Fostering (Revised October 2, 2006)   Can you provide a foster home to a kitten, cat, puppy, dog, or bunny? Why? The City of Torrance does NOT have an animal shelter. The City of Torrance contracts with LA County for animal sheltering services. In special circumstances, the officers of the Torrance Police Department's animal control program work with qualified non-profit rescue and adoption organizations to place animals in temporary foster homes, and find permanent homes, rather than taking the animals to the LA County shelter. Foster homes provide better experiences for the animals, but they are time-consuming and difficult to arrange. What types of animals are involved? Misty the dog, shown at top, was taken into a foster home after her caretaker become seriously ill and was hospitalized. As a 13-year-old dog used to a quiet environment with no other dogs, she would not have done well at the crowded county shelter. Sofi, the kitten shown at right, was only a few weeks old when she was taken into a foster home and then adopted to her "forever" home. California state law allows shelters to euthanize newborn animals that need maternal care and have been impounded without their mothers, without holding them for owner redemption or adoption (F&ACode 17006). The euthanasia rate for cats impounded at the LA County animal shelter that services Torrance is over 75% (through FY 2005-2006). Using foster homes helps save animal's lives. What do I have to do? The following information is from Noah's Bark: http://noahsbark.org/ Foster homes provide the love and shelter while Noah's Bark pays for the food, and all medical expenses. Foster homes are invaluable as the foster parent gains insight to the dogs personality and temperament to help us better match them with the perfect home. The foster parent needs to be able to transport the dog to and from our pet adoptions held on Saturdays from noon-4pm at the Petco located at 24413 Crenshaw Blvd Torrance CA. The average time a animal is usually fostered is several weeks, however it could be as little as a few days or as much as a few months. Although we prefer the animal remain in one foster home until it finds a permanent home, we realize this is not always possible. Foster parents have the right to discontinue fostering at any time for any reason. So whether you can foster indefinitely or for a limited time, your services can be useful! We also need special volunteers to participate in our special quarantine program. Participants in this program need to be homes without any other dogs (cats are ok) and be able to foster a dog for 10-15 days. The dogs do not attend pet adoption days while under quarantine. If you think you might be interested in becoming a foster home, please contact us at (310)391-5081 or via email at noahsbark@dogsaver.org, or stop by on our pet adoption days we'd be happy to discuss it with you! For more details on what is required from foster homes, please also read our Foster Home Agreement. How do I sign up? If you want to volunteer to foster an animal: call Torrance Police Department Animal Control at (310) 618-3850; or call Noah's Bark at (310) 391-5081. Let them know your name, address, and phone number, and what kind of animals you will be able to foster or help place in a new home. They can put you on a list of people to call when a foster home is needed. The foster care agreement for Noah's Bark can be found at: http://www.dogsaver.org/noahsbark/fosteragreement.html To volunteer to help with rabbits, please contact the Pet Save Foundation, at 310-833-7333, or contact@petsave.org http://petsave.org/volunteerform.htm Thank you for your interest.