“Caring for animals isn’t what I do, it’s who I am”️
Every time that I saw pictures or videos of animals that were going to be euthanized, I got very sad and depressed but I didn’t do anything about it. I scrolled the video and then I went to sleep. This was every night. I watched a video of a poor dog at the shelter, I cried and then I went to sleep again. One Sunday in November of 2018 everything changed. I watched a video of this little dog that needed to be rescued, and I said to myself : stop crying and take action and help this poor fur kid.
This little dog was at The Baldwin Park Animal shelter in California, so I drove to the shelter, about an hour away from where I live, but he was just rescued. The receptionist told me that the ladies that rescued him were in the parking lot and that I should talk to them. That was what I did, and that day I met Maureen and Jul. Their job is to transport and rescue dogs for different organizations. There I saw this little dog that I wanted to foster and three or four dogs that were rescued too. The little dog that I wanted was going to be fostered by a lady but Maureen asked me if I wanted to foster a chihuahua instead, and I said yes. That’s how I started to foster small dogs.
My first foster dog was Lassie. My husband and I fostered her for 4 months. We got attached to her and she got attached to us. Our others dogs loved her too. We wanted to adopt her but if we did that, we couldn't foster more dogs. It wasn't easy to let her go but we decided to keep fostering more dogs and saving more lives. Lassie has a great life in Canada now. Her family loves her and she adapted quickly. My husband and I felt guilty thinking that maybe Lassie is thinking that we abandoned her. But dogs don't think that. Only we humans think that way. In total my husband and I fostered 8 dogs. The last one was a foster failure, we decided to adopt Madonna, a sweet chihuahua mix that stole our hearts. The day that Madonna was rescued by Lorrie from Loved Again Pets, she was going to be euthanized. She is only 2 years old. Each of our foster dogs are in our hearts, we loved them, and spoiled them like they were our own kids.
Fostering a shelter animal is a team effort. Rescues rely on us. We provide a quiet stress-free, loving environment, where animals can feel safe or heal from their physical and emotional wounds. It takes patience, time and a lot of love. It is rewarding to see their transformation. Some of them are shy because they didn’t have any human contact, or they nip because they don’t trust us and I don’t blame them. After a couple of weeks they start opening up their heart ️and they love you unconditionally. They cuddle with you, they give you kisses and follow you around the house. They feel comfortable. But then it’s time to leave, they are ready to get adopted, and we don’t want to let them go but we have to. So we can save another life. Rescues are always looking for foster families so they can rescue more dogs. If you want to become a foster mom or dad you should contact your local rescue or animal shelter.
I fostered small dogs for @ pawzpatrolrescue and @lovedagainpets The first one is based in Canada. The demand for small dogs there is huge. And Loved Again Pets, this rescue is based in Oregon. They rescue small dogs from high-kill animal shelters in California. They provide anything that you need for your foster dog, they transport the dog to your house and they are responsible to find their forever families in Oregon.
"If more people rescue, foster or adopt animals, shelters will be empty and that’s the goal."
If you have any question about fostering animals, contact me. I will be very happy to help you.