GALLIPOLIS — Gallia County Dog Warden/Shelter Manager Jean Daniels is looking for foster homes to house area strays until they can be rescued.

“I’ll provide the food, all I need is somebody to take care of them,” Daniels said.

Daniels said five rescued dogs are headed to New York this weekend. The rescue shelter there has paid for the dogs to be vetted. However, before they are sent to New York, they have to come back to the shelter in Gallia County where they are again exposed to various doggy diseases.

Daniels is looking for volunteers to foster dogs until they can be sent off to a rescue shelter. This option is also available for citizens wishing to drop litters of puppies off at the shelter. She’ll work with them and provide food until they can get the puppies rescued. Daniels said they were recently able to foster 11 puppies in this way that just went out last week.

She is trying to foster dogs, not only to keep them out of the shelter, but to decrease the instance of disease. In addition, foster families or individuals must have adequate space for the dogs.

“With fostering there is a better chance of getting dogs adopted,” said Melissa Leach, one of five or so Gallia residents already fostering dogs for the shelter.

“I can’t believe I’ve been doing it this long,” she said, adding that she started fostering in June. “I’ve probably fostered about 40 dogs so far.”

Leach said that she usually takes her foster dogs out with her to try and pique citizens’ interest in adoption.

“It’s great to volunteer out here,” she said. “I’ve learned so much.”

An avid animal lover, Daniels is pleased to say that the shelter’s rescue numbers have surpassed its euthanasia numbers, although they still have to put dogs down every week due to overcapacity. The shelter has also taken in twice as many dogs this year compared to last year.

“We are so full right now and we remain full,” she said of the shelter’s capacity. “The only thing we can do is to get dogs out of here and that’s going to be through euthanizing or people adopting.”

During a tour of the shelter, it’s obvious that Daniels truly cares for the welfare of these dogs. She has made connections with rescue shelters and garnered donations all over the eastern half of the United States. She has received donations of medicine from Wisconsin, reusable canine beds from Columbus and ripped bags of dog food from Wal-Mart in Gallipolis.

“Wal-Mart has been awesome,” she said. “When they call, I try to get out there to get the stuff as soon as possible.”

Daniels said volunteers can help out in a number of ways whether by fostering, helping clean around the shelter, or providing transportation for rescued dogs.

“Transportation help is critical for rescues,” Daniels said. “Transportation help saves dogs. If we can get people to help transport rescues then we’ll provide crates, blankets, and whatever else makes it easier for volunteers.

“People come up with their own ideas as to what they can do and that really helps,” she added. “There are also some small businesses out there that provide great help as well as some local veterinarians.”

To participate, volunteers must simply fill out a waiver for liability purposes.

Local dogs have been rescued to Canada, New Jersey, New York and elsewhere. Often times, volunteers will drive them to a point and then another driver will pick them up and transport them further down the line until they reach their destination.

Some dogs were literally flying high after recently leaving the shelter during a rescue effort by Pilots and Paws, which flew 10 puppies and one dog to a rescue shelter in Pennsylvania free of charge.

Michelle Baldwin of Kids to the Rescue in Pennsylvania has rescued 17 Gallia County dogs for adoption, one of which will be featured during Puppy Bowl VI. The Puppy Bowl is annual television program on Animal Planet aired the afternoon of the Super Bowl during which time puppies play in a model stadium while announcers provide commentary.