Fostering Hope Animal Rescue Foundation - Red Deer, Alberta

Bobbi C.

Fostering Hope is an animal rescue that brings dogs and cats into care and places them into foster care until they can find furever homes for them. These animals recieve any and all medical required attention, spay or neuter and vaccinations from the rescue and learn love, trust, house training and social skills at their foster homes.
These animals are treated with the highest regard while in care and that makes for an amazing housemate when you adopt.

Stephanie T.

Update to respond to owner's comment:
In my review, I openly said we rushed our decision, we take responsibility for the fact that we should have walked away. This doesn't change the fact that we had less time due to the foster being 40 minutes late (she came in and said she was told 12:30, not 11:30).
I mentioned our decision being rushed in the text Sunday evening when we had noticed the dogs fixation on our daughter. On the phone with Sarah on Monday, I told her about the dog going at my daughter.(just confirmed on my dash cam audio as I was driving at the time) And she responded as if it was my child's fault. I understand the foster had a 4 year old child, that does NOT negate what happened with our child.

I understand everyone wants these animals to have a home. We wanted to be one of those homes. But being cold and rude to someone who is visibly and audibly upset that their child was in danger and now has to bring back a dog isn't the way to be.

I asked about trials and was told that they aren't an option as it is too stressful on the dog. I can assure you, we would have gone with a trial option instead of basically donating $575.
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We attempted to adopt a dog from here. And I'll preface this by saying that I hope this was just a one-off experience and not a common one.

The foster was 45 minutes late for our meet & greet (we drove 2 hours to be there and the foster lives in Red Deer). The foster had their child with them and that child kept distracting the conversation and the dog. The foster said they'd done no training with the dog as she didn't want to dog to "get attached" to her. Major red flag that we shouldn't have ignored- the dog had zero basic skills (sit, down, stay, didnt know her name after 5 weeks of being in that fosters care)

We adopted the dog anyway as one child was already getting attached. I was told our whole family had to come meet the dog- I wish I would have pushed for just myself to come as this would have saved a lot of heartache.

We get home to realize the next day that the dog is having an interesting fascination with our 3 year old. It's making us a bit uneasy and we try to keep the dog separated from the child until we come up with a plan. I message the agency that evening to say something felt "off" and I think we felt rushed into a decision and may have made a poor one.

The next morning my daughter is standing beside me and the dog walks into the room and does a little growl, tackles, and stands over my 3 year old. That was when we decided this wouldn't work for us.

I called the agency in the morning and left a message. Sarah calls me back and asks what happened and I try to explain. As I'm crying, her response was "what did the child do to instigate this event?"

She did nothing. She has no toys in her hands, she wasn't dancing or running or spinning in circles. She was standing there telling me what dress she wanted to wear that day.

I never imagined giving up an animal but my partner and I decided it was best for our family and the dog that she find a more suitable home.

I bought her back to the agency and cried the entire time I was there. The lady was cold and said less than 20 words to me. She told the dog that she was going back to her foster home, which is unfortunate as that home isn't doing the dog any favours by not putting any effort into her.

To summarize, I wish there was more guidance with the fosters to help these dogs succeed and find amazing homes. I wish there wasn't a rule about bringing everybody in your household to the meet & greet. It might be an okay option to have a trial period (I see someone in the reviews was able to do this) with a non-refundable deposit or something. It would really help in situations like this. Also, not sending the family home with some of the dogs current food or favourite toy for comfort struck us as a bit odd.

Most importantly, I wish for that dog to find a great home because she was a good girl, just not the perfect fit for us. ♡

Chris D.

We have fostered many dogs through this organization and it is a special place. The staff is very knowledgeable. The love for dogs and cats is different in what they do.

kristina G.

Foster failed 2 lovable kittens at FH. Staff were very helpful and always checked in with us.

Alex C.

We adopted our puppy Aspen from Fostering Hope and she is the perfect puppy for our family. The staff have been excellent with communication and follow up and it is very obvious their animals are well cared for and loved before they are adopted. The process and paperwork was easy and the costs were very reasonable.

Jessica F.

We adopted our sweet boy, Ghost back in February. Ghost had a couple of foster families before I adopted him and they gave different stories about his temperament around other cats. Fostering Hope gave me a 7 day "trial adoption" to make sure Ghost was a good fit for our family, as we already had a cat in our home. We are happy to report that Ghost has adapted very well and enjoying the life with his "annoying little sister" by his side. Thank you, Fostering Hope for being so accommodating

Talitha B.

Got my dog Vinny (formerly Aries)whom I love very dearly from fostering hope about 3 years ago. He has brought so much joy to our family. Adoption process was relatively easy. My only complaint about fostering hope is that they mislead us and told us our dog was good with cats. We have two cats and it was important to us the dog was good with cats. He was definitely not good with cats. He’s gotten better through the years with training but every now and then I still have to correct him for chasing and lunging at them.

Kim F.

We adopted our dog from here and the process was smooth and easy. We LOVE our big boy, and the foster that took care of him before he found his forever home with us did an amazing job! We will definitely use Fostering Hope again the next time we are looking for a new furry family member, dog OR cat!