Linda, Our Foster Parent of Gigi

Every dog, it’s another adventure

If you had to send your pet away to be taken care of for a while, the best you could hope would be for a person like Linda Hayward to be the foster mom.

Linda has had a lifetime of having dogs – four in total – and has since become a foster parent for the HBSPCA.

Linda is currently fostering Gigi, a three-month-old Great Pyrenees. Gigi had one leg amputated after being brought to the HBSPCA. Unfortunately she had sustained an injury, at some point, and it had not healed properly.

“She’s taken it all without a hiccup,” Linda says. “She greets every morning with a ‘best day ever’ attitude. What a lesson for humans!”

Gigi is full of energy and just wants to play and be loved. She’s a big girl and Linda has to carry her around until she heals. “Who needs to go to the gym!” Linda laughs.

Linda has ordered a lift to help Gigi learn how to navigate stairs. She’s just finished her meds and Linda has to learn what her limitations are and what she is able to do.

Gig is Linda’s fourth foster since December.

“It’s just a beautiful opportunity,” she says. “I had no idea it would be this rewarding.”

Linda had always had dogs and her last one, Mati, suddenly and surprisingly developed congestive heart failure The medical care requirements and financial burden were huge, Linda said. Around the same time, Linda underwent hip surgery, and she decided not to get another pet.

But she “missed having a furry face to look at every day” and so looked into becoming a foster parent.

“Every dog, it’s another adventure,” she says. “You don’t know what you’re getting.”

The length of the foster assignment also varies. It can be three to four weeks or until there is some interest in adopting the pet.

Linda is so happy when they are adopted but she also misses them a lot. She goes onto the posting for possible future foster care opportunities.

Some of the pets are there for a ‘shelter break’ so the pets can get out of the shelter and experience some time in a home.

She can’t say enough about the HBSPCA staff. She says they are so supportive, and she can get support for anything. There is even an emergency number to call if she needs help.

“They’re just brilliant, how they handle it all,” she says.

Linda is retired and previously worked in corporate administration at Dofasco. It looks like fostering animals is her next big career move!

Can an HBSPCA animal crash on your couch?  Learn more about becoming an HBSPCA foster home here