Volunteers help at local rescue shelter

Share Your Love of Pets - Volunteer

Jeanne Blandford | February 04, 2020

Creative Ways to Volunteer in Your Community

It may be that you already have a pet, or two, or…

It may be that you are at a place in your life that you can’t physically take in a permanent addition to your family but miss having a furry friend to nurture.

If you love animals and want to share the love, there are many volunteer opportunities available.
 

Visit your local shelter and ask if they need help: 

  • Walking the dogs – which will help socialize adoptables as well as work off pent-up energy (for the both of you).                                         Remember: age restrictions may apply.
  • Playing with the cats. Cats need socializing too!
  • Cleaning kennels or doing laundry.
  • Donating your own occupational talents: lawyer, writer, photographer, accountant, event planner.
  • Soliciting much needed items like food, blankets or cleaning products from local businesses and residents.
  • Organizing an outside cleanup.  Planting some welcoming annuals can help make potential adopters feel more relaxed.

Foster – many rescue organizations offer a fostering program. Fostering gives you a chance to help socialize a dog or cat and identify the perfect environment that individual pet needs to find its perfect forever home. Adoptions through fostering have a much higher rate of longevity than those straight from a kennel. Keep in mind: there is no shame if you become a “Foster Failure” and elect to keep the pet. It happens to the best of us.

Organize a microchipping event with your local veterinarian. A simple chip injection can help find a lost pet.

Community Pet Microchipping Event

 

Run a community tag sale with profits going to the shelter. Useable donations such as linens, cages, and bowls may also be collected and donated directly to the shelter.

Partner with other non-profit groups like senior centers and scout troops to make dog and cat toys, blankets and ADOPT ME vests. Materials can come from discarded clothes and linens. Run the idea by your rescue group first to make sure the item you have in mind is safe. Showing them a prototype is always a good idea.

Cat plays with donated toy

Education - Help spread the importance of Spay and Neuter (SNIP) as well as Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programs. These programs can greatly reduce the number of feral cats and dogs as well as in-take numbers at your local shelter. Thus having more resources go to other displaced animals.

Be creative and have fun sharing your love of pets with others less fortunate.   Volunteer.