Beth Stern Foster Failures

These days Beth Stern is mainly known for fostering cats and hosting kitten shows on the Hallmark Channel which don't exactly set the world on fire with amazing ratings.  Beth recently was in the news because she flew across the country to rescue a cat in Fontana, California that had been horribly abused.

The timing was also perfect for Beth, as she was able to attend a birthday party for Molly McNearney (wife of one Jimmy Kimmel) while she was in Los Angeles - maybe she was also able to visit with her cousin Noel while she was in town.

Beth's stay in New York with this new foster cat was short-lived, as she was down in the Sterns' mansion in Palm Beach, Florida a week later.  Beth was also recently interviewed by some South Florida publication called Modern Luxury -

In response to a question about how they find homes for the foster cats, Beth replied:

"I have a lot of cat followers (laughs) and a 100 percent success rate. I read each and every email that is sent to my foster address, and the ones I think are worthwhile to interview, I explore. Those names are then given to people who work for the NSALA, who decide who among that group should be called. They are given an extensive telephone interview, and then we talk to the vets and get the three references they submit to us who know them as families. By the time we are ready to deliver the cat or kitten, we are sure about their new forever homes, and I personally deliver each animal myself."

I'm not sure what Beth considers a "success", but over the years there appear to have been more than just a few foster placements that didn't work out so well - here are some examples:

1.  September 2014 - one of the bad stories about Beth's foster kittens.  Howard discussed this on the air, and told his listeners that the kittens were declawed and the returned to the Sterns due to a family problem: 

"Howard said he has a cat story real quick. He said he and his wife are involved in fostering cats. He said they had a couple of kittens they raised last summer named Ellie and Shirley. He said they were returned to them because of a family problem. Howard said that they had them declawed which bummed them out."

2.  February 2018 - foster named Sugar Plum Fairy (?) was returned to Beth.  Beth claimed that the woman who adopted the cat was "returning her after realizing she wasn’t the right fit. The adopter feels she would benefit by having a friend."  Beth also deleted a prior post which indicated that the reason for returning the cat was that the owner found out the cat wasn't a "lap kitten".
 
3.  December 2017 -  "Ten year old foster Felix is back".  "Felix is back with us and to no fault of his own or the family who adopted him. We’ve learned that he’s scared of children."  Perhaps they could check on this before placing other cats in the future.

4.  September 2017 - Maggie and Lyla back after refusing to eat in forever home and are now staying with Beth's "friend".

5.  March 2017 - foster cats Tatertot and Woodstock returned because of a family member's allergies.

6.  March 2017 - foster Sammy Crinkles only lasted one day in his 'forever' home due to the adopter having some (apparently newly-discovered) personal issues:

Truth be told...And here we go. I'm having a hard day. These 2 nuggets were breathing so heavily that I admitted them to Long Island Vet Specialists. Please pray for them. And on another note... Sammy Crinkles' adopter has some personal issues and cannot keep him...so he's back with me. One of those days that makes you wonder why you do what you do because the heartbreak is so real.... #mypurposeishard 💔

A post shared by Beth Stern (@bethostern) on Mar 13, 2017 at 3:50pm PDT

7.  December 2016 - adult fosters Sienna and Sugarplum up for adoption again as Virginia forever family can't keep them because "the family's 2 other resident kitties were never able to welcome them with open arms".

8.  May 2016- foster Strawberry back to the Sterns' Hamptons mansion  -  she "was placed with a family who only wanted a single pet. The family called me after having her for a few months and said Strawberry seemed unhappy and cried all night."

9.  November 2015 - Florida foster cats Banjo and Mathilda have returned "due to unforeseen circumstances".

10.  July 2015 -  foster cat returned after other cat in house doesn't get along with it.

11.  April 2015 - another case of an allergic forever family, as fosters Lollipop and Pumpernickel returned due to their forever mom being allergic to them.


While Beth may not have the 100% success rate described in that Florida magazine article, hopefully she and the North Shore Animal League will continue to improve the screening process so that less cats end up getting returned to Beth's Hamptons mansion.