Pet Fostering | Teaches children to give fearlessly & influence positively
I believe in the benefits of pet fostering. Both the dog and the shelter you are working with benefit. This article from Chicago Parent shares how pet fostering is also an opportunity to teach children about compassion, pet overpopulation, and homeless pets.
This story illustrates for me, how to teach children about giving fearlessly of themselves to help a dog or cat, and when they do, they will also influence positively their community, and the lives of both the pet and everyone involved.
Nine-year-old Avie Magner watches out her front door, waiting expectantly. It's been two weeks since her latest foster dog, Shadow, was adopted by the Schroeder family: Jim, Shannon and their children, Maggie, Jack and Tommy. Today they are coming for a visit.
It's a coming home of sorts for Shadow, a happy-go-lucky black lab, who spent eight weeks as a foster dog at the Magner home with parents Allison and Reid, and their children, Avie and Kaden, 6. Over the past year, the Magners have fostered three dogs from Great Lakes Lab Rescue, headquartered in Elmhurst: two floppy-eared puppies, Austin and Abby, and then Shadow, a 1-year-old female who had been surrendered by her owner and was facing euthanasia because of overcrowded shelters.
"I love getting to know the dog each time and getting to know their personality," says the fourth-grader.
Avie remembers the day the family said goodbye to Shadow when she was adopted by the Schroeders. "All of us really cried and cried," she says. "I made Shadow a dog toy with my new sewing machine."
But today, there are squeals of delight as Shadow greets Avie and the rest of her foster family again, this time just for a visit; Shadow has found her forever home.