The characteristics, motivations, and experiences of foster caregivers at animal shelters

Foster care programs at animal shelters have emerged as an important tool
for promoting animal welfare and supporting shelter life-saving efforts.
Preliminary evidence suggests that foster caregiving may also be
health-promoting for humans. The goals of this study were to investigate
the experiences of foster caregivers at animal shelters based on measures
of positive and negative affect, quality of life, and grief, and to
describe human-animal attachment among foster populations. Between March
2022 and 2023, 131 foster caregivers from five shelters in the United
States completed three online surveys before, during and after providing
foster care to a shelter animal. Positive affect decreased significantly
from baseline to post-foster (F=5.71, p<0.01), particularly among
dog caregivers (F=6.17, p<0.01). Negative affect remained unchanged
(F=0.47, p=0.63). Foster caregivers perceived their foster animal provided
companionship, affection and emotional support, although dog foster
caregivers reported significantly higher emotional (U=313.50,
p<0.01) and social/physical quality of life (t=4.42, p<0.01)
than cat foster caregivers. Caregivers reported low mean avoidant and
anxious attachment, suggesting they were able to develop secure bonds with
their foster animals. Retention of fosters was also strong, with 86% of
caregivers reporting they were likely to provide foster care in the
future. Our findings suggest that fostering at animal shelters may serve
as a One Health intervention to offer companionship, affection and
emotional support to human caregivers while promoting animal welfare.
However, these benefits did not translate to improvements in caregiver
mental wellbeing, so caution should be applied when considering foster
caregiving as a potential mental health promotion tool.