Why you should consider becoming a pet foster for cats and/or dogs, how it saves lives, and how easily you can become a foster with POPP.
Making a Difference by Fostering with POPP
Last year, Pet Overpopulation Prevention (POPP) saw more than 600 cat and dog adoptions. POPP is not a shelter. Instead, POPP relies on foster homes to make these adoptions possible.
What is Pet Fostering?
If you’ve ever visited an animal shelter before, you know that they can be a stressful place for an animal to be. There are so many noises, strange smells, and very little privacy. Many shelters encourage potential adopters to remember that the animals they see are not comfortable and may blossom once they’re properly situated in a forever home.
Fosters help with this situation.
A foster takes in a pet waiting to be adopted temporarily, providing them with food and water, shelter, exercise, and, most importantly, love. Foster homes are a critical piece of rehabilitating animals that have been abandoned, rehomed, and/or rescued. A shelter environment could potentially aggravate these pets, making their journey to finding a home that much harder. Foster homes are also a great option for when an animal is sick or injured. It is hard to heal when they’re stressed out on top of everything.
Fosters also help rescues understand the pet better. Outside of a shelter, an animal’s personality, specific wants and needs become much clearer. This allows recues to make better forever home matches for each pet.
Why You Should Consider Fostering
“Fostering is one of the most rewarding things that I do for POPP,” said Amanda LaRiviere, one of POPP’s board members and Dog Foster Coordinator.
Fostering is not just a benefit to the animal, but also a gratifying experience for the humans involved!
It can be hard to say goodbye when a foster animal has been adopted and is going to their forever home, but it is a bittersweet moment. That animal will be going to a happy home that will pour their love into their new furry family member, and that’s in part thanks to your help. That animal may not have made it that far without you fostering.
“Sure, I bawl my eyes out when they get adopted, especially if I’ve nursed them through illness or watched them conquer their fears. I care about them,” said Heather Fitzgerald Gangler, POPP board member and avid fosterer. “The tears are bittersweet. I would rather cry those tears than ones of anger or sadness because of an animal suffering.”
“I don’t want to help just one, I want to help 100!” said Heather. “You don’t have to commit to hundreds, even one life fostered makes a difference. Doing something is better than doing nothing. Fostering saves lives!”
She went on to say how she knows that there are more animals that need care and are deserving of homes. This motivates her to do her part and move on to help the next one.
“If you fall in love and feel like it’s hard to give a dog up, once you see it go to a good home and you get your next one, it only gets easier and easier each time,” said Carol Boggs, one of POPP’s amazing fosters. “Don’t let that be a reason you don’t foster.”
Carol went on to say,
“The more fosters POPP has, the more animals we can get off the streets.”
Shelters in the Tri-Cities are overwhelmed. By conservative estimates, there are thousands of feral and stray animals in the Tri-Cities, and the population growth isn’t slowing down. Each animal brought into a foster is a life saved, and through spaying and neutering, more lives are spared. Fostering is a critical part of how this community can take on overpopulation.
How to Foster with Pet Overpopulation Prevention
POPP will provide all supplies for you to foster! This includes food, medication,vet visits, and even training if needed. All you need is spare time, spare room, and a love for animals.
Qualifications of being a POPP foster:
- You must be 18 or older.
- Own your home or have landlord approval.
- Complete our canine or feline foster application.
Foster your way, as little or as much as you want. Maybe you only want to foster small dog breeds. Or you want to take in kittens. One dog or five dogs.
As Amanda says,
“Why help only two through adoption when you could help 200 through fostering? Why help three when you could help 300?”
Become involved with Pet Overpopulation Prevention
POPP is a mostly volunteer-run organization; we would not be possible without the generosity and support of our community. If you would like to become a foster, please complete this application to foster cats and this application for dogs.
Can’t foster, but you still want to help? Consider donating!
If you have questions, please reach out to us.