I'm 13 years old and I want to know at what age I can volunteer at an animal shelter....?

Question

I live in Beaumont,Texas and I would like to know if there are any requirements..?

Answer 1

maybe u could go

Answer 2

The one in my town is 16 idk if they vary or not just call and ask or maybe even go online.

If i have the right place then its "Volunteers under the age of 18 will be required to have a permission slip signed by a parent or guardian. Volunteers under the age of 16 must generally be accompanied by a parent or other responsible adult."

Answer 3

As far as the age limit goes, it all depends on the shelter or rescue.

EACH organization has different rules. Some you have to be 18 years old, some 16, some younger, and some will let you volunteer with a parent or sign a contract. You will have to check with each shelter to see what policy they have.

To find shelters/rescues, follow these directions:

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.

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 w/ 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.

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. :)

Just to get you started, I found a list of organizations near you(but there are many more out there than just these)...good luck:

Organization Pet List   City, State/Prov   Phone

C.A.R.E. Beaumont, TX 409-880-7607

Humane Society Of Southeast Texas Beaumont, TX 409-833-0504

Furry Purries Beaumont, TX 409-835-6905

Mans Best Friend Beaumont, TX

Life Force Beaumont, TX 409-838-0072

18 Shades of Grey Vidor, TX 409-767-1493

Vidor Animal Control Vidor, TX 409-769-8718

All Gods Creatures Beaumont, TX 409/753-1365

City of Orange Animal Shelter Orange, TX 409-883-1056

Animal Angels Sulphur, LA 337-528-8098

PUPPY-DOGS-R-US Dayton, TX [phone]

Woodville Animal Shelter Woodville, TX 409 283-7387

PAWS Woodville, TX 409-651-5596

Second Time Around Aussie Rescue Inc. Lake Charles, LA 1-87-RESCUE US

LAPAW Lake Charles, LA 337-478-7294

All Creatures Rescue Lake Charles, LA

Lake Area Animal Hospital Lake Charles, LA 337-479-1199

Calcasieu Parish Department of Animal Services & Adoption Center Lake Charles, LA [phone]

BACCR - Baytown Humane Society Baytown, TX [phone]

Molakis Whisper Animal Sanctuary Jasper, TX [phone]

Jasper Lakes Area Humane Society Jasper, TX 409-381-8488

St. Jude's Safe Haven for Little Paws Humble, TX

Pets In Need Animal Rescue Cleveland, TX 281-432-2499/832-579-2900

Border Collie Rescue/Texas LaPorte, TX

Animal Rescue Center Cleveland, TX

Gulf Coast Dachshund Rescue   Ragley, LA   please email

City of LaPorte LaPorte, TX 281-842-3700

German Shepherd Rescue of Austin to Houston Kingwood, TX 713-412-1017

City of Seabrook Animal Shelter Seabrook, TX 281-474-2590

FastK9s Greyhound Adoption, Inc. Houston, TX 281-450-6268

Forever Homes Wanted Ferret Rescue Kingwood, TX 832-687-7840

Mooch's Mastiff Rescue Kingwood, TX

Houston Sheltie Sanctuary, Inc. Houston, TX 281-859-0146

Twyla's Friends Kingwood, TX 832 488-7937

K-9 Corral Kingwood, TX 281-354-9546

A New Dawn Animal Rescue Deer Park, TX 281 904 0280

City Of Deer Park Deer Park, TX 281-478-7274

S.P.C.A. of Polk County Livingston, TX 936-967-CATS or 713 502 0

Covenant Animal Rescue Team Kemah, TX

Bay Area SPCA San Leon, TX 281-339-2086

Whiskerville Animal Sanctuary, Inc. Texas City, TX [phone]

Galveston County Animal Shelter/Services Texas City, TX 409-948-2485

Shelter Buddies Texas City, TX [phone]

Cats for Life Adoptions Houston, TX 713-453-8621

Pasadena Animal Control and Adoption Pasadena, TX 281-991-0602

Pals For Pooches Humble, TX 281-548-7166

Volunteers for Animal Protection, Inc. Kingwood, TX 281-358-9818

Finally Home Pet Rescue League City, TX

Galveston Island Humane Society Galveston, TX 409-740-1919

Tricks and Treats Rescue Pasadena, TX 713-472-6599

Houston Labrador Retriever Rescue   Houston, TX   N/A see email address

Clear Lake All Breed Rescue Houston, TX

Happily Ever After Dog Rescue Houston, TX 832-549-5267

R and R Ranch Rescue Humble, TX

s****. DOG RESCUE Houston, TX [e-mail]

Best Friends FurEver Humble, TX

KittenSave League City, TX 281-538-4274

Houston Rat Rescue Houston, TX 832 228 2279

League City Animal Shelter League City, TX 281-554-1377

Yorkie Haven Rescue, Inc. League City, TX Please Email

Recycled Canines Dalmatian Rescue Houston, TX

CARE (Compassionate Animal Rescue & Education) League City, TX

Second Chance Pets League City, TX 281-286-3535

Houston Pekingese Rescue Cypress, TX scwright_houston1@comcast

Pet Project Dickinson, TX 281-534-2646

Paws Animal Rescue Alvin, TX 281-331-7297

Humane Society of West Louisiana DeRidder, LA [phone]

Coldspring Stars Coldspring, TX 936-203-7004,832-401-1326

Houston Collie Rescue Houston, TX 281-479-2167/281-564-6852

Friends of BARC Houston, TX

City of Houston Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care Houston, TX 713-229-7300

South Central Bloodhound Club Houston, TX 713-641-2992

Tri-State Bloodhound Rescue Houston, TX 713-641-2992

Street Dog Rescue Houston, TX

TVA - Texas Volunteers for Alaskan Malamute Assitance League Bellville, TX

Answer 4

If you would like to volunteer you might be able to start right now. It really depends on the owner and manager of the establishment. The law states that you are able to work(get a check)at 16 but you can volunteer when you are about 14 and get a "tip"

Answer 5

You'd really have to ask the shelter you are interested in volunteering at.  My local branch of the Humane Society has volunteers as young as 11, but that is in Minnesota.