Santa Barbara County Animal Services Launches “Love At Home” Dog Foster Program
“Love At Home” reaches out to those in the community who are not currently foster parents or volunteers at the Animal Shelter. The program will pair dogs in need of a foster home with interested and qualified members of the community willing to become foster parents.
Dogs in need of foster require special care in order to become ready for adoption. They may be underage, pregnant, sick, injured, or behaviorally challenged dogs.. The commitment may be as little as a week or as long as eight weeks depending on the dog.
The “Love At Home” Foster Program expands on the current foster program of active shelter volunteers for the County’s shelter puppies and adult dogs which placed dozens of dogs in foster homes each year and has saved many dogs’ lives as a result. The expanded “Love At Home” Foster Program encourages interested members of the public to provide foster care to Santa Barbara shelter dogs, even if they do not volunteer at the shelter itself. The goal of the “Love At Home” Foster Program is to broaden the network of available foster homes, providing high quality in-home care for dogs in need, reducing the stress of shelter overpopulation, and increasing the opportunities for dogs to be adopted from foster care.
The “Love At Home” Foster Program was created as a strategy to address the problem of overcrowding at the Santa Barbara Shelter. At a community meeting held in June of 2011, approximately 80 volunteers and interested members of the public shared ideas about how to improve programs to provide better care and more homes for the shelter’s dogs. A Foster Program Committee, composed of volunteers, met several times in July and August to work on ideas and develop materials – resulting in the “Love At Home” Foster Program.
Prospective foster parents will receive individualized training and assistance in the placement and care of their foster dog(s), as well as a foster manual and tailored instructions for the dog(s) in their care. Foster parents will be assisted by two Volunteer Foster Coordinators, a Foster Placement Coordinator and a Foster Assistance Coordinator, both long-time, experienced shelter volunteers.
Individuals interested in joining the “Love At Home” Foster Program should call 805-681-4397 or email sbfosterdogs@gmail.com for more information and/or application materials.