For some animals, rescue is only the beginning. They may arrive at Animal League America too young for adoption, recovering from illness or surgery, frightened by everything around them, or simply unable to thrive in a shelter environment. What they need next is time, patience and the comfort of a home.
That is where our foster families come in. “Foster homes provide a comfortable environment for medically compromised, traumatized, underage or under socialized cats and dogs,” says Foster Care Manager Victoria Sciubba. “It’s a safe space for them to heal, learn, adjust and overcome.”
For Scrappy, that safe space made all the difference. Scrappy was adopted as a puppy but returned just two months later. As his stay at Animal League America stretched on, the stress began taking a serious toll. For nearly a year, he suffered from persistent diarrhea and continued to lose weight despite medications, special diets and food trials.
Volunteer Connie had formed a special bond with Scrappy and watched with growing concern as he became thinner. Believing the shelter environment itself might be contributing to his condition, she offered to foster him. The change was remarkable.
Soon after arriving at Connie’s home, Scrappy’s gastrointestinal problems began to clear up and he finally started putting on much-needed weight. Just as important, the dog who had once been extremely fearful of strangers began, with Connie’s patience and guidance, meeting new people and experiencing new places. Today, Scrappy is healthier, more confident and enjoying life with Connie and her dogs while he waits for the right permanent home. Connie says foster care “truly saved his life.”
Stories like Scrappy’s are why foster homes are such an essential part of Animal League America’s lifesaving work. They also make it possible to open shelter space for other homeless animals waiting to be rescued.
Few people understand that better than longtime volunteer and foster parent Marilyn. Marilyn began fostering 16 years ago when she was asked to take home a litter of puppies born at the shelter who were too young to be adopted. Since then, she and her husband have welcomed more than 80 foster animals into their home — from puppies who needed a place to grow to frightened dogs from commercial breeding facilities who needed to learn that people could be trusted.
Ask Marilyn about the question every foster parent hears — How can you possibly let them go? — and she readily admits that saying goodbye to those first puppies was hard. With time, however, her perspective changed. “When a foster leaves your home and goes to their new home, you get such a sense of fulfillment,” she said. “You’ve accomplished what you set out to do.”
Most important, every successful goodbye allows Marilyn to say yes to another animal. “There’s always another foster that needs you,” she said. “To me, that’s far more important.” One open door can give an animal the time and space to heal, grow and become ready for the home that will last a lifetime. And right now, there is another animal waiting for someone to open theirs.