General Questions
It usually takes anywhere from a couple of weeks to half a year. As long as you give us sufficient notice, we can move the animal to another foster situation if you can’t keep him or her any longer. You can continue to foster different animals.
Expenses you incur through fostering an animal from BAA are tax-deductible. Just make sure you keep your receipts, and note that expenses over $250 will require a letter from BAA for the deduction (which we will happily provide).
We prefer that foster volunteers pay for day-to-day expenses such as food and litter, but we can help if necessary.
Animals will usually come already named, but we can talk about it!
The animal will have had basic vetting (de-worming and de-flea’ing, testing for common diseases, vaccinations) when he or she comes to you. We may need to take him or her to the vet for additional shots and spay/neuter while you are fostering. We can do the transporting, though help is always appreciated.
Other Questions
You can have pets with fosters, but especially if they are the same species, you should make sure your pet is up to date on shots (FVRCP and rabies shots for cats). Also, it’s best to keep the foster in a separate space (even a bathroom) for a few days so that your pet can get accustomed to the foster and the foster can acclimatize to new environment.
We cover all vet expenses if the animal gets sick or hurt.
If the foster situation isn’t working out, we will seek an alternate foster home for the animal. We only ask that you give us sufficient notice, to give us time to find a new situation.
You may apply to adopt your foster animal. In that case, the normal adoption procedures apply.
If a potential adopter expresses interest in the animal, they must first fill out an adoption application. If they seem like a good fit, we ask that the foster volunteer to make an appointment with the potential adopter to meet the animal. The animal does not typically go home with the adopter after that first meeting. If the potential adopter is interested, we will contact references. Assuming everything checks out, we will then bring the animal to his or her forever home.