It’s no secret that owning a dog is a huge commitment. On average you should be prepared to devote about 15 years of your life to it, and the expense may be great with all those training classes, veterinary bills, boarding, food and accessories for which you’ll need to pay.
I guess we dog owners should be grateful they don’t have to go to college.
If you’re an animal lover but not at the right stage of your life to offer a permanent home to a furry friend, there is an alternative. A local woman who recently started a nonprofit that supports dog rescue organizations has some compelling reasons why fostering, rather than adopting, could be just what the vet ordered.
Teresa Ryan is very involved in the Naperville community as a real estate broker. She says she’s contributed financially to more than 100 organizations over the last 30 years, donating $500 for every client she helps.
“My husband Nick and I have always had a heart for giving back,” she said. “We feel like the resources we get come from above. I feel entrusted to give back.”
The Ryans have five children and 11 grandchildren, but another important part of their family are their five dogs. They began their nonprofit, Angel Dog Alliance, after being approached to help save dogs from a shelter in Clayton County, Georgia.
“Some shelters in the south have so many dogs there are not enough people to save them,” Ryan said. “They rely on people to pledge money so they can be boarded and receive health checks. It takes thousands of dollars to save these dogs.”
Initially they started by finding places to board the dogs, which they paid for, “but it was not ideal,” she said. “Twenty to 30 dogs were kept in crates but at least they were alive.”
Bringing the animals north to shelters that can find homes for them saves a lot of lives, but there’s not always space in the shelters to house them all, Ryan said.
More Top Picks Best Juicers For Leafy Greens
That’s where fostering comes in. Volunteers make a short-term commitment to take in a pet until a shelters has room or someone is found to adopt them, she said.
When it comes to dogs, smaller ones tend to find homes more quickly and older ones have an advantage because they are already house trained.
After placing dogs they initially took, the Ryans’ alliance is now dedicated to supporting other organizations doing the same work.
One volunteer is longtime Naperville resident Patti Kuhl, who owns a 10-pound dog named Nellie and found that fostering other dogs is a great way to fill her time since retiring as a research manager and librarian.
“I got involved in rescue work when I retired in 2020,” she said. “I wanted to do something constructive with my time, knew many dogs were in need, and have always had a passion for animals and especially dogs.”
Kuhl works with A Journey Home Dog Rescue in Oswego. It’s a small, dedicated organization that takes dogs from a variety of shelters where they are at risk of being euthanized.
“The organization is contacted daily to take rescues,” she said. “The requests are relentless and often heartbreaking. (A Journey Home) takes dogs as our availability allows.”
There are not enough homes in the United States for all the dogs and cats out there, Kuhl said.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, known as ASPCA, estimates more than 390,000 dogs and 530,000 cats are euthanized every year each year. That’s why anyone wanting a pet should adopt from a shelter rather than purchasing from a breeder or pet store, she said.
For many people, fostering an animal can be a win-win, she added.
“Foremost, it makes you feel good to help an animal in need,” Kuhl said. “It can also be a great learning experience for children, a great bonding experience for families (and can) provide a sort of ‘test case’ scenario to see if an individual or family is able to handle the responsibilities of owning a dog. Some people want to have a dog for only a limited amount of time so they can travel or accommodate other opportunities which may prevent them from having a full-time pet.”
Kuhl says taking in an animal temporarily should cost very little for the fostering family. All supplies — food, toys, bedding, collars, leashes, bowls, crates, preventatives — and medical treatment are provided thanks to donations from individuals, clubs, organizations or corporations.
The hardest part can be making sure you don’t get too attached to your guest, she said.
“For myself and my husband, we approach fostering with a firm, temporary mindset,” Kuhl said. “Our job is to bridge the gap between a dog in a shelter, and their forever home. The more dogs we can foster, the more dogs are saved, literally saved, from being euthanized. When you approach fostering with that mindset, it allows you to part with a pup not with grief but with joy.”
For more information, contact Teresa Ryan at 630-253-7660 or www.ajourneyhomedogrescue.org.
Hilary Decent is a freelance journalist who moved to Naperville from England in 2007. She can be reached at [email protected].