SEQUIM – NEEDED: People with hearts big enough to take in homeless animals – and bigger still to let them go.
The Welfare for Animals Guild (and you’ve got to love how it’s abbreviated) needs foster homes for dogs, wayfarers from past masters to ones with whom they’ll stay forever.
As of Friday, WAG had 17 dogs in foster homes.
Such a place is Judy Stirton’s spread near Bell Hill.
Outside, large dogs run across a yard to greet a visitor with ebullient leaps and barks.
Inside, smaller canines set up a welcoming cacophony, each one begging to be scratched behind its ears or at the base of its tail.
Some were Stirton’s to start with. Others she fostered but couldn’t place.
Most, however, are eligible for new owners.
“They have to be adoptable,” she said Friday as the animals vied for her attention.
“We have tests to make sure they’re not aggressive.”
The animals also are checked by a veterinarian, spayed or neutered, and implanted with identifying microchips.
Many are placed over the Internet.
“We flew one dog to California,” she said.
“We’ve got one going to Vancouver tomorrow.”
The biggest need, though, isn’t new owners.
It’s people who are willing to accept a dog for a few days, weeks or months, then send it on its way.
