Fostering



Our motto: When you foster one, you save two! 

When you foster cats, kittens, dogs, or puppies for the Little Rock Animal Village, you create space for more pets at the shelter, help keep the animal you are fostering healthy, and also give them the advantage of becoming accustomed to life in a home. Fostering is the most direct way to help an animal—you are giving him or her a second chance at life. Whether you live in a house or an apartment, in the city or out in the country, LRAV can find a foster match for you!

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Short-Term | 2-14 days

If you're interested in short-term animal care, you might like to foster dogs or cats who have been selected for a rescue transport leaving directly from the Animal Village. Four to five times a month, a van comes to the Little Rock Animal Village and takes an entire truck load of dogs or cats to one of several "destination" shelters out of state where they have more adopters than they have available animals, exactly the opposite of the issue we face here. Foster homes are needed to ensure that the animals selected for transport aren't at risk of contracting an illness at the shelter in the days before their big trip. For more information, contact us.

Medium-Term | 2-4 weeks

Bottle feeders (or bottle babies) | These are kittens under four weeks old who need to be bottle fed every 2-6 hours depending on how old they are. Since these kittens don't have a mom, you will also have to help them go to the bathroom, keep them clean, wean them, and train them to use a litterbox.
You'll need a warm, safe area in which to confine bottle babies, preferably a cage or large carrier. Some foster parents even convert an extra bathtub into a kitten area. Because warmth is so important, kittens should have access to a towel-covered heating pad, set on low. They must have enough space to be able to crawl off the heating pad if it gets too warm. If you are fostering a single kitten, provide a stuffed animal or something fuzzy for the kitten to cuddle. (Description borrowed from Maddie's Fund) Check out this bottle baby foster handbook from PSPCA.

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Kittens | The Little Rock Animal Village takes in hundreds of young kittens a year that have already weaned but won't be big enough to be sterilized (and thus adopted out) for several weeks. That's where our Kitten Foster Army comes in. Foster homes are absolutely crucial for kittens until they reach about the 8 week mark, at which point they are usually big enough to be spayed/neutered and adopted out. Not only do foster homes help free up absolutely needed space at the shelter, but they also help keep the kittens healthy at a crucial point in their development. Check out our Q&As for Feline Fosters.  Interested in fostering cats and/or kittens? For more information on becoming a kitty foster, call us at 501-725-0250 or email us.

 

Dogs | There are lots of wonderful rescues who pull dogs from the Little Rock Animal Village and either adopt them out here or send them up north where there are more adopters than available animals. There are always more dogs we can save from the shelter, if we have fosters to help us do it! Fostering for a rescue comes in many different forms, but does not necessarily mean an open-ended commitment to fostering a dog until it is adopted. If you choose to foster for a rescue that sends dogs north for example, you will likely only be fostering for 2-3 weeks until the first available transport date. Examples of rescues you can foster for under this kind of arrangement are Ruff Tales Rescue and Rescue Road.

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Long- Term | 3 months

Heartworm Positive Dogs | Sometimes a dog that a rescue pulls may be a beneficiary of our Heartworm Fund and require treatment before they can be transported out of state, which takes 3 months. They must be kept calm throughout treatment and cannot have a lot of exercise, so mental stimulation is key. Fostering a dog while they go through heartworm treatment can be one of the most challenging and rewarding ways to foster. Yes, you will grow to love them, but just think of it like dogsitting! Believe us, putting them on that truck after three months and saying goodbye will become something that fills your heart with joy, rather than sorrow.

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Ready to get started with a local rescue? Apply to foster a dog and we'll hook you up with one who can have you saving animals in no time!

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Still not sure? Have more questions? Send us an email or give us a call at 501-725-0250 anytime. The person who will answer your call or email does all of the above, and they can answer your questions and help you determine if fostering is right for you.

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The dogs and cats you see in the gallery below are just a few of the foster babies our board members have cared for.

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