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City of Wollongong

Foster an Animal

Welcome! Thank you for considering sharing your home and helping a beautiful animal.

You can foster cats, dogs, or both. We provide all the supplies you need, and you provide the love.

To be an animal foster carer, you need to:

  • Be 18 years old or over
  • Live in the Illawarra region
  • Have access to a reliable vehicle so you can transport the foster animal in case of an emergency.

How it works

  1. Use the button below to let us know you'd like to become an animal foster carer
  2. We'll call you to discuss and approve your application
  3. When we have an animal that's a good match for you, we'll contact you
  4. We can either arrange a time to deliver the animal to you, or you can pick them up from  81-83 Burelli Street, Wollongong (during business hours)
  5. We'll provide all the supplies you need during the fostering period, and medical or behavioural support if needed
  6. Last stop: adoption! We'll work to find a permanent home for the animal - this could be you if you're interested, or another person if you don't want to adopt your foster animal.

See our FAQs below for answers to some common questions about this program.

Apply to be an animal foster carer

Use the button below to fill on online form and we’ll contact you to talk about next steps.

Please only complete this form if you are ready to foster within the next two weeks. If you are not ready to begin fostering within the next two weeks, please come back and apply when you're ready.

Animal foster program FAQs

If you need more information, or have a question not covered here, please email us.

Before you foster

We'll give you a welcome pack and everything you need to care for your animal. This includes food, bowls, bedding, collar, medication and anything else your animal needs.

We'll keep you supplied with more food (and medication if needed) when you run out.

You can also reach out to our team for support if you need it during the fostering period.

This will be different in each case, depending on the animal's situation. Our animals might need care for anything from a couple of weeks to several months or more.

You can foster for as long or short as you like - we appreciate any care you can give. Even if an animal needs longer term fostering, you can choose to foster for a shorter period.

We sometimes also need respite foster carers to look after an animal for a short period if their long-term carer is unavailable (for example, on holiday).

We'll talk to you about timing after you sign up, and again when we find an animal that might be a match for you.

Yes. We can arrange a meet and greet with your foster animal before you commit to a placement.

Meet and greets can be arranged on neutral ground in Wollongong (recommended for dogs) or in your home (recommended for cats). If you already have other pets and would like them to be part of the meet and greet too, this can be arranged in most situations.

We'll talk with you about options that suit your situation.

If you can't or don't want to do a meet and greet, we'll still do our best to pair you up with a foster animal that suits your lifestyle and needs.

If there are any problems you can contact us for support or return the animal if it's not working out.

Yes!

If you're keen to do this, we'll match you with animals who like living with other pets.

Yes. Many dogs are happy to live in apartments.

When you sign up, we'll ask for information about your home and make sure we match you with animals who would enjoy that environment.

You'll just need to make sure you follow any rules about pets that your strata or landlord might have in place.

You may still be able to foster an animal that needs less company or attention.

Talk to us about your situation, and we can tell you about options that might work for you.

Fostering with children or other pets

Sure! Kids can be great foster assistants.

Tell us if you have children so we can match you with animals who are child-friendly.

Definitely. We have many animals available who would be happy to have company.

When you sign up, tell us about any other animals you have. We'll make sure we only match you with foster animals who are suitable to live with your existing pet/s.

In many cases, we can also include your current pet/s in any meet and greets before you foster, to make sure they'll be a good match for everyone in your household.

We strongly recommend a meet and greet with your foster animal before you commit to any foster care placements. If you have pets, we can often include them in the meet and greet to see if everyone will get along.

Our team will discuss these options with you before placing any foster animal into your care.

Remember, it may take a little while for animals to adjust to a new environment or other animals. But if it's not working out, let us know and you can stop the fostering arrangement if needed.

Care and troubleshooting while fostering

It may take a few days or weeks for your foster animal to settle in.

The animals in our care come from a range of different (and sometimes unknown) backgrounds and some may take longer to settle than others.

Experts recommend that on average it can take animals three days to decompress in new surroundings, three weeks to learn your routine, and up to three months to start to feel really at home.

We have a range of support options available both during and outside business hours if you need assistance with your foster animal. Our team can discuss these options with you.

If your foster dog or cat needs medical attention, this will be provided through one of our veterinarian partners:

Illawarra Animal Hospital Figtree
43 Princes Highway, Figtree NSW 2525
Phone (02) 4213 9333

Illawarra Animal Hospital Yallah
24 Princes Highway, Yallah NSW 2530
(02) 4257 3322

We'll let you know about any scheduled medical appointments your foster animal will need to attend.

Please ask our team for approval before booking any medical appointments for your foster animal.

While a foster animal is in your care, there are a few ways you can help us find them a new forever home.

  • As you get to know your foster animal better, we love to hear about how they're going. You can tell us about any patterns or personality traits you discover, and / or send us photos or videos of them, which may help us match them with someone keen to adopt.
  • If you're comfortable, share photos or stories about your foster animal with your friends and family, or through social media.
  • If you're hitting it off, you can also apply to adopt your foster animal. Let us know if you'd like to do this and we'll start the adoption process.

Yes, but let us know ahead of time. We can also provide short term foster care for your foster pet, while you’re away.

After fostering

That's ok. We know things can change for a lot of different reasons.

If you're fostering an animal and need to stop for any reason, just let us know.

You can also tell us if there are any times - like if you'll be away on holiday - that you won't be available for fostering.

Yes! We love to see our foster carers adopt.

If you'd like to adopt the animal you're fostering, let us know as soon as possible. We'll start the adoption process with you and remove the animal's profile from the adoption list on our website.

If someone applies to adopt the animal you're fostering, we'll usually arrange a meet and greet between the animal and the potential new owner. In some cases, this may happen multiple times while an animal is in your care.

We'll work with you to make sure any meet and greets are at a time and location that suits you.

If someone does adopt the animal you're fostering, we'll let you know as soon as possible and keep you updated about any arrangements for them to go to their new home.

Feel-good foster stories

Every foster journey is different, but we've already had so many hear-warming cases in our foster care program. Here are just a few.

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