PAWS Chicago’s Foster Program is critical to our rescue work. It enables us to increase the number of homeless pets we can save by placing them in temporary foster homes. Foster homes also give pets a warm, loving environment to heal, grow and flourish. As a foster parent, your role is to welcome a pet (or pets) into your home and provide food, water, toys and lots of love. There are many reasons a pet may need a foster home:
- Underage: Puppies and kittens are not ready to be adopted until they’re at least eight weeks old. They need time for their immune systems to develop, to receive life-saving medical care and to be healthy enough for their spay/neuter surgery.
- Sick/Injured: Foster homes are a great place for our sick or injured animals to heal, whether they’re recovering from something as routine as a spay/neuter surgery or something more complicated, like an orthopedic surgery.
- Behavior/Socialization: With people and animals constantly coming and going, our Adoption Centers can be overwhelming for some animals. They might need a home environment or some one-on-one attention. Other animals come to us abused, neglected or simply lacking the training or socialization they need to find the right home. Our foster homes provide the enrichment, training or behavior modification needed for these loving pets to attract the perfect family for them.
In order to foster a PAWS Chicago animal you must:
- Be 18 years or older.
- Have reliable transportation to one of the PAWS Chicago locations for pick-up and drop-off and in case of emergency during our daytime and evening business hours:
- Medical Center: 3516 W. 26th St., Chicago
- Lincoln Park Adoption Center: 1997 N. Clybourn Ave., Chicago
- Have reliable transportation to one of these emergency hospitals in the event of an after-hours emergency situation:
- Veterinary Emergency Group – 1114 South Clinton St., Unit B Chicago, IL 6067
- Veterinary Emergency Group – 755 W North Ave Chicago, IL
- Be able to transport your foster pet to scheduled medical appointments, adoption events, training classes or other PAWS Chicago locations.
- Be able to isolate PAWS Chicago foster pets from your own pets.
- Commit to only fostering for PAWS Chicago during the duration of your foster to prevent risk of disease transmission.
- Have all resident pets in your home spayed or neutered.
How We Support Our Fosters
We are committed to providing you the support you need for the duration of the foster period. We will provide all medical care and work with you to ensure you can administer any in-home care required. We will also provide you with all of the food and medical supplies necessary to care for your foster. We work hard to ensure that you have a positive, rewarding experience with the PAWS Chicago Foster Program. We do our best to meet the needs of both the foster animal and your family.
If you need support or have any questions, please email foster@pawschicago.org.
