Foster Home Responsibility

Welcome to the world of the unwanted. As a foster home for Pets Haven Animal Rescue, Inc. you will be subject to heartbreaking scenarios and will also cry tears of joy. If after reading the preceding sentence you still want to go forward with this, read on.

What is foster care? You will be given as many unwanted cats and dogs to care for as you told your rescue volunteer you could handle at one time. Your job is to help the rescue volunteer evaluate temperaments (most important), give the animal attention and training if possible, and make the animal a part of your family for as long as the animal is in your care. You may have these animals for quite a while during some times of the year when people are dumping cats and dogs while no one is looking for a cat or dog. Or, you may only have an animal for a few days or a week. You must be able to cope with the possibility that your rescue volunteer will take an animal and have her put to sleep—always for a good reason, never because we couldn't place the animal. Still with us? Read on.

Kids and cats/dogs: If you have children, NEVER introduce a new rescue cat/dog to them without your rescue volunteer being RIGHT THERE! Sometimes, owners dumping cat/dogs do not tell us the truth, and the animal may be a fear biter or dislike children. Your rescue volunteer will not place these kinds of animals with you if you have children, but again, people are NOT always truthful. Your rescue volunteer is a skilled, experienced animal care person. He or she will be there to oversee the introduction of a new rescue cat/dog to your children. Common sense says never let a strange cat/dog be alone with children under any circumstances, and your children need to be taught how to act with strange cats/dogs. If you need help in teaching your children the right way to behave around strange animals, discuss it with your rescue volunteer. He/she will be more than happy to help teach your children this very important facet of a foster home, because they will play a part in evaluating temperaments for rescue.

What To Do If You Have A Problem: Call your rescue volunteer! He/she is the ultimate authority in your area. If a rescue cat/dog bites someone, fights with other animals, meows/barks excessively, escapes or in general just destroys everything in sight, call your rescue volunteer! This is your job. This is part of your evaluation of a rescue cat/dog. These are things we in the rescue program need to know about these animals so we can place them accordingly or in the case of uncontrollable aggression towards people, isolate them.

What You Need To Foster A Rescue Cat/Dog: If a fenced in area is to contain a rescue animal it needs to be an appropriate height and in case of cats a complete enclosure. If it has a gate, it must be lockable and be locked at all times when the rescue animal is in the enclosure. This is to prevent someone from opening the gate and either stealing the animal, getting scratched or bitten by the animal (some cats/dogs don't like strangers) or the animal getting loose and getting run over or worse. Inside areas must be secure, able to be locked and shaded with water available at all times. AND the animals have to have plenty of family and one on one time. Crates are an important piece of equipment to rescue people, and are invaluable for transporting and isolating animals. These are the essentials needed and your rescue volunteer can discuss these items with you in detail.

Other Things You Need To Know: When your foster care cat/dog arrives, your rescue volunteer will tell you everything he or she knows about the cat/dog and the cat's/dog's background. Our cats do not wear ID tags for safety reasons.

Feeding will be at your discretion. Whatever food is convenient for you (as long as it is a quality food) is what you should feed unless the cat's/dog's owner has supplied food or the cat/dog needs a special diet. Pets Haven, Inc. cannot always reimburse you for food.

Our veterinarian is Stanton Animal Hospital in Fayetteville . Approved vet bills will be taken care of by your rescue volunteer. He/she will insure the cat/dog comes to you as healthy as possible. All rescue cats and dogs will be altered, and when we do that, be prepared to care for the surgical site just like you would your own animal. If at any time the animal needs health care and your rescue volunteer is unavailable, contact anyone on the Pets Haven Board for instruction. Keep all receipts. The only way Pets Haven and your rescue volunteer can reimburse you is if you have receipts for everything. Major medical work MUST be cleared by your rescue volunteer first. In case of emergency, if you can not reach Pets Haven, DO NOT WAIT call Stanton Animal Hospital, identify yourself as a Pets Haven volunteer, follow our veterinarian's advice AND have the cost applied to Pets Haven's account. CONTACT US AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Screening of potential homes is done by your rescue volunteer ONLY. Should someone you know see your foster cat/dog and think they may want to adopt it, feel free to give your rescue volunteer a call and give him or her that person's phone number or e-mail. NEVER place or promise a cat/dog yourself! Your rescue volunteer has all the paperwork that needs to be done before placing a cat/dog, and must interview the home first.

If you still think you wish to do this, we deeply appreciate your concern for the animals and the degree of dedication involved with being a foster care home. Please fill out our Adoption Application and use Foster Home for the animal's name and we will get back with you as soon as possible. If your application is approved, one of our volunteers will visit you at your home to discuss further details and for you to sign the appropriate paper work.

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