Fostering with pets

The PDSA found in 2023 that 53% of all adults own a pet. Many fostering households will include a pet, and they will be included in the assessment to become a foster carer and be part of ongoing supervision processes for approved foster carers.

Animals can help a foster child explore companionship, acceptance, affection, and care. They can also help them settle into their fostering family. Dogs especially have been shown to help in the attachment behaviour of children, helping them learn how to form relationships, but all pets may offer therapeutic benefits to some children.

Sensible measures can minimise the risk to children living in foster care, and many childhoods are enriched by the companionship of a pet. The fostering service will undertake a risk assessment in relation to the pet that will address the measures in place to protect a child. Animals registered or recognised as dangerous or as venomous will usually be deemed incompatible with fostering. The risk assessment will be reviewed regularly and be considered when matching any new child to the foster carers.