We Won the Foster Lottery!

My husband and I were really on the fence about fostering. We talked about it a lot before even discussing it with the kids. We had all the usual thoughts most people have when fostering comes to mind: We’ll never be able to give them away, will this be a financial burden, and will our children (ages 16, 4, and 2) be able to handle giving our foster away? We lost our beloved Boxer, Jaxon, to cancer the year prior and it devastated our family. We weren’t sure if fostering was something we could emotionally handle. But, we thought by fostering we could prevent ourselves from ever feeling that pain of losing a “permanent” family pet again.

Before we even had a foster placement, we were able to ask as many questions as needed to our awesome volunteer group. I was so impressed with this group! They offered SO much support to us and each other and whenever there was a need to foster, transport, etc people immediately jumped in to help out. We started out slow by volunteering to transport a puppy mill mama to her foster family. Needless to say, this lit the fire to want to help even more…

That day came! We got the call that we were needed for foster placement of a female Irish Setter from a puppy mill. The rescue chose her for us to suit our family dynamics having small children. We were equally nervous, excited, and happy. That scared and timid Setter, later named Scarlett, was our first foster ever. In the beginning, she was a little unsure of us, being indoors, and a loving touch. With some patience and love, she later became the sweetest dog. We joke we “won the foster lottery” with her. She appreciated every small thing we did for her. Mind you, we had some roller coaster rides along the way with her health. But, through the entire process I had so much emotional and clinical support from Zoe’s House and their Veterinary partners. Zoe’s House took care of all of her expenses of care to get her healthy again.

I dreaded this day from day one of fostering. Scarlett was being adopted by a loving family. I was worried our family would be a blubbering mess and wouldn’t be able to “hand her over”. Our volunteer group helped us walk through all of these emotions. The group consists of people who are on their first foster to people have done tons of fostering before. After several conversations and meeting her new family, I knew then what our purpose was. We helped Scarlett adjust to understand what it was to be loved and to love people. When we met her new family it was so apparent how much they loved her. Instead of adoption day being sad, it was a celebration! We were so happy for Scarlett to have the home she’s always deserved for the rest of her life.

We still chat often and receive updates from her new family. She’s adjusting well and enjoying her new home and family. We can’t wait to foster again! It has been such a rewarding experience working with Zoe’s House. I’m SO glad we took the leap to foster!

by Foster Amy Wiggins