“We are extremely lucky to have Dave as a foster and volunteer with DPA. He has been saving lives with us for a few years and opens up his house to those that wouldn’t have been given a second chance otherwise. It is extremely rewarding to watch fearful or anxious animals bounce back into the loving animal that they were meant to be. Dave has fostered multiple cats and dogs with DPA, working through medical issues – such as ringworm and heartworm treatment, and behavioral needs. He has done so much for this organization by welcoming the unwanted animals into his home, as well as dedicating time to our medical team to make sure our rescue animals dogs medically cleared for adoption. With this, he gives them the best shot at finding their FURever home. Thank you for everything, Dave!” – Stefanie Steiner, Foster Director for Dallas Pets Alive!
My wife Megan and I have a history of taking in stray dogs and our friends recommended that we get into fostering instead of continuing to collect pets!
Tell us about a few of your fosters.
We foster failed on our first foster Brownie, a big mamma pittie who is a total lady of leisure. Lady Luck and the Poker Puppies were our first litter of puppies who came down with parvo. With a lot of care from DPA all but little Chip pulled through and were adopted pretty quickly. We still see Jack (now 2 years old) quite frequently! Little Coretta (Named because she was pulled on MLK day) came to us as a 5 month old pitbull puppy only weighing only 15 pounds. She put on weight pretty quickly has always been a total sweetheart. She was eventually adopted by some of our good friends so we get to stay in touch. We usually foster dogs but over the last year we fostered a litter of 4 kittens – Ethel, Gertrude, Bertha, and Herbert – the old-timey kittens!
What is your favorite animal adoption story?
Our foster Lady Luck had puppies when we pulled her from the shelter. Within months all the puppies were adopted and she was still with us, despite being an AMAZING dog. After the better part of a year she found her forever family and is now living a super spoiled life down in Austin!
What do you love most about fostering with Dallas Pets Alive?
Getting to see the progress of pets from the shelter to their forever home. Sometimes it’s a HUGE transformation.
What would be some words of wisdom to new DPA Fosters?
Be patient and go slow with your fosters, especially when they have just gotten out of the shelter. Don’t panic if everything doesn’t go perfectly right away.
Give us a fun fact about you!
When not at work or hanging out with my pets I can often be found playing pinball at the local retro arcades.
