Meet Kristen!
After following us on Instagram, Kristen knew where she wanted to volunteer. She fostered four or five pups and found all of them wonderful homes.
Then came Samson, a Poodle mix who is nearly 13 years old.
“From the minute I picked him up and looked at his face, I said, ‘Oh no, this is going to be a problem.’” Her husband, Erick, wasn’t really a dog person, but he also got very attached to Samson.
“When I saw how bonded they were, I thought, ‘He’s not going anywhere,’” Kristen says. Samson is such a treasured part of the family that he was in the couple’s engagement photos.
Now as a foster coordinator, Kristen guides her foster families every step of the way.
“I help them when they have a dog they want to foster. I help them make appointments and I walk them through getting the dog adopted,” Kristen says.
Her reward? “I get to see lots of pictures of cute dogs.”
One of the best things about our rescue, Kristen says, is that we let the fosters have the final say on the adopters. She learned the hard way how important that is.
Years ago, she was fostering a 16-year-old Boston terrier, Mr. Harold, for another rescue. That group was disorganized and not transparent. She discovered that Mr. Harold was going to be given to an adopter in Atlanta. Kristen didn’t know anything about the adopter, she wouldn’t get to meet the person, and if it didn’t work out, she would never see Mr. Harold again.
So Mr. Harold was her first foster fail, and he had a happy life with her for two years until he passed away at age 18.
That’s when Kristen started volunteering with us.
“I proselytize about Poodle and Pooch all the time,” she says. “It can be hard and emotionally exhausting, but it’s worth it to save the dogs. Seeing where they come from and where they end up is rewarding.”
For now, Samson is an only dog. But Kristen and her husband are moving into a house soon, and she plans to foster again.
“After Harold and Samson, I love the seniors,” Kristen says. “I have a feeling it will happen again.”
Thanks for all you do, Kristen!