About Volunteering
When you become an animal shelter volunteer at The Animal Foundation in Las Vegas, you help save the lives of homeless animals in need of a second chance in your community.
Volunteering at The Animal Foundation will give you that warm, fuzzy feeling. The lost dogs, cats, and other abandoned animals that come to us need as much as we can give them - food, shelter, medical care, exercise, socialization, mental stimulation, and training. From in-shelter support to at-home foster care, volunteers support EVERY facet of our work. No special skills are needed, just compassion, patience, and commitment. We’ll provide whatever training is necessary.
Voted “Best Place to Volunteer” in Las Vegas
As a nonprofit organization, The Animal Foundation relies on caring and dedicated volunteers throughout the organization. Last year, compassionate and caring volunteers in Las Vegas donated 30,907 hours to help our homeless animals in need.
We realize you have many choices to volunteer in Las Vegas and we appreciate it when you choose The Animal Foundation. Voted the “Best Place to Volunteer” in the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Best of Las Vegas awards, our goal is to find you a volunteer position worthy of your unique talents, and one that excites and inspires you.
Volunteer Roles
Departmental Support
Volunteers support us in every aspect of our organization. First and foremost, volunteers make sure that each department has the help they need to meet the animals' most basic needs. Once basic needs are met for the day, then we can move on to other things that enrich their lives at the shelter. Volunteers can support any department as long as those departments have notified the Volunteer Program Team of a need.
Departments we work with most are Adoptions, Animal Care, Enrichment, Vet Services, Feline Programs, and Facilities.
Special Event Support
The Animal Foundation hosts many events throughout the year, on campus as well as off campus. Volunteers are called on to help man these events! As representatives of The Animal Foundation, they help us put our best foot forward to the community we serve. For some event roles, volunteers may be required to have advanced animal handling certification.
Administrative Support and Guest Engagement
Volunteers helping with administrative support are greatly appreciated by all team members. We deal with thousands of animals and guests each year. Volunteers helping in administrative support and guest engagement significantly lessen the load on our team members and help us positively impact more people and animals.
Volunteer FAQs
- We need volunteers 7 days a week, 365 days a year. We have opportunities around the clock. Early morning volunteers are needed to clean and prep kennels for the day. Throughout the day, we need volunteer support in all areas of the shelter.
- For visiting groups, please take a look at the Volunteer Group Interest Form for available days and times.
Yes! As long as you qualify for our Volunteer Program and complete the required training, you can apply your animal shelter volunteer time toward community service hours for school, church, or another organization. In order to have the hours verified by The Animal Foundation, you must maintain a volunteer time tracking sheet and have your hours verified in person by a staff member each time you volunteer. You may use your own tracking sheet, or we can provide one for you to use.
- Yes! As long as your charge falls within the parameters of what is allowable for the Volunteer Program. Please keep in mind that it is the individual’s responsibility to determine if service hours completed at the Animal Foundation will be sufficient for the court.
- If you have questions about your eligibility, please contact volunteer@animalfoundation.com with your charge, the name of the court that gave you the charge, and how many hours you are required to complete.
- Please keep in mind that any individuals completing court ordered community service hours may not handle animals until their required hours are completed. If you would like to stay on as a long term volunteer after completing your hours, we will be able to train you for animal handling.