her a unique perspective on the pros and cons of both sheltering and fostering animals. She says that while a larger volume of animals can be saved through animal shelters, there is a greater quality of care prior to adoption with fostering.
“It’s hard when they’re in the shelter because it is a scary environment. Lots of loud sounds, loud noises. And even with keeping the cats separated from the dogs there is still just the sounds of everything. And there is a lot of uncertainty for them,” said Lauer.
Regarding sheltering versus fostering, “You’re saving an animal no matter what you do,” said Mazzarella.