Volunteer Opportunities
Thank you for your willingness to give your time to help animals in need at UPAWS! Volunteers help in so many ways! We value our volunteers and could not save as many animals without your help.
We have many volunteer tasks available at UPAWS such as animal caregiver and socializing. For most volunteer positions in the shelter, we would like a two month minimum commitment to volunteering.
If you would like to help out for a shorter period of time, or help with events and special projects, please complete the application and we will contact you with information about upcoming events! We can always find an opportunity for you, so don’t hesitate to sign up! All in-shelter volunteers must attend a volunteer orientation. Once we have received your application, you will be contacted by email to set up a time to attend an orientation. This training session will familiarize you with the building, animals, proper procedures, safety and how to log your volunteer hours.
The age to be able to volunteer in the shelter is 16 years. Minors can volunteer starting at the age of sixteen but they must be accompanied each time by a parent or guardian. Minors, ages 17-18, will need a parental consent form signed before volunteering. All youth under 18 are able to handle our entry level animals only (what we call purple coded animals) for safety reasons. Many of the animals that come to us have unknown histories. All people working at our shelter need to be able to manage unpredictable situations.
In-shelter volunteer times are seven days a week, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. We do have evening volunteer hours on Thursdays until 6:30 p.m. The tasks you will be helping with depend upon your availability and the position(s) you indicate interest in on the volunteer application.
Learn about fostering and apply here: https://upaws.org/become-foster-home/
IMPORTANT PLEASE NOTE: You are welcome to fill out an application however due to our upcoming move to our new shelter, any new in-shelter volunteer orientations/trainings will be on hold until we are settled in the new faculty. You will then be contacted (please be patient as we do not know when we will be in the new shelter at this time). We look forward to seeing you at the new shelter!!
If you have some time to spare and are interested in helping us move, please let us know! Questions? Please email Ann Brownell at volunteer@upaws.org.
Court Ordered Volunteer Information
Group Tours or Group Volunteering
Thanks again and we hope to see you soon!
