Fostering saves lives — literally. Every animal in our care stays in a real home, learning love, routines, and trust. You provide the space and compassion; we provide the supplies, vet care, and support.
Short-term fosters make a huge difference.
Fostering means bringing a TARA dog or cat into your home temporarily while we find their forever family. You’re not “just babysitting” — you’re helping them decompress, learn house manners, and figure out who they are outside of the shelter.
We work hard to match animals to fosters based on your home, comfort level, experience, and preferences. The final placement decision is always made by our dog and cat coordinators with everyone’s safety in mind.
It depends! Some animals are adopted quickly, others need more time. We have:
Even a short-term foster stay can literally be the difference between life and death for a shelter animal. If you can offer a couch, a crate, and some patience, you can help.
Fostering with TARA is a team effort. We don’t expect you to do it alone — that’s what coordinators and volunteers are for.
Many fosters buy extra toys, collars, or treats for their foster pets, but this is never required or expected — it’s just something some people enjoy doing.
Every foster animal must have a safe, secure area in the home where they can decompress and be separated from other animals when needed. This can be a crate, a kennel, a gated room, or any well-managed space that keeps everyone safe and allows the animal to relax at their own pace. Used correctly, a crate is a dog’s bedroom: a safe den where they can eat, drink, nap, and decompress without being bothered.
Each foster home is different. Some dogs love their crates and choose them often; others do better with gated rooms or pens. We’ll help you figure out what works best for your foster animal and your household.
We expect all TARA animals to live primarily indoors as part of the family. Dogs may enjoy yard time and walks, but:
Safety and supervision come first — for your foster, your own pets, and your neighbors.
We keep the process as simple and supportive as possible while making sure it’s a good fit for you, your household, and the animal.
No. TARA covers approved veterinary care for all foster animals. If your foster needs medical attention, you contact the dog or cat coordinator, and they will arrange treatment or a vet appointment.
We treat fostering as a partnership. You can absolutely express preferences (dogs vs. cats, size, age, energy level), and we try to match animals to fosters based on home setup, comfort level, capability, and your choice. The final placement decision is always made by our coordinators to keep everyone safe.
Please reach out to your coordinator right away. We understand that not every placement is perfect. We’ll work with you to adjust the plan, provide extra support, or move the animal to another foster when needed.
Often, yes. Many of our best fosters have resident pets. We’ll talk through proper introductions, decompression time, and management so everyone stays safe and comfortable.
It happens. A lot. If you decide your foster is already home, talk to your coordinator about adopting. We still follow our standard adoption process, but we’re always thrilled to see “foster fails” in the best possible sense.
Yes! Short-term fosters for dogs and cats who need a place for a few days or a couple of weeks are incredibly valuable. Short-term fosters save lives by opening space for animals who are out of time.
Ready to get started? Fill out our foster application, or contact us if you’d like to talk through what fostering could look like for you.