How we went from a household of 2 people and one cat to a household of 14!

Momma (aka. Sweet Pea) was brought into a shelter and very shortly thereafter gave birth to 10 pups (yes 10!).  The pups were born on this New Year's Day, 2011. It all started with an innocent search to adopt a puppy.  On Sunday, January 2, 2011 we saw a '911 - Help' posting on craigslist from a rescue group desperately seeking a foster family for all 11 of them since the puppies were newborns.  We've never done anything like this before but after learning that momma and pups were at high risk for euthanasia at a high-kill shelter, we felt we had no other choice but to step up and foster them - the alternative was not an option to us.  We helped to rescue this sweet momma and her newborn pups from being euthanized a few days later. 

This blog is our journey as animal foster newbies. With a new addition of 11 we're taking the "It Takes A Village Approach" hoping that we'll find advice and support from others. We're going to need all the help we can get!  A few people have asked where they could mail pet supply, etc. gift cards and we'd like to say thank-you in advance for your offer to help.  We have access to Petsmart, Petco and Walmart here and I think those 3 would likely be most helpful for us right now. It's been only 48 hours since Momma and Pups arrived and we've just about gone through all of our cleaning supplies and laundry detergent (averaged 4 loads per day thus far and the pups haven't even begun pooping yet!). We've also already had to make 2 trips to a local PetSmart.  If you'd like to help out in either gift cards or donations, please send to us via: Kurt Schlough, PO Box 25661, Albuquerque, NM 87125.  We can also accept your help in the form of an online contribution by clicking here.  (These are not tax-deductible.) Any gift cards or monetary gifts that we receive and do not need to use by the end of our fostering time will be given to another foster family or animal rescue group.  Thank you for helping us to help momma and her pups.

Taking it all day by day...

- The Animal Foster Newbies 

(PS.  We're in the process of building a safe enclosure with plenty of room for the pups to run around in.  We have use of wire play pen panels to create the structure but we are in need of sturdy and stiff flat plastic boards/sheets, etc - clean, plastic yard signage or other material from home depot or any other sturdy type of plastic - to help create a protective interior lining so the pups don't come into contact with the wire or get stuck trying to squeeze through.  If you have any of this lying around and would like to send it to us, please send to the PO Box address listed above.  Our email contact for mom and pups is momandpups@gmail.com.  If you are local in ABQ and might have stacks of newspaper you'd like to get rid of, please email us for pick up.  We're running out and the puppy potty pads have not yet arrived. Thank you in advance!)