A record number of foster families are opening their homes to abandoned pets

Dyrenes Beskyttelse has this year received help from 1984 foster families to take care of abandoned animals.

This is the highest number of voluntary foster families to date, the organization writes in a press release.

The foster families step in when the boarding schools are full.

They are an invaluable help, says boarding school manager Karina Fisker.

– We get several thousand cats and kittens during the season, and we don’t have physical space for them, so here the foster families are really an important part of our staffing.

– Without the many foster families, we would have difficulty dealing with the many cats and kittens in particular, says Karina Fisker.

There is great interest in helping abandoned animals.

The number of voluntary foster families has increased by almost 32 percent from 2023 to 2024, writes Dyrenes Beskyttelse.

Cats make up the majority of animals that end up in foster homes. In 2024, 85 percent of the animals in care were cats and kittens.

A kitten must be at least 12 weeks old before it is old enough to be passed on to a new home.

A large part of the kittens that come to the animal shelters are thus not old enough to be sent out to new homes.

They must be lovingly cared for until they are 12 weeks old, and this is where the many foster families come into the picture.

And the foster families have a big task, emphasizes Karina Fisker.

Some of the animals have experienced failure or neglect and must be accustomed to a normal family life with feeding, care and litter box.

– At the foster family, the animals learn what it’s like to be in a home with lots of different sounds and experiences.

– They can gain some experience which is incredibly important for their future lives and when they have to go to their new home, says Karina Fisker.

Dyrenes Beskyttelse stated earlier in December that the organization has received 1192 dumped pets during the year.

These are pets that have been left behind by their owners, for example in transport cages, shoe boxes and bags.

/ritzau/