Whist St Francis looks to adopt out our dogs to permanent homes, sometimes dogs come to us with mainly medical, or occasionally, behavioural issues, which means that, for the welfare of the these dogs and to ensure they get the proper care and attention that they deserve, we put them into long term foster homes but they remain St Francis dogs.

This means that we pay for everything it needs from food, vaccinations, flea and wormer, any additional medication that it’s needs, routine or specific monitoring or testing, right up to surgery if it is required.

We place these dogs into specific long term foster homes, where we know the fosterers can and will give them the care that they need and they will usually stay there for the rest of their lives.

Often the expense of the dogs medical needs prevents adoption and this is one of the reason they remain St Francis dogs but if we adopted the dogs out, and their condition eventually required more effort or expense that the owner cannot provide, we can ensure that the dogs continue to have a happy life without the risk of being rehomed or the worst case scenario, being euthanised.

It allows us to maintain full control over the well-being of the dogs and ensure they get what they need and that the home is capable of providing it.

To do this, we need financial support as the cost of these dogs can often overwhelm the charity and we always want to be in a position where a dogs life comes first.