While our Adoption Center is a wonderful place for a dog or cat to find a new home, if an animal temporarily has special needs, we prefer they live in a foster home until ready for adoption. Usually these are short term situations, and a foster home is only needed for 2-4 weeks. That animal is then brought back into the Adoption Center and made available for adoption after being spayed or neutered. Animals that are typically fostered are:

• Kittens--Kittens, in a litter or alone, are fostered until they are eight weeks old and weigh two pounds. Most kittens are fostered for 2-6 weeks. These litters may or may not have the mama cat with them. In some circumstances, if the mama cat is not available, and the kittens are not weaned, the kittens may need bottle-feeding. Mama gets spayed afterwards.
• Puppies--Puppies, in a litter or alone, are fostered until they are 8 weeks old and can be altered. If the mama dog is not available, again special feedings may be required for a few weeks.
• Ill animals--Occasionally we have a animal who suffers from a minor common ailment, such as an upper respiratory infection, who needs to recover outside of the shelter. These are usually minor cases, but it is recommended these animals be kept from resident dogs and cats to avoid spreading the disease.
• Animals recovering from surgery--If an animal has had surgery, we generally allow the animal to recover in a foster home instead of the shelter, to ensure that animal's needs are fully met.
• Undersocialized animals--If our staff determines that an animal in our facility is undersocialized, we will place that animal with a foster family to gain more socialization skills. This might be a shy animal, a young animal that is "mouthy" and needs to learn proper bite inhibition, etc.