Next Journey – How to give up your foster dog.
~By Monica Kaskey
I often hear people say “I can’t foster, I could never handle giving up the dog”. Well, I used to be the
same way – it seemed to me that people who could just give up an animal that shared their heart and
home were cold and unemotional.
As I started my journey in animal rescue, I was naïve to so many things. But most of all to the realities of
overcrowded shelters and the infinite number of homeless dogs – mainly pit bulls.
My original way of thinking was that no animal should be euthanized; that each and every one of them
deserved to live. I thought that I could find homes for them, that if enough people just shared their
pictures or their stories, they would be saved.
Then I learned the bitter truth. There are too many dogs, not enough homes, and not enough money to
keep them all healthy, fed and sheltered. There weren’t enough volunteers to play with them, treats to
spoil them and most of all not enough time. I learned that there wasn’t enough TIME to find homes for
all these dogs.
So I caved in. I said I would foster. My first little foster girl came from MADACC. She was a tiny, deaf pit
bull puppy. She had one blue eye and one brown eye and I named her Pearl. From the moment I picked
her up I loved her. Somehow I think she knew that I gave her a chance…the one chance she would get.
I had Pearl for about three weeks. Doesn’t seem that long, does it? In that time Pearl learned to sit,
come, stay and learned where to use the potty. She learned what to chew and what not to chew and
she learned to play with my other dogs. She met new people, giving sloppy pitty kisses to everyone. We
cuddled on the couch all the time and we played and she made me laugh! I knew that she would grow
up into a great dog!
She had won my heart and I couldn’t imagine ever letting her go. Then I got a phone call. There was a
woman interested in adopting Pearl. Her application and references were excellent. She owned a
grooming salon and was planning on taking Pearl to work with her every day. She had just put down her
previous dog and was looking for a new addition to her family…to love. Forever.
My heart dropped into my feet and I felt such sadness. I would miss Pearl terribly and I thought for a
moment about adopting her (even though I already had 3 other dogs!). But then something happened
that made my decision easier. I got a phone call from another rescuer.
They were frantic, another little, sweet puppy was on her last day. She was a good dog, a sweet dog –
she needed a foster. Somehow, as my heart was breaking for letting Pearl go, my heart became full
again knowing that this new little girl would have a chance. I would give her the same chance that Pearl
had.
You see, as foster homes we take in the ones that are heartbroken, matted, sore, limping, with
emotional pain in their eyes. They feel cast aside, tossed away. We collect them with our strong loving
hands. We teach them trust, love and happiness. That is our role. When they are healthy and the light
shines in their eyes, it is time for us to allow them to join their forever home, because a new dog needs
us now.