Jess Townsend, Customer Service Manager
Every dog that comes to the Washington Humane Society (WHS) has a different history;
some come directly from their former home, while some have gotten lost and spent
time alone on District streets. Others come from horrendous situations that
they can’t tell us about, but we can see the lasting effects. Over the last
year, the staff at the New York Avenue Adoption Center has started bringing
some of these special needs dogs into their offices to provide focused
attention and care.
Fatima, a Jack Russell mix, was surrendered to the New York Avenue Adoption Center when her family moved and was unable to take her along. She was so scared when she came in, she growled at everyone who approached her. We brought her into the office and worked hard to gain her trust, slowly introducing her to new people using positive reinforcement. She recovered well, was adopted a month later, and is now having a blast with her new family.
Fostering doesn’t mean ending a relationship with an animal when they find their forever home. Quite the opposite, as Lisa has learned. Foster dog alumnus Maestro has regular sleepovers with Lisa’s chocolate lab Gwen and current foster terrier/whippet mix Schuyler.
“The nice thing about fostering is that you give so much
love to the animals and create such a bond,” Lisa said. “If you’re lucky enough
to be friends with their adopters, then there is a whole village of care for
the animal. It's one of the really rich things about fostering. When you
develop a relationship and stay in touch, it surrounds the animal with
love.”
Lisa’s fostering family, around 200 animals and growing, has wide-reach, and she enjoys keeping up with her former foster animals and their new families through social networks like Facebook. In January, she posted picture of Gwen and Schuyler, which received an almost instantaneous outpouring of heartfelt comments from her past fosters’ adopters.
“Up until the day my beautiful Jenny, another one of Lisa’s fosters, passed away, all I had to do was mention Lancie and Gwennie’s names, and she would just get so excited. She loved her foster family so much,” read one of the comments.
Interested in adopting Schuyler (pictured above on the left)? Email Alexandra Feldt at afeldt@washhumane.org.
Foster
Monday Roxy
Roxy is a
well-mannered, low-key lady. She is a one-year-old Chinese
Shar-Pei and English Bulldog mix who had a rough start in life, but with time,
good food, patience, and loving foster care, she is showing a little more spunky
personality each day. Learn
more about her on the WHS website, or email
her foster mom to meet
her, kseidl@gmail.com.
Become a Foster Parent
Adoption centers can be extremely stressful for some dogs, and WHS is often at
or beyond capacity as we help every animal in need. WHS is calling on
individuals, families, and businesses to volunteer as temporary foster care parents
for homeless pets. For more information on becoming a foster parent, please
visit http://washhumane.org/foster
or email foster@washhumane.org.
Please SUBSCRIBE
to our blog by going to http://washhumane.typepad.com/ and
entering your email (top right) to receive our latest stories, tips, and more.
Recent Comments