“Here in Texas, we have a terrible situation with strays and rescues,” says Melody Shannon, founder of the Pet Care Co-op in Houston. “[The area is] overrun with animals, so we need a lot of out-of-state help. A lot of these issues come from the fact that our fosters have been completely abandoned. The animal rescues don’t know what to do. They’re inundated with endless bills,” which results in a lack of resources for advocacy.
The Pet Care Co-op’s members tackle that problem by providing free care for foster pets. This often involves working with aggressive and emotionally unstable animals to make them fit for cohabitation. Besides helping get animals adopted and freeing up foster homes, this gives workers experience with animal care while they earn college credits for their efforts.
When Shannon and her husband launched a pet-sitting company in 2015, they discovered that pet care workers without proper training were being harmed, as were the animals they assisted. “We realized there was a real problem in our industry: [Workers] didn’t have access to education,” she recalls.
Read the rest at Nation of Change
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