BC SPCA

We need special foster homes for animals with special care needs!

 The Maple Ridge BC SPCA shelter is seeking special foster homes for the animals that come into our care. 

The special care needs we frequently encounter include:

• Animals that are undergoing diagnostics or treatment for possibly contagious diseases (such as ringworm or parvovirus).  
• These animals require the wearing of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) (gowns, gloves, masks, and shoe coverings) while caring for them.
• *We provide all the PPE equipment, supplies, training, and cleaning materials for this care.
• This sort of fostering may take two weeks or longer before PPE requirements are lifted.
• Animals with behavioral issues;
• This could present as fear, anxiety, stress, or frustration behaviors. Reactive, under-socialized dogs or cats are examples.
• These animals are given specific, positive reinforcement, evidence-based behavior modification (BMOD) plans by our team of experts which must be followed to ensure the animal’s success.
• Medical-needs animals; 
• Those animals who may have recently undergone surgery, are receiving medication to manage non-contagious health issues, and/or may need other medical support. 
• This could include cleaning, changing dressings, working with incontinent animals, taking the animal to and from veterinary appointments, or checkups at the shelter.
• Pregnant animals, nursing animals with litters, or orphaned infant animals;
• This could include monitoring temperatures, bottle-feeding every 2 hours, administering medication, weighing the animals, and regular trips to veterinary appointments or checkups at the shelter.
• Pregnant and nursing animals may require fostering until the infants are 8 weeks old.

• We would like to find foster homes with experience and/or training with these sorts of animals and circumstances.
• We will provide additional training for volunteers who wish to support this endeavor.

What will you need? In all of the above circumstances, you will need to have a completely separate, secure space in your home. This space must include natural light, a cleanable nonporous floor, and other surfaces.  

• A secure space is a separate room with a closable door.  
• A baby/pet gate, partition, or exercise pen does not meet the requirements.
• These foster animals must always be kept separate from any other pets in your home.
• We ask foster applicants to commit to a minimum of 6 months in the program.  This does not mean you will have the same animal for 6 months, nor have foster animals continuously for 6 months.

We ask that our existing foster volunteers consider pursuing training and opening their homes to the care of these sorts of special needs animals in 2022. 

The Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley BC SPCA shelters’ foster recruitment focus in 2022 will be almost exclusively aimed at finding and training these sorts of foster volunteers.