I am so excited about this year at PAWS. I had my first 2 days of actual work there on Thursday and Friday. And now that I've had more time to get everything sorted out, I now have somewhat of an idea as to what my duties will be at PAWS.
First off, I am a Level 1 Volunteer in Dog Town and Kitty City. I really want to be at least a Level 2 by the time I am done...which I don't think will be very hard to accomplish. After serving 36 volunteer hours, you are able to take Level 2 training classes. I've already spent 16 hours in Kitty City just the past 2 days, so I think I will get to 36 hours in no time! They have different levels of volunteers because there are some cats and dogs that are more challenging than others. I don't think there can be a Level 3 Volunteer in Kitty City... Anyways! As a Level 1 volunteer, I have a variety of duties. Since I work 8 hours a day, my mornings are usually taken up by cleaning the different cat rooms. The rooms are ridiculously clean, but it is that atmosphere that helps get so many pets adopted! If it smelt terrible and there were stains everywhere, people wouldn't come into the center. I don't mind cleaning the rooms. It is almost like a race against the clock! We have to be ready to open the doors to the public at noon and often PAWS doesn't get weekday morning volunteers. That means it is up to me and the Vet Tech (the one I've been working with is Erin and she is amazingly nice!) to clean all 9 rooms. Some of them are really big! After we clean the rooms, we just have to socialize with the cats. Some of them are really scared because they are confused, so we just help make them feel more comfortable so people will want to adopt them. Finally, we help people who come into the center to adopt a pet! In order for people to go into the pet rooms, they have to take a survey and once they have that survey we (being the volunteers) take them into the specific cat/dog room and let them interact with the animals. On Friday I helped 4 cats get adopted and it was awesome! I haven't actually volunteered at all in Dog Town, mostly because Kitty City gets fewer volunteers and I want to make sure the help is evenly distributed. But mostly the responsibilities are the same, except you also have to walk the dogs.
First off, I am a Level 1 Volunteer in Dog Town and Kitty City. I really want to be at least a Level 2 by the time I am done...which I don't think will be very hard to accomplish. After serving 36 volunteer hours, you are able to take Level 2 training classes. I've already spent 16 hours in Kitty City just the past 2 days, so I think I will get to 36 hours in no time! They have different levels of volunteers because there are some cats and dogs that are more challenging than others. I don't think there can be a Level 3 Volunteer in Kitty City... Anyways! As a Level 1 volunteer, I have a variety of duties. Since I work 8 hours a day, my mornings are usually taken up by cleaning the different cat rooms. The rooms are ridiculously clean, but it is that atmosphere that helps get so many pets adopted! If it smelt terrible and there were stains everywhere, people wouldn't come into the center. I don't mind cleaning the rooms. It is almost like a race against the clock! We have to be ready to open the doors to the public at noon and often PAWS doesn't get weekday morning volunteers. That means it is up to me and the Vet Tech (the one I've been working with is Erin and she is amazingly nice!) to clean all 9 rooms. Some of them are really big! After we clean the rooms, we just have to socialize with the cats. Some of them are really scared because they are confused, so we just help make them feel more comfortable so people will want to adopt them. Finally, we help people who come into the center to adopt a pet! In order for people to go into the pet rooms, they have to take a survey and once they have that survey we (being the volunteers) take them into the specific cat/dog room and let them interact with the animals. On Friday I helped 4 cats get adopted and it was awesome! I haven't actually volunteered at all in Dog Town, mostly because Kitty City gets fewer volunteers and I want to make sure the help is evenly distributed. But mostly the responsibilities are the same, except you also have to walk the dogs.
