Becoming a Gateway Pet Guardians Foster
Do you want to help rescue dogs and cats in need in the St. Louis area?
Gateway Pet Guardians receives a large number of phone calls and emails begging us to take a shelter dog or a stray cat whose owners cannot be found. Often, we must reluctantly turn animals away simply because we don’t have a foster home available. Our foster homes are vital in helping stray animals find their forever homes. Without their hard work and dedication, Gateway Pet Guardians could not save, rehabilitate and adopt the hundreds of homeless strays we do every year.
Fostering an animal can be one of the most rewarding things you do. The dogs and cats that Gateway Pet Guardians rescues come from the streets of the St. Louis metro area. After life on the streets (and for various other reasons) dogs and cats are typically scared and sometimes shy. Many of these animals have never been given any love, training, or medical treatment until they meet their new foster families.
It is amazing what just a few weeks of love can do for a foster dog. Just ask Trendley. She was rescued in June of 2011. The pictures below are of Trendley on the day we rescued her from East St. Louis, and then after three weeks in her new foster home. The difference will shock you.
Trendley the day we rescued her.
Trendley after three weeks in a foster home.
“I take them into my home… knowing they will one day leave me. But that’s exactly why I save them… to catch, restore, and release. And each time I let go… I’m fulfilling my purpose in life, and I’m able to save another.” – Ashley Owen Hill, Lucky Dog Rescue
Trendley was severely neglected. She was starving with a severe skin infection and a collar so tight, her neck had begun to grow over it. She was dragging the leash she was tethered with.
Love is all she needed.
Foster Home Requirements:
- All animals currently residing in the potential foster home must be up to date on shots, heartworm preventative (year round) and altered.
- Foster home must not exceed pet limit for the residential area (including your potential foster pet).
- Potential foster may not have given any animals away. The only exception to this may be animals that were returned to the rescue/shelter they were originally adopted from due to aggression and/or other exceptional circumstances.
Gateway Pet Guardians duties:
- Supply a crate for housebreaking the foster pet.
- Pay for all necessary veterinary care, as well as heart worm & flea/tick preventative.
- Screen potential adopters.
- Provide mentoring and moral support throughout fostering.
Foster home duties:
- Providing a loving and stable environment for the foster pet.
- Socialization – daily walks, trips to the pet store, etc.
- Basic day-to-day care – feeding, grooming, exercise.
- Basic obedience: including housebreaking using positive reinforcement methods. Training provided by Gateway Pet Guardians.
- Providing transportation to and from veterinarian appointments.
- Provide updates on the animals behavioral and health progres.
- Bring the animal to adoption and fundraising events when needed.
- Assist in choosing adoptive home (since the foster home knows the animal best).
The length of time an animal is in foster care can vary greatly. Sometimes (usually with puppies) they will be adopted out in a few weeks. Other times it may take a year! We really have no way of knowing. What we do ask is that our foster homes make the commitment to keep their foster dog until their forever home can be found. The reason we ask for this commitment, is that we do not want them to be “bounced” around from foster home to foster home. Dogs that have this happen become very unsure of themselves and usually display this with behavior that is less than desirable. If you aren’t sure you can have a dog for a longer period of time, we are also always in need of “vacation fosters,” or temporary fosters who can take care of a foster animal if/when the animal’s current foster needs to go out of town.
Gateway Pet Guardians is a virtual shelter, which means we do not have an actual location for prospective adopters to stop by to meet our animals. We do have at least two adoption events per month. We require our animals to go to at least one event per month (the more exposure, the more chances of them finding their forever homes!). We do prefer the foster parent to be at the events. That way prospective adopters can talk directly to you to get a better idea of behaviors, habits, likes, dislikes, etc.
While a Gateway Pet Guardians animal is being fostered in your home, our Adoption Coordinator will contact you about scheduling a mutually convenient time for potential adopters to visit, whether at your home or another convenient location. This allows adopters the chance to play and interact with the dog or cat to see if they are “the one.”
If you would like to become a foster family for our rescued animals, please fill out our online foster application.
All in all, you supply the love and TLC and we supply all the medical treatment and support you need.
View dogs in need of a foster home.
Questions about fostering that were not addressed here? Contact us at foster@gatewaypets.com or call us at (314) 664-7398.
