How does one become more involved w/ Rescue and Foster care?
We have been discussing this in my house that we might like to be more involved and that we might even like to be foster parents? But, we aren't sure what is required or how you even become intertwined with the different rescue groups.... Just wondering and looking for help and advice.... |
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| Find out who runs the foster program for your local rescue, and let them know you are interested. Sometimes the groups are very active and will contact you, but sometimes they are struggling to stay afloat and your best bet is to reach out to them every few months and remind them you have an open home. Thankfully a lot of groups are not overwhlmed and get away with using the same fosters over and over, but having you as a backup will always help. You could also offer to foster mixes, mostlys or maybes, so they can expand their intake! If your OES group doesn't have fosters, call up an all breed group and ask about their foster program. Foster homes are my heroes, it's such a wonderful and necessary service! |
| Lucky them - you volunteered and they don't even need you. That is definitely not the norm for most rescues. Like Heather said - foster homes (or the lack of them) are what most rescues run into - and then can't accept more dogs.  |
| shari my group is always interested in new fosters and you are not that far I could save you for just sheepdogs if you like For most rescues you fill out a foster application, give references have a home visit and you are in!! also rescues do different events that are fun so you could vol for that and sometimes we need help transporting dogs and that is fun let me know if you are interested  cindy 4dognight |
| I say kudos to you for wanting to foster! Foster parents are like GOLD to rescues as without them Rescues are able to help save others whom are waiting in Shelters or helped by being taken out of a situation and there is a place for them to go. This morning I wrote a looooong post (even long for me!) and sadly the power went out just as I pressed send...grumble grumble..and I lost it all so here goes again. Fostering for a rescue or shelter is so rewarding and a way to save lives. Some shelters become so overcrowded and there is limited space. Freeing up the space of 1 kennel means another animal then is helped from a dire situation. Think of St. Louis Stray dog Rescue for example, who saves stray dogs from the street. If more foster homes open up he can bring some of these poor souls to get help. AS NO MATTER HOW HARD THE RESCUE WORKS THEY CAN'T PULL A DOG FROM A DIRE SITUATION IF THERE IS NO PLACE FOR THEM TO GO. That's why fosters are so important. Many shelters and Rescue groups will train the volunteers to foster and bring them an animal(animals based on their comfort level and experience). Shelters/Rescues provide all the food/medicines and pay for vet cost. However foster parents usually help out and bring the animal for vet or other appointments. The animal is still the responsiblility of the shelter/rescue and will list the pet on Pet Finder. They are the ones to pre-screen potential new adopters who then either come to your home to view the animal or depending on your comfort - you bring the animal to the shelter or somewhere else for them to view the pet. The potential adopter then will decide to go to the shelter and pay for it and return with the proper paper work and pick up the animal from your home. Foster parents get a huge say regarding potential new adopters as you view first hand the interaction between the pet and people. Some Rescues/shelters provide a staff person to assist but most often they trust you to make the right judgement as you know the pet and see if it's the right fit. (The process varies amongst shelters and Rescues). I remember long ago when I wanted to help Small Animal Rescue as I had 1 bunny and 1 guinea pig and thought I could help the organization so I offered to foster. The reason THEY never got back to me is frankly they were so busy as the rescue was 100% volunteer run. I was a bit miffed at the time..hmph..they don't need me. However, that couldn't be further from the truth. In time, they got to know me when I helped out with a few of their fundraisers and suddenly I was swamped by request. (I ended up fostering aprox 22 bunnies). |
| Continued....didn't want to lose that post again. As for me, I foster a variety of animals and for 5 different rescues. Usually cats, bunnies, guinea pigs and most recently chickens. For every animal species there are foster homes needed. For me it's a personal choice as to who I can help and based on years of experience. Most foster parents will start off with an easy going animal and then based on comfort and experience will help out with more challenging ones - however that's a choice. In my area, myself and another woman specifically take the harder cases but then we've been doing it for many years. I've fostered aprox 162 in the last 10 years and except for 8 which I adopted myself , all went on to fantastic homes. Most people say , OH IF THEY WERE IN MY HOME I COULDN'T GIVE THEM UP. I think that's the number# 1 reason people don't foster but..... You start seeing the wonderful adopters out there and meet them firsthand and you know they are going into a wonderful home..yours was only temp. By letting that one go you can now help another one that is waiting in the wings until space opens up. I also foster for a high kill shelter and so I rejoice when they leave my home and it means it frees up more space for me to go back and get 1-2 more.) The SPCA Hospital will call me if they need a long term foster home for cats that have been injured by cars and suffered from broken pelvis, leg, or jaws for example. I provide a quiet space (yup! Really one does exist in my home!) where they can recover and the animal does much better healing than in a shelter environment. Once the animal is healed the they become adoptable instead of being PTS if the shelter is unable to provide long term care due to overcrowding. I also take on URI cats (Upper Respitory Infections) . These are cats whom have kitty colds and while it's not dangerous to other pets they are contageous to one another and need antibiotics to get better. Sometimes shelters have an outbreak of URI and isolation becomes filled quickly and it takes a long time for them to get better than the 2 wks it would take in a home environment. Over the years I modified a specific room in my house for URI cats and have had as many as 10 but NORMALLY it would only be 1-2 at a time. (The case of 10 was an extremely dire situation as the entire shelter cats had URI) For me personally, dogs are harder to take on as I had my three boys, but I did take Gilligan originally to give time to the Rescue to pick him up as his situation was dire. However, once viewing firsthand that he was fully accepted by them and because of his medical issues (and therfore not adoptable) he stayed put. Just a note here as many of you many not be aware but a few months before he passed I contacted Grannie Annie and told her I would be officially adopting him and therefore his cost would be my own. He did find his forever home! All situations are different and no matter how long you foster the pet for...you have made the difference to that one life. Knowing you've been a stepping stone for them is so rewarding. Good luck to you! Marianne As time has gone on and with more training from the shelter through workshops, courses and my own vet then I also feel comfortable giving sub q feedings to help a really ailing animal. However, that only came with again more experience in having numerous pets in my home over the years. Another shelter may use foster parents so that spayed/neutered animals get recovery time away from the shelter and the foster parent may even bring the animal in for the surgery and pick them up. Sometimes they have a separate volunteer doing the driving for vet visits. Most rescues and shelters have a page you click on to offer your services and yes be patient or contact them again as they are usually very busy. Lastly, you may even want to attend in person or drop in one of their fund raisers and I quarantee you'll be scooped up in no time! |
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