Fostering is one of the most fundamental parts of the branch work. Without fosterers, there would be no way to take in any animals, as we don't have a centre, kennel or cattery. Fostering is very difficult to outline, as it very much depends on the individual circumstances.

People who want to foster dogs and cats really need to be home for part of the day. This is only fair to the animals. You need to have had experience of the animal you will be caring for and have suitable accommodation. Usually fosterers do not live in rented accommodation, but we can work round that with permission of your landlord. If you want to foster, our fostering co-ordinator will visit you, and have a chat to see if fostering will suit you and your lifestyle.

If successful, you will then be able to start accepting animals into care. Animals are given a pre-homing assessment by the fosterer to enable us to most suitably home the animal. Whilst in your care, animals will always need a trip to the vets. All animals leaving our care are microchipped, vaccinated and neutered. This may be something to consider before you apply, as you will need transport to get to the vets. If you foster an animal, you must accept that potential adopters will want to visit your house to see the animal. This will only happen after they have been home visited for your protection, and a member of the branch can be present to supervise, so you don't have to be alone. This is usually a pleasurable experience as it is very rewarding to see an animal get a new owner.

The branch supplies all you will need such as food, cat litter etc. We also pay petrol costs if you need to take an animal to the vet, you just keep a record of your mileage if you want to claim it back. Fostering for the RSPCA shouldn't cost you a penny. We don't just need people to foster cats and dogs, we need other animals fostering too such as rabbits and guinea pigs.

Fostering is a highly rewarding thing to do. By adopting you can help one animal in need, by fostering you can help 10 times more in a year. If you think you can help with animal fostering, please contact the branch.

There are people who don't foster because they don't feel they would be able to rehome the animal. There are cats in our care who due to medical conditions never get adopted, so we look for long term foster homes where the cat lives with you as part of your family but its medical expenses are covered by the branch. Interested?

Could you be a long-term foster home for an elderly cat?

If you have a big heart and a lovely safe and quiet home environment and you think you could offer a stable home for an elderly cat then we would love to hear from you! A long term foster home is one where the cat lives with you as part of your family until the end of its days - you would take on the responsibility of its day to day welfare and feeding (unless on a special prescription diet) but the branch would cover any medical costs associated with the cat. To be a long-term fosterer you will need to live in the Stourbridge area and have transport to be able to take the cat to the vets as and when required. You would need to be an extremely caring person, but emotionally quite strong, as normally the cats we need long term foster care for have a limited life span....its what we want for all our cats, for them to end their days in a loving and normal home environment rather than in a foster room or pen. 

If you think you could be a long-term fosterer for the branch and would like to discuss this further then please email us at stourbridgerspca@hotmail.co.uk or click on the button below