Foster Care

THE SF SPCA FOSTER CARE PROGRAM 

The SF SPCA Foster Care Program is a lifeline for underage, sick or injured animals who cannot immediately be adopted.  With the love and care of devoted foster parents, these helpless animals are given a second chance for life.

Ways you can foster with the SF SPCA:

Kitten Fostering

Most of the animals fostered by the SF SPCA are underage, underweight kittens and the Society's outstanding record of saving their lives is due to our dedicated foster volunteers. They open their homes and hearts to approximately 1,000 cats and kittens each year, and help them reach the stage where they are adoptable. Read our Foster Kitty Manual.

End-of-life hospice care – Fospice

Fospice is for shelter animals diagnosed with a life-limiting, non-contagious illness.  While these animals are not suffering, their medical condition and poor prognosis prevents the SF SPCA from seeking adoptive homes for them. Call (415) 522-3542 or email foster@sfspca.org to sign up for a foster class. Read our Fospice Manual (1MB PDF).

Puppy Fostering

The SF SPCA takes in underage puppies and their moms who sometimes need additional time before they are ready to go up for adoption. In order to maintain the puppies health and keep up socialization we sometimes send puppies home on foster until they are ready to be available for adoption. Read our Foster Puppy Manual (969 KB).

If you are an animal lover interested in providing love, nourishment and heaps of TLC to cats & dogs in need of care in a warm home sign up for a foster class with our Foster Care Coordinator at foster@sfspca.org or 415-522-3542.

Learn how fostering works.

If you have already signed up for a Foster Class, you can download your Foster Care Volunteer paperwork here:

• Foster Parent Questionnaire (32 KB, Adobe PDF)
• Foster Parent Agreement and Waiver (19 KB, Adobe PDF)
• General Volunteer Registration Form with waivers (119 KB, Adobe PDF)