Volunteer Opportunities
The Humane Society of Dallas County needs your help to provide homes for hundreds of animals that come into our care every year. With minimal staff available, we greatly depend on volunteers at the shelter to provide quality care for our animals and to support our programs.
If you are interested in volunteering with us, please check out our volunteer opportunities and fill in a volunteer application.
Offsite adoptions are our most successful means to place our precious animals in permanent loving homes. As an adoption counselor, you will be involved in a crucial process to the success of our shelter. It is a huge responsibility, yet most rewarding. We regularly take our dogs and cats to pet stores and area merchants on weekends in hopes of finding them homes.
Transport the animals to and from the shelter to the offsite location.
Walk the dogs and keep them out of their crates as much as possible.
Represent the organization and answer questions.
Interview, evaluate, and match prospective adopters with the right animal.
These Adopt-a-Pets occur on Saturdays at various pet stores and merchants around the city. Locations are typically announced by the Tuesday preceding the event.
We are extremely careful about placing the right animal in the right home, so this position requires extra training beyond the basic orientation. To qualify for this volunteer opportunity, you must:
attend basic orientation;
study the training packet given to you at basic orientation and be very clear on terminology and adoption rules;
assist with Adopt-a-Pet until you feel comfortable doing it on your own, and the head adoption counselor feels you are ready;
have a thorough understanding of the adoption process and requirements;
commit at least one Saturday a month.
Assist Adoption Director in evaluating applications.
Assist in making follow-up calls on animals recently adopted.
Arrange home visits if questions arise as to the security and safety of the animal.
These calls can be made from your home in the evenings and weekends.
Basic orientation is required, as well as a meeting with our Adoption Director for further training on our expectations and requirements on adoptions.
We place cats at various pet stores, primarily the Petsmart Luv-a-Pet center at Forest and Inwood, to be viewed by the public for possible adoption.
Clean condos or cages.
Make certain there is food and fresh water.
Make sure the cats are healthy.
Verify cage bios and information about each cat.
Give them a little TLC!
We need daily help as well as volunteers who can assist when needed. Volunteers on weekends are especially appreciated to show the cats at the Luv-a-Pet center and to meet with the public to facilitate adoptions.
This is one of our most crucial volunteer jobs and can be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life.
Provide a temporary home, love, and necessary medical care for an animal that is not yet ready for adoption due to illness, injury, stress, or age.
In most cases, your foster animal will be small kittens, kittens and their mother, or puppies. You can foster an animal from one week to a month or more depending on the situation. We furnish all supplies, food, and medical care. You provide the TLC!
You must attend basic orientation where you will be given a foster packet and receive detailed instruction from our Adoption Director.
Responsible for oversight and operations of the events committee.
Maintain a detailed annual events calendar.
Target for a minimum of one event per month.
Act as go-to point of contact for individuals requesting event participation from volunteers, public, venue partners, sponsors, etc..
Oversee all planned events.
Plan and execute larger-scale events, including the annual holiday raffle.
Provide updates on events and marketing-related matters to the Board of Directors.
Coordinate events with the Volunteer Coordinator and Adopt-a-Pet team.
Communicate with the events team via informal newsletter and updates as necessary.
Plan meetings with the events team as necessary.
Maintain the official events@dognkittycity e-mail address.
Communicate with all volunteers via Google Calendar and Facebook.
Time-intensive, August–January
Communicate with the Committee Chair with plans / ideas for annual raffle.
Assist with communication to volunteers to solicit prizes for the raffle.
Assist with communication to donors and acknowledgement of all individual / company donations.
Confirm receipt of all promised donations to the shelter or pick up donations as necessary.
Work with the graphic design volunteer to develop promotional flier on all raffle items.
Assist Chair to refine raffle ticket selling strategies.
Send volunteers periodic updates to promote raffle ticket sales.
Work to secure a venue for the raffle drawing party.
Assist with securing significant “draws” for the event (professional photographer, celebrity announcer for raffle prize drawing).
Assist with the packaging of donated items, and other similar tasks in the week immediately preceding the drawing party.
Assist with drawing party announcements for website and publications.
Help promote the event in the media and on Facebook.
Help plan and execute the range of events scheduled throughout the year.
Maintain ongoing communication with the Committee Chair.
Contribute ideas to the entire team on all events.
Attend meetings as scheduled.
Act as Event Lead for at least 2 events a year.
Participate in planning and execution of events year-round.
Act as the point of contact for requests received from educational institutions, corporations, groups wishing to participate in a project to benefit shelter while fulfilling their community service objectives.
Review initial contact and provide recommendation to Board for action.
Communicate with the Committee Chair and Volunteer Chair to ensure proper volunteer staffing at all events.
Maintain a basic calendar of event details and communicate with the Google Calendar Coordinator and Facebook Coordinator to ensure appropriate publicity.
Serve as the primary coordinator of event logistics for HSDC.
Attend in-person events as able, or recruit representative.
Work with the Committee Chair and other HSDC leadership to develop outreach strategies, including measurable goals and targets.
Interact with kids to help give them the opportunity to work with animals and foster an appreciation of shelter care.
Develop and recommend on-campus events to promote the shelter while engaging students in the fundraising aspects of the shelter.
Coordinate and participate in events like school drives and fairs.
Post shelter-related news to HSDC’s Facebook page.
Expand into other social media outlets like Instagram or Twitter as deemed appropriate and approved.
Coordinate with media outlets for placement of HSDC events in the news:
Dog About Town (Dallas Morning News);
Other media outlets (D Magazine, The Advocate, NeighborsGo, The Observer).
Take primary responsibility for writing and disseminating press releases.
These volunteers will attend shelter events and activities with the responsibility of photographing the event for news releases, web site inclusion or volunteer announcements.
These volunteers will also assist in maintaining current, adorable photos of all shelter animals for use on adoption posters, promotions, fundraising letters and announcements. They need to have a basic understanding of photo specifications.
Adoption Programs
PetSmart Dallas at Inwood and Forest hosts two regular adoption programs benefiting us. Both programs need volunteers to socialize with the pets and introduce them to potential adopters.
The Adopt-a-Pet program allows us to show our adoptable dogs at PetSmart, and usually takes place on Saturdays 11 AM–3 PM. The program serves to increase our dogs' exposure to potential adopters. At Adopt-a-Pet, volunteers can help take care of the dogs hoping to get adopted by walking and socializing them.
The Luv-a-Pet program hosts our adoptable cats and kittens in the PetSmart adoption center every day. We always need volunteers to visit the animals in residence and help with their care as well as interact with potential adopters.
Foster Programs
Dog & Kitty City is a small shelter, with limited space for both dogs and cats. As a no-kill shelter, we do not euthanize harder to adopt animals to make room for new arrivals. Space constraints are a real problem. Our two foster programs help supplement rescue efforts.
In the HSDC Foster program, the animals belong to the shelter. Volunteers offer their homes as a temporary spot for the neediest shelter animals. These may be kittens or puppies, a momma with babies, an animal recovering from illness or surgery, a timid animal that needs special socialization, or the like.
To participate as a foster parent you need to file an adoption application with the shelter. We qualify participants as though we were adopting a pet to a new home, including a home visit for dog fosters. The animal remains the property of the shelter, and the shelter accepts all responsibility for food, supplies, and care. Shelter will provide and pay for any necessary medical attention.
Once qualified, a foster parent simply signs the foster contract and picks up their little charge(s) at the shelter. Shelter support is just a phone call away.
The Guest Foster program involves the shelter in promoting adoption for animals that are not shelter animals, but belong to the person housing the pets. Participants must sign a contract confirming their compliance with the medical requirements by law, as well as the conditions for their participation in the program.
We provide website promotion of these guest fosters and offer them spots at our offsite adoption events, both LuvAPet and AdoptAPet. We will feature these pets as long as necessary to rehome them.
The animals in this program do NOT belong to the shelter, but to the home in which they reside. Whenever possible, we will assist with low-cost / no-cost exams and vaccines, but the animal remains the responsibility of the owner.
Rewards of the socializing jobs include the opportunity to learn basic dog and cat behaviors, to understand possible health concerns, and to become part of the solution by keeping our dogs and cats mentally healthy, happy, and stimulated until we find them a loving permanent home. The unconditional love you'll receive in return for your time and commitment is reward in itself.
Provide play activities for shelter cats.
Provide brushing and social interaction.
Provide special treats with permission of shelter staff.
Check cats for possible medical or behavioral problems and report problems to shelter staff.
Assist with photo and bio information for files and offsite adoptions.
Assist at the Luv-a-Pet offsite adoption center.
Help with mobile cat condo to showcase kittens.
You must be 13 years old or accompanied by parent (a liability waiver must be signed). Younger children will be allowed to participate with special arrangements.
You are encouraged to socialize with all our cats except those in sick bay and maternity. These areas are restricted to trained staff only.
Provide walks, play, and basic grooming for shelter dogs, including occasional baths.
Provide special treats with staff permission.
Provide basic behavior training and attend the dog training seminar.
Provide periodic outings for select shelter dogs, such as “a day at the park.”
Check dogs for possible medical or behavioral problems and report problems to supervisor.
Assist with photo and bio information for files and offsite adoptions.
Confirm appropriate bio posted on each outdoor dog run.
You must be a minimum of 16 years old and have basic knowledge of dogs (a liability waiver must be signed). You must be comfortable around different dog personalities.