Marguarite Hartman a Great Neighbor

This week’s Great Neighbor might look a little familiar to you: We met her last week when she told us about Muffin, a sweet cocker spaniel mix that had been tossed out of a car window on Highway 91.

Marguarite Hartman is fostering Muffin until the pup’s two broken elbows heal.

We wondered about Marguerite and the dozens of people like her who take in pets that would other wise be euthanized in a dog pound.

For 11 years, Marguerite has taken in unwanted animals, and turned them to adoptable pets.

Sometimes there are a dozen four-footed friends running around.

Marguerite says the kids are raised, the house is empty – why not?

“It’s something to do,” she said. “Gets me up in the morning. And I couldn’t stand the fact there were so many animals being abused, and I had to make it up to them.”

The relationship with these foster pets can get pretty intense – downright personal!

“I had a puppy named Mamma Annie, and she had five babies on my bed,” she said.

Marguerite kept the mother dog and the litter until they were all adopted out.

And, like children, you never stop worrying about them.

“If (the new owners) don’t like the dog, I’ll take it back. Or I can go and repossess the dog if I don’t like the situation,” she said.

That is dedication, but one problem:

“How, when you fall in love with them, can you give them to another home?” asked anchor Karole Honas.

“If I don’t adopt them out, I can’t get any more because my house would be too full,” said Marguerite.

And there are a lot of dogs to be adopted out there.

“Some pets do end up staying forever,” she said, showing a cat. “This is Miss Ellie. I’ve had her for 11 years. “

Marguarite jokingly said she has a name for them: “foster failures.”

Marguerite and other foster parents like her are angels on earth, and we need more angels.

If you’d like to get involved, most of the expenses like feed or medicines are taken care of for you.

Call the hotline: (208) 680-3881. That’s the Bingham County Humane Society. You can find a humane society in your county. Foster one dog or foster more – it’s up to you. Just be a great neighbor.

As for Muffin, the puppy with the broken elbow, there’s a long list of people willing to adopt her, and enough donations have come in to pay for her surgery.