Foster One Dog One Time
& Make A Difference…
Hello from Tim Butts, the GRRIN Rescue Director, and Barb Garrett, the GRRIN Adoption Coordinator! We’re asking for your help. We are entering a time of the year when many of our experienced foster families take a break from fostering. We currently have 18 dogs in foster care and have already accepted fifty-four surrendered dogs for 2010. Last year at this time we had fostered forty-four dogs and we ended 2009 with a total of 60 dogs surrendered, so you can see that we are on track to bring in our largest number of dogs ever.
Fortunately, we have many wonderful, qualified families calling us with the hope of adopting a dog, knowing that summer vacations are over, the kids are back in school, and they’ll be able to help their new family member adapt to their household. Our current waiting list of approved families is getting longer by the day as we challenge our home visit volunteers to complete six home visit requests just from the weekend.
In the last three weeks we’ve turned away dogs because we are closed to new surrenders due to the lack of available foster homes. One family is so determined to place their dog with GRRIN that they are calling every 3 days to ascertain if we are open again. In this economy, many families who need to surrender their pets are those who are having to give up their home and yard to move to an apartment, or those that can’t afford the vet care or even dog food - they have wonderful Goldens that they know will be adopted by terrific new families through GRRIN.
We’ve also just found out that one of our foster dogs is pregnant! This means that there will be GRRIN puppies being born in October and needing a foster home around early December.
You can see the dilemma, but there’s an easy fix - if you are willing to foster one time for one dog that the experienced rescue team believes will be easily adoptable after an assessment, then we can try to move these dogs to their new families within two to four weeks. We ask that our dogs be in foster for at least two weeks, but they can immediately be matched up for meetings with families after we’ve determined that they are doing well and are ready for a “forever home”.
How Does It Work?
As a new foster family you will go through a home visit approval process, sign a simple foster contract and then be contacted when a surrendered dog becomes available. Every dog in foster care has a caseworker that will take care of the paperwork for these newly surrendered dogs, plus they will work with a new or inexperienced foster family closely to make sure the transition to your home goes smoothly.
We can promise you that meetings with a potential family are scheduled at your convenience, and while encouraged, you are not required to take a foster dog to events. You also have the right to turn down a foster dog that might be offered to you if you feel that the dog’s personality won’t blend well in your home for its foster duration. Finally, we promise that if you commit to fostering one time and decide not to foster again, we won’t pressure you in the future.
We always say our GRRIN members are our greatest advocates - in this case we need direct help for these dogs so that they can find forever-homes. It is a huge privilege for us to connect these dogs with their new families. If you are interested in helping GRRIN as a “one dog one time” foster family, know someone else who would like to be a GRRIN foster home, or have questions about our foster program, please contact one of us.
Sincerely,
Tim Butts
Barbara Garrett
Gold Rush is October 24. 2010
Watch for Details!
Check out the latest newsletter!
QUARTER 2 - 2010 NEWSLETTER <---- Download it here!
Latest update August 18, 2010
To read about Odie’s story, click on Odie’s “Hip Journey” on the left side of this page.
A huge thank you goes out to everyone who helped with donations for Odie’s surgery. He is almost available for adoption as his medical restrictions have been lifted. Stay tuned to the “Adopt a Golden” page to find out when he will be ready for adoption! Odie’s doing great and your help was very much appreciated!
Sincerely,
Tim Butts
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GRRIN is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. Our activities are financed entirely by member dues, adoption fees, grants and private, tax-deductible donations.
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