by Cathy Davis
Even though it was standing room only, the room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Eyes were trained on the floor, nobody glanced to the right or the left, nobody shifted their feet, and nobody even cleared their throat. The lights were dim, there was so much tension in the air you could feel it.
Nobody wanted to be the first to speak, but finally, one brave soul stood up, beautiful young woman with big brown eyes and long dark hair. “My name is Cara” she said “and I am a Foster Failure”.
Cheers erupted as those gathered encouraged her to tell her story. “I am not a typical Foster Failure”, she explained, “I’m a deliberate Foster Failure.”
The room quieted down once again as people started to look around, not wanting to be the one to make the next admission, when finally a perky young lady gathered up her courage and stood up. “Hi, I’m Dorene, and I’m a Foster Failure” and once again the crowd cheered. “I’ve lost count of how many animals I’ve fostered for Houlton Humane,” she said sheepishly, “dozens, more than dozens, and I’ve either kept them or found homes for them, they never did make it back to the shelter”.
One by one they stood up, Lois, Erica, Heather, Jeannie, and on it went, there was Tim, Ed, Gary and more. One by one they admitted that they had volunteered to foster a pet for Houlton Humane for one reason or another. Erica fostered because a newly admitted “spayed” cat delivered three kittens and the preference is to have kittens brought up in a home environment and not in a cage. Linda fostered because this little kitty had an injury and needed a home environment to recover. Lois fostered a momma and new kittens, Heather fostered kitties with one eye, broken legs, or other injuries.
Kathy fostered a kitty over the holidays because the Shelter staff really didn’t want the kitties to have to spend the holidays in a cage.
Dorene has fostered over the years for countless reasons, maybe the shelter was full, maybe this dog was older and nobody wanted to adopt and she was losing hope, maybe another was not quite as friendly as it should be to attract a new adopter, so Dorene would take it home and love it into submission, and then keep it.
We love our Foster Failures. While we don’t expect this to happen when we ask someone to foster for us, it never surprises us when we get the call. We have many foster homes that know they have reached their personal limit but for a week, or several, they can open their homes and hearts to help out a critter that just needs a little time, a little extra love, a little extra attention. When those pets come back to the shelter they are healthier, more adoptable, friendlier, and they quickly find new homes.
If you are not a foster failure, don’t feel as if you are not part of the in crowd. In the 26 years I’ve been involved with Houlton Humane I’ve probably only fostered about 50 cats, and at least 40 of them made it back to the shelter to find new homes. So you see, it can be done. You can successfully foster.
But if you are a failure, if you fall in love and can’t bear to part with your temporary pet and wish to make the arrangement permanent, don’t feel guilty, don’t hesitate to stand up in a room full of people and make the admission. Literally hundreds of animals are now pampered in what started out as temporary homes.
If you are thinking of fostering but you’re afraid you’ll enter the ranks of the Foster Failures, I can’t think of anything more worthwhile to fail at! These animals need you when they are going through hard times and they need you when they recover. If you fall in love, all the better, and if you bring them back to the shelter for adoption, that just means your home is open and ready to help another that needs fostering in the future.
To all our foster families, the successes and the failures, we love you and appreciate what you do for the animals. Hold your heads high, shout it out loud and clear, “Hi, my name is (fill in the blank) and I am a foster failure!” Doesn’t it just make you smile?
Cathy Davis is a longtime volunteer for the Houlton Humane Society. She can be reached at houltonanimalshelter@gmail.com or 532-2345.
