Category Archives: fostering

In November, the Aiken County Animal Shelter received a five-month-old puppy with a fractured leg. We named him Remi.
He was gentle, quiet, and incredibly sweet — the kind of puppy who doesn’t make a fuss.

Remi is now seven months old and still healing.

Our shelter takes in more than 5,000 dogs and cats every year. The kennels are always full, and our staff and volunteers work tirelessly to make sure every dog is walked and every pet is cared for. But when you’re a puppy in a splint, especially one who lies quietly in the back of a kennel, healing can take longer than it should.

Remi didn’t need anything extreme — no intensive rehab, no complicated care. He simply needed what most of us heal best with: a calm home, slow leash walks, and daily love and attention. With that kind of environment, he likely would have healed much faster.

In January, we met another stray puppy with a fractured leg. We named him Colby.
This time, we were able to place Colby in a medical foster home on weekends — and the difference was remarkable. Colby healed more quickly, regained his strength sooner, and is now adopted!

That is the power of a medical foster.

Medical foster pets have curable, temporary conditions. They do not need to sit in kennels for weeks or months while their bodies heal. While our veterinary team provides excellent medical care, the best medicine is often TLC in a home.

We provide everything: medication, food, toys, and even large crates if needed. What we need are people who can offer a quiet, safe space — maybe a laundry room or kitchen where a dog bed fits, baby gates on the door, and the ability to do short leash walks while a pet recovers.

Medical foster dogs usually cannot play with other pets while healing, but many do just fine resting nearby. Colby’s foster, Marjorie, has both a dog and a cat — all quiet, respectful companions. Most days, Colby simply snoozed on his dog bed.

Dogs like Remi and Colby shouldn’t have to heal alone in a kennel.

If you can offer a calm space, patience, and love — even temporarily — you can change how a pet heals.


And sometimes, that makes all the difference.

Email FOTAS if you are interested in fostering a homeless pet, info@fotasaiken.org.

Their Lives Are In Our Hands.
By Kathy Cagle, FOTAS Programs Coordinator

As I write this, there is a dog on my feet. His name is Murphy and he came to us last week from the Aiken County Animal Shelter as a foster. My husband Brian and I have been foster parents to shelter animals since 2017 and Murphy is our tenth.

Some people have asked me how I am able to just “give them up” once the fostering period is over. They have the idea that somehow fostering is a sad business, but I can tell you from my experience that the opposite is true.

Each one of our temporary residents has given so much more to us than they took. Want to reduce your daily screen time? Foster some kittens! They provide hours of entertainment. Need more exercise? Foster a dog! You’ll enjoy walking so much more. Simply want company to watch tv? Foster a lap warmer – cat or dog! They don’t even care what the program is. Just by getting the animals out of the shelter, you are helping to reduce their anxiety, increase their socialization and you’re giving them a better shot at finding a stable adoptive home.

Can you foster if you already have pets? You can! We had a 14-year-old rescue, who we adopted as a puppy from another foster family, and she was great with other animals. Sadly, she passed a couple of months ago and fostering has been a great way to honor her memory and bring a little sunshine back into our quiet house.

Most of the fosters we have hosted have been spoken for. We knew going into it that we were going to have them for a short time before leaving on their transport to meet their adoptive family. Some of our fosters have needed extra attention, like bottle feeding, medication, or have been recovering from surgery, so they wouldn’t be adoptable until they got a little older or healthier. Most of these guys just need a soft place to land while permanent arrangements are made. There is only so much the shelter staff can do.

Can you be a foster and then change your mind? Of course you can! Actually, I should tell you that we’ve decided not to foster Murphy anymore. It wasn’t an easy decision. We’ve been thinking it over since we got him. He’s loving and sweet, a good listener, house broken, and crate trained. He loves to ride shotgun. Sometimes he sleeps upside down with his legs straight up in the air, but most of the time he follows me in search of tasty treats. Why, you might ask, would we no longer want to foster this amazing dog??? To be honest, the reason is purely selfish. We just couldn’t give him up and that’s really the best part of being a foster parent. Sometimes you get to keep them.

Their lives are in our hands.
by Erica Sanders, Foster Mom

Fostering saves lives. When the Aiken County Animal Shelter is full and being flooded with stray pups and kittens, we need people to foster these babies in their homes. FOTAS will supply any needed pet food, crates and toys. Every homeless pet that we can temporarily get out of the shelter makes space for other animals that need rescuing and medical care.

We get litters that are too young to be adopted right away. The young animals need time to develop and receive proper medical care to ensure they are healthy enough to go to their forever homes. They also need socializing and love to prepare them for adoption.

Two of our best puppy fosters are Paula Neuroth and Sarah Berkowitz. Paula has been taking puppies into her home for well over a decade and Sarah is on her third year of fostering

Paula and her husband, Rod, modified a shed on their property to make it comfortable – complete with heat/air, a doggy door and a fence around it. Paula’s lost count of how many pups they’ve fostered over the years, but early on, they took in a mama dog and her puppies. The puppies went back to the shelter to be adopted. But the couple adopted the mama dog, Annie. Now 11 years old, she and their other dog, Toby, are used to seeing new litters of pups staying in the shed every two or three weeks.

“The best part of fostering puppies is seeing their personalities develop and their confidence grow,” Paula said. “It’s wonderful to watch them get healthier and happier.” While Paula pointed out that fostering is not always a bed of roses, she and Rod have experienced great moments during their fostering adventures.

“There’s been many times we’ve laughed together, watching the puppies play and chase each other in our yard,” Paula said.

Sarah and her boyfriend, John, have a 20-acre horse farm and own seven dogs who are well socialized with other animals and kind to their fosters. When they foster puppies, they put them in a horse stall that’s been “puppy-fied.”

“We have fostered more than 100 dogs,” Sarah said. “It is an extremely rewarding experience. You often pick the pups up at the shelter, and they are shaking, timid, and sad. But the positive transformation once you get them into a quieter environment is almost instantaneous.”

The shelter is a safe space where animals receive all of the necessities, but by nature, it can feel like a scary environment to homeless pups. To get out of the shelter environment is hugely beneficial for them. Most of these animals are not used to many comforts. Many have been left on their own and some have been without food or even a clean water source.

“I strongly urge anyone who is considering fostering to give it a try,” Sarah said. “It might not work for everyone, but I think the majority of people who might be on the fence will be pleasantly surprised about the ease of fostering and how rewarding it is. We cannot save all the animals, but it is everyone’s duty to reinvest in their community, however that may be. For us, it is fostering; and while it may not seem that beneficial to some, I feel like we are doing our small part in saving one life at a time. And to that one life, it means all the difference in the world.”

Their lives are in our hands.

By Bob Gordon, FOTAS Communications Director