A foster home is an extension of a shelter’s lifesaving capacity made possible through partnerships with the public. Through fostering, members of the public provide temporary shelter, care, and love for pets in need and serve as their bridge to a forever home. 

Fostering saves lives! 

Due to a shortage of space, many shelters continue to put down perfectly healthy pets. There are instances when saving them requires finding them a foster home. The number of lives saved by shelters, due to their limited capacity, is solely dependent on the number of foster families who are willing to welcome them into their homes.  

Fostering enhances not only a shelter's ability to save lives but also the well-being of every homeless animal. Pets flourish in their homes, where their mental and physical health are greatly enhanced. Fostering, to put it simply, improves and saves lives.

While they wait for their adopter, pets in foster care are given the best possible environment. The best possible advocate for a pet's adoption is the foster parent.

There are two ways that the Foster team sends out broad communications with our foster Community: Our LHS Foster Program E-Blast and our Facebook Group, LHS Fosters. The Facebook Group is the best way to see who needs foster! 

Our weekly Foster newsletter is an email newsletter sent out weekly that highlights the pets in need of foster, recent Foster stories, upcoming Foster events, Foster graduations, and General updates from the program. If you are not on Facebook this is a very helpful resource that will keep you involved in the program and let you know which pets need Foster. 

This Facebook group is for fosters to share stories, photos, and questions they may have about their foster pets. We will provide vital information to our foster parents in this group under announcements. Our foster group has grown to also be a source of resources files Q&A and Foster support. you can ask questions or seek advice from fellow Fosters. Many of our season Fosters are regulars on the group and can answer your questions just as well as our staff can or will direct you to the proper course of action.  We come together in support when Foster suffers a loss and celebrate the victories with you too! This is a private group so please read the description and rules upon application.

Emailing is the best option for contacting a Foster Coordinator for general questions! You can email us at foster@lynchburghumane.org

For phone calls, you can reach us at 434-333-6343 but will need to leave a voicemail. Our foster team is often busy handling foster appointments and helping care for the little ones at the Center, but we will return your call as soon as possible! If you need to make a routine appointment  

What if there is an Emergency? 

If you are having an emergency during our staffed hours, please bring the pet straight to the LHS Center for Pets. There is always someone at LHS between 9 AM and 6 PM every day! If possible, contact LHS staff that you are en route with an emergent case so we can be prepared. 

After Hours? 

After hours, contact the emergency contact at 434-473-1383. Please leave a message and someone will reach back out to you! This line is monitored by a member of the medical team, who can either walk you through the problem or approve you to go to Animal Emergency and Critical Care of Lynchburg.

Upon pick-up of your first foster pet, the LHS staff will go over everything you will need to know about your fosters! Our Foster Portal is where we provide digital copies of all of our foster resources. 

Our foster community is here to help too! Search our group for previous questions, or make a post and let our fosters help you out! And lastly, our foster team is here to support and train you. It's our job to answer your questions, so ask away! If fostering underage pets we do our best to start you out with a basic case, either weaned litters or those with mothers. We can train you to take on harder cases as they come! 

We also encourage you to look into other resources. We have links on our Foster Portal to nationally recognized shelters and organizations that are producing webinars and resources too! The Kitten Lady’s “Tiny But Mighty” book is pretty much the kitten bible. Teach yourself along the way, you can learn so much! 

Foster animals, like any other companion animal in your home, may destroy carpeting, drapes, clothing and other valuable items. Young animals are more likely to have accidents in the home based on their age. Preparing your home and the area the animals will stay in by removing valuable items and providing enrichment items (toys, climbing towers for cats, etc.) can prevent most accidents, but not all of them. We cannot guarantee that a pet will behave or be completely housetrained. However most adult dogs do very well on a schedule. We recommend taking dogs out every 4 hours for bathroom breaks. If cats are missing the litter box, make sure you are following the litter box rule: 1 litter box per cat + 1 extra, and 1 litterbox per story of the home. So if you have 2 cats, you need 3 litter boxes. In order to make sure the cat knows the location of their litter box, keep them closed in the room with their litter box until they have used it once. Then you can let them have more access to the home. 

Separation from resident pets is recommended on a case-by-case basis, based on the type of fostering. Generally, we require kittens & puppies be isolated from your own companion animals for the health and safety of both the foster animal and your own companions. A separate room or enclosed area, ideally with no carpet, often works best (like a bathroom, bedroom with no carpet or a laundry room). Adult pets, however, are generally going to be introduced to the rest of your home with the proper introductions and precautions. We always suggest having a back-up plan in case the pets need to be seperated or need decompression time, like a bedroom where the pet can be alone. Also we recommend feeding all pets separately to avoid conflict over food. 

It can be difficult to let go once you have become emotionally attached to a foster animal. Be prepared for tears and some heartache when you bring your foster animals back to LHS, but remember foster families play a crucial part in helping unwanted animals get the permanent, loving homes they deserve. Being a part of their journey is very rewarding and the information you learn is very valuable! 

We like to call returns “Graduations” here at LHS! 

Utilize the “Getting Your Pet Adopted!” to properly promote your pet for adoption. I always recommend talking to friends and family. The heartache of return can be significantly eased when you know the home who adopts them! 

We totally understand that some matches just don’t work out. We would ask that you first try to separate the pet from the cause of concern. Maybe restricting them to one room or switching access with the two parties. Email foster@lynchburghumane.org to arrange the pet’s return. If it is an emergency/matter of safety please reach out immediately and we will assist.

When you foster pets with LHS, you will receive an email from Maddie’s Pet Assistant, which will prompt you to download their application to your phone. It’s a very helpful program and we highly encourage our fosters to take advantage of their help! On the app you can keep notes on your pets, record weights, complete surveys to update LHS staff, and get personalized resources. This will let you know when their vaccines are due! 

Another option is to email us at foster@lynchburghumane.org and a community pet coordinator can let you know!

First thing, please email foster@lynchburghumane.org with any and all concerns. It is really helpful to get pictures or videos of the concern that we can show our medical staff remotely. Using technology like this allows us to access the concern without bringing the pet to the center. If a vet visit is warranted we will set a time for you to bring the pet to LHS or the Lynchburg Emergency Vet. All medical and veterinary services and costs are covered by LHS, but you need our authorization before seeking treatment elsewhere or going to the emergency vet. If you have a medical emergency during the business day, 9am-5pm, bring the pet straight to the LHS center. After hours, and on holidays (Christmas, New Year Day, and Thanksgiving) please contact the Medical Emergency Number as there will be limited staff at the LHS Center. 434-473-1383

We are happy to provide a copy of the agreement! Just email us at foster@lynchburghumane.org and we can send you a copy! Another option to view the agreement is by visiting the document section under the Foster Resources tab! Click here to head there!

This can happen when foster parents fall in love with the pet they are fostering. If you wish to adopt a foster animal, please email foster@lynchburghumane.org right away to let us know and we can reserve the pet for you. If a friend or family member would like to adopt, they need to contact the adoptions team at adoption@lynchburghumane.org. Once the pet is able to be adopted we can complete all the paperwork for adoption.

We understand that want to help every pet in need! If you have found a stray pet and are unsure of what to do, please contact our Pet Help Team by emailing them at pethelp@lynchburghumane.org. In the mean time, please make sure to keep them separated from your foster pets!