First, start by having a family discussion and make sure everyone in your household is on board with fostering a pet.Then, fill out the foster application and a representative of CLAWS will call you to get you started. When fostering a pet for CLAWS we require that you, of course, have a love for animals and are available enough to give that foster pet what it needs for the duration of time that he/she stays with you. We ask that you follow a specific protocol when fostering your pet that is conducive to the way we at CLAWS believe an animal should be cared for. We also ask that you live in Bergen or Hudson County since that is where we do most of our adoptions and is also where our veterinarians are located. We hope you join our team and look forward to working with you.

When fostering a pet for CLAWS, most times, the animal needs medical attention, whether it is for routine vaccines and exams or if that pet needs specific medical care due to an injury or illness. We pay for all of the veterinary care, however, we do require that the foster home is able to take their foster pet to the vet appointments when needed. We also ask, when necessary, that the pet be brought to our adoption events which are held in specific locations. Typically your foster pet will go to the adoption event that is closest to where you live. This is not mandatory but it is extremely helpful to get the pet noticed by potential adopters. As a foster parent you can promote the adoption of your foster pet to friends, family and on social media however, all adoptions are to go through CLAWS. You will have a representative of CLAWS that helps you through your time fostering your pet. That person will conduct all interviews, meetings and make the final decision on their adoption. Your CLAWS representative will also schedule and be in charge of all veterinary visits and adoption day exposure. Your goal as a foster home is to help that animal thrive and become the happiest he/she can be. This helps them get adopted sooner and gets them on their way to having the best life possible.Every animal that comes through our organization is treated as if they were our own. Once we acquire an animal we have now become that animals voice and we take the task of caring for that animal and finding that animal the perfect home very seriously. We rely heavily on our amazing network of foster homes during this process.

We try our best to limit the amount of time any animal is in foster care. Our goal is to get them to their forever homes as quickly as possible. Some animals are highly adoptable and are only in foster care for a week or two. Others can be in a foster home for up to a few months. If a foster home is no longer able to foster or is going on vacation we move the animal to another available foster home. We just ask for notice and a little time to arrange everything.

When you foster a pet for CLAWS we pay for all of the medical needs for that animal. We use specific veterinarians that work with us in our area. Typically most foster homes pay for the pet food for their foster animal but if this is not an option we can help pay for their food. If a foster home wants to donate any funds for their foster pet's medical needs we are always grateful for that but it is not mandatory. Foster homes are allowed to buy items for their foster pets such as food bowls, toys, beds and litter boxes. Harnesses, leashes and collars for dogs are provided by CLAWS but can be purchased separately by their foster homes if they choose to.

Every foster home has the option to adopt their foster pet if the representative from CLAWS in charge of that pet agrees that it is the best option for the pet. Any adoption of a foster pet will go through the regular adoption process and an adoption fee is required.

CLAWS acquires it's cats and dogs from many different places. Many come from owners that have to surrender their pet due to circumstance or unexpected situations. In this case the owner legally surrenders the pet into our care and we then place the animal into a foster home and begin the process of finding them their forever home. Other animals come from some of the animal control organizations in certain towns that we work with. These animals are taken in by animal control either through an owner surrender or they are found as strays. The stray animals are held for a certain amount of time in case they are lost. The owner is then able to retrieve their pet with proper information. If a stray animal is not claimed then they are turned over to us and we begin our process of finding them their new home. As many of you may know, animal shelters can get very overcrowded so most private rescue organizations, such as CLAWS, will help the shelters by pulling cats or dogs from them and bringing them into our care. We work with a number of shelters in our area and are happy to do so. Finally, we receive a large number of calls from residents that have found a cat or a litter of kittens on their property. For the feral cats (these are not adoptable cats because they are not tame) we help trap, spay/neuter, vaccinate and release them into a safe environment. For the adult cats, we take every necessary step to return a cat to it's owner if it is lost. If that cat is not claimed then we care for them and adopt them out. Stray kittens are all taken into our care, vetted and adopted out at the age of 8 weeks old. We mostly work locally because we feel the need to help our community and we get enough calls from our community to keep us busy. There are some situations where we have taken an animal or animals from out of state or country depending on the situation. No matter where the animal comes from we at CLAWS love and care for all of them and do our best to make the best decisions for each of them.

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