Foster

Fostering means giving an animal a temporary home — you’re not adopting them, just helping them on their way to a forever family. Think of it like being a stop on their journey, and trust us, they’ll never forget your kindness.

As a foster, you’ll help by bringing them to adoption events (no need to stay — we’ve got that covered), giving rides to the vet if you’re able (or letting us know if you’re not — we’ve got volunteers for that too), and most importantly, giving them a safe, loving place to land while they wait for their perfect match.

We provide all the food, treats, toys, bedding, and crates. We also take care of any veterinary or training if needed — plus, we handle all the adoption marketing to help your foster find their forever home.

You give the animal a safe, loving place to stay while they wait for their forever home. You’ll care for them day-to-day and help get them to and from adoption events. (If transportation is an issue, just let us know.)

Puppies, kittens, dogs and cats! We need fosters for nursing kittens and puppies, senior animals, animals recovering from injuries and medical issues, and healthy animals just needing temporary ‘digs.’

We work with you to decide what type, species, size and age you would like to care for and we’ll be sure you never end up with an animal you can’t handle or that isn’t a good fit for your life. The opportunities are limited only by what you have training and desire to do.

It’s totally up to you — just let us know what you’re comfortable with. While long-term fosters are great, short-term fosters are just as important. Even giving an animal a safe place for a week can make a huge difference, especially when they’re first arriving or in between homes. Whatever you can offer, we’re grateful.

Yes — it really can be lifesaving! Around the holidays, for example, many long-term fosters travel, and we often have new animals coming in. Even a weekend in a home can lower a shelter animal’s stress and make a big difference. If you only have small windows of time to foster, that’s totally fine — just let us know and we’ll do our best to match you with a schedule that works.

Short answer: nothing.

While any foster may donate any portion they feel inclined (hey, we’ll never turn down help…) Friends For Life pays ALL costs for food, milk, supplies, toys, bedding, wellness/vet care… you name it related to the animal. You supply the love!

Absolutely not.

We want to be sure, just like with adoptions, that the animals in our program are in a safe place, with minimal anxiety. If your foster animal exhibits signs of distress while in your care, please talk to us (we are super communicative with our fosters, so don’t worry about us not getting back to you).

We want to keep you as a foster. If your experience is less than stellar, you won’t be back to help us with another animal. But ultimately our decisions always focus on what is best for the animal. Being in a place that causes them anxiety (most of the time, that won’t be your fault), doesn’t put them in a good place to find their forever home. And we won’t put them through that.

Yes. More than you can imagine.

Friends For Life gets almost 100 requests for help with animals each day. The unvarnished truth is this: the number we can save from staying in abusive situations or dying in other shelters is directly dependent on how many foster homes we have.

Let’s make sure you are in the right place, first. If you found an animal or are surrendering an animal and are willing to foster it, go here to be directed to the correct resources.

If you have room in your heart and home to help an animal already in the Friends For Life program by providing a foster home, please fill out our foster care application form.