Foster
Get Started
Fosters receive around-the-clock support from Operation Kindness staff members and all medical needs are taken care of at our on-site animal hospital.
To sign up, please submit the foster application.
Foster Opportunities
Foster First
This program gives potential adopters and pets time to ensure it’s a match before finalizing an adoption. You have the option of fostering the pet for up to three days. If it’s a match, the adoption can be completed via adoption over the phone without needing to return to Operation Kindness.
Foster First sign-up can be completed before or after meeting your foster pet. Our Client Services staff will assist in identifying Foster First eligible pets and walk you through the process. In most cases, you can bring home your Foster First pet the same day.
Foster to Adopt
Foster to Adopt sign-up can be completed before or after meeting your foster pet, and you can take your foster home the same day you meet them. Our Client Services staff will assist in identifying Foster to Adopt pets and walking you through the process.
Puppies, Kittens, and Nursing Moms
Operation Kindness provides all training and supplies, including food. Our team provides medical care in our on-site medical hospital.
Bottle Babies
Operation Kindness takes hundreds of kittens into its neonatal kitten nursery each year. After an initial medical evaluation, these kittens do best in a foster home.
Bottle fosters receive one-on-one instructions for feeding and caring for these very young pets and ongoing support from the Nursery and Foster Teams.
Kindness on the Go
Foster volunteers take dogs on day trips, giving them a short break while helping to increase their chances of adoption by gaining more information about them. Volunteers are given all needed supplies, including a leash, harness, dog business card, and an itinerary packed with fun things to do!
Kindness on the Go pups can spend the day out and about with you or at home watching TV. Either way, the information gathered from these trips helps our team match them with a new loving home.
No appointment is needed to participate in Kindness on the Go. Kindness on the Go can be as short as an hour or as long as a full day with a shelter dog.
Medical Animals
Behavioral Animals
Shelter to Service Dogs
The program, From Shelter to Service Dog, identifies shelter dogs at Operation Kindness that have the ideal temperament and abilities to become a service dog and places them in Dogs for Better Lives’ training program to become a Hearing Assistance Dog, Autism Assistance Dog or Facility Dog.
Even the dogs in the program who do not go on to be service dogs will have received additional training that increases their adoptability.
How it works:
- Welcome a carefully selected dog from our shelter partner into your home for up to 6 months.
- Dogs train with DBL professional service dog trainers during the day Monday – Friday at the DBL training location. They spend the evenings and weekends relaxing with you at home.
- Work with DBL staff on helping reinforce training at home.
- Coordinate with DBL staff on drop-off and pickup at the training location.
- Shelter partner provides all necessary resources, including veterinary care, dog food, toys and equipment (food and water bowl, crate, etc.).
- Be happy knowing that you’ve not only given a second chance to a dog in need, but have also helped provide safety and independence to a child or adult with a disability.
Interested? Complete the foster application to get started!
Tails in Transit
Tails in Transit is a short-term foster opportunity for animals who are already on their way to adoptive families outside the local area. These pets aren’t available for local adoption—they have confirmed placements waiting for them at their destination. What they need now is a safe, comfortable place to rest and recover before continuing their journey.
Foster commitments typically range from just a few days to up to one month, depending on the animal’s needs. Some pets may require extra time if they’re recovering from heartworm treatment. All fosters in this program will pick up their animal from our Hub location in Central Dallas, conveniently located off I-30 and Westmoreland.
Transporting animals out of our area is a lifesaving mission—and we can’t do it without you. With the support of our community, we can save more lives and give more pets the chance to reach the loving homes waiting for them. Join us in making a difference, one journey at a time.
Interested? Check out our current animals in need of a transport foster!
Frequently Asked Questions
