How can I
Volunteer with
ARF?
ARF needs all kinds of help, particularly foster parenting. We also need volunteers for spay neuter trips, marketing, driving, web page maintenance, social media presence, and more.
Volunteer Needs and Info
Foster parenting
ARF’s greatest need is for foster parents for dogs and puppies. We need people to hold dogs and puppies either for transport to out-of-state shelters or for local adoption (we can usually tell you which up front). Each requires you to keep the animal safe and healthy for up to several weeks. The good news is that we usually have a place for the puppy to go, so you don’t have to keep it forever unless you absolutely think you have to.
Responsibilities of foster parents include:
- Making regular appointments with the ARF president or the vet (as directed by the foster coordinator)
- Administering worming and topical flea treatment as needed (instructions included)
- Keeping the pet safe and contained in your home environment
- Helping the pet adjust socially to people and or other animals
All expenses are paid for, and a foster coordinator keeps track of all your pet’s appointments.
Here are a few don’ts:
- Don’t the dog or give it away (even if you pay the adoption fee for another party)
- Don’t let young puppies out in public until they have received enough vaccines to stay healthy
- Don’t advertise the pups on other groups’ web sites without permission
Most people feel guilt or want to keep every puppy at first. But that feeling gets easier. And you’re doing the most important job you can do by letting your puppy go so you can help another.
Please call 877-273-5262 or message us on our Facebook page if you have any questions.
Misc Volunteering
ARF could use all kinds of help–maybe even help we don’t know we need. Here are some things:
- Social media updates
- WordPress support
- Cleaning crates and misc grunge work (repairing pens, etc.)
- Transporting crates & animals (short and long drives)
- Fundraising (please come up with an idea and run with it)
- Photographing pets
- Publicity
- Other
Spay Neuter Trips
ARF runs one-two Spay Neuter trips to Asheville each month. We send community animals to Asheville on an ASPCA truck.
We could use the following help:
- Loading on Mondays (arrive 7:30 a.m. and depart by 9)
- Unloading and cleaning on Tuesdays (arrive 8:30 and depart by 9:30 or so)
- Helping people get their pets to ARF on Mondays
- Directing traffic and handing out newsletters
- Other?
Tempers get frayed, so these trips require someone with patience and a thick skin sometimes! The good news is that the time passes quickly.
Why we Need Help
We’re an all-volunteer group
Most of ARF’s volunteers have been doing it a long time. We’re old, and we’re tired!
We need new blood. We need people who care about the future of this community’s pets and who love dogs.
Our work is so vital, but since Covid began we’ve had a hard time attracting volunteers. But without us, the animal shelter would fill up with dogs almost every week. Without us, animals would not get fixed before adoption. Before we did this work, citizens had no low-cost spay neuter option, and the county had to euthanize close to a thousand pets a year. Now years pass without their having to euthanize at all.
We’re trying to keep it that way!
