Animal Welfare Professionals

Hello!  Just curious as to what everyone's policies are when it comes to kids and their organization's volunteer program when it comes to interactions with shelter dogs.  We currently allow kids age 13-15 to volunteer with a parent/legal guardian but the parent must be the handler of the dog at all times and both the parent and child must attend orientation.  Kids age 16+ can handle the dogs on their own once they complete orientation and have approval from a volunteer coordinator.  We recently had an incident where a 14 year old was volunteering with her mother and while attempting to put a collar on one of our dogs the 14 year old was bitten on the face.  This has prompted a lot of discussion on what rules should be in place for kids volunteering with the dogs and as well whether kids should be allowed to interact with the dogs at all.  While some parents are cautious and do a good job supervising their kids unfortunately not all are.  

Thank you for your input!

#volunteerprogram
#kids
#dogbite
#OrganizationalManagement

As a general rule, we only allow volunteers 18 and up to volunteer with the dogs.  Even they go through extensive training to avoid a situation like this because shelter dogs can be unpredictable.  We may have instances where, when supervised completely by a staff member, we allow Youth volunteers to interact with a dog, but that's normally on a rare occasion or for a reason.  You can always do things like reading to the dogs, having them do behavior training from outside the kennel and focus on animals that are safer to interact with like small animals and cats with the proper training.  Hope this helps!

#OrganizationalManagement

Thank you!

#OrganizationalManagement

Fearless kitty Rescue is a cat only rescue but we allow teens to come in and clean. Until the age of eighteen we have them and their parents sign a release of liability. I am usually the one that accompanies them while they clean and at the end we pick a room  with cats that are friendly so they can pet it is always a good idea to stay with them as you never know as you pointed out how well the parent will pay attention.

#OrganizationalManagement

Thank you!

#OrganizationalManagement

This is a belated reply, but hopefully still useful to some folks! At our shelter, we allow children 10-15 years old to volunteer with a parent/guardian/etc. The ADULT is required to be the one leashing, harnessing, and getting the dog out of their kennel. The adult is also required to hold the leash on walks, etc. These family volunteers are only allowed to train for Level 1 volunteering with our dogs, and would only be allowed to move up a Level with our Canine Enrichment Coordinator's approval. 

Volunteers ages 16/17 are allowed to volunteer as an Individual "Adult" volunteer, with parent signature on waiver(s). We decided that since they are trusted to drive a car at that age, they can be trusted to volunteer as well. This is not a common policy in our area, so we're pretty popular with that age group for volunteering and honestly they're some of our best volunteers! 

Our volunteers are also required to watch Open Paw training, go through Fear Free training, and do an in-person training before they can handle dogs alone. Some people are deterred by the work upfront, but a lot of our volunteers have given us positive feedback on making them feel confident in their role. 

I run the Volunteer program from the Roanoke Valley SPCA in Virginia.

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Erin Dams
Roanoke Valley SPCA
5403396550
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This is something I have been so passionate about in my 30 years in sheltering.   The blanket "no one under 18" has always been a motive to find creative solutions.  Junior volunteers are the people we hope will be the folks who grow up and replace us as we retire.  Let's empower them!  Parents need to attend orientation with the  child and need volunteer with them.  Appropriate dogs must be labeled clearly - dogs safe to be placed with children are the only dogs in the program.  The parents are always the sole handler of the dog unless it's puppy playtime in a completely enclosed environment.  Kids can run supply drives for newspaper and poop bags, pennies for pups, start animal awareness clubs at their schools, etc.  The possibilities are endless as long as we open our minds to what the next generations can provide.

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Niki Dawson
President
Island Animal Alliance
BRIDGEWATER NJ
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We are thrilled to have the young volunteers.  After all, they are the future of our program!   We do tons of local school honor society students, scout troops, etc.   We allow anyone twelve (12) years or older, with the proper permission/release forms completed by their parents or guardians...  They are not allowed to take dogs out of kennels without an adult volunteer with them.   However, we do have tons of younger kids who want to volunteer as well.  WE always tell them they are allowed IF their parent also attends.  (We have too much to do at events without having to babysit kiddos! haha)  That being said..this is a wonderful way to involve the entire family!  Since we are foster based, we are always in need of fosters. We've recruited many fosters over the years through younger children volunteering with their parents!    THESE kids are the future!

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Cindy Shotwell
Founder/Executive Director
Must Luv Dogs Rescue
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I don't think this calls for a rule against all volunteers under 18 being denied any chance to work with or around animals. While I am sure that the family is extremely upset, certain risks do come with the committment. Obviously, a dog should not bite someone in the face, but assuming the 14 year old was behaving properly, I simply don't see how age is relevant. Had it been an adult putting the collar on, would the dog have behaved the same way? If yes, I'd first like to ask why this particular dog was allowed to work with anyone other than a professional trainer, and second ask why this is being turned into a referendum against all people under 18. Of course I might be missing details, but you didn't say anything about misconduct on the behalf of the minor, and I don't know why this can be turned into a general policy. They signed the waiver and accepted the risk. 

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Adela Horn
Student
High Tech High School
NJ
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