Foster an animal

Fostering is a fun and rewarding experience. It’s also a great option for people who have time to spare and space in their home, but who are unable to have an animal full-time, or perhaps are unable to adopt an additional animal for the time being.

Before applying, please check that you can meet our requirements:

• You are 18 years old or over.
• You own your own home or have permission from your landlord (we’ll need written proof of this).
• You are able to bring the animal back to us for vet visits or to meet adopters (when required).
• You are willing to continue with any ongoing training as required (supported by our team).
• You ideally live in a home with no children under 10 years old. (Due to a lot of our animals being strays, we don’t always have their full history, so it can be difficult to find animals who are suitable to stay with families with very young children. On occasion it can happen, but the wait to find a match could be longer).
• Any existing pets who live in your home must be vaccinated and neutered in line with our policies and procedures.
• You will have enough time to spend with the foster animal in order to meet their needs.
• You can be available at short notice.
• You preferably have experience in caring for the species you are applying to foster.
• If you are applying to become a dog foster carer, we are looking for people who are around for a large portion of the day and have access to a secure garden, ideally with a 6ft boundary. (We can consider other boundary heights based on your setup, but this may limit the types of dogs suitable for fostering.)

You’ll look after the foster animal in your home doing everything that an owner would, including feeding, grooming, playing with them, making sure they get exercise, and taking them to the vet.

Sometimes a foster animal may need to continue with their training or rehabilitation programme in their foster home, and if this is the case it will be fully discussed with you before the foster animal is welcomed into your home.

We take data protection seriously and you will never be asked to share your details with potential adopters – all communications will go through our Foster Coordinator.

We are especially looking for people who can take on struggling small animals, dogs and adult cats too. Those with a spare room to give animals a private, quiet room are ideal. In particular, some of our nervous dogs would also benefit from homes with no existing pets or children.

If you are unsure if you are suitable, fill out an application anyway and we will get back to you. The more support we get the more we can help struggling animals.

We’ll give you as much information about the foster animal as we can and can provide advice and support throughout your fostering placement.

We cover all the veterinary costs of the animal while they are with you on foster placement, and we’ll also provide all the necessities including food and equipment.

We will try to give you a reasonable supply of things like food, but when supplies run low it is the foster carer’s responsibility to contact us with enough notice before running out, so that we can order and organise collection of supplies. This also applies to the ordering of repeat medications, and remembering to factor in weekends and bank holidays.

We don’t expect foster carers to pay anything towards fostering, although if you wish to contribute this would be very much appreciated.

It’s always ideal if you have your own transport, as you’ll need to take them to the vet, pick up supplies for them and bring them to the Rescue Centre to meet potential adopters.

We will ask to see your driving licence/registration details to ensure your car is compliant with the relevant rules set by the DVLA and inline with our policies.

In order to transport your foster animal you’ll need to inform your own insurance company to ensure you are covered.

We understand, however, that not everyone will be able to drive or own a vehicle at present. If you don’t drive, you’ll need a nominated person to be your transport in the event of an emergency, and to attend vet appointments.

Volunteering with us is a great way to meet like-minded people who share the same enthusiasm for animal welfare.

There are lots of other benefits too, such as:

• Gaining new skills or developing existing ones.
• The chance to try out something new.
• Doing something useful and rewarding.
• Gaining a sense of achievement.
• Putting something back into the community.
• Developing your personal skills and confidence.

Foster animals who are ready for rehoming will be advertised on our website. During their stay with you, we’ll keep in touch and would appreciate it if you could share any additional information you learn about them, as well as pictures and videos of the animal within your home setting to help us find them a forever home.

Potential adopters will be invited to come and meet the foster animal at the Rescue Centre at an agreed time that suits the animal care staff, foster carer, and potential adopters. The potential adopters will have gone through all the relevant paperwork, and home checks prior to the meet taking place.

On the day of the meet, you’ll be asked to bring the animal into the Rescue Centre. Our safeguarding rules mean that you won’t usually meet the potential adopters. If everything runs smoothly, the animal may be taken home by the adopter that day, or if not then you may be asked to collect the animal and keep them for a while longer.

Once the animal is taken home by their adopters, unfortunately we’re unable to offer you updates about them, but you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you’ve made a huge difference in that animal’s life.

Assuming you’re happy to foster again, we’ll then place you back on the list and let you know as soon as there’s another suitable animal for you to foster. You can take a break from fostering at any time – just let us know.

Fostering is not meant to be a means to adoption. We really need foster carers who can commit to fostering long-term so that you can help many different animals who need foster homes. We generally ask for a minimum six-month commitment to fostering.

If you wish to adopt an animal instead, you can find out how here.

We don’t encourage fostering with a view to adopt. Fostering exists primarily to provide a calm and stable temporary home for our animals in need of time away from the rescue environment, as well as to work on socialising.

On occasion our animals may not be ready to be rehomed when they go on foster, and the aim of fostering is to get them to that point. Others struggle with the rescue environment and therefore we’ll look to find a temporary foster placement for them which is an improvement upon the environment here, but may not fully match the ideal long-term rehoming criteria for that animal.

If you’re unsure about whether you can care for an animal, then fostering may not be the right option for you.

We also invest in extensive training and support for our foster carers, so we need people
who will commit to fostering to ensure we’re being efficient with our time and resources.

If you’re interested in adopting an animal, you can find out how here.

Not all of our animals qualify for or need fostering, so we prioritise those who will most benefit from being in a foster home environment.

We only foster those who have compromised welfare due to stress or medical issues, or those who are too young to stay in the Rescue Centre environment.

Each animal is individually assessed to determine what type of home they are looking for and whether or not they’d be suitable to live with children.

Many of the animals who arrive at the Centre are strays, which means we have little to no history about them. For this reason, we’re unable to safely send those animals to foster homes with children.

It’s therefore quite rare for us to have animals who are suitable to live in homes where there are children, so you might have to wait a bit longer as we can’t guarantee if or when there’ll be an animal suitable for you to foster.

This is by no means a reflection of your children, family or home, it’s more about keeping you safe and doing what’s best for the animals’ welfare, as many have missed out on early socialisation. In any case, foster animals must not be left at home unsupervised with anyone under 18 years old.

We understand that foster carers have their own commitments and may not always be available. If you know you have holidays or other commitments coming up, then please let us know, and we will try to work around these dates when considering fostering placements.

If you have had an animal on foster for a while and an unexpected commitment comes up, please let us know as soon as possible and we can make alternative arrangements for the foster animal.

Each animal’s needs are different. They are assessed as individuals, and placements will be matched up with their completed assessments to find the right foster carer for them.

Please think about the amount of time you can give to your foster experience before applying, as these are animals that require extra time and patience with their journeys to find their forever homes.

If you have limited time and still wish to volunteer as a foster carer, please consider the species that your lifestyle may suit and if you could offer a different animal a temporary home.

For example, some small animals are nocturnal so prefer to have time spent with them in the evening as this is a natural time of day for them to be out exploring. They might therefore be more suitable for someone who works in the daytime and wants to spend time with them when they get home from work.