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Foster instead of adopt
Temporary dog owners: How to become a foster home for four-legged friends
Jana Bird
Volunteer local editorial office Nuremberg
Maya Mekdade with foster dog Pedro – one of more than 30 animals she has temporarily cared for. © Eva Gruner
Run – Who wishes itself a domestic animal, but is not safe whether it can lift the responsibility durably, for which there is another solution: Foster place for dogs or cats become. We explain how it works.
A life without a pet is possible, but pointless. Many Germans would agree with this sentence. About 47 percent of German citizens, estimates the Federal Association of pet supplies, owns at home dog, cat or small animal. But not everyone can commit to the responsibility for years, maybe more than a decade. And so some prefer to become a temporary foster home for pets in search of a new family.
More than 30 dogs cared for
For this decision there are the most different reasons white Carmen Baur from the Tierhilfe Franken e. V. Some are already toying with the idea of having their own dog, but don’t yet know "whether they really want to commit for the next twelve or 13 years". As a foster home, on the other hand, one can interrupt if one’s own living situation does not allow for the care of a pet. "But we also have older people who no longer want to permanently take responsibility for a dog," knows the chairman of the club.
The first "Corona dogs end up in the Nuremberg animal shelter
Ähn similar it went also to the Lauferin Maya Mekdade. Has had an affinity for dogs since childhood, but often travels with her husband, who works in the music industry. In the meantime she has taken care of more than 30 dogs in her foster home. "From German shepherds to Chihuahuas, there was everything," Mekdade recounts. She even takes foster dogs with her to the office in Nuremberg, where she fortunately receives a lot of support from colleagues. "The dogs go along with my whole daily routine," she explains.
For the dog lover, this is also the advantage of the concept: "The foster home knows the dog’s needs most about the dog. I know, how he gets along in traffic, whether he is an office dog, how he gets along with children or whether he likes to drive a car." All this could then help to place the animal permanently with a family to which it fits well.
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About 250 to 300 animals mediate for example the animal assistance Franconia each year to care places and from there durably to adoptive families. Most of these are dogs, but occasionally cats and other small animals are also available. "We are basically very mindful that humans and animals fit together," explains Carmen Baur.
Strict rules for puppies
For this purpose, there is first an initial interview with interested parties, during which all important information about the foster home is requested: Are there children? If the house or apartment has a garden? Are experienced with pets?
Afterwards, the foster home is visited. So the mediators of the association can get a good picture of which animal is in good hands with which foster home. Puppies, for example, are only placed with families who have a property with a garden and fence, who value good nutrition, and who would not leave the animal alone during the day, explains Baur. In principle, however, there are no fixed prerequisites: "A loving approach to animals and reliability must be there, everything else can be regulated," says Carmen Baur.
Education for animal and owner: "No dog comes aggressively on the world"
In addition to the placement, the association also covers the costs for doctor’s visits, food and equipment, for example. In addition, the volunteers support the new foster carers. "The first dog is very care-intensive", knows the chairwoman of the association. It is all the more important to her that interested parties are prepared to commit themselves for at least three quarters of a year or a year, so that the effort is worthwhile.
"It’s not all sunshine, it’s also a lot of work," also confirms Maya Mekdade. The dogs come from very different situations. Often they can no longer stay with their owners after divorce, moving or going into a nursing home.
Dogs from all walks of life
In addition, there are also found animals, confiscations by the veterinary office and dogs that come from a partner animal shelter in Croatia. "About the dogs from abroad knows one before almost nothing. They are often very shy at first, but after a few weeks they are happy to go into the office and are already running down the hallway," Mekdade says.
She herself tries to accustom her charges slowly to the new life. In the beginning, for example, she only takes them for walks in quiet areas, but later she also takes them for walks in the busy streets of Gostenhof. She believes that dogs learn a lot at a good foster home: "Every dog takes something with it. The one gets more self-confidence, the other learns how nice playing can be, or how much joy cuddling makes."But sooner or later comes the farewell.
From foster to adoption
If it goes quickly, an animal is placed after three to four weeks, rarely it is more than three or four months, estimates Carmen Baur. The new owners usually come over several times, talk to the foster home about the peculiarities of the animal and familiarize themselves with the new family member by playing with it.
Baur doesn’t believe that an animal suffers from the change: "When families go on vacation and give their dog to friends for the time being, that’s no different."You can’t warn the animal in advance, but you have to support it in getting used to the new environment.
"My experience has been that people are more concerned than the dogs," Maya Mekdade also says. Their owners, on the other hand, do not always find it easy to give them up. "Of course, one mourns. There are always soul dogs where it is very hard to say goodbye."
She then finds it helpful when she receives photos of her happy foster dogs from the new family. Overall, the positive outweighs the negative for her: "It’s simply a joy to have the dog, to accompany it into a new life, and then to see it happy in a new family."