Animal Care Volunteer

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Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary is accepting Animal Care Volunteer applications for the 2020 season!

So you're interested in becoming an Animal Care Volunteer with Wild Spirit? Great! The Team loves to welcome enthusiastic, passionate, responsible, and hard-working people to help us provide the best care and environment to our rescues. It's all about them, after all!

Before you submit an application, please review the important information below to learn about volunteer life at Wild Spirit and what you can expect from your stay. Once you have finished and you are still eager to apply, please send an email to: wswsapplications@gmail.com, including a letter of interest and your resume.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

RULES and REGULATIONS

Volunteers must be at least 21 years old to apply. There is no drug or alcohol use permitted on Sanctuary property. Animal interaction is a privilege and not a right granted to volunteers only after extensive training. Interacting with animals without express permission will result in immediate dismissal.


Animal Care Volunteer applicants MUST be able to commit to a minimum of six months. No exceptions. *

The majority of our volunteer applicants are interested in working with our rescues, and we completely understand! However, it's important that Animal Care Volunteer applicants know that the majority of their time will be spent doing other tasks, not working directly with the animals. They must also be prepared for extremely labor-intensive work, including heavy lifting, long hours of standing, repeated bending, and plenty of walking. Animal Care Volunteers spend most of their time in our Wolf Kitchen where meals are prepared for the rescues, which includes handling and sorting through raw meat, including game meat during hunting season. When not assigned to Wolf Kitchen responsibilities, Animal Care Volunteers assist with seasonal chores, such as weeding, providing tours to guests, and they may assist Team Members in other departments, as applicable.

* Wild Spirit requires Animal Care Volunteers to commit to a longer term as it most benefits the animals. Our rescues operate best when the Team adheres to a strict routine, which includes familiar faces. It takes some animals several weeks to a few months before they start to show signs of comfort with new volunteers walking around. Furthermore, depending on the rescue, it takes a significant amount of time to develop relationships with animals. It can take several months before an animal may "warm up" to you, which could mean they ask for a chin scratch and nothing more. As an "Animals Come First" organization, we NEVER force socialization or interaction with any rescue; it is strictly on the animal's terms. If this is ignored, a caretaker could be injured, and the Team may have to dismiss the volunteer. As a sanctuary, Wild Spirit strives to provide as stress-free of a home as possible for all our rescues, and it's less stressful for the animals when the Animal Care Team does not change too often.

LIVING ARRANGEMENTS

Our volunteer lodgings are all on-site, outside of the Sanctuary's perimeter fence. You may be housing with a roommate or living alone, if space allows. Volunteer dwellings include rustic Hogans and small single-room houses, all of which are very modest and not at all luxurious. Your dwelling may be solar-powered, wired for electricity, or potentially none of the above. None of our volunteer homes include running water and many depend on wood stoves for heat in the winter. Common space includes an extremely rustic communal kitchen and a small, attached living room. Volunteers must be prepared to spend a lot of time in close quarters with the rest of our pack. If interested, volunteers are also welcome to camp throughout their stay in our Campground!


To read more about life as a volunteer at Wild Spirit, please visit our website: https://wildspiritwolfsanctuary.org/accepted-volunteers/