Foster Care 101: Joy, sadness and lots of love

Foster care is easily the most important program at Cocheco Valley Humane Society. Hundreds of animals are sent into foster care each year but, despite the high number of foster animals, only a handful of volunteers are actually involved in the program. CVHS is always looking for foster homes, especially throughout the busy spring and summer seasons. The more foster parents we have, the more animals we can help. Unfortunately, foster parents are hard to find, mainly because so many people misunderstand the purpose of the foster care program. So what exactly is foster care and what does it involve?

Foster care is when volunteers provide temporary care for shelter animals in their homes, usually for a period of a couple weeks. Oftentimes, these animals are pregnant or too young for adoption. Animals that are available for adoption are not placed into foster homes. People like to see and interact with potential pets, which is why animals on the adoption floor find their forever homes much faster than animals in foster homes.

The three most common reasons for animals to be selected for foster care are:

1. Too young / too small for adoption
2. Pregnant
3. Recovering from illness or surgery

While some animals only need a home for a week or two, others may need up to three months of care. Kittens are by far the most common foster animal and they need to be at least 8 weeks old and weigh two pounds before they can return to the shelter to be fixed and put up for adoption. For some animals, they just need  a quiet place away from the shelter to get the special one-on-one care that they need to recover from an illness or surgery.

Animals in foster care still belong to the shelter, so foster parents are not responsible for the costs associated with their care. CVHS will provide all the veterinary care, medicine, food, and (if needed) litter for foster animals. In return, foster care volunteers provide time, shelter, day-to-day care, and lots of love to their foster animals.

Being a foster parent is simultaneously the most difficult and rewarding volunteer experience you can have at the shelter. For many animals, their second chance at a happy life is only made possible because of their foster parent. Foster families provide the care and socializing necessary for animals to find their new forever homes. With that in mind, it is incredibly difficult to love and care for an animal in your home only to return it to the shelter for adoption. As we remind all our foster families, though, for every animal you bring back to the shelter, there is another one waiting to take its place in your home!

The winter months are the ideal time to get involved with the foster care program as the amount of animals coming into the shelter is often lower than during the summer months. Foster parents can ease into the program slowly and build their confidence before “kitten season” arrives in the late spring. If you’re interested in becoming a foster parent, go to www.cvhsonline.org/fostercare.cfm and download a foster parent application.

Alaina Goodnough is the Promotions Coordinator at Cocheco Valley Humane Society in Dover, NH. She lives in Sanford, ME with three parrots, two cats, and two dachshunds. She can be reached at CVHS at devassist@cvhsonline.org