Volunteer Work with Animals

Volunteer work with animals can be incredibly rewarding and in some cases a truly wild experience – feeding dead mice to injured animals anyone? But not to fear, volunteering with animals has something for all levels and your contribution will help save animals or improve the lives of animals and their habitat.

Humane Society – The Humane Society or SPCA is one popular place to do volunteer work with animals and help save animals. You can volunteer to cuddle cats or bunnies or take dogs for walks. A weekly commitment is usually required. What a PURRR-FECT opportunity for volunteering with animals. There are also special shelters and volunteer groups dedicated to greyhounds since thousands are killed each year after their racing days are over. In many cases by helping find homes for unwanted animals, you are literally helping to save the lives of cats and dogs who would love, and deserve, a good home.

Local Interests Groups – If there is a wildlife issue in your community, chances are there is a local interest group and opportunity to do volunteer work with animals. Birding groups are very popular regardless of where you live. Near where I live there is a local group that counts golden eagles in the annual golden eagle migration. They set up their lawn chairs and have a great time sharing their birding knowledge with other birders. Think of a local animal that you’re particularly interested in, and then see if you can find a local interest group in which you can do volunteer work with animals for them.

City Park – Many people are surprised that you can do volunteer work with animals in city parks but it’s true. In my city, Calgary, Canada, volunteering with animals is very hands on. They look for volunteers each spring to count and measure garter snakes as they come out of their hibernacula (place where snakes all hibernate together all winter long). They also need volunteers to count and measure frogs each spring. This particular volunteering with animals opportunity is only a few hours commitment for a few weeks and the chance to see spring in a whole new light. Help save animals in this case is very hands on.

Zoo – The zoo is a popular place for many animal lovers to do volunteer work with animals, but be forewarned that it may take some time, if ever, before you actually get to work with animals directly. Don’t let this discourage you though. If you volunteer as a docent (education volunteer), you will usually receive extensive training and will have the opportunity to educate the public on animals. You may also get to know zoo keepers and get the inside scoop on the individual animals and some unforgettable animal stories that will only get more outrageous as the zookeepers get to know you better. Did you hear about the colobus monkey great escape(true story)? This is a great opportunity for volunteering with animals since often you can choose your own animal artefacts and which animal(s) you will discuss, so if you love big cats, you can do a presentation on lions and tigers. Love primates? Explain the difference between a monkey and an ape to the public so people will stop calling gorilla’s monkeys. Having worked at a zoo, in my opinion being a docent is one if not the best volunteer jobs at the zoo, even if you don't get to do hands on volunteer work with animals.

Wildlife Rescue Shelter – These shelters take in wild animals that have been injured. You can expect to see all kinds of local wildlife up close with this type of volunteer work with animals, and will help save animals directly, but it’s not all glamour. Many volunteers will spend the majority of their time cleaning up poop, changing bedding and feeding the animals, and in case you didn’t know, geese poop a lot! Not the most glamorous tasks, but nonetheless essential to the animal’s health and well being. You will likely see severely injured animals, many of which will not survive. Many animals feed on dead mice, so you will likely see lots of dead mice in the animal enclosures. This can be a truly rewarding experience and you will learn a lot and never know what to expect, but is not for the faint of heart but directly helps save animals and is a hands on volunteer work with animals opportunity.

National Parks – I have been fortunate enough to participate in the first volunteer program offered by the national parks in Banff National Park Canada. The program is expanding to other national parks in Canada and similar programs may exist in national parks throughout the world. Through this volunteering with animals experience, I have collected grizzly bear hair for DNA analysis and soon I will go looking for cougar and wolf tracks to give scientists a better idea of these carnivores’ activities and whereabouts during the winter months. At the same time, I'm out hiking, enjoying beautiful scenery and making a difference to help save animals. As a volunteer we have also received extensive training on bear safety and had the opportunity to meet with scientists and discuss their work. How cool is that? Check with your local national park to see if similar volunteer work with animals opportunities exist. If they don’t, see if it’s possible to assist a researcher and tag along with them.

International Volunteer Work with Animals - Name the animal and a volunteering with animals opportunity to help save animals likely exists for it. I participated in a volunteer vacation doing observational research on minke whales and dolphins off the west coast of Scotland which was an unforgettable experience. Similarly, you can volunteer with Komodo dragons in Indonesia, Tasmanian devils in Australia, or Proboscis monkeys in Borneo! Volunteer vacations are a fantastic way to make a difference, see a new part of the world and meet some great like minded people along the way.

Please feel free to share your own volunteer work with animals story below! Happy volunteering!