Whether you are young and active, have a yard, live in an apartment building, are enjoying your retirement years, have children, other pets, have a full time job, etc... there is a foster dog out there that would love to be a guest in your home. Many of the dogs in our care are coming from circumstances that see them confined in a small space 24/7, and they don't need much to feel happy and at peace. We appreciate that our foster families are willing to open their homes and their hearts to dogs in need, and we will never make you open your wallets, too. Chicago Rescue Authority will cover all animal care expenses associated with your foster dog. We also know that opening your heart to a dog can be hard and emotional and we will always do our best to ensure that you are able to see your foster through to adoption (unless you decide to adopt yourself!)
What exactly does fostering mean? It means bringing a homeless dog into your home, caring for them, providing them with affection and socialization, until a permanent family comes along who will love them forever.
The benefits of fostering are numerous, and not only a wonderful thing for the dog and shelter or rescue, but can be beneficial to the one doing the fostering in so many ways!
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.
If you have existing pets, introducing a foster dog can be a great experience for them as an additional companion, additional socialization, 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.
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.
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.
