Foster families are very vital to our shelter program. The animal shelter in our region fill up fast, and fostering a pet allows us to free up space to bring in more animals. Fostering is also excellent enrichment for the animals to give them time away from the shelter life and bring out their personality. 

The OARC supplies everything you need for fostering. This includes food, litter, litter box, kennel, any vet care that the animal may need during fostering, etc.

We do short-term and long-term fostering, it depends on the person and what their preferences are. 

The foster’s responsibility is to stay in compliance with our city ordinance which includes providing adequate food, water, shelter, safe containment, and humane treatment at all times. Other responsibilities include communication with the shelter staff regarding any major change in animal health, bringing them in for vaccination appointments, or contacting us if the animal is lost or stolen.

Absolutely! We know the temperaments of all of our animals. We carefully place appropriate animals with appropriate environments and homes.

Yes, for the safety of the animal, you must be a local Oxford resident to foster.

Fostering is free! We provide you with everything you need while fostering if requested. This includes food, bowls, litter, kennels, vet care etc.

Of course! Many people use fostering as a trial period before official adoption to see if the animal is a good fit for their family and lifestyle. We make the animal unavailable during this trial period, but ask that they communicate with us regarding updates. If the animal is already altered, this time period is limited to a few days so we can make the animal available as soon as possible if the foster knows they are not going to keep the animal long term. If the animal is unaltered or too young to be altered, and the foster wishes to adopt, the animal will remain unavailable until it is altered or until it meets size and age requirements to be.