What is fostering?

Fostering is an absolutely essential part of the animal sheltering system that is directly responsible for saving pets' lives—and it's lots of fun, and very rewarding, for the people who do it!

The term fostering means temporarily caring for a pet who is not yours. Most commonly, people foster cats, dogs, and sometimes pets like pigs or chickens, from their local animal shelter or a rescue group—taking care of them for a short period of time until the pet is adopted. 

Fosters can care for pets recovering from medical procedures or illnesses, to give them a comfortable and safe place to heal. 

Why is fostering important?

Fostering saves lives. Families take in a pet who would otherwise be in the shelter, thereby freeing up much-needed space for another pet who has no other safe place to go. This saves the life of the pet in foster, and the pet who takes their place at the shelter.

Even at the best-run, best-funded shelters, shelter life increases stress, chance of disease, and can have major effects on a pet’s emotional state and quality of life.  Fostering is better for the pet, the community, and greatly increases a shelter’s capacity.

Do I have to pay to foster a pet?

Nope! Fostering is not just fun, rewarding, and essential—it is also completely free! 

Richardson Animal Shelter covers the cost of food, supplies, and veterinary care, and provides training and support. Fosters just have to provide a safe and loving temporary home for the pet.

How long will I be expected to foster?

You can take in a pet for an afternoon, a weekend, or a couple of weeks until they are adopted. 

Our medical fosters are generally in foster care for up to one month.

Kitten/Puppy fosters generally foster for 2-8 weeks, until the kittens/puppies are old enough to be spayed and neutered, and adopted.

Can I adopt my foster pet?

Absolutely. Some places call this "foster failure"—we prefer the term "foster success." In fact, 44% of pets fostered are even adopted by their foster families.

Fosters help market pets within their network so the pet can be adopted more quickly. So there is no pressure to adopt your foster pet—but if you decide to, we will celebrate and support that choice.

The Richardson Animal Shelter does have a first-come-first-served policy so after the pet has been spayed or neutered they will be made adoptable the next day or the day after (exceptions are also for any complications post-surgery so adoptable date can be pushed back). To adopt, you must be the first in our parking lot (NOT the front door) to adopt the kitten/puppy to make sure that it is fair. Fostering is a help to the shelter which does not get you ownership or rights to the pet.

Can I foster even if I have other pets at home? How about if I work full time out of the home?

Yes! Most of our fosters have pets of their own, and many fosters work outside of the home. Once you applied and have been approved as a foster, we will to discuss through email about which foster pet might be the right fit for your household.

Which pets are available for fostering?

Every pet coming into Richardson Animal Shelter is eligible to go into a foster home. You can see the available pets here on our website at this link: Adoptable Animals. Reach out any time if you'd like to foster a pet you see on our website or social media.

We also have pets needing foster who are not up on the website. These may be pets who will go up for adoption at a later time but we may be help as the shelter could be a full capacity or the pet is overly stressed in the shelter environment and would do best in a home.

Our foster coordinator will reach out to our amazing foster volunteers, to let you know about the pets for whom we are looking for foster homes!

How do I sign up to be a foster?

We're so excited you're interested in being a foster! You can fill out an application right on our website at this link: Foster Program.

Call 972-744-4480 or email AskRichardsonAnimalServices@cor.gov with any additional questions. And welcome to our foster family!