We are looking for foster homes for animals in the care of our Dunbartonshire centre.

Following the success of an emergency foster programme to care for animals who couldn’t be rehomed due to the pandemic at the start of lockdown, we are now launching a pilot foster scheme which members of the public can sign up to take part in.

Members of the public can apply to foster a dog or cat from our Dunbartonshire Animal Rescue and Rehoming Centre in Milton. Applicants must live within an hour's drive of the rescue centre and be registered with a vet. They must also pass a home check carried out by the charity and have some previous experience of caring for the type of animal they wish to foster.

Centre manager, Judy Button, said, “We’d be delighted if some of Dunbartonshire’s animal lovers would sign up to foster for us. We have fostered animals out with staff members previously but we’re a small team and can’t always provide the right home environment for certain animals as a lot of us have pets of our own.

“Introducing this scheme will give even more animals the chance to recuperate in a stable home environment rather than kennels, which in turn frees our kennel space up for urgent cases of animals in need.

“Fostering can be beneficial for animals for many reasons whether that’s taking an animal out of kennels who finds the environment too stressful, allowing an animal a quiet place to recover from medical treatment or helping rehabilitate an animal with behavioural issues.

“It’s incredibly rewarding for the people involved too as you’re helping an animal recover from a difficult time in their life and get ready to find a new forever home. Anyone fostering for us will also be fully supported by the team here at the centre.

“One such animal who fostering helped enormously was Angus the seven-year-old terrier cross. He came in to our care just before the pandemic as sadly his owner passed away. He was scared, in desperate need of a haircut and struggling to adapt to life in kennels.

“Angus was fostered by a member of the team here at the centre. The change of environment cheered him up straight away and it was great seeing him enjoy his home comforts.

“He started to relax quickly and allowed for his face to be cleaned regularly and his hair to be cut. After the tugs and matts were removed he looked like a different dog and definitely felt like one too.

“Angus became more confident and with that he started to show some bad habits he had learned in earlier life. With understanding and patience those were worked on in his foster home to make sure he could be a polite family member in his new home!

“Angus also needed a lengthy course of ear medication to treat an issue with his ears but he was eventually passed by the veterinary team and ready to find a new home.

“The change in him from the scared, timid dog he’d been to the new and improved Angus was amazing.

“Angus’ new owners applied to rehome him online and, although his bad habits still needed some work, he took to his new forever home right away. He now goes on holidays all over the country and loves to run on the beach chasing his ball.

“Without being fostered it’s possible that Angus would have taken much longer to find a forever home as he’d still have been stressed and timid. We also would have been unaware of some of his behavioural quirks in a home environment, which might have led to prospective owners returning him.

“If anyone is unsure about fostering we’d urge them to give it a go. You’ll be making a huge difference to the life of an animal like Angus.”

Anyone interested in fostering for the Dunbartonshire centre can find more details and apply via the website here: https://bit.ly/3F6ulWd