The Bay Area animal welfare organization Berkeley Humane is launching a rapid-response foster care program to protect cats and dogs during emergencies, the organization announced this week.
The FIREPaws program, or Fosters in Response to Emergencies, aims to reduce overcrowding in public shelters and support regional evacuations by recruiting and training Bay Area citizens to quickly provide pets with safe shelter and care during natural disasters and emergencies.
The program comes in response to an increasing number of large-scale disasters, an upcoming wildfire and extreme weather season, and a shrinking pool of available foster homes, according to a statement from Berkeley Humane…