Foster

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Become a Foster. Change a Life.

Opening your home as a foster means offering an animal exactly what they need most – safety, stability, and love – at a critical moment in their journey. It’s a powerful way to make an immediate and lasting impact.

Foster homes allow MARL to provide individualized care for cats and dogs who need a little extra support before they’re ready for adoption! Whether they’re healing, growing, or simply decompressing, your home becomes part of their transformation story.

MARL provides and covers veterinary care, food, and necessary supplies for foster animals. The length of stay can range from just a few days to several months, depending on each animal’s needs.

Animals Who Often Benefit from Foster Care:

  • Bottle-fed kittens

  • Pregnant or nursing cats and dogs

  • Shy cats, kittens, dogs, and puppies who need extra socialization

  • Long-term residents experiencing stress or anxiety

  • Dogs undergoing heartworm treatment

Foster Requirements:

  • Must be at least 21 years old

  • Personal pets must be spayed/neutered and current on vaccinations

  • If renting, landlord approval is required

We strongly prefer fosters to have experience with the type of animal they’re applying to care for. If you’ve never had a pet and are looking to gain experience, volunteering may be a better first step.

If you’re hoping to adopt and would like a “trial period,” our adoption team can help guide you through that process – adoptions@marl.org.

If you’re ready to provide temporary care, comfort, and compassion to an animal in need, we’d love to have you join our Foster Program.

Fill out a Foster Application today and become part of their second chance.


Foster Application

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
We require all fosters to be at least 21 years of age. Are you 21 or over the age of 21?(Required)
Our animals may require transportation back and forth from the shelter and/or to vet offices. We like our fosters to live close as we would not expect a foster parent to drive longer than an hour for a vet visit or an emergency vet appointment. Do you live within one hour of our facility?(Required)
In which kind of residence do you reside?(Required)
Do you rent or own your residence?(Required)
Describe your yard.(Required)
Animals may come into the shelter from different backgrounds and can often come in with parasites, infections or with contagious illnesses. While our medical team does their best to identify and treat them upon arrival, it can take multiple treatments to entirely resolve the issue. If you choose to foster, your personal pets at home may be exposed and can become ill. Do you understand and accept this risk associated with fostering?
Which animal(s) are you most interested in fostering? Please select all that apply.(Required)
Animals who require foster care typically have medical conditions or may need behavioral intervention in order to prepare them for adoption. Please select what you are comfortable handling or (might be comfortable handling with more information) from the list below.(Required)
How would you rate your experience handling and working with behavioral issues? (For example, working with a shy or fearful animal, successfully potty training a dog, socializing kittens, working with basic commands like sit, etc.)(Required)
How would you rate your experience giving animals medication? Some animals may require daily medication.(Required)
MARL may opt for humane euthanasia in cases of severe illnesses or behaviors that are unsafe to be adopted out into the community. In some cases, foster animals may become seriously ill or have behavioral concerns that lead MARL to determine that humane euthanasia is the best option for them. Please note some cases can be time sensitive and MARL reserves the right to proceed at any time in the best interest of the animal. Do you understand this policy?(Required)

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