Wednesday, November 17, 2010

I miss my fosters...

 I can actually name 30 fosters that have come through my home. I am sure there are others that don't easily come to mind. That's 30 dogs that would have otherwise died and been tossed in a pile in the back of a shelter for "disposal", Not burial. 
I've had a deaf dog, a blind dog, brand new babies, puppies with parvo, heart-worm positive, cherry eyes and the middle-aged, plus seniors. All they needed was time to find their own home.  One was abandoned and left chained, many were strays and a few were owner surrenders. One was being safe-housed during a court case.
One was put to sleep as a kindness, one was put down due to severe behavioral issues and 28 were placed in loving homes. None of the 28 were returned. 

My Layla was a homeless baby that came to me at 8 weeks of age. My Sprout needed knee surgery a good diet, basic care and freedom from a chain (he was found as a starving stray pulling his chain he broke behond him. Roscoe was personally pulled by Dena from and Iron Scrap Yard when she came to feed him one day as she had been doing and found him with a huge bleeding gash on his leg.

I don't have any fosters at the moment though I have current offers standing for short-term housing, home visits, copying, transports or whatever. I'm thinking of working with our local Dogs Deserve Better group to build fencing and provide vetting for chained pets on some of my free weekends.

I don't have a foster because 3 was always my comfortable limit with 4 seeming to tip the balance...plus I only like so many crates in my living room...and though Layla behaves best with puppies they are a lot of work. ...And with Dena away on a temp transfer I have all 3 of the above mentioned dogs, plus the kids, the house and my full-time job. It can be a lot and I don't think it's fair to bring in a foster and not help him/her prepare for a new life with basic training, and sadly they don't (as a general rule) have that when they arrive.

I miss fostering and will do it again when I am able...In the meantime I encourage you to reach out to your local shelters who sometimes offer short-term programs where you can help out just over the holidays. It's a short-term commitment and helps the long-term fosters do things like go on vacation. The rescues will help with that but when the money can be used to help with medical expenses - how freakin awesome is that? Please consider opening your home to a pup just for the holidays. They will come with their food, their crate, info on anything you need to know and will very likely be well on their way to health and happiness. 
 Think about it. Use it as a way to teach your kids about giving back, helping others or just making yourself feel good. It's a lot easier on the pups to be in a different home instead of a crowded boarding facility. No matter how nice the facilities are I bet if I put you in your own "room" surrounded by screaming (barking) folks all around you'd be stressed too.
And on other news, when I hear about Vick being possibly up for MVP it makes me sick. I've read the publicity, I've heard folks actually involved in the case and I've read the books that came out raising funds for rescues...You can read "Michael Vick's unpaid dues: Why dog advocates aren't moving on " and Dog Owner can't forgive Michael Vick then maybe you will begin to understand. It makes me miss fostering even more. 
Hopefully you will take one small step, whether it's donating time, food, old blankets or money and make a difference. And hopefully, this post will make a difference to at least one dog. It will if you help one. 

3 comments:

  1. Well said.

    If everyone could just take one more in for fostering it would be an enormous help to both the over-stressed facilities and the over-stressed dogs/cats.

    Right now I'm at 8, 4 of my own and 4 fosters. It's the most I've ever had for an extended time and I'm feeling the stress. Now I'm really motivated to find them homes though. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I understand what you are saying about fostering. It's so hard to turn any away, but sometimes you have to.

    It has been easier since RBR disbanded and I'm a little more removed.

    You are still doing good things for dog rescue! You are smart to put the fostering on hold when you have sooo much on your plate!

    I have seen people over extend themselves in terms of pulling dogs and fostering and sometimes I question if that really is better.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous11/18/2010

    This is such a great post - I really enjoyed reading about all the wonderful animals you've helped and who found homes. You made me smile today.

    ReplyDelete