Foster

When you foster with Pets Alive Niagara, you provide animals in need with a temporary but loving home until they are adopted.

Why Foster?

Foster homes allow us to rescue homeless animals from a variety of situations.

The more foster home volunteers we have, the more animals we can help. Foster parents are able to help by providing these animals with temporary care and shelter until they are adopted.

Foster FAQs

• What do foster homes do?

  Foster homes are asked to provide foster animals with plenty of love, adequate food and water, shelter from the elements, and exercise. Administering medication may also be necessary. In addition to providing the basics, foster homes may also be asked to transport foster animals to veterinary appointments and adoption events.

  Foster homes play a crucial role in rehabilitating rescued animals. They are in a unique position to help abused or neglected animals learn how to love and trust. Foster homes can help these animals become more “adoptable” by providing socialization and basic training. By teaching or re-teaching an animal how to live in a home setting, foster homes help increase the odds for a smooth and successful transition into a permanent adoptive home.

  In the case of orphaned baby animals, foster homes provide surrogate parenting and round-the-clock care for tiny animals that are too young to survive on their own. By providing orphaned animals with plenty of nutrition, love, and stimulation during their first six to eight weeks of life, foster homes help ensure their health and survival as adults. What do foster homes do? Any way you look at it, foster homes save lives.

• What are the requirements for becoming a foster home?

  Pets Alive Niagara is always looking for more foster homes. The only general requirements are that you love animals and have the time and resources to provide a foster animal with adequate care. Other requirements will vary depending upon the specific needs of a given foster animal. Some animals, for example, will need fenced yards, extra time commitments (as is the case with orphaned newborns), isolation from personal pets, etc. Pets Alive Niagara makes every effort to match foster homes with an appropriate rescue animal.

• What items will be provided to a foster home?

  If you are approved to foster an animal for Pets Alive Niagara, you will be providing shelter to a homeless animal. All vetting bills are covered by the rescue and although many foster homes provide food, we are happy to provide food if needed. If you need a crate for a dog, that will also be provided. The rescue is financially responsible for the animal while in your foster care.  All you need is a bit of your time and a lot of love!

• What kinds of animals need foster care?

  Animals needing foster care include dogs, cats, and occasionally other species. Foster homes are needed for adults, babies, moms with newborns, and orphaned newborns. Foster homes are also needed for animals who are ill and/or need medical care or behavioural training. Many foster homes choose to specialize in fostering a specific kind of animal, while others choose to foster whatever animal is in need.

  Dogs usually need help with basic training and sometimes need a refresher course in house-training. All foster animals will need plenty of love and reassurance that humans are not to be feared.

• How long do animals spend in foster care?

  The time an animal needs to spend in foster care ranges from one night to several months. Because cats do not adjust to change as easily as dogs, cat fostering often requires a commitment of “fostering until adopted”. Any time commitment a foster home can make is desperately needed and appreciated.

Why We Love Fostering

• There is a special joy in seeing the transformation from fear to trust in a foster cat’s face and posture, the first time they relax and warm up to me. There is so much comedy in a litter of crazy kittens, rollicking and tumbling, learning how to be big cats. Each foster kitty has been cared for as if they were my own, and I enjoy the confidence in the feeling that they are ready for their forever home. That is the biggest difference between choosing to adopt from a small rescue rather than a shelter, and why I love volunteering. People often ask me how I can be so strong to let such sweet kitties go to adoption, but the feeling that I have space to help another is worth the emotional goodbye. Penny is the twenty-first cat I have helped, and I am not going to stop anytime soon! Fostering for Pets Alive is by far the most rewarding volunteering I have ever done.
  - Britta

Wondering if fostering is right for you? Talk to us.

Contact us any time to learn more about the fostering process!

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