Ways to Help Your Local Animal Shelter

You don’t have to be an animal expert to help out at your community’s shelter. You just need to have the time and desire to lend a helping hand. And it doesn’t have to be a lot of time, either. In fact, you’re bound to have skills and talents that your local shelter can use.

Teach a class!

Helping teach shelter dogs to sit, stay, walk calmly on a leash or shake paws will make them infinitely more adoptable. The Humane Society and SPCA of Austin, TX, for example, boasts a team of volunteers who spend their time playing with puppies and taking adolescent dogs to obedience classes.

Get Your Shelter Online

Can you give your community’s homeless animals the "cybershelter" advantage? Even if you can’t volunteer with the animals, you can take photos and write descriptions of the animals with staff assistance, and help keep current the shelter’s online list of available animals.

Design a Computer Program

If you’re a techie, consider customizing a management program that can help adopters select the right pet for them. One animal shelter allows visitors to preview the animals in the shelter and get detailed information on each one from a computer in the shelter’s lobby.

Let’s make some money!

Run a fundraiser! Make it an event! Publicize it with flyers and signs, and remind everyone about the important work that the shelter does. A restaurant might ask local celebs to volunteer as wait staff for the evening—with regular staff assisting.

Cats Up Close and Purrsonal

You may want to satisfy your need for feline contact by spending time socializing shelter cats. "Our volunteers are dedicated to making the cats purr," explains Connie Barker, a volunteer with Friends of San Clemente Animals in California. "They spend time each day playing with the cats, getting to know them, grooming them and generally keeping them as happy as they can be, given the inherent stress of being in a shelter." And based on input from "feline socializers," adoptions counselors can make better placements.

Do You Have the Write Stuff?

Then write or start a newsletter! It’s a great way to keep members, supporters, adopters and the public informed about what the shelter does and what it needs. Many shelters rely on volunteers to write articles, and some newsletters are produced entirely by volunteers.

Throw a Party!

Organize an event for all your friends, and donate the proceeds to the shelter. Any kind of social event—a clam bake, a Super Bowl party, a jazz brunch or a dog walk—is a great way to make new friends and raise money.

Find more awesome ways to get involved with action guides, volunteer opportunities, and causes at DoSomething.org