Hospice, Nursing Home, and Assisted Living
Inpatient Drug & Alcohol Rehabilitation Programs
If you need
a Foster Parent then parts of this section may not be important to you. But you
might want to skim it because you might find the needs of others assist you in
outlining your best course of action.
If you are a
prospective Foster Parent then a review of the possible people who could use
your assistance may be a wake up call. Perhaps it will encourage you to seek
out groups that could use your help and never knew to ask.
The Uniform
Branches of The United States of America's Government consist of the Army,
Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, and Public Health Service.
Men and women in uniform get much
pleasure from their dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, fish, and other species. When
Reservists are called to active duty, or Active Duty personnel, are deployed
the need may arise to find someone care for their pets until they return.
Unless they can find Foster Care, they may be forced to surrender their pet to
a shelter.
Most shelters either
arrange for a permanent placement or have the animals destroyed. Few Shelters
have programs that allow Pets to be returned to the original owners.
This group
was created at the time of the Second War with
Members of
the uniform services are often single and many of them enjoy the company a pet
provides. When they are unexpectedly deployed into “harms way” or sent
unexpectedly to a temporary duty station the need for a `Foster Parent' to care
for their pets emerges.
The Military
has attempted to provide as much stability and flexibility as possible in
support of an all-volunteer military. Service men and women are no longer
required to stay in barracks and many have chosen to live off post in a
apartment. These people are free to own a pet and many have chosen to do so.
This was not the case when service people were kept in barracks.
People on active duty and the
reserves should make their
Military
Personnel are encouraged to tell
People who
are willing to act as Foster Parents should become members of the group and
post information about themselves at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/foster_pet/ as well as making
There is no
doubt that only a few of the most obvious reasons for foster care have been cited
but I can think of no area where being able to care for a pet that cares for
you is anything but beneficial to owner and pet.
The founder
of FOSTER_PET can speak from personal experience on the need for Foster Parents
to watch a pet. In the summer of 1998, I took custody of a Shepherd Mix Dog. I
named him Puppy. Puppy is a rescue dog. The shelter told me Puppy and his
brother were taken from an abusive master by the Police and brought to the
Animal Shelter. He spent five months in the shelter before I took him home.
Five months in a shelter left him even more stressed. He was fear aggressive
and his actions and size frightened some people. Puppy weighs about 120 lbs.
In the fall
of 1999, I was diagnosed with throat Cancer. I underwent surgery immediately.
The plan was to receive the remainder of my treatment as an outpatient. Two
weeks after surgery I started a course of radiation and chemotherapy treatment.
I was two or three weeks into the start of the radiation and chemotherapy phase
when I became so ill I had to be admitted to the hospital where I remained for
almost two months. When I was released I began a course of chemotherapy that
lasted another three months. My weight dropped from 255 to 138 pounds. I had a
tube in my stomach and found it difficult to walk. I was glad to have him
around during those three months of chemotherapy. Puppy and I were lucky. I was
able to find foster care for Puppy while I was in the hospital and now three
years later he is lying asleep at my feet as I write this.
Puppy is an
important part of my continued recovery. It would have been devastating to lose
him. There is no doubt in my mind he had a positive effect my recovery.
If the
patient is able to put there affairs in order before being admitted they may be
able to seek a Foster Parent on their own. The duration of need is apt to be
about the same as when an ER visit results in inpatient treatment.
These
situations mean the patient will probably be remanded to the facility
permanently. The pet may never be returned to the owner; but there may be
therapeutic benefit for the patient that warrants offering support so the owner
can visit with the pet until they die and perhaps visits with their and the
knowledge their pet will be cared for may even prolong their life.
People
making an effort to turn their lives from Drug and Alcohol Addition may choose
an inpatient treatment program. Many of the programs are a few days or weeks in
length. Foster care for their pets may actually provide a less stressful stay
in therapy if they know there pet is being cared for while they are being
treated inpatient. There is surely some therapeutic benefit for the patient in
having their pet after they return home.
People may
become homeless because of a financial reversal, a fire, flood, or other
natural disaster. The support of a pet may be just what they need when they
start to get back on their feet. They may need foster care is the shelter does
not allow pets to remain with their owners.