Why Was My Foster Application Rejected?

You’ve probably heard about shelters being packed to the gills, alongside their desperate pleas for more foster parents. Still, after submitting an application to bring a shelter kitty or pup into your home…it gets rejected. What the heck? 

If this happened to you, you might feel hurt and maybe even a little resentful — because the rescue is always pleading for fosters. This can be frustrating, but there’s usually a good reason why they passed on your application. Read on for more clarity about why your attempt to become a foster parent may have been rejected, but also how you might be able to get accepted in the future. 

What are the basic foster requirements anyway?

Foster requirements for each shelter or rescue can vary, but generally, they require the following.

• You are of adult age: Most rescues require that you be at least 18 years old to foster, though sometimes the age might be higher. 

• You don’t have a criminal record: Although not all organizations do background checks, foster parents typically can’t have any felonies or misdemeanors related to drugs, violence, theft, and of course, animal cruelty. 

• You offer a safe environment: Your home should be ready to bring in a foster. You shouldn’t be planning to move anytime soon. Any children and additional pets should be able to get along with the foster animal. 

• You can provide basic care: Your foster pet needs to be fed, provided fresh water, given the proper amount of exercise each day, and socialized with other humans and pets. On top of that, some fosters (such as fospice pets) might need to have medicines administered, be taken to vet appointments, or require special handling during recovery from surgery.

• Prove that you’re ready for the responsibility: Sometimes, cats and dogs stay in their foster parents’ home for many months, and the organization will determine if a potential foster is up for that. 

• Be OK with letting them go: The whole point of becoming a foster is to allow your foster pet to be adopted by other people. Of course, foster fails happen, but ideally, a foster parent should be able to continue to take in other pets after their first foster is adopted. 

Why you might’ve been rejected from fostering animals

After reading this basic list of requirements, you might be thinking, “Hey, I meet all of those.” Well, sometimes it isn’t all that straightforward, so we tapped Joe Casados, the Public Relations representative of the Arizona Humane Society, and Cindy Potter, the Director of Foster and Adoption at the Ohlone Humane Society, to get into some of the fostering minutiae. 

Proximity to the organization

You may have been rejected from fostering based on your lack of proximity to the shelter or rescue. This is because you might have to live in an area that’s relatively close to a specific medical facility partnered with the organization. “We require fosters to live in the tri-city area,” Potter says. “We will also consider [nearby cities], if they have a flexible schedule so that they can get the kittens to us or a vet for medical attention, and/or be dropped off for spay and neuter surgeries.”

Health of your other pets

When fostering, shelter and rescues require your other pets to be vaccinated and spayed or neutered to minimize the chances of spreading illnesses and avoid unwanted pregnancies. This is important for the health of the foster, including kittens or puppies, who have yet to receive their full set of vaccinations and may not be spayed or neutered yet. 

Space for a foster

Your home must be large enough to have a separate room where your foster can live during the 10- to 14-day period when they must be separated from other pets (as required by the Arizona Humane Society and many other shelters and rescues). “The introduction to other cats can take some time for the resident cats to accept kittens on their turf,” Potter says. “Some can get aggressive with the kittens, so they can’t be left alone together until it’s safe for them.” 

If your foster is ill the entire duration of their stay, they’ll need to stay separated from your pets the whole time. An organization might decide that you have too many pets (and not enough space for more) and reject you from fostering for that reason. 

Housing and landlord restrictions

Your home might not be deemed pet-safe, especially if you have hazards — but a small space or a lack of yard would not cause you to be rejected. “There are plenty of pets in need of foster care that would be perfectly happy in an apartment,” Casados says. “We might have specific medical cases that would require a foster pet to go to a home without stairs, but we have foster matchmakers who will help find the perfect pet for your living situation.”

“The only way you wouldn't be able to foster is if your landlord or HOA did not allow you to have pets,” Casados says. Shelters and rescues take the no-pets policy of buildings very seriously. 

Clerical errors

Missing paperwork can be a reason you’re turned away from fostering. Maybe you were a little over-eager and forgot to turn in some forms, or you didn’t complete the required training. Shelters and rescues often set up required virtual or in-person training for potential fosters. If you miss these, then it shows the rescue that you aren’t committed, and your application can be rejected. 

Lifestyle and time commitment

Moving a possibly traumatized animal into a new home can be a tough transition, and shelters and rescues are looking for the best possible match for the needs of that animal. If you want to foster but are always traveling, for example, you might not be the best fit. 

Animal welfare organizations do not want dogs to live outside the whole time, or if they’re cats, go outside at all. “Fosters are not allowed to let the kittens go outside if that’s their intent, then we wouldn’t use them,” Casados says.

Fostering is not offered

You might get turned away when you ask for an application, because a shelter might not even have a foster program. Don’t get discouraged. There might be other rescues in your area that do offer fostering. Here are reasons why some shelters might opt out of fostering.

• Legal constraints: Pet shelters and local rescues are subject to the area’s local ordinances. The requirements to outsource animals to foster parents might be too difficult for some shelters to meet, so they might forgo this out of a sense of caution, instead prioritizing their shelter pets’ needs and adoptions.

• Logistical and staffing limits: Shelters are frequently understaffed, and they might not have the personnel required to handle the vetting and tracking of each foster pet. It’s a ton of work. If a shelter feels like it can’t do this well, it might opt not to do it at all.

• Liability: Animal shelters and rescues are legally on the hook if an animal harms a human on their watch. Some shelters and rescues don’t want to take on this lawsuit risk and opt not to work with fosters.

Rejected from fostering? Here’s what to do next

Got turned down for fostering? Don’t take it personally — it happens more than people think. The key is not giving up, because there are still tons of ways you can help pets and maybe even get approved next time.

• Contact the shelter, and ask why you were rejected. See if you can make changes to get approved. If so, try to get on a shelter’s waitlist for fostering. 

• Reach out to other local rescues or shelters in your area to see if you can apply to be a foster. Rectify whatever the reason was that led to your previous rejection. 

• If you can’t foster, you can offer to donate your time or resources to support the growth of the foster program. 

• If you aren’t too discouraged, you can encourage a foster policy change in your area. Connect with your local shelter, attend your local public board meetings, and talk with friends and neighbors to shine a light on the topic of fostering within the community. It just might allow more people to foster.

How you can help without fostering

Not everyone can foster, and that’s totally okay. The good news? There are plenty of other ways to make a real impact for pets in need. Here are a few ways you can help shelters and rescues.

Volunteer

Animal shelters and rescues are usually short-staffed, so volunteering is often a welcome option. “We are always looking for volunteers and have dozens of different ways you can volunteer, whether it is with dogs, cats, critters, or something else unrelated to directly working with pets,” Casados says. 

That being said, think about whether or not you can commit the time to volunteer over a long period. Training volunteers can be a resource drain on shelters and rescue organizations. 

“The most important part is that if a person is going to volunteer to support the rest of the volunteer team and get training, they need to be able to commit to doing it for a while,” Potter says. They encourage volunteers to treat this as a commitment, because training you takes time, and existing volunteers and staff are already spread thin.  

Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR)

Trap-Neuter-Return is an important project for animal shelters and rescues. Volunteers help safely trap feral community cats, get them fixed, then return them to their turf to keep cat colonies under control. “Other ways volunteers can help include joining our trapping team to do TNR,” Potter says. “Volunteers can drive or pick up a litter of kittens to a clinic for spay/neuter appointments.”

Administrative support

Shelters and rescues need all kinds of help behind the scenes, too. Whatever your skill set, there’s probably a way to put it to work. “We need administrative support that can be done from anywhere,” Potter says, “and people to post the adoptable kittens on the various [social media] pages to help find homes.” Reach out to your local shelter, and ask where they could use an extra set of hands — you might be surprised how much of a difference you can make.

Donating

Donate money, blankets, pet food, and toys to shelters and rescues. Of course, call to see what they need before just bringing supplies over. Your cash donations might go further than you think because these organizations can often buy in bulk or put the money toward emergency vet bills.

References

Begay, Mesha. “Bernalillo County Animal Care Services Offers Foster Program to Help Free up Space.” KOB.com, 19 Feb. 2024, www.kob.com/new-mexico/bernalillo-county-animal-services-offers-foster-program-to-help-free-up-space.

‌Saha, Victoria. “Henderson Animal Shelter Starting Foster to Adopt Program.” www.fox5vegas.com, Fox 5 Las Vegas, 30 Jan. 2025, www.fox5vegas.com/2025/01/30/henderson-animal-shelter-starting-foster-adopt-program.