Fostering: helping without adopting for ever

If you cannot adopt but want to help, fostering an animal for a few weeks or months changes its life. How it works and what you need to know.

A foster home looks after a shelter animal while it finds a permanent family. This way it leaves the cage or the shelter, gets socialised and the shelter gets to know it better.

How it usually works

The shelter is still responsible for the animal and decides on its adoption.
They normally pay the vet, and sometimes the food too. Ask what they cover before you start.
You give it a home, affection and a routine, and you tell them how it is getting on: temperament, fears or how it gets along with other animals.
It can last days or months. Agree on a rough length of time and what happens if you have to stop.

It suits you if…

You have time and space, but cannot commit to fifteen years, or you want to try out living with an animal. The hard part is saying goodbye, but knowing it is going to a good home and that you are making room for the next one helps a lot.