LA Animal Shelters Say They're 'Flooded With Kittens' In Need Of Foster Homes

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Los Angeles animal shelters say they are awash in kittens and in need of foster parents to help care for the kittens until they reach eight weeks of age, the Department of Animal Services said Friday.

The Department of Animal services said it has thousands of kittens under its care each year -- and currently has hundreds of kittens in need of fostering.

The shelters are looking for volunteers who can care for the kittens until they are 8 weeks old. At that age, the kittens can be spayed or neutered and sent to a new home. Foster care volunteers are given training, for example, in how to bottle feed kittens who are are not able to eat independently.

"Foster volunteers are the future of life-saving," Brenda Barnette, general manager of LA Animal Services, said in a statement. "By opening your home to an animal in need, you are preparing a pet for adoption into a home of his own as well as directly saving lives of animals in our crowded shelters. If you are available for a couple weeks or a month, please help some orphaned kittens get the chance they need for a happy life."

City shelters typically see a decrease in kitten births at the end of summer. But that's not the case this year.

"This year kitten season has been nonstop," Barnette said . "Typically we start to see a decrease in kitten births around this time of year. This is not the case this year as we see more and more kittens arrive each day."

Those interested in fostering kittens can download an application here.

To find the shelter closest to you, visit: LAAnimalServices.com/shelters or call (888) 452-7381.

The Department of Animal Services said it is also looking for foster parents to provide home care for some mom cats as well as dogs.