The Pet Table with Rafa Medeiros

"It's Not About Me" – Natalie Perhus on Fostering, Homeward, and Showing Up for Animals

Natalie Perhus has fostered 24 dogs. After each one gets adopted, she hangs a framed photo on the wall above her foster kennel. That wall tells you everything you need to know about her. In this first episode of The Pet Table, Rafa sits down with Natalie, owner of NP Creative Consulting and Special Events Coordinator at Homeward Animal Shelter, for a conversation about what it actually takes to show up for animals in this community. They talk about fostering (and why "I could never do it, I'd get too attached" isn't the whole story), the events that bring hundreds of people out to meet shelter animals, and the one dog Natalie couldn't let go – Tackle Box, a 10-week-old puppy found in a shed with 14 other dogs, covered in mange, who is now living very comfortably on her couch. Plus: the overpopulation statistic that will stop you in your tracks, what 24 foster dogs taught Natalie about resilience, and the three words she hopes they'd use to describe her. If you've ever thought about fostering but talked yourself out of it – this one's for you.