Jenny Hansson and Tim Steele
PORTLAND, Ore,. (KOIN) — Last fall, Pacific University students Shinia Kildall and Benjamin Martin took a media arts assignment to make a short film about anything and turned it into a tribute to the Oregon Friends of Shelter Animals.
The Oregon non-profit has been dealing with an increase in abandoned pets plus huge colonies of homeless cats. OFOSA is actively looking for foster families for the many rescue animals they’re taking in.
In their film, OFOSA’s Anne Haynes said there aren’t many qualifications to be a foster parent to an animal. “Click on our website, read all of the qualifications, just have a loving home, basically. We give you everything you need.”
Kildall said she had never heard of the non-profit before she began working on the film. “Everyone who works there is super passionate,” she said. “Once we got into it, it’s such a small passionate community.”
Martin said the biggest surprise to him was “they have over 300 foster families.”
They interviewed some of the foster families for their film, including one who has fostered 143 animals. One foster parent said, “We get to take care of them during the cutest part of their lives and then find them homes that are great fits.”
OFOSA appreciates the unexpected publicity, which comes at a time when adoptions have decreased since the pandemic. Their abandoned cat intake continues to grow.
Both Kildall and Martin are now interested in media arts and film. They also hope to someday foster rescue animals.
And their film helped their GPA, too.
“We got an ‘A,’ I think,” Martin said. “We were both super proud of it. We had a lot of fun doing it.”