Volunteer with Animals

Volunteering with animals is a rewarding experience. These opportunities range from working at a local shelter to fostering an animal until a permanent home is found for them. Some pets can be trained to be volunteers themselves as is the case with therapy animals. This is a particularly rewarding volunteer opportunity since it often means both the pet owner and the animal do the charitable work together. An individual may find that assisting with the care of shelter animals is one way to make great use of their time. The time spent taking care of those animals by feeding them, walking them, and playing with them is most certainly as beneficial to the volunteer as it is to the animal receiving the attention. Often, shelters are thought of as a sad, final home for an unwanted animal that has no hope of escaping being euthanized. Although, many people find that shelters are the best places to find a new pet.

As a volunteer at a local shelter, an individual can help ensure the animals there get the best care they possibly can as they await the day their new owner comes to claim them. In some cases, a shelter volunteer may find themselves falling in love with a certain special cat or dog. They, themselves, adopt the animal and begin a lifelong friendship with a bond that is truly special. The best way to find opportunities to volunteer at a shelter is to simply visit one or more in a local area. It is easy to inquire as to the availability of volunteer positions. While it may be possible to find part-time paying positions, most all shelters can use all the free help offered to them. If a person has a full schedule between work and family already, or if the shelter has all the help it currently needs, there are still ways to help out the animals at local shelters. Donating canned foods, pet supplies or toys can be a huge help to just about any local animal shelter. So, even if an individual has limited free time to care for animals at a local shelter, there is still a way for that person to easily do as much good as they possibly can even in the smallest gesture. In addition to traditional shelters, there are also animal rescue organizations that often need as much volunteer help as they can possibly get, too.

Emergency Rescue organizations often take animals that are about to be put to sleep in traditional shelters and place them in foster homes led by caring volunteers. These foster homes are usually temporary places for the animal to stay until the emergency rescue organization can find someone to adopt them into a permanent, safe, loving and happy home. As with shelters, it is not necessary to volunteer hours at a time to do a great deal of good for a rescue organization. Rescue organizations thrive on donations in the form of pet food as well as money. It is easy to find these kinds of places by searching online. Sometimes, the next great family pet is a few states away. Or, sometimes volunteering to help comes in the form of helping a rescue with website tasks including sending out routine emails for foster homes or asking for donations for pet vaccinations or expensive medical treatments. For some people, just knowing that they are helping to save an animal’s life is about the most rewarding form of volunteer work they can do. For anyone who wishes to have a hands-on experience caring for shelter or rescue animals, there are plenty of volunteer job openings to be had at any time of the year.

Again, it helps to check with local shelters, and to visit them in person to get an idea of just where the greatest help can be made use of including helping to keep the pet areas clean and filled with love and attention. In the case of rescue organizations, there is the opportunity to become a foster parent and let a home or apartment, if pets are permitted, become a haven for a former shelter pet. A person can do the greatest good knowing they are helping to provide healthy living quarters, food and attention to animals that would otherwise be put down while a permanent family is located for them. Sometimes, the love a foster volunteer gives to an animal makes the difference in that animal’s ability to be as social and loving as possible. This, too, can be a tremendous benefit to the animal, the volunteer, and his or her future, permanent owners.

Some animal volunteers can do good for others by visiting the elderly or the sick with their furry friend. The animal volunteer may, in the case of a dog, need to undergo a degree of training first. Usually, an owner needs to prove to the volunteer therapy pet program that they are able to give appropriate commands to their animal on cue. Of course, the animal would also need to demonstrate their competence in understanding such commands. For example, if a dog is admitted into a therapy program and visits a convalescent home, his owner may need to tell him to ‘Leave it!’ if they suddenly realize the patient is somewhat shy or timid when it comes to being in contact with their new visitor. Dogs are not the only kinds of animals who can answer the vocational call of therapy animal. Cats, rabbits, guinea pigs and even some kinds of birds can all qualify as long as they meet a program’s requirements. Also, the owner or owners must also usually comply with certain levels of behavioral training since it is imperative they maintain proper control over their pet at all times. There are a wide variety of ways to go about volunteering with animals, so it is possible to easily find a way to do something good for a worthwhile cause.