How to foster

Becoming a foster volunteer is a wonderful way of getting involved with the work we do at the branch. It enables us to help more animals, improves welfare and gives us the best chance of matching our animals to the perfect permanent home.  For most animals, coming into kennels is a stressful experience. By opening up your home to an RSPCA animal it dramatically improves their welfare, allowing them to wait for a permanent home in a more comfortable and familiar environment.

When you foster an RSPCA cat or dog you will be responsible for the day-to-day husbandry needs as if they were your own. However, they will remain the responsibility of the branch until a permanent home has been found for them. The branch will provide the equipment you need and cover all veterinary expenses. Being a fostering volunteer for the branch does require some emotional resilience, as when the time comes they will head off to their new home. Rest assured though, there will be more that need help, so you won’t need to be without an animal for long!

There are 3 steps to becoming a Foster volunteer for the branch;

• Complete an application form and email it back to us.
• Once we receive the application form we will arrange an informal home visit
• After that you’re good to go!

The home visit is an opportunity to have an informal chat about what sort of animals you would be interested in looking after, and to let us know about any previous experience you have. There is not a specific criteria that we look for, but during the home visit we can work out how we can best work together. We never know what is going to come through our doors, so having a wide variety of foster homes available is really beneficial to the branch.

Typically we look to place puppies, kittens, seniors and animals receiving medical treatment into foster. We also require foster homes for more complex cases that often need continued training, or for animals that are not coping well in the kennel environment. We will match foster animals to the most suitable foster home. This will be based on information from the previous home, our observations at the centre and also on what each fosterer is happy to take on.

Whilst you have a foster animal you will have access to support from the foster coordinator. We would stay in touch whilst you have the animal, give you guidance and if you required extra support we will be happy to facilitate that. We do ask that our fostering volunteers are sympathetic to the values of the RSPCA at all times. If you do decide that you are willing to take on a dog that is following a training programme, then you will also have access to support provided by our behaviour team, which will include updates and progressions for the dog.

There are often no set time frames, and each case will be unique. Before you take on any foster animal we will discuss all the relevant details with you, we will accommodate your needs where possible, and aim to make it an enjoyable experience. Fostering volunteers really are invaluable to us as a branch.