Volunteering Or Fostering

[poochiemama]

I am thinking of volunteering to work in a shelter...I am based in Melbourne; i just have no idea where to start. i have a busy job so i can't do it too often but i can commit on most weekends. Has anyone had any experiences doing this at shelters in Melbourne?

Also wondering about fostering, but a bit scared to make that leap because we have two dogs of around 1 year old at home and I don't want them to have any bad experiences with other dogs...curious about anyone's experiences with fostering...

[lanabanana]

It wasn't in Melbourne, but when I was in NZ after we adopted our dog from the SPCA I asked about vollie work and they said just rock up whenever you can.

I used to go down every saturday morning, and some weekdays when I didn't have classes and help out. There were often a lot of people there as some people do their community service there.

I don't really foster, though I did foster two pups once and it was semi accidental. They were posted on a MB as needing to be picked up before the man of the house got home as he'd already said the pups needed homes or they were going in a bucket. So I contacted the lady (who was quite distraught) and went and collected two 6 week old staffy x girls. They stayed with me for two weeks until they were old enough to be out in the world, learning about dog stuff from my girl and boy (and teaching my boy a few things while they were there) and then they went to another person I know off a MB where one coninutes to live with the woman and her 3 children and the other girl went to live with a couple in their 50's who have never had children.

Good luck with it

[chuckandsteve]

Pets Haven in Woodend (about 40 min up the calder) is a good place to start, you can just head up one weekend and spend the day there and help out without commiting so you can get a taste of it. If you join them on facebook you can read about what they are doing and email the volunteer coordinator and foster coordinator, also if it doesn't work out fostering you can take them straight back.

Animal Aid in coldstream is good too everything is a bit more official you need to go to a volunteers day before you start and you get given a "shift" in whatever area you want to work in.

Fostering only there is a huge amount of options and I'm sure you could find a group to fit your needs. Hopefully all wouldtake the animal back straight away if you have problems

[aussielover]

You could ask your local pound if you could volunteer there. I have volunteered at a local pound and also the RSCPA however, it does become quite depressing for some people.

I'm not sure where the RSPCA is in Melbourne but I am sure they would like to get more volunteers!

I am also interested in learning more about fostering, though I doubt I will be able to for the next year or so because I am currently puppy raising for guide dogs.

I foster kittens though which is also very rewarding and challenging, which may be something you could look into.

[Sankari]

What about Lort Smith Animal Hospital? I volunteered there for over 2 years ;) And my dog is in the PALS program (pets are loving support) visiting nursing homes etc for an hour every 6 weeks.

[Earthdog]

Go and ask in the rescue section.

[poochiemama]

Thanks for those replies, will google some of those places and look into it... i always loved the idea of volunteering/rescuing but wasn't sure where to start with it, so now I have some pointers :D

[mackiemad]

the rspca in melb has heaps of vollies and they do vollie intakes a few times every year-check the website cos it'll say what the next vollie intake is. they do like you to commit to a weekly or fortnightly rostered day and for at least 3 months. you can volunteer in the vet clinic, grooming, cattery, kennels, offices-pretty much everywhere

otherwise pets haven, save a dog (though they may have stopped taking vollies, but might still need foster carers), lort smith and perhaps aaps might all be happy to have a chat to see if they want to add you as a vollie.

during kitten season most places are falling over themselves to get more forster carers for their kittens...