the foster

In Singapore, we do not have any form of animal rehabilitation centre where there are dedicated professionals to rehabilitate an animal, be it nursing physical wounds or retraining a dog to be able to socialize normally.

But, it is a major fact that we have disparate fosterers who offer their homes and 24/7 commitment to animals in need of homes, in need of a leader to give them a second chance in life, to make them unlearn bad habits and assure them that they are not street animals to be impounded or taken away, to give them hope as worthy beings who have a stake in this world.

Our fosterers are heroes behind the scene. Ineluctably, a foster develops emotional bonds with the animals under their charge, as he or she integrates them to society and along the way, integrate them to their homes. The animal might have suspicions that the foster home is never his permanent abode but the relationship between foster and animal is undeniable.

As they learn new things about each other and reconcile with their differences, they grow into each other and nurture ties that I can only say are almost akin to those of a family.

For a foster to give her dog away when a good family comes along, it is often a rocky dilemma and an emotionally-charged occasion. It is difficult for anyone who has taken care of his or her dog to discount the beautiful relationship that dog and foster have built. To move on from the successful adoption, to return to a home where you no longer see Max or Sassy and get on with life as it is, is a reality hard to grapple with and a brutal one at that.

But this is the strength of the foster. To lend a hand to the homeless animal in need and see through it that the dog or cat or rabbit finds a good home. The fortitude of our noble fosters makes up the support network, the pillar of animal welfare.

To the fosters who unfailingly give our animals hope, we can only thank them.