Become a foster carer and help give animals a second chance. It’s a temporary commitment with a life-changing impact.
Volunteer as a Foster Carer
Fostering is one of the most powerful ways you can change an animal’s life. By providing a temporary home, you’re giving a pet the love, stability, and socialisation they need before finding their forever family.
Some animals need time to recover from medical treatment, others need help building confidence, and many simply thrive in a home environment rather than a shelter. Every foster home helps free up space in our shelter, allowing us to help even more animals in need.
Who Can Foster?
Almost anyone! To be eligible, you’ll need to:
- Be 18+, ready to foster now, and have a car and driver’s licence
- Live within 70 minutes of our Kemps Creek Shelter or one of our Branches
- Be open to fostering a cat, litter of kittens, or a medium-large dog
Ready To Help Save Lives? Apply Now!
Foster Care FAQs
Here are some commonly asked questions for the AWL NSW Kemps Creek shelter foster care program. Contact your local AWL NSW volunteer branch if our Kemps Creek shelter is not your closest location as the answers may vary between branches.
Foster carers are assigned a dedicated AWL NSW representative who can be contacted with any questions you may have. For general advice and guides on caring for your foster pet, you can also check out a link to our resources here.
AWL NSW covers vet costs and we supply flea and worming treatment. For Kemps Creek (Sydney shelter) foster carers, all vet care is performed at our on-site vet clinic. For branch foster carers, vet care is done at approved vet clinics with prior approval.
Foster carers play a vital role in preparing animals for their forever homes. To ensure they feel safe and comfortable, you’ll need to provide:
A secure and suitable environment
- Dogs and puppies need safe indoor and outdoor spaces.
- Cats and kittens must be kept indoors, though adult cats may have access to a secure, approved outdoor cat run if deemed appropriate.
Essential supplies for cat and kitten carers, including bowls, a litter tray, toys, bedding, and a spare room for them to settle in comfortably.
Transport to and from AWL NSW – Foster carers must be able to bring their animals to our shelter and vet clinics as needed.
Time, love, and socialisation – Animals in foster care need patience, kindness, and routine to help them build confidence and adjust to home life. Your love and care make all the difference in preparing them for their forever family.
Kittens will generally stay in foster care for 2-8 weeks, cats will usually require a minimum of 2 weeks in a foster home and certain medium-large dogs may love to spend even a day or two in a foster home! For longer-term fostering (eg. several months), we have LOTS of dogs and cats looking for foster care until they’re adopted.
The Foster Care Officer will match you with an animal that is likely to be the most suitable for you.
With dog fostering, you are welcome to meet the dog first. You can pre-book appointment with the Foster Care Officer after signing up.
With cats, the Foster Care Officer will select a suitable cat/kittens with you over the phone, to foster. When at the shelter, the pre-selected cat/kittens will be brought out to you to bring home.
We get a limited number of puppies and small dogs that come through our care and they tend to get adopted quickly, but medium-large dogs often stay in our care for longer. Our larger four-legged friends are the ones who really need support, so we ask you to please consider giving them a chance to give you licks and kisses and take up a spot on your couch! A big dog doesn’t always mean high energy, lead pulling or that they won’t be happy in an apartment. Just more pup to cuddle!
Many of our dog foster carers live in apartments! Most medium-large dogs can happily live in an apartment as long as their needs are being met. In fact, some of our gentle bigger dogs may require less exercise than a small, spritely dog!
We will always have a spot at the shelter for any foster animal which can come back for any reason. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out or the animal isn’t suitable. Contact the Foster Care Officer first and let us know why so we can place the animal in another more suitable home in the future.
This depends on how long you’re going away for and if you have someone to look after the animal whilst you’re away. It’s a case-by-case situation and must be approved by the AWL NSW Foster Care Officer. The foster animal can always come back to the shelter in situations where needed.
In most situations, this is fine with us – check with the AWL NSW Foster Care Officer if/when this situation arises. Remember though, if you adopt the animal, you may not be able to foster again in the future (eg. if you adopt a cat who isn’t a fan of other animals).