20 years ago, when Lucy retired from her full time job, she wanted to contribute her time to something she was truly passionate about, so she began working as a volunteer at the SPCA kennel. Back in those days, the kennel was always filled with animals surrendered, rescued and in need of a home, but there was limited resources, and many animals did not receive full care and treatment they needed. So the idea of foster parents was raised, and Lucy was invited to start the Foster Parent Programme as a volunteer. She relied on the radio and newspapers to introduce the programme and to recruit suitable animal lovers to foster kittens and puppies. During the first year of the programme, Lucy recruited more than 70 foster parents all by herself. Over the next 20 years the programme has been developed fully and now helps educate the pet lovers community about animal welfare and responsible pet ownership.

During the past 20 years, the SPCA has recruited more than 3,200 foster parents, some of whom decided to adopt the animals they fostered. “Through becoming foster parents, people understand if they are suitable for keeping pets or not,” says Lucy. “Also, the rate of surrenders has been greatly reduced since the pet lovers will less likely to abandon the pets they have fostered.” Last year, approximately 400 foster parents fostered more than 1,000 animals. Lucy hopes to keep on helping the SPCA to re-home and save more animals, and continue to promote animal welfare.