How to Raise an Animal for the First Time
The New York City Animal Care Centers accept 40 to 60 animals per day; During one holiday weekend last year, the shelters welcomed over 300 animals, including dogs, cats and rabbits, that were homeless or abandoned by their owners.
Adopting a pet, especially as a potential new owner, can be challenging. This is why raising a pet is a practical solution. This gives you time to care for and live with the rescued animal, and whether you can devote sufficient resources to its welfare, but the process is not easy.
If this is your first time raising an animal, be prepared to lose any sense of personal space and free time, and have a rewarding experience of caring for a pet in need. (And try not to cry when they are adopted, this has happened to me several times.)
Ask yourself if you can make the necessary commitment
Before raising an animal, it’s important to ask yourself some important questions about the level of commitment you can make. First, depending on the shelter, you, as the foster parent, may be responsible for all expenses, including food, bedding and a walker if needed. (In some cases, the shelter or rescue service may offer to cover these costs; at least they can cover the costs of any veterinarian visits.) If this seems like an expensive commitment, it may be worth rethinking foster care entirely.
As Elizabeth Geyer writes for Dog People , you also have to consider the cost of time; the shelter may expect you to guard the child for days or months with no predictable end date. If you are working on a normal 9 to 5 schedule, you should also consider whether you can leave the animal alone at home for most of the day. (The shelter may decide if you can take care of the child based on your availability outside of work.)
You should also consider the time shelters can expect from you for things like transporting pets to and from adoption events and meeting potential adoptive parents. If you work from home or if pets are allowed in your office, then great! If it’s a cat, then even better. But if you work hard or travel often, parenting may not fit your schedule.
Here are some other things to consider:
- Do you live with others? You should consult with them about the idea of raising children, as this decision affects the whole family.
- Do you have small children or already have pets? Check with the shelter and inform them before adopting a pet.
- Do you have enough space to take care of the animal? If you live in a studio with no access to the courtyard, the shelter may still not allow you foster children. (This will likely be inconvenient for you and the 100-pound dog as well.)
- Are you raising or caring for a pet for the first time? It may be better to choose a dog or cat that does not have health problems or behaviors that you may not be suitable for (and is already house-trained).
- Do you mean some kind of pet? Depending on the shelter, you may not be guaranteed the choice for raising the particular pet you dream of. As we wrote earlier , you should get a pet, not a breed; it’s the same with raising children. Rescuers may choose the pet you raise based on time sensitivity, not necessarily your preference. However, a responsible shelter must consider your lifestyle and whether the animal is right for it.
Petfinder lists a few more questions on its website that you should ask yourself if you decide to raise a dog with medical or behavioral problems. If you are considering raising a cat, these questions are just as important, although you are less likely to have to worry about pulling the leash or barking unless you have a special cat:
What behavioral problems are you comfortable dealing with – counter-surfing, pulling on the leash, jumping to greet, inappropriate elimination, separation anxiety, barking, reactivity? Do not accept foster parents with behavioral problems that are beyond your experience and expertise unless you are willing to consult with a qualified coach.
What health problems are you willing to fight? Treat your dog often? Urinary incontinence? Digestive disorders? Special dietary needs? What about a dog with a wheelchair?
Explore local rescues or hideouts
Once you settle down to foster care, your first step should include searching the internet for the nearest shelter or life-saving agency and researching their parenting requirements. Depending on the shelter, you may usually need a completed application, at least one or more references from friends or family, a letter from your landlord or management company stating that pets are allowed in your apartment (if applicable), and either a face-to-face or Skype call to check your home or a face-to-face conversation. You may find that when a shelter is desperate for foster parents, they may let you skip some of these steps to save time.
Be sure to also carefully check the organization or shelter from which you raised. Earlier this month, a former animal rescue volunteer in San Jose, California, said their animals live in unsanitary conditions and in cages with little room to move around. “Animal shelters are funded from a variety of sources, both private and public,” writes the Animal Legal Defense Fund on its website. “Poor conditions in the shelter may well be due to a lack of adequate funding, rather than a lack of compassion.”
Look for reviews of the asylum on Facebook or Yelp. Alternatively, reach out to anyone who has participated in the program and ask about the process. If you know someone who has adopted or raised a pet, ask them for recommendations regarding shelters or rescue services as well.
Communicate with lifeguards before and during your parenting.
Once you’ve agreed on raising a particular pet, communication throughout your rescue experience becomes key. The rescue service should provide you with detailed information on what to expect from a foster dog or cat. If the shelter doesn’t provide enough detail to make you 100% comfortable, as we mentioned above, ask if the animal has any behavioral or medical problems you should be aware of; also ask about the pet’s weight, feeding schedule and how much to feed it. The shelter can also provide you with someone to contact in case of an emergency, such as the nearest veterinarian. (If not, ask.)
Of course, depending on the animal, you must prepare your home before the first day of its life. For your dog, the Humane Society recommends buying a collar and leash, food and water bowls, food, bed and toys. You can also buy a crate (or part of a house especially for a dog); However, if necessary, you should contact a rescue service or shelter. Likewise, buy bowls, wet or dry food, and a litter box for your cat; You can take a look at the Society for the Protection of Animals website to find out how to properly protect your home from cats.
Again, and as this needs to be repeated, ask your shelter or rescue team for any other items that might make the pet more comfortable in your home. If you panic for any reason, call or email them. When I first raised the dog, I wrote to the rescue mistress (probably much to her annoyance) with every question and piece of news, mostly for unnecessary reassurances.
During the weeks or months that you are adopting a child, the shelter will likely continue to look for potential adoptive parents for the pet, which may require you to move into the homes of potential owners. But if you can’t handle the thought of losing your adopted animal – which happens to the best of us – ask rescuers about adopting them. (Many shelters also offer adoption programs, which means they will allow you to take care of the pet to make sure it fits; if so, they may give you priority over other applicants.)
Depending on the shelter, a different application and payment of an adoption fee may be required, but this is a very small cost to save the life of the animal.