Volunteer Information
The Benefits of Volunteering
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Volunteering with animals can be a rewarding and fulfilling experience, offering various benefits both for the volunteers and the animals. Here are some key advantages:
Animal Welfare
Community Engagement
Volunteering directly contributes to the well-being of animals. Your efforts can help provide care, attention, and socialization, improving their overall quality of life.
Volunteering allows you to connect with your local community. You'll likely meet like-minded individuals who share a passion for animals and their welfare, fostering a sense of camaraderie.
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Skill Development
Working at an animal shelter can provide opportunities to develop and enhance various skills, such as animal care, communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and customer service.
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Compassion and Empathy
Volunteering can cultivate and strengthen your sense of compassion and empathy. You may gain a deeper understanding of the challenges animals face, leading to increased empathy not only for animals but for people in challenging situations as well.
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Personal Satisfaction
Knowing that you've made a positive impact on the lives of animals can be immensely satisfying. Volunteering often brings a sense of fulfillment and purpose.
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Learning Experience
Volunteering at an animal shelter can be an educational experience. You may learn about different species, their behaviors, medical needs, and the importance of responsible pet ownership.
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Positive Environment
Animal shelters often have a positive and supportive atmosphere. Volunteering can provide an escape from daily stresses and offer a welcoming and uplifting environment.
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Health Benefits
Spending time with animals has been linked to various health benefits, including reduced stress, lower blood pressure, and increased levels of the feel-good hormone oxytocin.
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Career Exploration
For those considering a career in animal-related fields, volunteering provides valuable hands-on experience. It can help you decide if working with animals is the right path for you and can be a valuable addition to your resume.
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Advocacy Opportunities
Through volunteering, you may become more aware of animal rights and welfare issues. This awareness can turn you into an advocate for positive change, raising awareness about responsible pet ownership and the treatment of animals.
Remember, the benefits of volunteering can vary from person to person, but the overall impact is often positive and contributes to the well-being of both volunteers and the animals they care for.
Volunteer Program Opportunities
Our Animal Shelter Volunteer Program offers a myriad of opportunities for individuals with a passion for making a positive impact on the lives of our furry friends.
Maintenance Commitee
Volunteers assist with yard work, general maintenance around the shelter, automotive repairs, renovations, etc.
Fundraising Committee
TDHS relies on local fund raising, donations and volunteers to support its activities. We receive no funding from the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA), as we only have the status of an affiliate branch. Therefore, volunteers that are interested in discussing fundraising ideas, assist in the planning, coordinating and execution of events are greatly appreciated. Volunteers could also assist in communicating with sponsors and donors.
Sewing Commitee
Volunteers are asked to cut down and resew large bulky comforters that do not fit in our washing machine into smaller bedding pieces for the comfort of our animals.
Canine Enrichment
This program allows volunteers to help maintain the health and welfare of TDHS dogs by providing physical activity, training, and companionship. While volunteers are walking our dogs, they can also provide mental stimulation through positive reinforcement by leash training or reinforcing basic commands. Volunteers can also let certain dogs run loose in our fenced-in yard to allow them to burn their energy. Other tasks may include brushing and bathing dogs, playing fetch and socializing puppies through humane interaction.
Feline Enrichment
This program includes several activities to help stimulate the cats. Volunteers will be asked to play with very active cats and kittens. Volunteers will also be asked to pet and brush some of the cats that are more nervous and shy in order to improve there socialization through humane interaction. Feline enrichment provided by our volunteers is necessary to improve the quality of life of the feline residents and make there stay here at TDHS more enjoyable. A well-socialized cat is more likely to be loving, trusting, affectionate and well-behaved and therefore can be successfully adopted.
Hands-On Cleaning
Depending on the time of day, volunteers will assist our employees with animal care that is provided daily. Some of the responsibilities include cleaning adoption rooms (scooping litter boxes, cleaning dog kennels, sweeping, moping), providing fresh food and water, helping with laundry, replenishing areas with bedding and supplies, etc.
Fundraising Events
TDHS is always planning different types of events which could not be possible without the help of our volunteers. There are several roles that volunteers can have during these events. Events vary from fundraisers, booths, adoption events, community events, etc.
Promoting Pet Adoptions
Volunteers assist staff by showing adoptable animals to the public during events. They also help promoting adoptable pets from the TDHS through social media.
Fostering Animals
On occasion TDHS searches for extraordinary families who are capable of opening their homes and hearts to certain animals in our care that are in need of special care such as post-op patients, bottle feeding kittens, nursing mothers with their kittens, cats or dogs with minor wounds or treatable illnesses, etc.
Dog & Cat Transfer Programs
When TDHS is faced with a lack of space for new arrivals in our facility, we reach out to other shelters in Ontario through our Second Chance Dog Transfer Program. With this program we occasionally need new volunteers to transport our animals from our shelter to another.
