Located in the south suburbs of Chicago, Heather’s Foster Dogs was formed in late 2013 by a group of dedicated former shelter volunteers and fosters looking to change the outlook for area animal shelters and the homeless pets in their community. HFD is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization certified by the Illinois Department of Agriculture. The group pulled their first fosters in March 2014 and looks forward to saving as many lives as possible. (see Reports & Financial Statements for annual intake & adoption figures). Follow HFD on our reactivated Instagram account  @heathersfosterdogs.

Please note that we are a foster based group located in the southern suburbs of Chicago. Our dogs are fostered in private homes. We have no shelter facility at which the dogs are located, at which you may meet the dogs. Neither do we board dogs. 

Under normal circumstances, we serve only our geographic area. We cannot follow our interview & home visit protocols with a potential adopter hours away. Any subsequent problems which might arise cannot be handled well with such long distance adoptions. We have only worked with applicants from such a distance for special needs dogs. 

Heather’s Foster Dogs pulls homeless pets from animal shelters in order to ease shelter overcrowding and give these pets a chance to heal and grow in one of our foster homes.

Heather’s Foster Dogs makes sure that before made available for adoption, each foster has been checked by HFD’s veterinarian, given age appropriate vaccinations (including rabies, distemper combo & canine influenza) & preventative (heartworm, flea).

Each dog is evaluated in its foster home for a minimum of two weeks before declared available for adoption. Our goal is to show every pet we take in the TLC he or she deserves!

Heather’s Foster Dogs is a member of the No More Homeless Pets Network which works with rescue organizations and shelters around the country that are reducing euthanasia rates and saving lives in their communities.

Heather’s Foster Dogs has been certified by Guidestar with the Platinum Seal of Transparency.

Heather’s Foster Dogs is a proud member of Shelter Animals Count, a collaborative effort with broad representation from the animal welfare community. By creating standardized reporting and definitions for shelter statistics including intake, adoptions, return-to-owner, transfers, euthanasia and shelter deaths, we will increase live outcomes. The board is dedicated to furthering more transparency with anonymity through sharing of shelter data to increase lifesaving opportunities.