Foster a Pet, All Expenses Paid?

By Amy Loeffler

If you're itching to get active in the community after long days of lounging in the summer sun, consider volunteering for a pet rescue organization. Animal rescue organizations in particular are in need of extra hands during the fall when the holiday season brings big social events and fundraisers that stretch regular staff thin, and shelters become overcrowded with unwanted pets. One of the best ways to assist local rescue organizations is to alleviate the burden of an overflowing pet population by fostering animals that are waiting to be permanently adopted. The biggest misconception about fostering, however, is that it will cost you.

The truth is that while most pet rescue organizations may not give you a weekly stipend for fostering a pet, expenses such as routine vet care, medications and even food are footed by the sponsoring organization. Kim Croom, director and spokesperson of the Pet Foster Network, agrees that fostering is often misunderstood as being a drain on the foster family's budget. "People say that they can't afford to foster and I have understood that to mean both financially and emotionally. One time a woman told me she wanted to foster but she had a son going to college and she couldn't afford it. [Fostering] doesn't cost the foster home anything at all. Most people just don't know that."

One organization that has taken the for-profit model of pet renting and morphed it into a fostering concept is Stray Rescue of St. Louis, Missouri. Prospective fosters can participate in a Rent-A-Pet program that allows the whole family to get a taste of pet ownership for the weekend without any of the expenses. Pets come prepared for their weekend stay with all the accoutrements such as food, bowls, leashes and even toys! The only thing the foster family invests is time.

Another way you'll get some green in your wallet is by eventually adopting the pet you have been fostering. Typically organizations waive the adoption fee of the foster home, which is a direct savings in the check register to the tune of between $75 and $150. In addition pets who are brought into the system of an animal rescue organization are spayed and neutered before they are adopted out, saving an additional $50 to $100. It's nothing short of receiving a rebate on vet care for your pet.

And what about the emotional cost of fostering? Ms. Croom says that is reimbursable too. "The emotional cost actually ends up not being a cost at all. When that animal you've fostered is actually adopted, you don't feel a loss. You feel fulfilled."

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