This article is part of our series of informational tips for volunteer foster families.
Consider making a long-term difference through short-term care by signing up to foster animals in need.
I know some of our foster volunteers are curious as to what happens to your foster after they come back to the shelter; so we thought we would share some of the basics!
Several departments get involved with the dog or cat prior to them being adopted and these things occur in different orders depending on the needs of the shelter guest, timing, and other factors:
Foster Department
The notes you provided about your foster animal will be input into our database, so our adoption counselors, animal care staff, and volunteers have more information about the animal’s behavior. Thank you so much for your detailed notes about your foster animal’s time in your home.
Clinic Department
Before going up for adoption, the shelter guest needs to be spayed/neutered, have any other surgery that may be necessary to do in a shelter setting, be microchipped (if not already done), ears checked, clip their nails, and be up to date on vaccinations and treatments for their age. The clinic works on getting the shelter guest’s health history updated as well.
Behavior and Training Department
Our behavior team will complete the necessary behavioral assessments on the shelter guest so we can provide adopters, staff, and volunteers pertinent information for that companion. This may include providing showing plans, extra behavioral handouts, updating counselor notes, behavior profiles, public profiles, home plans, walking plans, etc.
Adoption Department
Our adoption team collects the microchip registration paperwork, Rabies certificate, and spay/neuter certificate for your foster animal. The animal’s photo is taken (or photos provided by the foster may be used) and when they are officially available for adoption, you’ll see them listed on our website’s adoption listings.
Adoption note: When the foster department has been informed a foster or a friend of foster wants to adopt your foster animal, all of the above occur, however we have that foster animal “skip the line,” so to speak. There is a lot of behind the scenes work for your foster animal and the more notice we are provided for the foster/foster friend adoptions, the easier it is on the entire staff, which is why we ask for three days notice!
