Volunteering
Every little bit helps!
Volunteers are a crucial part of any animal shelter and Cincinnati Animal CARE is no different! Multiple volunteer opportunities are available at the shelter including dog walking and socialization, cat care and socialization, administrative, medical, and helping with daily tasks around the facility. Looking for volunteer hours for school or community service? We can accommodate!
Commonly Asked Volunteer Questions
- Cat Socialization – Pet cats, read to cats, play with cats, brush cats, etc.
- Cat Cage Cleaning – Prior to opening, help staff clean kennels, feed cats, and prep cages.
- Cat Enrichment Building & Distributing – Build fun toys for cats to play with and distribute to cats daily for some enrichment time.
- Kitty City Greeter – Welcome visitors of kitty city and help answer any questions they may have.
- Dog Walking – Tues, Thurs, Sat, & Sun walk group 9 AM-1 PM – Walk dogs around the shelter to give them time out of their kennels. Volunteers with enough hours put in can also walk dogs outside of normal walk group times.
- Dog Enrichment Building & Distributing – Stuff Kongs, make lick mats and make pupsicles to then be distributed daily to dogs in their kennels.
- Census Taker – Help the lead volunteer with the walk group to keep track of which volunteer has which dog. (Great opportunity for someone who does not want to handle dogs but is happy to be around them).
- Playgroup Assistant – Help the behavior team with dogs taking part in playgroup activities. Must be a higher-level volunteer for this position.
- Wash Dishes
- Laundry
- Landscaping
- Off-Site Events
- Photography
- Age policy: The policy for volunteers in regards to age is that volunteers ages 13-15 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian (who is also an onboarded volunteer) at all times.
- At age 16, they may volunteer on their own, but a parent or guardian must sign their release of liability waiver at or before the time of first volunteering.
- Only volunteers over the age of 18 may handle dogs on site at the shelter or at any off-site events.
Community service hours for school are accepted! You must intend to volunteer at least 3 hours per month and maintain those hours monthly. Court-ordered community service is accepted on a case by case basis.
Yes! While they cannot volunteer within the shelter, you can still foster a love for animals and care for animals in your community. We recommend trying a project at home such as baking treats, stuffing Kongs, or making fleece blankets for our kitties. These items can be dropped off at the shelter any time between 1pm and 6pm, any day of the week. We welcome collaboration with school groups and scout groups. We recommend checking out the list of activities on the Humane Education website for activities that children can do off-site to learn about animal welfare and support the animals in our care.
Other possible activities:
Make blankets for the cats. (2'x2' squares are the best size for us)
Adoptable Artwork using the animals on our website
Matchmaking using the animals on our website
You can also make dog treats to bring in for the dogs!
A minimum of 3 hours per month must be maintained in order to remain as an active volunteer at the shelter. Any volunteer who does not maintain the 3 hours per month and does not reach out to the Volunteer Coordinator to ask for a short term leave will be set as inactive in the system.
Yes! It is very important to us that you have the knowledge and tools to work with our animals and on behalf of our organization. All volunteers are required to complete New Volunteer Orientation (online) and those working with dogs or cats are required to complete role-specific training with our program managers.
Yes! We welcome teams of 3-10 members to volunteer at the shelter! Please email volunteer@cincycare.org so we can arrange details.
