Santa Barbara County Animal Services wants the dogs in their care to enjoy spring break this year outside the shelter. The Santa Barbara shelter is looking for temporary foster homes to host a shelter dog for two to seven days the week of March 25 to April 2.

Foster homes will be matched with a dog of appropriate size and sent home with everything needed to make their vacationing pooch comfortable, including some exciting free samples and toys courtesy of Lemos Pet Supply.

“We had so much fun in December with our Santa’s Slumber Party, and so many people have been asking when we are going to do this again,” said Jeanne Saadi, the community outreach coordinator for the Santa Barbara shelter. “We felt Spring Break would be the perfect time to give our dogs another vacation away from the shelter.” 

Families can take the dogs to the beach, hiking, out to dog-friendly restaurants or just spend some quality time at home with lots of love and attention.

Saadi said that this type of program gives staff and volunteers valuable information about how each dog acts in a home environment that they just don’t get to see at the shelter.

“The dogs not only get a change of scenery and a lot of personal attention but they come back with more details that could help get the dogs adopted even faster,” she said.

If you would like to give a shelter pet a spring break, contact Jeanne Saadi at the Santa Barbara shelter at 805.681.4332 to be matched with a shelter dog.

— Susan Klein-Rothschild is the public information officer for the Santa Barbara County Health Department.