#20. Consider Fostering Pets

I fostered for 20+ years, which you may already know if you have checked out my “About Page” found thru the blogs homepage ( clicking on the 3 lines upper left). Please check out my other posts as well (there is a table of contents in the same area). Helping homeless animals can be very rewarding & fostering is one way to do that. All the photos in this post were fosters of mine over the years.

You may not know that for any pet you can have there is a rescue out there. They usually all need foster homes, whether it is a dog, cat, rabbit, guinea pig, hamster, gerbil, rat, bird, ect… There are rescues for all different types of pets, some do a variety of pets & some stay with a particular type of pets, say dogs or rabbits. Rescue sites such as Petfinder.com & adoptapet.com are two places that have a lot of rescues listed for you to consider.

If you’re considering fostering, you need to decide what type of pet you want to foster. You also need to consider your time schedule & your home situation (is your whole family on board)? Where do you live(rent or own, apartment, condo, house) & are there any restrictions to any pets you can have, (some cites have breed restrictions/bans) or will they disturb neighbors, lets say if you want to foster parrots? Do you have the space to designate for the pet(s) you want to help? A safe place where they won’t be disturbed if they need time to adjust or heal.

Do you want to foster full time or do you want to volunteer to foster while other foster families are on vacation or away for the weekend? There is also a need for foster homes till another foster home is available to take in another pet(approx 1-14 days). Or are you looking to foster to adopt, some rescues & shelters offer this as an option, but time frame to decide will vary. Maybe you’re willing to help an expectant pregnant pet mom to be during delivery & nursing?

If you know what type of pet you want to foster then that is a big decision you’ve already made. You will want to decide if you want to foster a baby, young, adult or senior pet, also the size of the pet you want to foster (varies mostly with dogs)? Some people worry if they foster they will want to keep all the fosters. I have a piece of advice, foster a breed that doesn’t interest you that much. Let say you’re not a small dog person, then foster a few small dogs, & stay away from the breeds you like the most. If you like Parrots then foster Parakeets. Once you see the fosters find wonderful forever homes it gets easier to let them go. I originally fostered to find 2 dogs, not only for that reason, but that was part of it. I adopted my 5th foster dog & my 50th foster dog, it took some time to find the right ones. I can’t recall how many ferrets, or birds I adopted (jokingly called “foster failures” )but most went to new forever homes. I never adopted a rabbit or a guinea pig or any other small pet I fostered.

Finding a rescue or shelter to work with can take some time & research & it should. You want to foster for a place you have the same philosophy as they do. I fostered for about 5 in my 20 years & checked it to many others, but many do not see things the same as I do. Below you will find some things to think about & to ask those questions that matter to you to potential rescue places you’re considering fostering for:

1.Who decides what pets I foster? Do you pick or do they? Where do the pets come from?

2. Where do I have to go to pick up pets?

3. Will the pet be seen by a Vet before it comes to your home or do I have to take it to the Vet ? If you have to take it to the Vet where is that? (Places use Vets they have accounts with). Will the pet be neutered or spayed(if appropriate) prior to going to your home, if not when & where do you have to take to the Vet?

4. Where do interested people meet the pets, in your home, at a shelter, pet store etc.. & where is it located)?

5. Does the rescue or shelter have an application for potential adopters or do people meet pets their interested in & adopt if goes well?

6. Do you get a say in who adopts a pet you are fostering or is it up to a board or rescue head?

7. What is the rescues philosophy about training? I personally only believe in positive reinforcement training with dogs. Many Animals need to learn to trust again & need gentle care.

8. What type of foods do they feed? Sadly some groups don’t care if it is high quality or not. You also will want to find out who buys it & do you have to go pick it up & from where?

9.If you have issues with the foster who do you contact? If the issue is urgent or not safe for you or the animal what do you do?

10. Who supplies the things the pets will need? cage, crate, collar, tag, food, (fresh foods also for rabbits or guinea pigs), treats, toys, bedding & all other needed items?

11. This one may offend some people but what is the rescue or shelters view on no kill or non kill? No they are not the same thing, some places never euthanize even if a pet is vicious (it will live in a kennel or cage for the rest of its natural life), some places will euthanize for health reasons (quality gone) or biting or attacking other animals & some for overcrowding. If this is important to you, you need to ask.

Many rescues & shelters will have a fostering application you will need to fill out. A home visit will probably be done. In my opinion if these things are not asked of you, the place is not careful enough & I would tell you to say no thanks & look for another place. There are so many rescues & shelters needing pet loving people to help them. Many shelters are overrun with pets & by becoming a foster parent for pets you will be saving pets from potentially being put to sleep due to overcrowding.

Thank you for reading & I hope you’re considering fostering, even helping one pet helps others as it makes room in shelters or rescues for others. If you have questions feel free to contact me & ask, I fostered for a long time & think I have a good insight into this topic. echoinggreatpetcare@gmail.com

Please subscribe to my blog (you won’t get spam, you will get notified when I post a new blog post), like & share so more people can find my blog & more pets will not just survive but thrive.

Thank you, Debbie