Pet Savers: Gabe Laney gives “Angel” some atten­tion. Pet Savers, a reg­is­tered stu­dent orga­ni­za­tion called Pet Savers has been formed on cam­pus by Professor Cate Arroe and now has a mem­ber­ship of 15 stu­dents who wish to stem the tide of pet aban­don­ment and help find them homes. Photo cour­tesy of Cate Arroe

Cate Arroe has led an effort to stop the trend of student-owned dogs being aban­doned at the end of the year.

“I have heard hor­ror sto­ries about stu­dents aban­don­ing their pets at parks or in apart­ments or at the local shel­ter,” said Arroe.

Arroe is a music pro­fes­sor at Ferris who recently gath­ered a group of 15 stu­dents who held in com­mon the value that every ani­mal deserves a home. The group, which recently obtained a reg­is­tered stu­dent orga­ni­za­tion (RSO) sta­tus, is called Pet Savers.

The group’s mis­sion state­ment says, “We are ded­i­cated to find­ing homes for pets who would oth­er­wise be aban­doned, and to pro­vid­ing ser­vices to dog and cat own­ers who would oth­er­wise be forced to aban­don their pets.”

Vice pres­i­dent Gabe Laney, an FSU senior, believes that fos­ter homes or per­ma­nent homes are prefer­able to ani­mal shel­ters. Pet Savers has started a fos­ter home net­work that they uti­lize when an ani­mal is turned in. Part of the effort is to sim­ply raise aware­ness so that stu­dents have a place to give their unwanted pet.

“The next step is to adver­tise to stu­dents and oth­ers in the com­mu­nity that if they have a pet they can’t keep, we will take it and find it a home,” said Laney. “We also pro­vide ser­vices such as help with train­ing, food and vet bills for our fos­ter par­ents and dog walking.”

Often times, these sit­u­a­tions occur when a land­lord finds out that a ten­ant has a dog, break­ing the rules of the con­tract. Instead of mov­ing out, the own­ers may aban­don the dog.

Arroe said they have not built up enough fos­ter homes for cats at this point, but she hopes to in the future.

The group was inde­pen­dently started by Arroe; it now has 15 offi­cial members.

For more infor­ma­tion or to drop off an ani­mal, call 231−250−2496. You can also visit www​.pet​savers​bi​grapids​.com for more details.