Mocha, a long-time shelter resident, faced an uncertain future. The stress of shelter life had caused her behavior to deteriorate to the point where shelter staff, alarmed with her increasing displays of nervous energy that prevented her from being leashed and walked, were considering euthanizing her. They agreed that it wasn’t humane to keep her in the shelter waiting for an adopter who would never come.
Kelly Duer, Senior Shelter Solutions Specialist at Maddie’s Fund and a volunteer at the shelter where Mocha resided, also had noticed the decline in Mocha’s behavior. “I’d been taking Mocha on walks for several weeks, and each week she became more difficult,” said Kelly. When Kelly’s daughter, Annie, overheard staff members discussing Mocha, each admitting that they didn’t like her because of her difficult behavior, Annie piped up: ‘Well, my mom likes her!’”
“Then your mom should take her home,” they replied.
Kelly accepted the challenge. She and Annie picked up Mocha from the shelter on Saturday afternoon, and, as Kelly described, “in a spectacular lapse of judgement, I decided we’d take her straight to Petco. At the shelter, Mocha had a habit of grabbing a toy and not letting it go. This was completely understandable, as in the shelter, she had no idea if or when she’d see her next toy. This wouldn’t go over well in a pet store, so as we entered, I grabbed a cart and hefted her into the basket. Annie laughed and snapped the photo that would get her adopted.”
Three days later, as had been previously arranged, Kelly returned Mocha to the shelter to begin meeting potential adopters. The shelter had posted the photo Annie had taken of her in the cart, and it went viral. The next day, Mocha was adopted by a family that saw her on the shelter’s social media.
Kelly and the shelter staff were elated. “Over the next few months, we took home half a dozen dogs for weekend foster, all of whom had been in the shelter for months and were severely stressed,” said Kelly. “All of them found homes within days of returning.”
How fostering saves lives.
Open admission shelters, such as Animal Care Centers of NYC (NYCACC), whose mandates require that they accept every animal that comes through their doors, rely heavily upon foster volunteers to reduce their shelter populations by taking animals into their homes to free up space in the shelter. By fostering for a shelter, these volunteers are saving lives by giving more animals a temporary “halfway house” while they await adoption.
Many rescue groups are foster-based and depend solely upon foster volunteers to care for the animals they accept. The number of animals these groups can place into foster care directly corresponds to the number of lives they can save.
Shelter life can be particularly stressful for certain animals, especially those with special medical needs, older animals, nursing mothers and their litters, and nervous or frightened animals who have suffered physical or psychological neglect or abuse. The personal care of a foster caregiver can give these animals their best chance of thriving, regaining their confidence, and building trust towards humans while they await their next step in finding a permanent home.
As illustrated by Kelly’s foster experience with Mocha, fostering a pet can improve their chances of being adopted. Studies show that dogs that have been taken on field trips are five times more likely to be adopted, and dogs that have been treated to overnight visits in a foster family’s home are 14 times more likely to be adopted! Moreover, adoption returns are dramatically decreased for pets who have been fostered prior to adoption.
A foster family can provide vital decompression, socialization, and training, and can help their foster pet learn (or re-learn) how to behave in a home environment. All of these benefits can increase their chances of enjoying a successful and permanent adoption.
As a foster caregiver, the rewards of knowing that you played a key role in saving a life and helping to move your foster pet on to a brighter future are immeasurable! Fostering a pet can be especially gratifying for anyone who wants to help animals but for whatever reason cannot commit to providing lifetime care for a pet. Your temporary commitment can make all the difference for your foster pet!
So many animals in need, so many ways to foster!
Volunteering with a shelter or rescue group can set you up for a world of foster opportunities.
Depending upon your circumstances and the length of time you want to care for a foster pet (which might be a dog, cat, rabbit, or guinea pig), consider these kinds of foster opportunities:
- Animal Care Centers of NYC shelters are out of space and have an immediate need for foster volunteers!
- Emergency foster care while a shelter animal is recovering from an illness or medical procedure.
- Short-term foster care for pet owners hospitalized or seeking other medical or mental health services. PAWS NY is an example of an organization in New York City that offers many such opportunities.
- A pet owner facing a housing, medical, or other personal crisis that requires them to temporarily be separated from their pet, with a goal of being reunited with them once the crisis has been resolved.
- Pet owners being deployed for military service. Contact Dogs on Deployment, Pact for Animals and Guardian Angels for Soldier’s Pet for information about these foster opportunities.
- Individuals or families fleeing domestic violence. While programs that offer co-sheltering for pets with their family members are gaining traction, most domestic violence shelters do not accept pets. One exception is Urban Resource Institute (URI), the largest provider of domestic violence shelter services in the U.S. URI’s People and Animals Living Safely (PALS) is an innovative program, founded in 2013 with support from the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals and other strategic partners, to address the intersection of domestic violence and pets. It is the first and only program in New York City that offers co-living arrangements and comprehensive services for people and their pets in shelters, allowing them to stay and heal together. But safe havens are needed for far more family pets than any one organization can provide. To find out how you can become a foster caregiver for a pet in need of temporary care due to a domestic violence situation, contact URI, Safe Havens for Pets, or BestyBnB.
- Pet owners struggling in or fleeing a disaster zone created by wildfires, storms, floods, or other disaster conditions. Demand for foster volunteers in these situations can often be found on the internet or in news reports. Petfinder, Best Friends Animal Society, and other national organizations provide easy-to-use search tools to locate shelters and rescue groups across the country.
- Sleepovers, holiday fostering, and off-site field trips to give a rescue pet a welcome break from the shelter. NYCACC’s BoroughBreaks program pairs volunteers with shelter dogs for field trips and outings that can last from one hour to all day and can include a hike, a trip to the beach, a fun car ride, or even a long nap at home. These outings help reduce kennel stress and provide dogs with enrichment and increased visibility. What’s more, they give the shelter valuable insights into how the dogs behave outside a shelter environment.
- Inmate dog training programs, such as Puppies Behind Bars, need short-term fosters to allow a dog to decompress and acclimate to life outside the shelter before being placed in a participating prison for training.
- A found pet awaiting admission to a shelter or rescue group. If the pet isn’t claimed by his or her owner, you might even decide to adopt them!
- Internships with local businesses and government offices, such as this shelter in Texas that offers “internships” for dogs and cats at its government offices each year in conjunction with their field trip foster program.
- Nursing mom cats with litters and orphaned kittens require special care. Contact Bideawee’s Feral Cat Initiative, Neighborhood Cats, or a TNR-focused rescue group to find out about fostering opportunities.
Understand your responsibilities as a foster caregiver.
Whether you’re fostering for a shelter, rescue group, or other organization, you’ll want to make sure you have a clear understanding – and a written agreement – that details your responsibilities and those of the organization. For example, what is its policy concerning seeking medical care for the foster pet? Who is responsible for buying food and supplies? What happens if you need to return the pet before the agreed-upon end of the foster term? You’ll want to make sure you and the organization you’re fostering for are in complete agreement about all the issues, including the organization’s ability to provide you with adequate foster support.
Finding a permanent home…and letting go.
Generally, the shelter or rescue group for which you are fostering will seek a permanent home for your foster pet. However, most rescue organizations welcome your help with this process by sharing news about your foster pet with family, friends, and co-workers.
For some people, especially first-time foster parents, letting go of a foster pet at the end of the foster term is difficult. This is something you’ll want to consider before becoming a foster volunteer. For most people who foster, any sadness they experience in saying goodbye to their foster pet is decidedly outweighed by the reward of knowing they played a critical role in the life of a pet whose future is far better as a result of the love they gave and the help they offered at their moment of greatest need.
What if you decide to adopt your foster pet?
We often hear people say they’re reluctant to foster an animal for fear they’ll become so attached to their foster pet that they’ll decide to adopt – and thereby remove themselves from the pool of foster caregivers. But what’s to say that after adopting your foster pet, you can’t open your home to more fosters? Fostering is all about providing safety and a bridge to a permanent home – there’s no rule that says that permanent home can’t be yours. Giving a homeless pet a permanent, loving home is the greatest gift you can give them – and it certainly doesn’t preclude you from opening your home to future foster pets.
Useful Links
If you’re interested in learning more about foster opportunities, check out the following resources and articles.
Emergency Fosters Needed at Animal Care Centers of NYC
Fosters Needed in NYC at the ASPCA
Volunteer Fostering for Active Animal Haven Volunteers
Foster a Pet
Information and resources from the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals
Animal Care Centers of NYC (ACC)
Foster Care Program
Shelters & Rescue Groups
Animal Shelters & Rescue Groups in the NYC Area
ASPCA Pro
Foster Care
PAWS NY
Foster Care
Urban Resource Institute PALS Program
Program for Domestic Violence Survivors
Pet Safety in Domestic Violence Situations
National Domestic Violence Hotline
Maddie’s Fund Foster Care Resources
Discover a variety of resources and information about foster care programs
Maddie’s Insights: Exploring Efficacy, Barriers, and Best Practices of Companion Animal Foster Caregiving
A webinar of particular interest for animal welfare professionals
Pictured above (left to right) are former foster pets Nastassja, Mocha, and Dallas — all now living large in their permanent homes.