Justin James Foster

If Justin James Foster could volunteer at Valley Animal Center every day, he would!

For having just celebrated his 18th birthday on April 11th, Justin has already made a big impact on the community; he’s been volunteering at Valley Animal Center for two years now and enjoys every minute of it.

Justin first learned about Valley Animal Center from his stepsister, Maegan Wesson, one of our animal care associates. In addition to working with Maegan, Justin enjoys working with Ruben Cantu, our dog care supervisor.

“He’s nice to me,” Justin said, “and helps me a lot whenever I need help. He helps me put dogs in crates and clean kennels.”

Aside from cleaning kennels and washing dishes, Justin’s favorite task is folding laundry.

“Having Justin here is such a huge help,” Ruben said. “I can always count on him to help with anything.”

Justin also enjoys taking dogs out for walks. He’s one of the few volunteers who’s permitted to walk dogs and can often be found taking some of our larger dogs out to the Dr. James W. Thornton Dog Park.

“One of my favorite things about Justin,” Ruben said, “is his dedication to our big dogs. Our big dogs can sometimes be a bit more of a challenge to walk but Justin has no problem investing the time to help get them out to our park.”

“What I like about walking dogs,” Justin said, “is that I can walk them to the dog park. I just let them run around and I can just relax out there.”

Right now, Justin’s favorite dog to work with is Neera, an American Staffy mix who gave birth to a litter of puppies while in foster care.

“She really likes me,” Justin said, “and never leaves my side.”

Justin has one dog of his own, a Chiweenie mix named Maggie he adopted from us last year.

Currently, Justin is a junior at Central High School in Fresno. His favorite subjects are math and English. When he graduates next school year, Justin said he hopes to land a job at Valley Animal Center.

We are so happy Justin is with us at Valley Animal Center!