Safety Net Fostering Program

Temporary fostering of owned pets

Michigan Humane’s Safety Net Foster Program is not currently accepting new animals. Please check back in October if you are still in need of a temporary foster home for your pet. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to have the program up running again shortly. If you are in need of other services (medical care, etc) please call us at 1-866-MHUMANE.

Michigan Humane’s Safety Net Foster Program provides foster care of owned pets while their owners are temporarily unable to care for their pet(s) due to illness, housing crisis or other emergency. We offer this resource as a last resort—when all other options for animal care have been exhausted.

Our program is designed to provide short term housing for eligible animals in need of temporary care, all with the goal of reuniting you with your pet(s)! Your pet(s) will go through an evaluation to determine any medical or behavioral concerns and to deem fitness for a foster home. Upon successful evaluation, we will place your animals in temporary housing until you are ready to care for them again.

The Safety Net Foster Program has limited space at this time, but we will work with you to provide support as much as possible.

Before you apply, please consider the following:

Have you:

• Reached out to family and/or friends for care for your pets?
• Reached out to a non-profit organization for support to help you get back on your feet?
• Established that your need for animal care is temporary?

Is your pet:

• House trained and/or litter box trained?
• Friendly towards humans?
• Overall healthy and/or currently taking medicine that maintains their health?
• Spayed or neutered? If not, Michigan Humane will spay or neuter your pet while they are in our care (unless a veterinarian determines they should not be altered).

Before you complete the Safety Net Foster Program application, be sure your answer is “yes” to the following statements:

• Yes, I have transportation to take my pet to Michigan Humane’s shelter in Westland
• Yes, I can wait several days for an appointment time to drop off my pets
• Yes, I am willing to have my pet spayed or neutered (at no charge to me)
• Yes, my pet is friendly towards strangers
• Yes, my pet is used to living indoors
• Yes, I am available during business hours for a weekly phone call with Michigan Humane
• Yes, I plan to be able to take my pet home within three months

For all other questions, please reach out to our Community Solutions Manager, Becki Kenderes, at 947-517-5590 to begin your program application.