We love our volunteers. They continually go above and beyond the call of duty to help the animals. There is almost always a helping hand when we feel there is no end. and always an ear to lend when the stress of what we do gets too much to bear. This a very rewarding endeavor. Animal Allies has volunteer opportunities to fit any schedule.
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Foster Care. This is our most urgent need. If you can spare a place in your home to
help an animal while it is waiting to be adopted, we need you! Animal Allies provides
medical treatment and food. All you provide is exercise and affection. The more foster
homes we acquire, the more animals we are able to place into established, loving families.
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Adoption Show Coordinator/Assistance. The majority of our adoption shows are held
at various Petsmart locations (Fredricksburg, Falls Church, and Springfield). These
individuals would be responsible for placing ads in the Washington Post notifying
the public of the upcoming adoption, arriving early at the adoption site to ensure
that cages are clean, equipped with litter and water, and tables are available for
paperwork and/or kitten cages. If the individual(s) are interested or have the time,
he/she could remain at the site and assist with talking to prospective adopters and
answering questions regarding the cats in general or specific questions regarding
the cats available for adoption.
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Adoption Followup. Animal Allies attempts to contact all adopters within the first
year to ensure that things are going well and to followup on the spaying/neutering
of animals who were adopted prior to being neutered/spayed. This volunteer would be
provided with a list of names/numbers and animal "names" . No specific hours or quantities
of time is required.
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Rescue of feral cats. Animal Allies receives many calls requesting assistance with
feral cats. These cats have established "colonies" and require spaying/neutering and
in some cases veterinary care. Animal Allies provides assistance at these locations
to trap the cats, arrange for spaying/neutering, shots, and any other required medical
attention. In the majority of cases (if at all possible), these animals are released
back to the original location. However, once the medical has been taken care of the
issue is not closed. Volunteers are also needed to ensure that the animals in the
"colony" are fed on a regular basis. The locations of the "colonies" and the trapping
projects are constantly changing.
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Feral Cat Placement. Animal Allies is looking for special people who own rural property
and would be willing to relocate a few feral cats to their property. This involves
a process where the cats are initially placed in a cage, then released to the "barn",
and finally released to the wide open spaces. This is a slow process to familiarize
the animal with surrounding smells/sounds, recognize the location as a feeding site,
and establish a routine timeframe for feeding.
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Donate homemade cakes, cookies, pies, candies, etc. for our bake sales, support bake
sale locations, or help out at other fundraisers and informational booths.
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Contribute articles for our newsletter and web site.
- Work with shy cats. This type of work can be very rewarding but does require a lot of patience and love.