Plenty of dogs and cats still need homes and adoptions are still ongoing amid pandemic

FOX 2 - Pet Connect is a weekly segment on FOX 2, it is a staple pairing pets with forever homes - or at least it was, before COVID-19 forced us out of the studios.

The problem is, there are still plenty of dogs and cats who need homes.

"We have really seen an increase in people who are fostering animals and a lot of those families end up adopting those animals," said Kim Cross.

Cross from Friends for Animals of Metro Detroit in Dearborn says 100 dogs were sent to foster homes or adopted out right before everything shut down. But they are still looking for fosters and forever homes. 

Over the weekend they did seven adoptions which were by appointment only...after filling out an application online.

And this is the latest boy who needs a home - this is Denim he's 4-years-old and about 64-pounds - he's been at the shelter for a couple of months - and really needs a home.

"Just having a dog in the house - makes you forget about what's going on, outside," said Matt Fleming.

Fleming is a volunteer at the shelter. He also adopted Barkley from the shelter and got his colleagues from Ford Motor Company to become foster families.

"It turns out seven Ford employees have foster dogs so far," he said.

At the Oakland County Animal Shelter, Joanie Toole, who you usually see on FOX 2, says they also found foster homes for 60 dogs and got 10 adopted out before shutting down to the public - now they're strictly taking in strays and injured animals.

"We are working under the guise that we are closed until April 30," said Toole. "After that we are not sure what it looks like, it may be appointment only or if it goes longer, we will stay closed to the public. But we will continue to care for the animals."

"It's not clear what this all looks like on the other side of COVID-19 - but we do know this - there will always be animals in need of loving homes, dogs like Denim, just waiting for a forever family."

"If you think about it, the kids are home, a lot of people are working at home, it is a good time to bring an animal into your house," Toole said. "They really do provide a lot of comfort for us during these scary times."

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Friends for Animals: www.metrodetroitanimals.org/

Oakland County Animal Shelter: www.oakgov.com/petadoption/Pages/default.aspx