From Fostering to Spanish Translating, Making My Impact for Lucky Dogs & Cats

I have always had animals growing up, both dogs and cats. Even when I joined the army, people would bring their dogs to the office. When I left the army, I was still surrounded by dogs that people would bring to work at my new job. It wasn't until I changed jobs that I had no interaction with pets for an extended time and realized how important they can be in people's lives. After a visit home, I had initially thought that I wanted to adopt. I spent endless hours looking at different rescues and Petfinder. Then I realized that I might not be in the position to own a pet, but fostering was still an option. I found a couple of shelters and applied to be a foster at them. One day, I decided to go to a Lucky Dog adoption event, but I arrived right at the end. On a whim, I asked if there were any dogs there in need of a foster. It was just my luck because there was a puppy named Petrie who needed a new foster. I suddenly found myself fostering a dog I knew nothing about, and I haven't looked back since.

Fostering has been - aside from being a blast - a big lesson in learning, responsibility, and patience. Every dog and cat is different, and you never really know what they're like until you start fostering them. I've learned a lot about myself, grown, and learned a lot of lessons that I can apply to everyday life. Every animal is a new adventure and one that I know is putting some good into the world. Even if I'm not fostering, being able to help handle a dog at an adoption event, drive medication to a foster, or help intake animals from partner shelters does a lot. I love how dedicated the staff and volunteers are; whenever I go to an event, I usually see some people I know. It has its own community, which is great. Since I started, I've fostered five animals and attended as many adoption events as I could. If I can, I'd like to keep doing it and never stop.

I've also been fortunate enough to help the contracts team conduct screenings for Spanish-speaking adopters. Usually, I just act as a translator between the adopters and the contract team member conducting the screening. I was also working on developing a Spanish-language adoption form so it would be easier for Spanish-speaking adopters to fill out.