Is there any animal shelter where i can volunteer at age 14?

Question

me and my friends want to volunteer at an animal shelter over the summer. we are all 14 years old, which animal shelters will let us volunteer with out a guardian watching in new jersey?

Answer 1

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.

What you should do, if you are interested in volunteering (which is a great, wonderful idea), is 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 their 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. :)

Good luck!

Answer 2

I suggest that you start with a phone book and call the local shelters in your areas and tell them you and some friends are interested in volunteer work and if they have anything for you! I think it is great that you are choosing to spend your time to help out animals! Wish you lots of luck in your venture! Sending good thoughts your way!

Answer 3

I don't know about New Jersey sorry, but most animal shelters I've been associated with has allowed teens to help out.. My 8 and 5 year old has been able to volunteer with my assistance. I think it's a great thing that you're wanting to do this, I've really been trying to keep my children in with volunteering not only at the shelters, but within the community as well. Keep up the good work and enjoy your summer!

And if by chance, for whatever (stupid) reason you and your friends wouldn't be allowed to, ask about maybe doing a type of fundraiser and donate the benefits towards the shelter of your choice. It's a great thing and a wonderful feeling.