Your main point of contact for your foster will be foster@dallaspetsalive.org. You can reach out to foster@dallaspetsalive.org anytime! Your email will go to our full foster rep team and one of us will get back to you as soon as possible! If you are not already, be sure to join our DPA Foster Facebook Group.
Please remember that DPA is primarily run by volunteers and to expect a 24-48 hour response time to non-emergent emails.
Foster will email tag@dallaspetsalive.org to let us know which pet they are interested in fostering with the animal’s name and/or identification number included in the album info. It is also helpful to include:
Whether this pet is a dog or a cat in your email or subject line
Any questions you may have about this pet prior to fostering
Estimated availability to pick this pet up. Please note, our shelter partners require pickup within 24 hours of confirmation.
DPA will send you the information that the shelter has provided to us and wait for your confirmation and when you would like to pick up.
Do not go to the shelter or attempt to pick up an animal without prior confirmation from the foster team.
Don't forget to save these numbers in your phone:
DPA Medical Emergency 214-550-2891 (supports phone calls and text)
DPA Behavioral Emergency 469-643-2003 (supports phone calls and text)
Quarantining new fosters is essential to protecting your resident pets and future fosters. Even if a pet appears healthy, they may carry contagious illnesses. A 14-day quarantine period helps prevent the spread of disease and allows time for symptoms to appear. Please see the DPA New Foster Quarantine Guide for additional details.
We are officially saying GOODBYE to ROMAN NUMERALS! No more Max III, Bella IV, or Luna V—starting 2/21/25, we’re making things simpler and more fun for everyone!
From now on, each new foster pet will be identified by their DPA-A-# for vet appointments. You’ll receive this number in your New Pull email from the intake team and again in your initial medical email.
What does this mean for YOU?
Pick a unique name for your foster pet—the more creative, the better!
We encourage middle names to help with uniqueness.
Check out our Retired Foster Names List for names that require a middle name or are off-limits. https://dpa.dog/retirednames
No duplicate names—this applies across all species!
Already have a foster with a Roman numeral? No worries! Keep using their current name and numeral. But for all new foster intakes, we’re officially numerals-free!
Want to change or update your foster’s name? Email foster@dallaspetsalive.org and we’ll get it sorted!
