Hatter loves fostering pups for SPCA
A local dog foster for the Medicine Hat SPCA is hoping her positive experience housing pets for the organization can get more people in the community involved.
Diane Schneider has been fostering puppies since October, and has had nothing but good experiences since she began taking in litters of five to nine puppies at a time.
“My youngest son headed off to college in Lethbridge and my husband works 14 days on and seven off, so I was just looking for a little more to do and something to play with,” said Schneider. “I saw a sign over on Animal World saying the SPCA was in need of fosters, so I made the call and jumped right in.
“Everything has been great so far. The puppies are always amazing to have around the house and they keep me very busy — I’m very happy with this choice so far.”
All Schneider has to provide is her house, her time and her patience, while the SPCA supplies all food, toys, cages and medical expenses to its fosters.
“There’s a couple things I’ve bought, but it’s because I wanted to buy them,” she said. “The SPCA is great at giving you everything you need.
“We have different parts of the house blocked off with cages, and a part of the backyard where we keep the dogs sometimes during the day. A couple of the dogs have had medical needs and the SPCA picks up every bill.”
Schneider open up her house on a regular basis to potential adoptees, in an attempt to show exactly how the animals will act.
“I think it’s important for people to see how dogs act in a home environment,” she said. “I don’t know what other foster homes do, but we always welcome people to come see how their dog acts in our home, and how they act with our dogs.
“We don’t mind having people over at all.”
While she does have her own dogs, Schneider says it is hard to see some of the canines go to new homes.
“It’s never easy,” she said. “Every single one that comes in here just brings so much joy, so it can be really hard to see them go to their forever homes.
“For people sitting on the fence about doing this, I would say to just jump in feet first. The animals are so great to have around the house, and they really do start to feel like family.”