Foster a Pet

Opening your home to a foster pet is one of the most meaningful ways you can help animals in need.

Foster homes provide a safe and comfortable environment for animals who may need extra time, care, or simply a break from the shelter while they wait for their forever home.

By fostering, you are helping give animals the chance to relax, learn, and show their true personalities in a home environment.

Fostering not only helps the individual animal in your care, it also allows the shelter to help more animals overall by freeing up space and resources.

Whether you are able to foster for a few days, a few weeks, or longer, every foster home plays an important role in saving lives.

What Fostering Looks Like

Fostering can look different depending on the needs of the animal and the availability of the foster family.

Some common types of fostering include:

Short-Term Foster
Providing a temporary home for a dog or cat for a few days or a weekend break from the shelter.

Medical Foster
Caring for an animal recovering from surgery, illness, or injury in a quiet home environment.

Kitten Foster
Helping care for kittens who are too young for adoption until they are old enough.

Behavioral Foster (socialization)
Giving shy or stressed animals time in a home where they can decompress and build confidence.

Long-Term Foster
Providing a stable home for an animal that may need extra time to find the right adopter. Long-term fosters help dogs and cats thrive outside the shelter while we continue working to find them a permanent home.

Hospice Foster
Opening your home to an animal who may be nearing the end of their life. Hospice fosters provide comfort, love, and a peaceful home environment so these animals can spend their remaining time surrounded by care.

Fosters provide daily care such as food, a safe space to relax, basic exercise, and love while the shelter continues working to find the pet a permanent home.

The shelter provides support and guidance throughout the process. All supplies (food/litter etc) are provided by the shelter.

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Foster Eligibility

To become a foster with Caroline County Humane Society, you must:

Be 18 years or older
Complete a foster application(this is a link)
Be able to provide a safe and stable environment for the foster pet
Be willing to communicate with shelter staff about the animal’s progress
Follow the care guidelines provided by the shelter

If you have pets at home, we will help determine whether a foster pet would be a good fit for your household.

How to Apply

Getting started as a foster is simple.

Complete the Foster Application Form on our website.
Our team will review your application and reach out to talk with you about your home, experience with animals, and what types of pets might be a good fit.
Once approved, we will contact you when a foster opportunity becomes available that matches your home and availability.

When applying, you can choose to:

Apply as a general foster, meaning you are available to help when a foster case comes up that fits your home and schedule, or
Apply to foster a specific animal currently at the shelter that you are interested in helping.

Our staff will guide you through the process and help make sure you feel comfortable and prepared before bringing a foster pet home.

FOSTER APPLICATION

Why Fostering Is So Important

Shelter environments can be stressful for many animals. Even the most caring shelters cannot replicate the comfort and stability of a home.

Foster homes help animals:

Relax and decompress outside of the shelter
Recover from illness or medical procedures
Learn basic household routines
Show their true personality to potential adopters

Most importantly, fostering helps create more space in the shelter, allowing us to help additional animals in need.

Why Foster Instead of Adopt?

For some people, fostering can be a great alternative to adoption.

Fostering allows you to:

Help animals without a lifelong commitment
Choose opportunities that fit your schedule
Experience caring for different types of animals
See if adding a pet to your life might be a good fit

Many fosters discover that the experience is incredibly rewarding and sometimes it even leads to a “foster fail,” when a foster family decides to adopt their foster pet.