At an upholstery shop in Curtis Park, a woman fosters stray dogs and tries to place them with caring families. In another home, a woman has spent five years rescuing and adopting out pit bulls. And in a local strip mall, what was once a chiropractor's office has been transformed into a pet sanctuary for the Happy Tails rescue group. There, cats roam freely, soothed by New Age and classical music. Like most of the best groups, all pets were spayed or neutered and given a microchip for identification before they were adopted.
Many groups conduct extensive interviews, draw up detailed contracts and even do home inspections.
The pressures are tremendous, if not heartbreaking. There are too many pets for too few homes. The big-picture problems never really change despite individual success stories. Burnout is common. Some rescuers even start to loathe mankind.