Foster a dog or cat in your home- NJ

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Reports To: Foster and Adoption Manager.

Location: Your home

Description: Foster homes are the backbone of Louie’s Legacy Animal Rescue (LLAR), allowing us to save thousands of lives each year and place them into loving adoptive homes. Fosters provide a safe, secure environment for our animals, and allow the animals to live a normal life in a home, preparing them to be adopted by a forever family. Fostering is a rewarding experience as you will help a pet blossom into the best dog or cat it can be.

Each animal is evaluated while in foster care for personality traits, behavioral and health issues, and any special needs. The foster home’s evaluation is critical to determine how each animal interacts with people and other animals. Knowing each animal well allows us to choose the best home for each pet and provides potential adopters with the opportunity to choose the best pet for their home.

As an LLAR foster home, you are responsible for the temporary care and feeding of any foster animals in your home. You can choose how many animals you foster at one time, but please be advised that if you are considering puppies they must be fostered in pairs or more.

Typically, each animal stays in a foster home between several weeks to several months. However, LLAR cannot guarantee that any animal will be adopted within a specific time period, and we advise that you take this into consideration when deciding if you would like to participate in our foster program. We ask all fosters to take care of the animals through their adoption.

Core Responsibilities:

• Proper care and treatment of foster pets following best practices as per our policies
• Provide basic training and be willing to work through reasonable behavioral issues
• Provide food for foster animals. As a courtesy, we will often be able to provide some food for your foster pets. Food is available upon written request (based on limitations of quantity) and must be picked up from one of our designated locations. We do not deliver or have food shipped to fosters (specialized dietary requirements for medical reasons may be exempt).
• Contact our Medical Department with any medical related questions, concerns or observations.
• Keep track of veterinary appointments as well as provide transportation to and from veterinary appointments.
• Keep track of vaccination and preventative treatments.
• Evaluate animal’s personality and provide recommendations for ideal permanent home environment
• Provide information regarding personality, needs, etc. (This information is used for advertising and to screen for the best adoption opportunity.)
• Regularly communicate with the Foster and Adoption Manager or the assigned behavioral advisor regarding any changes in pet behavioral issues, etc.
• Provide litter for foster cats if not provided by LLAR

Foster home requirements:

• Live within a reasonable distance
• Verifiable Pet Policy (if you rent)
• If there is another pet in the home, ensure that it is up to date on preventatives and spayed/neutered.
• Isolation space from resident pets
• Agree to foster a pet until adoption (willingness and ability to host foster animals for weeks or months)

• Willingness to give medication to a sick foster pet if needed
• Be responsive to emails; Stay in contact with LLAR staff, including the:

• Medical Coordinator
• Foster Mentor
• Foster Coordinator
• Adoption Counselors
• Event Coordinator

• Some availability on weekends and/or evenings so potential adopters can meet your foster (Adoption Counselors will work with you to agree on a convenient time for foster families and adopters.).

LLAR responsibilities:

• Pay for all vet care and medications
• Provide each New Foster with a Foster Mentor who will

• Offer assistance/advice on policy and procedures
• Provide behavioral/training advice
• Offer moral support
• Help with writing foster animal biographies/taking pictures/videos

• Screen and interview all potential adopters
• Provide all advertising

Training: Provided by Foster and Adoption Manager.

Qualifications:

• 21 years or older

• Comply with instructions from the Foster and Adoption Manager.
• Willing to learn about animal behavior and enjoy working with people as much as animals