Foster a Pet

Transform a Life: Become a Foster for Animal Friends

We rely on our dedicated foster families to help rescue and rehabilitate more animals. By providing specialized, round-the-clock care that a shelter can't offer, our fosters extend our reach and support more animals in need.

Foster families play a crucial role in caring for dogs, cats, and rabbits at Animal Friends, including:

  • Pregnant mothers or mothers with babies
  • Bottle-fed or orphaned babies
  • Medical care
  • Behavior training
  • Cage breaks
  • Kennel space
  • Hospice care
Foster a pet

Foster Volunteer

Animal Friends cares for more than on our campus at any given time.

Resources

Ready to become a volunteer foster?

All interested fosters must attend our Getting Started Orientation to become an official volunteer. Read our requirements and start your volunteer application here.

Foster FAQ

Of course! Individuals with pets at home are more than welcome to foster. Animal Friends will require a copy of the rabies certificate for any cats or dogs living in the household, as well as a copy of the RHD vaccines for any rabbits. For dogs, Animal Friends may require an onsite meet and greet with the resident dog to ensure that the foster is a good match.

Yes! Animal Friends provides all necessary supplies such as food, litter, hay, medications or prescription diets needed to begin fostering. Fosters are also welcome to purchase their own supplies, but it is not required.

The length of foster often depends on an animal's specific needs. While some foster periods can be a few days or weeks, some may need more time in foster for months or years. We are happy to work with you to see what works best for you, your schedule and your family!

Many of our volunteers fall in love with their foster pets and simply cannot part with them at the end of the foster period. Fosters receive right of first refusal for adopting any foster pet in their care, so long as there are no Humane Investigations holds, custody issues or outstanding medical or behavioral needs.

Hospice Fostering

Providing Compassionate End-of-Life Care for Animals in Need

Animal Friends is proud to offer a unique foster program designed specifically for residents in need of hospice care. We call this our “Fospice” program—where foster care and hospice care come together.

This program provides compassionate end-of-life care for our senior and medically fragile residents who may have limited time left. These animals often face incurable illnesses, life-threatening conditions, or age-related challenges that make finding them adoptive homes difficult. Instead, our Foster Department matches them with loving "fospice families" who offer a warm and caring environment, without the financial burden of medical costs.

While fostering is typically a temporary commitment, these animals become long-term members of their new households, under the ongoing support and guidance of Animal Friends, where they can live out their final days receiving the best care possible.

Foster Hospice

Our Fospice Animals

oscar

Oscar

Meet Oscar! Oscar is a wonderful 14-year-old Orange Tabby who came to us in September of 2022 when his owner could no longer care for him.  He was very sociable and active when he came to us. His best feature??? He’s a tripod! He only has 3 legs. He is a sweet, affectionate and easy-going boy, who will sit with you so you can pet him and get some kisses in return.

Oscar's favorite things are being petted while sitting on your lap, crispy cat treats, his scratching pad and laying in the sun. Even though he is a senior he still kicks around a cat toy now and then and plays with string toys with the kids. Despite his 3 legs, he always has a pep in his step, and is a happy guy. Oscar was diagnosed with cancer however in October of 2022, and was therefore made a permanent hospice foster. His foster family loves him, and says he is just the best kitty!  

oscar
nellie

Nellie

Meet Nellie! This gentle giant came to us after being found as a stray. Upon arrival, Nellie needed medical care for a mass she had as well as a full senior lady work-up. It was discovered during her work up that Nellie has many age-related issues, including internal masses, possible bladder cancer, as well as arthritis to name a few of her health concerns.

Despite this, Nellie is a friendly, affectionate and sometimes naughty young lady, who doesn’t know she should be slowing down. Nellie’s fosters have described her as the sweetest lady, with a naughty streak, as she loves to steal food from her rabbit foster siblings and get into the trash when no one is looking! Nellie currently resides in a loving foster where she will remain for the rest of her life.  

nellie
tabitha

Tabitha

Meet Tabitha! When Tabitha first came to us she was found as a Stray. She is a playful girl even at her old age, loving to play with toys and sniffing mats. She loves to sniff and dig just like most other dogs do, even burying her own bone into her dog bed. She loves attention and giving a good tail wag every once in a while. She has out lived expectations because she is able to live in a stress free, loving environment.

One picture is of her waiting at the door for her dad to come in. Her super power is having one ear pointing up and one that has a mind of it’s own. Tabitha has Lipoma or Mast Cell Tumors, this causes her to be on medication and a special diet for the remainder of her life. She is still going strong at 10 years young, and will remain in foster care receiving the best possible care for her condition. 

tabitha
sassy

Sassy

Meow! This is Sassy! And yes, this girl does live up to her name! Especially when it comes to food - she will sass you til you feed herSassy became a hospice kitty after she was diagnosed with IBD/ possible lymphoma and extreme anemia. She also has some hip issues, so she is on medication as well as a prescription diet that is closely monitored. She doesn’t let her hip issues slow her down though! She can chase feathers on a string with the best of them. She can't climb trees, but with some help, the placing of the tree next to the couch…. she can enjoy the view from the top!

She doesn’t like to be picked up due to her tummy and hip issues, but she is a lap cat. Once you sit down, she loves to curl up on her foster mom and purr!  She’s a groomer, she keeps herself clean, and makes sure her foster mom is too! She’s learning puzzles too, she loves finding her treat, even if it’s just her dry food. Because of her various health conditions, Sassy will remain in her foster home for the rest of her life as a “forever foster”.  

sassy
quinoa

Quinoa

Meet Quinoa or Old Lady Edna as her foster lovingly calls her! She is an elderly 20-year-old kitty who came to us in July of 2022 as part of a Humane Investigations case. She came to us ravenous, and very thin. Despite her condition, she remains a sweet old lady who loved all the attention and being picked up and held. She has claimed the spot between her fosters legs at night and follows her upstairs to claim her spot every night. She has one official job - if her foster is late for her afternoon feeding, her job is to come to her desk and she gently paws at her face to remind her. She waddles and because of her physique, she looks like a little ground hog. But she loves to sit on anybody's lap and be petted.

In the same month that Quinoa was rescued, it was discovered that she had anemia and early signs of kidney disease. Due to her age, and medical issues, we decided it would be best to make her a hospice cat. While she was in foster, she developed soft tissue sarcoma on her tail, and had to have her tail amputated, she remained in high spirits throughout all of this. She remains in foster permanently, where she receives her medication, and gets pampered by her devoted foster mom! 

quinoa
kenny

Kenny

Say Hello to sweet Kenny. Kenny is 10 years young and came to us when his owner went to a nursing home. We discovered not long after his arrival that he had a heart murmur, but that was the least of his problems. We realized that he wasn’t eating during his time at the shelter. After some tests, we discovered that he had chronic renal failure. He was put in a hospice foster a few days later. He hid his foster mom’s bed for 2 days until he began to relax and realized her house was a safe place.

He eats 3 cans of Friskies a day and runs around the house with more energy than a kitten. But he also loves to spend plenty of time sitting in his foster’s lap. He receives the best care by receiving a special diet, and fluids given to him every day. He will remain in foster care for the rest of his life, where he can live comfortably 

kenny
David Bowie

David Bowie

Meet David Bowie. This spunky boy is still going strong at 13 years old. He’s a total love bug who just loves to sleep on your lap. David Bowie came to us in June of 2022 when his previous owners were no longer able to take care of him, due to having too many cats in the home

He is the sweetest cat who is extremely affectionate, loves attention and will cuddle on your lap all day long. His adventurous side gets the best of him though, as he had a couple cases of trying to run out the door in his foster home. David Bowie was discovered to have inflammatory bowel disease/possible lymphoma. David lives the rest of his life peacefully with his loving foster home, where he will remain as a forever foster 

David Bowie
Felix

Felix

Meet Felix. This sweet boy is a whopping 16 years old and is the most loving boy on the planet. He absolutely loves to purr, drool, and make biscuits for his foster family, and couldn’t be any sweeter! He came to us in late 2024 when his owner unfortunately passed away.

Felix was discovered to have inflammatory bowel disease/possible lymphoma, causing diarrhea and occasional vomiting. This will be a life-long condition for this sweet man, so the decision was made to make him a hospice foster so that he can live the rest of his life with support from the Animal Friends veterinary team to make sure he is feeling his best. He is currently with wonderful foster parents who are giving him all the snuggles his heart desires!

Felix
Wookie

Wookie

Meet Wookie! This 15-year-old came to us through a Humane Investigations case as a very shy/reserved cat. After being adopted for about a year, he was returned for caterwauling at night and being very shy. Wookie does have some significant health challenges that have contributed to his slow trust building with humans. He has limited vision and is FIV+, but this hasn't stopped him from living a wonderful life.

This sweet boy can be a little shy at first but with love, patience and dedication, he settles right in and his foster mom reports is a social, and sweet boy who really enjoys spending quiet time receiving pets and making biscuits! Unfortunately, after being made available for adoption, Wookie’s health took a turn for the worse, and it was decided to make him a hospice kitty so that he can spend the rest of his life with his dedicated foster mom, who loves him very much!  

Wookie

Support Our Hospice Program

Interested in Becoming a Fospice Foster?

If you’re interested in learning how you may be able to foster for our hospice program, check out how to be a foster parent above. As always, medical care and supplies are provided free of charge to all of our trained fosters. 

Fospice

Donate

We invite you to consider sponsoring the care of our hospice residents. Your donations to the Fospice Fund will help provide the comfort and care these animals deserve in their golden years.