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It all started by going to the animal shelter to just “pet cats” and quickly turned into fostering animals for the Darr family of Rushford, Minn., which includes parents Bruce and Tina, and children Daisy, Beatty, Gibson and Mannix.
Several years ago, the family had just experienced the loss of their cat and didn’t necessarily want the commitment of having another cat as a family pet.
“So, we decided to go to the Winona Humane Society and just pet the cats,” explained Tina. Their daughter Daisy, who was eight years old at the time was “really into it.”
Then the family thought maybe they could foster and still have low commitment. They signed up for the fostering program and received a call a couple weeks later.
“We started fostering adult cats, and then we got into pregnant cats with kittens and then kittens without mothers, so we would have to get up in the middle of the night to feed them,” shared Daisy.
“There was one cat that we fostered, and we even brought him back – then the Christmas present was we adopted him because there was just something special about him,” noted Tina. His name is Hulu.
They also have another cat on the homestead, named Mouse, that they saved as a kitten and a three-legged dog, Laney, that they fostered through Alma Tails of Hope. “So, we have kind of gotten filled up,” Tina said with a chuckle.
There have been many experiences, mostly good, some sad, but in either scenario the Darr family was there for the animals.
“We had a mom that had nine kittens birth on my bed while we were sleeping,” stated Tina.
“We have had ones where they need bottles and we have had to do hospice care because they just weren’t going to make it. It was a learning experience for the kids to give care,” she explained.
Since the Darr family does homeschooling, they were able to take care of the “bottle babies” because they were home to do the necessary care, which was great because they are the hardest ones for the humane society to find foster homes for.
“Lots of rewarding times and sometimes stressful times,” explained Tina, but “it’s good to give back.”
The family has fostered well over 60 cats through the years, Tina estimated. The family fostered animals through the Winona Area Humane Society’s Fostering Program. Anyone interested in fostering can find out more information about their fostering program by visiting winonahumane.org.
“It was very fulfilling,” noted Daisy. “I definitely learned a lot from it, and it gave me that sense of purpose.”
Now that Daisy is 19 and in college, life is busy. The Darr family fostered their last animal this year. But fostering may very well be in Daisy’s future at some point. “I would definitely love to,” Daisy said. “I think it’s so great, especially for people who love animals. You don’t really get a lot of opportunities to hold kittens. It’s so fun to see them grow and when their eyes open.”
“Fosters are so needed, especially during springtime. There are always kittens that are abandoned or need someone to take care of them and it’s a big commitment for the workers at the shelter to be doing that care because it is so involved,” explained Daisy.
With so many animals in shelters it does the heart good to meet a family like the Darrs who like to “pet cats.”
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