How to Support Your Local Animal Shelter

Local animal shelters need all the help they can get, and there are almost as many ways you can provide it as there are cats, dogs and other creatures up for adoption. A shelter's needs vary depending on what's going on in your community and how much money is in the budget. You can apply for a paying job as an animal care technician, front desk worker, bookkeeper, volunteer coordinator, part-time veterinarian, etc., or you can volunteer.

I've volunteered at our local shelter off and on for the last nine years. The first time, I kept the cats in the cat adoption room amused and answered questions from potential adopters, helped publish a volunteer newsletter, and worked in the clinic during spay/neuter and other procedures. I also signed up to be a foster parent and cared for a homeless mother cat and her newborn litter, as well as an older cat whom I eventually adopted.

The second time I volunteered was after the tragic fire in Los Alamos, New Mexico in 1999, as part of a massive effort spearheaded by our animal shelter and along with many members of the community, I helped care for all the rescued dogs, cats and other animals until their families could take them home.

The third time, after the Katrina disaster in 2005, I walked and helped socialize the displaced dogs who had been transported to our Santa Fe shelter in the hopes that either their families would eventually contact them or they would be adopted.

Volunteer chores at shelters, depending on your particular talents, experience, and preferences, include:

1) cleaning cages and feeding the animals
2) walking dogs and playing with cats as well as talking to the public about the animals
3) working in the clinic doing various jobs, including assembling and cleaning surgical packs and assisting with spay/neuter and other surgeries
4) helping maintain the shelter website
5) helping put out a shelter newsletter
6) fostering animals who may need socialization or more time before they're put up for adoption
7) helping with fundraising events and special projects like calendars
8) participating in humane education programs for kids and adults
9) interviewing potential adopters and conducting phone background checks
10) participating in mobile off-site adoption events
11) offering dog obedience classes if you have the expertise
12) helping advertise adoptable animals in the media and on flyers and posters
13) doing clerical work and answering phones

Other ways you can help your shelter are by donating money or goods (kibble and canned food, kitty litter, towels, blankets, etc.). You can arrange to leave money to the shelter in your will. And instead of asking for personal gifts on a special occasion (wedding, birthday, graduation), you might request that your friends and family donate money or goods to the shelter.

But one of the best ways to support your local shelter is to adopt all your pets from it, and encourage friends, family and colleagues to do the same.