Community Urged to Adopt and Foster Animals Through Bloomington Animal Care and Control

Bloomington Animal Care and Control is at full capacity, urging members of the community to adopt or foster animals. According to Animal Care Technician Shelley Cook, who adopted her first pet while working at the shelter, adopting an animal can bring numerous benefits.

"The home that I saw her in was mine," Cook said, referring to her own experience with Penny Schmoo, whom she has been best buds with for 5 years.

Outreach and Behavior Coordinator Emily Herr notes that summer brings an influx of animals to the shelter. Currently, there are only two open kennels, a stark contrast to the typical 10-12 open dog kennels at this time of year.

"Typically this time of year when we have a more increased population, we would have 10 to 12 open dog kennels," Herr said.

Bloomington Animal Care and Control is an open admissions shelter, ensuring that no animal is turned away. In 2024, foster families took in 56% of the animals that came through the shelter, providing a chance for these animals to recover behaviorally and relax outside of a shelter environment.

"Where they could become of age to be spayed or neutered, where they could recover behaviorally, where they could have a place to relax that wasn’t a shelter environment," Herr said.

Herr encourages the community to consider fostering or adopting during this time of crisis. The shelter offers multiple incentives, including waived or reduced adoption fees and events like Free Feline Fridays on the first Friday of each month.

"Our foster program and our adoption program we consider low barrier. We wanna make it accessible to people in our community regardless of where they live or what type of housing they live in," she said.

The shelter is open Monday through Friday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.