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    Public Foster Program

    Open your home. Change a life. Foster an animal who needs time.

    NAWN connects community fosters with listed rescue organizations and shows the review status recorded for each organization. You offer safe space and daily care. Rescues provide vet support and adoption outreach. Together, you keep animals out of crowded shelters and help them find permanent homes.

    Emergency Foster Pulse · Urgent placements happening now 0 open

    Owners, shelters, vets and first responders broadcasting real-time alerts within 10–50 miles. Response expectations vary by foster and organization with safety checklist tracking.

    View Open Alerts Create alert
    Apply to foster Find a foster My foster dashboard

    • Active fosters

      1

      listed and searchable

    • Animals in foster

      0

      currently placed

    • No fees

      Free to join

      rescue-supported

    A warm foster home scene with a woman cuddling a fluffy dog and a sleepy orange cat on a cozy couch

    How fostering works

    3 steps, rescue-guided

    1. 1

      Apply & complete your profile

      Home, pets, schedule, emergency contact, agreement.

    2. 2

      Profile goes live

      Rescues find you by location & species.

    3. 3

      Accept a placement

      Short-term care, daily updates, return or adopt.

    Most fosters last 2–8 weeks. Rescues cover vet care and provide supplies when available. You provide safe housing, food, and communication.

    What you provide

    Safe indoor space, daily food and water, basic enrichment, transport for meet-and-greets if able, and honest daily updates to the rescue.

    What rescues provide

    Vet authorization and cost coverage, adoption marketing, behavioral support, and clear agreements on length and return procedures.

    What NAWN provides

    Identity review flow, searchable foster directory without exposing private contacts, placement tracking, and safety guidance free for all.

    Eligibility and expectations

    Fostering is serious care, not casual pet sitting

    You do not need to own a home or have prior rescue experience. You do need to be honest about capacity, communicate promptly, and follow the rescue's care plan.

    18+ with valid ID and verifiable living situation
    Able to isolate new animal for 3–7 days when needed
    Willing to keep animal indoors or in secure containment
    Can provide daily notes and respond within 24 hours
    Has backup plan and emergency contact on file
    No open animal cruelty cases or recent surrender-for-cause patterns
    Start applicationView my profile

    Safety and privacy — how your contact info is handled

    Your foster profile shows first name, city and state, approved species, and availability. Full name, email, and phone are never public. They are revealed to a listed rescue organization after you accept their placement request. Likewise, you receive rescue contact only after acceptance. Every placement records audit history via rescue and foster emails.

    • Animal medical history comes from registry when available, read-only.
    • Abuse reporting available from any foster or rescue surface.
    • Agreements are responsibilities checklist, not legal representation. Seek legal counsel for local foster laws.

    Apply

    Single-page application with progress.

    Search fosters

    Rescues find local fosters by filters.

    Dashboard

    Requests, active, history in one place.

    Rescue directory

    Browse listed rescue partners and review their status.

    Not a substitute for emergency intake

    NAWN does not run a shelter or provide 24/7 emergency animal placement. If an animal is injured or in danger, call local animal control or emergency services first, then use NAWN to log foster capacity for follow-up coordination.