Foster Home Procedures

Upon receipt of your new foster check for any health related issues or concerns. Notify Mary or Marge if any vetting is needed.

If your new foster has come to you within three weeks of the time it was in a puppy mill or animal shelter we strongly recommend keeping it isolated from your other animals for three weeks. Also, use extra sanitary measures just as a precaution. There are many contagious diseases that may not appear right away but can appear within two to three weeks. If after that time you see no signs of illness you can allow the foster dog to interact with your own animals.

Please be aware, if your foster dog was rescued from a puppy mill, that mill rescues have a high stress level. Give them time to settle in and adjust before attempting to bath, groom, or handle them. Also, please have on hand a bottle of "Bach Rescue Remedy" (available at iherb.com, stores that sell natural healing remedies, some pharmacies). Just add a few drops to their fresh drinking water. Please feed your foster a quality diet. Your new rescue will need time to de-stress and adjust. A lot of TLC and patience is often required. This is a whole new world for your foster dog and your foster dog is not like any other regular dog. Your foster has spent it’s entire life up until now in an overcrowded filthy cage, with no kind human handling, poor food conditions, and no fresh water daily. Please understand that it is not your foster dog’s fault that he or she behaves the way he/she does. Mill dogs do what they need to do to survive in the mill. Your job is to teach your foster how to trust and love and be loved and hopefully to be housebroken. Housebreaking is sometimes the most difficult part of fostering a mill dog. For the males, belly bands can help greatly. For the females, panties will help greatly. In some cases, the rescued dogs are like "normal" dogs and quickly adjust. But once again, time, love, and patience are key factors to your foster’s success.

South Paw Animal Rescue will try in every way possible to send you a fully vetted dog. We try to have all vaccinations done, neuter/spay done, and any necessary dental work done prior to sending dogs to foster homes. While this is not always possible it is our goal. When you receive your foster dog you should also receive information about what vetting has been done. If you do not receive it please contact Marge or Mary. If in a case where you need to take your foster dog to the vet you must have prior approval from Mary or Marge. (The only exception to the prior approval requirement is a life-threatening emergency. Those instances should be treated as such and then notify Mary and Marge immediately). We have vetting authorization forms and reimbursement forms. These forms are available on the yahoo group site or we can email them to you. Please try to shop around for pricing of veterinary services. It is not that we are cheap, but we operate solely on donations and very often out of our own very limited pockets so every dollar counts. Please try and find quality care for your foster dog at the best pricing possible. Most vets will offer discounts if you ask and tell them you are fostering for a rescue. We will be happy to send our Non-Profit paperwork, mission statement, or other needed info to any vet wishing to have it in order to offer a discount. Please also research spay/neuter clinics and low cost clinics in your area. Many are staffed by the same local vets in your area! There are discount vaccination days at Petco, PetSmart, local humane societies. Also, please be aware that all foster dogs must be listed as a South Paw Animal Rescue dog at the vet’s. You can set the account up as South Paw Rescue c/o Your name. This is required for accounting and tax reasons because we are a non-profit.

All animals in your care must be up to date on heartworm tests/preventative, flea/tick preventative, and parasite free. Unless a specific medical condition prevents it, all of the animals in your care must be vaccinated against rabies and your own animals must be licensed according to your local laws. Due to the controversy and new information regarding other vaccines, all animals in your care must have been vaccinated within the last 6 years with the other booster vaccines. We will provide you with heartworm preventative for your foster dog. We will therefore not reimburse for heartworm preventative obtained elsewhere.

Receipts for any veterinary expenses should be submitted to Mary and Marge. Please send the original receipt along with the completed reimbursement form. Please also keep a copy for your records. We cannot and will not reimburse veterinary expenses unless original receipts are submitted with the reimbursement form. We do not reimburse for dog toys, beds, food, crates, carriers, exercise pens, gates, clothing, or flea/tick preventative unless agreed to in advance by Marge and Mary.

You will be sent copies of health records with your foster dog along with any helpful information we have on them where available. When you receive your new foster dog, owner-surrender, or shelter dog please take 2-4 pictures for our website and write a description of them explaining their characteristics, likes, dislikes. You may not know much when you first get your foster, but write what you do know, and you can always send us an updated description later after you get to know your foster better.

All foster dogs must wear a collar or harness at all times with a current rabies tag and a South Paw Animal Rescue ID tag (the phone number on the South Paw tag should end in 51. If it does not, please contact Marge or Mary for a new tag). You should probably also add an ID tag with your address and phone number if you wish to. The South Paw ID tag should be sent back to South Paw once your foster leaves you for a forever home, unless you need to use it for an incoming South Paw foster. This will help defray the costs of buying new tags so often.

THE ADOPTION PROCESS

Applications to adopt the animals in our rescue come to us thru the website. The Adoption Committee reviews every application. If the application passes an initial review, the committee checks the references and arranges for the foster home or another volunteer to do a home visit. As the foster home you probably know the animal better than anyone else and you will also be able to review applications to adopt your foster dog. Your input is very valuable and we need it. We count on you to be sure that we find the perfect home for your foster dog. Never hesitate to tell us what you think about a potential adopter for your foster dog.

READY TO LEAVE

When your foster is ready to move on to his/her new forever home please make sure he is clean and groomed, watered and fed, and something personal is sent with them such as a blanket, favorite toy, etc. This will help reduce their stress level by having something familiar.

Please confirm before beginning transport that the Adoption Contract and donation have been received, or that arrangements have been made to obtain them before handing your foster dog over to their forever home. All South Paw Animal Rescue dogs will be transported with a collar (or harness) and leash on at all times. They should be in a carrier during transport. All dogs must have access to fresh drinking water while traveling and Bach Rescue Remedy added to their water if needed. Please also have honey or nutrical available that you can rub on their gums, especially on travel of more than an hour in total transport length. Along each step of the way the dog must be checked on and given the opportunity to go potty and crated from one person to another. All transports are monitored by Mary. PLEASE BE SURE CRATE DOORS ARE CLOSED PROPERLY DURING TRANSPORT.

FAILING FOSTERING

We understand that sometimes it's not easy to let your foster dog go. If you find yourself wanting to adopt your foster dog please let us know. Adoption of a foster dog by a foster home is subject to approval and the same requirements as all adopters.

Over all, each member will conduct themselves in a kind and respectful way. We are all here for the love and rehabilitation of our rescue dogs. We are family. Our dogs will be given the same respect and love you would want for your own dog.

We are all here to help each other. If you have any questions always please feel free to ask and please keep us updated on your foster’s progress.

Our goal is to rescue as many as we can, provide complete vetting, place the dogs in loving foster homes for rehabilitation, and find qualified loving forever homes for each dog we rescue.

We do accept owner surrender and shelter dogs. If there is a dog in your area that is in need of rescue please notify the group and contact Marge for approval.

Thank you and happy fostering!

"he is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog,

you are his life, his love, his leader.

he will be yours, faithful & true to the last beat of his heart.

you owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion"