Becoming a Pet Foster Parent

Many people have the time, space, and desire to have a pet. However, pets are a lifetime commitment, and sometimes you just know that realistically you aren't at that point in your life where you could permanently take care of a pet for its lifetime. Perhaps you already have pets of your own, but you'd like to help more. Maybe you have a lot of time, but not enough money to realistically afford having a pet. In any of these cases, being a foster parent may be an option for you.

Fostering pets generally involves an organization bailing the pet out of a kill shelter, then you will keep the pet temporarily, for a specified or unspecified amount of time. The animal will be treated as your own pet while at your residence, and then will be either transferred to another foster home or adopted into a permanent home. By fostering, you are giving shelter pets an extended amount of time to find a home. Some pets also don't do so well in a shelter environment and fare much better in a home environment that a foster home provides.

Before you jump into fostering, you'll want to consider what kind of pets you'd like to foster and what kinds of pets you are realistically able to foster. There are rescues out there for just about any type of pet. You could foster various breeds of dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, hamsters, birds, reptiles, etc. I personally have found fostering rabbits, guinea pigs, and rats quite rewarding.

Once you've decided what type of pet(s) you'd like to foster, look around for a rescue near you. A good place to find a rescue is www.petfinder.com. Some rescues will say right on their page that they need more foster homes, while others will not. Some may not be able to have you foster right away, depending on their resources. I'd recommend volunteering first with the group if you can, just to make sure you agree with their practices and like the group. If you end up not liking the group's policies, fostering is going to leave you with a bad taste rather than a warm fuzzy feeling.