Cat House Volunteers

Save to Favorites

Purpose: To ensure that the cats and kittens housed in the cat facility are in a clean, humane environment and to provide necessary care while they are in the shelter. Specific duties may vary depending on volunteer’s work shift.

Responsibilities:

• Clean all areas of the cat facility to maintain sanitation and health of the animals

• Assist staff and other volunteers with duties such as refreshing food and water bowls, replacing dirty bedding, cleaning litter boxes, windows, floors, washing dishes, doing laundry and any other duties as assigned

• Socialize the kittens and cats in order to make them used to handling by humans and, therefore, easier to adopt.

  • Gently handle, pet, brush and play with the kittens and cats

• Greet all visitors to the area and direct visitors to appropriate area of the cat facility or to appropriate staff or volunteer in other areas of the shelter

• Answer questions about individual cats

• Help visitors with handling of cats

• Ensure that the public uses sanitizer when going between cat rooms

• Volunteers in the cat facility monitor interaction among the cats and socialization with people in each cat room.

• Present adoptable cats to the public with the goal of helping each of our animals to secure a new home. (Must be a minimum of 18 years old).

• Explain the shelter’s adoption policies

• Show adoptable animals to the public

• Help the public to choose an animal that is a good match to their lifestyles and abilities

• Assess a person’s ability to care for a particular pet (this assessment should be reported to the Animal Care Manager before the final decision is made)

• Explain application process

• If interested in adoption, have office staff assist with the application process

• Be very observant of each cat’s behavior and general health (symptoms of illness such as runny nose, swellings, cuts or loose stool), listlessness, agitation, etc. and report any concerns to the Animal Care Manager ASAP.

  Qualifications:

• A love of kittens and cats

• Ability and desire to handle and work with animals

• Good communication and listening skills

• Willingness to maintain sanitation of animal areas

• Ability to work independently

• Willingness to adhere to C.A.R.E. rules and standards

• Knowledge of C.A.R.E. shelter adoption policies and procedures

  Training:

• Volunteer Orientation
• Read and understand the Volunteer Handbook and the Cat Facility Guidelines
• Complete on-the-job training from experienced cat facility volunteers

Requirements: Must be 16 years of age