The Lizarraga family home in El Cajon is full. There are two adults, five children, nine finches, two parakeets, two rabbits, two guinea pigs, one chinchilla, six dogs, two cats and a goldfish — that's 25 if you're counting — plus 12 foster puppies and their mama.
“So lots of animals, lots of cages to clean, lots of picking up poop and that is the kids’ job and they do it very well,” Karen Lizarraga said. “I just think it's such a healthy way for kids to grow up, lots of responsibility, lots of lives depending on them, and they do a lot of hard work.”
Over the last two years the family has fostered more than 70 animals. She said the children’s interest in fostering began after they adopted Ozzie the Pitbull from the San Diego Humane Society in 2022.
“It's one of the only ways that us as kids can really be a part of helping with the humane society,” said 16-year-old Olivia Lizarraga.
The family playfully named their most recent fosters, "the baker's dozen." There’s mama, Donut and her puppies, named after popular donuts and toppings, like Boston Creme and Chocolate.
“Twelve puppies is a lot. It's a lot of poop. It's a lot of cleaning. It's them crying and wanting to go out to go potty during the night. It's sometimes diarrhea, sometimes throwing up, sometimes hard things. A lot of people don't want to do hard things and I say, ‘bring it on,’” Karen Lizarraga said.
The humane society has more puppies in care in December than they ever have before, according to spokesperson Nina Thompson. There is a “huge need” currently for foster families to help care for an influx of animals in the shelter, she said.
“Our biggest needs are with mama dogs and puppies, as well as large dogs,” Thompson said. “We see unwanted litters show up at our doors every day. It is actually one of the top reasons people tell us when they give up their pets.”
The cost of living and veterinary care cost are other reasons people give when surrendering their pets to the humane society.
“These animals have no one else,” Karen said. “It's not their fault that they're in this situation and they deserve as much love and companionship and we can't help all the animals in the shelter, but we can help some.”
She said her water and electricity bills have increased while taking in all their foster animals, but they get help paying for the animals’ basic needs.
“The humane society gives you all the food, all the formula, all the vet care. So they go back into the humane society every two weeks and they have whatever treatments they need done while they're there. So all their shots, all their flea and tick prevention, all of their deworming, all of that,” she said.
Thompson said the information they learn about an animal in a home environment helps the organization find good matches for the animals with potential adopters.
“If someone is looking for a dog who is good with cats or vice versa, we may learn that information from a foster and can make a match much faster. We learn about energy levels, social behaviors. If they are quiet, housebroken, good with children, if they like car rides, hiking, swimming, if they sleep through the night etc. The informational value we receive from foster families is truly priceless,” Thompson said.
People interested in fostering animals can fill out an application on the humane society’s website and take a few online training courses to qualify.
