Foster Care
DuPage County Animal Services relies on a
dedicated team of foster caregivers to provide temporary placement in a home
environment while animals undergo medical treatment, receive behavioral
support, or await adoption. Foster care is a critical piece of our effort to
provide animals with a second chance at life. Foster families are needed to
provide one-on-one care for kittens, cats, dogs, rabbits, and more!
For more information or if you have any questions, please email us or call us at (630) 407-2800.
Basic information and requirements
for fostering:
- DCAS provides supplies and medical care. The
foster provides daily care, love, training and play time. Rabbit fosters are
responsible for supplying fresh greens daily.
- All medical care is done at DCAS. Fosters will
need to have flexibility to bring animals in Monday-Friday as needed, for
medical appointments.
- It is helpful to live close to the shelter (120
N. County Farm Rd., Wheaton) as foster caregivers will come to the shelter for
vet care, supplies and at the time of adoption. Some foster animals will make
frequent trips to the shelter.
- Foster animals should be separated from resident
animals for a minimum of a 2-week quarantine period.
- Resident dogs and cats are required to be
current on their rabies vaccine.
- Landlord approval is required for anyone who
rents their home.
- Adoption interactions are currently being done
via Zoom calls and fosters are encouraged to participate.
- Fosters are welcome to adopt their foster
animal, however, will still need to meet all adoption requirements, including
legal pet limits.
Up Coming Foster Information Sessions:
Cats/Rabbits: To view a past information session, please click this link: https://youtu.be/6jqM73zBBnw
Dogs: Check back for future dates.
Kittens
Each year Animal Services received hundreds of young kittens. Any
kitten under 8 weeks of age (or two pounds) cannot physically stay in the
shelter. Kittens this age are not fully vaccinated and have developing immune
systems, which leaves them at risk of becoming ill. Kittens require foster
placement until they are weaned and of age to be spayed/neutered and placed up
for adoption.
In some cases, Animal Services receives pregnant cats or cats with nursing
kittens. In other cases, orphaned kittens are brought to the shelter. Animal Services relies on a special team of
highly dedicated foster caregivers who provide these cats and kittens with the
care they need.
Found kittens: Not all kittens have been abandoned. If you have
found kittens outside, please call the shelter at 630-407-2800, we will help
you determine next steps.
For more information on what to expect when fostering kittens, including necessary supplies, feeding and helpful tips, visit our
Foster Kitten Program page.
Cats
Animal Services relies on foster homes to help
many adult cats. Adult cats may require a foster home to monitor medical
conditions, provide a place for a cat to recover from an illness, receive
socialization, provide a respite for long term cat or simply to help when the
shelter is at capacity.
Dogs
Animal Services relies on foster families
to care for adoption dogs that find the shelter environment difficult or
overwhelming, dogs awaiting rescue placement and dogs in need of medical care.
Get started fostering dogs today by filling out a Canine Foster application: http://bttr.im/bxvk0
Please visit our Available Foster Dog page to learn more about the animals in our care that we are seeking foster homes for.