Volunteer Jobs

Current Volunteer Jobs     
 
Volunteers (pictured here with Ray Charles, the blind shelter dog) helped organize our pet food and supply area.

Dog Walking
Help to increase the adoptability of the dogs in our care by working with specific, positive reinforcement techniques to better socialize and adapt dogs to be more adoptable.  Volunteers are trained to encourage the dogs to focus, sit, and walk well on a leash.   This can be a very physical, outdoor job and many of the dogs are untrained.  Some experience with dogs is helpful as the shelter takes in many different breeds and sizes of dogs.  Volunteers should have basic knowledge of dog behavior, be able to safely handle dogs at all times, and be able to clean up after dogs.

Cat Socializer
Help to provide care and socialization to cats, kittens, rabbits and other small mammals in our care.  Volunteers spend time in the cat room petting, brushing and playing with the cats and provide assistance to members of the public by answering questions about the animals and helping potential adopters to spend time with the animal.  Volunteers should have some knowledge of cat behavior, be able to safely handle all animals in the cat room and help with laundry and dishes.

"Pet Project"
This special project gives a volunteer the opportunity to pick a shelter pet and work with us to find the pet a Forever Home! Create flyers, post to your Facebook page, share information about the pet to all your family and friends! It's a rewarding experience when YOU know that all your hard work means a special home for your favorite shelter pet.

Early Morning Cage/Kennel
Help our hard-working kennel staff by committing to clean dog kennels or cat cages for one hour, one morning every week (or more). The difference you make in the lives of our shelter pets, and our wonderful staff who care for them, will be so very much appreciated. It allows our kennel staff to focus on adoptions and other day-to-day task.

Laundry Assistance
It's usually a challenge to keep up with the demand for laundry at our shelter. Since we provide our shelter pets with blankets, especially during cold weather, volunteers help by washing, drying and folding clean laundry!

Off-Site Pet Adoptions
Participate at the Saturday adoption events and Adoptathons at Petsmart.  Duties include transporting animals to the location, loading and unloading of animals, answering questions about the animals to potential adopters and assisting with the adoption process. These includes off-site adoption events at PetSmart, Petco, Panera Bread and Tractor Supply.

Pet Adoption Counselor
Help customers through the adoption process.  Duties include training and knowledge of the adoption policies and process, properly reading and explaining cage cards, approving completed adoption applications and entering data into the computer. Special training will be held on Saturdays. Call Gina or Tim for more details, 254-754-1454.

Behavior Counselor
Assisting the shelter behaviorist in all aspects of animal behavior and training.  Duties include knowledge of the “Meet Your Match” program, knowledge of behavior characteristics, ability to assess and help to modify animal behavior. 

Outreach/ Outside Adoption
Participate at the adoption events throughout the surrounding area.  Duties include transporting animals to the location, loading and unloading of animals, answering questions about the animals to potential adopters and assisting with the adoption process.   Firm knowledge of the Waco Humane Society’s policies and activities are also needed to properly represent the shelter. 

Foster Parent
Help save the lives of animals needing temporary housing before they can become available for adoption.  These, cats, kittens, dogs and puppies many need time in a volunteer’s home to recover from an injury, illness or to be weaned off of a bottle feeding.  A wide range of duties and responsibilities are needed from bottle feeding to dispensing daily medication.  Please make sure your other family members or housemates are agreeable to foster animals in your home.

Rescue Transport
Special Rescue Transporters help get our shelter pets to numerous Rescue Groups throughout the state of Texas and beyond! Transporters determine if a transport will work with their schedule, and can be specific about the cities to which they will transport. Requests will go out from the Foster/Rescue coordinator, and if you are able to make the transport, or even part of the route, you will be assigned. Dependability is a must in this volunteer position. Some transports may quality for gas compensation. It's instant gratification knowing that you helped a shelter pet (or pets) get one step closer to a Forever Home!

Community Events
Help at special events outside of the shelter.  Tasks can range from planning meetings and fundraising to set up for the day of the event.  Volunteers should be organized, be willing to make phone calls on behalf of the shelter and work within a committee group.

Food & Supply Organizers: Use your organization skills to help us organize different parts of the shelter like our PODS food storage building, pet enrichment area and dog training areas.


Pet Photographer
Ability to properly handle and use digital photography equipment.  Many of the animals are photographed and posted onto online adoption websites and clear, good looking shots of the animals are the key to many adoptions.  Computer skills are also needed to help with saving, printing and posting animal pictures.  

Clerical/Office Volunteer
Help the front desk staff with the many questions, problems and tasks involved at the front desk.  Strong customer service skills, quality phone etiquette and the ability to multi-task are essential to a productive front office volunteer

Barn Cat Buddies
Feral cats that are unable to be socialized into domestic house cats are great mousers for rural areas.  Healthy “fixed & vaccinated” feral cats spend approximately 2 weeks in an outside shelter to acclimate them to their new homes as barn or ranch cats. Volunteers needed to do property inspections, equipment set-up and transport the cats at their new home, and help with public information booths. (Volunteers never touch the feral cats.)

Fundraising
Mailing lists, calling for silent auction items, writing thank you cards… you name it, there is a way to help with fundraising!  We accept donations in the form of services, items, food, supplies, treatment, and of course cash!  So depending on your talent and resources the sky’s the limit for you in this department.

Ink Recycling Volunteer
This outreach program keeps you on the move and in constant contact with area businesses.  We are able to raise money for the medical fund by collecting used ink cartridges from area businesses.  Duties include contacting business to become a part of our recycling program, distributing and picking up the collection boxes and generating thank you notes to the local businesses.  Some boxes can be heavy and bulky so usually the volunteer works with another team member and/ or has a large car or SUV.

Heart of Texas Feral Friends (HOTFF)
This specially trained group of volunteers help with the shelter's Trap-Neuter-Return program for feral cats. Volunteers must attend a Trap Training Workshop, held at the shelter on Thursdays. HOTFF volunteers helps citizens (or caregivers) who feed feral or "free-roaming" cats with Trap-Neuter-Return, a humane option for outside cat overpopulation issues. Special attention is given to senior citizens, handicapped individuals or those feeding very large colonies of cats. There is no "hands on" touching the feral cats. Volunteers are needed to help with trap, transport to and from the spay/neuter provider, the Return back to the colony, and other event such as public information booths, special events, and door-hanger campaigns. Visit www.HOTFeralFriends.com for more details.