Nine fantastic reasons to foster a furry friend in need

Did you know that more than 70% of the thousands of pets listed on PetRescue every day are in pet foster care, not shelters? PetRescue's nationwide community of 1000+ rescue groups and shelters rely heavily on the kindness of pet lovers to help save lives by opening their homes to a homeless pet until a permanent family is found.

It’s a vital lifesaving community service and we desperately need more pet-loving folk across our great nation to find a little room in their lives to foster a rescue pet. You’ll be surprised just how easy and rewarding it can be!

For young singles, couples and retirees whose lifestyle doesn’t suit adoption, or families with space for just one more pet, fostering is a great way to help homeless pets, help your community and enjoy all the unconditional love a rescue pet brings.

There’s just so much to feel good about...

1. You’re providing a safe and nurturing environment for a pet that’s in desperate need of a second chance. Foster pets are healthy and treatable pets who just need a comfortable place to stay for a while, and to be shown a little love and kindness to help them feel safe, or to recover from injury or illness.

2. You’re creating a happy, adoptable pet that’s able to adapt easily to life in a family home. Foster caring allows a much smoother transition when the pet is placed into their new home. As you can imagine, being kept in a pound or shelter can be very stressful and traumatic for many animals. In your home, they can feel safe and secure. They can be nurtured, exercised and socialised - all of which will help them adapt more easily to family life when they do find their adoptive home.

3. You’re helping to ease the strain on local rescue shelters. Every week, hundreds of companion animals end up in shelters and pounds through no fault of their own. Many shelters and rescue groups rely on networks of compassionate foster carers to provide a temporary home for pets that they would not otherwise be able to save, due to limited space. In fact, more than 70% of the pets listed on PetRescue are in pet foster care and the more foster carers that rescue groups and shelters can reach out to, the more lives they can save in your local community.

4. You can ‘try before you buy’. Fostering is a great opportunity for you to see if a particular pet or type of pet (small dog, large dog, cat, rabbit or other pet) is the right fit for your family and lifestyle.

5. It makes you the most awesome parent. When you foster a pet, you’re teaching your kids a valuable lesson in being compassionate, caring and giving others a second chance.

6. You can share your life with every kind of pet. You and your family can experience the joy of sharing your life and home with many different types and sizes of pets, big dogs, little dogs, cats, rabbits, birds and more.

7. You’ll make more friends. As well as making a new furry friend every time you foster, if you foster a dog you’ll find lots of people want to come over and say hi to you and your foster friend. It’s a great way to get to know more people in your local community.

8. It’s a more flexible way of having a pet in your life. You can choose to foster at a time that’s convenient for you and your lifestyle. Perhaps, you’re not ready to commit to owning a pet, but you can commit to looking after a pet for a few months. Although, it’s important to note that the time you have your foster pet can vary from just a week to several months, depending on how long it takes to find the perfect forever home.

9. You can enjoy all the unconditional love a rescue pet brings.

If you’re keen to find out more, see our Rescue Pet Foster Care page and our Foster Care Directory. Or, to start searching the PetRescue website for pets in urgent need of foster care select Dogs, Cats or Other Pets, and use the advanced search option ‘Pets needing foster care’.

If you find a pet you’d like to enquire about and offer your services as a foster carer, click the ‘Enquire about this pet’ button or get in touch with the relevant rescue group using the contact details listed on the profile page.

Thank you for considering pet fostering. If you have any further questions, please email info@petrescue.org.au