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Fostering Military Pets During Deployment Posted: Jun 22, 2005 at 3:39 PM

We found this interesting...the average person can help out!!

Organizations are cropping up around the country to help military pets who find themselves homeless during deployment.
NetPets.Org sponsors an initiative called MilitaryPetsFOSTER Project; it is a nationwide network of individual foster homes that will house and care for the dogs, cats, birds, horses and other pets for military personnel while they are deployed or otherwise unable to care for the pet.
When the military member returns from deployment, he or she can retrieve the pet from foster care. The project serves as the liaison between service members who have to place a pet and the foster homes all over this country. It is a free service.
Any veterinary expenses, pharmacy, special foods and other extraordinary expense of this type are the responsibility of the military member leaving the pet.
The MilitaryPetsFOSTER Project is recognized, recommended and endorsed by the Department of Defense, according to NetPets.Org.
NetPets.Org is also assisting all the military??s pets that have been displaced in the wake of Hurricanes Bonnie, Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne.
For more information or to apply to become a foster home, go to: www.netpets.org/militarypet/foster.php.
Another organization called Patriotic Pets, with a Web site at www.PatrioticPets.Org, was founded after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Patriotic Pets registers military pet owners, recruits guardian homes and matches the military pet to the best temporary home. The organization hopes to improve the morale of military pet owners and ease some of the stress of being deployed.
Military personnel can communicate with the foster homes via e-mail and bulletin boards to keep up with their pets?? daily adventures.
According to Operation Noble Foster, with a site at www.operationnoblefoster.org, many animal shelters are reporting increasing numbers of animals, similar to what happened during Desert Storm.
Operation Noble Foster states on its Web site that there have been hundreds of requests from members of the armed forces, National Guard and Reservists for foster homes for their pets.
In similar news, an animal shelter called Southern Comfort Animal Rescue (SCAR) in Hinesville, Georgia, said it is overcrowded due to the ongoing military deployments of the 3rd Infantry Division.
??As the effect of the deployment continues, many new arrivals are added every few days,?? the shelter??s Web site says. To see a list of pets at the shelter, visit the Web site at www.petfinder.com/shelters/southerncomfort.html.