animal rescue center of bay county, inc. foster handbook definitely want you, but it is a...

Animal Rescue Center of Bay County, Inc. Foster Handbook

Welcome and thank you! We are so thrilled that you've decided to become a foster for Animal Rescue Center of Bay County, Inc.

(ARC)! The more foster homes we have, the more lives we can save!

How ARC's Foster Program Works Whenever ARC has open foster homes, we'll make a trip up to Bay County Animal Control. We pull

animals almost exclusively from them, because they are forced to euthanize their animals. So when we

say you're saving a life, we mean that literally! If you're open, you'll be contacted by ARC to make

arrangements to meet at the shelter. While the final decision of which animals to bring into ARC rests

with the Board, we do encourage our fosters to help decide who would fit best into their home.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long will my foster dog or cat be with me? Until they are adopted. It could be a month, it could be 6 months...and yes, it could be a year or even

longer. Dogs tend to stay in the rescue on average for about 3-4 months, cats usually longer. This is

important to consider. We keep all of our foster homes full, because we want to save as many animals

as possible. So if you decide you no longer want to foster, you could be dooming your foster cat or dog.

If you're adamant that they be gone, and we have no foster homes, they will have to go back to the

shelter, where they can be put down immediately. So please consider fostering very carefully...we

definitely want you, but it is a commitment. That being said, if there a problem with your foster, we will

do everything in our power to fix it.

Can I adopt my foster dog or cat? Yes, although we'd really prefer you didn't. As a foster, we've already put you through the same process

that we put our adopters through. One reason is to make sure our animals are going into safe and

loving foster homes. The other is so that if you want to adopt, you're already approved. However, it's

important to remember that most people who adopt their foster animals will eventually get to the point

that they will no longer foster. Eventually, the room runs out. So by adopting, while you are giving your

foster animal a great home, you have taken yourself out of the mix to save many, many more. Some of

our foster homes have saved dozens of lives themselves!


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How are foster animals promoted? Since ARC is an all foster home based rescue and has no shelter, we rely heavily on the internet, events

and our fosters to promote the animals.

Animals are placed on ARC's website (AdoptBay.com), Facebook page (Facebook.com/AdoptBay),

Petfinder.com, PetHarbor.com, AdoptAPet.com and MANY more sites. This means it’s VERY important

for you to take pictures, work with our photographers, and send us funny stories. When you do, we’ll

add those to the sites, especially Facebook. Our Facebook has become a huge resource for finding

supporters and adopters and you just never know what funny anecdote or picture will grab someone’s

attention.

We have many dog friendly events throughout the year and we encourage you to attend any and all of

them. Events are a great way to socialize the dogs, as well as getting them out for the public to see.

We’ve had many adoptions come from events. If you are unable to attend an event, let us know as soon

as possible. We have a lot of volunteers and someone might be willing to take your foster dog for you to

an event.

We don’t have as many cat events, because cats tend to get very stressed out and don’t show well. We

are hoping to become a PetSmart partner soon, and have use of the cat facilities there, but for now, the

internet is the number way to get the word out about them.

We also encourage you to take you foster dogs out and about with you. We have “Adopt Me”

bandannas, business cards and brochures we can supply you with. Help spread the word on your

Facebook profile, Twitter, blog...anything that people will see. Just remember that all adoptions must

go through ARC.

What is the process do adopt a dog through ARC? Because most of our animals come from shelters where they were in danger of being euthanized, we

have a pretty strict adoption process. We want to make sure our animals go to their forever home and

never end up back in a shelter again.

The first step to adopting from ARC is to fill out an application. Applications are on our website at

AdoptBay.com. They can be mailed, faxed or scanned and email to us. We are currently working on

getting an online form, and hope to have that instituted soon.

Once we receive an application, our volunteers will call the potential adopters’ references, their vet and

we call to schedule a home visit with them. The home visit gives us a chance to meet the potential

adopters, make sure they’ll provide a good home, see what type of dog or cat would best suit them, etc.

Once all of that is done, if we think they’ll make a good home, they will be approved. At that time, we’ll

make arrangements for them to meet any of the approved pets they might be interested in. In order to

meet any of our animals, people MUST be approved first. This helps keeps extra stress off of our fosters.


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If they find a cat or dog and fall in love, at that time we’ll have them sign an Adoption Agreement and

collect the adoption fee ($150 for dogs and $75 for cats, although we do run promotions). The adoption

package is mailed to them with goodies, the pet’s medical records and additional information.

If I have my own pets, can I still foster? Absolutely! As a matter of fact, most of our fosters already have pets of their own. We will

temperament test potential foster dogs and cats to ensure they will get along with your pets.

That being said, unfortunately, we don’t have the luxury of pulling only healthy animals into the rescue.

Dogs often have kennel cough and cats almost always have an upper respiratory infection. The risk to

your pets is minimal if they are current on vaccinations, maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle and are not

elderly or very young.

We do ask that for the first 7-10 days, you keep your pets separated from a new foster, if at all possible.

This lessens the risk of exposure to illnesses and gives all the animals a chance to get used to each other

through the sounds and smells, without having to interact. We know it can be a pain and sometimes is

just not possible, but we want to put the safety of your animals first.

If you do not keep your foster pet separated from your own pets, and your pet gets sick, ARC will still

cover the cost of treatment at our vet. That being said, we never want your pet to get sick. In addition,

this doubles our vet costs, potentially limited the amount of animals we can save due to finances.

What supplies are needed to foster? Foster parents provide space, food, basic training, exercise and love for their foster dogs and cats. The

rescue will provide you with other equipment and supplies that may be needed. All pre-approved

medical care is paid for by the rescue, along with flea and heartworm preventative. ARC will provide

collars and leashes for foster dogs. We often get donations of toys, treats, and sometimes food and we

will pass that out when it comes in.

Am I required to crate train my foster dog? No, but we do highly encourage it and will provide you with a crate if needed. Crate training is very

beneficial to housetraining and provides a safe containment when you are unable to supervise your

foster dog. In addition, many dogs really love their crate and find it a safe space to go to when stressed.

Crating should NEVER be used as punishment and there are correct ways to train a dog to love their

crate. For assistance, please speak with an ARC Board Member or trainer.

What if my foster becomes sick? Please contact us immediately if your foster dog or cat shows signs of sickness. We will email you an

authorization form to take the animal to our vet, Parkway Animal Hospital. Treatment is decided by the

vet and ARC Board of Directors. Sometimes, animals can be treated with an over-the-counter

medication and we will advise you.


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Please note that the only vet that ARC uses is Parkway Animal Hospital. We cannot authorize, and will

not pay, for procedures done elsewhere. In addition, if for some reason your pet gets sick due to an ARC

foster, ARC will pay for the cost of treatment for them, but only at Parkway.

How can I help to make my foster pet more adoptable? Spread the word! If no one knows about your foster animal, or how wonderful they are, finding a

forever home will be that much more difficult. In addition to supplying great photos and a bio and

updating these regularly, giving a foster dog additional exposure by telling friends and family about

them will help create a “network effect” and will speed up the process of finding a forever home. Simple

steps like taking a foster dog on walks in local parks, outdoor shopping areas and other high-traffic areas

will help find potential adopters.

Additionally, foster dogs benefit greatly from the exercise (with the exception of those with some

medical conditions), basic training, special love and attention you give them. While marketing provides

applicants, it’s always the pet that “closes the deal.” Providing a foster dog or cat with basic training and

manners will increase their adoptability. Shy dogs will benefit from your patience, routine and slowly

exposing them to new people to build their confidence. Rambunctious adolescents who learn good

manners will help show off their trainability and long term potential. And while puppies are adorable,

they need a lot of love, attention and hand-holding from humans to develop properly and feel secure.

Am I responsible for finding my foster dog or cat their adoptive home? No, but you can help greatly by following the above. The more pictures and funny stories you tell, the

more people you tell, the more you take your foster dog places, the more you share on Facebook,

Twitter, etc., the more likely your foster pet is to get adopted.

Just remember that even if your best friend wants to adopt your foster pet, they still have to go through

the adoption process. And keep in mind that we do reject applications. This can lead to an awkward

situation if someone is attempting to adopt through ARC and denied. If someone close to you is

attempting to adopt through ARC, please ensure that they know how thorough our process is and that

all of their animals are up-to-date on vaccinations, heartworm preventative, etc. We do not disclose the

reason an application is denied.

I’m heading out of town and need someone to watch my foster, what do I do? With plenty of notice, this usually isn’t an issue. We have doggy daycares, pet sitters, other fosters and

volunteers who might be able to help. The more time you give us to prepare, the better.

What types of things do I need to inform ARC about my foster pet? Everything! More information is better than not enough. In the past it has been common for adopters

to ask us about issues with the pet that we were never told about by our fosters. If a foster pet has an

issue that we do not know about, we cannot fix it. This can result in the return of an adopted pet, and


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we never want that to happen. It also makes the adopter think that ARC was hiding issues from them,

and we always try to be very up front about any issues.

If something happens, but everything works out okay, we still need to know. For example, if your foster

dog digs out but comes right back, let us know. If your foster dog gets in a minor tussle with another

pet, even if both are fine, let us know! If you foster pet is having housetraining issues, let us know. If

your foster pet has a weird quirk, or negative behavior that you are just tolerating, let us know!! If you'll

notice, there is a theme here: LET US KNOW!!!

An incident just happened with my foster pet. What do I do now? First, LET US KNOW (following the theme above)! Next, until the situation is resolved, make sure there

is no possible way that the incident can happen again. For example, if 2 dogs got in a tussle, separate

them and do not allow them to interact with one another until steps have been taken to remedy the

situation. If your foster dog has just escaped your fenced yard, cover up the escape hatch and do not

leave them unattended outside until an ARC representative can come and examine the fence and

ensure there are not other potential means of escape.

What do you mean I cannot foster for another organization or bring in a stray

animal? While we respect your right to bring any animal into your home, we ask you to please consider the

health and safety of both your animals and our animals. Bringing in an animal that has not been pre-

approved and temperament tested by ARC poses various risks to you, your pets and our foster.

Therefore this activity is not approved by ARC. If you are uncomfortable with this, we completely

understand and respect that, but we must decline to use you as a foster due to too many unknown risks.

Strays and animals from other sources not approved by ARC (such as your neighbor, Craigslist, Freecycle,

etc.) can have unknown health problems, behavior issues, illegal origins (it is quite common for people

to steal their neighbors dog and adopt them out), unknown reaction issues and more.

Bringing in such animals opens ARC up to potentially high vet costs, legal issues and new behavior

problems developed by our fosters sometimes spurred on by the introduction of a new pet.

This also allows us to remain compliant with state, city and county ordinances concerning animal limits,

for we do not want to be on the next episode of "Animal Hoarders".

If you currently have a foster pet and find yourself wanting and able to take in another pet, please let us

know and we will go save another life ASAP!

Ensuring all animals you are fostering are pre-approved by ARC has many benefits. We cover all vet

costs of pre-approved animals, including your pets if our foster pet gets your pet sick. We temperament

test and evaluate all pets for potential problems. We provide adoption screening for ARC fosters of

potential adopters to ensure great homes are found. When possible, we provide food and other

supplies.


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Bringing in a stray or an animal not pre-approved by ARC poses many risks, as stated above. In addition,

we will not provide adoption screening, vet costs, or supplies of the unapproved animal. Also, if the

unapproved animal causes our foster or your pets to get sick, or harmed in any way, you will be

responsible for the costs of treatment.

Please do not do this.

Important Rules and Reminders about fostering for ARC Foster parents MUST abide by the following:

1. Foster dogs must be on a leash at all times when not in a secure area. NO EXCEPTIONS.

2. Foster cats must always be indoor.

3. Any behavior problems must be reported to ARC.

4. All vet visits must be preapproved by ARC.

5. You can only go to Parkway Animal Hospital, unless you are willing to pay for the vet costs

yourself. You will not be reimbursed.

6. You must respond as soon as possible to inquiries from ARC.

7. Foster pets must be supervised when with children.

8. You cannot foster for any other organization while fostering for ARC.

9. You cannot take in another dog or cat without contacting ARC first (this is for the safety of our

animals).

10. You can only use approved training methods on your foster. Approved training methods would

be positive reinforcement and operant conditioning. Contact an ARC representative for training

options.

Are you ready to save a life?? Fostering is very rewarding and can be a lot of fun. But it can be stressful. Here’s some tips and tricks to

help you:

Be Prepared You will get attached. It’s impossible not to. Foster animals are with their foster parents day in and day

out for weeks and months at a time. When they finally go to their forever homes, it is bittersweet. But

remember that we have done the best possible screening to ensure it’s a GREAT forever home, and that

now you will be able to save another life.

Make sure everyone in the household is onboard with fostering. We’d love for every fostering

experience to be rainbows and hearts, but it’s not always. Adjusting your schedule and household to a

new arrival can throw things off. Having everyone on the same page will help greatly.


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Introducing Pets After your foster dog or cat has been isolated and seems to be healthy, you’ll want to introduce them to

your own pets. Having shared the home, they should be used to each other’s smells and sounds by now.

We HIGHLY recommend that dogs be introduced in neutral territory. This can be PetSmart,

PetSupermarket, Suncoast, a park or even a sidewalk in front of your house. If you need a hand

introducing the dogs, let us know and we’ll be happy to come out and help. The most important thing

to remember is to keep it a happy and positive experience. Bring out lots of treats and reward both

dogs for any positive interactions. Make sure to keep the leashes nice and loose. Any tension on the

leash travels down to the dog and can make them nervous.

NEVER, EVER, NEVER PUNISH THE DOGS FOR GROWLING, TEETH SHOWING, ETC. This is VERY

important for a number of reasons:

1. If you punish one of the dogs during this meet, they now will have a negative association with

the dog, which will make things worse. The dog is thinking: the new dog came, I got bonked on

the head, therefore the new dog is bad. Instead of punishing the dog for doing wrong, reward

them for doing right. Just like people…people respond better to praise than to being yelled at.

2. If you punish the dog for growling or showing their teeth, they will skip this step and go straight

to biting. Remember, dogs don’t have vocal chords, so they use body language, growls,

whimpers and barking for their communication. If they get punished for growling, they will

stop…but instead of having a warning that things aren’t going well, they’ll progress straight to

biting. Every good trainer will tell you: Be happy that your dog growls, because they are

communicating to you that they are not comfortable with the situation.

That being said, it’s pretty uncommon for a meet between dogs to go bad. Dogs are social animals and

typically love seeing other dogs. Although they may not be best of friends at first (after all, to your dog,

they’ve just had an unannounced house guest show up with no date of departure!), in no time your

foster dog will settle in.

Cats are little different. They seem to be very sensitive to change and take it personally. The best way

that we’ve found to introduce a cat to a new home is by confining them to a room (like a bedroom or

bathroom) for the first week or two. Then, open the door to the room, but put up a baby gate. This

allows animals to see each other, but still have a barrier. After another week or so, depending on how

the cats are responding, remove the gate, but keep the door to the room open and allow the cat to

come and go as please. Do not be surprised if your foster cats hides under the bed for the first day.

However, make sure you monitor their eating, drinking and litter box habits. If they are not eating,

immediately notify ARC.

We recommend feeding your pets and your foster pets separately at first. This allows you to monitor

their intake of food, and allows the animals to get used to each other first, so that no food aggression is

created.


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The First Week Your foster pet has had a very rough time of it recently, so please don’t expect too much from them at

first. They have found themselves in a shelter (and who knows what happened before that) and now

they’ve been tossed into another unfamiliar place. The first week should be all about letting them de-

stress and settle in. Keep them in a quiet area, but make sure to give them attention. Start establishing

routines and rules, but keep everything quiet and calm.

Feeding You are what you eat, and so is your foster dog or cat. We don’t have a primary brand of pet food that

we recommend, but we do hope you’ll use a high quality pet food if possible. Foster homes receive a

10% discount at Suncoast Pets (located at 7117 West Highway 98) and they have great food for

reasonable prices. When looking for a food, the following is recommended:

Make sure there is no corn. This is the most common allergy that dogs have.

The first ingredient listed should be a named meat or meat meal (such as Chicken, Turkey Meal,

Lamb, etc.).

Stay away from generalizations when naming meat. For example, “Chicken” is better than

“Poultry” and stay away from anything that says, “animal digest”, “animal meal”, “meat meal”,

etc. You want to know exactly what your dog or cat is eating.

Exercising Again, like people, exercise is important to your foster. Especially in dogs: it can mean the difference

between a well behaved dog, and a terror that is bouncing off of the walls with unspent energy. A tired

dog is a good dog! Exercise can be anything from a 30 minute walk, to a game of fetch. For cats, grab a

cat wand or a laser light. And keep in mind, that mental exercise is good too. If it’s raining and nasty

outside, do a training session inside. You’ll be releasing some energy and teaching them new tricks that

will make them more adoptable.

Training Speaking of training, while we don’t expect your dog to be the next Obedience champion, it is great to

teach them basic manners (and train out any bad habits). We have several trainers who work with us

and have dog training classes on occasion. We highly recommend you attend the training classes when

possible. It’s great socialization and training will make your dog more adoptable.

When training a foster pet yourself, remember that only positive reinforcement and non-aversive

training methods are allowed. While this section is geared more towards dogs, cats are incredibly smart

and can be trained as well. Imagine how adoptable a cat with some tricks in their hat would be! Some

tips:

Training sessions should be short. Think 5-10 minutes several times a day. Dogs are like

toddlers and have short attention spans.


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Keep it positive and fun! Dogs will learn quicker and be more enthusiastic about your training

sessions if you keep it lighthearted and provide lots of rewards. We LOVE clicker training and

find that not only is it an incredibly easy way for both dogs and cats to learn, but it’s a great

confidence building tool, as well. There’s some resources at the back of this handbook if you’re

interested in more information about clicker training.

Be consistent. If you’re teaching your foster not to jump, that means that other people

shouldn’t let them either. Otherwise, your foster becomes confused. Likewise, the same goes

for appropriate toys and chews. Don’t let your foster play with your old worn out shoe, and

then be surprised when they traded up for your brand new good shoes. To them, a shoe is a

shoe is a shoe.

Start small and build on your successes. For example, when first teaching a dog (or cat!) to sit,

even the slightest tap of the butt to the ground should be rewarded. Then build on that by

rewarding longer and longer “butt taps”.

Be patient and calm. If you had a rotten day at work, now is not the time to train. Animals

respond to the slightest inflections of tone and body language. Make sure you are cool, calm

and collected before beginning training sessions.

Never, ever, never lose your temper with your foster. Some of these animals have had a lot of

trauma already and we want them to love and trust humans.

End on a positive note. If you’re foster isn’t getting a new trick, before you’re done, have them

do a trick you know they’ve got down pat. Ending on a positive note will benefit both of you.

Housetraining There are two rules to always remember when housetraining: 1. Patience! 2. Routine! Remember

those and housetraining will be a breeze.

Dogs

Dogs don’t generalize well, so while a dog may have been housetrained in a previous place, they won’t

necessarily associate it with your home. To them, “I can’t go potty here” does not translate to, “I can’t

go potty in any indoor area.” The best way we’ve found to housetrain a dog or puppy is:

Decide the area that you want your foster dog to eliminate in.

Once this is determined, take them to this place every time you take them out to use the

bathroom.

When a foster dog first comes to your house, take them out often, on leash (yes, always on

leash at first) to the “potty spot” and stand still, with no talking or interacting with the dog.

They’ll eventually decide you’re boring and do their business. Often means about every 2-4

hours at first with an adult. With a puppy, often is every 30 minutes while they are awake and

active and immediately after waking up or eating.


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When they finally do their thing, tell them in a low, happy voice, “Go potty, good girl/boy” over

and over. The reason for this is that if you do it enough, they’ll eventually know that “Go potty”

means to go potty…great for road trips!

If after 5 minutes of standing there, not interacting with the dog, they are not doing anything,

take them back inside and keep going back out every so often until they relieve themselves.

Supervise your foster dog closely, especially at first. If they start sniffing around, or squatting,

say, “Ah ah” and immediately take them outside to the potty spot.

Eventually, you’ll see a pattern and won’t have to go out so often. Some dogs can go much

longer than others without using the bathroom. Once you learn your foster dog’s pattern, you’ll

be able to let them out off leash, if you have a fenced back yard.

If your foster dog has an accident in the house, do not punish them. Never, ever, never push

their face in the accident or yell at them. They won’t understand you and will just learn to be

afraid of you.

Cats

Cat are pretty easy to housetrain:

When first bringing a foster cat home, make sure that you immediately show them where the

litter box is. Foster cats should have their own cat box to begin with.

Make sure to use a good, clumpable litter and keep the litter box clean. You wouldn’t want to

use it if it hasn’t been cleaned in weeks…they don’t either!

You should have one more cat box than you do cats. So if you have 2 cats, it’s best to have 3

litter boxes.

Cratetraining As mentioned before, you are not required to cratetrain your dog, but we find it to be very beneficial.

Dogs tend to see their crates as a refuge and a calm and safe place. Here’s some tips on cratetraining:

The crate should be big enough for your foster dog to stand up and turn around in, but no bigger

and definitely no smaller than that. Often, our crates will come with a divider to make the crate

the appropriate size.

Puppies should be crated for no more hours than they are months old, plus one. For example, a

3-month old puppy cannot stay crated for more than 4 hours. Adult dogs will depend on the

dog. A dog that was previously kept out-of-doors all the time will not have as much bladder

control as a dog that is used to staying in for long periods of time. Age also plays a

factor…elderly dogs typically have to use the bathroom more often than a younger dog. You will

have to play it by ear and determine the best for your foster dog.

Your foster dog should be exercised and allowed to relieve themselves before being crated.

Crates should never, ever, never be used for punishment!

When first introducing the crate, place it out with the door open and some goodies inside like

toys, treats, maybe bit of lunch meat.


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Place the food bowl in the crate. If they’re hesitant about eating in the crate, start with the food

at the entry so they can eat their food while still being out of the crate.

Whenever you can, place new things in the crate when the dog isn’t there. This will continue to

reinforce that the crate is a good thing.

Praise and positively reinforce your foster dog whenever they go in the crate by themselves.

The Duration While your foster dog or cat is with you and you're getting them healthy, adjusted to home life, and

trained, take LOTS of notes, pictures and videos and send them all to us. The more information we

have, the more likely your pet is to be adopted AND the more likely we are to match them up with the

right home.

This means emailing us frequently with updates, pictures, videos, tidbits, issues, etc. After your foster

has been with you for a couple of weeks, we'll email you an ARC Foster Form with questions on it. While

we understand that you can't be 100% sure of everything, such as breed and date of birth, please make

sure it is as accurate as possible. This means that when we ask the weight, you must weigh them. Use

your scale, take them to the vet's office, swing by PetSmart. A correct weight is incredibly important for

us to dose medications correctly. Another example is the question, is your foster pet good with

children. If you have not had your pet around children, the correct answer is "Unknown". Do not

assume. Also, please be specific about the brand of food you are using. This helps us to distribute

donated food.

Please do not answer the questions on the foster form in a more favorable light than is factual, in

order to make your foster pet look better!!! We all think our foster is the best pet on earth and want

them to be presented as such, but by not being accurate about their issues, you are setting them up for

failure down the line.

Please update us often about your foster pet. You may want to set a reminder for yourself once a week

or set an alarm reminding you to send in a quick email about the progress your foster is making.

Remember, you're the one living with your foster pet, so it's ultimately your responsibility and duty to

make sure that we have accurate information about them.

Adoption Time! You have loved, spoiled and cared for your foster pet. They have been vaccinated, spayed/neutered and

are happy and healthy. You’ve provided us with great pictures, stories and all of the information a new

pet parent could possibly want regarding your foster.

In the meantime, we've been working hard to promote your foster pet and process any applications that

come in for them, to find just right the fit. So now it's time for your foster to be adopted!


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When we find an approved adopter that seems like they'd be a good match, an Adoption Ambassador

will contact you to arrange a time for them to come and pick up your foster animal. Adoption

Ambassadors are ARC Volunteers that act as a neutral 3rd party for adoptions. There are a few reasons

why we use Adoption Ambassadors:

1. After living with your foster pet for so long, you're bound to get attached. While an adoption is

a great thing, it can be sad and stressful for our foster parents. This allows you to be removed

from the process, so you have time to recuperate from the loss of your foster pet.

2. Likewise, your foster pet is attached to you! That means they are likely to be uninterested in the

adopter, or even cling to you. With a third person doing the adoption, the foster pet doesn't

have a familiar person to cling to and will be equally interested in everyone involved.

3. If you are saddened or stressed by an adoption, your foster pet is likely to pick that up from you.

It can affect them too, making them behave in abnormal fashion for them.

Our adoption ambassadors are caring volunteers and have your foster pets well being first and foremost

in their minds. They will ensure the transition goes smoothly and call to let you know if the adopter

decided to adopt your pet or not.

If you'd like us to give your contact information to the adopter, in case they'd like to keep in touch, let us

know and we'll be happy to do so.

If for some reason, an Adoption Ambassador is unable to facilitate the adoption of your pet and it falls

to you to complete the adoption, adoptions CANNOT be done in the foster's home. There are a few

reasons for this:

The number one reason is to protect you, the foster. We respect your privacy and go to great

lengths to ensure it.

We do not want people to know where you live and then decide to drop off the next litter of

puppies, kittens, stray dog, etc. they find at your home, since they know that are you with a

rescue.

Your foster dog is more likely to act differently in your home than they would in neutral

territory.

We suggest the adoption take place at PetSmart, since once we are a PetSmart partner, this will be the

standard procedure and required.

Thank you so much for fostering and helping ARC to save lives!


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Useful Contact Information

Please do not give the following out! They are the personal email addresses

and phone numbers to people you will be working with. Charles Cromer ARC Founder and President [email protected] Stacey Cromer ARC Founder and Vice-President 850-912-9255 [email protected] Jennifer Bynack ARC Founder and Secretary [email protected]

The following contact information is for the rescue. This information can and

should be given out to anyone with questions about ARC, or who may be

interested in fostering, adopting or volunteering. Animal Rescue Center of Bay County, Inc. PO Box 36303 Panama City, FL 32412 Phone: 850-387-0224 Fax: 850-387-1358 Website: AdoptBay.com Email address: [email protected] Facebook: Facebook.com/AdoptBay

Our vet contact information is: Parkway Animal Hospital 850-763-8387

Vets Pets 850-233-7800


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Additional Training and Information Resources

Websites Petfinder.com Library: http://www.petfinder.com/library Click Training: http://www.ClickerSolutions.com

Reading Material THE POWER OF POSITIVE DOG TRAINING by Pat Miller DON'T SHOOT THE DOG by Karen Pryor

http://www.petfinder.com/library


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FOSTER AGREEMENT

Please read the following carefully and initial each item. By initialing and signing the form

below, you are agreeing to the fostering terms.

__________ An ARC representative has gone over this Handbook with you and answered any questions that you have. __________ You understand that once an animal is placed in your care, they will be there until a suitable adoptive home is found. At times this can take months. __________ You understand that you cannot, at any time, take or threaten to take any of ARC's animals to an animal shelter or another rescue. __________ You understand that once an animal is placed in your care, all adoptions must go through ARC. __________ You understand that in order to be reimbursed for expenses by ARC, they must be preapproved by an ARC Board member and have a valid receipt. __________ You understand that Parkway Animal Hospital is the only veterinary hospital used by ARC that we will pay the expenses for. ______________________________________________________________ ___________________ Foster Signature Date ______________________________________________________________ ___________________ ARC Witness Signature and Title Date

This copy is to be kept by the foster home.


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FOSTER AGREEMENT

Please read the following carefully and initial each item. By initialing and signing the form

below, you are agreeing to the fostering terms.

__________ An ARC representative has gone over this Handbook with you and answered any questions that you have. __________ You understand that once an animal is placed in your care, they will be there until a suitable adoptive home is found. At times this can take months. __________ You understand that you cannot, at any time, take or threaten to take any of ARC's animals to an animal shelter or another rescue. __________ You understand that once an animal is placed in your care, all adoptions must go through ARC. __________ You understand that in order to be reimbursed for expenses by ARC, they must be preapproved by an ARC Board member and have a valid receipt. __________ You understand that Parkway Animal Hospital is the only veterinary hospital used by ARC that we will pay the expenses for. ______________________________________________________________ ___________________ Foster Signature Date ______________________________________________________________ ___________________ ARC Witness Signature and Title Date

This copy is to be kept by Animal Rescue Center of Bay County, Inc.

animal rescue center of bay county, inc. foster handbook definitely want you, but it is a...

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