Foster A Pet

BARC Animal Shelter & Adoptions

Get Involved

Animal Enforcement

Services

About BARC

BARC ANIMAL SHELTER AND ADOPTIONS

Foster a Pet

Why We Need You!
We can never turn away an animal. Whether the animal is a goat, a goose or an alligator; a thirteen-year-old schnauzer or a one-day-old kitten; an emaciated dog or an obese cat; a kitten with chemical burns, or a cat shot with an arrow; we take them all. And, because of Houston’s climate and size, we never get a break. The animals are constantly coming in.

We need your help with the animals that need special care. They might be too young, too sick, or too shy. They may have ringworm, mange, or heartworms. They may be mothers nursing kittens or orphaned kittens in need of bottle-feeding. All of them need help. They need you.

What You Can Do

Fosters change lives. Fosters put in the time and effort the shelter sometimes just isn't able to due to the numbers of animals we have here. Sometimes all a foster needs to do is provide some love and patience and a second chance to a shy dog; other times it's waking up at three a.m. to bottle-feed some hungry kittens. There are many different options within fostering and many different levels of time and emotional commitment.

With every kind of fostering, though, the goal is the same: to help every foster animal become adoptable and to find every foster animal a forever home.

We can't control the number of animals coming into BARC, but you can help us control the number that make it into loving homes. You can help us give these animals a chance.

How to Become a Foster Parent

Fill out our Foster Application HERE!
View pets available for foster by visiting www.24PetConnect.com and www.HoustonTX.gov/barc/urgent-pets.html
Email barcfoster@houstontx.gov for additional information about the pet and its availability. Please note, pets that mention FOSTER in their bios or kennels are already in foster care.
Once you have selected a foster pet you can schedule a foster pick-up at www.waitwhile.com/welcome/fosterpickups, or visit BARC
Come to BARC (2700 Evella Street) at your scheduled time.
Park in a numbered space and join the waitlist at www.waitwhile.com/welcome/fosterpickups & wait for your foster to be brought out to your vehicle!

OUR FOSTER BOUNDARIES:

Are you interested in becoming a BARC foster parent, but live outside the City of Houston limits? Well, we have good news! We now allow anyone that lives up to 15 miles outside of the City limits to foster with us! If you're not sure how far outside of the City Limits you live, just type your address into this link. If you live inside the colored area, you are qualified to be a BARC foster!

Saving lives is our top priority, and we hope this change will save many more animals through our foster program. If you have questions about your location related to our foster program, please email barcfoster@houstontx.gov.

Foster Requirements

The primary foster caretaker must be 18 years or older
The foster family must live within 45 minutes of BARC in pet-friendly housing
You must have reliable transportation to get to BARC for foster medical appointments and meet-and-greets with potential adopters
You must be able to safely house the foster pet completely separate from other pets in the house (e.g. an extra room, a crate) for the first 72 hours & when unsupervised
Cats/kittens are indoor-only fosters; sick foster pets must be quarantined from owned pets for the duration of the foster; all foster pets must be kept completely separate from owned pets for at least 72 hours
You must care for the foster pet as if it’s their own, keeping it in a climate-controlled area, providing fresh food and water daily
You must be willing to courteously address emails from adopters within 48 hours and set up meet-and-greets

Foster Resources and Handbook