Get creative with animal volunteer efforts

Do you love animals but cannot bring yourself to volunteer at the local animal shelter?

Do you fear you would end up adopting every animal?

It’s true, working in an animal shelter requires inner strength and is not for everyone. Of course, you can always help out with donations.

But for those looking for a more active role, here are some creative ways you can volunteer, which don’t require your physical presence there or a big pocketbook.

Look no further than your own skills, talents, lifestyle and available time.

Use your special talents and skills

Take stock of your skills and what you enjoy most. Are you a good graphic artist? Contractor? Web site designer? Grant writer? Fundraising guru? Advertising specialist? Or, do you have great telephone skills and simply enjoy working with people? Most local shelters need these skills and will welcome any help you can provide, be it for a couple of hours a month or several hours a week. Best of all, these projects can usually be catered to fit your schedule. If you’re unemployed, have reduced hours at work, are retired or simply wish to volunteer during the summer, undertaking volunteer projects that utilize your skills and talents will help bide time meaningfully. It will also keep you focused and your skills up to date and, perhaps, build your resume.

Drive a pet transport

Several area humane societies, including Lynchburg’s and Campbell and Amherst counties’, participate in a pet transport program, which takes pets from animal-surplus areas of the country, mainly the South, to states like New York and New Jersey where there’s often a shortage at animal shelters. Volunteers in the network drive short “legs” of the transport to make the entire journey possible. This worthwhile program is ideal for safe and responsible drivers with a fairly open schedule during the week and weekends. When you do a transport, you are more than rescuing pets in need and taking them to homes where they will be loved — you are maximizing the lifesaving by helping to create space in overcrowded shelters so that additional animals in need may be taken in and put up for adoption. 

Be an off-site adoption counselor

Do you simply love being with dogs and cats, just not at the shelter? Are you looking for something more “hands-on” with animals? Most of our local area humane societies need for responsible volunteers who can periodically participate in off-site adoption fairs, such as at stores and other local venues. By helping to make our wonderful shelter pets more accessible to the public, you will be increasing adoption rates singlehandedly, which in turn helps the shelter save even more lives!

Provide educational outreach

Do you love teaching and sharing your love of animals with others, especially children? If so, make a difference as an educational outreach volunteer teaching the community, especially the next generation, how to care for animals properly and treat them with kindness. This is a fun and rewarding experience for those with a passion for teaching and a passion for animal welfare.

Whatever your calling, find a volunteer opportunity that suits your talents and fits your personality and lifestyle. Please contact me at if you’d like more information on any of these programs, or if you have other creative ideas on volunteering for our local humane societies.