Volunteer

Thank you so much for your interest in becoming a volunteer with The Humane Society of St. Joseph County!
We have many different volunteer opportunities, and are always grateful for individuals who donate their time and talents to enhance our organization and uplift our community.

Volunteers must be 18 years old or over and independent in order to volunteer without adult supervision, and to work with our dogs. Anyone between the ages of 8-18 must be accompanied by a responsible adult/guardian at all times, and can help out with our cats, or in non-animal facing roles. As a safety precaution, children under the age of 8 are not permitted to volunteer with our animals hands-on. Please reach out to our Outreach Coordinator with any questions, as we do offer programming and give back opportunities for younger children!

 

Volunteer Opportunities

In Shelter

1. Dog Walker: Walking, exercising, socializing, grooming and loving on our dogs. As you know, this is very important work, as our dogs have so much fun when they are out with you for a walk! It provides much needed exercise and enrichment.

2. Cat Caregiver: Petting, socializing, grooming and loving on our cats. We also need help cleaning our cat rooms and scooping litter boxes in the morning hours. Cats need love too and they enjoy spending some one on one time with you!

3. Enrichment Team: Prepare enrichment items (Kongs, Puzzle Feeders, etc) for dogs or provide cat enrichment.

4. Dog Training: Do you have experience with Fear Free and Force Free training methods? Teaching shelter dogs basic manners will increase their adoptability and provide mental stimulation which leads to happier, healthier pets.

5. Creative Team: We are looking for individuals with skills in the field of photography, videography, and graphic design to make our animals shine online! The Creative Team will work to produce content for social media including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and our official shelter website.

6. Grounds Keeping & Gardening: Volunteers are needed to maintain our wonderful gardens and grounds. If you have a green thumb or just love to do yard work, please let us know!

7. Facility Care & Maintenance: Are you good at fixing things? These volunteer duties may include changing light bulbs, repairing and hanging items, fixing doors, and more. We always need handy people with these talents!

8. Housekeeping: Housekeeping volunteers help with laundry, dishes, and other janitorial duties. The purpose of this position is to ensure each animal has a clean bowl to eat their meal out of, and a soft clean blanket to lay their head.

Other Activities

9. Animal Transport Volunteer: Do you have some time on your hands and enjoy driving? Maybe you want to help animals but aren’t able to help in-shelter. Sounds like transport driving is right for you!
We partner with some amazing No-Kill rescues around the Midwest, who help us to maintain our no-kill status. To learn more, email [email protected]

10. Animal Outreach: We occasionally take animals to events in the community. We need animal handlers who are outgoing and willing to speak with the public to attend these events with our Outreach Coordinator. Experience controlling large breed dogs is a plus!

11. Community Outreach Team: Help us with events such as Trunk or Treats, donation drives, microchip clinics, and community outreach where we provide information and resources to the public!

12. Fundraising Team: Like planning or have a knack for raising funds? Then we need you to help us plan, obtain sponsorships, and execute successful fundraising campaigns.

13. PetSmart Cat Care: Once every 4 weeks we have 8-10 cats stay at PetSmart on Grape Road for one week in hopes of getting them adopted. We need adult volunteers who will clean, feed and water the cats every morning and evening.