November 13, 2025 • 22 mins
In this episode of Save A Pooch, we're joined by Linda Velwest, author of City Rescue Pets: Second Chances for Love and Hope and founder of CityRescuePets.com. Linda shares her family's years-long journey fostering cats and dogs in Jersey City—from classroom pets to "foster fails" to the day she decided to adopt not one, but two rescue pigs. We'll explore the realities of animal rescue work, the lessons learned through trial and error, the heartbreaks that don't always end happily, and why she believes even small acts of kindness can transform lives on both ends of the leash. Whether you're considering fostering, adopting a rescue pet, or just love animals, this is a conversation about compassion, responsibility, and second chances.
EPISODE NOTES: From Foster Fails to Forever Pigs: One Family's Journey Through Animal Rescue
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/save-a-pooch-rescue-dog-welfare-pet-life-radio-original--6669238/support.
EPISODE NOTES: From Foster Fails to Forever Pigs: One Family's Journey Through Animal Rescue
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/save-a-pooch-rescue-dog-welfare-pet-life-radio-original--6669238/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is Pet Life Radio. Let's talk Pets.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Welcome to Save a Pooch on Pet Life Radio. I
am bever Lee is l your host. Thank you for
listening in Today our special guest is Linda Velwest. She's
the author of the City Rescue Pets Second Chances for
Love and Hope and a founder of City Rescue Pets
dot Com. Now Linda's work, she advocates full rescue animals,
(00:29):
whether cats, dogs, eat cakes, will get there and them
having second chances, and that the families who foster or
adopt them are forever changed by the experience. Now Through
her book and website, Linda shares real events from her
years of fostering animals in Jersey City with her family,
and she doesn't shy away from the hard truths about
(00:52):
rescue work, including the animals that don't find happy endings.
But she also celebrates the bonds that form when people
open their hearts at homes to animals in need. So
when we get back from these messages, we'll be joined
by Linda Bells.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
You know the expression cats have nine lives, Well, what
if you can give them one more? The Give Them
Ten Movement is on a mission to help give cats
an extra life. How with Spee and Neoter Spain or
nootering your cat helps them live a longer, healthier life
and it helps control free rolling cat populations too. Learn
(01:33):
more about the benefits of Spee and Neoter and meet Scooter,
the newter cat at give Them ten dot org. That's
give them ten dot org.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Let's talk pets on Petlife Radio dot com.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Welcome back and say a pooch. We are talking with
Linda Belles, author of City Rescue Pets and dot founder
of City Rescue Pets dot com. Thank you so much
for being here today. I have a ton of questions
for you. Your book, yeah, yeah, thank you all the
stuff in there. Yeah. But to get us started, did
you share an overview of your fostering journey, like how
(02:16):
did your family get started in animal rescue?
Speaker 4 (02:18):
Well, I have always loved animals as a child and
growing up. When I got together with my husband, who
had allergies to cats and dogs and just about everything,
it seemed I just gave up on the idea of
having pets. But then our kids were very interested in
(02:41):
exploring that, and we both were, you know, encouraging our
kids to explore things. So we decided to foster so
that for a number of reasons. First of all, so
that if he did have any kind of react it
wouldn't be like a forever thing. I wasn't sure that
(03:05):
the kids would would actually be into it that long,
so I didn't want to have a commitment like that,
and so it was like kind of encouraging my kids
to be to follow their interests, and well it certainly
was an interest of mine as well. As it turned out,
(03:25):
my husband he didn't really grow out of the allergies,
but they were much less severe than they used to be.
And the animals that we had that he originally we
was allergic to, he seemed to get used to them
after a while, so that part of it worked out.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Well, well that's good. Maybe that's how you ended up
having turtles no allergies. Yeah, which, which, by the way,
you did start with classroom pets being like a rabbit
and a turtle, and and you know that's kind of
a different entry point into fostering. So what made you
decide to keep going from there? And then you got
into cats and then you got dogs, You got like
(04:06):
a variety there.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
Yeah, you know, we took the pets from the school,
and they were mostly outdoor pets actually, and we had
a little backyard and they ate whatever grew back there,
and you know, the rabbit had a hutch and everything
so that the allergies weren't that bad. But really, one
of my kids, their friend had a dog, and my
(04:30):
kid was like, I'd like a dog too, And I'm like,
you don't understand how much work a dog is. And
so I said, let's explore this by fostering, and that
way we could find out what it's like to have
a dog, and we can help dogs that need it,
because there's a lot of dogs that are surrendered or
(04:53):
abandoned and they do much better in a foster home
than in a shelter, just as far as their own
comfort goes, and then their comfort influences their behavior and
that influences their ability to be adopted. And I also said, well,
(05:13):
I like dogs, but I also really like cats, so
I want to foster cats as well. So everyone agreed
on that.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Ooh together, like simultaneously, you have them together.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
Then they got along. But yeah, we did well. The
first animal we got was a cat, and then we
got a dog. And there actually was one instance where
the dogs did not get along with the cats, and
that was no fun. But for the most part, they
either got along or really they just ignored each other.
(05:46):
Oh that's good.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
I mean, no harm there. And what I really appreciate
is that you helped your kids appreciate like fostering animals
and it gives them an idea of whether or not
they really wanted a dog permanent. Yeah. So, what are
some of the biggest lessons you learned or what they
learned through this trial and air about pet care and
(06:07):
rescue work.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
Well, we learned that it's a lot of work to
have a dog. Hey, oh yes, and you know, if
they had expressed an interest in adopting any of the dogs,
we would have been able to do that as their fosters,
So so that was that was a big plus. But yeah,
we learned that it's a lot of work to take
(06:29):
care of a dog. We learned that they need a
lot of compassion. Each dog is different, and we've had
dogs that were depressed and we've had dogs that were hyper.
Each one is different. Each you know, breed is different,
each individual dog within that breed is different. So that
(06:50):
was a big learning experience. So we learned how to
say no sometimes to know what our limits were. Because
we did get the one dog that was too much
for us, and we knew that we couldn't handle it,
so we had to we had to return that dog,
which was hard to do, but we knew that we
(07:12):
couldn't give her what she needed and we wanted to
give her a chance to find what she needed right right,
she didn't.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
But that's I mean, you know, that is honest, And
that's one thing I really commend is that your book
is honest about the fact that not every rescue story
has a happy ending. You mentioned Shelby the traumatized dog
who was eatanized. I don't know if that's what we
were talking about. And then we have yeah, Baboo the pitbull. Yeah,
so that's a conversation that has to be had in
(07:42):
fostering and need died that So that that is great
And why is it important for you to include these
harder truths.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
Yeah. I didn't want it to be a bummer, so
I limited it the disturbing parts to two chapters. But
it is the truth when if you surrender a dog
to a shelter, there's no guarantee that another family is
going to find them. When they go into foster care,
it has a better chance that the dog will find
(08:09):
a home, but it still might not. So you know,
people need to understand that when they first get a dog,
that you know, things happen, of course, and there's all
kinds of reasons why you would get a dog and
really just not be able to take care of it,
but you have to go into it with the idea
that you know, if you can't take care of it,
(08:29):
it could cause a lot of problems for the dog.
And not every story has a happy ending. I feel
like my book is way skewed towards happy endings, much
more so than in real life. But I definitely wanted
to include that, you know, it doesn't always happen that way,
right right.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
And you mentioned the accepting of you know, maybe this
situation isn't for me, like can he give some like
how does that look for people? For you? How did
it look like? Was it they were just too aggressive
and it was a matter of oh well, my family's
gonna get harmed?
Speaker 4 (09:06):
Yeah, yeah, okay, Yeah. The dog was charging at the
kids and you know, trying to bite them, and I,
oh wow, I don't have the training and I you
know wasn't able to get the training to really handle
that kind of situation, And just to be honest with
myself and with the dog and with the rescue person
(09:29):
that I cannot deal with that. I can help where
I can help, but I can't do more than I'm
capable of doing. And that's a hard lesson for anyone
to learn. Absolutely, for sure, we had to be safe,
you know, in our house before we go on a
quick break. Has your kids ever been foster fails?
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Yeah, the cats, because oh they've gravitated to the cats.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Okay, yeah, yeah, And you know, I look back and
the dogs that we had, and if I could have
kept del MoU, he was such a good dog, but.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
That's the pitbull, right, yeah, Okay.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
He had you know, I'm not sure how his story ended,
and that that really makes me, you know, wish I
had the capacity to keep him at the time. But yeah,
the cats. Uh, there's so many cats and pitbulls. It's
it's hard to find homes for too. Yeah, that's sad,
that's yeah, it's very unfortunate.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Some of them are the most loving ones I've met, exactly.
All right, Well, well, we're just gonna go to have
a quick break and when we get back we'll continue
our conversation with Linda.
Speaker 5 (10:41):
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Speaker 3 (11:25):
Let's come petcot Life.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
Radio, Hetline Radio.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Pet live Radio dot com.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Welcome back to say but Boos. We're talking with Linda Belwest,
author of City Rescue Pets and founder of City Rescue
Pets dot com. So let's swing back around to how
your book with you adopting o pigs. Yes, what made
you decide to take on pigs and what like?
Speaker 4 (11:52):
And you're in Jersey City? That is that is a
it was quite a strange thing. Now we've had these
pigs for almost ten years now.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Oh you still have one? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (12:02):
Yeah. It was kind of a funny story. Well, it
was an interesting story anyway. When one of my foster
failed cats died, I was sad and my son didn't
want me to be sad. And I was looking on
petfinder dot Com, just like looking at cats and exploring,
(12:24):
and I saw that they had a category for barnyard
animals and I'm like, what, what's that? And I went
and I loved what I saw. They had pet pigs
and I'm like, well, so I was just like looking
at that and thinking, wow, that's a strange thing. And
then my son was like, I was thinking of getting
(12:47):
a rat as a pet, and I'm like, oh, that's Goodieah,
I've been looking at pigs and he's like, oh my god.
And he's like, you have to get a pig.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
You just have to.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
So we did. And you know, they don't like to
be alone, so we got too. And we have a
bit of a backyard enough for them to roam around
a little bit in and I did like for for
several years. I took them for walks around around the
block and stuff. I had a harness for them and
(13:18):
we'd walk around and it was it was really popular popular.
I bet yeah so And now they last couple of years,
they've been too lazy and I'm trying to train them
to go back out for walks again. But even so,
like our backyard, you know, connects with a bunch of
(13:38):
other houses and their backyards, so the neighbors look out
the windows or sit on their balconies and look at
the pigs sometimes, and you know, the kids really love them.
And our next door neighbors sometimes throw like you know,
apples or whatever over and they liked to watch the
pig to eat, and that's the pig's favorite thing to do.
So it works out.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Are you fostering any dogs right now? Like would they
get o?
Speaker 4 (14:03):
No, we stuck with the dogs well before we got
the pigs.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Now in the book, I want to skip gears here.
You mentioned in the book that you made mistakes along
the way, like not you're not taking more of the
bat more often for checkouts, or letting cats be indoor
versus outdoor. That's actually a good point. How do you
balance all of that? Like and a lot of fosters
will question, like am I doing this right or am
I doing this wrong? And uh, and it could really
(14:28):
beat up on their on their confidence and whether or
not they even continue fostering.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
So yeah, let's let's get into that. Well, one thing
I think of is that these animals are doing better
with me than any other option they have. So while
I make mistakes, they're still doing better, you know what
I mean, Like they could be in the shelter and
just just be miserable. Right.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
It definitely is a mindset.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
Yeah, and I've had to do a lot of learning
about pack care because when I was growing up in
the in the place where I was growing up, having well,
mostly the cats were maybe indoors sometimes but mostly outdoor.
They were mostly outdoor cats that we let in sometimes
like to feed them or whatever. So so that was
(15:18):
that was my mindset that cats belong outdoors. They'd be
bored if they're indoors. They need to be running in exploring.
So that was my mindset for a long time. And
certainly when I was growing up, occasionally a cat would
you know, get you know, run over my car or whatever.
But we just thought, well that's that's the way it is.
(15:38):
And so now you know, things have changed and cats
are really expected to be indoors, and they actually do
quite fine indoors, and you don't have them, you know,
killing wildlife or disturbing people's gardens or being in dangerous situations.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
For the cats.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
So that part was learning experience for me that you know,
there were always discovering new things about taking care of
animals for sure.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Actually, in my neighborhood there's a couple of people that
actually walk the cats on on harnesses. Yeah, one way
to not lose them.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Yeah. Now, your website, City Rescue Pets dot com, it
does provide a lot of resources for people interested in
rescuing and adopting. So let's get into what are some
of the common misconceptions people have about fostering or adopting
and what advice would you give someone who's thinking about
doing it for the first time. Like when I was
(16:37):
doing it for the first time, I was pretty nervous. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:41):
Well, if you're fostering any kind of animal, you know,
make sure you have a relationship with the rescuer who's
giving this to you, and try to like they're vetting you,
but you need to vet them that they're going to
be there to have and you can also you know,
join Facebook groups or Reddit grew or you know, any
(17:01):
kind of online group for the type of animal you're adopting.
In local groups, you know in person, like dog parks
or whatever. You know, make sure you get support for
your rescue journey. And also part of the idea behind
my website is that you know, if you love animals,
it doesn't necessarily have to be a cat or a dog.
(17:24):
That might not work into your lifestyle at the time,
but you know, reptiles, amphibians, little gerbils or guinea pigs
or you know, small animals, fish. There's all kinds of
pets that you can adopt that need homes that aren't
necessarily cats or dogs, and some of them might need
foster care, so you can try it out, and you know,
(17:46):
you can explore other kinds of pets besides cats and dogs.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
That's a good point.
Speaker 4 (17:51):
And you can also foster to adopt, so you could
still be looking for a home for them, but also
evaluating that maybe this is an animal that I would
like to keep.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Yes, yes, not considered a fausta failure exactly.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
Yeah, yeah, that's a funny. I feel like that's kind
of like a joking way of referring to it cold
you share a story from your fostering years that showed
you how powerful these second chances can be because you
you know, you've tried the gamut, you have your experience
across different species. So I'm sure a big meaningful thing
(18:26):
that happened was the dog we fostered, Lulu, who seemed
very depressed to us. And you know, she was a
rescue dog, and rescuers don't have a lot of resources,
time or energy to really investigate what's going on with
the dog, and the former owners probably were not paying
(18:46):
that much attention to her either. So we had her
and we did the best we could with her. But
the family who ended up adopting her had a second dog,
which turned out to be really important. But they also
took her to a vet that really investigated the situation
and she had lime disease. Wow, so no wonder she
(19:09):
was so you know, depressed and listless. So they traded
for the lime disease and she perked right up, and
then she had a built in planemate and she became
really active and happy and you know, lived out the
rest of her life were really really happy. So she
was able to find like the perfect home where someone
really gave her the attention that she needed. And then
(19:33):
the cat that kind of got dumped on me and
she escaped and I caught her and brought her back,
and then she had kittens, and my friend took the
whole family. So the mother and the two kittens went
to a home. And I just thought that was such
a lovely ending for her, for the cat and her
(19:56):
two kittens. That she was always a scaredy cat and
then she got kind of dumped on me and then
she became a mom and her whole little family got adopted,
and you know, she became you know, a mom and
an adored cat. So that was really wonderful as well.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Yeah, I love I love seeing the reels when dogs
are bonded and then they get separated, Yeah, and then
they go through depression and then they come back for
the other, the other one, and then it's a happy ending. Yeah.
So before we wrap things up, Linda, where can people
get your book?
Speaker 4 (20:31):
Well, you know, it's on Amazon or any Amazon online bookstore.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Awesome.
Speaker 4 (20:38):
It's in paperback, in ebook and audio book.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
And then the events in the book are fiction, but
they're also based on your experiences.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
Yeah, they're based on real life. They're based on dogs
I've actually had and cats I've actually had. You know,
I made up the backstories for them and totally and
most of the endings I made up as well.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Awesome. Well, I am so happy for you and your
book and the lessons that is in there for everyone
to learn from. We are out of time. Thank you
Linda again for being here and for sharing. Thank you
with such honesty and her your work reminds me of that
rescue is messy but also meaningful. Thanks to our show producer,
(21:22):
Mark Winter for making the show possible. You can learn
more about Linda's work at City Rescuepets dot com. You
find our book City Rescue Pets Second Chances for Love
and Hope on Amazon and other retailers. We'll also have
the website link posted on our show page. If you
have any questions, comments, or ideas for a show, please
(21:42):
email me at Beverly at petlife radio dot com. So
until next time, spread animal, come fashion
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Let's talk pets every week on demand only on Petlife
Radio dot com.
This is Pet Life Radio. Let's talk Pets.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Welcome to Save a Pooch on Pet Life Radio. I
am bever Lee is l your host. Thank you for
listening in Today our special guest is Linda Velwest. She's
the author of the City Rescue Pets Second Chances for
Love and Hope and a founder of City Rescue Pets
dot Com. Now Linda's work, she advocates full rescue animals,
(00:29):
whether cats, dogs, eat cakes, will get there and them
having second chances, and that the families who foster or
adopt them are forever changed by the experience. Now Through
her book and website, Linda shares real events from her
years of fostering animals in Jersey City with her family,
and she doesn't shy away from the hard truths about
(00:52):
rescue work, including the animals that don't find happy endings.
But she also celebrates the bonds that form when people
open their hearts at homes to animals in need. So
when we get back from these messages, we'll be joined
by Linda Bells.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
You know the expression cats have nine lives, Well, what
if you can give them one more? The Give Them
Ten Movement is on a mission to help give cats
an extra life. How with Spee and Neoter Spain or
nootering your cat helps them live a longer, healthier life
and it helps control free rolling cat populations too. Learn
(01:33):
more about the benefits of Spee and Neoter and meet Scooter,
the newter cat at give Them ten dot org. That's
give them ten dot org.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Let's talk pets on Petlife Radio dot com.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Welcome back and say a pooch. We are talking with
Linda Belles, author of City Rescue Pets and dot founder
of City Rescue Pets dot com. Thank you so much
for being here today. I have a ton of questions
for you. Your book, yeah, yeah, thank you all the
stuff in there. Yeah. But to get us started, did
you share an overview of your fostering journey, like how
(02:16):
did your family get started in animal rescue?
Speaker 4 (02:18):
Well, I have always loved animals as a child and
growing up. When I got together with my husband, who
had allergies to cats and dogs and just about everything,
it seemed I just gave up on the idea of
having pets. But then our kids were very interested in
(02:41):
exploring that, and we both were, you know, encouraging our
kids to explore things. So we decided to foster so
that for a number of reasons. First of all, so
that if he did have any kind of react it
wouldn't be like a forever thing. I wasn't sure that
(03:05):
the kids would would actually be into it that long,
so I didn't want to have a commitment like that,
and so it was like kind of encouraging my kids
to be to follow their interests, and well it certainly
was an interest of mine as well. As it turned out,
(03:25):
my husband he didn't really grow out of the allergies,
but they were much less severe than they used to be.
And the animals that we had that he originally we
was allergic to, he seemed to get used to them
after a while, so that part of it worked out.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Well, well that's good. Maybe that's how you ended up
having turtles no allergies. Yeah, which, which, by the way,
you did start with classroom pets being like a rabbit
and a turtle, and and you know that's kind of
a different entry point into fostering. So what made you
decide to keep going from there? And then you got
into cats and then you got dogs, You got like
(04:06):
a variety there.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
Yeah, you know, we took the pets from the school,
and they were mostly outdoor pets actually, and we had
a little backyard and they ate whatever grew back there,
and you know, the rabbit had a hutch and everything
so that the allergies weren't that bad. But really, one
of my kids, their friend had a dog, and my
(04:30):
kid was like, I'd like a dog too, And I'm like,
you don't understand how much work a dog is. And
so I said, let's explore this by fostering, and that
way we could find out what it's like to have
a dog, and we can help dogs that need it,
because there's a lot of dogs that are surrendered or
(04:53):
abandoned and they do much better in a foster home
than in a shelter, just as far as their own
comfort goes, and then their comfort influences their behavior and
that influences their ability to be adopted. And I also said, well,
(05:13):
I like dogs, but I also really like cats, so
I want to foster cats as well. So everyone agreed
on that.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Ooh together, like simultaneously, you have them together.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
Then they got along. But yeah, we did well. The
first animal we got was a cat, and then we
got a dog. And there actually was one instance where
the dogs did not get along with the cats, and
that was no fun. But for the most part, they
either got along or really they just ignored each other.
(05:46):
Oh that's good.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
I mean, no harm there. And what I really appreciate
is that you helped your kids appreciate like fostering animals
and it gives them an idea of whether or not
they really wanted a dog permanent. Yeah. So, what are
some of the biggest lessons you learned or what they
learned through this trial and air about pet care and
(06:07):
rescue work.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
Well, we learned that it's a lot of work to
have a dog. Hey, oh yes, and you know, if
they had expressed an interest in adopting any of the dogs,
we would have been able to do that as their fosters,
So so that was that was a big plus. But yeah,
we learned that it's a lot of work to take
(06:29):
care of a dog. We learned that they need a
lot of compassion. Each dog is different, and we've had
dogs that were depressed and we've had dogs that were hyper.
Each one is different. Each you know, breed is different,
each individual dog within that breed is different. So that
(06:50):
was a big learning experience. So we learned how to
say no sometimes to know what our limits were. Because
we did get the one dog that was too much
for us, and we knew that we couldn't handle it,
so we had to we had to return that dog,
which was hard to do, but we knew that we
(07:12):
couldn't give her what she needed and we wanted to
give her a chance to find what she needed right right,
she didn't.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
But that's I mean, you know, that is honest, And
that's one thing I really commend is that your book
is honest about the fact that not every rescue story
has a happy ending. You mentioned Shelby the traumatized dog
who was eatanized. I don't know if that's what we
were talking about. And then we have yeah, Baboo the pitbull. Yeah,
so that's a conversation that has to be had in
(07:42):
fostering and need died that So that that is great
And why is it important for you to include these
harder truths.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
Yeah. I didn't want it to be a bummer, so
I limited it the disturbing parts to two chapters. But
it is the truth when if you surrender a dog
to a shelter, there's no guarantee that another family is
going to find them. When they go into foster care,
it has a better chance that the dog will find
(08:09):
a home, but it still might not. So you know,
people need to understand that when they first get a dog,
that you know, things happen, of course, and there's all
kinds of reasons why you would get a dog and
really just not be able to take care of it,
but you have to go into it with the idea
that you know, if you can't take care of it,
(08:29):
it could cause a lot of problems for the dog.
And not every story has a happy ending. I feel
like my book is way skewed towards happy endings, much
more so than in real life. But I definitely wanted
to include that, you know, it doesn't always happen that way,
right right.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
And you mentioned the accepting of you know, maybe this
situation isn't for me, like can he give some like
how does that look for people? For you? How did
it look like? Was it they were just too aggressive
and it was a matter of oh well, my family's
gonna get harmed?
Speaker 4 (09:06):
Yeah, yeah, okay, Yeah. The dog was charging at the
kids and you know, trying to bite them, and I,
oh wow, I don't have the training and I you
know wasn't able to get the training to really handle
that kind of situation, And just to be honest with
myself and with the dog and with the rescue person
(09:29):
that I cannot deal with that. I can help where
I can help, but I can't do more than I'm
capable of doing. And that's a hard lesson for anyone
to learn. Absolutely, for sure, we had to be safe,
you know, in our house before we go on a
quick break. Has your kids ever been foster fails?
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Yeah, the cats, because oh they've gravitated to the cats.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Okay, yeah, yeah, And you know, I look back and
the dogs that we had, and if I could have
kept del MoU, he was such a good dog, but.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
That's the pitbull, right, yeah, Okay.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
He had you know, I'm not sure how his story ended,
and that that really makes me, you know, wish I
had the capacity to keep him at the time. But yeah,
the cats. Uh, there's so many cats and pitbulls. It's
it's hard to find homes for too. Yeah, that's sad,
that's yeah, it's very unfortunate.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Some of them are the most loving ones I've met, exactly.
All right, Well, well, we're just gonna go to have
a quick break and when we get back we'll continue
our conversation with Linda.
Speaker 5 (10:41):
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Speaker 3 (11:25):
Let's come petcot Life.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
Radio, Hetline Radio.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Pet live Radio dot com.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Welcome back to say but Boos. We're talking with Linda Belwest,
author of City Rescue Pets and founder of City Rescue
Pets dot com. So let's swing back around to how
your book with you adopting o pigs. Yes, what made
you decide to take on pigs and what like?
Speaker 4 (11:52):
And you're in Jersey City? That is that is a
it was quite a strange thing. Now we've had these
pigs for almost ten years now.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Oh you still have one? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (12:02):
Yeah. It was kind of a funny story. Well, it
was an interesting story anyway. When one of my foster
failed cats died, I was sad and my son didn't
want me to be sad. And I was looking on
petfinder dot Com, just like looking at cats and exploring,
(12:24):
and I saw that they had a category for barnyard
animals and I'm like, what, what's that? And I went
and I loved what I saw. They had pet pigs
and I'm like, well, so I was just like looking
at that and thinking, wow, that's a strange thing. And
then my son was like, I was thinking of getting
(12:47):
a rat as a pet, and I'm like, oh, that's Goodieah,
I've been looking at pigs and he's like, oh my god.
And he's like, you have to get a pig.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
You just have to.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
So we did. And you know, they don't like to
be alone, so we got too. And we have a
bit of a backyard enough for them to roam around
a little bit in and I did like for for
several years. I took them for walks around around the
block and stuff. I had a harness for them and
(13:18):
we'd walk around and it was it was really popular popular.
I bet yeah so And now they last couple of years,
they've been too lazy and I'm trying to train them
to go back out for walks again. But even so,
like our backyard, you know, connects with a bunch of
(13:38):
other houses and their backyards, so the neighbors look out
the windows or sit on their balconies and look at
the pigs sometimes, and you know, the kids really love them.
And our next door neighbors sometimes throw like you know,
apples or whatever over and they liked to watch the
pig to eat, and that's the pig's favorite thing to do.
So it works out.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Are you fostering any dogs right now? Like would they
get o?
Speaker 4 (14:03):
No, we stuck with the dogs well before we got
the pigs.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Now in the book, I want to skip gears here.
You mentioned in the book that you made mistakes along
the way, like not you're not taking more of the
bat more often for checkouts, or letting cats be indoor
versus outdoor. That's actually a good point. How do you
balance all of that? Like and a lot of fosters
will question, like am I doing this right or am
I doing this wrong? And uh, and it could really
(14:28):
beat up on their on their confidence and whether or
not they even continue fostering.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
So yeah, let's let's get into that. Well, one thing
I think of is that these animals are doing better
with me than any other option they have. So while
I make mistakes, they're still doing better, you know what
I mean, Like they could be in the shelter and
just just be miserable. Right.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
It definitely is a mindset.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
Yeah, and I've had to do a lot of learning
about pack care because when I was growing up in
the in the place where I was growing up, having well,
mostly the cats were maybe indoors sometimes but mostly outdoor.
They were mostly outdoor cats that we let in sometimes
like to feed them or whatever. So so that was
(15:18):
that was my mindset that cats belong outdoors. They'd be
bored if they're indoors. They need to be running in exploring.
So that was my mindset for a long time. And
certainly when I was growing up, occasionally a cat would
you know, get you know, run over my car or whatever.
But we just thought, well that's that's the way it is.
(15:38):
And so now you know, things have changed and cats
are really expected to be indoors, and they actually do
quite fine indoors, and you don't have them, you know,
killing wildlife or disturbing people's gardens or being in dangerous situations.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
For the cats.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
So that part was learning experience for me that you know,
there were always discovering new things about taking care of
animals for sure.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Actually, in my neighborhood there's a couple of people that
actually walk the cats on on harnesses. Yeah, one way
to not lose them.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Yeah. Now, your website, City Rescue Pets dot com, it
does provide a lot of resources for people interested in
rescuing and adopting. So let's get into what are some
of the common misconceptions people have about fostering or adopting
and what advice would you give someone who's thinking about
doing it for the first time. Like when I was
(16:37):
doing it for the first time, I was pretty nervous. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:41):
Well, if you're fostering any kind of animal, you know,
make sure you have a relationship with the rescuer who's
giving this to you, and try to like they're vetting you,
but you need to vet them that they're going to
be there to have and you can also you know,
join Facebook groups or Reddit grew or you know, any
(17:01):
kind of online group for the type of animal you're adopting.
In local groups, you know in person, like dog parks
or whatever. You know, make sure you get support for
your rescue journey. And also part of the idea behind
my website is that you know, if you love animals,
it doesn't necessarily have to be a cat or a dog.
(17:24):
That might not work into your lifestyle at the time,
but you know, reptiles, amphibians, little gerbils or guinea pigs
or you know, small animals, fish. There's all kinds of
pets that you can adopt that need homes that aren't
necessarily cats or dogs, and some of them might need
foster care, so you can try it out, and you know,
(17:46):
you can explore other kinds of pets besides cats and dogs.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
That's a good point.
Speaker 4 (17:51):
And you can also foster to adopt, so you could
still be looking for a home for them, but also
evaluating that maybe this is an animal that I would
like to keep.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Yes, yes, not considered a fausta failure exactly.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
Yeah, yeah, that's a funny. I feel like that's kind
of like a joking way of referring to it cold
you share a story from your fostering years that showed
you how powerful these second chances can be because you
you know, you've tried the gamut, you have your experience
across different species. So I'm sure a big meaningful thing
(18:26):
that happened was the dog we fostered, Lulu, who seemed
very depressed to us. And you know, she was a
rescue dog, and rescuers don't have a lot of resources,
time or energy to really investigate what's going on with
the dog, and the former owners probably were not paying
(18:46):
that much attention to her either. So we had her
and we did the best we could with her. But
the family who ended up adopting her had a second dog,
which turned out to be really important. But they also
took her to a vet that really investigated the situation
and she had lime disease. Wow, so no wonder she
(19:09):
was so you know, depressed and listless. So they traded
for the lime disease and she perked right up, and
then she had a built in planemate and she became
really active and happy and you know, lived out the
rest of her life were really really happy. So she
was able to find like the perfect home where someone
really gave her the attention that she needed. And then
(19:33):
the cat that kind of got dumped on me and
she escaped and I caught her and brought her back,
and then she had kittens, and my friend took the
whole family. So the mother and the two kittens went
to a home. And I just thought that was such
a lovely ending for her, for the cat and her
(19:56):
two kittens. That she was always a scaredy cat and
then she got kind of dumped on me and then
she became a mom and her whole little family got adopted,
and you know, she became you know, a mom and
an adored cat. So that was really wonderful as well.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Yeah, I love I love seeing the reels when dogs
are bonded and then they get separated, Yeah, and then
they go through depression and then they come back for
the other, the other one, and then it's a happy ending. Yeah.
So before we wrap things up, Linda, where can people
get your book?
Speaker 4 (20:31):
Well, you know, it's on Amazon or any Amazon online bookstore.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Awesome.
Speaker 4 (20:38):
It's in paperback, in ebook and audio book.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
And then the events in the book are fiction, but
they're also based on your experiences.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
Yeah, they're based on real life. They're based on dogs
I've actually had and cats I've actually had. You know,
I made up the backstories for them and totally and
most of the endings I made up as well.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Awesome. Well, I am so happy for you and your
book and the lessons that is in there for everyone
to learn from. We are out of time. Thank you
Linda again for being here and for sharing. Thank you
with such honesty and her your work reminds me of that
rescue is messy but also meaningful. Thanks to our show producer,
(21:22):
Mark Winter for making the show possible. You can learn
more about Linda's work at City Rescuepets dot com. You
find our book City Rescue Pets Second Chances for Love
and Hope on Amazon and other retailers. We'll also have
the website link posted on our show page. If you
have any questions, comments, or ideas for a show, please
(21:42):
email me at Beverly at petlife radio dot com. So
until next time, spread animal, come fashion
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Let's talk pets every week on demand only on Petlife
Radio dot com.
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