The volunteer community at Compassion Without Borders is an integral part of the organization’s mission to provide a brighter future to animals on both sides of the border. We simply cannot rescue and rehabilitate such a large amount of dogs each year without the continuous help of amazing volunteers! Our volunteer community supports us with dog walking, kennel cleaning, dishes/laundry completion, property maintenance, fundraising/marketing, and (with specialized training) also ensures that our mobile clinics run smoothly. We welcome new volunteer applications for any of the following opportunities (although many are only offered on an as-needed basis).
Volunteer Application
-
Administrative Support:
This opportunity is offered on an as-needed basis and usually when help is needed with special projects. Tasks often include calculating statistics, developing spreadsheets, creating and printing flyers, etc.
-
Animal Transport:
This opportunity is offered on an as-needed basis and usually is extended first to our dog walking volunteers. Tasks include transporting animals to and from our shelter in Santa Rosa, CA within a personal vehicle. Transport requests can be as simple as taking a dog to a vet appointment or as complex as picking up injured or ill dogs from the Central Valley.
-
Clinics:
The majority of positions that fall under this category require a background in veterinary practices/medicine, so please keep this in mind when applying. Tasks include supporting our veterinary staff during mobile spay/neuter and wellness clinics throughout Sonoma County. Bilingual volunteers are often needed at our clinics.
-
Canine Coach
This volunteering opportunity is our most popular and one of our most vital. Volunteers in this role undergo a meticulous, multi-hour training process that involves directly interacting with dogs. This role requires a volunteer to actively engage our dogs with not only exercise but learning opportunities, such as, but not limited to how to walk on a leash, sit, come when called, remove an object from its mouth, learn not to jump up on humans. We believe that offering to coach a dog in these fundamentals will help set our dogs up for success in their forever home, as adopters will likely find these behaviors appealing. Please read our commitment policy below before requesting to become a dog walking volunteer.
-
Fundraising and Events:
Volunteers in this role will ideally also be certified dog walkers so that they can handle dogs at our events. Volunteers in this role will also ideally have spent significant time at our shelter in order to gain a better understanding of who we are and what we do. In some cases, we are able to extend fundraising opportunities to volunteers interested in simply re-sharing our social media posts, hanging flyers, or promoting our events/fundraisers in general.
-
Kennel Technician:
This opportunity is one of our most vital and involves learning how to support our Animal Care Technicians with tasks like washing dishes, completing laundry, and cleaning kennels. Volunteers interested in this position will need to complete dog walking training and be certified dog walkers since this role often involves directly interacting with dogs as well as entering and exiting their habitats. In special circumstances when volunteers want to come in and help ONLY with laundry and dishes, we can offer a more simple and quick onboarding process. If you are ONLY interested in helping with laundry and dishes, please indicate this on your application. .
-
Maintenance:
This opportunity is offered on an as-needed basis and usually when help is needed with special projects. Tasks often include landscaping, painting, building fences, organizing storage sheds, etc. This is a great opportunity for those interested in volunteering episodically as a group.
-
Marketing:
This position is best suited for individuals with prior marketing experience who are willing to spend time at our shelter and with our dogs in order to gain a better understanding of who we are and what we do. Marketing opportunities are often offered on an as-needed basis.
Before you fill out an application to volunteer, please make sure to read the following:
• Volunteers interested in becoming canine coaches, kennel technicians, animal transporters (in most cases), or stepping into any other role that involves dog interaction will need to attend and complete an orientation and training at Muttopia in Santa Rosa, CA. This orientation and training will consist of a site tour, an overview of procedures, and a one-on-one training with a specialist that will involve directly interacting with the dogs we have onsite.
• Since our dog walking training process is meticulous and involves the participation and time of many CWOB team members, we ask that all volunteers who want to become a dog walking volunteer or become a volunteer in a role that involves dog interaction commit to the following:
1) Remain an active volunteer for a minimum of 6 months. 2) Fulfill at least one volunteer shift per week.
We are open 7 days a week and offer several shift options.
Additionally, if volunteers do not attend a shift over the course of 2 consecutive months their volunteer status will be considered "inactive" and they will need to attend a refresher training course with a CWOB team member in order to be considered an "active" volunteer.
At this time, we are unable to onboard dog walking volunteers who cannot uphold our commitment policy. We do understand that life happens and emergencies occur, and when these things happen we can most definitely be flexible. However, we want to make sure that the new volunteers we onboard are able to come in on a regular basis. If you are unable to make this level of commitment at this time, please reconsider moving forward with enrolling as a volunteer that has direct interaction with our dogs.
Minors Wishing to Volunteer:
The safety of our volunteers and shelter animals is our number one priority. Due to our limitations in staff capacity, Compassion Without Borders cannot adequately supervise volunteers who are under the age of 18. Because of this challenge, we ask that the parents, or legal guardians, of prospective volunteers who are under the age of 18 co-apply for volunteer roles. In this way, CWOB can ensure that minors are supervised by an adult at all times, while working on-site. Please have your parent or legal guardian complete an application to volunteer and make note that you will be volunteering with them as a minor.
Thank you for your willingness to support the animals of our community!