There’s this convention among people to look after some strays or animals that need to be adopted for a while until they find their forever home. These are called their fosters, who, as the name implies, foster the animals until they’re ready to be fully adopted. Fortunately, we’re not telling success stories of animals getting adopted because who knows how that will end up, instead we’re telling stories of foster families failing to do what they were supposed to.
At first, this sounds like a terrible thing, like they didn’t get adopted, but far from it! It’s fortunate that they failed because instead of being temporary foster homes, they became their forever homes, and people are going wild for it all over Instagram. Using the hashtag #FosterFail, they were able to regale the internet with stories of how they were once just a foster family who eventually became their forever family. It’s the cutest thing you’ll see in a while.
Source: Instagram
Over on Alive, they outline why growing up with animals is important:
Nugget isn’t the first dog owned by the Arbos. A few years ago, Kale went through the loss of their 16-year old Shiba Inu, Mooki, who was blind and deaf, and eventually suffered a debilitating stroke that left her unable to move her hind legs. Jen and her husband decided to include Kale in the process of putting Mooki down, where Kale learned about euthanasia and the role it can play in responsible pet ownership.
When the Arbos decided to get another dog, Kale needed to adjust to owning a new pet, one who suddenly needed more attention and exercise. “It was a real life-changer to recognize that Nugget was a different kind of dog,” says Jen. Now it’s common to see Kale talking to Nugget about video games or narrating play-by-plays of what the cat’s up to, and Nugget is happy to be involved. “Nugget’s not going to tell him to be quiet,” says Jen.
In fact, speaking with pets, says Brown, is a very good thing, as it shows recognition that the animal has its own mind and its own free will. “Sometimes we might be embarrassed or we might think we’re being ridiculous if we talk to our animals, but that very thing, that humanlike connection with an animal, is what makes animals benefit us,” says Brown.
Brown is also a proponent of animal rights. She notes, “We talk about what animals do for people, but it’s important that we talk about what people do for their animals. “Pets can benefit us, but we have to give them something too. We can’t just bring them into our lives and expect they’ll make us better. We need to actually care for them,” says Brown.
What did you think? Tell us down in the comments if you’ve ever had a foster fail like this!