Recovering addicts share love and care through foster pets at a Monterey rehab center.

Mercy, a young pit bull mix, came to Hitchcock Road Animal Services in Salinas last fall with eight puppies, just 2 days old, in tow. Mercy was emaciated, her ribs sticking out from beneath her skin. She could barely keep up nursing eight hungry mouths.

Leah Gast, Hitchcock’s foster coordinator, put out the word to foster volunteers that a temporary home was needed for Mercy and her pups until they were old enough to be put up for adoption at 6 weeks. Michele Casey at The Bridge Recovery Center in Monterey responded right away.

Casey and her husband, Pastor Mike Casey, founded The Bridge Restoration Ministry in 2006, starting with a men’s residential program in Pacific Grove. They added a separate women’s program in 2014 and last year the nonprofit acquired a 7-acre facility in the woods off Josselyn Canyon Road in Monterey for the men’s program.

Last fall they partnered with the shelter in Salinas to bring foster dogs and cats to the campus, to be cared for by rehab residents who volunteer for the responsibility.

The Bridge’s foster program didn’t start right away. It was three barn cats brought in to keep the rodent population under control, adopted from 10 Lives Rescue and Sanctuary located in San Andreas, that sparked the idea of taking in foster dogs and cats.

Casey asked men in the program who wanted to help take care of the barn cats, and Jordan Hall stepped up immediately. They remind him of his own cat at home he misses so much.

“It’s been great having the cats,” Hall says. “If I’m having a bad time, I can go out and visit them.”

“I could see how beneficial it was,” Casey says. Knowing the need for foster volunteers, she began thinking about introducing more animals to the campus. “It made me wonder if we could really foster as a group,” she says.

Casey reached out to Hitchcock explaining The Bridge’s program, “and we said ‘yes, please,’” Gast says with a chuckle.

The first foster at The Bridge was a kitten too young to be put up for adoption, in early October. Next came Mercy and her eight puppies, who by the time they arrived on the campus were 2 weeks old. As of early March this year, they have fostered one cat and 11 dogs.

“It’s therapeutic for us and the dogs as well,” Jeremy Villante, a program supervisor, says. He remembers when Mercy came to The Bridge, “super scared, super skittish. She wasn’t adoption ready when we got her.”

Gast says animals often come to the shelter scared and shut down – the shy ones are often stressed by the noisy environment in a place filled with other animals. A foster home gives the animals a chance to relax and show their true personality. “And that’s why foster homes are the best thing ever,” Gast says.

Amberlin Christian, who comes from The Bridge’s women’s program, serves as a “puppy liaison,” as she calls herself. She brings the foster dogs to the second-hand stores run by The Bridge in Monterey as a way to introduce them to prospective adoptive parents. She also enthusiastically volunteers to accompany Casey to events where the dogs will be introduced to potential adopters.

“It’s nice to immerse myself in something I enjoy doing,” Christian says. “It brings me joy.”

Already there have been what’s known as “foster fails” – the Caseys adopted one of Mercy’s puppies and a men’s program coordinator adopted Mercy. As of early March the Caseys were seriously considering adopting a young terrier mix named Millie, to serve as an ambassador of the program and to help socialize other foster dogs.

On a spring-like day, Millie, once shy and scared, is happily milling about the humans who are chatting on campus. When she sees Villante, she instantly perks up – he’s her person, the others agree. As soon as he sits down, Millie happily jumps into his lap. A little while later Hall brings out Mercy for a visit, looking well fed, relaxed and content.

Casey says it’s not just the dogs who blossom under the care of residents.

“The sweetest part is the guys and the gals come out of their shells a little bit,” she says. Having an animal to walk with or snuggle with is therapeutic: “It brings out their softer side.”