Note: forwarded message attached.





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I didn't know if any of you had heard of this or were interested in
helping. There is a link at the bottom of the e-mail to the
organization...

-----Original Message-----
From: Press Service [mailto:afisnews_sender@...]
Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2004 12:23 PM
To: DEFENSE-PRESS-SERVICE-L@...
Subject: Groups Arrange Foster Care for Military Pets

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 12, 2004 - Deploying overseas means leaving friends and
loved
ones behind. For service members with no one to take care of their
beloved dog,
cat, bird or other pet, it once meant also having to abandon or turn the
pet
over to a shelter - never to see it again.

Thanks to two nonprofit groups - the Military Pets Foster Project and
Operation
Noble Foster - service members can now arrange foster care for their
pets while
they're gone.

The Military Pets Foster Project, a nonprofit group founded by animal
lover
Steve Albin, has placed about 15,000 pets in foster homes throughout the
United
States while their owners serve in Iraq and Afghanistan. Operation Noble
Foster, which specializes in foster homes for cats, has found temporary
homes
for about 25 military cats a month since shortly after Sept. 11, 2001,
according to founder Linda Mercer.

Albin and Mercer said they established their groups shortly after the
Sept. 11
terrorist attacks, when they learned that thousands of service members
had been
forced to give up their pets when they deployed to Operation Desert
Storm more
than a decade earlier. "What kind of morale builder is that?" Albin
said. "Does
it mean that to serve, you have to be willing to put your best friend to
sleep?"

Since launching the Military Pets Foster Project, Albin estimates that
the
group has saved as many as 150,000 pets from being abandoned or turned
over to
shelters, where pets not quickly adopted often are euthanized. Although
dogs
and cats are the most common pets in need of foster homes, Albin said
his group
has also placed ferrets, rabbits, horses, lizards, snakes and other
"exotics,"
including a pot-bellied pig.

Albin said he matches pets in need of foster care with appropriate
foster homes
and requires those involved in the arrangement to sign a foster
agreement.

Both Albin and Mercer said they're impressed by the outpouring of
support they
receive from people willing to provide foster care for pets while
service
members deploy in support of the war, serve tours where they can't take
their
pets, or even ship off to basic training.

"People are opening up their hearts and their doors to help the people
of the
military," said Albin. "It's a patriotic gesture of thanks."

Mark Delman from Parker, Colo., signed up through Operation Noble Foster
to
provide a foster home for five cats owned by a military family currently
stationed in Germany. Delman said he encourages others to open their
doors as
well.

"These people are keeping us safe and free, and shouldn't have to give
up their
beloved pets to do so," he said. "Offering a foster home is a way of
saying
'thanks.' I tell people not to hesitate to do it."

Albin encourages service members in need of foster care for their pets
to give
the Military Pets Foster Project as much notice as possible of their
upcoming
deployment so the group can find a suitable home.

For more information, visit the organizations' Web sites.

Related Sites:
Military Pets Foster
Project [http://www.netpets.org/netp/foster.php]
Operation Noble Foster [http://www.operationnoblefoster.org]
<spacer type= vertical size=5>

_______________________________________________________
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