For the love of dogs: Fostering fur babies has blessed Shari Mathews

By Chelsea Retherford | Living 50 Plus

Shari Mathews tearfully snuggled a tiny Yorkie named Zoey as she walked into the Florence-Lauderdale Animal Shelter. Mathews had been fostering the dog for about a week before Zoey had found a loving home with another foster in Wisconsin.

“She was a breeding dog, and her breeder retired her,” Mathews said. “When dogs like her leave the shelter to go to Wisconsin, they go right into a loving home. Lots of them here have never lived inside a loving home, so we’re all happy when they get through this steppingstone in their journey.”

Mathews, who serves as a rescue coordinator for the shelter and Ma, Paws & Me Pet Rescue in Wisconsin, said it’s bittersweet handing over a dog like Zoey, who she’s grown attached to from having the pet in her care for several days or weeks.

Still, that doesn’t stop her from volunteering and fostering herself.

Mathews first began working with the shelter in Florence several years ago when its facility was located on Dr. Hicks Boulevard.

Originally from New York, Mathews said she moved to the Shoals from Florida to escape tropical storms and hurricanes. As she was familiarizing herself with her new community, and searching for ways to meet people and get involved, she said her mother suggested she try volunteering at the animal shelter.

“I said, ‘That is the craziest idea! Why would you ever tell me to do that? I’ll bring home all the dogs,’” Mathews said with a laugh.

“I thought, there’s no way I can go volunteer at a shelter, but I went anyway. I started walking the dogs, and I realized that if I didn’t come get them out of their cages, they might not get a chance to get out at all.”

Mathews said she began dedicating time every day to come walk and play with the dogs being kept at the animal shelter. As time passed, she felt like she could do even more for the puppies.

After she began fostering, she also began recruiting friends and strangers —anyone who would listen — to volunteer, adopt or foster.

“It takes a village for sure,” she said. “We have those that can’t foster, but they’re willing to help transport dogs to and from appointments. Sometimes, we just need a short-term foster, like we had a lady who really wanted to help. She agreed to foster two puppies for four days.”

Mathews said the shelter works with potential fosters to determine the best fit for the foster animals and their caregivers. While some fosters dedicate their time and efforts to puppies or kittens, she said others are better suited to keep the elderly animals. Some have more time and can give round-the-clock care to sick or injured dogs or cats.

Mathews admits she used to be partial to puppies, but as she’s aged, she has found that she now prefers to keep older dogs, which she said are easier to care for even if they require regular medication or specialized care.

“In my house, the youngest dog is nine years old and the oldest is maybe 15 or a little older,” she said. “The hospice fosters will stay with me for however long I’m fortunate enough to have them. I’ve been really lucky.”

Mathews described how more than once she’s had a dog come to her with an especially grim prognosis.

“Once the vet told me that I might have the dog for three months, but I was blessed to have the dog for 13,” she said. “I have another dog that was abandoned and brought to the shelter. Her hips aren’t attached to their sockets, and the vet told me to expect her to be handicapped.”

Though Mathews was preparing for the worst when she took that particular dog in, she said she’s had the dog for over two years now.

“And she runs circles around me,” Mathews said. “I showed her vet the videos of her running around, and he is like, ‘I can’t even explain it.’ He shows me X-rays of her legs, and it doesn’t make sense, but I guess that’s the power of good TLC.”

Over the years since she got involved, Mathews has recruited several fosters who enjoy sharing similar stories of pets they’ve spared from a life in the shelter.

“I was counting to see how many are over 50 in our group, and I’d say there are 12 of us,” she said. “A majority of us still work, but we’ve opened our hearts and our homes to saving fur babies.”

While it can be a challenge to balance her work and home life with volunteering, Mathews said it’s managed by keeping a steady routine. A typical day for her starts with breakfast and administering medications to her senior dogs — some of which are her own and several who are fosters.

Last fall, Mathews said she had 16 dogs at her house, which is the most she’s ever taken in at one time.

“That was a bit much. I tell my friends I need someone to save me from myself,” she said with a laugh.

Thanks to the help of the network of fosters involved at the shelter, Mathews estimated that 470 dogs and puppies found temporary homes until they were eventually adopted in 2024.

For potential fosters who worry they may grow too attached, or for volunteers who think they aren’t cut out for the overwhelming work, Mathews said she hopes her story encourages those who are apprehensive.

While she admits she does experience some heartbreak each and every time she has to hand another foster dog over, she says she’s always comforted by the fellow fosters and rescue workers she’s befriended over the years.

“There are lots of dogs that I think I could keep who would fit perfectly in my home, but I believe they deserve to have their own mom and dad. When you see them with their families, it makes it all worth it,” she said.

“Like I said, when I first started volunteering, I thought it might be a mistake. I’ve come to realize, you can’t save them all, but we can do what we can, and we can try.”