As we’re make our holiday gift list, we might check it twice for something no Black Friday Sale offers.
While animal shelters and rescues warmly welcome plush blankets, squeaky toys with strong seams and wads of cash to replenish their supplies, there’s one gift that eclipses them all: fostering a pet.
Fostering, even briefly, is always met with cheers. But it is especially so during the holidays for several reasons:
Fostering opens up shelter space. Shelter census jumps dramatically during (and after) the holidays. Boisterous parties and sudden noises spook some pets enough to bolt through open doors and even tear through window screens. Pets may be accidentally lost in transit to visit friends or relatives. Escaped/lost pets are often brought to shelters by conscientious citizens when there’s no collar with ID tags (yikes!). Unwanted pets given as holiday gifts may also pour into shelters stressing already crowded animals. Fostering thins the shelter crowd and reduces labor and supply costs.
Fostering gives shelter pets a break. Shelter life floods every animal’s senses. Collectively, the furrowed faces and heavy scents of other pets, the shrill barking and screeching and the bustle of shelter workers can rattle seasoned residents as much as trembling newbies. Because shelters are heavily staffed by rotating volunteers, pets must constantly adapt to new people. Opening our homes — for a day or a week — gives shelter pets a deserved retreat and some consistency. It also gives the foster parent a chance to see how a pet functions within a stable environment and routine.
Fostering may reveal a pet’s true nature. Because shelter environments are distressing, they can mask a pet’s real temperament. Pets are more likely to show their stripes in a more relaxed setting. Foster parents can gather invaluable information about an animal’s behaviors, preferences and attitudes toward children and other pets. It may also be possible to add to a pet’s repertoire of trained commands. Such data collection enables shelter staff to more successfully match an animal with a potential adopter. Tragically, too many pets whose unique personalities were never known have been euthanized.
Fostering casts a wider adoption net. Many shelters and rescues boast hefty social media profiles. Foster parents extend this reach through daily activities such as walks, special events, video sharing with coworkers, friends and relatives and posting the foster pets on their own platforms. These efforts can also showcase the shelter’s foster care program and spur public interest in fostering, adopting, volunteering or otherwise supporting the organization.
Fostering may unwrap the best present of all. Giving a shelter animal the chance to thrive is not only a way of giving back, it may hold the key to lasting love. Some pet parents whose fur baby has long since passed and even those who’d never before considered pets discover their fosters to be a good fit and choose to adopt them. There are many factors to consider. Regardless, fostering itself is an act of love that buys a shelter animal quality time until the right family comes along. When that time comes, it may be hard for some fosters to let go, but doing so gives another pet a crack at love.
The rules for fostering are few; the rewards are many. Contact your local shelter for details.