It was several years ago that Amanda Shafer and her husband, Matthew Caylor, opened their home to a little black lab.
The next six months would be filled with training, feeding and caring for the precious pooch until it was time to give her up to a loving family—her “furrever” home.
The growing trend of pet foster homes has potentially saved hundreds of dogs that would have otherwise been put down in shelters that simply didn’t have room. But allowing those dogs to meet the same fate of so many before wasn’t an option that Shafer wanted to consider.
“I knew the Central PA Animal Alliance needed help in finding places to take dogs,” Shafer said. “There was a lot of craziness going on at the time, and I asked what I could do to help. Next thing you know, I’m signing up to become a foster parent.”
She and her husband both had grown up with dogs but never owned one of their own. Other than the few cats the couple already had roaming their Midtown Harrisburg home, they decided they could help by opening their doors to dogs in need.
The Central PA Animal Alliance was pulling dogs from the York County SPCA and putting them into homes when Shafer walked in.
“I went down there and they said, ‘Find her an easy one—she’s new,’” Shafer said, recalling the black lab that would find a place in her home and heart that year.
Most pet foster parents don’t have to pay anything out of pocket to help an animal. In Shafer’s case, Central PA Animal Alliance will supply the food and toys and even pay the veterinary bills. However, as part of their donation to the shelter, Shafer and Caylor have decided to purchase the dog food themselves.
When it comes time for the foster dogs to find a new home, those interested in adopting the animal must fill out an application, go through an interview process, have a home inspection and then meet the dog.
“It’s great to see those dogs go to loving families,” Shafer said. “But the biggest question we get is, ‘How do you give them up?’”
While it’s never easy to say good-bye, Shafer said that she and her husband have been pretty good about not getting too attached. They want to avoid becoming “foster failures” by deciding to keep the dog for themselves.
“It is sad to give them up, but it’s more sad knowing a dog in a shelter is being put down and killed just because there’s no space,” she said.
Not About You
Robin Scherer has a knack for finding distressed animals. Her first rescue was right out of college when she found a stray dog wandering the streets. She would find kittens dropped off in the parking lot at work and also find them homes.
She later found 13 kittens, starving and infested with fleas, and was told if she wanted them, she could have them. Slowly, she nursed them back to health and found them loving families.
Eventually, Scherer said, it was time to open a shelter.
Along with family, she opened Furry Friends Network in Boiling Springs. Fourteen years later, it hosts 75 volunteers, 30 dog foster homes and 20 cat foster homes.
As a foster parent of cats, Scherer has seen both sides of the foster world.
“I think a shelter environment is extremely stressful for an animal,” she said. “I don’t think an adopter can see an animal’s true personality.”
Because the animals are living in someone’s home, the foster parent is able to tell potential adopters about all of the animal’s quirks. Maybe they don’t get along with children but love to cuddle in bed, Scherer said.
“You find, with dogs, that there is a honeymoon period,” she said. “You have to give them time to unpack their baggage. The dog will be different in three days, in three weeks, in three months, and you just have to roll with it. But, sometimes, a foster parent can help you know what to expect.”
For those interested in adopting fostered animals, the process can be a little more complicated.
“If people out there want a dog today or tomorrow, we’re not the organization for you,” Scherer said. “People can experience buyer’s remorse by treating a pet as an impulse buy, and we’re trying to avoid that.”
While there are plenty of people adopting dogs from foster homes, there are always more homes needed, Scherer said.
“So many people say, ‘I could never foster because I’d fall in love,’” she said. “Stop thinking of yourself and think of the animal. I have little kids, and it’s hard for them, but they know we’re helping the animals.”
Life Savers
Jessica Blouch, vice president of Pitties Love Peace in Elizabethtown, has seen animals abused in ways she’ll never forget. Her first rescued animal was a pit bull that had been tied to a banister the first 14 months of her life. When the owner threatened to take the dog into the woods and shoot it, Blouch took her.
“She wasn’t socialized, and I had smaller dogs, so I couldn’t take her home with me, but, at the same time, I couldn’t leave her there,” she said. “I found someone who could board her temporarily until I found people who would take her forever. The reward of doing that kept me going.”
Pitties Love Peace took in about 147 dogs in 2014, with 106 of those already adopted by the first of December. The 40 foster homes that take in the animals make it possible to save each of those dogs from being euthanized.
Many of those taken in have come from local shelters that ran out of room, as well as a handful from New York Animal Control, which puts out a list every day of the dogs that will be euthanized if no one claims them.
“For myself, or for anyone who fosters, even though it can be a little bittersweet to give that animal up, the reward is great,” Blouch said. “You get to be involved in helping a dog who would not be alive anymore.”
Scherer also has seen animals kept in cages, often not fed and owners ready to kill them.
“It doesn’t take a lot to help,” Scherer said. “It takes some of your time and your heart, and, to me, that’s the best gift you can give an animal. People have created this mess, and it’s time for us to step up and clean it up.”
That call to action is what keeps Shafer and Caylor going as foster parents. In three years, they’ve welcomed eight dogs into their hearts and home.
“They need it,” Shafer said. “The shelters are full. There’s no room for dogs. They get put down all the time. Foster homes are making the difference.”
How to Help
If you are interested in becoming a pet foster parent, contact the following shelters to find out how to get started.
The Central Pennsylvania Animal Alliance: info@cpaa.info or at www.cpaa.info
Pitties Love Peace: info@pittieslovepeace.com or www.pittieslovepeace.com
Furry Friends Network: www.furryfriendsnetwork.com
