Operation Freedom Ride Inc.

Fosters Share Their Experiences

Hello everyone, my name is Tracy and we have been fosters with Operation Freedom Ride since June. We have now fostered 25 beautiful dogs. We have had the most awesome pleasure of fostering a male dog first and 3 families of mommas and puppies. Fostering is the best decision my family could have ever made. Fostering with OFR is nothing short of amazing. I always have a team of people ready to help whenever I need them. They are kind and patient and always always encouraging. You are given all the supplies you need. Truly what it costs you is time, patience and lots of love. What you get out of it is so much more. My fosters have changed my life. I cry when they leave and I am in love with all of them. Fostering is not always easy. There are tears and frustration too. We have had broken crates, eaten carpets, potty accidents, shredded tarps and lots of separation anxiety. These dogs are broken. They do not know how to receive love. That is your job and when they are adopted to the best families out there and you get updates your heart smiles. The harder parts slip away because you have now saved a dogs life and made a forever family so happy. Fostering started for us during the pandemic and if I can say 1 good thing about that is now I am hooked. I will foster as long as I can. My daughter and I have also now joined the adoption team to help with that part of the organization as well. Operation Freedom Ride is perfect. They screen their families carefully and place dogs based on the dogs need first. Please consider fostering too. We can save more lives with your help.

I started with OFR back when it was a smaller rescue. I was fortunate enough to be part of the their first big rescue into Rochester. Their first rescue ever on the news. From that transport I ended up with a beautiful Rottie boy (Gus). As you know he was completely shut down. Terrified of people. Terrified of the world in general. So scared he wouldn’t even get off the truck. He needed a lot of TLC. A lot of time and patience. But in those two weeks I watched him transform. He went from everything being scary to loving and a gentle giant. It broke my heart when he was adopted and I cried for days. But thanks to my girls at OFR I jumped into fostering another. From there we opened our home for many. As either a foster till they were adopted or just a temporary stop on their way to something great. Each and every time I’ve fostered I know that anyone at OFR is there for me. Rather I was part of the team or just fostering in general. While some were hard to watch leave (my most recent little Doree now Maple), I know that if I didn’t open my home they may not have been able to be pulled from a high kill shelter. I watch most of them grow and achieve happiness by staying in touch with their adopters. I look at photos and remember while I was sad in the moment of them leaving that they are truly happy. They are living their best lives. Fostering isn’t easy- there are many hard points depending on the dog. Some require more training than others- some come out of their shell faster than others but all have their own story and background. But fostering is worth it. It’s worth saving a life, it’s worth the training or sleepless nights, it’s worth every moment because each of them teaches you something different. Each of them touches your heart and leaves a lasting impression. Fostering with OFR has always been a great experience and I truly wouldn’t change it for anything. I’m thankful to have not only been a part of the foster squad but a foster.

My husband and I are fosters with Operation Freedom Ride and we absolutely LOVE it. What a great feeling to save dogs, puppies, cats and kittens from sure euthanasia. All the dogs we fostered were amazing. We fostered Piper, Riley and Lady. They were with us for about 2 weeks each. Yuzu we had for 8 weeks. And, yes, i did get attached🐾 They all found perfect homes. I couldn’t be happier. OFR is top notch. They provide the fosters everything they need, medical, food, toys, crates, support and the list goes on and on. They are also extremely well organized. I cant say enough about OFR. It is a huge undertaking and they make it look so easy. I am so happy I found them. ❤️🐾

Our family has had the pleasure of fostering 7 dogs for OFR in the past 2 years. The organization runs the foster process like a well oiled machine. There's a coordinator or support person for every aspect of the dogs health, well being and future placement. Even our first time showing up to a transport unload was expertly handled, exciting and fun! Directions about fostering came well in advance on what to expect, links to resources and an introduction to the animals personally assigned team. The teams consist of 4 coordinators: foster, vet, behavior, adoption and you! A Facebook messenger group is created for you to ask questions and check in. From dog 1 to dog 7 we have experienced joy that I can't put into words. The transformation you see when they open up to you and learn to trust is indescribable. OFR is by far the best rescue who really and truly puts the safety and care of their animals first. You are never alone or left to guess anything - they make it so easy to SAVE LIVES! I am forever grateful to Operation Freedom Ride and the awesome people behind them. Out of the 7 dogs we fostered, we ended up adopting Lucky, a 7 yr old Chihuahua who was truly broken when we got him. Almost a year later, he is the apple of our eye and is living his best life! Do you have 2 weeks and some love to give?

I am relatively new to fostering kittens , only having 3 babies so far. Two of them were feral and I was very pleased with the support and advice the cat team gave to me. Supplies were promptly offered and I always had someone to talk to when I had questions. Can’t wait to have more now that the kittens are in good homes.

I just wanted to share that we LOVED fostering with OFR. You made everything really easy and when I had questions I always got a quick answer. I loved having the ability to send a message to the foster/adoption/vetting coordinator(s) and kept updated on the pups status or if I had a health concern. The only thing I would suggest is more information on what taking 2 foster dogs might be like. Mostly because we tried it twice and it was ok, but I think having someone who regularly takes more than one foster give a blurb about what it’s like and things to make it easier, it might make people feel more inclined to foster multiples or just solidify someone who should really only foster 1 dog at a time. We love and miss fostering with OFR. Once our puppy (thank you for him too) is older and the baby is is here and healthy we are 100% going to foster again. We’ve been telling all our able friends to try fostering with OFR while we’re out of commission. Keep doing great things for all these animals!

I started fostering in May,2020 with a motherless litter of six and have had 26 pups both young & old since. The support has been very good. I never hesitate to ask a question to any team member and I do ask and share a lot of info. My team is always right there for me. I’ve only had one time that I was unsuccessful- Since I live alone, I was not able to give mama Koko the attention she needed while tending to her 9 babies. It was very hard asking for help but I was desperate for assistance. The team never made me feel bad and worked hard to resolve the issue....thank you!!! My greatest success story was Petunia...who was thought to be ready for hospice with only weeks to live. It turned out she just needing medical attention, warm baths for her sores and affection. “Tunie” is now at the perfect home and very loved by her adopter. It’s both exciting and difficult waiting to hear who your next guest will be.It seems some fosters are more in the know than others as far as what pup they are getting much earlier than a day or two before transport. It’s understandable as we cannot all be “in the room where it happens” but it’s also hard waiting to hear last minute who you are getting. I have had three fosters who couldn’t make it last minute so it makes sense why you hold off with info but it’s still hard to sit and wait. Fostering has been a great way for me to love and care for pups who are in need. It’s rewarding to see them grow and/or blossom whether their 5 weeks or 10 years. I feel lucky to be part of the OFR foster team...

Good morning: I have been working with OFR since the end last year. To date, I have fostered two different cats (Big Red & Missy) at two different times. Working with the team of dedicated volunteers is easy to discuss. Their knowledge and willingness to answer questions, communicate, and offer help is, immeasurable. My current team is Amie, Heather, and Peggy. Love being a foster because to me it's a "no brainier" for a single retiree to have company of an animal, without any long term commitment, especially during the pandemic. As far as I'm concerned, its all been good, no bad, no ugly.