MIDLAND, Texas (KOSA) – Animal shelters across the Permian Basin are still at capacity, leaving many pets on the euthanasia list to be put down.

But Fix West Texas is stepping up with their fostering program offering these animals a second chance and easing the strain on local shelters.

Fix West Texas and the Midland Animal Shelter are teaming up to get pets adopted and into loving homes.

Most of these dogs come from local shelters or are brought in through community intake.

And that’s where fostering plays a key role, providing these animals with a temporary safe haven while they wait for their forever family.

Ashlyn Hernandez, Adoption Manager at PetSmart, said, “The more we can get dogs into fosters, the more they can decompress and socialize and have a better chance of being adopted out.”

Today’s testing was more about making sure the dogs are friendly enough to go into new homes.

Evaluators look for signs of socialization, temperament, and how well each dog responds to human interaction.

“Sometimes they just need a little bit of love, a little bit of TLC. Other dogs, they’re just confident, super social, friendly, happy little animals that just need a home of their own and sometimes they just need a foster to be able to hang on to them for even just a couple days, a week, to be able to get them into that forever home,” added Bethany Smith from Fix West Texas Adoption Team

If you’re interested in becoming a foster, you can visit here.