PASSIONS PET FOSTERING
By Carrie Vittitoe | Photos submitted
Pet Fostering: Why You Should Consider It
T
here are lots of reasons why mature adults are the perfect people to foster animals. With
age comes wisdom, and you have learned what battles are worth fighting and which you aren’t likely to win. If you’ve raised children to adulthood you understand that fostering an animal isn’t going to be anywhere near that hard or time-consuming. If you have left the 40hour work week behind, you might also have more time to spend with animals.
20 Winter 2021-2022 / TodaysTransitionsNow.com
Today’s Transitions talked to three Kentuckiana foster extraordinaires, Janet Meek, Kate Greer, and Connie Coin, who have found the experience to be tremendously rewarding and not nearly as overwhelming as one might expect. EXTRA CARE FOR CANINES In 2013, Janet adopted a three-legged dog, which opened her eyes to rescues, transports, and animals with special needs. Many organizations work to get animals from open admission shelters, some of which will euthanize animals that don’t get adopted or are ill. She began doing transports of animals to rescue organizations when she still lived in Tennessee. Upon moving to Louisville in 2015, Janet, 68, began volunteering with a rescue organization and fostered four puppies. Eventually, she started her own nonprofit, Special Paws — A Small Dog Sanctuary, which provides a home to dogs that have special needs. “I really liked taking care of dogs that needed me. I’m an old social worker so I guess that’s where that comes from,” she says. Her house is now a sanctuary for dogs that might not otherwise get a forever home.
