PHOENIX — During the foreclosure crisis in 2008, Jodi Polanski founded Lost Our Home Pet Rescue to handle the influx of pets that were losing their homes right along with their owners.
Today it is one of only a couple of rescues that run a temporary shelter for pets that owners want to keep but whose living situations will not allow it.
Since October 2020 when the first eviction moratorium expiration date got closer, Polanki’s and several other rescues around the Valley have come together to try to and mitigate what they anticipate will be an influx of homeless pets whenever the moratorium ends. Even with it in place Polanski said her rescue receives hundreds of applications each month and can only help a fraction of them.
“There’s only so much that you know, one rescue could do and so there we decided to get together as a whole,” Polanski said.
With limited room and resources, she says they’ll need the community’s help.
The group came up with PetHousingHelpAZ.org to connect pet parents with temporary foster homes.
“So people who need temporary care of their pets can place their pets up there on the temporary care site. And then people who want to be able to care people's pets temporarily to help them out,” she said.
The website allows animals to be posted with a description of their particular needs. And it allows potential fosters to contact owners directly. Polanski says the site also provides agreements to map out a timeframe, special needs, and other legal concerns.
But Polanski says the program will only work if there are enough fosters to help; especially for large dogs which are hard to place.
“So if you are able to foster you don't have any dogs at home right now and you liked large dogs, we'd love to have you come foster for us,” she said.
If you need help for your pet or are interested in fostering go to their website here for more information in English and Spanish.
