First, ask yourself what is most important to you when fostering a pet. Is it important that the rescue takes care of all of the vet bills, assists you in advertising the dogs to potential adopters, helps to find someone to watch the pet if you go on vacation, involves you in the approval process when choosing the adoptive home of your foster? Below are some questions you should ask the rescue prior to fostering.
1) In what ways will you help me advertise my dog to potential adopters?
One typical way that rescues advertise their animals for adoption is by listing them on www.petfinder.com. This is a great way to get adoptable dogs in front of people who are actively looking to adopt. Established rescues will also have a website where they do additional listings of the animals for adoption.
It is important to note, that advertising your foster animal isn't only the responsibility of the rescue; it is your responsibility as well. Post photos and videos of your dog on Facebook. Send out an email to your friends and family letting them know about your new foster dog and request that they share your email with others. Take your foster to the dog park and talk to people there who may be looking for a playmate for their dog.
Another way rescuers will typically help is by holding adoption events at local businesses around the community. This requires you to bring the dog to the location and stay there for a few hours to help answer questions about your foster dog that potential adopters may have. You may want to volunteer at an adoption event prior to fostering for the rescue so that you can see how the rescue runs the event. Is it organized? Are there plenty of people available who can answer questions? Did the rescue take time to explain their process of adoption to you? How much traffic is the adoption event getting?
2) What happens if my foster dog needs to go to the vet?
Rescues may only use certain vets, which may not be located anywhere near where you live. If they do not have ways to organize a transport for your foster dog, you may find yourself driving a long distance to see the vet. If you work like I do, having to drive a long distance to a vet on a week day isn't very doable. Most rescues will pay the vet bill, but some do it differently than others. It can range anywhere from paying the bill yourself and submitting a receipt to the rescue for reimbursement to simply walking in and letting the vet know what rescue you are with.
3) If I have a question while fostering my dog or cat, who in the rescue will answer my question?
This is an important question to ask since some rescues have different ways they structure themselves. I have volunteered with rescues that seem to only have two people at the top who try to do it all and end up spreading themselves too thin which results in poor communication with their foster homes. The best set-up to find in a rescue is one that has a small group of dedicated rescuers who are committed to answering your questions and letting you know when adoption event opportunities are coming up.
4) Do I have to pay for the dog's food?
I've almost always purchased my own dog food for the pups I've fostered, but there have been a few cases where a dog needed to have a special kind of food due to a health condition. Ask the rescue if they get donations of food that you could have access to.
This is just a small list of questions and answers to help you choose the rescue that is best for you. In all of the years that I have been fostering, I have found that F.O.R. (Friends of Rescue) in Huntsville, AL has done the best all around job of supporting their foster homes. If you are in the Huntsville, AL area and are interested in fostering for F.O.R. visit, http://forrescue.net/foster/ fill out the foster application and someone will contact you shortly.
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