DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Overcrowding is a problem at animal shelters across Central Florida right now. In Volusia County, one shelter is paying people to give dogs a foster home.
Halifax Humane Society in Daytona Beach has over 50 dogs ready for adoption. So they’re offering $50 a week to families who agree to foster pets.
“At this time of the year the shelter is completely filled with large breed, high energy adoptable dogs,” said Sean Hawkins, CEO for Halifax Humane Society. “As the dogs are in the shelter they stay longer and longer and longer and their behavior starts to deteriorate and sometimes that makes them even unadoptable.”
Getting families to foster the dogs, Hawkins says, gets the dogs out of the shelter and helps them decompress.
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“Just like Liberty. She has been in the shelter for 304 days. She’s actually our current longest resident,” Hawkins said.
It also helps with adoptions. The foster family can report new information to the shelter about the dog’s habits and behavior.
Hawkins says the shelter started to see a decline in animals coming in over the last four years with the pandemic, but that’s now changed.
“People have gone back to work so time at home is a little more precious, so that means the type of dog they can have in their home is probably a little different. Maybe not as much time for a big, high-energy dog,” Hawkins said.
Some also can’t afford a dog now.
So Hawkins and his team are getting creative.
“When you foster with us, we send all of the supplies home so you go home with a crate, a bed, toys, balls, and even a bag of Science Diet,” Hawkins said.
In addition, families will get $50 for fostering, and when you’re out and about with the dog, if someone wants to adopt it, you can get a bonus.
“If the family helps find Liberty a home we actually up that to a $250 gift certificate,” Hawkins said.
To foster a dog or cat, or to adopt, head to the Halifax Humane Society website.
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