Fostering Devotion

Not everyone who fosters a pet has the iron will to say goodbye when it comes time for the animal to be adopted. Patricia Prentiss doubled the number of pets in her home because of a phenomenon known among animal rescue operations as “Failing Fostering 101.” Kiki a boxer rescued from Carolina Boxer Rescue and Piper a terrier adopted from the Boston Terrier Rescue of North Carolina were living permanently at the Prentiss home when Patricia decided to foster two more Boston terriers Bandit and Pugsley. The two fosters fit so well into the family that she couldn’t let them go and it became a dog party of four. “It’s a bit much for some people but the only way we handle this many dogs is we have very strict routines ” Patricia says. “I’ve got to get up at 4:30 every morning to take care of them before I go to work but it’s a sacrifice my husband Tom and I make because we both absolutely love our dogs.” Patricia works for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and is also the secretary for the Pets Are Worth Saving (PAWS) of North Carolina board and still she finds time for all her furry friends. “We take them for walks and we play with them and they play a lot together ” she says. “I don’t take them to dog parks because I figure I’ve got my own little dog park going on here.” Patricia has no regrets about taking on the responsibility of so many dogs and feels strongly about fostering. “It’s a very important job because you are really evaluating a dog to go to a family.”

Pam Adair fondly remembers a trip to Myrtle Beach with her foster dog a yellow Lab named Conway whom she was training through Carolina Canines for Service Inc. This nonprofit organization takes dogs into its program and looks for individuals to foster them while they undergo basic training to become a service dog for someone who is disabled. Conway joined Pam and her husband in South Carolina on one of their last outings together before Conway was to move on to his advanced training in a different home. “I was walking around with him and I saw an individual in a wheelchair and with her at her side was a yellow Lab ” Pam remembers. The dog was wearing a vest marking it as a service dog trained to assist the disabled just as Pam was training Conway. The handicapped woman approached Pam. “She looked at me with tears in her eyes and she said ‘God bless you for what you do. I couldn’t function without my dog.’ I started crying. It really brings it to light exactly what you’re doing. That dog is going to become someone’s life.” Pam remains involved with Carolina Canines as she sees a growing need for service animals in the future. “We’re having a lot of young men come back from this war with lost limbs and they’re going to be in a wheelchair and there’s going to be a bigger need than ever.”