Foster Opportunities

Thank you for your interest in becoming a foster volunteer! Many of the animals that Denver Animal Shelter (DAS) provides care for each year need additional care before they can be made available for adoption. The shelter can provide that care through our Foster Program with the help of our volunteers that open up their loving homes. 

When you choose to foster a homeless pet, you’re taking home an animal that would otherwise stay at the shelter. By becoming their temporary home, you can provide them with a safe environment until they find their forever home. In a foster home, animals feel the love and support of their foster pet parents and can overcome fears, recover from trauma, and fully express their personalities – all critical factors in increasing adoption rates.

Foster volunteers are provided with pet supplies, including food, for their foster pets. 

Currently, we have a high number of animals in our care. As such, DAS has streamlined the foster process. 

To become a Foster Volunteer, please complete the following interest form. Once we receive your interest form, you will be contacted by a member of our team to complete the next steps. Before you are approved as a foster, you will need to complete an application, watch a 45-minute onboarding video, complete and pass a background check, and complete a virtual home visit.

Become a Foster Volunteer

Click here to view form.

Why do animals need foster care?

The Foster Program was created to provide care for animals whose medical or behavioral conditions would improve more quickly in a home setting rather than at Denver Animal Shelter. Animals who enter foster care are generally underage or underweight puppies and kittens as well as adult animals being treated for minor to moderate medical conditions. We also have Adoption Ambassadors, that will allow animals that are available for adoption to find their forever homes with the help of their foster family through community engagement without ever having to come back to the shelter. Our foster program supports our Safe Haven Program as well.

If I already have pets, can I still foster?

Yes! Many foster volunteers already have pets. Your pets must be current on their core vaccinations and altered. The foster animals will need to have an area in your home that is separate from your pets where they can stay. This could be a bathroom, laundry room or guest room. The shelter's Foster Coordinator can assist foster volunteers in assessing and setting up an area that would be beneficial to the foster animal.

What does it cost to foster?

Just your time and love! Denver Animal Shelter will provide all the supplies that you will need to care for your foster animal.

How long will I have the foster animal?

The average length of stay for a foster animal is two weeks. However, this will vary based on the needs of the foster animal, and it can range from one week to six weeks. Foster volunteers are able to take breaks from fostering whenever needed, such as for a vacation. The best thing about this program is its flexibility — foster volunteers provide care when they can and take breaks when needed

What if I fall in love with the foster animal?

It is easy to fall in love with a foster animal and want to keep it. Foster volunteers provide a great service by fostering animals in need, and should keep in mind that if they do not adopt they will be able to help more animals in the long run. Think of it as being a foster animal “aunt or uncle.”

Foster animals are a great way to get the joys of having a pet without the commitment. One of the best perks of being a foster volunteer is being empowered to find an adoptive family for your foster pet — be it a family member, friend, co-worker, acquaintance or via social media. You get to know your foster pet the best, so who better to find them that purrrfect forever home?

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