Volunteering Etiquette & Opportunities

Volunteering at a pet shelter is pretty self explanatory once you're a "part of the system", so to speak. You spend time with the animals, make sure they're exercised and happy, clean up the shelter from the kennels to the bedding, and miscellaneous tasks all designed with one task in mind: find every single pet a wonderful, forever, loving home.

However, reaching out to volunteer can be intimidating. Usually the website for the shelter has a link for volunteers and very detailed contact information and steps, but for those where the contact information is a little more vague (like purrfect friends, for instance), you can pretty safely follow the below steps to ensure you're making a positive impact.

1. Find a shelter that you wouldn't mind driving to often. It's definitely awesome when you can make a long-term commitment to a shelter, even if it's only a couple hours a week. Those odd hours add up to make a world of difference to the pets the shelter serves.

2. Find out what time commitments you currently have, and what kind of time commitment you would be ready, willing and able to make to the shelter on a weekly basis (you don't need specific hours just yet, but it's good to keep in mind).

3. Make a list of your goals for the experience or your abilities (i.e. what can you offer them in addition to traditional tasks--for me, this meant sewing and craftiness).

4. Research the shelter and find out all you can about them. Are they a no-kill, full-service, cats & dogs or just one or the other, do they house unusual pets, what kind of hours do they hold, what types of things they do in the community or at the shelter to get their animals adopted, what policies they have, what kinds of volunteers they're looking for, their contact info, where they're located, etc. (This is a rough list, but the more you know, the more your creativity can get moving to make a positive impact!)

5. Call or email the shelter. If you have the time, be sure to introduce yourself and why you want to help out, what strengths  and interests you have to help the shelter, what kind of hours you have available, and ask them what help they need and if they have a training program or require certain certifications (pet CPR, etc.). Most don't, but you want to be sure you're not getting in over your head, especially if you have very limited hours!

6. Attend all trainings and hold all commitments! If it helps, view it as a job. They appreciate calls well in advance if you can't make something you committed too, especially if you're committed to handling animals, and communication is key.

7. Approach everything as an opportunity to LEARN & have FUN!

The website below is a good place to start. I've input Cincinnati animal shelters as a starting point:

http://www.volunteermatch.org/search/orgs.jsp?l=Cincinnati%2C+OH+45219%2C+USA&k=animal+shelter