We Love You, Mom!

Mother's Day is just around the corner (May 10th!), so the Pennsylvania SPCA (PSPCA) is encouraging everyone to think outside the box -- or the cage -- this year.

Mothers play so many different roles at our shelter, so we came up with three very special ways to say "I love you, Mom."

#1: Adopt a Mom!

Many cats and dogs come to our shelter with "buns in the oven" and give birth to kitties and puppies. Their babies get adopted quickly but the moms are overlooked because they're older, so they're left behind in the shelter. In other cases, our humane law enforcement officers rescue "breeding mothers" (dogs who are used to give birth to litter after litter) from puppy mills, backyard breeders, or dogfighting rings. When the dog can no longer produce litters, the owners often neglect them -- or worse -- so we step in and save them. So one way to show moms how much we appreciate everything they do is by adopting one! All of our adoptable animals (including Lisa, the dog shown above, who was a breeding mother in a Philadelphia dogfighting ring) are listed on the PSPCA website at: www.pspca.org/adoption_centers.

#2: Sponsor a Mom!

We understand that not everyone is able to have pets, but you can still show your support by sponsoring one. For a donation of $50 or more, we'll send your Mom a photo and the story of one of the animals in our shelter. Your donation will help cover the animal's food, shelter, and medical care while it waits to be adopted. Normally the Sponsor-a-Pet program is $150 for cats and $200 for dogs, but we will honor the reduced price of $50 (for cats and dogs) until Tuesday, May 5, at 5:00 pm (this guarantees that your gift arrives in time!). To sponsor a pet for Mother's Day, contact Katie Riecks, Development Associate, at (215) 426-6304 ext. 272 or kriecks@pspca.org.

#3 Become a Mom!

That's right, you can become a Mom -- a foster mom! -- in time for Mother's Day! Foster moms provide caring homes for animals that are too young, too sick, or too unsocialized to be adopted yet. And now that kitten season has arrived, we especially need foster moms to take nursing cats and their babies. Newborn animals, nursing moms, and sick animals require much more attention than they can receive from the shelter staff. Foster moms can give them animals the extra TLC they need before finding their permanent homes, and they also clear space in the shelter for other animals waiting to be adopted. To become a foster mom, visit the PSPCA website at http://www.pspca.org/docs/Foster_Application_Internet.pdf or the Animal Care & Control Team (ACCT) website at http://www.pspca.org/acct/foster_rescue.

On that note, here's a video of a mommy cat and her baby kittens, who were born one day after arriving at the PSPCA.

Happy Mother's Day!