BELLAIRE • MEMORIAL • RIVER OAKS • TANGLEWOOD • WEST UNIVERSITY

Fostering love

By Claire Bingamon, age 17 | September 1, 2017

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PAW-FECT PASSION Claire Bingamon, a senior at Memorial High School, has volunteered with K-9 Angels Rescue since seventh grade, and her family has fostered more than 120 dogs. (Photo: Susan Asaro)

In seventh grade, I learned about K-9 Angels Rescue, a nonprofit that works with Harris County and other shelters. K-9 Angels rescues dogs on death row, regardless of their breed. A special thing about K-9 Angels is that dogs are fostered during the week. This means people take them home, bathe them, feed them and give them love and training throughout the week.

On my first day volunteering, my mom and I just walked dogs and scooped the you-know-what. Sounds boring, but the dogs are only at the adoption center on the weekends and are crated while there. So, these walks are like 15 minutes of freedom for the dogs. After a couple months of volunteering, I wanted my family to foster a dog. I already had two dogs at home, and three would have been “too much work,” according to my mom. I finally convinced her, and we took home our first foster, Mocha, a chocolate pit bull who was sweet and friendly. My neighbor saw Mocha and fell in love. Mocha was adopted the next week.

My second foster was a puggle (pug/beagle/boxer mix) named Cody. We fostered him for seven weeks, and then my dad wanted to adopt him for his birthday. My mom finally agreed on the condition that we had to take him to training. After we adopted Cody, we became addicted to fostering. The longest time I had a foster was eight months. Hannah was a beautiful Hungarian greyhound with black fur and brown brindle on her feet. We got her as a puppy. She was definitely a hunting dog as she would defend our yard from lizards or squirrels. I was sad when she got adopted as she was a part of my life for such a long time, but I was happy that she got her forever home.

Fostering is hard, especially when I get attached and secretly don’t want the dog to get adopted. The rewarding part is that the dog is given a chance for a better life. My family and I have fostered over 120 dogs so far, and I volunteer at K-9 most weekends. My passion in life involves animals, as they have greatly changed the course of my life.

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