Foster doesn’t approve of adoptive family

Question

I am currently fostering a mom and 6 puppies that she had 2 days after we brought her home. They are 8 weeks old now and just attended an adoption event for the first time. The rescue originally told us we would have some say in who they were adopted to as the foster parents, and my neighbors who have been helping us care for them since they were days old has formed a close bond with one of the puppies. They made sure to submit their application and attend the adoption event so they could meet the rescue group and go through all of the proper channels. Later that day, the rescue informed us they chose a different family for the puppy AND were also going to allow this family to adopt our neighbor's second choice puppy as well, despite what we feel is best for the dog since she is already set up at our neighbor's vet and has bonded with their other dog as well. Do we have any rights as foster parents to refuse to adopt to a particular family if we feel it is not in the best interest of the dog?

Answer

Rights and obligations of foster “parents” and shelters/rescues are generally contained in a foster agreement. That agreement should be carefully reviewed. The shelter/rescue usually has the final word on adoption placement but that depends on the language of the foster agreement. Verbal agreements are sometimes difficult to enforce since disputing parties often recount different versions of their agreement. I hope that you and the rescue can work out your differences in the best interests of the dogs.