Animal Welfare Professionals

How to develop a volunteer program in a shelter with multiple categories of pets such as owned animals vs strays vs seized animals?

My shelter has all three, and they are housed mainly together. 

While there is less risk associated with volunteers interacting with stray animals, the risks of a volunteer taking a dog for a walk in the community when it has been seized under the Animal Protection Act introduces a degree of risk for the volunteer that many would find unacceptable. Is anyone else dealing with an issue like this?

#OrganizationalManagement

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Rachel Cumming
Animal Welfare Volunteer Coordinator
Animal Care and Control
AB
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Hello,

At my shelter, we use a color-code to sort dogs into four categories. Volunteers can be approved for some of the categories based on training, hours, and skill. Some categories are staff-only. 

In our shelter, dogs seized for cruelty/neglect issues are housed separately, but I think the color code could still work. We have the volunteers for these dogs follow special instructions such as not taking them off property and not sharing photos of them. You could still be judicious about each animal: one for which you have a particular concern about the owner might stay "staff only."

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James Pawlowicz
Humane Rescue Alliance
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I am so glad you brought this up! We have all three as well. 6 were from the same hoarding situation. After we got them, the former owner kept sending me emails with someone else's name on them expressing interest in adopting the dogs. We were lucky - a relative of hers reached out to me and wanted to make a donation towards their care. I asked her to muzzle her relative (the former owner) and I guess that worked because the woman stopped. But I am sure this will come up again sometime and I never thought about walks around the neighborhood. Thank you for that information. Going forward we will take all necessary precautions.

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Polla Milligan
Founder & Ex. Director
White Whiskers Senior Dog Sanctuary
NY
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That's a great point. We're foster-based, so while we don't house owned/stray/seized animals together, we do see a wide range of backgrounds and temperaments. What's worked for us is putting a lot of focus on matching each dog to the right foster home from the start. It helps manage risk for the volunteer while also setting the dog up for success.

We've found it useful to tier volunteer involvement. New fosters or volunteers usually start with dogs that are easier or lower-risk, and as they gain more experience (and confidence), we'll place them with dogs who may need more structure, training, or patience. That way people aren't thrown into situations they may not be ready for.

It might be something to adapt in your setting too - letting volunteers "graduate" into certain categories of animals once they feel prepared.

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Julie Beatty
Grants Coordinator
Ziva Dog Rescue
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