We were excited to see a donation come in for Lights of Hope from one of our amazing foster care parents, who so graciously dedicated a light to each of the fosters she has worked with this year. Our foster program is incredibly important as it helps get animals in temporary homes and out of the shelter to make room for others coming in. Fostering gives our adoption counselors more information about animals in our care and how they do with kids, dogs or cats, and if the pet is anxious, trained etc. There is so much great information that can be learned from our foster families!
We asked Wendy a little bit about how she got into fostering, “I began volunteering for FHS in 2016. In 2018, my volunteer coordinator asked me if I had thought about fostering, which I had, but I was afraid that I would have difficulty giving the fosters back. She talked me into it, and I haven’t regretted it for a single moment. Fostering is such a highlight to my life, and my husband and daughter became integral parts to fostering in our home. I foster because I know it opens up space for more animals in need in the shelter. I keep a scrapbook of all my fosters with descriptions of the animals and the time they were in our home because I don’t ever want to forget those that I have helped. To date, we have had exactly 100 fosters live with us in our home.”
We are incredibly grateful for folks like Wendy who open their homes and their hearts. We truly cannot do this work without them! Today we want to say a huge THANK YOU to our foster families all over the community and to our foster coordinators who keep it all moving and organized!
So what exactly does it mean to foster an animal? A foster is someone who temporarily cares for an animal in need. They provide love, attention and care until the animal is ready to come back to the Adoption Center. Fostering usually lasts 2-4 weeks. That time can vary if the animal is sick, injured, pregnant, nursing etc. but you have the full support of our foster coordinators and medical staff to help you out.
Who can foster? Anyone! Even if you have other pets, as long as they are vaccinated, you are good. If you’ve never had a pet before, no problem. If you have children, you are unemployed or retired, you live in an apartment (as long as it’s ok with them), you don’t have a fenced in yard, you live alone, you’re a college student (as long as you live off campus) then you are qualified to be a foster!
There is no fee to foster an animal with Forsyth Humane Society, we are responsible for the animals medical expenses, medicine, and provide you with pet supplies and food all thanks to our generous donors. Supplies can include but are not limited to towels, blankets, food, bowls, toys, kennels or crates, litter box and litter, all depending on the needs of the foster family and the animal being fostered.
Find out more and become a foster today at www.forsythhumane.org/foster to jump into this rewarding and incredibly helpful experience!
Prepared by Kristen Williams
