VOLUNTEER

Step 1: Watch our online orientation video. At the end of the video, there is a web address to the volunteer quiz. Type the web address into the address bar to get to the quiz.

Step 2: Take the volunteer quiz. You must receive a 100%, but can take it as many times as you need. Once you receive a 100%, a group of text will pop up offering two different applications, our court ordered volunteer application and our general volunteer application. Copy whichever web address is the correct one for your volunteering, paste it in the address bar, and go.

Step 3: Fill out the volunteer application. Once the application is completed, the Volunteer Coordinator will be in touch with the next in-person meeting dates.

Step 4: Attend an in-person meeting. This meeting will go over the Volunteer Handbook, scheduling, and any questions you may have.

Step 5: If interested in working with our felines or canines, stay after the meeting for the animal behavior & handling training run by our Behavior & Training Supervisor.

Step 6: Email the Volunteer Coordinator with which assignment you would like to be trained on to start, and what your availability looks like. They will work to schedule you to shadow either a staff member or experienced volunteer in that position.

Step 7: Attend your job shadow. This will help you get acquainted with the shelter space and what your assignment looks like in action. The shadow is one regular shift, so most likely 2 hours, with some being 1 or 1.5 hours. During your job shadow you will also receive a name-tag, a t-shirt, and two volunteer agreements to read over and sign.

Step 8: Create your volunteer login on VicNet and begin scheduling yourself for a regular shift. We ask volunteers to sign up for their shift by Sunday evening for the following week.

Due to how much time and training we put into our volunteers to ensure they will be successful here, we ask for a weekly commitment for four months. We understand that sometimes things come up, so if you a miss a week or two, that’s okay! But the expectation is that our volunteers will be able to sign up for a weekly shift.

We ask that our volunteers be 16 years of age or older to volunteer independently. To volunteer with a parent or guardian, they must be 13 years of age or older. We ask that the parent or guardian go through the same application and training process. This age requirement is in place to ensure that we are keeping both our volunteers and our animals safe, and we cannot make exceptions to it.

If you have a child under 13 years old who is interested in our organization, we recommend looking into our foster program as a potential option for your family. We are also happy to chat about making enrichment items at home and bringing them in for our animals.

Different volunteer assignments have different shifts available, but across the board we have shifts seven days a week from 8am-4pm. The majority of our shifts are 2 hours long, with a few being 1 or 1.5 hours.

We have new volunteers choose one assignment, or assignments that go well together, for their first 12 hours of service. For example, volunteers doing laundry and donation sorting are welcome to learn both, but we don’t train volunteers on canine and feline duties at the same time. This way, volunteers are thoroughly learning an assignment before moving on to another. If a volunteer is interested in two assignments that are separate from one another, we ask that they please choose one to learn first. They’ll do their training and shadow on this assignment, and once they’ve done 12 volunteering hours in that assignment, they’ll check in with the Volunteer Coordinator and will be able to request training in another area.

If your offense does not fall into any of the following categories: a felony, a crime including violence or harassment of any kind, theft, or property destruction, then you may fulfill your hours here. We also ask that you provide us with ample time to bring you through orientation, training, and meet your hours prior to your deadline. Follow the online application process, and after the quiz, there is a Court Ordered Volunteer application you may fill out. The Volunteer Coordinator will then be in touch via email.

If you are interested in meeting our four month required commitment, you are more than welcome to do your community service hours here. We only accept short-term volunteers if they are fulfilling court-ordered hours.

Communications between the Volunteer Coordinator and our volunteers occurs entirely via email. We also have our volunteers schedule themselves for shifts through an online platform. If you are able to access email and internet via a smart phone, with the help of a friend or family member, or at a local library throughout the week, we can certainly accept you as a volunteer.

A step in our volunteer onboarding process is to have new volunteers shadow experienced volunteers or staff members in order to learn what their assignment looks like through hands-on work. We are happy to assign new volunteers to shadows for their first few shifts if they feel they could use the additional support. Due to limited staff and volunteers, we are unable to have permanent coaches assigned to any of our volunteers. Volunteers are expected to be able to volunteer independently after their shadow(s).

If an individual would like to volunteer as a pair with their own coach, they are more than welcome to do so. We just ask that both individuals go through our online application and onboarding processes.

Most of our puppies and kittens are housed in foster homes, and therefore are not at the shelter to meet people unless they have made an adoption appointment. To work with our adult dogs and cats, we have volunteers go through an animal behavior & training session with our Behavior & Training Supervisor to make sure that we are keeping our volunteers and our animals safe and comfortable. Due to this important training, only volunteers who have committed to being here for four months or longer are able to work directly with our animals.