How to foster a shelter pet on Long Island

Nicole Hanczor is the mom of two rescue dogs, Dobby and Hooper. But rarely are there just two pooches living at her Smithtown home. Since 2020, nearly 100 pups have passed through her doors, some staying for just a few days while others have been with her family for several weeks or even months.

Hanczor, 42, is a foster parent with Ollie’s Angels Animal Rescue, a Greenlawn-based nonprofit that gives a new chance at life to dogs from animal shelters on Long Island and elsewhere that are at risk of euthanasia due to a lack of space to care for them.

“When you foster a dog for us, you’re not only saving one life, but two,” said Melissa Bielawski, 52, founder of Ollie’s Angels, which has rescued 3,500 dogs in nine years. “If we take one pup, it opens space at a shelter for another dog at risk.”

Representatives of Ollie’s Angels, like most foster/rescue groups, said more foster homes are always needed.

Most organizations have an application to become a foster parent on their websites with questions about your experience with animals, your household setup, the reasons you want to foster and references.

Foster organizations typically pay expenses like medical care, pet food and supplies. While many foster parents, including Hanczor, choose to cover some of the costs, it’s not required. “All you need is a safe, loving environment until we find them the perfect home,” Bielawski said.

Cat lovers can also foster animals, said Fran Grimaldi-Placco, 47, a foster parent and volunteer for the Woodmere-based Alleykattz Inc., which has rescued more than 1,000 kittens and cats since 2018. Grimaldi-Placco has dogs and cats of her own.

“It’s actually a plus that I have pets already,” she said. “My foster cats do really well when they go to their new homes with existing pets.”

The rewards of fostering are many, said Hanczor, who recently took in two 10-week-old puppies. “For many of these dogs, it’s the first time they’ve known what love from a human is like,” she said. “You are saving lives. It’s an incredible feeling.”

But what about saying goodbye to a pet who has won your heart? “I tell my kids that, if we kept them, we wouldn’t be able to foster others,” Hanczor said.