I'm going to write a piece about fostering dogs. Fosterers are vitally important people; they take on the responsibility of a dog when it has been rescued, toilet training, manners, getting it used to living in a house, socialising it...it's a big responsibility. Fosterers are really valuable people and we don't under-estimate this. Often we end up keeping our foster dog...how many of you have been there.
But this week a post came on my facebook Podenco Post page appealing for help for a young Podenco Andaluz who has been waiting for a forever home for over 2 years. Ok, so that's not unusual for podencos. But this case is different and made me really angry. Why?
Well, a couple offered to foster Rusty; 6 months later they left Spain and put him back in kennels. 6 months later they returned to Spain and fostered him for 6 months; then they put him back in the kennels and left him. Understandably the dog is extremely stressed, losing condition.....
I'm trying to find a stable foster home for him until he is adopted. In the meantime I have suggested to the people who allowed this situation to exist that they educate the 'fosterers' that it is not a part-time job; you don't hand a dog back into kennels - you keep the dog until it is eventually homed forever.
This made me soooo angry - the dog's best interests were overlooked - better to stay in kennels than chop and change about every 6 months....
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