STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Tati · Chanel

volunteer work at an animal shelter?

Kelly · Hermes

I tried to volunteer at my local animal shelter a couple summers ago, but they would never answer my emails or call me back. It was so weird. I thought places like that were starving for help!

Anyway, I did apply for a part time job once at a boarding kennel, and I didn't get the job because apparently there were a zillion people who applied. I asked if volunteer experience would have helped me get it and they said that it definitely would have. So I think it could help. But I've also had plenty of friends who were receptionists at veterinarian offices without any kind of experience. So if you want to be a receptionist, you probably have a good chance of getting the job without having volunteered.

Farrah · Marc Jacobs

I am pretty sure that Collette volunteers at the Anti-Cruelty Society here in Chicago. You may want to PM her.

luckylily · Gucci

I volunteer at the animal shelter here and I really like it. I basically spend time hanging out w/ the dogs. I make sure they stay social and training them basic skills, like sit and down. It helps make them attractive to potential adopters.

The experience depends on the actual shelter and how sophisticated they are along w/ their volunteer program.

Tati · Chanel

luckylily wrote:

I volunteer at the animal shelter here and I really like it. I basically spend time hanging out w/ the dogs. I make sure they stay social and training them basic skills, like sit and down. It helps make them attractive to potential adopters.

The experience depends on the actual shelter and how sophisticated they are along w/ their volunteer program.

whats your schedule like? will they let you do what you can or do you have to put in so many hours?

Suasoria · Chanel

Other than shelters, there are a ton of other community organizations working with animals such as breed-specific rescues, trap-neuter-release programs, and many others.

One way to find them is to go to www.charitynavigator.org and type "animals" (or "cats" or whatever you prefer). It will give you a list, and also tell you a ranking for each one based on how much of their income goes to programs vs. salaries vs. fundraising. It's a great site for people who give $ to charities also.

zeitgeist4 · Gucci

I volunteered one summer at a local no-kill shelter. I did office work, every Tuesday morning. It was data entry, running letters through the postage machine, assembling press packets, etc.

I also supervised play in the yard area of the shelter. After a certain number of volunteer hours you could also walk the dogs.

Sevilla · BCBG

I'm actually going to volunteer orientation next Saturday at my local animal shelter. I think it's pretty standard that you have to go to an orientation then some trainings in order to start volunteering with the animals. The guy I talked to told me the trainings would center around feeding the animals and also socializing with them. He also said that even though I may have to do some stuff like paper filing, etc., I'll probably get to do what I sign up for most of the time, which is playing/socializing with the dogs and taking them on walks.