What kind of home makes a good dog or cat foster home? Yours! You don't have to have a huge house with 10 acres fenced-in, or be a professional dog trainer or even a "cat lady" to be a great temporary home for a puppy, dog, cat or kitten down on his or her luck.
Perhaps you'll see yourself in one of these fictionalized fostering scenarios. If so, please go to our Volunteer Form to apply as a foster home.
Joe Cruz
Joseph Cruz' cat of 16 years, Tiger, recently passed away from cancer. Joe isn't ready to commit to adopting another cat just yet. Tiger's memory is still too fresh. But Joe deeply misses having another heartbeat in the house, and would like to give a cat a warm bed and a full bowl until it can find itself a forever home. His friends tell him taking care of another cat will be
a good way to get past the grief of losing Tiger, and he's pretty sure Tiger won't mind sharing his old scratching post and litter box. Joe will be getting his first foster, a young female Tuxedo, at the end of this week.
The Budner Family
Belinda and Karl Budner have a very loving home. They have two dogs (a shih tzu and a lab mix), two cats, and three children. If they could, they'd adopt more animals and probably more kids! But the Budners, like many families today, are on a tight budget and can't afford the extra dog and cat food, vaccinations and potential emergency care of adopting more pets. So they decided to look into fostering.
They found out that CLAWS will provide food and supplies to foster homes that qualify. And our foster homes never have to pay for vet care, emergency or routine,
for a CLAWS dog or cat in their charge. Now the Budners sometimes have three dogs, three cats and three kids in their home!
The Martorano Family
Sue and Frank Martorano are kicking around the idea of adding a canine companion to the family. Sue had a dog growing up, and remembers what a joy it was to have her dog Kaiser, a huge German Shepherd mix, greet her when she came home from school with a tennis ball in his mouth.
Frank has never had a dog companion but has always wanted one. However, they have several concerns. The first is that they both work fulltime. The second is that they have two young daughters. Gina, 5 and Marlena, 8. And did they mention they have a cat?
The Martorano's are perfect candidates for a different kind of fostering -- the kind we call Foster-to-Adopt. Unlike a traditional shelter which won't release an animal into your care until you formally adopt them, CLAWS will often place a dog or cat with you on a trial basis so you can see how they fit into your life.
You may foster as long as it takes to make a decision, one hour or even one month!
If you are interested in persuing a Foster-to-Adopt situation, please let the contact person listed on the dog or cat bio know.
