The Gift Is In The Good-Bye
“How do you do it? How can you do it?” These are the questions put routinely to those amazing individuals who open their hearts and homes to foster dogs and cats in need. Knowing how easy it is to fall in love with these precious animals, it seems extraordinary to want to leave yourself that vulnerable; to make that emotional investment in an animal only to have to give him up a few weeks or months later. Yet, as one of our volunteers recently so eloquently put it: “The gift is in the goodbye. Fostering is really a lesson in unselfish love.” The focus of fostering is the good you’re doing for the animal, and the payoff of seeing it get adopted by someone who will love it lessens the difficulty we have in saying goodbye.
For those true animal lovers willing to rise to the occasion and accept the challenge, fostering offers intangible gifts. Few experiences are more gratifying than watching an animal transition from fearful and hiding to trusting and lap loving. It can be extremely rewarding to help get an animal on its feet and watch it go off to its new forever home. You will have done a good deed – and you can move on to the next one who needs your help.
Fostering is the greatest benefit you can give a homeless animal. It is very hard for these pets, already abandoned once, to adjust to kennel life which offers only minimal care and much confinement. The true personality of an animal can only be assessed adequately when placed in a home environment where the animal is less stressed and receives the love and attention it needs.
Is fostering for you? The reason most of our foster homes give for fostering is the most basic: They want to help. They want to make a difference in an innocent animal’s life. Lifestyle and financial considerations are other reasons some people choose to foster. When you foster, the commitment you make is not for life. Your commitment ends when you are satisfied that your fostered animal is moving on to the best permanent, loving home it can have.
Adopt-A-Pet is limited in the number of pets it can save by the number of foster homes we have. It breaks our hearts to have to turn away innocent animals daily because of lack of foster space in which to house them. Won’t you consider opening a room in your home and your heart to one of our little critters? We are desperately in need of more foster homes. The need has never been greater – the animals continue to pour in. You would literally be saving a life by giving temporary care and TLC to a critter who is down on its luck. Your gift in return? Unconditional love and the unparalleled feeling of satisfaction in knowing that YOU made it possible for this helpless little pup or mew to survive! Please fill out our Volunteer Form to request more information about our FOSTER HOME PROGRAM!