Living in Alliance Nebraska for the past 16 years of my life has made me view subjects I never thought I would take into consideration. One of those subjects being the animal shelter. Over 65% of Alliance is stray cats and stray dogs roaming the streets daily. Although the precent increasingly grows daily the Alliance Animal Shelter is at withdrawal of max capacity. Leaving the Animal Shelter with no room to help the animals in need. There are many ways to prevent this from happening, such as fostering and helping animals go to homes. I interviewed Julie Weems who helps foster, why she got into it, she stated, “I used to live in Fort Collins which is such a dog-friendly place, always keeping their shelter clean, tidy, and space for the unfortunate.” 

The animal shelter is viewed in Alliance Nebraska as a euthanization shelter to many, after 3 days of being overfilled the animals get euthanized, dogs stay longer and cats are the first to go. “Cats are harder to find homes rather then dogs because people are more apt to look for characteristics in a cat rather than a dog, some would view it as shopping for an animal rather than taking their backstory in and adapting to their personality. Although some may not expect to find a furry friend in an older dog or cat, sometimes leaning towards the older side is the way to go. Some would state that adopting younger animals helps form the characteristics in an animal that best suits you, although this may not always be the case. Some may say it takes a village to help animals find a home that best suits their needs.

With saving over 3,000 animals in Colorado and Wyoming. Julie Weems is looking to push fostering further ranging all the way into Texas. As time goes on I hope to help advocate the animal shelter and animals in need. Such as helping advocate fostering and helping animals find a safe and loving home.