When everybody was excited about how U.S. shelters were cleared out during the Covid-19 pandemic, Laurette Richin, founder of Long Island Bulldog Rescue, was bracing for the other shoe to drop.

And now it has. The U.S. has a crisis of abandoned cats and dogs, and euthanasia rates are at a three-year high.

FoA staff has adopted multiple dogs from LIBR, and it’s heartbreaking to learn they cannot sustain their policy of taking all dogs who need them.

“We are desperate for fosters,” Richin said.

There is a perfect storm of things happening to LIBR and around the country, she explains:

● There are too many dogs.

● There are too many dogs requiring expensive interventions.

● The pricing for the most basic care is prohibitive, causing more surrenders.

● The crisis in veterinary care has resulted in astronomical costs.

● It has also resulted in long, long waits for care.

● That has caused dogs to spend too much time in foster homes, therefore, no room for new dogs.

● Many, many dogs are dying. Nice, loving, innocent dogs.

“We are incensed that people are not spaying and neutering their dog or getting a dog from a breeder when so many dogs are dying,” said Priscilla Feral, president of Friends of Animals. “Please consider becoming a foster for LIBR (longislandbulldogrescue.org) or a rescue in your area of the country. If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.”

April is Prevent a Litter Month. Call us for affordable spay/neuter certificates at 1-800-321-PETS.