Four-Legged Foster Kids Need Homes

Of the many ways to help your local animal rescue group, fostering a dog or cat in your home is one of the more difficult but also one of the most rewarding.

Opening your home to a homeless pet means that temporarily – for a period of days, weeks or months – you are in the position of being a pet parent to a dog or cat who often has no where else to go.

The responsibility of being a temporary pet owner can be as extensive as caring for an animal who is recovering from health issues or just sharing your space and time with a box of abandoned kittens who need room to grow.

“I enjoyed it,” said Jean Williams, who regularly fostered dogs in her native North Carolina before moving to Decatur earlier this year. “I liked to travel and didn’t want my own pet or the responsibility. I was able to help dogs who needed it and have that connection. I also made many friends through people who adopted the dogs later. It was a win-win for me. Really satisfying.”

LifeLine Animal Project regularly access foster homes for the homeless pets they rescue.

“LifeLine fosters a little differently than a lot of groups,” explained Debbie Setzer, community outreach and volunteer coordinator for the Avondale non-profit, “A lot of rescue groups are foster-based and keep many or most of their dogs in foster homes until they are adopted. That’s not what we do. We have the LifeLine Dog House where our homeless dogs live but we rely on foster homes for special needs dogs and for puppies.”

Special needs might include dogs who have just had surgeries or will soon need one or it could mean a dog who is very shy and sensitive and not suited to a shelter environment. Puppies need more time and attention than adult dogs, so they do well in foster homes.

“Some of the dogs we rescue have never even been in a home,” Setzer continued, “It’s important that they get to know what that is like. It’s part of socializing them and getting them ready for adoption.”

LifeLine’s field coordinator, Mickie Blair, echoes that sentiment when it comes to the cats at the rescue.

 “Cats and kittens who are waiting for adoption benefit from being in a home, " she said, "It gives them a chance to know and understand things we take for granted, like what a water faucet or a garage is, or what a dishwasher sounds like. These things are foreign to a homeless cat. Fostering is extremely helpful for these reasons.”

“It also allows us to know more about the cat and the cat’s personality, which helps us when people inquire about adopting them,” Blair added.

Both Setzer and Blair place emphasis on the fact that when a dog or cat is fostered, it frees up space at the rescue to save another animal in need.  

LifeLine supports foster parents by supplying all medical care for the pet, a crate andfood and litter if needed. Those fostering dogs also have access to weekly training through Frogs to Dogs.

Sometimes a foster family will want to adopt the dog or cat they have been taking care of. They get emotionally attached or they find that the animal is a good match for their household. The LifeLine staff fondly refers to these happy endings as “failed fosters” and say many adoptions have happened this way.

For those not willing or able to foster an animal in their home, LifeLine also offers a chance to “virtually foster” a rescued pet that lives in their Dog House or Kitty Motel. See details on their website.