Zeeba was lucky enough to get in the program. And Rohr still remembers how happy Zeeba was to see her the day she finished the program and they were reunited. Around the country, several similar programs are in operation, many of them modeled after the Vero Beach program, believed to be the first when it opened in 1986. Some foster pet care programs are dedicated to caring only for pets of owners with AIDS, while others care for pets whose owners are ill with any condition, or who are escaping domestic violence or natural disasters and can't immediately take their pets with them. The arrangements vary, too.
Some programs do both.
Foster owners are carefully selected and trained, and often are visited in their homes to assess their capabilities. But the benefits of such programs go far beyond the pets, advocates say. Because a growing body of research suggests health benefits of the human-animal bond, it makes sense that disrupting that bond by removing a pet permanently isn't advisable. Foster care can relieve owners' anxieties and allow them to focus on recovering or rebuilding their lives. We took her German Shepherd, Lacey, to the rehabilitation facility.