By Suzyn Barron, President of Warwick Valley Humane Society, Inc.
Did you know fostering a shelter animal involves providing temporary housing and care for a homeless pet in your home with little to no expense at your end? That is unless you choose to dote on your foster pet. The shelter or rescue usually provides all of the necessary supplies ie. food, crate, bed, medications, medical care etc. Typically there are no out of pocket expenses but will involve your time, care and a piece of your heart.
Fostering a shelter pet opens up much needed space in the shelter and gives that pet the experience of a homelife while waiting for their forever one. When the time comes, it isn’t easy to let go, returning the pet to the shelter to meet potential adopters. Sometimes the foster family and forever family inadvertently merge into one which is affectionally called “foster fail”. In losing a foster home we gain an adoption!
Every year for past couple of decades I have fostered hundreds of infant and young kittens until they were old enough to stay at the shelter overnight, typically around 6 to 8 weeks of age. I will admit I failed foster care once with my very first newborn kitten. I have fostered puppies too, most recently last year when nursing an injured young puppy through his recovery. I failed again, not at his recovery but ended up adding him to our family. No one starts out with the intention of adopting the foster pet. Sometimes, it just happens.
Not every shelter pet is eligible for our organization’s foster program, only those with specific needs such as baby kittens, elderly seniors or animals recovering from injuries or surgeries. Mostly those being too young or even too old. The chances for adoption of an 20 year old cat or 17 year old dog are quite slim. Fortunately, animals do not know the difference between a temporary (foster) home or a permanent one. Unbeknownst to some of our senior fosters, they live the rest of their lives as a beloved foster pet.
Potential fosters complete our application and agreement with the full understanding that our organization is fully responsible for all of the needs for that, especially any and all veterinary care with one of our shelter’s veterinarians. Every foster pet remains our organization’s responsibility until adopted. Fostering kittens is a short term commitment while fostering a senior pet may end up being for their lifetime.
Fostering is easy and its hard. Easy because there is no financial involvement, hard because the foster pet becomes part of your life for however long. What it is is also a very rewarding experience for being able to provide a loving home to a pet who has lost everything in their life. Whether it be the baby kitten or puppy losing its mom and siblings or the senior pet whose owner has died or the neglected, abandoned or surrendered pet. Every homeless animal has experienced the loss of its family. The shelter is the halfway house with a foster home being a stepping stone to their new life.
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