Saving Lives in Riverside: Foster Army Animal Rescue
Welcome to Featured Rescue Friday, a series where we highlight an amazing animal rescue. This week we are featuring a rescue we crossed paths with at the SoCal Pet Expo in January, Foster Army Animal Rescue (aka FAAR)!
FAAR was founded in May 2015 and was granted non-profit status in April of 2016. Since their inception less than two years ago, the FAAR team has saved 434 pets consisting mostly of dogs and cats. They have saved rabbits and hamsters as well!
Image Credit: FAAR
“Our Board of Directors, volunteers, and founders come from a shelter background” shares Twelve Camacho, FAAR’s President. “Working for a shelter we grew frustrated with the politics, gimmicks, and policies preventing true life saving efforts. We all wanted to build an organization the worked towards finding solutions to end the needless euthanasia of our city’s homeless pets.”
FAAR is committed to making Riverside a no-kill city and only pulls animals off the euthanasia list at their local shelter. They believe that they can make the biggest impact if they focus on one shelter at a time. The pets they save are primarily bottle babies, seniors, or animals that are in need of medical attention.
“So many of our pets have touched our lives” commented Twelve. “We work closely with rescues and it’s touching when we get a chance to share an adoption story that includes a team of rescues, fosters, volunteers, and people involved in saving one life.”
Samsung and Tang (Image Credit: FAAR)
One of the experiences that sticks out most to Twelve was the rescue of a 4-year-old orange tabby named Sampson. Dropped at the shelter as a “feral” cat, Sampson was in bad shape and needed immediate medical attention for his injuries. The shelter treated his wounds, then reached out to an organization called TNR Riverside to be placed in a community cat colony.
After getting through the tough part of his recovery, it was apparent Sampson was a house cat. TNR Riverside contacted FAAR to find a foster for Sampson where he could finish his recovery, and FAAR placed Sampson in a home with a foster who was working with a friendly “feral” cat named Tang. Sampson and Tang bonded, Tang becoming dependent on Sampson due to being a little on the shy side, and they were eventually adopted together. They now live as indoor kitties with their forever mommy.
Samsung and Tang in their furever home (Photo Credit: FAAR)
“Because one shelter staff decided Sampson was worth saving, because one TNR volunteer decided Sampson deserved a second chance in a home, because one rescue volunteer believed he could be adopted, and because one “feral” cat believed his foster brother needed him, Sampson and Tang were both saved” said Twelve. “All the lives we save touch our hearts but it’s the team that assembles to save them that makes me proud of what we do!”
In addition to saving at-risk animals from their local shelter, FAAR is also committed to humane education and providing resources to pet owners in order to keep pets in their homes when possible. By providing proper education and resources to pet owners, they aim to reduce owner surrenders and, consequently, the number of pets that end up in shelters.
To stay up to date on the latest news at FAAR, you can follow them on Facebook. If you’d like to donate to help them make a bigger difference and save more lives, you can visit their donation page! You can also check out their Amazon Wish List and send them items they need for their life saving efforts!