It has been the most elating experience for us. We as a family, all get involved in the love and care it takes to provide for these sweet souls. Humane Society Naples is amazing and super supportive during this journey. I highly recommend this experience for everyone to be involved.

The secret to happiness is helping others.

I have helped a lot of kittens from Humane Society Naples. Some of them were very very sick, some were blind, some were too skinny, some had surgery, some were shy, some were terrified, some felt lost and finally some of them were full of life.

The journey has been amazing with excellent support from the staff exceeding expectations.

I’m so grateful I was able to help so many kittens to get back in shape, provide the love that they should have had, play with the shy ones, cuddle the lost ones, take special care of the ones getting back on track from surgery. Knowing that they have been adopted a few weeks after has always provided a sense of mission accomplished.

The Humane Society Naples is best in class in term of no-kill shelter. They are dedicated to the wellness of the animal and I’m really proud to be able to help from time to time.

Benjamin Arnulf

We decided to foster four years ago after our last dog passed away at the age of 15. We do not want to adopt a pet because of our lifestyle now. Fostering allows the flexibility to love and care for furkids when it fits in our schedule. We have fostered dogs, cats, puppies and kittens, 118 so far.

We enjoy the puppy breath, the dog walks, the purring cats and kittens and all the cuddling. We provide a safe, caring and loving home for them to grow, develop their personalities and become ready for adoption. My elderly parents have enjoyed their visits with us and love all cuddling, licks and kisses.

When we tell people we foster they always say, “ I could never give them back”.  We admit it’s hard at first, but we know that we have done our part in helping them on their way to becoming part of a loving permanent home. We still shed a few tears each time they go back but there are so many in need of our help so we keep doing it again and again. Our home seems empty without them.

Humane Society Naples provides us with everything we need to care for our fosters. Food, kitty litter, towels, blankets, pet beds, pet toys, leashes, pee pads and most importantly medical services and medication. The staff is loving and genuinely cares about the health of each and every foster. Their help is just a phone call away.

Fostering, we love it!!!

Sue and John Bakos

My fostering experience with Humane Society Naples was great! I took in a mom dog and her 4 babies. The staff at HSN gave me everything I was going to need to take good care of all the pups and assisted in making the pickup and drop off process as smooth as possible. They also checked in with me while I had the pups!

Maureen (Mo)

I have been fostering for HSN for over three years. The first foster babies I had were two three day old orphan puppies. The outlook for them wasn’t great but with assurance from the foster team, I took them home. I named them Hope and Joy. I immediately fell I love. It was a lot of work, scary and exhausting at times but they thrived and grew into the cutest, healthiest little puppies. The support I’ve received from the vet group and administration team has always been great. I have gone on to foster many more families, even ended up keeping one for myself… officially a proud foster failure.  I’m happy to be part of the team… it’s one of the most rewarding things you can do.  Eager for my next little family.

Deb Crine

My husband and I have been fostering with Humane Society Naples since we bought a place in Naples in 2010. We are snowbirds and go back and forth to Canada regularly but when we are here we have loved taking care of animals in need. Maybe that’s the wrong way to put it… perhaps it would be more accurate to say we need the animals as they give us so much joy. We have had both dogs and cats often while they were pregnant. Many have given birth while they have been with us and we have been thrilled to experience these new little beings. We have also taken injured animals or animals on medication. On one occasion we had a 10-week-old kitten who was blind. The day he arrived he fell off my husband’s desk, the kitchen counter and the dining room table and then he proceeded to fall into our pool twice! However, by the next day, he had totally adjusted and wandered everywhere without ever falling again. After we returned to Canada we were delighted to hear that he had been adopted by a family that had earlier adopted his sister and that these two littermates were now inseparable.

Humane Society Naples has always been very supportive of our efforts to foster. They provide food and equipment for the animals and they are on call and quick to respond if we have run into a problem.

I would encourage everyone who loves animals and who has the time and home situation to consider fostering. It is a wonderful and rewarding experience to be able to give an animal a home when they are in need even if it only temporary.

Sharron Stone

Claudia

Probably the most popular and memorable was Pupkin. The puppy that was nursed by a cat. Her momma (Patches) delivered seven puppies at our home. She is still in my heart. She came to us full of fear, especially men. By the time she left, she was a spunky happy gal that everyone adored. All her pups got adopted except one very tiny black pup that was struggling to survive. We fed him extra nutrients via syringe and weighed him daily. He overcame lots of struggles and was eventually adopted by a vet tech at HSN.

Obviously, my favorite is a foster we adopted. She came to us pregnant on a Friday and had nine pups on Monday. She was such a wonderful momma and as my husband would say, “one smart dog”. Two years later and she is a true blessing for us. She is known in our neighborhood as The Canine Coordinator. Greets all the new folks and pups with a waggy tail. Everyone swears she smiles. But truth be known she makes us smile. A wonderful addition to our family.

Alan and Lisa Zumstein

We are Canine Coach volunteers here at Humane Society Naples. It is our belief that our job is to make the fur kids at the shelter adoptable… to teach them trust, teach them to love and to be loved without fear. In doing this, we have had the opportunity to foster a couple of furkids who we felt needed to be a part of a loving home and a chance to be in an atmosphere that would allow them to relax, enjoy life in a home setting… just for a few days. When they return to the shelter, they display behavior that makes them stand out in the crowd so to speak. We always fall in love with the fur kids we foster. Chubby fit right into our home and we adopted her. Rico was adopted at the shelter soon after we had him in our home. There is always a special animal that needs just a couple of days in a home setting with love and a giving heart. Seeing the needy ones become more self-confident and trusting… that is what we, as Canine Coaches, get out of the Foster Program.

Ron and Pat

I was always interested in helping animals, but my job required long hours and travel leaving me no time for “hands-on” helping animals. I made donations, but that was it. I decided that when I did retire, I would work directly with animals and the incidence of breast cancer gave me the wake-up call to change my activities toward things I would enjoy. I was retired by then, so I had the time, and the Maryland shelter provided me with the opportunity. Eleven years later, between the Humane Society Naples and two shelters on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, I have fostered over 350 kittens. The kittens have given my husband (chief helper at kitten nap time) and me endless joy, hilarious entertainment, and occasional moments of sadness. Our fosters receive lots of hugs, kisses, cuddles, interactive play and plenty of lap (and nap) time. We come to love them while they are with us, and it is very difficult to say goodbye as they go on to find their forever homes. In fact, we are “failed fosters” too, in the sense that we have adopted 6 of our foster babies. I feel I have found something that I was meant to do, and my husband is experiencing the human/animal bond that he missed out on as a child.

Pat Murphy