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Animal Loving Volunteers and Fosters Wanted!

March 6, 2022

You don’t have to adopt a pet or make a financial contribution to make a difference at Kitsap Humane Society! KHS relies on volunteers of all types to make their lifesaving work possible, so they need YOU to  join their team of animal lovers.
KHS is now welcoming new volunteers and fosters to the KHS team! KHS volunteers and foster families make their lifesaving work possible - and they want you to join!
KHS accepts volunteers 16 years old and up. Limited positions (with parent/guardian supervision) are also available for kids 13-15 years old. Kids can also host pet food and supply drives, with a group, or help foster animals with their family. KHS loves dedicated child/guardian volunteer teams!

Here are the current greatest needs:

  • Bottle Brigade On-Call Fosters:  Families can assist the KHS Foster Department with bottle-feeding kittens and puppies when they arrive at the shelter in need of immediate care! Regular access to a cell phone is required and training and supplies are provided. 
  • Data Entry Volunteers: Support multiple shelter departments with inputting medical records and behavior notes into our shelter database and running reports. Data entry is an essential part of daily shelter tasks and animal support  planning, so volunteers should be detail-oriented and computer savvy, and must be age 16 or older. 
  • Canine Pet Protection Program Fosters: Help keep families together by providing a temporary home for dogs belonging to people experiencing unexpected life challenges. The program provides a foster home for dogs for a period of up to 90 days, at no cost to the pet owner, until the pet owner finds stable housing.
  • Adoptions Support Volunteers: Help homeless pets find loving homes more quickly by getting photos, writing adoption bios, assisting with dog-to-dog adoption meets, and  supporting adoption event prep! 

Here are other areas where kids of all ages can give back to KHS and support shelter pets:

  • Host a pet food and supply drive: Kids can collect donated items from KHS' Wishlist: https://www.kitsap-humane.org/support-us/in-kind-donations/. With adequate advance notice, they can often coordinate a photo with the child/children and their donations out in front of the shelter at the time the donations are dropped off, and if the parent gives consent they may post that photo on our social media channels to share the kid’s good deeds with the community. Questions about hosting a pet food/supply drive can be directed to smoody@kitsap-humane.org.
  • On-site volunteer opportunities: For groups of all ages, including youth groups such as scout troops, 4H groups, church groups, birthday groups, etc. These opportunities typically involve essential (but less-glamorous tasks) such as washing pet transport crates or helping with a variety of grounds-maintenance duties (includes kid-friendly tasks such as weeding flower beds). To inquire about scheduling a group volunteer activity, parents can email volunteerdept@kitsap-humane.org.
  • Foster animals as a family: For kids under 13 years of age, fostering can be a really great fit, since it is a fun activity families can share together. Fostering is also a great way for kids to learn more about the different behavioral and medical needs of animals, which establishes great baseline knowledge for kids who may volunteer or work with animals when they are older.

Find all current volunteer opportunities here.

While KHS do require that kids aged 13-15 are accompanied by a parent or guardian while volunteering, they do not require that this designated companion be the child’s legal guardian. Rather, the person accompanying the child must be 18 years or older, and the child’s parent or legal guardian must sign an agreement stating that this person is approved to accompany their child while the child is volunteering. So, this means that older siblings, aunts and uncles, or family friends can serve as the child’s volunteer partner in cases where the parent/legal guardian is not able to do so.

Over the next several months, they will continue opening additional foster and volunteer opportunities! Keep an eye on their social media and website for further details.