Can I volunteer at a local animal shelter?

I want to volunteer at an animal shelter, but I'm only 14. Anyone know where I can voluteer? Please?

• I need something to do over the summer and I thought that volunteering at an animal shelter would be fun. I love working with animals (any kind). But I need to find an animal shelter that will let me volunteer. I'm 14 and I'm ready to volunteer. The shelter has to be in San Jose, but if you have an animal shelter link for any animal shelters in California I'll be glad to check it out. Thank You.

• Answer:

  As far as the age limit goes, it all depends on the shelter or rescue. EACH organization has different rules. Some you have to be 18 years old, some 16, some younger, and some will let you volunteer with a parent or sign a contract. You will have to check with each shelter to see what policy they have. To find some shelters, you can visit this link. (and to get you started I provided a short list of organizations, there are many more, at the end of my post) visit : http://www.petfinder.com/ Scroll down, and on the left it says "Find Animal Welfare Groups". You can put in your location/zip code and it will provide you with a list of all of the animal rescues and shelters in your area. Go through the list, call them, visit them, or take a look at there websites to see what their age limit is. Thats the best way of finding out who you can volunteer with. http://www.volunteermatch.org/ is also a great website for finding shelters and organizations to volunteer with and it will show you when you search which shelters are teen friendly. Also, I find shelters to have a more strict policy and age limit. Rescues, who work off of foster homes (homes that take in animals until they get adopted), are more lenient about the age limit. It was difficult for me to find a shelter to volunteer with when I was your age, I had to look for a couple of months until I finally found a shelter that would let me volunteer(the age limit was 13 and over w/ parent supervision). It worked out great! It was nice spending more time with my mom. Volunteering at a shelter is a lot of fun, but some people sometimes have bad experiences and don't want to volunteer because they have been to a bad, high kill shelter. Not all shelters are high kill and if you volunteer with one shelter and have a bad experience that doesn't mean you should stop. Just keep looking for the animal organization that suits you because they are all different. Some will let you play with the animals, and some might want you to do the dirty work, like cleaning up poop, vomit, laundry, etc. Just remember to never give up on your search, keep trying, there are MANY MANY shelters and rescues out there and they ALL need your help. Also, a GREAT website that could help you a lot is http://www.humaneteen.org/?q=forum The Humane Teen (one of the Humane Society of the United State's programs) website has great suggestion on how teens can help animals (volunteering, fundraising, clubs,..etc.). You can even get advice and help from other teens on the message board or the Humane Advisory Board members. I think that this website would help you so much! Check it out. :) Good luck! Here is the list (you will have to visit their websites or call for the age limit) Remember to also check volunteermatch.com Organization Pet List City, State/Prov Phone Finding Keepers 4 Creatures San Jose, CA email City of San José Animal Care Center San Jose, CA 408/ 578-7297 13th St Cats San Jose, CA 408-566-3637 Purr.fect Feline Companions San Jose, CA TikiHut Akita Rescue Association (TARA) San Francisco, CA South Bay Purebred Rescue San Jose, CA 408-629-8293 Nike Animal Rescue Foundation (NARF) San Jose, CA 408-224-NARF (6273) Bay Area Boxer Rescue San Jose, CA 408-787-0700 Katz Luv Us San Jose, CA 408-971-6489 Toy Breed Rescue San Jose, CA 408-379-5554 Animal Rescue and Care Network Inc. Santa Clara, CA Humane Society Silicon Valley Santa Clara, CA 408-727-3383 Silicon Valley Animal Control Authority Santa Clara, CA 408-764-0344 CARE Companion Animal Rescue Effort San Jose, CA 408/ 227-2273 Bay Area Siberian Husky Rescue/Referral Campbell, CA 800-473-BASH Pet Awareness Welfare Society for San Jose ACS Campbell, CA 877-729-7475 Shelter Cocker Rescue - Northern California San Jose, CA Our Pack, Inc. San Jose, CA 4084604244 Group Education to Protect and Defend Animals San Jose, CA NorCal Boxer Rescue Inc. Davis, CA 408-231-8036 German Shepherd Rescue of Northern California Inc Cupertino, CA (866) SAVE-GSD Homeless Kitties Los Gatos, CA please email Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary Cupertino, CA 408-420-7233 Itty Bitty Orphan Kitty Rescue San Jose, CA The Pet Network Inc. Saratoga, CA 408-450-2452 Unconditional Love Animal Rescue and Placement Los Gatos, CA (408) 529-4945 Bay Area Cat Rescue Mountain View, CA 650 279 4333 Fat Cat Rescue Mountain View, CA Bostons by the Bay - Northern CA Boston Terrier Rescue Mountain View, CA Companion Animal Rescue League San Jose, CA Humanimal Connection Inc. Redwood City, CA 650 578-4478 Ohlone Humane Society Fremont, CA (510) 792-4587 Tri-City Animal Shelter Fremont, CA 510-790-6640 Peninsula CatWorks Palo Alto, CA (650) 329-9570 Palo Alto Animal Services Palo Alto, CA 650-496-5971 Purrfect Cat Rescue Fremont, CA 510-739-1597 Furry Friends Rescue Fremont, CA 510-794-4703 Calys Cats Feline Rescue Stanford, CA 650-793-4273 Stanford Cat Network Stanford, CA (650) 566-8287 Pound Puppy Rescue Palo Alto, CA NorCal Irish Setter Rescue, Inc. Cupertino, CA (707) 823-1422 NorCal German Shorthaired Pointer Rescue Menlo Park, CA 408-402-2092 Town Cats Morgan Hill, CA 408-779-5761 Nine Lives Foundation Redwood City, CA 650-368-1365 Santa Cruz County Animal Services Scotts Valley, CA (831)454-7303 House Rabbit Society Redwood City, CA 650-868-7474 Rattie Ratz: Rescue, Resource, and Referral Mountain View, CA 650-704-5368 Northern California Bulldog Rescue Woodside, CA 6508513386 California Bengal Cat Rescue Redwood City, CA Tuffies Animal Rescue Pleasanton, CA (925)209-6480