In early September, we rescued over 120 animals from neglectful conditions. With our shelter already full, finding foster homes for these new guests was critical to be able to take in other animals in need. In this Q&A, our Foster Care Manager, Kaylee Baker, sheds light on how we found safe spaces for 126 animals, including reptiles, bugs, and goats!   

 

Quick 101 about fostering at HSHV: 

• Fostering is when an animal stays in the home of an individual (instead of the shelter) for a fixed period or until they are adopted. Fostering is critical to our mission: it frees up kennel space for new animals in need. 

• Animals in foster typically have medical needs, behavioral needs, are part of a court case, or are in our Safe Harbor (emergency shelter) program. 

• Fosters choose which foster animals they care for and for how long. 

• HSHV provides all food, supplies, and vet care until the animal is adopted or relinquished (which could be anywhere from weeks to years, depending on the circumstance). 

• In general, we have 100 to 300 animals in foster care at any time, peaking above that total at about 350 during summer and kitten season. 

 

Alicia: Hi Kaylee! Thanks for your time – I know your team is super busy! Can you first tell me about the role of the Foster Team at HSHV?  

Kaylee: We make sure that animals who may struggle in a shelter environment get into foster homes, and then we manage their journey while they’re in foster care. So, keeping up with their medical care, making sure fosters have supplies, if an animal gets sick, managing their appointments, and being the liaison when transitioning an animal from foster to adoptive home. We handle all of that!

Alicia: That’s a lot of journeys to manage! Tell me about the recent rescue, 126 animals is daunting! What were the first steps for your team with an intake this large? 

Kaylee: This was all-hands-on deck. It happened on a Saturday, at the end of the day, and suddenly 126 animals were coming in. We got lucky that one of our amazing staff members has a farm, so the larger animals, like horses, could find refuge there. Both of our dog play yards became homes for the goats and sheep, and then the domestic animals (nursing mom dogs with puppies, cats and a rabbit) were my team’s priority. We could send out a foster request for those animals right away!

Alicia: I heard staff were really excited about the reptiles and bugs! 

Kaylee: We’re fortunate to have staff that are knowledgeable about other creatures like reptiles! The CR department and the Behavior Team brought in extra tanks from home, all the heat lamps, all the enclosures! It was exciting for them to be able to help because those are animals we might not work with often here at the shelter.

Alicia: Did most of the reptile friends go with staff for foster?  

Kaylee: Most went to staff, but there were some that went to a reptile rescue. The rescue was willing to take some of our larger snakes and reptiles that might have been hard to find a foster for, due to the unique care required.

Alicia: How do we monitor the wellbeing of animals that are in our care, but are physically somewhere else? 

Kaylee: We have to have good, open communication. It’s email, making sure fosters have the correct contact info and know our foster emergency line. If fosters have issues after hours, and it’s life-threatening or very concerning, they can call us at any time. It’s also making sure the foster understands that we’re expecting a level of responsiveness from them that they’re expecting from us. Staying organized on our end is important as well.

Alicia: We provide food, supplies, and vet care for our fosters until the animal is adopted or relinquished from our care. Does that apply to the animals in this rescue? 

Kaylee: Yes, we’re covering all the costs. All the supplies, all the food, even down to the veggies that the reptiles get, we’re covering all of that!

Alicia: What makes placing case animals, like the ones from this rescue, into foster more challenging than a regular shelter animal?  

Kaylee: A level of trust comes into play. It’s sensitive information and we don’t want pictures of case animals being released, or fosters taking animals out of state. There’s an extra case agreement fosters sign (aside from the standard foster contract) that lists what you can and cannot do when fostering a case animal, and we get a copy of the foster’s driver’s license, which is an extra step to make sure we can trust the foster. 

Alicia: I imagine it could also be challenging because we never know when these animals can legally be adopted, right?  

Kaylee: Yeah, exactly. It’s just kind of up in the air. When will this case be resolved? It could be next month. It could be two years from now. That’s a huge commitment to ask someone to keep an animal for two years right off the bat.

Alicia: Last question. What does the foster team need most right now from HSHV supporters? 

Kaylee: We have many wonderful fosters, but we always need more, especially for dogs with behavioral needs and bottle babies (kittens)! But if someone is unable to foster, it does help to contribute supplies. We keep our wishlist up to date!

Alicia: Thanks, Kaylee, for your time and for all the amazing and hard work your team does!  For more information on fostering, visit hshv.org/Foster.