Foster program impact on shelter length of stay and capacity

Every animal in a foster home is one fewer in a kennel. Foster programs add capacity, reduce stress for the animal, and can help it find a home faster.

What the research shows

• Short stays help dogs relax. In a Maddie's Fund-supported study at five shelters, dogs' stress hormone (urinary cortisol) dropped during 1-2 night foster sleepovers, and they got their longest uninterrupted rest during those stays.¹
• Short stays help dogs get adopted. A study of 1,955 dogs at 51 shelters found that 1-2 night foster stays made adoption 14.3 times more likely, and brief outings of a few hours made it 5 times more likely, compared with similar dogs who didn't go out. Programs worked better with more community involvement.²
• Maddie's Fund publishes program guides and research on short-term foster care.³

Estimate the capacity a foster program adds

Use the same math as kennels: animals in foster on an average day = foster placements per day × average days in foster. If you place 2 animals a day for an average of 14 days, about 28 animals are in foster homes on a typical day, freeing 28 spaces in the shelter.

Which animals to prioritize

Animals likely to wait longest benefit most. In our pooled open data, the dog groups with the most stays over 30 days include dogs with behavior needs (32.4%), young adults aged 1 to 3 years (18.8%), medium and large dogs (about 17.2%) and pit bull type dogs (16.8%), against 10.7% of all dogs. For cats, kittens under 2 months stand out (33.6%), often because they need time, and often a foster home, to be old enough for surgery and adoption. See the detail on our shelter pages.

Track it

Some shelters record foster as an outcome, which ends the shelter stay in their data; others keep the animal "in care". Pick one definition and stick to it, then compare stays and outcomes before and after your program grows.

Sources

1. Gunter LM, Feuerbacher EN, Gilchrist RJ, Wynne CDL (2019). Evaluating the effects of a temporary fostering program on shelter dog welfare. PeerJ 7:e6620 (supported by Maddie's Fund).
2. Gunter LM et al. (2023). The influence of brief outing and temporary fostering programs on shelter dog welfare. Animals (Maddie's Fund-supported study of 51 shelters).
3. Maddie's Fund, Assessment of Short-Term Foster Care Programs in Shelter Animals.