WilCo Regional Animal Shelter Seeks Volunteers
Summer is approaching, and many of us may be looking for ways to get out into the community, give back, and get involved. Warmer weather historically brings more animals to the animal shelter, which means summer is a great time to start volunteering at the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter.
In 2020, the Shelter took in 5,491 dogs and cats, and, as Director April Peiffer says, caring for them all takes a village—a village of staff, volunteers, and fosters.
In 2020, the WCRAS had 229 active volunteers who gave 7,688 hours of their time to help continue the lifesaving mission of treating every animal that comes to their facility as an individual while awaiting their new forever homes.
Opportunities
An animal shelter consists of many moving parts, each of them working together to ensure the best outcome for each animal, and there’s opportunity for volunteerism every step of the way. There are no special requirements to volunteer, and anyone 12 or over is welcome to help; youngsters should be accompanied by an adult until age 15.
Assistance is needed with simple things like dishes and laundry, clean kennels, but there are many opportunities to work directly with the animals, including just reading stories to keep them company. Summertime is perfect for dog walking; the sun is shining and the dogs enjoy splashing around in play yard pools or running through the sprinklers to help themselves cool off. If you prefer to stay indoors where it is cooler, they have many opportunities to help socialize (and relax with) the many cats inside the Adoption Center.
If you are eager to get out into the community and spread the word, the Shelter has trained volunteers who assist with off-site adoption events for dogs—a great way to promote the benefits of adopting. They also have an offsite cat adoption team looking for transporters and caregivers.
They are happy to encourage aspiring artists to help with photography and videography that will tell the stories and promote animals online and in social media, to help them find their forever homes.
April says, “We’d like to invite the community to join our volunteer program this summer. It’s as simple as applying and watching our orientation videos online. We hope you’ll scan the code to get started.”