How to Foster a Pet

By Melissa Maroff

Instructions

Step 1:
Consider that fostering a pet is temporary and be prepared for the day when a new home is found. Discuss it with your children and other family members and make sure they are prepared to be a foster family.
Step 2:
Search local pet publications and online for listings of animal rescue organizations and shelters. Most of them will have foster programs.
Step 3:
Choose a rescue organization or shelter that falls in line with your beliefs. Some organizations will euthanize animals that have not been adopted after a certain amount of time and others will not.
Step 4:
Decide how long you will be able to keep the pet. If it’s a puppy or kitten it will probably only be for a few weeks until they are old enough to be adopted. If it's an adult dog from a rescue group it might take several months until a home is found.
Step 5:
Figure out your budget and how much you will be able to allot for food, maintenance and medical attention for the pet. And keep in in mind--if you have love to give and it's only your budget that's standing in the way--many rescue organizations and shelters will cover the cost of veterinary services and in some cases food for the duration of the pet’s stay. It is normally your responsibility to transport the pet to the vet and to various adoption events.
Step 6:
Foster a pet that fits your lifestyle. For instance, if you live in an apartment, you can request an older dog that is low energy or a dog recuperating from an illness. If you are an active family or have a house with a big yard, you can foster a pooch that needs plenty of exercise.

Tips & Warnings

If you have other pets in the household, there are ways to help ensure that they get along with the new foster pet. (see Resources below)
There are certain organizations that sponsor foster programs for people who are ill, such as those living with AIDS, so that they don’t have to give up their pets. In this case you would be helping both a pet and a person in need.
Foster homes are also needed for service dogs that assist the disabled, such as the seeing or hearing impaired. Families who volunteer to foster service dogs often keep them for as long as two years while training them in obedience and socialization skills. It takes a special kind of family to love and nurture a service dog and then be able to give them up to help someone else.
Don’t foster a puppy or kitten unless someone is home to care for them at all times. Puppies or kittens should not be taken on if both parents are working.
Your foster pet may not be housebroken or the best behaved--since that could be what landed them in the shelter in the first place. Fostering will require love and patience and very often the proper training to get the pet ready for adoption into a permanent home.

Resources

Introduce a Dog to a New Pet

Photo/Video Credit

Courtesy of www.copyright-free-pictures.org.uk

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