Fostering Love

Some call them foster failures.\nThose who use this phrase refer to foster parents for the Bloomington Animal Shelter who grow so attached to pets in their temporary care they adopt them.\n"Some fosters fall in love with their animals," said Laurie Ringquist, director of animal care control for the City of Bloomington Animal Shelter, 3410 Old SR 37 South .\nDespite the negative association, "foster failures" are one of the reasons the foster program at the shelter is still around. \nThe foster program gives temporary homes to pets that are brought to the shelter but aren't ready to be adopted. The critters, mostly dogs and cats, might have illnesses or handicaps that prevent them from being adopted right away, Ringquist said.\n"Some animals are shy and timid and stay in a home to get some more socializing until they're not so scared," Ringquist said. "Others are too young for adoption, and sometimes (the shelter) is just too full."\nJo Liska, administrator for the foster program, said the animals are placed in one of 100 homes until they are deemed ready to come back to the shelter for adoption. Forty of the homes have active foster parents, who are constantly keeping animals in foster care.\nAnimals who come to the shelter with issues that prevent them from being adopted right away are given a chance to survive because of the foster program.\n"The foster program has saved hundreds of lives of critters who would otherwise not have survived the shelter system," Liska said.\nThe process to become a \nfoster parent is similar to the process of adopting an animal. Applications, which are available at the shelter, ask questions about the type of home situation and the level of commitment the foster parents can make.\nLiska said foster parents are educated about how to take care of a sick or handicapped animal. The reality of a pet's condition is important for foster parents to realize.\n"The people who foster can understand there is a risk that (the animals) are not going to make it, especially the real little ones," Liska said.\nWhen the pets come back to the shelter, some parents are emotional and cry, and some are emotional but feel proud of the animal's improvements, Liska said. Most foster families feel they have provided a better start to life for the critters and have given them a chance to be adopted in a home.\nFor those looking for a long-term commitment, adoption is always an option. The adoption fee is $75 for pets less than five years old, and $55 for older pets. The adoption fee, said Ringquist, includes the first set of shots pets need, a microchip for tracking the pet, surgical sterilization and tests for diseases and cancers. The animals brought to the shelter must also pass temperament tests to be certain they have the capabilities to cooperate and be adopted into homes.\nJunior Katie Roe wanted to get a new dog to make her college experience more like home and decided it was best to adopt.\n"I've had dogs my whole life, and having a dog at school makes it feel more like a home," Roe said. "It was great because Cooper was young enough to train but wasn't as expensive as a dog from a breeder."\nRingquist encouraged students who want to adopt a pet to consider the time, money and energy required to train and love a new animal. \n"We do adopt to students, and sometimes that's perfectly wonderful, but students are busy," Ringquist said. "People need to really think about the time commitment before adopting. It's a lifelong commitment. We want animals to stay in the same home for their entire lifetime." \nFor more information about fostering or adopting an animal, visit the shelter Web site at www.bloomington.in.gov/animalshelter/ or call 812-349-3492.