Last year, more than 14,000 animals entered Tulsa area animal shelters. While the long-term goal of organizations like Tulsa SPCA and Puppy Haven is to find permanent, loving homes for rescue animals, they often look to foster families to free up space in shelters and prepare animals for adoption.
"Foster families play a very important part in the success of a rescue,” explains Puppy Haven Rescue, a Tulsa non-profit committed to saving neglected, abandoned, impounded, or forgotten dogs and puppies.
Foster care helps rescued cats and dogs “become more acclimated to indoor living and gain confidence around humans and other animals,” says Taylor Roepke, Director of Community Engagement for the Tulsa SPCA, an organization that has advocated for and found loving homes for rescue animals since 1913. “Foster families enjoy the company of a four-legged friend without a long-term commitment and just as importantly, it allows the [organization] to take another animal into the shelter in its place.”
For the Pets & Kids issue, we spoke to three young Tulsans, who are making a difference fostering rescue animals.
Nora and Natalie Payton, 15 and 17
Nora and Natalie Payton were 10 and 12 years old when their family began fostering with Puppy Haven. Over the past five years, the girls have helped raise 20 puppies placed in their home as fosters.
Fostering puppies is a serious commitment. Nora and Natalie do everything from feeding and bathing them to potty training and even waking up in the middle of the night to feed “bottle babies” with a medicine dropper. “Fostering has always been a family affair and we all have to pitch in,” explains their mother Jennifer.
Despite the hard work, Nora and Natalie consider the job rewarding. "We absolutely love being able to say that we are helping the dog population in Tulsa and doing good,” says Natalie. “The work is hard, but seeing another dog get rescued and adopted into a loving home is a beautiful feeling."
Being a foster family has also provided invaluable life experience for Nora and Natalie, admits their mother, who points to lessons in responsibility as well as compassion and empathy: “The girls have learned the practical side (cleaning, feeding, etc.) but they have also learned that everything we put into the puppies helps to ensure their success as a pet.”
“Maybe the best lesson is that one person can make all the difference in the world to another living thing, and if you can do that, then you should.”
– Jennifer Payton, Puppy Haven Rescue Foster
Gus Patino, 18, Tulsa SPCA
Gus Patino and his mother Sonia have been fostering with Tulsa SPCA since his freshman year in high school. He began as a volunteer with Safari Sanctuary, an exotic wildlife rescue in Broken Arrow, and the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks, before doing an internship with Tulsa SPCA. As soon as he learned that fostering was an option, he was ready: “I wanted to become a foster right off the bat, but my mom said no. It took some convincing, but she finally agreed!”
Although he has lost track of the number of dogs his family has fostered, he says they have all been special to him. “You fall in love with them and it’s hard to give them up for adoption. I know they will have a good life, so that makes it easier to let go.”
Gus will begin college in the fall at OSU, majoring in Pre-Veterinary & Zoology, and attributes his career choice in part to his experience fostering. Recognizing a need for affordable veterinary care, he hopes to open an animal shelter and low-cost clinic, so that the homeless and those without means to care for their pets can receive support.
“My mom taught me that every person has a purpose to fulfill. If you care about something enough, you can do something to make a difference. It’s all a matter of whether you are willing to do the work.”
– Gus Patino, Tulsa SPCA Foster
Become a Foster
Tulsa SPCA, Puppy Haven, and other local rescues are always on the hunt for foster families. To learn more, visit TulsaSPCA.org/Become-Foster-Parent or PuppyHavenRescue.com/Foster.
The author has fostered more than 30 cats and kittens through Tulsa SPCA and other organizations.
