Do you have time, love, patience and room to take in a temporary pet? Are you a good trainer, do you have a passion for caring for sick or injured pets, or do you just love caring for babies? Then fostering may be for you!
We are always in need of foster homes to help care for animals in need. Foster parents provide a temporary safe haven for kittens, puppies, dogs, cats, horses and other animals until a new home can be found. The length of fostering can vary from a few days to several months (and sometimes longer), depending on the amount of care, healing and/ or training that is needed. The loving care given during this time allows the animal a second chance to be adopted into a forever home.
We are frequently in need of fosters willing to take in orphaned kittens and puppies, those too young for their spay/neuter surgeries, as well as pregnant and nursing mothers. This helps out both the animals, since they are getting more socialization in a home environment, and the rescue because it allows us to take in and help more animals. We are also in need of fosters for fearful or unsocialized cats and dogs needing some patient, loving the attention to come out of their shells, energetic dogs who need exercise and training, injured animals who would recuperate better in a home and much more. And sometimes we need fosters for well behaved, well trained, fantastic pets who've just hit a patch of hard luck! We occasionally need fosters for horses and other animals, as well, sometimes who are in poor condition and need extra feed and care to rehabilitate them.
Many fosters are in their homes for several months (and sometimes longer). Puppies/ kittens and new mothers will need a place where they can be kept away from resident pets and small children. Orphans need bottle fed every 2-3 hours at first and belly stimulation in order to be able to eliminate waste. It's not easy, but if you are a nurturing and patient person, it can be very rewarding! Some dogs need training, rehabbing or just a place to regain their confidence after being dumped, abused, neglected or simply losing their homes.
Midwest Pet Refuge provides medical care for animals in foster care, and the foster home generally provides food, basic necessities and their time. We also need frequent pictures and updates on the pet's progress, so we can accurately post them online. We occasionally will need you to meet up with approved adopters, take the pets to adoption events and help get them into their forever homes.
We do check vet and personal references, as we have to be sure our animals are going to a loving, responsible home. When fostering, you are often making a commitment to care for the pet until it is adopted. You also agree to leave the adopting of the pets up to us (your input is welcome, but we do get the final say on all adoptions). Please don't sign up if you can't do this, as it's even more stressful for them to be shuffled around to different foster homes, and it can be a challenge for us to find new ones on short notice.
If you are interested in fostering, please contact us or fill out a foster application.