Latest / The Animal Advocate / Is Fostering a Dog Right for Me? A Foster's Honest Answer
Transcript
- 0:00If you ever thought about fostering an animal and then talked yourself out of it,
- 0:04there's a good chance that one of your reasons was that you thought you'd get
- 0:08too attached, that it would just break your heart to give them up.
- 0:12It's understandable, but my guest today turns that argument
- 0:15around in a way that never occurred to me before. And once
- 0:19she said it, it completely changed what I thought when I
- 0:23heard I'd get too attached.
- 0:29Welcome to The Animal Advocate, where we arm animal lovers
- 0:32with the information and inspiration you need to become effective
- 0:36advocates. I'm your host, Penny Ellison, and I've taught
- 0:40animal law and advocacy at the University of Pennsylvania since
- 0:432006. If you've ever thought someone
- 0:47should do something about that, I'm here to guide you on your
- 0:51journey to being that someone. You can find us on the
- 0:55web at animaladvocacyacademy.org.
- 0:59And that's where you'll find show notes and resources, and you can send
- 1:03us your comments on episodes and ideas for topics you'd like to hear
- 1:07on future shows. So, on to today's
- 1:10topic.
- 1:17Kelly Mauter fosters dogs and hosts The Foster Files,
- 1:21a podcast about animal rescue and welfare. She also has a
- 1:25background in sales, which turns out to be surprisingly useful in fostering.
- 1:30Dogs need marketing too, especially foster dogs who
- 1:33aren't sitting in a shelter where potential adopters can see them.
- 1:38Kelly and I talk about what fostering really asks of you, what it
- 1:42doesn't, and something that I don't think prospective fosters hear
- 1:45often enough. You're not just trying to get approved by a rescue.
- 1:50You should be interviewing the rescue too, 'cause you're a hot
- 1:53commodity. We talk about how to tell a well-run rescue
- 1:57from one that's likely to leave you on your own, what to ask before you
- 2:01agree to foster, and why one bad experience doesn't
- 2:05mean fostering isn't for you. And if you're on the rescue
- 2:08side, we get into the other half of the equation. How do you
- 2:12get more people to say yes to fostering? If
- 2:16you've been thinking about fostering but haven't quite gotten there, this
- 2:19conversation may change how you think about it. Here's my
- 2:23conversation with Kelly, with a guest appearance by my dog Kona.
- 2:28Welcome, Kelly Motter, to The Animal Advocate. Thank you so much
- 2:31for having me. I'm so glad we finally had an opportunity to nail this down.
- 2:35I'm so excited to be here. I'm excited too, because
- 2:39I think there are a lot of people out there that
- 2:43think about fostering, that could foster, but they have a lot of
- 2:46questions and they have a lot of trepidation about
- 2:50what it might mean. So I think that's what I want to focus on, at
- 2:53least in the beginning with you, is to, to tell us how you got
- 2:57involved in fostering. Um, I guess just let's start there.
- 3:02So I have kind of always had it in the back of my
- 3:05mind that I might want to foster. Um,
- 3:09and actually it even goes beyond just animals in, in
- 3:13kind of the process of figuring out that I was going to be a childfree
- 3:17by choice person. I thought about— I never, to me, in
- 3:21potentially having kids, it never felt like I needed to have my own
- 3:25children biologically. So I've even thought about, you know, fostering and
- 3:28adopting children. So that's kind of always been something that's sort of been in the
- 3:31back of my mind. But, um, for about 8 years, my husband and I, we
- 3:35had 5 resident dogs. And fostering in that
- 3:38capacity just is— feels very impossible. It was
- 3:42always kind of maintaining the balance of the pack to begin with. I mean, nobody
- 3:46was aggressive towards anybody, but it's 5 very different personalities that you're trying to
- 3:49make sure everybody's copacetic. And then we lost a couple of our
- 3:53dogs in 2022, and then we lost
- 3:57others in 2024. And it just really felt like the
- 4:00house really felt empty. Mm-hmm. Like it was so quiet.
- 4:04Like even going from 5 dogs to 4, you're like, oh my God, it's so
- 4:07quiet in here. And so I really just, um, you know, being
- 4:11on social media perpetually, for better or for worse, I
- 4:15was getting a lot of, you know, this dog is going to be put
- 4:19down, and this dog needs a foster, and this dog needs adopted.
- 4:23And so it just really felt like it was time. We have the space
- 4:27and we have the setup in our home. We have the flexibility of
- 4:30our schedules. We are childfree, so we don't have that,
- 4:34you know, kind of that extra added schedule, you know,
- 4:38demand of children that for us would be a little bit of a challenge.
- 4:42So I just said to Michael, I was like, hey, how do you feel about
- 4:44fostering? I really want to give it a shot and see how it goes. And
- 4:48fortunately he said yes, and we haven't really looked back. It's been,
- 4:52it's been quite the journey for sure. And, and what are some
- 4:55of the highlights and what are some of the lessons learned that you'd like to
- 4:59share with people? So for sure, the
- 5:03highlight is the same with every single dog. Every
- 5:06single dog that has come in here has a level
- 5:10of trepidation or a level of fear. I mean, it's very rare.
- 5:14It's very— I mean, only I feel like if you're getting a brand new puppy,
- 5:18like a super, super young puppy, do you get a dog that
- 5:21doesn't have something going on. So whether it's
- 5:25they're scared of new people or they're scared of this environment or they're,
- 5:29you know, potentially a really big flight risk or whatever Whatever that is, there's always
- 5:33something. And when you watch these
- 5:37dogs come out of their shells and start to like
- 5:40play and start to get comfortable and start to meet
- 5:44new people and start to play with you and start to play with your dogs,
- 5:48it is like— I mean, that feeling, that rewarding
- 5:51feeling is like— I can't describe it. Just
- 5:55knowing that you have provided them a safe space where they
- 5:59can be themselves and they can just be a dog is just like,
- 6:03I mean, my God. That first tail wag he's saying. Oh my
- 6:07God, it's, it's, it's— I, I'll tell you one very quick story.
- 6:10We had a dog that came in that was not doing well in his current
- 6:14foster. He's a super high-energy dog and he's a little bit
- 6:18on the bigger side. And I mean, I'm talking like boxer energy
- 6:21bouncing off of walls. So his foster at the time said, this—
- 6:25we are not the best fit for this dog, we really need help. We had
- 6:29just gotten rid of our foster— not gotten rid of, excuse me, adopted out our
- 6:32foster a week prior. And I said, you know what, we're in a good place,
- 6:35we can take him. And plus, we have a big fenced-in yard. We're an
- 6:39active family. We can, we can take him. And when
- 6:42he first came into my kitchen, I mean, he was
- 6:46tail tucked, ears flat. He was terrified. I mean, he watched his
- 6:50other foster pull out like, what is happening? And so I just sat on the
- 6:54kitchen floor with him. And I think I sat there for about half an hour.
- 6:58And then there's a picture of it. He finally literally just collapsed his
- 7:02whole head and body into me, and I just started crying. I was like, oh
- 7:06my God, this dog just needs to feel safe and loved. And now he is
- 7:09in the best home with equally as energetic as a dog that
- 7:13at the meet and greet they were playing for like an hour. So that's what
- 7:16I was going to say is like the second most rewarding thing is like
- 7:20putting them in these perfect homes where you just watch, then get to
- 7:24continue through pictures and videos and social media posts,
- 7:28continue to see them thrive. It's like, oh, it's just
- 7:32amazing. It's incredible. And you gave him that ticket
- 7:35to a second chance. But I think that the inverse of
- 7:39that is the objection that I always hear is how
- 7:43I'm going to feel when I have to hand that dog off to somebody else.
- 7:46What if I'm attached and it breaks my heart? Right. It's
- 7:49so funny because in the last, specifically the
- 7:53last year, because I've been doing this podcast for, you know,
- 7:56like 50, I think I have 54 episodes now. So a little over a year.
- 8:00And really, in this last year, I have really analyzed that
- 8:04statement, and it's now getting to the point where I kind
- 8:08of take issue with it. And the reason that I say that is
- 8:12because if we can really kind of dissect what that person is saying—
- 8:15and, and they don't mean it, and I don't think they think about it this
- 8:18deeply— but really what they're saying is, I am so
- 8:22unwilling to miss this dog that I'm
- 8:26okay with it potentially otherwise being euthanized. And I
- 8:29know that that sounds very harsh and that sounds very critical, but
- 8:33ultimately, at the end of the day, that's the deal that someone is making when
- 8:37they have that as their only objection to fostering. There are many
- 8:40other reasons why fostering is not going to work for certain individuals and
- 8:44certain families, and, and I could lay all of those out.
- 8:48But to say that the only reason that you wouldn't foster this dog
- 8:52temporarily is because you don't want to see it go to another home, then
- 8:56you're kind of just turning a blind eye to the fact that somewhere around
- 8:59400,000 dogs are potentially going to
- 9:02be euthanized in 2026. And that's the reality of the
- 9:06shelter situation in the United States. And unfortunately, I
- 9:10think the number might actually be up over 2025 when we actually look at the
- 9:13data because of the way that the cost of living has changed and inflation has
- 9:17changed disposable income for so many people. So I really
- 9:21challenge people to think about what they really are saying when
- 9:24that's the reason that they're telling themselves that they can't foster, because it's so
- 9:28much bigger than just that moment of, you know,
- 9:32some discomfort that you might have in this animal is now
- 9:36going somewhere else. I also would say that
- 9:41saying that to fosters, it kind of cuts us a little
- 9:44bit. And it does sound harsh, but what you're telling
- 9:48them is you have to put something else in the forefront of your mind. It
- 9:52can't be you and your feelings. It has to be the animal.
- 9:56Right, but what I mean is that, like, I think when people say, oh, I
- 9:59could never give them up, I would just love them too much, is a kind
- 10:02of a soft implication that maybe we don't love them. Oh, I see what
- 10:06you mean. And so, right, and so, like, what I'm saying is
- 10:10that, that idea that we can foster because we
- 10:14somehow don't love them as much as you potentially would is so
- 10:18not even close to reality. We love every
- 10:21single foster that comes into our house, and some are easier to say goodbye to
- 10:25because of different things and different behaviors or whatever, don't get
- 10:29me wrong, but we love every single dog that comes into
- 10:33our home. And you know what? That sounds exactly like— because the other thing
- 10:36we need people to do with, as you point out, more and more animals getting
- 10:40surrendered to shelters because of economic reasons, because of housing
- 10:43reasons, we need more and more people to want to volunteer in shelters.
- 10:48And I think the same sentiment comes out to say, well, I couldn't
- 10:51volunteer because it would break my heart. And we have
- 10:55to just, I guess, start thinking about the animals. And also, like,
- 10:59I think when you do volunteer, 90% of the time it makes you feel
- 11:03great. Even if you, you know, if there are 100 dogs in the
- 11:07kennel tonight and you took out 5, you can say, well, I made those
- 11:105 have a much better night than they otherwise would have. And, you know, that's
- 11:14where your focus has to be. Right. And also too,
- 11:18and I talk about this a lot on the podcast, is
- 11:21Volunteering doesn't necessarily mean being in the shelter every
- 11:25day. I encourage people that are, you know,
- 11:29like you, for example, you are an attorney and you
- 11:33might have, you know, in the past been like, how do I have a skill
- 11:37that is associated with animal rescue and welfare? Where clearly you have a
- 11:41massive skill set to help out in that space. You know, my
- 11:44background is in sales. What is my
- 11:48skill set? Well, my skill set is communication, right? Like, I
- 11:51love talking to people, and I love— so that's part of the reason I started
- 11:55the podcast. And also, you know, I've had dogs my entire life, and I feel
- 11:58like I have a skill set of making dogs feel safe
- 12:02and getting them to the point where they can be, you know, adopted out. But
- 12:06maybe someone's skill set is in data. Maybe someone's skill set is
- 12:10in social media management. Maybe someone's skill set is just that they like to
- 12:14do chores. Some people just like to clean. My little sister is like that. God
- 12:17bless her OCD. every time I see her, my car is cleaner than before I
- 12:21saw her. So, you know, it's— maybe that's your skill set. And
- 12:25so maybe you take your skill set and you take your interests, and you're not
- 12:28doing direct one-on-one, you know, seeing these dogs in a
- 12:32shelter. Maybe you're contributing in a different way. Maybe you're a great
- 12:35fundraiser, you know. Maybe, you know, I think that there's
- 12:39just other ways that you can look at it where, you know, you can
- 12:43really kind of take that surface-level objection
- 12:47and kind of reach past it just a little bit to find a way that
- 12:50you can still contribute to the, you know, ultimately the massive problem we
- 12:54have in the United States. 100%. And I, I
- 12:58did an episode on all the different ways that you can volunteer
- 13:01other than walking dogs, so I'll drop a link to that in the show notes.
- 13:05But you've also mentioned your, your podcast, and I want to put a link to
- 13:08that in the show notes, and that's called The Foster Files. And, uh, tell
- 13:11me what motivated you to start that.
- 13:15So when I told my friends, I'll never forget, I was at
- 13:19like a, um, we have a friend that homebrews beer and he
- 13:22had like a beer event where he was like doing tastings. And I was saying
- 13:26to my friends, guys, you know, I've decided I'm gonna foster dogs. And everybody goes
- 13:30like, okay, we know that makes sense to us.
- 13:35It sounds like a natural progression for you. We're not surprised.
- 13:39You're going to be amazing. So it was just so funny how, like, not
- 13:42surprised they were by that, because in your mind you're, like, making this big
- 13:46decision and then your friends are like, yeah, that, that tracks. So
- 13:50then kind of in the fostering and in talking about
- 13:54what I've been learning and what I've been doing as a foster, you know, I
- 13:58had one friend in particular, my friend Morgan. He said, you got to
- 14:02find a way to scale that. He's like, you're so passionate about
- 14:05it and you're so articulate in speaking about it.
- 14:09You got to, you got to find a way to do more with that. And
- 14:13so I kind of just sat with that for a little bit, and I was
- 14:15like, what does that even look like? I'm not sure what that looks like. And
- 14:18then I said, well, wait a minute, there's no gatekeeping in podcasting. You
- 14:22can literally just get a mic on Facebook Marketplace, which is what
- 14:25I did. You can Google how to do things, which is what I did. And
- 14:29then you can post stuff, which is what I did. And so
- 14:33for me, it was just a way to say I'm passionate about
- 14:37educating about animal welfare in general, because the
- 14:40The subtitle to my podcast is Stories About Animal Rescue and Welfare.
- 14:44And so I don't just talk about fostering. I don't just talk
- 14:48about dogs and companion animals. I talk about animal rescue and
- 14:51welfare in general. And it's just, I am a very naturally curious
- 14:55person. So I really like learning about all these things that I didn't know about,
- 14:59even the things that make me uncomfortable. And so I
- 15:03just really found that this was a way for me to take that energy of
- 15:06wanting to talk to everybody and kind of making sure that my friends don't have
- 15:09to hear it all the time. Well, I can identify
- 15:13with that. Yes. Right. I bet you're— I'm thinking about what you
- 15:17said about, well, you're good at sales, you're good at like sales and marketing, which
- 15:20sounds like a great thing you could teach other people, whether they're fostering
- 15:24or volunteering. Like, you know, animals need good marketing
- 15:28people. So have you found that those skills come into play as
- 15:32a foster parent and as somebody who advises people?
- 15:35Absolutely. I think writing a great description and even just
- 15:38posting the right videos on social media, I mean, I have of people
- 15:42that are interested in a dog and then they see my Instagram handle where I
- 15:46say, hey, for more videos of this dog, you know, find my Instagram.
- 15:50I've had people go, oh my gosh, I fell in love with this dog via
- 15:53the videos and via the pictures that you put up. So yeah, absolutely. I
- 15:57think to say that dogs don't need marketing, I think would be
- 16:01kind of really naive. And so I have found that
- 16:05to be a really, a really good thing. But I will say
- 16:08that It also is wildly important
- 16:12for— and I think shelters know this and rescues know this, and I think
- 16:16it's important for fosters to learn this— that when you are
- 16:19talking to a specific individual about a specific animal, that you are
- 16:23giving them the good and the bad, and you are letting them know,
- 16:27hey, these— you know, the foster that I have behind me right now,
- 16:30she's not housebroken yet. It would be a real
- 16:34disservice To not disclose that to a potential
- 16:38adopter, right? Because if I don't disclose that and then she does have an accident
- 16:42in the house, which she's probably gonna do, that's all the more
- 16:45reason for them to say, well, this isn't what I expected it to be. I'd
- 16:48like to return that dog. For, for sure. Because, you know, that has a
- 16:52couple of negative effects, which is, you know, of course that, that dog might
- 16:56come back to you or back to the shelter, which, you know, the dog's
- 17:00already been through a lot of trauma. So that's sort of more trauma. And it
- 17:03also might turn those people off from adopting. They might say,
- 17:07well, you know, the dogs you get from shelters and rescues, you know, they have
- 17:10issues. I'm gonna buy from a breeder. Right. Which is so wild
- 17:14to me because there's a multitude of issues that you can get from a
- 17:18breeder. And for those who are listening, I'm using air quotes super
- 17:21intentionally because, you know, I think most of what we see
- 17:25online, while it can look legitimate and it can look
- 17:29Like a quote-unquote really nice, great facility,
- 17:33um, it's backyard breeding. It's contributing to the crisis. A
- 17:37lot of these dogs aren't coming health tested, um,
- 17:41with genetic testing, and it's, it's really kind of just contributing to the
- 17:44problem. And there's no such thing as a perfect dog. I mean, there's a reason
- 17:48that some of these purebred dogs, well-bred dogs, you know, fail
- 17:51being service dogs, because they're sentient beings. They have their own
- 17:55personalities. So this idea that you're going to get a dog, you know, perfect puppy
- 18:00just because it's quote unquote from a breeder and doesn't quote unquote have any
- 18:03trauma. It's just, I don't know, I think it's just not,
- 18:07like I said, naive. You know, there's no such thing
- 18:11as a perfect puppy. You're going to have to put in the time. You're going
- 18:15to have to hope that this puppy and this animal has
- 18:18some great personality traits and some great things and not any known
- 18:22issues. But then also you're going to have to put in the work. And is
- 18:26that some of what you tell people who say, well, yeah,
- 18:30I want to adopt, but I really want a specific breed
- 18:34puppy and there aren't any? What do you say to people like that?
- 18:39Oh, I literally just pull up Petfinder and I just Google the breed.
- 18:43And I would say that a lot of people— not a lot, I can't really
- 18:47speak for everybody, but in my experience, people who are looking for a
- 18:50specific breed, what they're really looking for is
- 18:52this Yes, yes, yes. That, that is
- 18:56what we need to tell people to focus on. If you're thinking, right, you need
- 18:59a dog that'll be good with your kids. Yeah, go ahead. Right. And so it's
- 19:02so funny to me because there's no breeder
- 19:06that is going to have the amount of information on the temperament of a
- 19:10dog that its foster does. Like, I know
- 19:14all the ins and outs of this dog that is barking and
- 19:18wreaking havoc behind me. I'm with her every day. She has my
- 19:21focused attention. I can tell you up and down How this
- 19:25dog is gonna act. Um, and I, I just— breeders
- 19:29just don't have that. One, they don't have the time. These are babies, they're puppies,
- 19:33so they don't have it really developed, their personality. And usually there's like a litter,
- 19:36and then there's the mom they have to— and then what, you know, whatever that
- 19:39situation is. So if you are looking for appropriate temperament,
- 19:43um, I would say maybe not a shelter-specific
- 19:47rescue, right? Because dogs act different in the shelter, and shelter workers are stretched
- 19:51thin as it is. But find a shelter that works
- 19:54with fosters or find a foster-based rescue.
- 19:58And we get those requests at the rescue I work with all the time.
- 20:02We're looking for a dog that is approximately this and is good with kids and
- 20:06is good with a cat and, you know, acts like this or whatever. And
- 20:10we put out an APB in the chat that says, hey, does anybody's
- 20:13fosters meet this criteria? And then we literally will help the person
- 20:17select the dog. I mean, where are you getting that? From a
- 20:21breeder. So it's really an opportunity in the foster system. You
- 20:24know, the 2, I think the 2 most important contributions that
- 20:28fosters make to the animal welfare system is, of course, number one, they
- 20:32expand capacity. So, you know, you have a lot more spots
- 20:36for animals. And 2,
- 20:40what you just said is they supply that information of
- 20:43what is this dog like in a home. So if you are a person who
- 20:47has a child who has a cat,
- 20:51you can go to a foster-based rescue and say, who do you have that's living
- 20:54with a child and a cat? And they'll usually have one. Yeah,
- 20:58absolutely. I mean, we've— I've had a scenario in which I
- 21:02had a meet and greet come to the house to meet my foster, and
- 21:05I've told this story before, and she— it was not a good fit.
- 21:09And I could tell this person was not going to thrive with this dog, and
- 21:13this dog was not going to thrive with this person. Now, mind you, She was
- 21:16a great applicant. It was clear she loved her previous dogs.
- 21:20It was clear she had an incredible property. All those things were clear to me,
- 21:24but it was not the right fit for this dog. And I
- 21:28told her that. I said, I just— I do not see this being a
- 21:31successful placement. I want to connect you with the rescue
- 21:36and put you in touch with a dog that's going to be a much better
- 21:38fit for you. And luckily, she did end up adopting from our
- 21:41organization. I think that's— that might be one of the things that would scare off
- 21:44fosters is to say, What if I meet someone who I don't think is a
- 21:47good fit? The organization that I work with, they'll say, if
- 21:51you feel like it's not a good fit, you just tell them, okay, the rescue
- 21:55will be in touch and then we'll let them know. So, you know, if you're,
- 21:58you're concerned about fostering and, and what that looks like, just ask the
- 22:02organization outright, what if I have somebody that's not a good fit? How,
- 22:06how is that going to be handled? Is it going to be handled by me
- 22:09or is it going to be handled by the rescue? And find a rescue that's
- 22:11going to handle it for you. That is a good question because I was thinking
- 22:15that maybe the best thing to leave people with is advice for potential
- 22:19fosters, but also advice for rescues.
- 22:23Because I mean, I saw as of 2 hours ago a local rescue for senior
- 22:26animals saying, we are just being inundated with requests to take
- 22:30animals, but we can't take any more until more fosters step up. Right.
- 22:34So I guess what advice would you give rescues to try to
- 22:37recruit
- 22:42Oh, that's a tough one. Um, because in the, in the 2
- 22:46years I've been fostering, I've recruited one foster.
- 22:49Yeah. Um, and it's a, it's a close friend of mine, and that's great.
- 22:53I, I would say, um, maybe
- 22:57one of the things that our rescue is looking to do is they're looking to
- 23:00maybe hold potential foster information nights. Where people
- 23:04can come and ask questions about what it means to foster.
- 23:08I would say that a rescue should maybe post
- 23:12some of the assumed barriers that,
- 23:16you know, somebody might have. Like, for example, there are a lot of people who
- 23:20think that because they don't have a fenced-in yard, they'll get
- 23:24declined for adopting or declined for fostering. And while that might be the case for
- 23:27some rescues, it's certainly not the case for all of them. So maybe
- 23:31post like, You don't need a fenced-in yard. We're gonna handle all the
- 23:35medical. This is the support level that you get.
- 23:39Maybe let somebody know that if it's not
- 23:42working, you can bring the dog back to us, you know? And I think that
- 23:46that's something that could be a barrier for people. Oh my God, what if this
- 23:49doesn't work out in my house? What if they say that this dog is cat-friendly
- 23:52and then it tries to eat my cat? Right. You know, what am I gonna
- 23:56do here? And so maybe for a rescue, Here's
- 23:59my foster right now. Uh, maybe for a rescue to just really,
- 24:03um, just hit those— that's the thing about sales, hit the objections
- 24:07head-on, um, as opposed to letting people
- 24:11kind of walk away not having said their objection. Just say it. I,
- 24:15I know what you're thinking. I know what you feel like your objection is. Here's
- 24:18how we can overcome that objection together. Um, and then my, my advice
- 24:21for people that are considering fostering is find an organization
- 24:25you feel like you connect with. I think that, um,
- 24:29first of all, there's no shortage of need for fosters.
- 24:33So if you're considering fostering, you are a hot
- 24:36commodity. Trust me, we need fosters,
- 24:40we need loving homes. So you have your pick. Interview
- 24:44the organization, make sure it's a good fit, ask questions.
- 24:48If you reach out to them and they're not getting back to you, now, first
- 24:51of all, Have some grace. They're all volunteers. Right.
- 24:54But if ultimately you feel like they're not responding to you in a
- 24:58way that you feel like is appropriate for your expectations, move
- 25:02on. Go to another organization, right? Ask them questions.
- 25:06You know, what does the support system look like? What if my dog has a
- 25:09medical issue? What if the animal is not getting along in my
- 25:12household? What are the steps then? You know, do I get any
- 25:16decision-making in the adoption process? Is that something that's important to you?
- 25:19Interview the rescues. Interview. You're a hot commodity. I think that
- 25:23is the best advice I've heard, and it's different than I have heard before,
- 25:27which is, you know, view yourself as a hot commodity because the rescues
- 25:31are competing for you. And there are rescues that
- 25:35will not— that will provide you with more support than
- 25:39other rescues, let's say, in terms of promoting the animal and
- 25:42helping you find a home. Right. I mean, you know, I've heard It's,
- 25:47you know, the good and the bad of it. And I would say too that
- 25:49if you do foster— and I've said this on the podcast— if you do foster
- 25:52with an organization and you have a bad experience, go to
- 25:56another one. Because all experiences are not going to
- 26:00be equal. Please don't give up on the situation, right? Try to handle it with
- 26:03grace and try to handle it with some forgiveness because every organization is
- 26:07struggling to a degree. But like, go to another one, go to
- 26:11a different organization, find the one that's the right fit for you. I have a
- 26:14friend that just just joined fostering, and the organization she was gonna foster with
- 26:18kind of wasn't letting her know when she was gonna get a dog. And I
- 26:22sort of knew that, and I said, hey, we really have a dog that needs
- 26:24to be placed right now. Are you available? And she was like, yep. And we
- 26:28had that done by the end of the day. Um, and but that was also—
- 26:31she had me as a resource, and it was a little bit different, but she
- 26:35was like, hey, I— you guys need the help. They haven't gotten back to me,
- 26:38so I'm gonna help them. And it's not a knock on that organization. They might
- 26:41be dealing with other things we don't know about, but she was open, and this
- 26:44dog really needed a place to go.
- 26:49That's great advice, Kelly, and I really appreciate you coming on the show, and I
- 26:52appreciate everything you do because I know fostering is a contribution that
- 26:55not many people are willing to make. So I appreciate your doing it
- 26:59yourself and educating other people. Thank you.
- 27:04You know, they say like in mental health that one of the
- 27:07best ways that you can heal yourself is to help somebody else. And
- 27:11so if people are maybe not your jam right now,
- 27:15things are a little bit sketchy these days, turn to
- 27:19animals because they need a lot of help right now. And so I encourage
- 27:22everybody to, to look into fostering in their own community, find an
- 27:26organization that they really connect with, and certainly,
- 27:30um, listen to the podcast if you want a little bit more advice. Feel free
- 27:33to connect with me. I'd be happy to answer any further questions somebody
- 27:37might have. My email is thefosterfiles
- 27:41podcast@gmail.com. I, I read all my emails. I'm a one-man show over here, so
- 27:45please feel free to connect. That's great, and I think people may take you
- 27:48up on that. So, so thanks a lot, Kelly.
- 27:59One thing Kelly said that I hope prospective fosters hear loud and clear is this:
- 28:03you are a hot commodity. Rescues need
- 28:07fosters. It's usually the constraint that means that they can't take on
- 28:10another animal. So you get to ask questions.
- 28:14Who handles it if an adopter isn't the right fit? What happens if
- 28:18the dog isn't working out in your house? Rescues aren't all the
- 28:22same, and one bad fostering experience doesn't tell
- 28:26you what the next one will be like. But the thing I've kept thinking about
- 28:29most is what Kelly said about getting too attached. I
- 28:33could never foster because I'd get too attached sounds like a
- 28:37statement about how much you care about animals. Kelly
- 28:40asks us to turn that around. There are people who get
- 28:44just as attached and foster anyway,
- 28:48knowing that letting the dog go is going to hurt.
- 28:52That's a harder way to think about it. I also think it's a useful one.
- 28:55I'll put a link to The Foster Files in the show notes. along with my
- 28:59earlier episode about all the ways that you can volunteer with animals
- 29:03that don't involve just walking dogs. And for today's Be
- 29:06the Change, you don't have to commit to fostering.
- 29:10Just find one foster-based rescue near you and send them
- 29:14an email asking what kind of support they provide.
- 29:18That's it. Asking the question doesn't sign you up for anything.
- 29:23But it might be the first step Toward helping a dog who just needs
- 29:26somewhere to crash for a while. That's it
- 29:30for today. The Animal Advocate podcast is brought to you by
- 29:34the Animal Advocacy Academy. You can find episodes
- 29:38and show notes at animaladvocacyacademy.com,
- 29:42along with a link to our Facebook and LinkedIn pages, where we discuss our
- 29:46podcasts, and we'd love to discuss your thoughts and experiences there.
- 29:51If you're interested in learning more about protecting animals, subscribe to the
- 29:54show so you get every episode when it comes out.
- 29:58If you have any questions on this or any other topic related to animal law,
- 30:03email them to podcast@animaladvocacyacademy.com,
- 30:08and we'll make sure to get them answered. We'll either email you back
- 30:12or feature them in a future episode, or both. And
- 30:15remember, compassion is great, but compassionate
- 30:19action is infinitely better. Until next week,
- 30:23live with compassion. Live with compassion.