How To Find Animal Volunteer Opportunities Near You

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If you’re an animal lover, there are many ways to help animals. Whether you have pets of your own or not, volunteering to help shelters, rescues, and other organizations is a great way to get your animal fix and support a worthy cause. You may be wondering how to find animal volunteer opportunities near me. We have the answers and more in this article. 

Let’s dive in! 

Why Do Animal Organizations Need Volunteers?

Animal organizations rely heavily on volunteers for several crucial reasons. Volunteers play a vital role in providing care and support to pets. From feeding and grooming to exercising and socializing, they ensure the animals’ basic needs are met. They also offer individual attention and companionship, which can be life-saving for animals that have been abandoned, neglected, or even abused. Contributing to pets’ mental well-being or rehabilitation also increases their chances of finding loving furever homes.

Volunteers may also assist in various administrative and operational tasks, enabling animal organizations to function smoothly. For example, they may help with fundraising efforts, organizing events, and spreading awareness throughout communities. Animal organizations often need volunteers with specialized skills, such as graphic design or photography, to enhance promotional materials or pet adoption announcements on websites. 

Volunteers are indispensable to animal organizations. Their dedication and compassion improve the well-being of pets. They help increase the impact by helping them achieve their mission. Without volunteers, some organizations may struggle or even fail. But when people donate time, there’s a greater ability to help more animals.

Teens Volunteering At Humane Society of New York

What Are the Benefits of Volunteering?

Volunteering for an animal organization offers numerous benefits for the individuals involved. It provides a unique opportunity to positively impact the lives of vulnerable animals. By dedicating your time and energy, you’ll gain a feeling of accomplishment and the unconditional love of the animals you care for. The volunteer experience fosters a sense of fulfillment, purpose, and personal satisfaction, knowing your actions directly improve the lives of these creatures. 

Volunteering also allows you to develop valuable skills, such as animal handling, veterinary assistance, customer service, and organizational abilities. These experiences can enhance your professional growth and open doors to related career opportunities. 

In addition, working with animals has been shown to have therapeutic effects like reducing stress levels, boosting mood, and promoting your overall well-being. The benefits of volunteering for an animal organization are likely also connecting with other volunteers or staff who share a similar passion for animal welfare.

Organization Highlight: Check out our interview with Matt Pepper of Michigan Humane to learn more examples of the need and great work of volunteers.

What Types of Animal Volunteer Opportunities Are Available? 

The types of animal volunteer opportunities available are numerous. What I’ve found in my animal welfare tenure is that there are so many ways to help beyond dog walking and cat box cleaning. They vary tremendously across organizations. You’ll find administration, marketing, groundskeeping, and animal care and enrichment needs. Services like event staff and coordination may also be available. Or, if you prefer to have something to do at home, organizations may need someone to write and send out thank you notes to donors and volunteers. In addition, if you get to know an organization, you may even suggest creative ways for you to volunteer based on your skill set.

Animal Shelters

Animal shelters are often looking for volunteers to walk dogs or feed kittens, but these are just two of the hundreds of tasks that volunteers can help with. There are typically numerous opportunities to lend a hand. Even if you’re responding to a specific need the shelter has, we always recommend letting them know your unique skills in case they would come in handy. For example, if you’re a photographer, perhaps you could take professional photos of pets in need of adoption to make them look more appealing when someone scrolls through their website. 

Rescue Organizations

Rescue organizations often have a variety of programs and need for volunteers. The needs vary similarly to those at shelters. Some organizations have a large focus on animal transportation and may need drivers. Others may be looking for grant writers, animal rights advocates, or even lobbyists to help them change or improve state laws. 

Organization Highlight: Learn about The Asher House animal sanctuary and rescue.

Service Dog Training

Service dog training centers also welcome volunteers for various tasks, but specifically for trainers. Trainers take dogs into their homes to prepare the pup for service through real-world scenarios. If you’re interested in getting involved, we recommend checking out Guide Dogs for the Blind or Paws with a Cause. 

Veterinary Centers

Some veterinarians ask for volunteers to help with things like events. Check with your local vet to see if they may need help with a spay and neuter clinic or other jobs. They may be able to use people with administrative skills, veterinarian skills, or event coordination. 

Train Your Dog to Be a Therapy Dog

Therapy dogs are used in a variety of settings. For example, they’re used to help calm down people with anxiety and put a smile on the face of kids in cancer centers. You can train your dog to become a therapy dog. You’ll need to get connected with an organization that visits hospitals, schools, or other places, and they typically have their unique certification your dog will need to pass.

Wildlife Organizations

If you prefer the wild versus volunteering with domesticated pets, you can find a lot of opportunities to work with wildlife. From helping at wildlife sanctuaries to projects that count humpback whales each year, there are some unique experiences. Organizations rely on volunteers to help accomplish their goals.

How Do I Find Animal Volunteer Opportunities Near Me? 

One of the most effective ways to find animal volunteer opportunities near you is to search online. Using search engines, type in keywords such as “animal shelter volunteer,” “animal rescue volunteer,” or “wildlife rehabilitation volunteer,” along with your city or state. This will help you discover relevant organizations in your area. 

Visiting local animal shelters and rescue organizations is also a great way to find volunteer opportunities. Reach out to them directly or check their websites for information on volunteering. 

You can also inquire about volunteering at veterinary clinics, animal sanctuaries, or wildlife rehabilitation centers in your vicinity. Social media platforms, such as Facebook groups or pages dedicated to animal welfare, might also provide leads. 

Once you have found a few animal volunteer opportunities that you are interested in, contact the organization to learn more about their requirements and process.

Organization Highlight: Find out about Street Dog Hero’s work in animal welfare and what needs they have.

Are There General Requirements for Volunteering? 

Every organization will have its own policies for volunteering. So, it’s essential to inquire about their requirements before you agree to volunteer. While helping animals is the goal, we also encourage you to make sure that in whatever capacity you choose to serve that it’s the right fit for you.

Pro Tip: The Animal Care Expo is an annual event focused on animal welfare. It can be a great place to make connections and potentially find the right avenue to utilize your skills.

Volunteering With Animals Is Guaranteed to Bring a Smile to Your Face

Volunteering with animals is a win-win for you and the fur babies involved. Animals have a way of bringing a smile to our faces. Of course, you may face some dire situations when volunteering with rescue organizations, but there are likely to be more happy experiences than sad ones. 

Have you volunteered with an animal organization? We’d love to hear about your experience! Share your story in the comments below.