Question

Volunteering at a New Animal Shelter ?

Answer 1

Animal shelters are for the most part, massively underfunded with facilities that are often overcrowded with rescued animals. Opening a new animal shelter can be an expensive undertaking with little financial gain for those involved. Therefore it is vital that they are able to keep operating through fundraising and goodwill. Though there are a number of fundraising campaigns for a variety of animal shelters, there are other ways that people can help other than sending monetary donations. One of the biggest problems that animal shelters face is lack of staffing. With rescued and abandoned animals continuously arriving at shelters across the nation, the facilities are constantly in need of more staff members to help out with the day-to-day running of the shelters. One way that people can help is by volunteering in their free time. Most new shelters need helping out with the daily chores such as feeding the animals or exercising them. Volunteers can help by taking the animals out of their pens or cages and playing with them or walking them. Other chores that also need doing are the cleaning of the cages, the administering of fresh food and water, and in some cases, foster parenting. Whether you are a dog lover, friend to felines or simply want to help out in any way, by volunteering at an animal shelter you are not only alleviating the pressure of the daily operations, but you also may get to make a new friend or two. Anyone who is interested in volunteering at an animal shelter but is not sure where to look, can start with volunteer websites like http://www.idealist.org. On websites such as these there are a number of listed rescue centers and animal shelters who need a variety of different volunteers for various tasks. Another good website to search is the Petfinder website at http://www.petfinder.com. On here there is a comprehensive list of animal shelters across the nation making it possible for potential volunteers to locate a new shelter near them.