WHAT DOES FOSTERING MEAN?

1. Fostering saves lives.

Dogs that are waiting in open-access shelters do not tend to "show" well when it comes to adopters being able to meet them and visualize them in their homes. Dogs in shelter facilities are often stressed, shut down, and are not able to relax enough for the staff or potential adopters to get a solid idea of what their personality is like and what their needs are in an adoptive home. This inevitably leads to dogs waiting even longer for families to take a chance on them, and for some, that chance never comes. By opening your home to a rescue dog from a shelter, you are not only saving the life of that dog, but you're opening up space in that shelter that can help save the life of another dog. In the case of Chicago Rescue Authority and other foster-based rescues that don't have a physical facility to house the dogs in, we can ONLY save the amount of dogs that we have open foster homes for. This means that we cannot save dogs coming from improper breeding facilities, owner surrenders, and shelter dogs unless we have support from foster homes.

2. Fostering can be great for your family.

3. You become part of a wonderful community.

If you have existing pets, introducing a foster dog can be a great experience for socialization, companionship, and an additional playmate!

Children can benefit from fostering as a way to introduce responsibility, selflessness, a way to educate about animals, and is also a great way to "test" the idea of a permanent new pet into the home in the future.

If you've been considering adopting a new pet, fostering is a perfect way to test the waters and ensure that the new pet is the right fit for everyone involved.

3. You become part of a wonderful community.

Joining a community of like-minded friends who understand your love and passion for animals is an invaluable part of getting involved in animal welfare. Our foster families and volunteers have access to all of our social media community groups and can lean on one another for support, advice, and community.

4. You'll make someone's family complete.

3. You become part of a wonderful community.

4. You'll make someone's family complete.

Fosters with Chicago Rescue Authority are welcome and invited to be part of the adoption process if they wish. We believe that watching your foster dog embark on their "happily ever after" and getting that closure is a hugely important part of the foster process, and we are happy to offer that to our foster families.

Additionally, as foster families, it is a possibility that the family you will be completing ends up being your own! We love when fosters decide to make it official with their foster dog and pursuing adoption through this manner can be a very successful way of finding the right pup for your family.

IS FOSTERING RIGHT FOR ME?

I would love to foster, but...

I work 40 hours a week outside the home

This is absolutely NOT a dealbreaker! Foster homes bridge the gap from shelters to forever homes and helping prepare the dogs in your care for a variety of potential forever homes is a very valuable thing! Not every home will have people who work from home and it's important for our dogs to be accustomed to that kind of schedule!

I am too old and not able to take dogs for walks

Age is not a disqualifier for adoption and it certainly does not make you unfit to foster. There are many dogs who prefer to be pad trained or just go for a quick trot in the yard and straight back to the couch. If you're willing to foster, there is a dog that would LOVE to spend time with you.

I don't have a fenced-in yard

Great news! You don't need one. There are some dogs that are more shut down that will certainly benefit from somewhere with a secure yard, but most dogs will be perfectly fine with leash walks! Furthermore, puppies often need to be pee-pad trained until they're fully vaccinated before they go outside at all! Yard or no yard, you're equally valued as a foster family.

It would break my heart to say goodbye

This is absolutely valid, but we urge you not to let it stop you. The biggest challenge of being a foster home is accepting the burden of having to say goodbye. Imagine, though, that these dogs would potentially not have even survived the shelter system at all without you stepping up and opening your heart up for that sadness.

Chicago Rescue Authority understands these challenges of fostering because we are fosters ourselves. We strive to make sure that our foster families feel involved in the selection of an adopter and are offered the option to participate in the adoption meeting if appropriate. Seeing your foster pup head off to their forever family can be bittersweet, but there's an indescribable pride that comes along with it that you have to experience to understand.

I can't afford a dog right now

I have good news for you! You don't have to foot the bill AT ALL. All our fosters are responsible for doing is getting their pups to appointments. All necessary supplies and vetting are paid for by the rescue. If you WANT to spoil your foster, we certainly won't stop you - but in an effort to make fostering as accessible as possible, financial commitment is not required.

WHAT DOES FOSTERING MEAN?

1. Fostering saves lives.

2. Fostering can be great for your family.

3. You become part of a wonderful community.

3. You become part of a wonderful community.

3. You become part of a wonderful community.

3. You become part of a wonderful community.

3. You become part of a wonderful community.

4. You'll make someone's family complete.

3. You become part of a wonderful community.

4. You'll make someone's family complete.

IS FOSTERING RIGHT FOR ME?

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