Foster for three weeks; we supply the rest.
Eighty-five homes foster for us: puppies too young to list, dogs recovering from surgery, cats who need a quiet room before they can be themselves, and old animals for the time they have left. Food, crate and every veterinary visit are ours. You supply the room and the patience.
Four steps
Name, home, who lives there, what you can take. The foster coordinator calls within two business days and visits once.
The board below says who needs a home this week and for how long. You take the one that fits; nobody is assigned.
Crate, food, litter, bowls, medication if any, and a written routine. Vet visits are booked and paid by us; we drive if you cannot.
At the end the animal is listed for adoption. Fosters have first choice, and about one in five keep them. Nobody minds.
Who needs a foster
A litter of five, five weeks old
Until 24 October, then they come back to be listed. We supply A crate, a playpen, kitten food and every vet visit. Two visits from the foster coordinator in the first week.
Posted 15 September
Hazel, after surgery
Three weeks, from the day she leaves the vet. We supply Her medication, a crate, food, and a ride to the two follow-up appointments if you need one.
Posted 16 September
Two shy cats, together
Two to four weeks, a spare room and patience. We supply Food, litter, a hide box each and a feeding routine written out.
Posted 8 September — still open after 10 days
Moose, until his adoption is settled
One to two weeks. We supply Food, his joint supplement, a ground-floor bed.
Posted 13 September
Edited by the foster coordinator on one sheet, usually on Monday. A need that is filled stays here for the week so that the people who asked can see it was.
What the rescue supplies
Every time: food, a crate or a playpen, bowls, litter and a box, a lead and a harness, and every veterinary visit — booked by us, paid by us. Medication comes measured out with the times written down.
When it is needed: a ride to the vet, a heating pad and formula for a litter, a ramp for a dog who cannot do stairs, a second visit from the coordinator in the first week.
Never yours: a vet bill. If something happens at two in the morning, the emergency number is on the fridge sheet and the bill comes to us.
What the state asks of a rescue
A licence. Colorado licenses shelters and rescues under the Pet Animal Care Facilities Act; ours is PACFA-00000-CRA (a sample number) and it is on every page of this site. Source: Pet Animal Care Facilities Act, Colorado Department of Agriculture.
Eight animals in a foster home. The programme rules cap the number of animals in one foster home; we count, and the foster board says when a home is at the cap. Source: the same page.
Spayed or neutered before adoption, or a signed agreement to do it within ninety days with a deposit. Every animal here goes home already done, so the agreement is rarely needed. Source: the same page.
These are the rules as the rescue reads them, with the official page beside each. This site reports them; it does not advise on them, and the state's page is the one that counts.
Apply to foster
Once. After that, saying yes to an animal is a text to the coordinator. Demonstration: it sends nothing and stores nothing.
What happens next
Within two business days the foster coordinator calls: what you can take, when, and a time to visit. The visit is a cup of tea and a look at the room, not an inspection.
Your first animal comes with the kit and the sheet for the fridge: feeding, medication, the vet's number and the after-hours number.
Eight animals is the most Colorado allows in one foster home, counting your own. The form asks how many you have so the coordinator can count with you; it is the one thing on this page that can be a no.
This is the sample rescue's practice, written for the demonstration.