PAW needs to foster about 40 dogs

FORT MADISON – PAW animal shelter is looking for homes to foster about 40 dogs from the shelter.
The organization moved into their new facilities last fall, but some of the paint used in the boxcar, or kennel run, areas didn’t set up correctly and started to peel with a garden hose and scrub brush. Each run has 33 kennels at the new facility.
The $7 million facility was built by Schickedanz Construction, and Brown said they were arranging to get the kennel areas repainted. Brown said almost every kennel in the three different runs needs repainted.
“In order to do that, the dogs need to be out of the kennel for a week to 10 days. Where are we gonna put 250 dogs?” Brown asked.
About 20 dogs can be put at the old facility, but those enclosures needed to be resealed before the animals can be relocated. So Brown is looking to have at least 33 larger dogs fostered for up to two weeks to allow crews to come in to repaint.
“Sadly, this paint isn’t holding up as expected. We’re not using chemicals or a pressure washer. We use a garden hose and scrub brush. It’s not holding up to water from a garden hose.”

She said the dogs will all be fully vetted and microchipped. They all have their shots, so all that’s done, and the only expense will be food and water.
“Our goal is to get at least 33 dogs fostered so that they can do a whole boxcar at a time,” she said.
“This weekend, Friday Saturday, and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. you can just walk in, fill out an application, and we’ll go 'here’s your dog'. Just like we did with the polar vortex several years back.”
Several local boarding places have offered to take some of the dogs, but Brown said those facilities are limited because this is their busy season with people taking vacations and kenneling dogs.
“The dogs being fostered are the dogs 40 lbs. and larger as the smaller dogs have other places they can go in the facility.
Brown said she’s a little worried about fostering the bigger dogs because people want packaging over personality, in other words, choosing dogs for how they look rather than picking all different breeds.
Fostering can’t be done Thursday because it’s spay and neuter day and doctors are at the facility working with cats, Brown said.