As many of you know, I work in rescue. One group that I have not have had the chance to personally work with is Pleading Paws Pet Rescue, located in Zimmerman, MN. I think that all rescues are wonderful, and all are doing so much to help, but PPPR is one of the best. This was posted on their website awhile back, and it just touched my heart and soul so much, I thought that I would share it all with you.
"What fostering is all about, in a foster’s own words
Fostering an animal is not about me volunteering my time to provide shelter and food and love to an animal. It is about the trust and love that a dog or a cat that has been abused, abandoned or strayed can give you after all it has been through. I've only been a foster parent for about 4 months now and each and every foster animal I've received has it's own special story and place in my heart.
My first foster was the absolutely perfectly behaved dog - if all fosters were like that - who wouldn't want to foster! He was a stray that no one claimed.
People have this preconceived notion that stray animals can be vicious and are abandoned for a reason. As foster parents, we never know the entire story behind why an animal shows up with little to no history of where he/she came from. Some foster animals may be in our care because they wandered too far from home and got lost and their owner didn't claim them, others may have been surrendered by their owners for many different reasons, some could have been dumped off in the middle of nowhere and yet others might have been rescued from an abusive situation. I don't see it as us giving an animal a second chance, I see it as the animal giving humans a second chance. They weren't the ones that failed us in the first place, we failed them. It is absolutely amazing how an animal can be brought into new surroundings and accept everything as is, while trusting these unfamiliar faces, when it takes humans so much longer to trust and adapt.
The reward that I see in fostering an animal is watching it grow emotionally and physically under your care. The skittish cat that curls up beside you purring as loud as a motor. The too skinny dog finally has a beautiful shiny coat and its ribs and backbone no longer show through. The dog that was too scared to enter a house incase it would be scolded finally runs to the door to be let in and out with its tail wagging - no longer worried about being punished. The dog that can finally go into a deep (snoring) sleep with humans in the room and not have to worry about always being attentive in case it has to run and hide. The dog that will not cower when you raise your hand to pet it. The dog that greets you when you come home with a tail that is wagging so much it might fall off and you are overflooded with kisses and "I ruff you's" before you can get one foot in the door!
People ask me how I can give them up after I've cared for them. It's never easy giving up a foster animal, but when the animal is matched with the perfect family that can give it all the love, care and attention it deserves, that is the final reward and the perfect ending to your role as that animal's foster parent. Seeing the family just as happy as the animal is when they are united, gives you a satisfied and content feeling that you can go home and say, "Ok, let's go bring home the next new addition to the family"."
You can find Pleading Paws Pet Rescue at: http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/MN93.html
Cheers,
Rosefern
"What fostering is all about, in a foster’s own words
Fostering an animal is not about me volunteering my time to provide shelter and food and love to an animal. It is about the trust and love that a dog or a cat that has been abused, abandoned or strayed can give you after all it has been through. I've only been a foster parent for about 4 months now and each and every foster animal I've received has it's own special story and place in my heart.
My first foster was the absolutely perfectly behaved dog - if all fosters were like that - who wouldn't want to foster! He was a stray that no one claimed.
People have this preconceived notion that stray animals can be vicious and are abandoned for a reason. As foster parents, we never know the entire story behind why an animal shows up with little to no history of where he/she came from. Some foster animals may be in our care because they wandered too far from home and got lost and their owner didn't claim them, others may have been surrendered by their owners for many different reasons, some could have been dumped off in the middle of nowhere and yet others might have been rescued from an abusive situation. I don't see it as us giving an animal a second chance, I see it as the animal giving humans a second chance. They weren't the ones that failed us in the first place, we failed them. It is absolutely amazing how an animal can be brought into new surroundings and accept everything as is, while trusting these unfamiliar faces, when it takes humans so much longer to trust and adapt.
The reward that I see in fostering an animal is watching it grow emotionally and physically under your care. The skittish cat that curls up beside you purring as loud as a motor. The too skinny dog finally has a beautiful shiny coat and its ribs and backbone no longer show through. The dog that was too scared to enter a house incase it would be scolded finally runs to the door to be let in and out with its tail wagging - no longer worried about being punished. The dog that can finally go into a deep (snoring) sleep with humans in the room and not have to worry about always being attentive in case it has to run and hide. The dog that will not cower when you raise your hand to pet it. The dog that greets you when you come home with a tail that is wagging so much it might fall off and you are overflooded with kisses and "I ruff you's" before you can get one foot in the door!
People ask me how I can give them up after I've cared for them. It's never easy giving up a foster animal, but when the animal is matched with the perfect family that can give it all the love, care and attention it deserves, that is the final reward and the perfect ending to your role as that animal's foster parent. Seeing the family just as happy as the animal is when they are united, gives you a satisfied and content feeling that you can go home and say, "Ok, let's go bring home the next new addition to the family"."
You can find Pleading Paws Pet Rescue at: http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/MN93.html
Cheers,
Rosefern