I had adopted a small Chihuahua named Kaya who was a special needs case; through that my love for rescue began. I wanted to make a difference. Kaya passed away a year after I adopted her, but she is the initial inspiration behind Lovebugs Rescue. Kaya, like many other dogs, was discarded in the shelter system. Many are misunderstood and become fearful in a new situation. Without rescue organizations, such as Lovebugs Rescue, these dogs would never be looked at and would likely end up being euthanized. By bringing a dog into a home environment, they are able to decompress and begin to feel safe.  This is why foster homes are so crucial to saving these dogs from uncertain death. I’m proud of what Lovebugs Rescue has become since our inception. We have a loyal group of animal loving volunteers who dedicate their time to help our dogs.

I became very involved after watching a plea go out for foster help with a mom and her litter of puppies, and I wanted to do it, but became nervous because the rescue was in San Diego, and I just didn’t know if I could do it. Two days later I saw that no one had stepped up to help, and they were all euthanized in the shelter. That was the turning point for me because I knew I could have saved their lives. I vowed to myself to find the next litter of puppies and mom that I saw needing help in Orange County. One week later I had my first mom and 8 puppies in our home, and I have never looked back. To this day we have personally fostered over 540 fosters and counting.

I also spent the first 5 years in rescue being the vet coordinator, foster coordinator, events coordinator, lead foster, and so much more. After that I moved on to co-run a different rescue for the next 2 years doing all of those same things and so much more. I was volunteering often 10 hours plus a day 7 days a week. From there I moved on to help Lovebugs Rescue and am enjoying my time primarily fostering. I am, however, currently working on scheduling a fundraiser and will probably continue to become even more involved, but time will tell. My love has always been hands on working with the dogs and I plan to continue with that. The truth is that we cannot save them all, but wow is it wonderful to be able to help save those that we can. It truly takes a village to do this and I am happy to be part of the Lovebugs Village. Fostering and helping is very rewarding to me and actually quite addictive lol. I encourage everyone to give it a try!

Also, I am truly honored to be able to educate people in the importance of spay/neuter, training, rescuing over buying from a breeder, and rescue in general. I am honored to have many friends that have joined in on being part of this village of adopting, volunteering, donating, and educating. My biggest passion is helping pitties and other bully breeds that have gotten a really bad rap from the media that is so very untrue. These bully breeds are my absolute favorite, although I love them all, so you will often see me fostering bully breeds. I will foster anyone in dire need and tend to take on litters of puppies with moms, medical need dogs and puppies (which I enjoy probably because of my career as a PT), and bully breed adult dogs. I am happy to help with anything the rescue needs help with!

I’ve volunteered with several dog rescue groups over the last 15 years but at this point I exclusively foster for Love Bugs Rescue. I first met Heather – founder of Love Bugs – about 7 years ago when we both volunteered for another dog rescue organization. Heather was clear on her vision on how she wanted to run and represent her rescue and I wholeheartedly agreed.  It’s been a fun and rewarding experience to support Lovebugs since Heather founded it. I wear many hats with the rescue to include fostering dogs as well as coordinating with other team members to make sure they have everything they need. I also assist with some back-end technology tools to help the rescue run more efficiently. I look forward to many more years and pups along the way.

I heard about Lovebugs Rescue through another volunteer foster for Lovebugs. I started volunteering in November of 2014 and initially helped with administrative duties and at adoption events. I did that for a while until I got the call one day asking if I could foster a dog, and that is how fostering began for me. Things changed again for me when on Easter Sunday 2015, I received a call from the director of Lovebugs asking me if I would consider fostering 3 PARVO puppies who were in the shelter and at risk of euthanasia. Being unfamiliar with PARVO, but knowing that it was a deadly virus, I hesitated momentarily and then said yes. That is how I have become the PARVO foster home for Lovebugs. To date (June 2017) I have fostered 40 dogs for Lovebugs and most of them have been PARVO survivors. It is rewarding beyond words to be involved with saving these puppies who are literally on death’s doorstep. To watch them go from sick and discarded little beings to healthy and happy puppies and then on to loving homes is heartwarming to say the least.

I foster in memory of my beloved Yorkie, Bam Bam.  The one thing he taught me is to love everyone.  I had so much love for him, why not open my home to animals in need and offer a safe and loving environment.  I’ve learned rescue dogs are incredibly forgiving of whatever life they’ve lived prior to arriving at my home.  Every dog is so different, and I learn so much from each one.  I’ve met some remarkable dogs and it’s been such a rewarding experience matching them with the right adopters and seeing them live their happily ever after.

When I visit the shelter, I look for the most broken dogs who have given up because they know their human gave up on them. I am overjoyed when I see a once broken soul blossom into the most loved and happy dog. My heart melts that moment I get my first kiss or tail wag!  It’s humbling to be a part of their journey wherever that may lead. I have loved every single one of them with all of my heart. I hope that when it’s my time, I will be reunited at the rainbow bridge with some of my special Lovebugs fosters.

Most dogs on the islands are not considered pets and many are treated badly: not enough food and water, no veterinary care, etc. Some are tied up in agricultural fields to help farmers protect their crops from monkeys. Demodectic mange is rampant and so are tick diseases such as Ehrlichiosis. When we returned from the Caribbean (bringing one rescued dog with us) we wanted to continue helping dogs in need and found Lovebugs Rescue via an internet search. We were very impressed with their work as illustrated on their web site. The requirements from Lovebugs Rescue are that you participate in adoption events and show your foster dog to potential adopters. Fostering rescued dogs is very rewarding and we would recommend it to anyone who loves dogs. The more foster families available, the more dogs can be rescued!

It is so rewarding and inspiring knowing that I can help make a positive difference in an animals life. I’ve been fostering and have also put on some fundraising events to raise funds to help offset their ongoing medical expenses. Photographed with me is Skippy one of my foster dogs. He was rescued from Moreno Valley shelter after he had been hit by a car and was left laying in the street. He sat in the shelter for a week when Lovebugs saw him and scooped him to safety. Skippy had to have surgery on his leg to put a plate in so it could heal. He was a pretty active fella, but I fostered him all the way through his recovery process and now he is living in the perfect home in Los Angeles with another dog to pal around with.

I now have 5 rescue dogs of my own and love to foster with Lovebugs Rescue which is so committed to helping any animal that we can find a foster home for. I volunteer with Lovebugs because I am lucky enough to have known the founder of the group for years and have so much respect for how she runs the rescue! If you would like to foster a bigger dog and want to discuss it with someone who has a lot of experience with that, fill out a FOSTER application and I will contact you!

The calls I get most often are the ones needing help with newborns that need to be bottle fed. These puppies need round the clock care because the first two weeks of life is the most crucial period for survival. I’m up with the puppies through the night, and they come to the office with me during the day, and I love it! It’s so rewarding to give back and who doesn’t love puppy snuggles?

I love helping doggies find their forever home and happiness because they bring me nothing but joy and happiness!

She truly seemed to enjoy fostering the puppies and had a process and routine that made it look easy. I thought “I want to do that.” Five years later, I have learned so much from fostering puppies and it has turned out to be so much more rewarding than I expected. Heather and Stacey, founder and rescue director of Lovebugs respectively, are great mentors. All of my many questions when I have a frightened, shy, probably feral momma dog, sick puppy, your name it are answered immediately. The support I receive from this caring group is the reason I continue to foster. I am so proud to be affiliated with this caring, thoughtful, quality, well run organization.

Hello, My name is Lisa Charlier, Why I love to foster for Lovebugs Rescue, a little bit about us, I’m an animal lover at heart and will pretty much do anything for an animal in need. We have 1 foster fail, Stormy 2 yrs old but we call her a win! She’s the best foster mommy to all our foster puppies and she gives them the love and comfort like their mommy would have. We have 2 former Lovebugs Maci 8yrs old and Marcus 3yrs old. Marcus is my confidence builder for my unsure pups. 1st question I usually get is how do you not get attached? Well I do, but if you look at the big picture it all makes sense. When you bring a foster into your home, this foster could be an owner surrender, pulled from the shelter, or homeless camps, or just walk out of a bush. These babies all need love, stability, safety, confidence, and comfort. This way he/she can flourish into an amazing family member. When you foster and see that puppy get adopted then over the months/years see how well your former fosters are thriving with their very own families that’s the gift that melts my heart. These babies were not asked to be treated like trash or deserve to be either. Fostering saves lives and in our home, if we can save a few babies at a time we’re all over it!  Lovebugs Rescue has been amazing to foster for, they have the best team of fosters and I will keep doing it until  I physically can’t. Thank you for having me on the Lovebugs Rescue Team.

Fostering puppies brings so much joy into our lives. It’s been a furry bliss for me and an invaluable experience for my kids as they grow into kind and responsible people! We’ve brought in many litters into our home including Lovebugs first CHV litter, all survived except the first puppy diagnosed. We’ve had little pups, giant pups and everything in-between.

My family and I love fostering dogs, especially the senior dogs. They always seem so sad and it’s heartwarming to see them begin to respond to love and the feeling of safety. We have been fostering for several years and I can’t picture my life without a foster dog in it.