ST. LOUIS — It is a plea that animal shelters and rescue groups consistently make: the need for foster parents.
They are some of the unsung heroes in animal rescue. Perhaps you've fostered animals or are considering it. Here are the ins, outs and rewards of being a foster parent.
There's no typical day at an animal shelter, but one thing is constant: animals coming in and needing forever homes.
"I know that any given time there are several hundred here at our Macklind shelter, and there can be 100 plus at our Maryland Heights shelter as well," explained Humane Society of Missouri Marketing Manager Robyn Dexter.
That's where fosters come in. As the state's largest shelter, the Humane Society of Missouri always needs people to adopt animals, but fosters are also in demand.
"We never take in more animals than we can care for, but the fosters really help us when we don't have the space here to provide for the animals, especially when it's animals who really need around-the-clock attention," Dexter said.
Space and resources can be taxed when the shelter rescues large groups of animals from abuse and neglect across Missouri — or from disasters in other states.
"It depends on the rescue and the animal, of course, and the needs of the animals that come in but a lot of times when we get these big rescue groups in, we will send several out to foster homes if they need a little bit of extra attention and we always need fosters for those," Dexter said.
"On a daily basis, we may get anywhere from 10 to twenty phone calls asking for help."
It's a never-ending stream of wagging tails and curious pups at Heather Wilhelm's house. She is a foster parent for the non-profit 4 Paws 4 Rescue.
"4 Paws has been around since 2009. We are a small all-foster organization. We do not have a shelter, so all of our animals are in our homes so we're always looking for folks to help," Wilhelm said.
Right now, the group supports animals in 27 foster homes.
"We have puppies that are growing up in our care. Puppies normally are the first ones to be adopted, and we have them sitting and waiting," Wilhelm said.
Being a foster requires love and whole lot of patience.
"The two that I got yesterday—they came in, they'd never been in a home before, so they didn't know what was going on. They were scared to death. I think we finally got to sleep at 3:30 this morning," Wilhelm said.
After your application is approved, an animal is placed in your care.
All expenses are covered, from food to vet visits.
Some animals require surgery and are going to fosters to recover, while others are learning everything for the first time.
"So it's our job to train them, get them used to household sounds, get them used to riding in the car. Get them used to sharing," Wilhelm explained.
Fostering an animal can last a week to a few months. Then there are the foster fails.
"We like to call them foster wins here, because it's not a fail, it's a win. Because we've placed that animal in a home and made room for another one to be fostered," said Dexter, who ended up adopting her foster.
Fosters—the unsung heroes.
"Fostering as a whole is probably the best decision I made. There's satisfaction in watching those dogs leave," Wilhelm said.