The Humane Society of Stillwater is currently looking for volunteers to act as foster parents for some of our special residents. Fostering a shelter animal can be a rewarding experience for both people and animals.

While we do our best to make the Shelter as comfortable and stress free for our residents, some animals have a hard time adjusting to a Shelter environment or need extra care that we simply cannot provide. Foster parenting offers a crucial support system to a no-kill shelter operation. Animals which need foster care can vary from bottle feeding kittens to dogs recovering from surgery or heartworm treatment. Often times, our long term residents just need to experience living in a home for a bit so that we can give potential adopters as much information about them as possible.

Foster terms may range from one week to several months, depending on the needs of the animal as well as the availability of the foster parent. The Humane Society of Stillwater will provide foster families with:

• Food
• Medicine and vet care
• Crate (if needed)

How Do Foster Care Volunteers Help?

• Foster care volunteers feed, groom, socialize, train, and medicate the animal during its stay in the foster home.
• Foster parents are responsible for providing food, time, and tender loving care.  
• When the animal is healthy and ready to be adopted, they may be brought back to the Shelter or stay with the foster family. 

Volunteer Qualifications 

• Foster parents must be able to provide a safe, loving and stable environment for the foster animal.
• Experience with animal behavioral or medical issues is a plus, but is not necessary.
• Foster parents must have common sense and patience, as well as be willing to nurse any injury and/or illness — with the understanding that some issues may result in the death of an animal.
• Foster parents must be able to transport their foster animal to and from the Humane Society during business hours, and to and from veterinarian providers, should the need arise.

If you are interested in making a temporary (or permanent) addition to your home, please contact Jackie at (405)377-1701 or email shelter@hspets.org.

"There is tremendous reward knowing you have helped match a dog and an adopter, and in doing so, you've had a profound effect on both lives. Neither will ever be the same again." -Kathy McGeever in the July/August Just Labs magazine.