This hotel in Mississippi allows you to foster a dog for the duration of your stay. Yep, you read that right. Welcome to Home2 Suites by Hilton in D’Iberville. The hotel has partnered with the local Humane Society of South Mississippi to start a program called Fostering Hope. The program has been running since October 2018 and allows each guest to foster a dog in their hotel room for the duration their stay.
If the guest falls in love with their foster dog, they are given the opportunity to adopt them at the end of their stay.
The dog shelter brings a number of pups to the hotel lobby and allows guests to choose the dog they would like to take care of.
The dog will then join the guest in their room for the duration of their visit.
The program not only helps more dogs get adopted but it also frees up much needed space at the shelter.
The Humane Society of South Mississippi takes in close to eight thousand dogs each year and is only able to adopt out 80% of them.
This program helps connect more dogs to good homes than ever before.
It also provides a great way for the foster parents to get to know their dog and feel more comfortable in their choice.
The hotel specializes in long-term visits and with most bookings lasting greater than one month, there is no better place to compliment such a program.
Teresa Johnston is responsible for this clever idea.
Teresa is the hotel’s sales director and wanted to find a way to make their guests happier while simultaneously assisting the local community.
“People love animals and we have many guest that decide to stay at the Home2 Suites by Hilton Biloxi North/D’Iberville because of this program,” Teresa comments.
The shelter leaves the adoptions fairly open, if they want to take home a pup there is a $50 adoption fee and simple application process.
To ensure the dogs are going to a good home the shelter reserves the right to deny an adoption.
Fostering Hope has been an astounding success thus far.
So much so that the staff has even adopted a few pets for themselves!
One of the front desk workers, Vincent, met his sixth dog through this program.
Many other employees report loving it too commenting that it makes for a fun work environment.
More than sixty dogs have been adopted out since the beginning of Fostering Hope.
That is sixty dogs that would otherwise still be living in a shelter without a home.
Imagine what could be accomplished if this program was adopted by several hotels throughout the nation.
More info: Home2 Suites
If every pet friendly hotel opted into a program similar to this one it would greatly reduce the burden of many animal shelters. Though this hotel chooses to only take in dogs, who is to say it would not work with other animals as well? The idea is truly brilliant and it is only a matter of time for other hotels take note. Having the option to hang out with a dog while staying in a hotel would defintely make me book there! I would probably end up adopting a new dog every time I went on vacation if this was common, though.