Fostering an Animal

If you foster an animal, you are taking care of it until it is either old enough or healthy enough to be adopted permanently. You are socializing them so that they are friendly to humans, and are not wild.

Fostering is a very satisfying thing to do; it is a wonderful feeling to know that you have been kind to an animal. It is also helpful to your local animal shelter because if you have the animal, you save them room. They sometimes run out of cages for the animals that they receive.

You can foster a litter of puppies, kittens or any number of animals. It will give you a friend for the time that you have him or her, and it is not a long term commitment to any one animal. It also gives you a sense of responsibility and someone else to take care of. Try out fostering in your community.

You can call your local animal shelter to find out what the requirements are for being a foster family. Some of the common rules are:

• Having a fenced area for dogs
  
• Being able to separate foster animals from your own pets
  
• A short training session for everyone in the family
  
• The ability to pay for food and vet bills while the animals are with you