Be a Foster Parent for a Homeless Animal

Some of you probably aren't able to make any long-term commitments by adopting a pet for the rest of his or her life. I understand-- maybeyou are planning on starting a new job in a year, or a new school, or you simply have only a little bit of stamina. Whatever the reason, though, you should look into being a foster home for  a shelter animal.
Fostering an animal is great because it is a one-time commitment, you can choose how long to keep the animal for (within reason-- you wouldn't be likely to find an animal who needed to be taken in for only a few days!), you don't have to pay for food, litter, or veterinary bills, and you won't be stuck with the animal for the rest of his or her life if it doesn't work out.

Photo Courtesy of the Ottawa Humane Society

You can usually foster an animal from a local humane society or another animal welfare organization. If you live in the Ottawa area, you should consider fostering a rabbit from New Moon Rabbit Rescue or one of many species of animals from the Ottawa Humane Society.
The only problem with fostering an animal is that you are not allowed to adopt the animal who you have fostered. You have to let someone else adopt your new friend-- which can be heartbreaking for many people. As long as you begin fostering with this in mind, though, you should be fine. You'll be doing the animals a favour, too!


I know that this is off-topic, but November is National Novel Writing Month (and this one I didn't make up on the spot, unlike the GIVSC). This is a "contest" (no cash or material prizes, though) in which you have to write a 50,000 word novel in a month! There is also a Young Writer's Program for youth who don't want to write quite so much. I'm writing a YA/sci-fi/old-fashioned/school-story/etc. novel that takes place around 2030. By then, people don't keep pets as much as they used to (in many cities it is outlawed by that time-- and actually, in real-world 2012 pet sale in Los Angeles is outlawed, too!), and "vegetarian" and "vegan" have come to mean the same thing due to the fact that so many people are going vegan (I think; the planning is still in progress). However, it isn't all good-- technology is rampant, stress is high, and there are huge gaps between social groups. I'll let you know when the book is done and published so that you can buy it. ;)