Thank you for choosing to foster with Pounce House Cat Rescue and Sanctuary. Fostering helps cats prepare for adoption into permanent homes. As a foster parent, you give cats temporary care until they find a forever home.
Read this agreement carefully before you sign it. When you sign, you agree to a legal contract with Pounce House Cat Rescue and Sanctuary.
1. Eligibility and Housing Requirements
- Age and ID: You must be 18 years of age or older. You must show a valid government-issued ID.
- Landlord approval: If you rent your home, you must give us written landlord approval before we place a foster cat with you. All members of your household must agree to the foster arrangement.
- Indoor cats only: Keep foster cats indoors at all times, with no exceptions. Do not take foster cats outdoors — not on a harness, not on a leash, and not in an enclosed patio (“catio”).
- Safe environment: Keep your home safe and clean for the foster cat. Keep the foster cat separate from your own pets during the quarantine period, and at any other time rescue staff require it.
2. Foster Period and Return Process
- Commitment: The length of the foster period depends on the cat's needs. Care for the foster cat until adoption or return to the rescue, unless we agree to different arrangements.
- Early return: If you must end the foster period early, give us at least 72 hours' written notice. This lets us arrange other care. This rule does not apply in a genuine emergency.
- Right to reclaim: Pounce House Cat Rescue and Sanctuary can reclaim a foster cat at any time if you do not meet these terms, or if we have concerns about the cat's care. Return the foster cat immediately if we ask you to.
3. Medical Care and Financial Responsibility
- Authorized care: Arrange all medical care through Pounce House Cat Rescue and Sanctuary and our veterinary partners only. Watch the cat's health. Give the cat its prescribed medication. Attend all scheduled veterinary appointments.
- Financial liability: Pounce House Cat Rescue and Sanctuary does not pay for veterinary care we did not approve. If you believe the cat has an emergency or a life-threatening condition, contact rescue staff before you seek care. If you take the foster cat to a veterinarian we did not approve, without written authorization from the Rescue Director, you must pay the full cost yourself.
4. Ownership, Transfer, and Abandonment
- Property of the rescue: Pounce House Cat Rescue and Sanctuary owns the foster cat for the whole foster period.
- No transfer: Do not give the cat to another person. Do not hire a pet sitter for the cat. Do not make permanent decisions about the cat's future. You need our authorization first.
- No abandonment: Do not abandon, sell, give away, or surrender the foster cat to any other shelter, pound, rescue, or person, under any circumstances. If you can no longer care for the cat, return it to Pounce House Cat Rescue and Sanctuary.
5. Your Role in the Adoption Process
- Adoption support: Help the adoption process. Give us detailed information, notes on the cat's behavior, and photos of the cat. We may ask you to bring the cat to meet-and-greet events with potential adopters.
- If you want to adopt your foster cat: Fostering a cat does not guarantee that we will approve you to adopt it. If you decide you want to adopt your foster cat, tell rescue staff immediately, before we list the cat for adoption publicly. You must then follow our standard adoption process and pay the standard adoption fee.
6. Liability, Risk, and Indemnification
- Risk: You understand that handling animals carries risk. A cat's behavior can be unpredictable.
- Hold harmless: You agree to release Pounce House Cat Rescue and Sanctuary, and its directors, officers, employees, and volunteers, from all liability, claims, lawsuits, and damages. This applies to harm to people, property, or your own pets that the foster cat causes. You agree to protect these parties from these claims and to cover related costs.
7. Communication and Right of Inspection
- Updates: Send us regular updates. Give us a progress update on the cat every week or when requested. Report any behavior or health concerns immediately.
- Right of inspection: Pounce House Cat Rescue and Sanctuary can inspect your foster home. We will give you 24 hours' notice, except in an emergency that concerns the cat's welfare, when we may inspect immediately.
8. Governing Law and Severability
The laws of the State of Ohio govern this agreement. If a court finds that one part of this agreement is invalid or unenforceable, the rest of the agreement remains in effect.
