Paws for love - #lakewoodnews

So many animals are in need of assistance and a safe home in the Denver metro area, with never enough help.

The six founders of Lakewood-based For the Love of Paws know that first hand.

"All six of us met volunteering at other animal rescues in the area," said Tamar Berner, one of Love of Paws' founders. "We came together because we wanted to do more, and decided to start our own shelter."

The 501(c)3 has been operating for about a year-and-a-half, and in that time has worked with between 125 to 150 cats and dogs in that time. What makes this total particularly impressive is they've done it all without a brick-and-mortar location. All the networking is done online.

"We're a kind of virtual shelter," explained Joan Ogner, a volunteer and foster with Love of Paws. "We're entirely foster based, and pull animals out of shelters or bad situations, and house them with a foster until we find a forever home for them."

Love of Paws focuses on animals that need medical care and are older --; often the first to be euthanized when a shelter starts filling up. They also work with rural shelters, which are often smaller and can't accommodate many animals.

"We're very choosy with who our fosters are, because we want people who can commit to this," Berner said. "We don't want to shuffle these animals around anymore than we have to. They've been through enough."

The stories of the animals they've helped are both harrowing and encouraging. The shelter took in three one day old kittens, each with three limbs each. The kittens had infections and the veterinarian who saw them recommended euthanasia.

Over the following days, the kittens were given betadine baths, fluids, antibiotics and formula. They made huge progress in a very few days, recovered, and all three have been adopted.

"We recently adopted a dog named Summer and her puppies, that was in danger of being euthanized as well," Ogner said. "For me there's so much joy from seeing these animals happy."

Both volunteers and fosters carefully vet any potential adopters, and work closely with them after they adopt an animal to ensure the pet is receiving the best possible care.

The organization also works with Sox Place, a homeless youth center, which needed help caring for the youths' dogs and cats. Love of Paws provides all vaccinations, spay/neuter and coordinates medical care for these pets with Sox Place's veterinarian.

The biggest challenge facing Love of Paws is funding, especially since the group doesn't have any kind of centralized hub location. The organization is always accepting financial donations and volunteers, all to benefit the pets.

"I think the animals know they've been saved," Berner said. "They start to trust us, and that's something because of what they've been through. We take a chance on them, and they take a chance on us."

from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.com/stories/Paws-for-love,224635