The Slidell Animal Control Shelter is looking for a few good foster parents and items to be sold at a garage sale to help raise money for the shelter.

The garage sale will be from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 3 at the shelter at 2700 Terrace Ave. in Slidell. Gwen McGrath of the Animal Assistance League said donations to the garage sale can be dropped off at the shelter Monday through Saturday between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Director of Slidell Animal Control, Damian Anti, said the shelter will accept any donation for sale except for clothes.

The Slidell Animal Control Shelter is looking for a person with experience in taking care of newborn kittens and puppies like these who have the time to be foster care parents. (Staff Photo by Erik Sanzenbach)

The money from the garage sale will go to paying for spaying and neutering of the animals at the shelter and to buy food and supplies.

Anti also said they are looking for someone with experience and knowledge of taking care of newborn kittens and puppies who would be willing to give their time to be a foster parent on a temporary basis.

Anti cautioned that not everybody can do the job, and he will be very picky about who he chooses to take care of the baby animals.

“They have to know what they are doing, because it is a very time-consuming process,” Anti said. “We are really cautious about this.”

Sometimes, the shelter receives a litter of kittens or puppies whose mother cannot be found. Most of the time, shelter personnel can put these litters with female cats and dogs that are nursing their own litters, and mothers will adopt them as their own.

When that isn’t possible, the shelter has another option that they don’t want to do, which is euthanize the litters.

To prevent that, Anti is looking for a person who can spend a lot of time and knows how to care for cats and dogs that are between 3 days and a week old.

Anti said the shelter used to have an elderly woman who would be a foster mom, but she died recently, and they are looking for someone else. Anti said the shelter will help the person or persons out with all the supplies, but again warned that this is not a job for anyone.

“If they say they are experienced, we will check out their references,” Anti said.

McGrath said the Animal Assistance League is also looking for donations of canned dog and cat food and pet carriers.

She added the best carriers are the ones that open on the top because it makes it easier for her volunteers to get the animals inside the carrier.

For more information on the Slidell Animal Shelter Garage Sale, call McGrath at 788-1293. To inquire about being a foster care parent, call Anti at 646-4267.