One Love Animal Rescue has the most wonderful foster families who open their hearts and homes to care, love and train our cats and dogs until they find their forever homes. Meet the wonderful people who are instrumental in Saving Lives and Finding Loving Homes!
Gail Fowler – I rescued my first Great Dane in 2005. Since then, I have rescued five Danes, a Greyhound, and several cats. Fostering helps me to provide a safe and nurturing environment for them as they transition in to their forever homes. I adopted one of my Danes from One Love and when I was asked if I would foster another…I was overly eager to help in any way possible and to provide love and care for them in my home. The foster responsibility is very rewarding and lots of fun to meet others that have such love for animals.
Amanda Wrona – “I have fostered over 80 dogs with 4 foster failures (i.e. fosters that became my own family dogs)”
I have been a dog lover all of my life. My very first dog as an adult was a Lab/Shepard mix Jude who inspired my launch into animal rescue. I adopted him at 8 weeks old from the local animal control at the time and fell madly in love with him. He contracted the very deadly Parvo disease (probably at the animal shelter) and sitting near his little sick bed at the vets’ office I made a promise to God, the universe and whoever else was listening that if he lived, I would help other dogs so that they would never have to die alone in a shelter, never knowing love. Against the odds he pulled through and since 1992, I have fostered over 80 dogs with 4 foster failures (i.e. fosters that became my own family dogs). Along the way Jude did a wonderful job helping to make foster dogs feel welcomed into our pack up until his death in 1999 from cancer. I still foster as a tribute to the joy he gave me, starting day one at his adoption.
I believe that dogs that have been abandoned need rehabilitation and the key to my foster’s success involves bringing them into our home (with my other dogs, cats and husband) where we all work together as a team to rehabilitate them emotionally and physically. The rehab includes stability, safety, health care and playing. But obedience training is the silver bullet to transformation. I take all of my foster dogs training with dedication and patience and it shows in the way they blossom in the time that they are with me.
Fostering makes me feel like I’m helping not only dogs, but people. I enjoy matching families and individuals with the dog that is right for them and their needs. I have received emails over the years from people who have adopted my fosters and I hear about transformations in their lives! I’m so grateful that so many others are dedicated to making sure that all dogs get the wonderful life that they deserve.
Catherine Green – I originally got involved with fostering when I moved over to the US from England and could not work for a while. What better way to use my time than help some animals in need? Being allergic to cats, my focus was always going to be on fostering dogs. I had never had my own dogs (not for lack of trying to convince my parents) but had always loved them since childhood; I volunteered at a local vet clinic and provided dog walking services to my neighbours. The support which One Love provides to it’s foster homes is fantastic and they are always just a text or call away if you have any concerns or need any supplies. Fostering has been a wonderful experience for us and we hope for the dogs who spend time in our home! Here is what my dog Bramble has to say about fostering:
“My foster mum saved me after my Mum died when I was just 8 days old. She took 3 of us in and bottle fed us every 3 hours around the clock so we could grow up healthy and find our forever families. That must have been hard work for her but she says seeing us all grown up is very rewarding. I was lucky as she decided to adopt me permanently! It was really sad when my brothers left for their forever homes but the great thing is that we keep fostering more dogs and so I always have new friends to play with. I love my foster siblings; we have had a few adults and some puppies younger than me. I’m always a bit sad when they go to their new homes but I am glad I could help them learn how to play with other dogs while they were living with us! The foster dogs who are old enough go to the One Love dog training once a week to help them work on their manners and basic commands. We all get crated at night and during the day when we’re home alone. Sometimes the foster dogs need to get used to the idea but we keep at it until they understand that their crate is their safe place. Fostering saved my life and I love that we are still saving other lives too!”
Cecelia and Ashleah Jeffrey – Cecelia aka Cece works Full-time and has had animals in her life since she was very young. Her Love of animals stems from the loss of pets over the years and researching Rescue Organizations we fell in love with One Love and the people and wanted to be a part of the Resolution to the problems caused in the Pets World.
Ashleah is an upcoming College sophomore. She Loves animals of all sizes and species. She wanted to be able to Foster so she would quickly be involved in the processes.
Katy and Neal Sakash –My name is Katy, my husband Neal and I have been volunteering and fostering for One Love for 3 years. One Love helped us rescue our dog, Hunter, from animal control on the day he was supposed to die. He really changed our lives. We adore him, he makes us laugh so much, but for awhile we used to cry a lot too because we couldn’t believe how lucky we were to meet him just in time. One Love gave us the gift of getting to meet and love our best friend and we decided we wanted to be a part of such a great team! We live on Hilton Head Island, we have fostered dogs similar to Hunter (hyper adolescent, pit bull type dogs, who need people who are patient with their energy levels and are willing to wear them out mentally and physically). More recently we have been focusing our energy on rescuing very young kittens. I have always loved kittens and fostering kittens under 6 weeks old allows me to always be surrounded by kittens without making Neal want to move out, or being called a crazy cat lady (haha). But most importantly I know I am giving these babies a chance they wouldn’t otherwise have, I love knowing that each little life gets the best I have to give them, and that they all get the opportunity to feel loved.
The Sedory Family – We are the Sedory family from Richmond hill. We are a house full of love, married for 10 years with our wonderful son 8, our perfect dog Louie, who is 13 and our 2 cats Joey and Axel. We foster because having puppies in and out of our house is good for our senior dog and because the chaos is fun! Puppies are a handful! But, they steal your hearts too! I have lived with dogs my entire life, learning to train from my dad who bred springer spaniels when I was young. Training working breeds as a kid gave me a leg up in training as an adult. I crate train the pups so they’re ready for their forever home. Lots of snuggles, socialization and a healthy fear of cats!
Holly Murphy – Holly is a writer and foster pawrent for One Love Animal Rescue. Originally from Chicago, this quirky artist decided to leave the frigid cold of the Midwest and make her way down South. Holly helps write biographies for the many foster pets in One Love’s care. She is a crazy cat-lady at heart, but has a soft spot for bully-breeds (she currently fosters the dog Merea; Instagram @merea_foster). Holly works in the arts and loves using her creativity to help One Love’s mission in getting animals adopted into their forever homes.
Rebecca Wells – My love for animals stems from early childhood when I would spend the weekends with my aunt who ran a farm. I got my first dog when I was 4 years old and I can’t imagine my life without a fur baby in my home. Right now I have three rescue pups of my own: Daisy (a yellow beagle), Sadie (a shepherd/plot hound mix), and Samuel (a shepherd/rottweiler mix) as well as 6 zebra finches. I began fostering with One Love in March 2015, and have housed puppies and adult dogs with special emotional needs. Fostering is such a rewarding experience to me because it not only saves the life of an animal, it also brings joy to the forever families who adopt them, which in turn brings joy to me! People often ask me how I can give up my fosters (especially the babies) after I’ve invested so much time, care, and love in them. My answer is that it’s a calling on my life and God equips us to do what it is that He’s called us to do. Yes, I do get attached to my fosters because I integrate them into “my pack” and I treat them as one of my own. And, I do get a little teary-eyed when they leave but seeing the end result of a healthy pup with the perfect forever family makes it all worth it.
