SPCA Tampa Bay needs volunteers in Pinellas County. Hundreds of kittens require temporary homes until someone adopts them. The group pays for everything — food, medicine, and supplies.
Kitten season has arrived, flooding shelters with newborns too fragile for kennel life. Some need bottles every few hours. Others demand constant watch and scheduled feedings. Without foster homes, many won’t make it.
According to I Love the Burg, last year volunteers fostered 333 cats and kittens through this program. This year? The group expects more. Each kitten placed in a home frees up room for another animal waiting at the door.
Volunteers pay nothing. The SPCA provides medical attention, equipment, and instruction. Staff members and veteran fosters answer questions and help when problems arise. Placements last days or weeks, depending on what each animal requires.
Requirements are simple. You must be 18 or older with a vehicle. You should accept different types of animals and ages, follow instructions, talk with staff when needed, and respond when urgent situations pop up.
Foster assignments vary. Some involve newborns that can’t eat on their own yet. Others mean giving adult cats quiet time to adjust or nursing sick animals back to health. Each volunteer who takes kittens helps the shelter rescue more lives.
SPCA Tampa Bay runs Tampa Bay’s only For-All shelter, serving every animal that walks through their doors. The Largo building houses cats, dogs, rabbits, mice, iguanas, birds, and other creatures.
Workers accept hurt or sick wild animals, treat them, then release them back where they belong. The group also runs affordable vaccine clinics and distributes pet food throughout Pinellas County. Animals stay as long as they need — no deadlines, no exceptions based on breed or size.
The adoption office is open from 1 to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Anyone interested can apply at spcatampabay.org/foster.