How You Can Help

Help us with the animals! Seminole County Animal Services recently joined forces with the Seminole Community Volunteer Program to allow citizens to volunteer their time at the Animal Services Shelter. There are many ways that people can help with helping the animals. All volunteers must sign up through the Seminole Community Volunteer Program. To register, please contact Nancy Roth at S.C.V.P. by calling 407-323-4440, Ext. 2, or stop by the shelter and ask for a volunteer application. Please keep in mind that no one under the age of 18 years old will be allowed to handle any animals.

Would you love to help, but don't have much experience handling animals?

Our front office staff can always use help with clerical duties such as filing, putting together information packets for educational programs, writing receipts and many other office activities. Greeting customers in the lobby and assisting the front office staff in assessing the customer's needs is one of our most important volunteer duties. Greeters would be the customer's first contact when they enter the shelter. Finding out exactly what services the customers need, and directing them to the proper area or person who can meet those needs, is incredibly helpful in keeping customers flowing efficiently through the lobby and shelter areas.

Do you have some animal experience, but aren't a trainer?

All dogs and cats at the shelter need some one-on-one care. The dogs would love to be walked and excercised. A brush and some TLC will do wonders in making their stay here more enjoyable. Cats love to play and need some excercise too. Don't forget about the brush for them too. A little love shown for these animals goes a very long way in keeping them healthy and happy.

We would like to set up a program in the near future that would allow our animals to be seen off-site to help increase adoptions. We'll need volunteers to show cats and dogs at different locations around the county, so that they can be seen by more people. Dogs and cats both will be shown so, no matter whether you're a "cat person" or a "dog person", we've got a job for you!

Are you an experienced animal trainer or behaviorist?

Teaching our shelter dogs basic manners and to heel and sit will not only make them more adoptable to our customers, but the dogs love the one-on-one attention too! We generally have over 50 dogs available for adoption at any given time, so if you're out there, trainers, and you've got some time, these dogs sure could use your help!

Sometimes we have dogs with special training needs and behaviorists and trainers can be very helpful with dogs and cats with "problems" that their previous owners may not have known how to correct. Some are a little shy and need a little extra TLC; some are overly affectionate and need to be taught some manners, while others have never been on a leash and need to learn what a leash is all about.

Are you good with animals and people and don't mind public speaking?

Animal Services is working on developing classes for new pet owners who adopt from the shelter. We'll need volunteers to help develop the classes and teach them, as well. Do you have an area of animal expertise? Whatever it is, I'll bet it could be helpful to us? Veterinarians or veterinary technicians, trainers or training assistants, behavorists, groomers, and anyone else knowledgeable about animals would be ideal speakers for these classes. The more people know about their new pets, the less likely they are to return them.

If you've got a little bit of time and a lot of love to give, come on over and help us to create a comfortable environment and find happy endings for the animals at Seminole County Animal Services.