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Why Foster a Greyhound
by Barbara Gadola
I don’t often do home visits for adoptions, but with the holiday season so busy, I offered to help out. I talked with a wonderful lady who had no other pets and hadn’t owned a dog for a number of years. She told me up front that she wasn’t sure she was ready to change her lifestyle and give up her freedom for the commitment of owning a dog. She then asked me how else she could help the greyhounds.
I appreciated her honesty and was very glad that she had given adoption serious thought before moving ahead and bringing a dog home that would change her world. We talked about fostering as opposed to adoption and she agreed that fostering would be a much better fit for her and that she could help Arizona Greyhound Rescue at the same time.
It’s true that AGR couldn’t survive without people to adopt our precious greyhounds. However, adoption may not be the best way for everyone to help. Here are other reasons to consider fostering instead of adopting:
Financial considerations: Everyone who owns a greyhound knows that healthcare isn’t cheap. If you’ve ever had to have a wound stitched, had dental work done, treated a dog for eye disease or Valley Fever, you know how much it can cost.
If you foster a dog, AGR provides all medical treatment for that dog.
Commitment: Do you enjoy a lifestyle that doesn’t include coming home on a regular basis to tend to a dog? If so, are you ready to change that lifestyle to accommodate a dog for the rest of his life?
Fostering is a great way to find out.
Temporary residence: Are you just in the Tucson area during the winter or during the school term? Do you know where you’re going to be in 5-10 years and do you know if you’ll be able to take a dog with you? Enjoy a greyhound as well as the Tucson weather while you’re here.
There are plenty of fostering opportunities with AGR-- short term after surgeries, respite care while a foster family goes on vacation, and longer term while a greyhound waits for his forever home. Please consider this alternative to adoption as a way to contribute to greyhound rescue.
Contact us Learn more about fostering.
Barbara Gadola is AGR’s foster and kennel coordinator. She also owns
Distinctive Dog Training.  |
