What exactly does fostering mean? It means bringing a homeless animal into your home, caring for them, providing them with affection, food and socialization, until a permanent family comes along who will love them forever.
Many times rescues who have no central facility, rely solely on foster homes to determine how many animals they can pull from county shelters, owner surrenders or strays.
Saving Grace and Her Furry Friends covers all expenses including vet visits, food, crate, leash, collar, medication, heartworm prevention, flea/tick preventative etc. You simply provide the love, comfort, socialization and nurturing. We will promote the dog or cat and find the perfect adopter! The pet will go to one of our veterinarians as soon as possible for a full checkup, bloodwork, vaccines, and spay or neuter. If there are any medical concerns the rescue provides the medication and pays for the vet visits. It would be ideal if you are able to take the dog/cat to the vet visits for checkups, follow ups, and the spay/neuter appointment. If you are not available, we can attempt to find a volunteer to transport.
If you have existing pets, introducing a animal can be a great experience for them as an additional companion, additional socialization, and an additional playmate! Children can benefit from fostering as a way to introduce responsibility, selflessness, a way to educate about animals, and is also a great way to "test" the idea of a permanent animal into the home in the future. We are able to offer community service hours for high school students! Parents must complete the application and consent to being responsible for the dog/cat and overseeing the dog/cat as a teenager cannot be the responsible party. Local county schools allow us to give 35 hours a week in community service hours.
When the day comes, that your foster finds that perfect home, the rewarding feeling you will experience is something very special. You will feel a sense of pride, in knowing what you helped that dog accomplish in his time with you. You will feel overjoyed, that he has found his forever family and his happy ending that all homeless animals so desire. And while certainly, some goodbyes can be tough, knowing that a animal has found his happy ending and that another precious life awaits to be afforded your gifts, is as good of a feeling as there is! We welcome the foster's input in helping the rescue decide if an adopter may be a perfect match for the foster pet.
