Volunteers
Making a difference one pet at a time
The problem of pet overpopulation belongs to the community as a whole, not just to the people paid to work at the animal shelter. Without volunteers, the quality of life of pets in the animal shelter would be much lower. Without volunteers, they would seldom be taken out for walks, bathed, or just socialized in general. While paid staff of the animal shelter meet the physical needs of the pets in the shelter, our volunteers provide all the extras that help the pets get adopted!
Volunteer
Volunteering your time is another important way to help to help the animals. We’ve documented that the euthanasia rate drops when we have more volunteers to help take the animals out to the public at events like the Red Poppy Festival and the Georgetown Christmas Stroll. We have ideas we haven’t implemented because we don’t have enough people to put them into action. Some programs have gotten bigger and need more people to support them.
Ways to help
- Adoption guide
- Cat chores
- Cat Socialization
- Dog kennel chores
- Dog walking
- Foster
- Grounds work
- Offsite adoption events
- Office help
Getting started
Minimum requirements: you must be 16 or older and pass a background check.
The shelter uses an online volunteer software called Better Impact, which allows you to go through an initial orientation and training, as well as sign up for volunteer opportunities. Once you have completed the online registration and application in Better Impact, you will be able to begin your volunteer journey with us.
- Go to http://bttr.im/gtfx5 and complete the online registration and application.
- You will be prompted to send the background check permission forms to shawn.gunnin@georgetown.org. (The forms mention fingerprinting, but you can disregard that portion.)
- After you receive confirmation of acceptance, you will be able to log in and complete the online orientation and then sign up for the shelter tour.
If you have questions, feel free to contact us at 512-930-3592. April Haughey is the shelter manager, and Shawn Gunnin assists with volunteer coordination.
Resources for Volunteers
These videos show volunteers how to do specific commands and activities with the dogs.
Harness-Fitting: https://youtu.be/JerXW1JcQKQ
Kennel Manners: http://youtu.be/x4gkcR9pnL4
Collar-Fitting: https://youtu.be/KzSBNpX7opM
Leash Manners: https://youtu.be/oJoXnuQ0DpE
Sit & Down: https://youtu.be/dcJMwoV8SzU
Stay, Come, Free: https://youtu.be/VWfWS60LHZU
Bolt: https://youtu.be/-m7r9gPP6lg
Titan: https://youtu.be/Prq6ZkscaJA
