We need to notice small and unexpected good things sometimes. It feeds the heart. In this case it’s dog foster care. I began by learning about the Dog Trust Freedom Project in the UK. They are volunteers who are foster caregivers for the dogs of people who have been abused and can’t take care of their pet for a while. I am sure there are other reasons such as a hospital stays but the podcast featured a domestic abuse victim. Surely, I thought this wasn’t a practice unique to the UK so I googled and found some groups in the US. We’re a different culture, so it was harder to find the equivalent, but it exists if not in every state, in states like Connecticut and Texas. We’re more likely to emphasize rescue. And rescuing efforts encompass many situations from abandoned pets to those stranded in Puerto Rico after the hurricane. Another difference which may be cultural is that in the US the goal of fostering is more often than not adoption. In the UK the fostering particularly when it deals with domestic abuse victims is to reunite the pet with its owner. With Dog Trust Freedom Project the idea is for the person not to lose their pet and for the foster caregiver to take care of it until they can regain custody.
I am glad such services exists and that people volunteer to be dog foster parents. It makes me feel that when we talk about dogs as being “man’s” best friend, we are, to a degree at least, living up to our responsibility.
Anyone interested in volunteering to be a dog foster parent?