I have fostered a few
Posted By: sbMT on 2008-10-22
In Reply to: fostering animals - nymt
It is great and sad at the same time. I have never fostered animals through an official organization, but I will often pick up strays and contact the area animal shelters and vet offices and try to find their owners. I had one dog who stayed with me for a month. She was a walker hound. I found out later that she and 12 other hounds had been dumped out near my house because the owner could no longer care for them. I found two more dead on the side of the road. Don't know what happened to the others. I became pretty attached to her, but seeing as how I already had three dogs of my own, I really couldn't take on another. So I found her a home. An older man adopted her and he called me a month later to tell me she was an amazing dog and brought a lot of joy to him and his wife. It was very reassuring to hear that, but it was hard for me to let her go because I was already attached :(.
If you have a big heart and you can learn to let go, it is definitely a rewarding experience. I just had a chocolate lab here last week who was digging in the trash by a restaurant. I picked him up and called all the vets offices and animal shelter and eventually found the owner. They came to get him the next day and were so happy. He had been missing for a week and they had almost given up. From what they told me they were having a riff with their neighbors and they believe the neighbor opened the gate and let him out while they were at work.
Good luck! It takes a big heart to want to foster animals! I applaud you for thinking about it!
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I have fostered before.
You can foster through the humane society. When I did it several years ago it was basically to trial a cat before making the committment as we have other animals in the home. Through fostering I basically assumed all responsibility for the cat, at my own expense, until a return date determined by the shelter. They could extend the date if they wanted at that time. We extended it once and then decided to keep him. During the time I had him I was able to get his shots and checkups but would be out the money for it if I didn't keep him. For me it was worth it to make sure he was healthy and a good addition to our family. If not for having 3 animals, I would just foster and not adopt.
I have fostered dogs in the past, but
had a hard time giving them up, still have all three! In my area, the shelter relies heavily on donations to keep operating efficiently, so basically the foster homes take responsibility for all expenses of the animal being fostered. Fostering gives animals a chance who would otherwise be put to death because of lack of room, money or lack of people to rehabilitate the ones who have been mistreated and need extra attention. It is so worth it to give an animal a second chance at life. You have to be willing to let go though when the time comes and it is very hard to do. I just could not do it and so now just stick to volunteering at the shelter and doing fundraising and stuff.
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