Foster Family Spotlight: The O’Toole-Walczak Family

In the O’Toole-Walczak household, fostering animals is a family affair.

For years, Jake Walczak, 15, yearned to foster animals. Jake is interested in a career in medicine and considers caring for animals as a first step to learning about nurturing another being.

There was just one problem: Jake’s mom, Michelle O'Toole, was not interested in signing up to foster. It’s not that she doesn’t like animals — the family has two dogs and a cat — but she knew that fostering would be a commitment.

Then the pandemic struck, and Jake saw an opportunity.

“I’ve always wanted to foster but it’s usually been a hard ‘no’ for my mom,” Jake said. “But then we went into quarantine, and we weren’t doing much with our time.”

So, with his mother’s blessing, Jake signed the family up to foster.

The family's first foster experience was in September. They were at home in Sunnyvale when they got word from Pets In Need that a 10-day old litter of pitbull puppies needed their help.

When two of the puppies became ill, Jake learned how to administer intravenous fluids and medication. The puppies survived, and Jake and Michelle were hooked.

They’ve taken in several dogs and puppies over the past several months. Jake’s adult sister, who lives nearby, has also started fostering kittens.

Jake’s advice for anyone thinking about becoming a foster volunteer is simple. “Do it,” he said, “but don’t get attached.”

“Love that animal with everything you have until they’re gone. And then let them go off to their forever home.”

Pets In Need is in great need of foster volunteers willing to work with young kittens and large-breed dogs. To learn more about how to become a foster volunteer, visit www.petsinneed.org/volunteer.