TOP VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

1. Volunteer at the Picayune Animal Shelter by bathing, walking, or socializing adoptable pets, or by helping with adoption counseling. Call to set up an orientation.
2. Sit at the SPCA table at fundraising or educational events.
3. Help with training and socializing our dogs. We will train you.
4. Help at our Low Cost, High Quality Spay/neuter events.
5. Help lobby for better animal cruelty laws and stricter spay and neuter legislation.
6. Help take our dogs to PetSmart in Slidell for Saturday or Sunday adoption days. Transport them, walk them, and talk to potential adopters.
7. Provide foster care for an animal (we pay all expenses).
8. Help us plan special events, like Rabies/Microchip Clinics, adoption events, community outreach.
9. Transport animals to spay/neuter appointments and/or transport wounded wildlife to Wildlife Rehab.
10. If you are handy with tools and/or carpentry, we always need something built or fixed – storage shed for crates, dog playground equipment, etc.

Things for Volunteers

Helpful activities that can be done from outside the physical shelter

• Help raise awareness of the shelter and specials/events – make arrangements with potential participants, design promos, get printed, get to “distributor.”
  • Develop program for inserts in gas, electric,  water, telephone bills
  • Develop program for  flyers on take home boxes from restaurants or on pizza boxes Shelter adoptions and s/n promos
  • Develop program for  table tents in restaurants for adoptable animals
  • Develop programs for other alternative advertising
    • Certified pre-owned cats (or dogs) added to auto dealers newspaper ads
    •  “Big Dogs for Big Guys” at gyms
    • Etc.
• Poster makers for events and specials to post around town
• Set up an email list for mail merge to donors, adopters, and volunteers to send:
  • News letter with PayPal button to help raise awareness of the shelter and fundraising.
  • “Special” information from time to time – special event, rabies clinic, off-site adoption events
• Research and find grant opportunities – write grants for things we need
• Be an event planner to make events for fundraising or adoption possible
• Organize an aluminum can pick-up from local businesses (restaurants, real estate offices, etc)
• Recruit high school students to Facebook and Twitter about us
• Be  Santa for PetSmart photos or be a Photographer for same
• Write and distribute newsletter with help and direction from our Secretary
• Work with a store or company that calls with a fundraising idea
• Recruit High School students to volunteer at the shelter.
• Help with the Spay Neuter programs
• 2 recovery people (Part-time or Full-Time) for the s/n clinic (twice monthly)
• 1-2 person(s) to help with Scanning/Microchip processing for s/n clinic and transports
• 2-3 volunteers for the Poplarville transport (tagging, microchip support and processing animals)
• Help trap and transfer feral cats from Poplarville to various clinics/offices (if we get the grant and mileage will be paid)
• Help techs get animals into the operating room.  Vet pays for this service, need to be strong and agile.
• Community outreach – finding ways to get us recognized in the county
• Process adoption pictures for our Facebook page and board in office
• Think of items of interest to get in the newspaper and get them there
• Come up with things for us to post to our Facebook page
• Make dogs toys (plastic bottle, rocks, and socks)
• Cut fleece and make toys – we have the fleece

Helpful activities that can be done at the shelter

•  Help socialize and train puppies and dogs – we train you to do this
• Receptionist/greeter in Office so that Supervisor can manage the work
• Help organize our storage areas: garage, storage shed, food shed
• Video our required canine assessment sessions, freeing up Staff for doing animal care activities – we can set up a schedule for the sessions to match yours.
• Photograph Pitbulls at s/n places for the grant we have
• Pick up our adopted dogs or cats that are dropped off at other shelters (Lacombe or Slidell)
• Set up photo backdrops to take professional looking photos at the shelter
• Take videos of our adoptable dogs and cats to put on the web sites (Petango, Petfinder, adopt-a-pet, WebShots, etc.)
• Learn how to do adoptions off-site and to organize an off-site adoption event (like we do at PetSmart). Get a group together to volunteer for taking dogs to PetSmart on Sundays.
• Paint (like the outside of the building) or touch up the outside of the cat play pen and other areas
• Help bathe dogs at the shelter, not just puppies but the bigger dogs too.
• Dog walkers to give the dogs a break from the shelter environment
• Cat rockers to help socialize and comfort the cats
• Learning about our dogs and adding web memos on their personality or story
• Handyman/woman for minor repairs
• Mow the grass and/or weedeat