Calling The White Coats

I figure that the guys in white coats must be having a hard time finding my house, because they haven’t shown up yet.  As long as they are still lost, I figure it is safe to reveal my big secret…  Scott and I have applied to foster animals with yet another organization! 
 
This one is different… a whole new ballgame.  Dogs are awesome, by far my favorite thing in the entire world.  But, Scott and I enjoy working with and learning about animals of all kinds.  If we had the farm of our dreams, we would have foster llamas, goats, wallabies, chickens and more.  Even where we live now, I have strongly entertained the idea of fostering a Miniature Pot Bellied Pig.  My biggest hesitation is curtailing my huge love of bacon.  Somehow I think it would be ethically wrong to cook my favorite breakfast every morning while staring into the eyes of my beloved foster piggy. 
 
Since we just don’t have the energy setup for any additional large animals, we had to think smaller.  So, I went to PetFinder (best website of all time) in search of other kinds of pets that might need somewhere to go.  The variety of animals that need homes is really amazing – everything from guinea pigs to horses to snakes, even fish!  I would love to foster little bunny rabbits or hamsters, but Scott’s allergies just won’t allow it.  So, instead, we had to stick with species that we are fairly certain won’t bother him, specifically Sugar Gilders and Hedgehogs (although we will consider others if the need arises). 

On PetFinder, I was able to search the adoptable animals and then click on the organizations associated with those animals to learn more about them.  All Creatures Rescue and Sanctuary seemed to have the greatest variety of fostered animals and their website shows an organization that we would like to work with.  They cover a huge portion of North Carolina and through email, I was able to determine that we are located right in the middle of their area – a perfect fit!  On their website, I filled out and submitted their foster application.  We haven’t heard anything back yet.  But, knowing animal rescue, they are probably swamped.  Also, because our foster needs are so specific, there won’t be a big rush to process our application – at least not until a little one needs us. 
 
Why Hedgehogs and Sugar Gliders, you ask?  Recently, a friend introduced me the idea of Hedgehogs as pets.  Intrigued, I start surfed the Net for more information.  Turns out these little guys were all the rage not too long ago and they make some pretty great pets.  Any time a “pet trend” takes place, it only takes a short time for organizations to be overwhelmed with the trendy animals looking for new homes.  They sound like a ton of fun and we are hoping to be able to help a little Hedge out!
 
As for the Sugar Gliders, we used to have one.  Sadly, we lost Molly about a year ago to unknown causes.  But, we really enjoyed having the little girl around and have been missing her.  Since we aren’t ready to make the 18+ year commitment to two more (they prefer to live in pairs), we figure fostering homeless Gliders is our best option. 
 
So, if all goes well, we will be adding a little more variety to our humble home… that’s if the white coats don’t find me first!