If you're like most pet sitters, you care deeply about animals, particularly those in need. Volunteering at a local animal shelter or rescue is not only a great way to assist homeless animals, but it may also improve your pet-sitting company. By taking part in rescue activities, you can gain valuable experience in caring for animals, which can be a great asset to your business. You can also gain a better understanding of the needs of different animals, as well as the different behaviors and personalities that they possess. This is an incredibly important part of being a responsible pet owner, as it allows us to provide the best possible care for our furry friends. By taking the time to learn about the specific needs of different species, we can ensure that they are given the best possible care. This means understanding the type of environment they need to thrive, the kind of food they should be eating, and the amount of exercise and stimulation they require.
The Advantages of Volunteering
Apart from making a difference in the lives of animals, working with a rescue may provide you with the following benefits:
Get pet care experience - If you are just starting out as a pet sitter and don't have much experience caring for pets other than your own, volunteering at a shelter may provide you with much-needed experience handling and caring for a broad range of creatures and breeds, ages, sizes, and temperaments. Working with animals can be a rewarding and fulfilling experience, and it can also provide you with valuable skills that you can use in other areas of your life. Not only will you learn how to care for and nurture animals, but you will also gain an appreciation for the natural world and the creatures that inhabit it. Working with animals can be a rewarding and fulfilling experience, as you will be able to witness the joy and contentment that comes from providing them with a safe and comfortable environment.
Build relationships - When you volunteer, you'll meet a lot of individuals in your neighborhood who are similarly enthusiastic about dogs. This is an excellent chance for networking. Whether you are looking for advice on how to train your pup, or just want to connect with other dog lovers, you can find a wealth of information and support from your local community. You can join a local dog-walking group, attend dog-training classes, or even join a local dog club. All of these activities can provide you with the opportunity to meet other dog owners and learn more about caring for your pup.
Although some shelters and rescues have regulations prohibiting them from marketing companies, many want to link their adopters with outstanding, local pet-related services, such as trainers, doctors, and, yes, pet sitters. When helping, inquire about including a coupon, brochure, or business card in their pet adoption packages, or if they will feature your company in their website's "Resources" section.
Volunteer Opportunities
Feeding, walking, and cleaning up after the dogs at the shelter is usually the first thing that comes to mind when you think of volunteering, but there are many other vital chores that you help with. Volunteers are often needed at shelters to answer phones and do other office tasks. If you are talented with photography, you may volunteer to photograph adoptable dogs for internet posting.
Committing to regular volunteer hours might be tough due to a pet sitter's irregular schedule, but don't allow that to stop you from contributing. Some shelters enable volunteers to come in whenever it is convenient for them to walk dogs or socialize with cats. You might also try just helping at a special event or a fundraiser.
Another method to help is to offer your house to a foster pet. The rescue will pay for the foster pet's healthcare, food, and supplies; all you have to do is offer attention, love, and a secure, pleasant place to live until the pet gets its permanent home.
Something to Remember:
Avoiding the Spread of Disease
Animals often enter shelters after living in less-than-ideal circumstances, and infectious illnesses may spread fast in the stressful, crowded atmosphere of a shelter. Just because a shelter pet seems to be healthy does not imply it is. As a pet sitter, you must be cautious not just about possibly transmitting sickness to your own pets at home, but also to the pets of your clients.
When assisting at the shelter, you should always adhere to all cleanliness and infection control measures. Many shelters offer smocks for volunteers to wear while caring for animals, as well as bleach dips for you to step your shoes in before leaving; if your shelter does not have these, you might bring your own smock and bleach wipes to put on the bottom of your shoes. Consider wearing just the clothing and shoes you need while volunteering and not wearing them anyplace else. After you finish helping, go home and change before seeing any customers' dogs. After you finish volunteering, always properly wash your hands.
You must use extra caution if you or your customers have very young or extremely elderly pets. If this is the case, you should avoid volunteer activities that place you in close contact with the shelter's animals for the time being.
Stay away from compassion fatigue and burnout.
When helping, you will most certainly come across pets that have been brutally mistreated or neglected. People may go into the shelter and leave their dogs for illogical reasons. Even if you volunteer in a no-kill shelter, your favorite creatures will get adopted eventually. Compassion fatigue is widespread among those who work and volunteer with animals. Concentrate on the positives, such as witnessing a pet adopted into a loving furr-ever family, or when an ill or wounded pet recovers miraculously, or when a fearful pet eventually learns to trust you. Nonetheless, keep an eye on your mental health and don't be afraid to seek assistance or take a vacation from volunteering if you start to feel exhausted.
Additional Ways You Can Assist
If you don't want to work directly with a shelter or rescue, there are alternative ways you may assist dogs in need:
Donate - Donations are very important to shelters and rescues. Try contributing a percentage of your income to commemorate your company's anniversary or another significant time of year, or run a campaign in which you make a contribution for every new customer you obtain. This is an excellent way to give back to the community and make a positive impact. You can make a donation to a local charity, or even a national or international organization.
Plan a pet food drive - Determine what food and pet supplies your local shelter or pet food bank needs and urge your customers to leave contributions for you to pick up when you arrive to pet sit. This might seem like a small task, but most shelters are just barely meeting their quota for their feeds, so helping them with a food drive will surely be appreciated!
Blog about it - By blogging about it, you may raise awareness of pet rescue and adoption. It's an excellent subject for your pet-sitting company's blog. Try writing an article on Where to Adopt a Pet in [Your City], Reasons to Adopt a Pet, or Volunteering at an Animal Shelter.
Promote Adopting - Raising awareness for adopting pets is a great way to help out the shelters, not only they will reduce the number of pets they take care of, the pets getting adopted are now with a furrever family that will love them and cherish them for the rest of their lives and get the happiness they deserve!