Each year 20-150 animals are in need of foster care at Wayside Waifs, according to their site. 

Sophomore Eva Dominguez and her family took this want for help as the perfect opportunity to finally begin fostering dogs. Over the span of two years, Dominguez’s family fostered eight dogs in total.

Dominguez said that the reason her family decided to foster was because it was a temporary solution to adopting another dog. 

“Me and my siblings wanted to get a second dog, but my parents said no, so we decided to foster instead,” Dominguez said.

Each week Wayside Waifs publishes a list of animals that are in need of fostering. Dominguez’s family then emails the fostering coordinator, which dogs they would like to foster.

“We had each dog for a couple of weeks or sometimes a month,” Dominguez said. “It just depended on how long it took for the dogs to become adopted.”

The family began their fostering journey during 2020 when COVID-19 first started to become an issue in the world. Dominquez said that fostering helped her family bond closer together. 

“Over quarantine me and my sister grew a lot closer,” Dominguez said. “This experience really brought my whole family together because we all had to work together to take care of the dogs.”

Although this experience benefited the Dominguez family, there was one aspect to it that made their hearts feel somewhat empty.

“It was hard sometimes because we became really attached to the dogs, and we didn’t want them to leave,” Dominguez said.

This experience almost made Dominguez see her community in a different way. She was able to see first-hand the amount of pets that are in need of homes and gave her a new perspective of her pets at home.

“I realized how well-behaved my pets actually are and how thankful I am for that,” Dominguez said. “I don’t have to worry about my dogs chewing up stuff or peeing on the carpet.”

Dominguez said that she would recommend fostering to anyone interested. It is a great learning experience and gives people a better understanding and appreciation for animals, according to Dominquez. 

“After going to the shelter and seeing how many dogs sit in a cage all day and aren’t ever played with, it made me want to foster dogs and give them a place to not be locked up all day,” Dominquez said.