Fostering with SPCA: “You will never look back”

There is no way SPCA could care for over 33,000 animals a year without our amazing animal-loving community. Vital to this special group of people are those who put up their hand to foster animals.

Being able to spend time in a dedicated home environment is pivotal for many animals who come through SPCA’s doors. Whether recovering from surgery, completing a course of medication, socialising with other animals, or simply learning to relax and trust humans… the reasons can be many.

As well as being vital to these animals’ recovery, people opening their homes to take in animals free up desperately needed space within our SPCA Centres. The more animals we can shift from our Centres into foster homes, the more animals in need we have capacity to take in.

So when we say our foster volunteers are heroes… we really do mean it.

One of these heroes is Melanie, who together with husband Russell fosters canines from our Whangārei Centre. Our team say they can’t recall a time they ever contacted her about fostering that she said no. “We give Mel and Russ a call.. they’re there. They are just amazing.”

After recently returning foster pup pair Mickey and Minnie, Melanie sent us some beautiful photos of their time together, and answered some questions for others who may be considering giving fostering a go.

Three months ago, we picked this up a brother and sister pair called Mickey and Minnie – marking our 28^th and 29^th foster pups! They were the youngest we had ever had at 450 grams and 550 grams, three days old and not even able to open their eyes yet. They needed bottle feeding every three hours, but the great thing is SPCA gave us everything we need.

With these two we kept them the whole time, going back to SPCA for check-ups, vaccinations, microchipping and desexing. Once they reached 12 weeks old, our job as fosters were done, and it was time for them to find their families.

The joy these two gave us, the laughs, the cuddles… we truly get the best of them as fosters, the cuteness is incredible.

Back in May 2022, we lost our 8-year-old Doberman. He had died prematurely, and we were missing him in the family. A few months later, we drove past SPCA Whangārei and my husband suggested we go in and see some puppies to cheer ourselves up. I said OK, but we’re not taking any home! While there though, I asked how we could help and heard what a massive need there is for canine foster carers. Within a week, we’d taken our first pair of foster pups home!

My husband and I – we are both busy professionals, but the joy of fostering has become intrinsic in our lives. We also have two rescue dogs, both from SPCA. They’re both brilliant at being substitute mums to the foster pups.

There are so many best parts. Giving something back, being a champion for animals who need one, loving them, giving them the best fresh start after being dumped at SPCA, the laughs and fun they give us and seeing them develop into incredible individual characters. All our fosters are embedded in our hearts and memories.

Feeding them, loving them, playing with them, keeping them clean and warm, and looking after them as our own… that’s easy. The hardest part is seeing the time it can take for them to get adopted. Our hearts get heavy when we check the Whangārei adoption page daily after taking pups back to see if they’ve got their home, and see our fosters still there, sometimes for ages.

Do it! Treat them like your own and you will never look back. If you get stuck, there is always someone from the SPCA team to help. It’s such a rewarding experience and doesn’t cost you financially either. Everything is provided – all the blankets, cage, food, bottles and toys. Your job as foster carers is to get them ready for their forever home. It’s a joy to do.

We are so grateful for foster carers like Melanie, and we’re not the only ones.

We got in touch with Minnie’s adoptive family, who took this sweetheart home earlier this month. Asking if they’d have any words to share with Minnie’s foster carer, or anyone who fosters animals for SPCA, Minnie’s new mum said, “We are so grateful for the people who open their homes to young pups like our Minnie girl. The early exposure to the world and basic training foster carers provide is a great foundation that helps pups adjust when they’re adopted.”

If you want to know more about fostering, check out this page, or get in touch with your local SPCA Centre today!