Thank you for your interest in volunteering at the Pet Pride Cat Sanctuary and Adoption Center! It takes many hands to operate our sanctuary, and we wouldn’t be successful without the efforts of our dedicated volunteers.
You must be 18 years of age or older to volunteer with Pet Pride. All volunteers must complete mandatory in-person and online training before their first shift.
Please review the volunteer opportunities listed here and indicate your preference on the application below. If you have a special talent not listed here, we’d love to hear about it!
Before the sanctuary opens to the public each day, caretaker volunteers are busy with a variety of tasks essential to maintaining the health and well-being of our cats and kittens. In addition to giving out ear scratches, caretakers clean cat rooms and condos, clean litter boxes, feed cats, wash dishes, sweep, mop, vacuum, and do laundry, all to provide our cats with a safe and healthy environment.
Enrichment volunteers provide our cats and kittens with the social interaction, mental stimulation, and physical activity essential to their development, adjustment, and overall wellness. Activities may include vocal interaction, gentle touch, and physical play.
We rely on our ambassadors to greet visitors with a smile and let them know we’re glad they came. These volunteers guide visitors through their sanctuary experience, giving tours, answering questions, and introducing our cats.
If you like to work in the great outdoors, this opportunity is for you. We are looking for individuals to help us maintain our gardens and grounds. This opportunity is seasonal and will be scheduled accordingly.
For the safety of our volunteers, our staff, and the cats in our care, volunteers must be able to satisfy all of the physical and cognitive requirements listed below. Please review them carefully before completing an application.
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS
• Manual dexterity sufficient to properly handle cats and small tools.
• Ability to bend, squat, stand for significant periods of time, and enter enclosures safely.
• Average sense of smell and touch in order to assess the body condition of the cats and to note signs of illness or injury.
• Ability to hear if a cat is growling or making sounds indicating fear or pain.
• Ability to maneuver well in tight spaces and to react and move quickly in order to prevent cats from escaping.
• Ability to quickly pursue and retrieve any cats who have escaped designated enclosures, and to use quick and quiet movements when approaching and retrieving escaped cats.
• Ability to handle and restrain cats with extreme caution and care. This requires average vision, hearing, steadiness of hands and body, quick reflexes, physical strength, and mental alertness.
• Ability to judge cats’ reactions and change voice to a soft or strong tone in order to calm a cat or give commands.
• Ability to reach cabinets, cages, and storage shelves up to eight feet in height, using a step stool as needed.
• Ability to push and carry containers of laundry, load and unload washer and dryer, and fold and put away clean laundry.
• Ability to wash and put away dishes, operate a microwave, and retrieve items from a standard upright-model refrigerator/freezer.
• Tolerance for strong and unpleasant odors and a noisy work environment.
COGNITIVE REQUIREMENTS
• Ability to understand, remember, and follow instructions and procedures.
• Ability to read, write, spell, and communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.
• Ability to understand words such as quarantine, isolation, zoonotic, and other terms commonly used in animal care.
• Ability to operate a moderately complex telephone system, pick up receivers, push buttons to place calls on hold and transfer, and communicate effectively over the telephone.
• Ability to observe and report possible feline health and behavioral concerns that may be revealed during socialization.
• Ability to remain alert to potentially dangerous situations when working with cats, to remain calm and confident with cats who are distressed, to show good judgment, and to respond appropriately and with sensitivity in these situations.
• Ability to understand Pet Pride’s policies and positions regarding companion animals and other key animal welfare issues, and an ability and willingness to appropriately and accurately represent those policies when interacting with the public or otherwise representing Pet Pride.
• Ability to function effectively in an emotionally charged environment with cats that are homeless, injured, abandoned, and/or abused.
• Ability to work with minimal supervision once training has been completed.
• Ability to recognize limitations in knowledge and abilities and to ask questions or request assistance when needed.
• Ability to work independently for long periods of time, as well as to work cooperatively with other volunteers and staff.
You can start helping out cats today by completing the application below. If you have questions about becoming a Pet Pride sanctuary volunteer, please contact our Volunteer Program Manager.
