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20 things you can do to help animals: #11 - foster pets in your home
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If you are unable to provide a commitment to lifetime care for a dog, cat or other animal, please consider fostering them. Our local Arlington Animal Shelter is starting a new foster care program and would love to have you apply. The application is online and easy to complete. Here is information, provided by Volunteer Coordinator Chrishandra Huff:
The new shelter foster program is currently recruiting volunteers to open their hearts to our shelter orphans. This program is designed to improve the survivability and adoptability of “special needs” pets, decrease euthanasia and increase placement of animals into loving, responsible and permanent homes. The shelter staff administrator will provide the foster with needed supplies such as food and will assist the volunteer through the program.
The foster animals from the shelter will include:
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Animals too young/immature for adoption
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Injured animals or animals recovering from surgery
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Other "special needs" animals
The average stay in a foster home is two to four weeks. However, some animals stay only a few days while others will need to stay longer than the four weeks.
There are always a slight health risk when exposing your pets to other animals, however the health risk are minimal if the foster parent's animals are currently vaccinated, maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle, and are not too elderly or very young.
If a foster animal becomes ill, the Arlington Animal shelter hours are Monday through Friday 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m, and Saturday, 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. The foster care volunteer will make contact with the Animal Care Coordinator or a supervisor on duty at the shelter. The shelter has a vet on staff to administer care to shelter animals.
Foster animals normally take approximately 24 hours or longer to adjust to their new environment. Foster care volunteers are asked to give basic command training and crate training. As a general rule, children under the age of 12 years old should never be left alone and unsupervised with a foster animal.
The first foster program orientation is scheduled for Saturday, December 12, 2009 at the animal shelter. The class will start promptly at 10:00 a.m. Any interested person should complete the volunteer application and note on the application that they are interested in the foster care program. The application normally takes 7-10 business days to complete. This program is new to our shelter and we are in hopes of creating a successful program for our city's shelter animals.
Prairie Paws, the Grand Prairie animal shelter and adoption site, also has a fostering program. See below for contact information.
Petfinders.com uses foster care for animals as well. The animals that are left in foster homes are shown during outreach programs for adoption. The foster families must have a backyard with a good fence for fostering dogs; cats must be kept indoors only. Each home undergoes a background check prior to being certified as a foster care home. All food and supplies are provided to the foster homes by the placing agency. These agencies can only help as many animals as they have funds to provide; please go to Petfinders.com if you are able to donate funds.
Fostering animals can be very rewarding. Knowing that you are expanding the ability of your local shelter to save these animals from being destroyed due to lack of space, helping to socialize them so they will be ready to go to their lifetime guardian and family, and keeping them happy in the meantime, all increase the quality of life for these dependent animals.
Please consider fostering animals. If you cannot make a long-term commitment to caring for an animal, if you are unable to afford to adopt an animal, if you love animals and want to help them, here is a perfect opportunity to save a life.
Fostering agencies:
Grand Prairie Animal Shelter (Prairie Paws)
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