VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Inside the Virginia Beach SPCA, every kennel and cat room holds a different personality waiting to meet the right family.
For the Groves family, that search may have already led them to a cat named Bruce.
"So our little one here, Aiden, he wanted to — maybe he really loves cats and animals," Jay Groves said.
"We really like Bruce so we'll see. We're putting in an application today," Groves said.
"It just brings a lot of love and kindness, you know, fun times and there's responsibility," Groves said.
That joy is what keeps families coming through the shelter's doors. But behind the playful moments, staff say there is also a growing need for more adopters and foster families.
"Past a few weeks, we've taken in over easily over 100 animals from a variety of situations," Jenn Fly, director of shelter operations at the Virginia Beach SPCA, said.
Fly says fostering gives animals a quieter place to recover and adjust while also creating more room for incoming pets.
"Time between when they come to us and when they're ready for adoption, that would really help to have them in a foster home," Fly said.
Longtime foster volunteer Laura Poole has seen that impact firsthand for nearly a decade.
"When you see them getting adopted and you're able to speak with the adopter and first of all, give them information to help them with the journey ahead and just seeing them going into a loving home, it makes it all worthwhile," Poole said.
Right now, those happy endings are especially important as some animals continue waiting months for adoption.
"We have a lot of amazing animals on our adoption floor that have been here for a very long time. We have two dogs who just passed their 300-day mark and by having them still on our adoption floor it means these animals that we have kind of in the background being made healthy, they don't have anywhere to come out to the adoption floor," Fly said.
Fly says longer stays make space inside the shelter even tighter, especially with more animals arriving every week. She says the summer season presents a natural opportunity for families to step in.
"That's actually the perfect time — your kids are home from school. It's a great time to let that new pet settle into your family," Fly said.
Whether fostering for a few weeks or adopting for a lifetime, shelter staff say opening a home to one animal can make room for another pet still waiting for a second chance.
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