Be a Foster, Help Make a Difference

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Did you know that one of the primary reasons that Foothills Animal Rescue can place nearly 500 homeless animals into loving forever homes each year is due to the dedication of our incredible Foster Families? By fostering for a short but necessary period of time, these families provide more room at the shelter, allowing for FAR to save more lives.   

More than half of the animals adopted from the FAR go through our foster care program. Fostering requires  a commitment of time and energy from all household members to care for and socialize the animals, but the love you’ll get in return is well worth the work!  While in foster care, FAR provides any necessary medical care including medications, puppy and kitten required vaccinations, spay/neuter and exposure on our website or other social media sites  which means you can concentrate on cuddling, belly rubs and play time!

Many times a family will get involved in fostering because they are unsure if they are ready to make a full time commitment to a pet. We have a significant amount of “foster failures” that we are proud of!

Reasons to foster:

• Foster care can help save an animal’s life when county shelter is full.

• Some pets don’t do well in our rescue environment because they are frightened, nervous or anxious, need more socialization with a family group or just needs a break from FAR.

• We also have pets that need time to recover from an injury or illness before adoption.

Other questions:

• What skills does it take: It is best to have some knowledge of how to care for companion animal behavior and health. Some of the pets in your care may require a little extra help and some training or monitoring. Shy dogs often need time to learn to trust, there is dog /cat training on house manners, and socialization with family members and other pets in the neighborhood if needed. Just the mere fact that you know more about them in a home setting will make all difference to a potential adopter.

• Time invested: The specific needs of the animal will determine how much time is involved.  Puppies will need to be fostered until they are adopted or older than 7 months. Kittens will be able to move to shelter environment at the age of 10-12 weeks(or when they get spayed or neutered).

• How will they be adopted: FAR has many different opportunities for showing off our pets.  Our website and Facebook has the most exposure while our off-site adoption events give potential adopters the ability to see the pet in person. However you are more than welcome to promote your foster in your own social media circle or in your neighborhood.   We do require that the adopter’s family and their dog(s) visit with the foster dog before any final decision is made.  Very few fosters are given the responsibility to adopt an adult dog, puppy or kitten without approval from a FAR staff member.  If there is someone interested in your foster pet, a FAR staff member will call you and make an appt. to meet with the potential adopter at the shelter or either your home or their home.  A member of the FAR staff will meet with you and potential adopter to ensure that it is the best fit for the pet and review any issues about anima and discuss our policies and paperwork. 

• Your own pets: You will want to consider how your pets will adjust to a temporary foster.  For the safety of your pets, it is important to keep your pets updated on vaccinations.  In some cases you will need to isolate the foster pet from your own pets, either temporarily or for an extended timeframe based on the foster pet’s needs.  If there is an issue that prevents you from fostering, you will be able to return the pet to the shelter.  Sometimes it just does not work out!

• Saying Goodbye: Letting go of a pet that you have fostered, even to a wonderful home, can be difficult emotionally.  Some people like to be there when their foster gets adopted, others do not.  Most fosters will get pictures or updates from their new families which help them to stay connected and reassures the decision.  Knowing that you were part of saving a life and helping a pet find a loving home is tremendously rewarding.  Sometimes a foster home becomes a permanent home, that is why FAR is always seeking new fosters to help us Save More Lives.

How do you give fostering a try?   Download our  Foster application to get started!

If you are interested in being a Foster, fill out application, contact Outreach Coordinator-480-488-9890 and set up appointment for interview process. FAR requires that you volunteer at the shelter at least 6 hours in a month. You could do all your volunteer work in one week or over the whole month.  This will help to establish key relationships with the FAR team, understanding of our missions and policies and last but not least an introduction to our pets in need at the shelter. It is important to remember that we do require you to bring the foster pet to our adoption off-site events or be available for potential adopters to see.

 

Many times a family will get involved in fostering because they are unsure if they are ready to make a full time commitment to a pet. We have a significant amount of “foster failures” that we are proud of!