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Every week, hundreds of people walk through the doors of the Caryl Gates Gluck Resource Center and witness the daily activities of Animal Friends. What they can’t see, however, is the vital network of foster homes that enables us to expand our ability to care for our animals far beyond the walls of our facility.

Volunteers with huge hearts serve Animal Friends as foster parents. They offer temporary shelter in their homes to animals in need. Being a foster parent can be a wonderfully satisfying experience. 

Animal Friends seeks and trains foster families for a broad range of needs:

Pregnant Moms or Moms and Babies
Mom and babies require extra TLC! Babies must wait in homes until they are old enough to be spayed or neutered.

Bottle Baby Care or Orphaned Babies
Kittens, puppies and baby bunnies who lack a mother or are too young for adoption are placed in a foster care. Animal Friends’ medical staff coordinates all required vaccinations and surgeries while the babies are in foster care.

A Much-Needed Break from the Kennel
Animals of any age who have been living in the resource center for an extended period of time are often sent into foster care to escape the stress of a kennel environment.

Medical Care
These are animals with specific medical needs.

Behavior
This is for animals who require training, specialized observation, and/or socialization before
they can be adopted. They are sent into a qualified foster home to receive the appropriate training and care.

Kennel Space
Animal Friends can help more animals when foster homes enable us to temporarily open our kennels. When we conduct a large-scale rescue, we rally our foster parents to help us temporarily open our kennels for incoming rescued animals!

Hospice Care
These are animals who require loving care for the remainder of their lives.

Top Ten Reasons to Foster a Pet
By Eve Salimbene, Animal Friends’ Volunteer

10. You want to help Animal Friends, but can’t make it here every day.

9. You can help an animal recover from illness or injury in a quiet home environment.

8. You can help an animal get adapted to home life, build its self-esteem, and give it a better chance of a successful adoption.

7. It gives you your pet fix, without the long-term commitment.

6. You get to evaluate the animals’ habits and behaviors, so the potential adopter has more information about the pet, thus making a better match.

5. It’s very rewarding to see the animals grow to trust and love again, due to your nurturing and training.

4. The animal gets a much-needed cage break from the hustle and bustle of the kennel.

3. Fostering provides much needed socialization for young animals.

2. “Changes in Latitude Changes in Attitude!” You can observe the differences in the animal when not in a shelter setting.

1. FOSO Foster One, Save One When animals are placed in foster, shelter cage space is opened up for us to rescue more animals.

We appreciate those who selflessly open their hearts and homes animals who needs them. Fostering is an important job, and Animal Friends could not save as many lives without kind
foster parents.

Can you help us?

We'd love to enroll you in foster training! Get started. Become a volunteer today!