Many children are born with a love of animals and a desire to interact with them. Volunteering can allow kids to gain compassion and respect for animals and also help them decide whether careers with animals are in their future.
Animal Shelters
All animals shelters need volunteers to perform such tasks as walking and exercising dogs, playing with cats, cleaning cages and feeding the animals.
Fund-Raising Events
Fund-raising events are a large component of the success of animal shelters. Kids can help by stuffing envelopes, hanging event posters and raising funds through bake or craft sales.
Fostering
Home fostering homeless pets is a great way to teach kids the responsibilities of being pet owners without making long-term commitments.
Socializing
Some organizations, such as Guiding Eyes for the Blind, believe that early socialization is paramount to the development of all dogs. Volunteers are responsible for providing puppies with tactile massage, early training and auditory stimulation.
Benefits
Certain organizations may provide teen volunteers with community service hours, school credit, letters of recommendation and the potential for full-time employment when they are older.
Considerations
Age requirements for young volunteers vary from shelter to shelter. Also, a certain amount of strength and stamina is needed to handle dogs at adoption events and to perform kennel-maintenance work.
Related posts
Animal Jobs for TeensIf you're a teenager who loves animals and is looking for a summer job or part-time employment that will allow you to spend a lot of time with them, you've come to the right p...
If you want to help animals recover from injury or illness, consider becoming a vet.While many people are content with having a family pet, some want to turn their love for animals into a job, whe...
Many options are open to photography with animals.A love of animals combined with photography leads to many different career paths. Working for studios, magazines, companies or zoos are all possib...
No-kill animal shelters value the lives of the animals in their care regardless of age, length of stay or health status. Euthanasia procedures, commonly used to weed out the animals least likely t...
Animal breeders help ensure that farm animals, including cattle, successfully reproduce.Those who aspire to a career in animal reproduction must first complete several years of study in animal sci...
