Fostering man's best friend

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MANLIUS — Man’s best friend now has a new best friend of its own.

A group of Streator residents has formed P.A.W.S. to the Rescue, a canine rescue organization that hopes to help find homes for rescued dogs within a 100-mile radius of Streator.

Vice president Lynn Cutler said the purpose of P.A.W.S. is to prevent cruelty to animals, support animal welfare by locating and retrieving homeless or mistreated dogs, provide necessary funding for medical care and spaying or neutering and to place them in a permanent home.

P.A.W.S. is now licensed and has placed its first foster dog in Manlius. Chance was found earlier this month roaming the streets of Streator in the rain. Cutler said the puppy, estimated at about 4 months of age, had no identification and tender, sore ribs. Like all of P.A.W.S.’ dogs, Chance was given a health examination, vaccinations and tracking microchip before being sent to Manlius, where he will stay until somebody adopts him. He is current on all of his vaccinations and will be neutered once he is old enough. All rescued dogs receive veterinary care, including spaying or neutering, rabies and booster vaccinations, heartworm check, grooming and any other treatments deemed necessary.

Cutler said that in many respects, the work P.A.W.S. does is identical to that of Friends of Strays and Illinois Valley Animal Rescue.

“We’re all working toward the same goal, which is to prevent cruelty to animals and unnecessary reproduction,” she said.

The biggest difference is that P.A.W.S. doesn’t have a facility, so all the dogs are sent to foster homes. PAWS registers all of its foster homes with the Illinois Department of Agriculture after conducting a background check on each one. Each foster home’s license allows for up to four dogs in the household.

Cutler said they carefully screen families before letting them become foster families. They take into account the foster family members and their daily activities before giving them a dog to care for. The foster family then works one on one with the dog in training.

“Things like. ‘Don’t get on the couch; don’t chew this up,’” Cutler said. “Putting the right dog with the right foster family helps make the dog more adoptable.”

Cutler’s dream is that, in the not too distant future, there will be a network of fosters in Bureau and the other counties reached by P.A.W.S., so that when a dog is in need, the foster coordinator could quickly choose a foster family for the dog.

Cutler said she hopes P.A.W.S. educates people in the value of the foster program system. She also said that P.A.W.S. needs more fosters, more people eager to adopt, and more donations, as the $150 adoption charge doesn’t cover all of the expenses.

“We’re always searching for fosters, but we need money to take the dogs to the vet,” Cutler said. “We won’t take in an animal we can’t afford to care for.”

To contact P.A.W.S. to the Rescue, call (815) 672-9799 or visit its Web site at www.pawsttr.org.