MUSKEGON, Mich. — Every day at the Muskegon Township Fire Department, some of the crew will put on their jackets. Others will grab their helmets.
But the latest recruits just want their bellies rubbed.
"The dogs get so excited about something even as simple as a car ride," says Lana Carson, director of Pound Buddies.
For one day a week, the Fire Department hosts a dog from Pound Buddies. The partnership aims to get the dogs out of the shelter and into a place where they're able to socialize and get their face out there to help speed up the adoption process.
"The influx of animals coming in on a daily basis far exceeds even the fastest adoption process," says Carson.
While at the station, the dogs get to meet the crew and have even gotten up into the fire trucks. But it's also been helpful for the fire fighters, too.
"We provide some stress relief and some benefits there in between calls," says Carson.
Two of the three dogs who have spent the day at the station were adopted shortly afterwards and the success of the partnership has Pound Buddies hoping other businesses will help foster as well.
"When you can look at things like a foster program, whether that's something for a day that a business can do, or new families that are coming in, and they can relieve that and bring a dog out until they are available for adoption is so incredibly important," says Carson. "So, we're looking for more opportunities, more so than we ever have in the past. It's critical at this point."
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