Foster for Life
Foster For Life (FFL) is a community program initially created by Blue Man Dog, A Purposeful Rescue and a few dedicated city shelter volunteers and Los Angeles Animal Services (LAAS) that runs six shelters in LA. The goal is to alleviate some of the overcrowding in the shelters by getting medium and large dogs fostered, then adopted.
The shelter volunteers associated with the program, spend time with dogs and select which ones seem friendly, safe and suitable for fostering by the public. FFL uses a multi-sep process to match fosters and dogs and follows up with support and resources to ensure success.
First, the fosters receive information about what to expect from fostering using a specifically created FFL guide that is based on BMD’s foster manual that helps navigate how to deal with the dogs in the first days and weeks, and onward.
The program offers:
Initial zoom call to go over what to expect fostering a dog
Fosters are supplied with crate, collar and leash via the program’s fund raising
Weekly check in group zoom calls for questions and guidance
Weekly leash walking classes
If a medical need arises, the care is provided by the shelter as the dogs still belong to them
Dogs are promoted for adoption at events, social media and on the FFL Website
Foster For Life is a successful model that can be implemented at more shelters to increase adoptions and get the community involved. Many shelters are understaffed and they don’t have the resources to support their potential foster homes, this program fills that void.
