Fostering Saves Lives

Fosters fuel our rescue. We are an all foster based rescue, and rely on the compassion of animal lovers to help us rescue animals that need our help. Our rescue focuses on seniors, medical needs, and hospice animals found in the Southern California shelter systems, and in most cases we are these animals last hope for getting out of the shelter. We have a group of fosters that continue to support us and our mission, continuing to step up to help us save lives. We are always looking for more fosters, because more fosters = more lives saved. This post focuses on Sandy, a long term foster in the Leave No Paws Behind family, using her own words to describe what fostering means to her.

Julie the day we pulled her from the San Bernardino shelter, part of an abuse/neglect situation

Julie about 6 months later. Sandy fostered her while we nursed her back to health and recently adopted her

I asked our fosters to tell me what fostering meant to them. I wanted to know why they do it, what they love about it, the importance of it for them. Here is what Sandy had to say:

"After the sudden passing of my husband I had to figure out what was going to fill the emptiness in my heart. Not only was I grieving so were our dogs. Well, in my searching, I found LNPB.

'Wow that's it!' I said, I will fill my home with the love animals have to offer.

This is when I saw Nala, a blind, deaf, 17 yr old cocker spaniel.

Nala, the blind & deaf Cocker Spaniel

I applied and hit the jackpot. 

Nala was delivered to my home by LNPB, I passed the home check and she was welcomed with open arms and open paws by my pack. To me, this is the importance of fostering. Saving a dog from a shelter that still has so much love to give. LNPB supports their fosters and guides them through sometimes difficult times. They cover all medical and do not hesitate to get them to the vet when there is a problem. Yes, fostering saves lives! It fills my void and doesn't allow me to feel sorry for myself.

Nala and Cali

The rest is history and my quest to help as many as I can continues. My girl Cali loves helping me foster. She has a way of making the fosters feel safe, warm and loved. I guess she gets that from me!"

Since that first experience with Nala, Sandy has fostered many animals for us. Some of those she has fostered for a long time, while others were hospice cases that were with her short term. For the hospice cases (and with all her animals), Sandy makes sure that during their short time with us, they know warmth, kindness, tenderness, and love. She also assists us with transports and photoshoots.

She goes on to say: "Do I have a favorite? No. But Nala was an AH-HAH moment for me. Seniors helping seniors in companionship"

If you live in the Los Angeles or surrounding area and fostering sounds like something you would be interested in, please email us at info@leavenopawsbehind.com. We cover the cost of any medical for the life of our fosters.