Assigning Pets to Fosters

About Foster Assignments

Foster assignments connect pets to foster homes. Each assignment stores the foster, pet, start date, optional end date, status, transfer context, and notes.

Assignments appear in the Assignments section of the foster profile. Each card shows the pet photo, pet name, species/breed, assignment status, start/end dates, duration when available, notes, and the actions allowed for that status.

Before Creating an Assignment

Check that:

• The foster has a status that allows assignments, usually Active or Training.
• The foster has available capacity.
• The pet is not already assigned to another active foster assignment.

If the foster cannot receive more pets, the Assignments section shows an alert and hides the Assign Pet action.

Create an Assignment from a Foster Profile

1. Open Fosters and click the foster's name.
2. Find the Assignments section.
3. Click Assign Pet.
4. Select one or more pets.
5. Review the selected pets list.
6. Choose a required Start Date.
7. Add an optional End Date.
8. Add optional Notes.
9. Click Add Assignment.

The dialog excludes pets that already have active assignments for that foster. It also shows the foster's current foster pets and capacity when active assignments exist.

New assignments start as Pending until staff confirm them.

Create an Assignment from a Pet Profile

From a pet profile, use the foster action to choose a foster and create an assignment. The pet workflow status is handled separately from the assignment status, so update the pet status if your team's process requires it.

Assignment Statuses

• Pending: Created but not yet confirmed.
• Active: The pet is currently with the foster.
• Completed: The assignment ended successfully.
• Cancelled: The assignment was cancelled before or during placement.

Use the status filter in the Assignments section to show All, Pending, Active, Completed, or Cancelled assignments.

Assignment Actions

Available actions depend on assignment status:

• Pending: Click Confirm to make the assignment active. You can also edit or remove it.
• Active: Use Transfer to move the pet to another foster, Unfoster to return the pet to your organization, or Edit to adjust dates, notes, status, or return details.
• Completed or Cancelled: Use Edit for corrections or remove the assignment if it was created in error.

Clicking the assignment card opens the linked pet profile.

Editing Assignments

Click the edit icon on an assignment card to open Edit Foster Assignment. You can update:

• Start date.
• End date.
• Notes.
• Assignment status.
• The assigned pet.

For active assignments, the edit dialog also includes Return pet to organization. When selected, PawPlacer asks for return notes and ends the assignment through the return flow.

Returning a Pet

Use Unfoster when an active fostered pet is coming back to your organization.

1. Click Unfoster on the active assignment card.
2. Review the confirmation dialog.
3. Click Return to Org.

PawPlacer marks the pet as returned, ends the foster assignment, and applies the return-from-foster status behavior configured for the pet.

Capacity Tracking

Capacity is calculated from the foster's profile capacity and current active assignments. The foster list shows remaining availability, and the foster profile shows used capacity in the hero and Home card.

If no capacity is set, PawPlacer treats the capacity as unlimited for assignment warnings.

Deleting Assignments

Use the remove action only for data entry mistakes. To end a real foster placement, use Unfoster, Transfer, or edit the assignment status instead.

Next Steps

• Transfer assignments
• Manage foster profiles
• Manage foster status