Volunteer Projects With Animals

• All NARHA facilities require volunteers strap helmets on handicapped riders. BananaStock/BananaStock/Getty Images

  Opportunities abound for volunteers interested in making a difference in the lives of the animals and people in their community. Some projects and facilities require prior knowledge of animal handling and care, while others provide training and certification. As a potential volunteer, you need to determine what qualifications are required for your particular area of interest, and if there are age limits or health restrictions in place.

Equine Assisted Therapy

• Most equine assisted therapy facilities need volunteers familiar with horses to work as side-walkers --- people who stabilize handicapped riders by walking along with the horse and keeping the rider safe in the saddle. Those riders include autistic children and adults, physically and developmentally disabled individuals and war veterans with missing limbs. Volunteers at Equest, a North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA) accredited barn outside of Dallas, also assist with physical therapy sessions, office work, cleaning and tacking up of horses, mucking stalls and facility improvements. NARHA requires that accredited centers have at least one certified therapeutic riding instructor on staff and many of those start their careers as volunteers.

Animal Shelters and Rescues

• Local animal shelters and rescues use volunteer workers to walk and play with shelter animals, assist with fundraising, clean cages and kennels, socialize puppies and kittens and foster animals looking for new homes. The benefits of volunteering include getting affection from the animals in your care, educating others on the responsibilities of pet ownership, discovering new personal skills and possibly finding a new career, says the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). You need to contact individual shelters or programs to find out how to volunteer.

Trap, Neuter and Return Programs

• Trap, neuter and return programs throughout the United States need volunteers to work with established colony caretakers in the feeding and humane trapping of feral cat colonies. Once the cats are trapped, they require transportation to volunteer veterinarians who spay or neuter them, inoculate them against rabies, and mark the sterilized cats by surgically "tipping" ---removing --- the top ¼ inch of the left ear. This procedure ensures that an already neutered cat will not be re-trapped. As a volunteer, you can temporarily house the cats after surgery and foster kittens looking for good homes. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) recommends volunteering with an established trap-neuter-return program before trying it on your own.

Disaster Relief

• The devastation of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 vividly demonstrated the need for disaster relief volunteers qualified to work with frightened and distressed animals. Many city and state governments responded by establishing trained core groups of citizens to work with volunteer veterinarians, vet techs and animal control officers to aid the evacuation and housing of animals during times of disaster. The all-volunteer American Humane Association's Red Star Animal Emergency Services offers training to those interested in caring for injured animals, reuniting pets with their owners, distributing pet food and supplies, rescuing stranded animals, and saving abused and neglected pets. Volunteers must be available to travel to natural and man-made disaster sites within 6 hours of being contacted for deployment.