Dose anyone know about any humane societies where if your 12 you dont need a parent to come with you?

Question

I want to volenteer at my local humane societie but they wont let me unitel i have a parent present. i think its stupid, im tryin to help them but NO i have to be at least 15. dose anyone know where i can just go and help out at some anmimals with age not being an objection to everything?

Answer 1

Trust me, you don't want to volunteer there. My sister volunteered at a humane society in high school and it traumatized her. She went for one day and on that one day a man brought in his dog that had puppies and they put down all of them! She said she had played with all of them! Do you really want to play with puppies only to have them be put down?

And you're only 12. You're just a kid. You don't want to have to live with that at such a young age. Plus, it sounds like your parents don't want you volunteering there. Go out and play if you're bored...

Answer 2

I have been volunteering since I was 6 years oldat my local animal shelter, and I now volunteer with my local S.P.C.A., Beagle Rescue, Racing Greyhound Rescue, and the H.S.U.S. and trust me when I say, having a parent with you is going to help you.  There are many situations where you will need them.  Trust me, when working with animals, many people decide to work in pairs, even if they are adults because it makes it SO MUCH easier.  But, if you still don't want to volunteer with a parent, there are animal shelters/rescues that have lower age limits.

As far as the age limit goes, it all depends on the shelter or rescue. I am sure that plenty of people on here will tell you specific ages like 18 or 16, but its not that simple.

EACH organization has different rules, different policies. Some you have to be 18 years old, some 16, some 13, some younger, and some will let you volunteer with a parent or sign a contract. They are all different, and the only way to find out is to check with each shelter to see what policy they have. By calling or visiting the organization's website you should be able to find the age limit, AS well as your tasks (walking animals, playing with them, cleaning up...etc.).

To find shelters/rescues, follow these directions:

(I would do it for you, but I don't know where you live)

visit : http://www.petfinder.com/

Scroll down, and on the left it says "Find Animal Welfare Groups".

You can put in your location/zip code and it will provide you with a list of all of the animal rescues and shelters in your area.

Go through the list, call them, visit them, or take a look at there websites to see what their age limit is.

Thats the best way of finding out who you can volunteer with.

http://www.volunteermatch.org/ is also a great website for finding shelters and organizations to volunteer with and it will show you when you search which shelters are teen friendly.

Also, I find shelters to have a more strict policy and age limit. Rescues, who work off of foster homes (homes that take in animals until they get adopted), are more lenient about the age limit.  I think that you will have better luck looking at rescues instead of shelters.

It was difficult for me to find a shelter to volunteer with when I was your age, I had to look for a couple of months until I finally found a shelter that would let me volunteer(the age limit was 13 and over with parent supervision). It worked out great!

It was nice spending more time with my mom.

Volunteering at a shelter is a lot of fun, but some people sometimes have bad experiences and don't want to volunteer because they have been to a bad, high kill shelter. Not all shelters are high kill and if you volunteer with one shelter and have a bad experience that doesn't mean you should stop. Just keep looking for the animal organization that suits you because they are all different. Some will let you play with the animals, and some might want you to do the dirty work, like cleaning up p**p, vomit, laundry, etc. Some might have great outreach, spay/neuter, and other programs that you can get involved with. Your experience just depends on the shelter/rescue.

Just remember to never give up on your search, keep trying, there are MANY MANY shelters and rescues out there and they ALL need your help.

Also, a GREAT website that could help you a lot is http://www.humaneteen.org/?q=forum

The Humane Teen (one of the Humane Society of the United State's programs) website has great suggestion on how teens can help animals (volunteering, fundraising, clubs,..etc.). You can even get advice and help from other teens on the message board or the Humane Advisory Board members. I think that this website would help you so much! Check it out. :)

Good luck!