6 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY APRIL 4-10, 2024 www.montereycountyweekly.com 831 When Charlotte Carter imagined what her wedding would be like in the future, she knew she wanted dogs to be a part of it. Specifically, she wanted a nonprofit rescue group to bring adoptable dogs to promote the idea of “adopt don’t shop” to her guests. Fortunately, she fell in love with someone who shared the same passion, so when Carter and Jessie Bucci married in October 2022, Peace of Mind Dog Rescue was on the guest list. “It was such a wonderful experience,” Carter says of including the Pacific Grove-based organization in the wedding. POMDR’s mission is to help senior dogs and senior people on the Central Coast, which many times includes placing dogs whose owners can no longer care for them—or who pass away—in new forever homes. POMDR rescues nearly 400 dogs a year and all of them live temporarily with foster families, according to a spokesperson. Carter and Bucci were so impressed with POMDR, they signed up as foster volunteers after the wedding and began welcoming dogs into their Carmel Valley home in November 2022. Foxy, a 12-year-old chihuahua, was their first foster dog, adopted by a woman in Santa Cruz. They’ve fostered around 10 dogs total—Carter does all the coordination of picking up the foster dogs, Bucci helps with their care. Currently there are 150 active POMDR foster homes. Fostering is a key way that shelters and rescue organizations are able to care for large amounts of animals and improve their chances of adoption. Besides POMDR, SPCA Monterey County has a foster program for all types of animals, as well as Hitchcock Road Animal Services, the joint shelter of the City of Salinas and the County of Monterey, Animal Friends Rescue Project and South County Animal Rescue. By being out in the community rather than in a shelter, animals have a better chance at adoption through foster volunteers sharing news of adoptable pets through their social circles—Carter and Bucci started the Instagram account @montereydogmoms where they post photos and videos of their foster dogs, often playing with their own dog, Maya, a chihuahua mix they rescued in West Hollywood in 2019, before moving to Carmel Valley in 2021. (Their beloved Daisy, another rescue chihuahua, died in December.) There are health benefits for both animal and human through fostering—a 2023 study through the National Institutes of Health refers to longstanding research that companion animals improve cardiovascular and mental health in humans, adding that dogs and cats studied in foster care show improved stress levels and exhibit less behavior issues compared to those living in shelters. “It gives these pets a chance to blossom and become adoptable pets to families,” Carter says. To become a foster volunteer through POMDR, people are asked to fill out an application and be willing to have the foster pets become part of the family while they’re living with them, including sleeping safely inside at night. There is virtual training for volunteers, a manual and ongoing help and support from other experienced volunteers, as well as behavioral experts and veterinarian staff. POMDR provides foster families with supplies like a crate, bed, collar, leash, bowls and flea prevention. All medical expenses are covered. They do ask that volunteers provide food, but it is available on request. Some senior dogs are near the end of their lives, and there are volunteers who will take those dogs into hospice care and give them the best life possible with what time is left. The foster dogs have stayed with Carter and Bucci on average about a month at a time. Is it hard to let the foster dogs go when they find forever homes? “Absolutely. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t,” Carter says. Both Maya and Daisy were “foster fails,” or “foster keepers,” as POMDR refers to them. With Daisy gone, Carter is committed to fostering more dogs in her memory. And as volunteers interact with adoptive families it’s not unheard of to stay in touch and receive updates about dogs in their new homes. Fostering Love One couple fell in love and then into a love of caring for dogs as foster volunteers. By Pam Marino Charlotte Carter, who along with her wife Jessie Bucci, have fostered approximately 10 dogs with Peace of Mind Dog Rescue. “[Fostering] gives these pets a chance to blossom.” TALES FROM THE AREA CODE DANIEL DREIFUSS THE PET ISSUE Join us for an informative update from the Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center. From the bottom of the ocean to the stars and a new generator too! Find out what's new with FNMOC. Presented by the City of Monterey, the Monterey Bay Defense Alliance, and the Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce. GET TICKETS! FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2024 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM MONTEREY CONFERENCE CENTER TICKETS: $45 • INCLUDES BREAKFAST PRESENTED BY Join us for an informative update from the Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center. From the bottom of the ocean to the stars and a new generator too! Find out what's new with FNMOC. Presented by the City of Monterey, the Monterey Bay Defense Alliance, and the Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce.
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