Ways to Volunteer
Ways to Volunteer
Each year, Friends of the Animal Shelter helps the Shelter care for over 7,000 lost, abandoned, and stray pets. Here are some examples of how you can make a difference in the lives of these animals.
Fostering
Providing a “home between homes” for dogs/puppies and cats/kittens prior to adoption as a foster family can be fun and rewarding. With support from Friends of the Animal Shelter, you help socialize animal(s) in your loving home – making them highly adoptable. This is a wonderful and personal way to help save homeless pets. We provide supplies and training.
For more information, click here.
Dog Care
Volunteer to walk dogs and puppies that are waiting for a family to give them a good home. Daily walks provide dogs with mental stimulation, socialization, exercise, training, and the opportunity to relieve themselves outside of the kennels. It is rewarding to see how enthusiastically the dogs respond to their walker companions and how calm and well behaved they are when prospective adopters come to visit.
Cat Care
Volunteer to spend time petting, grooming and socializing cats and kittens that are waiting to be adopted. Daily attention and tender loving care helps to keep cats friendly and relieves the stress from living in a kennel. Cat volunteers help the cats look and feel better, as well as make them easier to handle, which helps them get adopted quicker.
Adoption Counselors
Help pets find new homes by answering potential adopters’ questions at the Shelter and off-site adoption events. Adoption counseling can be one of the most rewarding volunteer opportunities because you help potential adopters find a pet that matches their personality and lifestyle, thus ensuring the pet has a permanent, loving home.
- Spanish-Speaking Volunteers Needed
We would love to have more Spanish-speaking volunteers to help out as Adoption Counselors. If you’re bi-lingual and comfortable talking with people, we need you!
Working Cats Volunteer Opportunity: Ride-along Helper/Assistant
Help with Transport to Adopters property. Flexible Schedule!
Twice per month, between 2-3 ½ hours. Days can vary, but usually on a Saturday, Sunday or Monday.
Duties Include:
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- Help loading supplies (up to 25 lbs.)
- Be a passenger in truck going to location
- Help determine best location for cats
- Converse with Adopter
- Help set up crates, bedding, food & litter
- Periodic retrieval of supplies from other locations
Perks: Helping save cats’ lives, beautiful drives, good conversations, interesting locations, positive experiences!
Originally formed to help cats deemed too unadoptable to be put in cat adoptions and are out of options. Now, with Working Cats, they are able to live out their lives in SAFE outdoor circumstances. Cats are located at farms, barns, wineries, sheds- safe places with regular access to food, water and shelter. We also work with specific TNR (trap, neuter, release) teams when there is imminent need for relocation. The FOTAS Working Cats program saves between 100-200 cats per year.
Please contact the FOTAS Office for more information: (541) 774-6651
Want to adopt working cats? click here>>>
Sister Organization Volunteer Opportunity: The Street Dogs Project
Consider donating to and/or joining the Street Dog Project outreach team to contribute up to 4 hours/week passing out dog food, harnesses and leashes to homeless dog owners (and cat owners) in order to establish rapport and encourage them to get their pets spayed/neutered.
Taking a compassionate approach to help those in the homeless community decide to spay or neuter their dogs is good for the entire community and helps to reduce the overpopulation problem. For more information, click here.
Special Events
Lend a helping hand at fun community-outreach events, parades, fairs, monthly outreach events, and our annual Ashland and Medford dog washes. Check out our calendar page to find out more about upcoming events.
Fundraising
Volunteer to help raise funds to support our lifesaving programs and services. Volunteers help at fundraising events, assist with mailing the annual appeal newsletter, write thank you cards, find sponsors for print ads, and much more.
And Lots More!
There are many more ways you can help save homeless pets. For a complete list of volunteer opportunities, please come to a New Volunteer Orientation meeting. Find the volunteer activity that works best for you!
Volunteer Orientation
Please attend a New Volunteer Orientation to hear about our current volunteer opportunities, and figure out which activity will work best for you! Volunteer orientations are held monthly. A reservation is requested so we can prepare for each orientation.
