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Fostering a dog or cat is an incredibly rewarding experience. Fosters provide care, food, play, exercise, and socialization for an animal. They work hand-in-hand with Pet Haven volunteers to respond to adopter. And yes, it can be difficult to say goodbye, but the success makes it worthwhile–our fosters share their stories and photos with other volunteers and celebrate each animal’s new home together.
Pet Haven foster homes provide temporary homes for cats and dogs in need of care.
Pet Haven provides:
Fosters offer safety and love and serve as strong advocates for the animals in their care. As a foster, you will get to know the specific needs of the animal and help make a great match!
Yes! Pet Haven operates as a team and there are many experienced volunteers ready to provide advice and assistance. Our Foster Coordinators offer personalized training to guide you through the process, ensuring you have the support needed when you welcome a new animal into your home. You’ve always got an army of volunteers to help you along the way. Please note that Pet Haven requires that fosters be 18 years old.
We work hard to make sure everyone is comfortable with a foster placement and the animal is a good match for your home environment. Pet Haven requires that your resident animals be up to date on their vaccinations and spayed/neutered.
Pet Haven has a tremendous network of respite fosters as well as boarding facilities that provide backup care during time away. Communication is key, so we ask that fosters plan ahead to let their Coordinators know when they’ll be out of town. Respite or boarding care is provided at no cost to fosters.
You can provide criteria (i.e. age, size, gender) for what type of dog or cat you want to foster, and we will do our best to match you with an ideal foster animal. If we have several animals needing rescue, we may send you pictures and descriptions of each. In this case, you can choose your foster animal. We also post on our Pet Haven Fosters Needed Facebook page a list of the animals needing placement.
Pet Haven has many foster families who have been with us for years, and ideally, we would love for fosters to commit to 3 months, although we are happy to work with your schedule. Pet Haven understands that you may need a short break between fosters, and that is OK. If you aren’t sure you want to be a full-time foster, consider respite fostering for short-term needs.
Fosters are invited to attend adoption events with their animal and are expected to transport their foster animal to/from veterinary appointments. Fosters are expected to stay in communication with other team members and respond to applicants, may conduct home visits, and must ensure that the foster animal receives exercise and socialization.
It is definitely a bittersweet moment when your foster animal finds its forever home. Knowing that you will open your home to a new foster animal in need helps make those goodbyes a little easier. Rest assured, there is always another animal waiting in the wings!
Yes we do. You will need to first fill out a foster application and our Foster Coordinator will tell you more!
Apply here
Dog Foster Manual
Cat Foster Manual
Questions? Contact our Foster Coordinators: foster@pethavenmn.org
