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Focus On: Fostering
May 2024
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Focus On: Fostering
Once upon a time, we fostered a little beagle named Galina thinking we would ‘try out’ a few dogs before adopting one. 250 dogs later, we still foster.
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Right now, in the current shelter crisis, fostering is one life-saving action that anyone can take. While conjuring up more adopters or creating the magic formula to stop all the owner surrenders might seem beyond your reach, fostering is not. And, as they say, every time you foster a dog you save two lives—the dog you are fostering and the dog you created a space at the shelter for.
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When I suggest people foster a dog, the first reaction is almost always: “I’d never be able to let the dog go.” It’s a legitimate fear, until you see just how many adoptable dogs are dying in our nation’s shelters (and on the streets when full shelters turn them away). Here is what I said to my kids when they lobbied to adopt that first foster dog, Galina: “If we keep Galina, we can’t save another life.” They were kids, but they got it. They understood that the sooner you find a home for your foster dog, the sooner you can save another. So you celebrate a dog’s new family and you find another life to save.
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Until Each One Has A Home,
Cara Achterberg
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URGENT NEED: THE DMV FOSTERING CRISIS
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Frequent followers of our organization know that we do much of our work in the US South. However, there is currently a crisis unfolding right in WWLDO's backyard. In the past year, the DC Metro area has faced two major crises related to the shelter system. Due to a current breed ban on Pitbulls in Prince George County, MD, owner-surrendered Pitbulls are being euthanized upon intake at PG County Shelter, and legally cannot be fostered in PG County. Mass euthanization has been applied to other breeds as well due to mass overcrowding. There is an urgent need for adopters and fosters from outside PG county to help save as many dog lives as possible. Locals recommend reaching out to Laila’s Rescue, AAHA, or Lucky Dogs or your favorite local rescue to see if they can and will pull dogs from the shelter. Additionally, PG County Shelter is waiving adoption fees through 5/31.
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Conditions at the HRA as of 8/23. Click the image to watch a video.
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"Is Fostering For Me?": Deborah's Story
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After losing my 12.4-year-old Dalmatian rescue, Holly, in April after a 14-month battle with kidney disease, I did not feel ready to adopt just yet. But the yawning emptiness at home: her empty chair, empty water bowl, and the empty place next to me on the couch, all prompted me to try fostering. I deliberately picked a dog who looked nothing like ‘my’ kind of dog (i.e., white with black spots). As presented in the rescue photo, “Buddy” was the antithesis of Holly. He looked somewhat like an oversized rodent on steroids, but with longer legs. I said I would give it a try.
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On a rainy Saturday, I drove an hour and a half to pick up Buddy who was fresh off a dog transport, along with some meds to deal with his cough, and a bag of food. He started crying the minute he was put in my car crate.
Driving back through the pouring rain with a smelly, screaming dog, I wondered if I had made a mistake.
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On arriving home, Buddy cried even louder, then took off on a rampage through the house. After a few “oh no…please NOT on the oriental rugs”—Buddy was corralled, and I wondered again if I had made a mistake. Maybe this fostering stuff was for people who lived in the country, with lots of land and maybe even a barn for overflow cats and dogs who showed up. But a bath for Buddy seemed to be the best plan of action for the moment, so off to the sink we went.
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Two hours later, freshly shampooed, Buddy stopped crying and decided to share part of my chicken breast for dinner. Four hours after that, he was asleep at the foot of my bed. He crawled under the blanket at some point, and by morning, I woke with a dog snuggled around my neck. I realized I was wrong to think he looked like a rodent. In fact, he was really rather cute, just a little dog with an elf-like face, funny little legs, and very intelligent eyes.
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Twenty-hour hours after that rainy drive, I was calling the rescue coordinators, because I just knew Buddy had to be lost but unclaimed. No one in their right mind would ever willingly give up such a great dog!
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Once the rescue confirmed that Buddy was not lost, the reality hit me that there are countless scared wonderful “Buddies” out there who just need a chance to get out of shelters and into homes where they feel safe. Instead of a panicky mess of a dog, Buddy is really just a bundle of energy who loves belly and butt rubs, his squeaky toy, and playing fetch.
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I don’t know how long I will foster until I adopt another dog, but I now appreciate the important role of a foster program. And I know I will miss my precious Buddy when he finds his forever home.
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COMING UP: The Annual Fall Online Auction!
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Our Annual Fall Auction is slated for September 27 – October 7, 2024. Although that's still several months away, now is the time for us to start planning for our biggest fundraiser of the year. Our 2024 Instagrant fund is already empty. As a completely volunteer-run and donation-based organization, we rely on out Annual Auction to provide tangible help to our partner shelters. We use our instagrants exclusively for investments in items with long-term benefits like kuranda beds, providing new, larger kennels, and improvements to the shelter itself, like repouring concrete floors to prevent worms and parvo. This cornerstone of our programing requires in-kind donations from the community in order to fundraise.
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Would you like to provide a basket for our auction? Contact us.
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Know an organization that would like to support us?
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CALL TO ACTION:
Help Us Connect With Animal Rescues!
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Do you know any Animal Rescue or "Friends Of" organizations? The shelters we work with are frequently searching to connect with Animal Rescues across the country to aid in their mission of getting dogs out of shelters and into their forever homes. We are currently working on a project to expand our network of connections with Animal Rescue organizations, and we need your help!
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What's the difference between an Animal Shelter and a Rescue? Although in everyday conversation the two are often used interchangeably, they operate differently and often in tandem with one another. FuRR Feline Rescue sums it up well: "Shelters are typically funded at the town, city, or state level. People may refer to them as animal control or the pound. Workers at the shelter may be paid... Most rescue organizations in the United States are non-profit 501(c)(3) and run by private individuals or by a small group. Most rescues do not have over-populated facilities and can care for each animal personally." Frequently, animals in rescues start out in public shelters, and shelters love to connect to rescues in order to get help with connecting to adopters, especially for dogs that may need more care or attention. Learn more here.
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If you have a connection to, or even knowledge of, Animal Rescues in your locality, please get in touch so that we may connect with them. The more we can connect our shelter partners with resources to lighten their load, the more lives we can save!
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From the Blog:
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The Difference Between City and County Shelters in Arkansas
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Before I tell you about CCAPS - Animal Shelter, Magnolia, AR, I need to first explain something unique to Arkansas. Cities have municipal shelters funded by tax money, and county shelters do not have municipal shelters. Instead, they depend on private nonprofit shelters and rescue organizations like CCAPS (and UCAPS). There is little regulation of these private shelters and rescues, …
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From the Resource Guide
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Highlight from the Resource Guide on Fostering
For animals who cannot handle the stress of shelters, fostering provides a peaceful environment and a better chance at finding a forever home. Fostering also frees up a space at the shelter to help save more lives. And foster volunteers make amazing shelter advocates and dedicated supporters of their local shelters.
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Recruiting and maintaining a network of foster volunteers continues to be a challenge for many shelters. Research by Maddie’s Fund revealed that organizations with the biggest foster programs have quick and easy onboarding processes. Successful foster-based rescues report that their easy foster care application process helps them to recruit dedicated and compassionate foster parents.
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Shelters may miss out on recruiting potentially great caregivers when they enforce unnecessary requirements for participating in a foster program. For example, only accepting foster applicants with previous breed experience, those who work from home, or those who have fenced-in yards can limit the number of applicants who qualify to become foster volunteers. The WWLDO Resource Guide Fostering page offers a round-up of tips for animal shelters on how to run a successful foster program. Following are just a few ideas on how to recruit foster volunteers.
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- Word-of-mouth is one of the most effective ways to recruit new volunteers. Encourage your current foster and volunteer base to reach out to friends and family and let them know that the shelter needs foster caregivers and educate them about the positive impact fostering has on shelter animals.
- Provide an easy-to-find link to an online foster application form on the shelter’s website.
Maddie’s Fund provides a valuable list of best practices when promoting your foster
program online.
- Be sure the importance of the foster program at your shelter is communicated often in newsletters, on social media, and in news releases. Highlight pets currently in foster homes and mention how well they are doing. Explain how living in a foster home helps to reduce stress levels for shelter pets and encourages them to be more trusting of humans. Educate the community on how living with a foster family helps shelter dogs transition into their adoptive homes and reduces their exposure to germs that may be found in a crowded shelter environment.
- Target recently retired people or empty-nesters to become foster caregivers. Often retirees have time on their hands and are actively looking for volunteer opportunities. For empty-nesters whose kids have recently moved out of the house taking care of a foster dog may help to fill a void.
- Think outside the box. The Friendly Finders Program at the Montgomery Humane Society, AL encourages good Samaritans who find lost pets to foster them in their homes for a few days while the shelter works to find their owners. The shelter pays for food and supplies, and the “friendly finder” posts fliers around the community and uploads photos to local missing pets’ websites. If an owner hasn’t been found after four days, the good Samaritan can continue to foster or bring the pet to the shelter.
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The WWLDO Resource Guide offers a wide range of ideas to help shelters continue to save lives. In addition to fostering, the guide is full of ideas gathered from our shelter partners on topics such as fundraising, volunteering, animal enrichment, and community engagement. New ideas and programs are added to the guide all the time, so check back often!
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WWLDO Volunteer Corner
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URGENT NEED: Virtual Shelter Liaison
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Would you like to help raise awareness and resources for homeless dogs and the heroes who champion their cause? As a Shelter Liaison you can make a difference from the comfort of your own home. Shelter Liaisons play a crucial role in virtually supporting our shelter partners. As a Shelter Liaison, you will be monitoring our shelter partners' posts on social media and sharing their news, ideas, and needs.
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Tip of the Month
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They have referrals for clinics all over the US and can provide you with low-cost Spay/Neuter options in your area.
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Upcoming Grant Opportunities
Petco Love will soon open its grant cycle for the category of grants most relevant to our shelter partners: Animal Welfare Organizations. The grant cycle dates are June 1- July 31.
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According to Petco Love, these grants are for organizations whose primary purpose is sheltering and adoptions. Remember though that you first have to register as a Petco partner through their Partner Portal.
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