02/22/2026
This is an excerpt from an article written by Elizabth Roe, a teacher who fosters dogs for a rescue back east....
Schindlerâs List: âI could have gotten more out . . . I didnât do enough!â Every year, 7.6 million dogs and cats enter shelters, and 2.7 million are euthanized. I canât adopt them all, and if I could, how would those accommodations look? Acres of kennels? My home would become a shelter. A puppy mill. A factory farm. A fellow foster mom told me, âSometimes Iâm tempted to âfoster failâ and keep a foster, but the more dogs come and go, the more I think I should stick to the three I have and continue fostering. The right one for me will come along, and I donât want to rush it, just because they have blue eyes!â
An especially inspiring line also comes from Schindlerâs List, from the Talmud: âWhoever saves one life, saves the world entire.â When you let your foster dog go to a new home, you create an opening in your life for the next dog in need, and, believe me, that dog is out there. That dog needs you. Whenever you welcome a foster dog into your home and then let her go to a new home, you do your small part to save the world.
So, whenever people tell me, âI could never foster, Iâd get too attached,â I want to say, âYou might be surprised!â You wonât love them all. Some arenât right for youâbut they are right for someone else. Bonds take time to develop, and often the dog isnât with you long enough for that to happen. Sometimes you do get attached, but so what? Yes, love hurts. Life hurts. Dogs are out there hurting right now. I want to say to those people, âYou can do it! At least give it one try!â
Youâd be saving the world entire.