Working with Animals

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• dog walking, socialisation and kennel cleaning with a dogs’ home or rescue trust.
• assisting veterinarians and other specialists in looking after injured wildlife.
• volunteering at a local community or city farm.
• monitoring, surveying and improving habitats for local wildlife.
• working with feral cats and on cat rehoming.
• helping out at a local zoo, wildlife park or animal sanctuary.
• fundraising for a local shelter or sanctuary.

Commitment And Care

It’s quite common for people to think they want to work with animals but discover, quite quickly, that they struggle to maintain the level of detachment required when working with sick or injured animals or those that have been subject to cruelty or neglect. It takes a special kind of person, compassionate without ‘taking home’ the emotions of the workplace, to cope with the sharp end of animal volunteering. If you find that actually working with animals is not for you, don’t be discouraged, consider how you can distance yourself a little from the emotional load and still assist the animals you are so concerned about. For example you could fund-raise or give talks in local schools or businesses to raise awareness of the issue. Many animal related charities also require event organisers, photographers and people to help with administration and publicity.

If you do find you can work directly with animals, you will find that at times it can mean a lot hard, physical work which can be seasonal. For example, wildlife sanctuaries and bird charities find that they are inundated with injured or supposedly abandoned fledgling birds in spring, but have little to do in winter. Alternatively, the period soon after Christmas can be demanding in cat and dog shelters when pets bought for Christmas presents are abandoned or handed in by those who realise they cannot cope with the commitment.

Volunteer Role Finder

Answer a few questions about your interests, skills, and availability and get matched with the types of volunteering that suit you best. Whether you want to work with people, animals, or the environment, we will find your ideal role.

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Training And Skills

Whilst few animal charities require specific skills of their general volunteers, most will expect you to have some key attributes that make it easier for you to work with animals. These are:

Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.

Gap Year And Overseas Animal Volunteering

Working with animals in your gap year or taking a career break to do something animal-related is very popular, and while some charities ask for evidence that you’ve volunteered with animals before, others simply take your word for it that you will be able to cope with animal behaviour once you get to your destination.

It’s a very good idea to try and volunteer with animals before travelling to a strange place to serve as a volunteer, especially if you’re going to be expected to work with large animals. Some people find it extremely daunting to be exposed to wild animals much bigger than anything they are used to at home, while others find the cultural norms of other peoples when dealing with animals to be disturbing and difficult to accept. This can make an intensive animal-based voluntary project highly challenging to the unprepared volunteer.

The Next Step

Now that you have read through the advice above, you might want to put it into practice. Our Volunteer Role Finder lets you answer a few questions about your interests, skills, and availability and get matched with the types of volunteering that suit you best. Whether you want to work with people, animals, or the environment, we will find your ideal role. Try it now →