Vashon Island Pet Protectors (VIPP), in an effort to help resolve the crisis in King County’s overwhelmed and much-criticized shelter system, is looking for Islanders to provide foster homes for some of the dogs and cats in the county’s overcrowded Kent shelter.

Last month, a team of veterinarians hired by King County Executive Ron Sims toured the county’s main shelter in Kent and its smaller one in Bellevue and issued a report saying that the shelters are “dangerously over capacity” and use “inhumane” practices in the way they house their population of lost or abandoned animals.

VIPP, like other volunteer-run, no-kill shelters in the region, is working with the county to try to alleviate the overcrowding by placing some of the dogs and cats in Vashon foster homes, said Barbara Drinkwater, VIPP’s president. Most of the animals that would come to Vashon are in the county’s Kent shelter.

The situation in the Kent shelter is horrendous, Drinkwater said.

“They probably have three dogs in the space where one should be. So the more dogs we can find foster families for, the more it’ll help,” she said.

Cats, too, are in need of foster homes, she added.

Families who want to help can call Drinkwater and let her know what kind of animal they’re able to foster. The dog or cat will eventually be placed in a permanent home, she said.

Several of the dogs listed on the county shelter’s Web sites are pit bulls; Drinkwater, however, said concerns about the breed are overstated and many of them can be fine family pets. What’s more, the county lists only a small portion of the dogs and cats in need of homes; those interested in fostering can say the kind of animal they’d like to care for, and Drinkwater will work with the county to find the right match. All animals are thoroughly checked by a veterinarian before being released to a home, she added.

“It’s easier not to volutneer. But if you love animals you will,” Drinkwater said.

— Leslie Brown