Become A Foster Hero!

Every year too many highly adoptable animals are euthanized in county animal control centers and shelters simply because they have no foster or forever homes to go to. By taking a foster animal into your home you can literally save an animal’s life and give it a chance to become the beloved family pet and companion it longs to be. By fostering an animal you are making a real difference.

As a guardian you will be expected to provide a safe home, food, and daily care to your animal. You should interact with your animal as a way to socialize it and get it ready for adoption. You will also be expected to make your animal available for participation in GLBAS-scheduled foster events to expose it to potential adopters.

The average stay in a foster home ranges from a few weeks to a few months, depending on the situation. In certain cases it may be longer than a few months. Foster guardians can speed the adoption process along by taking their foster animals to scheduled events and providing lots of photos and descriptions for exposure on GLBAS’ social media pages. GLBAS is dedicated to finding forever homes for all of our foster animals as quickly as possible.

GLBAS pays for all veterinary care related to a foster animal, including physical check-ups, scheduled vaccinations, and other necessary visits and procedural costs. These costs will be billed directly to GLBAS; there is no need for you to pay the bills and submit for reimbursement. The foster guardian is expected to pay for basic care items such as food, litter, bedding, and toys.

Don’t’ worry! Becoming attached to your foster animal is a natural part of the experience. While it might be hard to say goodbye to your foster, realize that when it gets adopted it is going to a forever home where it will be cared for and loved. 

Occasionally, foster guardians adopt their animals, making their home the animal’s forever home. This is perfectly fine. Our hope is the guardian will continue to foster with us in the future.

GLBAS fosters are listed on petfinder.com as a way to expose them to potential adopters. We also encourage fosters to regularly post photos and descriptions of their foster animals of GLBAS’ Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube pages. And we like to take the animals to our foster events, held around the Tri-Cities area throughout the year. 

Once an adoption application has been submitted and a potential permanent home has been found, the foster guardian will visit the home of the potential adopter to introduce the animal and discuss caring for the animal permanently. This “interview” is an opportunity for the guardian to get a feel for the potential new owner and see the home conditions in the animal might be placed. If it is a positive experience for everyone a second visit can be scheduled –either in the guardian’s home or the new owner’s home—to complete all necessary paperwork, accept payment, and transfer the animal. 

Potential foster guardians must submit a completed foster application form (see links below) and undergo a home visit. If you currently own pets, GLBAS will check with your veterinarian to make sure your pets are up-to-date on their vaccinations and otherwise cared for properly. Once all this is completed successfully, you will become the latest GLBAS foster guardian!